FUTURAMA Wants You To Put Your Head In A Jar

Source: Comedy Central

Matt Groening, creator of the Emmy®-Award-winning series “Futurama,” today announced the launch of the “Futurama Head-In-A-Jar Creator” App during the show’s panel at Comic-Con. The free App – developed in a collaboration between COMEDY CENTRAL, the producers of “Futurama” and Rough Draft Studios – allows fans to design their own Head-In-A-Jar, a popular recurring feature of the show. The “Futurama” App was released simultaneously with Groening’s announcement and is now available for download on iPhone and iPod Touch.

“The ‘Head-In-A-Jar’ App is an interactive playground for fans,” said Michele Ganeless, president, COMEDY CENTRAL. “The new App truly celebrates the show and gives fans a great place to enter and experience the world of ‘Futurama.’”

"In the future, we'll all be heads in jars," said Groening. "But right now we can live this utopian fantasy in cartoon form."

The new App is loaded with a wealth of features. The “Head-In-A-Jar Creator” feature allows users to jump into the animated world of “Futurama” and create their own customized character. Users can choose from a male or female human, robot or alien, and customize many traits including the eyes, nose, hair, blemishes and background. Original artwork and sound design were created by the Futurama team specifically for the App. Additional features include “Futurama”-themed accessories, such as a foil hat, Flexo’s beard, Nibbler’s antenna and a customized name plate for each head designed. Once a Head is created, users can upload it to Facebook and Twitter and share with friends. Users can also save them to their photo gallery, set as their wallpaper or as an icon for one of their friends’ contacts.

“The Head Museum” is an innovative feature that allows fans to create customized exhibits of all their Head creations. Users can then curate various groups (e.g. family, friends, co-workers, favorite sports team) to display the Heads. Users can also share these Exhibits on Facebook and Twitter.

Additional App features include streaming clips from the current season of “Futurama” airing on COMEDY CENTRAL.

"Futurama," returned with 13 all-new half-hour episodes beginning Thursday, June 23 at 10:00 p.m. on COMEDY CENTRAL.

"Futurama," created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening and David X. Cohen, is a Curiosity Company production in association with Twentieth Century Fox Television. Rough Draft Studios, Inc. is the animation studio.

20th Century Fox Television, a division of News Corp., is a leading supplier of entertainment.

Comedy Central Brings FUTURAMA And UGLY AMERICANS To Comic Con

Source: Comedy Central

COMEDY CENTRAL's animated series return to Comic-Con® with an "Ugly Americans" panel on Friday, July 22 from 4:00-5:00 p.m. and a "Futurama" panel on Saturday, July 23 from 12:15-1:00 p.m. Interviews with "Ugly Americans" talent and producers will be held in press Room 21 from 2:30-3:45 p.m. on Friday, July • Friday, July 22: "Ugly Americans" panel (Room 23ABC)

4:00-5:00 p.m. The panelists include Dan Powell (Executive Producer), Devin Clark (Producer and Series Creator), Aaron Augenblick (Director of Animation), Matt Oberg (voice of Mark Lilly), Kurt Metzger (voice of Randall Skeffington), Larry Murphy (voice of Lt. Grimes) and moderator Randy Pearlstein (voice of Leonard Powers). The session will feature a live, in-character table read, a behind-the-scenes look into the current second season, a sneak peak from an upcoming episode, a Q&A, a look at the highly anticipated downloadable game, "Ugly Americans: Apocalypsegeddon" and more.

• Saturday, July 23: "Futurama" panel (Ballroom 20)

12:15-1:00 p.m. "Futurama" is back! Again!!! On stage will be Creator/Executive Producer Matt Groening, Executive Producer David X. Cohen and stars Billy West (Fry, Professor Farnsworth, Dr. Zoidberg), Katey Sagal (Leela), John DiMaggio (Bender) and Maurice LaMarche (Kif Kroker, Calculon, Morbo). A sneak peek at never-before-seen footage of "Futurama" reincarnated as Japanese anime will be revealed along with a thrilling preview from this season currently airing on COMEDY CENTRAL. Plus more! Much more! The panel will be moderated by Bill Morrison.

