Futurama season 11 is coming to Hulu this summer! Beginning Monday, July 24th, new episodes of the Matt Groening-created show will be released weekly on the streaming service. The animated series originally ran on Fox from 1999 to 2003 before being canceled by the network. Comedy Central began airing new episodes in 2010 and continued until its cancellation in 2013. Futurama is getting yet another chance as Hulu has ordered 20 episodes of the revival.
The series follows Philip J. Fry (Billy West), a New York City pizza delivery boy who accidentally freezes himself in 1999 and gets defrosted in the year 3000. In this astonishing New New York, he befriends hard-drinking robot Bender (John DiMaggio) and falls in love with cyclops Leela (Katey Sagal). The trio finds work at the Planet Express Delivery Company, founded by Fry’s doddering descendant, Professor Hubert Farnsworth. Together with accountant Hermes Conrad, assistant Amy Wong, and alien lobster Dr. John Zoidberg, they embark on thrilling adventures that take them to every corner of the universe.
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New viewers will be able to pick up the series from here, while long-time fans will recognize payoffs to decades-long mysteries – including developments in the epic love story of Fry and Leela, the mysterious contents of Nibbler’s litter box, the secret history of evil Robot Santa, and the whereabouts of Kif and Amy’s tadpoles. Meanwhile, there’s a whole new pandemic in town as the crew explores the future of vaccines, bitcoin, cancel culture, and streaming TV.
After some uncertainty regarding the return of John DiMaggio, who voices Bender, the original cast has been confirmed to return. He is joined by Billy West, Katey Sagal, Tress MacNeille, Maurice LaMarche, Lauren Tom, Phil LaMarr, and David Herman. Executive producers include Groening, David X. Cohen, Ken Keeler, and Claudia Katz.
DiMaggio was in a public standoff with Hulu and Disney due to a salary dispute. Despite the outpouring of support from fans and colleagues, the actor has said that his pay did not increase. As reported by SlashFilm, he commented that “trying to get money out of Disney is like trying to get blood from a stone — you ain’t gonna get it!” We can all agree that the show wouldn’t be the same without our favorite gruff, foul-mouthed robot.