It's baaaaack!

That's right - tonight marks the return of the animated sci-fi comedy hit Futurama!

Created by Simpsons creator Matt Groening and originally airing on Fox (just like the Simpsons), it's timeslot got shuffled around quite often during it's original run from 1999-2003 and while it was never officially canceled, Fox stopped buying episodes after the 4th season, putting it out of production.

The show got a second life though as it began airing on Cartoon Network in the late night Adult Swim block along with other Fox shows like Family Guy and King of the Hill and just like Family Guy, it gained an even bigger following than it did in its original run. I never really watched it during the original run but I got hooked watching it late night during Adult Swim when I was in college (it was around 2005, when we moved into the apartment) and grew to love the characters!

In 2005 Comedy Central acquired the rights to the show and after the contract with Cartoon Network expired, Comedy Central started airing all the episodes, as well as breaking up the recent DVD movies into 4 episodes each and airing them that way. In summer 2009 they announced that all new episodes (26 in total) were being created and would begin airing summer 2010.

The all new season starts tonight and fans of the show are excited to once again see the Planet Express crew back in action in all new adventures!

For those not familiar with Futurama, the show takes place 1000 years in the future. We learn that Phillip J. Fry was a pizza boy who unwillingly fell into a cryogenic chamber on New Years Eve 1999 and woke up New Years Eve 2099. He eventually comes in contact with his distance nephew, The Professor, and begins working for him and the rag tag delivery crew of the Planet Express, including one-eyed captain Turanga Leela, cynical sarcastic robot Bender, Rastafarian accountant Hermes Conrad, spoiled rich engineer from Mars Amy, and lobster alien physician Zoidberg. Fry does his best to adjust to life in the future, where travel between planets is no big deal and robots and aliens are just like humans in a diverse universe. Also, celebrities from the past are preserved in the future via their heads kept in aquatic chambers.

It's a pretty amusing show, as each episode is a different adventure with social commentary (remember Poppers) or pop culture parody (remember the Titanic episode), or even a message thrown in (the episode where the Leela gets a 2nd eye to fit in).

While it's from the creator of the Simpsons, I'd say in most cases it's slightly toned down (although I guess Bender could be the equivalent to Bart) and it's nowhere near the "obsceneness" of other animated adult cartoons like South Park or Family Guy. It's a fun adult cartoon with a sci-fi, futuristic twist to it.

If you're interested or a fan of the show, be sure to check it out tonight when it makes its return on Comedy Central at 10/9c.