Futurama creator Matt Groening and the original cast of the bygone television animated series have returned in a 42-minute podcast episode available at various online sites.
Created as part of the Futurama: Worlds of Tomorrow mobile game, the episode was helmed by Groening, series head writer and executive producer David X. Cohen, and the original team of writers. The new episode features the voices of the original cast and is now live at nerdist.com, soundcloud.com, and at Spotify, where it can be downloaded and listened to for free.
Futurama aired on Fox from 1999 to 2003, and was revived in 2007 as four direct-to-video films that later appeared on Comedy Central as 16 new, half-hour episodes. It was then revived for 26 new episodes on that channel, finally ending in September, 2013. The show won six Emmy awards and has spawned a line of merchandise that embraces video games, clothes and figurines.
The new episode came to life after the team was reunited to create original content for the mobile game Futurama: Worlds of Tomorrow. The experience generated enough fan interest that game creators Jam City and TinyCo collaborated with Groening, et. al to create a new episode that was integrated with the game.
The new podcast episode brings a reunion of the Planet Express crew, including Fry, Bender, Leela, Professor Farnsworth, Zoidberg, Amy, and Hermes—plus Borax Kid, Calculon, and the return of the popular robot soap opera, All My Circuits.
While on a routine mission to Junkleon 7, the crew encounters Klaxxon, a nefarious life form composed entirely of soundwaves from 21st-century podcasts. The crew must then save Earth from Klaxxon.
“Last year I cornered two fine gentlemen–Matt Groening and David X. Cohen–and pitched the idea of doing a new Futurama episode as a podcast/radio play because it’s one of my favorite things and I need more of it, said Chris Hardwick, the comedian who runs nerdist.com. “Today, I am drooling with unfiltered joy to say that a) it’s actually happening, b) I got to voice the villain (Klaxxon) and c) I’m a freaking head in a jar in Futurama: Worlds of Tomorrow, a game I’ve been feverishly playing since it came out. Galaxies of thanks to Matt, David and TinyCo for acquiescing to the maniacal ravings of a well-meaning fanboy.”
The Futurama: Worlds of Tomorrow mobile game was created by Los Angeles-based Jam City, which involves former MySpace co-founders Chris DeWolfe, Aber Whitcomb, and former 20th Century Fox executive Josh Yguado. The company owns TinyCo., which specializes in creating mobile games, and is partnered with Fox Next Games, which produces the games based on the studio’s film and television properties, and the Rough Draft animation studios.
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