"Futurama," the Emmy® Award-winning series, and "Ugly Americans" air as part of a weekly, one-hour “Thurs-Dimension” animation block on Thursdays from 10:00-11:00 p.m. ET/PT on COMEDY CENTRAL with "Futurama" from 10:00-10:30 p.m. and "Ugly Americans" from 10:30-11:00 p.m.

Take New York City, add every horrifying beast, science-fiction freak and fantasy faerie, shake thoroughly, and you've got "Ugly Americans," an animated series that follows Mark Lilly, a social worker at the Department of Integration, as he helps new citizens both human and "other" adapt to hectic life in the Big Apple. There are easier tasks than soothing a vengeful mummy, being a slave in Satan’s dark army and trying to circumcise wizards, but Mark proves he’s up to the challenge, even if his co-workers are as incompetent as ever.

Mark's case load during the second season is heavy as always and his Department of Integration colleagues are less than helpful, including Twayne (Michael-Leon Wooley), a terrorizing demonic bureaucrat; Mark’s succubus co-worker and casual fling Callie Maggotbone (Natasha Leggero), who has some strange ideas about where to take their relationship; Leonard Powers (Randy Pearlstein), an aging drunken wizard and Mark’s office mate; and Lt. Grimes (Larry Murphy), a law-enforcement officer who despises non-humans. At least Mark still has his zombie roommate Randall Skeffington (Kurt Metzger), who doesn’t care what Mark does, as long as he covers his half of the rent.

In August, MTV Networks' "345 Games" division will release “Ugly Americans: Apocalypseggedon” (available for Xbox LIVE Arcade and PlayStation Network), a four player co-op side-scroller shooter game that features an exclusive script written by the show’s writers – including a new character unique to the game and custom voiceovers from the show’s actors. Uniting the spirit and humor of the series with addictive game play, players of “Ugly Americans: Apocalypseggedon” will hit the streets to clean up the chaos and prevent the impending apocalypse by resolving case files and fighting otherworldly citizens.

"Futurama" focuses on the life of Philip Fry (Billy West), a 25-year-old pizza delivery boy who accidentally freezes himself on December 31, 1999 and wakes up 1,000 years later with a fresh start at life at Planet Express, an intergalactic delivery company. There he meets love interest Leela (Katey Sagal), a sexy cyclops with anger management issues, and best friend Bender (John DiMaggio), a beer-powered kleptomaniac robot. The series aired for five seasons on Fox (1999 to 2003) earning Emmy® nominations each season while winning three times, including "Outstanding Animated Program" in 2002.

See Also: New Episodes Of FUTURAMA Just Around The Corner! / Comedy Central Turns To Facebook To Promote New Season Of FUTURAMA /Futurama - The Only Good Human Is A Dead Human - Paper Giclee Print / 26 New Episodes Of FUTURAMA On Deck For Comedy Central / The Philosophy Of Fry / Futurama - Series 1 - Nibbler Plush Doll / Futurama - Rebirth Paper Giclee Print / FUTURAMA Hits The Century Mark! 100 Episodes And Still Going Strong! / FUTURAMA And Other Comedy Central Panels At Comic Con / The Triumphant Return Of FUTURAMA - Part 3 - Video Montage! / The Triumphant Return Of FUTURAMA - Part 2 - New Images / Storyboards! / The Triumphant Return Of FUTURAMA - New Images! / Four Brand New Images From FUTURAMA! / "We're Back Baby!" Futurama Cast Members Returning To Show! / Bad News Everyone! Futurama Voice Actors Unlikely To Return For New Series / Good News Everyone! Fox And Comedy Central Order 26 New Episodes Of Futurama / Wizard World Texas Scores The Premiere Of Futurama Bender’s Game / Futurama: The Beast With A Billion Backs Trailer / Futurama Series 2 Action Figure Set / Futurama: The Beast With A Billion Backs

New Episodes Of FUTURAMA Just Around The Corner!

