Futurama Cast Returning, Fox Pay Dispute Settled
Update:Hitfixis reporting that John Dimaggio and Billy West haven’t signed yet, but they’re close. As probably the most iconic of the voices, perhaps they’re trying to work out a slightly better deal?
While many of us were prepping to tackle Comic-Con a few weeks ago, news broke that Fox wasplanning to recast the main actorsforFuturama’sreturn to televisionnext year. Unsurprisingly, the issue revolved around the actor’s pay. The news cast a shadow over theFuturamapanel at Comic-Con, where none of the cast were present even though they were readily available at the con. Today, we can all breathe a collective sigh of relief: TheToronto Star is reportingthat all of the cast members are back on board with new contracts.
Many figured that this pay dispute could have merely been an underhanded way for Fox to generate more publicity for the show, but then again Fox has a way of making incredibly stupid decisions when it comes toamazing television properties. I honestly couldn’t have imaginedFuturamawithout the original cast. After all, they had a hard enough time maintaining their former level of quality with the DVD films. Replacing the cast would have made me give up on the newFuturamaepisodes altogether.
We are thrilled to have our incredible cast back. The call has already gone out to the animators to put the mouths back on the characters.
With this news, I have high hopes forFuturama’sreentry to television. I think many of the DVD films suffered from trying to craft a coherent story within four episodes (the films were split up as individual eps for TV), and I’m glad that the writers will be able to return to the format they know best.
Discuss: Would you have watchedFuturamawithout the original cast? Are there any worries you have aboutFuturama’sreturn to television on Comedy Central?
