Futurama Executive Producer Talks Returning for Hulu Series, Coming Back From Cancellation, and More

Futurama has wrapped up its first season with a new revival series on Hulu, and Executive Producer Claudia Katz has opened up about many new elements that went into the episodes after coming back from another cancellation! Futurama is no stranger to cancellations as the series has survived not one, but two cancellations now on two different networks. But the strength of the animated series’ fandom has been such that Futurama fans have flocked to it each time it’s come back. That has been the case with Season 11 on Hulu over this Summer, and Futurama fans are excited to see what’s coming next. 

Futurama Season 11 is a new slate of episodes ten years after Futurama’s last broadcast, and Hulu has plans for another season already in the works. Executive Producer Claudia Katz (who has worked on series such as THE MAXX, The Simpsons Movie, and Disenchantment as well) is one of the many faces from the original runs of the series who returned for the new Futurama seasons on Hulu, and ComicBook.com got a chance to ask a few questions over email about her return ahead of Futurama Season 11’s finale. 

Futurama: Coming Back After 10 Years

When asked about how she felt about returning to Futurama with new episodes for Hulu after ten years, Katz was excited due to the amount of immediate support Hulu had for the new series, “It’s hard to beat the thrill of bringing the show back for us and the fans, but the partnership with 20th and Hulu is exceptional. They got behind the show as soon as we started, and the series’ relaunch and continued marketing is next level. I’m not sure the show has ever gotten quite this level of thoughtfulness and collaboration before.”

On reuniting with the original staff and cast, Katz revealed that it felt “seamless” getting back to work on Futurama, “They say you can’t go home again but turns out you can!” Katz began. “For the most part, it felt very seamless jumping back in. In addition to having our entire voice cast back, we have a lot of the original crew on both the writing and animation staff. And, we have the benefit of some incredible new talent on both staffs as well.”

As for fan reaction, Katz was glad to see the positive reactions to Futurama‘s new episodes, but wanted to be sure to welcome potential new fans as well, “The reaction has been great and that speaks to the quality of the new episodes. We want to make sure our diehard fans are super happy and get some new fans as well.” Elaborating further on the team’s goal for the new episodes, Katz explained the team wanted to reward fans of the previous runs but not exclude new viewers, “We have such devoted fans, the goal is always to reward them for sticking with us, but not exclude anyone who is just joining the fandom.” 

Futurama Season 11 had its fair share of hot-button topic episodes tackling COVID-19, Bitcoin mining and more, and Katz explained that the team wanted to explore things that have happened in the last decade, but tried their best to avoid being outdated, “Given all that has transpired in the last 10-years, there’s probably 10-seasons worth of new material. However, we try not to get so topical that a reference feels outdated as soon as the episode premieres. There are central themes that drive the hot button topics we do choose which hopefully help them stand the test of time.”

“Seems like you can always find an episode of Futurama airing somewhere day or night, and that’s helped build nostalgia for the show and bring in new fans,” Katz began when asked about how Futurama‘s latest cancellation and return has affected the series, “The episodes are layered and sophisticated so you can get new things out of watching the same episode multiple times. That said, this past cancellation led to a 10+ year drought of new episodes which really fed demand and renewed interest. I think this is the longest we’ve ever been away!”

What di you think of Futurama Season 11? Let us know all of your thoughts about it in the comments! You can even reach out to me directly about all things animation and other cool stuff @Valdezology on Twitter!