Source: Comedy Central

Drunken robots! Lobster people! A very old man! Watch in terror if you dare as Matt Groening and David X. Cohen's brilliantly subversive animated sci-fi comedy, "Futurama," returns with 13 all-new half-hour episodes beginning on Thursday, June 23 at 10:00 p.m. on COMEDY CENTRAL. The all-comedy channel is kicking off the “Futurama” season in style with two new episodes airing back-to-back. Then, beginning on Thursday, June 30, COMEDY CENTRAL’s animated series, "Ugly Americans," premieres its second season at 10:30 p.m., making Thursday nights a one-hour “Thurs-Dimension” animation block.

"Futurama" focuses on the life of Philip Fry (Billy West), a 25-year-old pizza delivery boy who accidentally freezes himself on December 31, 1999 and wakes up 1,000 years later with a fresh start at life at Planet Express, an intergalactic delivery company. There he meets love interest Leela (Katey Sagal), a sexy cyclops with anger management issues, and best friend Bender (John DiMaggio), a beer-powered kleptomaniac robot. The series aired for five seasons on Fox (1999 to 2003) earning Emmy® nominations each season while winning three times, including "Outstanding Animated Program" in 2002.

In the premiere episode, “Neutopia,” the Planet Express crew crash-lands on an unknown world, where they encounter a bizarre alien who is unfamiliar with the concept of gender. The creature subsequently conducts a series of experiments, modifying the crew members' sexual characteristics in strange and wondrous ways.

In the second episode, “Benderama,” Bender gains the power of infinite self-replication, producing a vast horde of smaller and smaller Benders. Comedian Patton Oswalt guest-stars as "Unattractive Giant Monster," a repulsive alien who is extremely sensitive about his appearance. When the giant's feelings are hurt by the people of Earth, it is up to Bender and his minions to fend off the giant's attack in an epic battle of Good vs. Ugly.

Special guest stars this season include Patton Oswalt, Dan Castellaneta, Stephen Hawking, and Buzz Aldrin. The show's entire original voice cast will be returning, including stars Billy West, Katey Sagal and John DiMaggio.

The "Futurama" Web site features episode previews, highlights and mash-up videos of some of the funniest moments from the previous seasons. The site also features exclusive interviews with the show’s cast, as well as with Matt Groening and David X. Cohen and the making of an episode mini-documentary. Starting on Monday, June 6, the site will feature bi-weekly collections of five “Futurama” full episodes selected by the cast and crew, beginning with the “5 Nerdiest Episodes” selected by David X. Cohen. The “Futurama” Facebook fan base has grown from one million “likes” prior to its return last summer to close to 14 million “likes” today, making it one of the top television sites on Facebook. On Wednesday, May 4, COMEDY CENTRAL launched the “Countdown to Futurama” on Facebook that features an exclusive sneak preview of season 6B content each day, including sneak peek clips, episode stills, storyboards, character designs and more.

"Futurama," created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening and David X. Cohen, is produced by Twentieth Century Fox Television, with Rough Draft Studios, Inc. contributing the animation.



See Also: Comedy Central Turns To Facebook To Promote New Season Of FUTURAMA / Futurama - The Only Good Human Is A Dead Human - Paper Giclee Print / 26 New Episodes Of FUTURAMA On Deck For Comedy Central / The Philosophy Of Fry / Futurama - Series 1 - Nibbler Plush Doll / Futurama - Rebirth Paper Giclee Print / FUTURAMA Hits The Century Mark! 100 Episodes And Still Going Strong! / FUTURAMA And Other Comedy Central Panels At Comic Con / The Triumphant Return Of FUTURAMA - Part 3 - Video Montage! / The Triumphant Return Of FUTURAMA - Part 2 - New Images / Storyboards! / The Triumphant Return Of FUTURAMA - New Images! / Four Brand New Images From FUTURAMA! / "We're Back Baby!" Futurama Cast Members Returning To Show! / Bad News Everyone! Futurama Voice Actors Unlikely To Return For New Series / Good News Everyone! Fox And Comedy Central Order 26 New Episodes Of Futurama / Wizard World Texas Scores The Premiere Of Futurama Bender’s Game / Futurama: The Beast With A Billion Backs Trailer / Futurama Series 2 Action Figure Set / Futurama: The Beast With A Billion Backs

