Futurama returns on July 24th, and it’s one of the few TV revivals I’ll watch

After nearly ten years off the air, the sci-fi animated sitcom Futurama will return once more for a new season on July 24th. Hulu announced that it ordered a 20-episode revival of the series back in February 2022, and more than a year later, Futurama season 11 finally has a release date. All of the original voice cast is back for the revival, including John DiMaggio as Bender, who initially refused to sign on over a rumored pay dispute.

Futurama returns for season 11 on July 24

Futurama season 11 will consist of 10 episodes that will release weekly starting on Monday, July 24. Presumably, the other 10 episodes will arrive in the future as season 12.

“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,” reads the synopsis of the new season from Hulu. “Meanwhile there’s a whole new pandemic in town as the crew explores the future of vaccines, bitcoin, cancel culture, and streaming TV.”

TV show revivals are always a crapshoot, especially when those shows went out on as high a note as Futurama did ten years ago. “Meanwhile,” which was previously the series finale of the show, is arguably one of the show’s best episodes. It’s funny, emotional, thoughtful, and wildly satisfying, which is more than most finales are able to achieve.

Of course, it’s hard to blame creators Matt Groening and David X. Cohen for cashing a check to revive a world they love so dearly. The same is true of the outstanding cast, which, in addition to DiMaggio, includes Billy West (Philip J. Fry, Professor Farnsworth, and so many others), Katey Sagal (Turanga Leela), Phil LaMarr (Hermes Conrad), and Lauren Tom (Amy Wong).

Plus, they’ve done it before! The four direct-to-DVD movies that later morphed into season 5 are some of my favorite episodes in the show’s history, and they came five years after Fox canceled the show in 2003. This team has proven that they can return to these characters time and again, even after long breaks, and pick up right where they left off.

And then there’s Matt Groening, who has kept The Simpsons on the air for an eye-popping 34 seasons (and counting). Even if it isn’t able to capture the magic of the original run or the first revival, I can’t wait to see what this group has in store for season 11.