Futurama is back (for twenty more episodes), baby!
Hulu has announced today that they've renewed the acclaimed animated series for twenty additional episodes, which will be split into two ten-episode seasons, Season 13 and Season 14, which are likely to debut in 2025 and 2026, respectively.
Additionally, we've also received official confirmation that Season 12 will premiere in 2024, and even though we don't have an exact release window, it's probably a safe bet it'll arrive sometime next summer, similar to the most recent season, although, there is always a chance the next batch of ten episodes could arrive sooner to meet the demand.
Season 11, which ran from July to September this year, debuted a decade after the series initially concluded and ran for ten episodes. The new season currently boasts a stellar 86% Certified Fresh rating on review aggregator RottenTomatoes, so hopes are certainly high for next season and beyond.
Hulu describes Futurama as a key pillar of their newly launched Animayhem brand, so it seems probable they have plans for a lot more than just the thirty episodes they currently have in the pipeline.
The voice cast will return John DiMaggio (Bender Bending Rodriguez), Billy West (Philip J. Fry; Professor Hubert J. Farnsworth; Dr. John A. Zoidberg; Zapp Brannigan), Katey Sagal (Turanga Leela), Tress MacNeille (Mom), Maurice LaMarche (Kif Kroker; Calculon), Lauren Tom (Amy Wong), Phil LaMarr (Phil LaMarr), and David Herman (Scruffy).
Futurama originally launched in 1999 on Fox before being canceled for the first time. It was then revived on Comedy Central with straight-to-DVD films in 2008 and then aired two more seasons before being canceled again. Flash forward ten years and Hulu brought the show back again for the latest episodes. To date, the show has aired 150 episodes, so it seems like reaching 200 before the end of the decade is a very real possibility.
After a brief ten-year hiatus, “Futurama” has sprung triumphantly from the cryogenic tube, its full original cast and satirical spirit intact. The ten all-new episodes of season eleven have something for everyone. 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.