Comedy Central Turns To Facebook To Promote New Season Of FUTURAMA

Source: Comedy Central

COMEDY CENTRAL is taking “Futurama” fans on a 50 day multi-platform journey leading up to the season premiere on Thursday, June 23 at 10 p.m. The "Countdown To 'Futurama'" launches on Facebook on Wednesday, May 4 – every day for 50 days, the network will release a new piece of exclusive content including preview clips, character designs, episode stills, story boards and much more. For the kick-off, COMEDY CENTRAL will post a sneak peek clip from the season premiere episode. "Futurama’s" Facebook page has over 12 million fans and ranks among the Top 5 animated television show pages.

In addition to Facebook, COMEDY CENTRAL will feature the "Countdown To 'Futurama'" on-air and online, including a daily feature on CC Insider, the COMEDY CENTRAL blog and on mobile with SMS messaging.

"Futurama" focuses on the life of Philip Fry (Billy West), a 25-year-old pizza delivery boy who accidentally freezes himself on December 31, 1999 and wakes up 1,000 years later with a fresh start at life and a "diverse" new group of friends including Leela (Katey Sagal), a tough but lovely one-eyed alien and Bender (John DiMaggio), a robot who possesses human characteristics and flaws. The series aired for five seasons on Fox (1999 to 2003) earning Emmy® nominations each season while winning three times, including "Outstanding Animated Program" in 2002.

"Futurama," created by Matt Groening and developed by Groening and David X. Cohen, is produced by twentieth Century Fox Television, with Rough Draft Studios, Inc. contributing the animation.

20th Century Fox Television, a division of News Corp, is a leading supplier of entertainment content domestically and around the world.

Futurama

See Also:Futurama - The Only Good Human Is A Dead Human - Paper Giclee Print / 26 New Episodes Of FUTURAMA On Deck For Comedy Central / The Philosophy Of Fry / Futurama - Series 1 - Nibbler Plush Doll / Futurama - Rebirth Paper Giclee Print / FUTURAMA Hits The Century Mark! 100 Episodes And Still Going Strong! / FUTURAMA And Other Comedy Central Panels At Comic Con / The Triumphant Return Of FUTURAMA - Part 3 - Video Montage! / The Triumphant Return Of FUTURAMA - Part 2 - New Images / Storyboards! / The Triumphant Return Of FUTURAMA - New Images! / Four Brand New Images From FUTURAMA! / "We're Back Baby!" Futurama Cast Members Returning To Show! / Bad News Everyone! Futurama Voice Actors Unlikely To Return For New Series / Good News Everyone! Fox And Comedy Central Order 26 New Episodes Of Futurama / Wizard World Texas Scores The Premiere Of Futurama Bender’s Game / Futurama: The Beast With A Billion Backs Trailer / Futurama Series 2 Action Figure Set / Futurama: The Beast With A Billion Backs

26 New Episodes Of FUTURAMA On Deck For Comedy Central

Source: Comedy Central

The future is looking bright for Fry, Leela and Bender!

COMEDY CENTRAL and Twentieth Century Fox Television have announced today the pick-up of 26 new episodes (Seasons "7- A" and "7-B") of Matt Groening and David X. Cohen's brilliantly subversive animated sci-fi comedy, "Futurama." The announcement was made today by Twentieth Century Fox Television Chairmen Gary Newman and Dana Walden, and David Bernath, Executive Vice President, program strategy and multiplatform programming for COMEDY CENTRAL. The first installment of 13 new episodes will premiere in the summer of 2012, with the additional 13 new episodes to air the following summer of 2013 on COMEDY CENTRAL.

