Futurama renewed for two more seasons at Hulu

You can’t keep Futurama down. The animated series developed by Matt Groening and David X. Cohen has cheated death time and time again, and it’s been announced that Hulu has renewed Futurama for two more seasons.

Futurama has been picked up for an additional 20 episodes, which will serve as seasons 13 and 14 (or 10 and 11). Hulu originally ordered 20 episodes of Futurama last year, and the first 10 episodes wrapped up their run in September. So this renewal means that fans have 30 more episodes of Futurama to look forward to. Good news indeed.

The original series aired on Fox from 1999-2003 but returned with four direct-to-DVD movies several years later. The success of those movies led to the show returning to television for two more seasons consisting of 26 episodes each before it was cancelled yet again in 2013. It’s somewhat remarkable that the series keeps being brought back, but its fans are a passionate bunch.

Futurama features the voices of Billy West, Katey Sagel, Tress MacNeille, Maurice LaMarche, Lauren Tom, Phil LaMarr, and David Herman, but the latest incarnation of the show almost moved ahead without John DiMaggio, who voices Bender. DiMaggio had been offered a deal on the same level as Billy West and Katey Sagel, but felt it was too low and countered. Hulu didn’t want to pay him more than West and Sagel, which led to a stalemate. The table reads for the new episodes even had someone else reading the role of Bender, but thankfully, they were able to reach a deal, and DiMaggio returned. Crisis averted.

“I’M BACK, BABY! So damn grateful for the love and support of fans and colleagues alike during this whole time (especially my wife, Kate), and I cannot wait to get back to work with my ‘Futurama’ family,” John DiMaggio said in a statement. “#Bendergate is officially over, so put it on the back of a shelf behind Xmas decorations, or maybe in that kitchen drawer with all of the other crap you put in there like old unusable crazy glue, or maybe even put it in a jar you save farts in. Whatever floats your boat, I don’t care, you get the picture. I’M BACK, BABY! BITE MY SHINY METAL ASS!”