Seven years after its last original episode aired on Fox, the sixth season premiere of "Futurama" last June led COMEDY CENTRAL to its best Thursday prime ever among young men. The animated sci-fi comedy continued its out-of-this-world winning streak throughout the summer, averaging 2.5 million viewers each week, along with a 1.5 P18-49 rating, a 3.0 M18-34 rating and 3.3 M18-24 rating. In the social media realm, the "Futurama" Facebook fan base has grown from one million "likes" prior to its return last summer to over 11 million "likes" today, making it one of the top television sites on Facebook.

"Successfully bringing the show back last summer was gratifying enough," said Bernath. "Now, being able to extend the series for two more years is beyond our expectations! The dedicated fans have spoken and we are excited to bring them 'Futurama' for the foreseeable future.""We're very grateful to COMEDY CENTRAL and Twentieth Television for this show of support," said Matt Groening and David X. Cohen. "Our entire staff will celebrate tonight by going out and getting even drunker.""Matt and David created one of the most brilliantly subversive animated comedies ever made in 'Futurama' and we consider its continued life on COMEDY CENTRAL to be a huge victory for this studio," commented TCFTV Chairmen Dana Walden and Gary Newman. "This show is a tremendous labor of love for all concerned, from its talented voice cast to the incredible writers and animators who pour so much of themselves into every episode. And its fans are among the most loyal and passionate there are, so we're especially pleased to be able to promise them many more original episodes to look forward to in the years ahead."

The show's entire original voice cast will be returning, including stars Billy West, Katey Sagal, and John DiMaggio. "It is my great honor to be back with all my friends and colleagues," said West. "There's nothing better."John DiMaggio commented, "Winner, winner, chicken dinner!"

"Futurama" was a staple of Fox's Sunday night animation block from 1999 to 2003 before ceasing production on original episodes. In June 2006, COMEDY CENTRAL acquired the rights to the existing 72 episodes of the series, which the channel began airing in January 2008 and four recently-produced extended-length "Futurama" adventures: "Bender's Big Score," "The Beast with a Billion Backs," "Bender's Game" and "Into the Wild Green Yonder," which enjoyed enormous success both on COMEDY CENTRAL and in DVD release.

"Futurama" is only the second series in the history of the medium to go back into production based on the strength of its DVD sales and repeat airings on cable.

"Futurama" focuses on the life of Philip Fry (Billy West), a 25 -year-old pizza delivery boy who accidentally freezes himself on December 31, 1999 and wakes up 1,000 years later with a fresh start at life and a "diverse" new group of friends including Leela (Katey Sagal), a tough but lovely one-eyed alien and Bender (John DiMaggio), a robot who possesses human characteristics and flaws.

The series aired for five seasons on Fox (1999 to 2003) earning Emmy® nominations each season while winning three times, including "Outstanding Animated Program" in 2002."

See Also: The Philosophy Of Fry / Futurama - Series 1 - Nibbler Plush Doll / Futurama - Rebirth Paper Giclee Print / FUTURAMA Hits The Century Mark! 100 Episodes And Still Going Strong! / FUTURAMA And Other Comedy Central Panels At Comic Con / The Triumphant Return Of FUTURAMA - Part 3 - Video Montage! / The Triumphant Return Of FUTURAMA - Part 2 - New Images / Storyboards! / The Triumphant Return Of FUTURAMA - New Images! / Four Brand New Images From FUTURAMA! / "We're Back Baby!" Futurama Cast Members Returning To Show! / Bad News Everyone! Futurama Voice Actors Unlikely To Return For New Series / Good News Everyone! Fox And Comedy Central Order 26 New Episodes Of Futurama / Wizard World Texas Scores The Premiere Of Futurama Bender’s Game / Futurama: The Beast With A Billion Backs Trailer / Futurama Series 2 Action Figure Set / Futurama: The Beast With A Billion Backs