I am blind with fury. Fox is about to fuck up again. I can’t believe this is happening. Casting calls have been put out for everyone on Futurama! E-mail the casting director and tell him how much of an asshole he is, FUTURAMA@SCOTTMULLERCASTING.COM.
As excited as I was about the return of Futurama, FOX has once again ruined that experience by their callous actions. According to no less than cast members John DiMaggio, Phil LaMarr, and Maurice LaMarche on their Facebook pages, a casting notice has gone out to replace actors DiMaggio, LaMarche, Billy West and Katy Sagal.
Hit the jump for the entire casting sheet.
Thursday, Jul. 16, 2009, 5:54 PM Pacific
FUTURAMA
Voice Over
Episodic
1/2 hour animated comedy for Twentieth Century Fox Television
SAGCreators Matt Groening and David X. Cohen
Casting Director: Scott Muller
Shoot/Start Date: August
Pay Rate: TBD
Location: Los AngelesSUBMIT ELECTRONICALLY
OR
FOR SUBMISSION OF AUDIO ONLY (MP3S ON CD PLEASE) KING OF THE HILL
ATTN: SCOTT MULLER
15821 VENTURA BLVD.
ENCINO, CA
91436VOICE AUDITIONS MAY BE SENT IN THE FOLLOWING WAYS:
1. MP3 AUDIO AUDITIONS ONLINE IN WHATEVER MEANS IS CONVENIENT FOR YOU.
2. MP3 AUDIO AUDITIONS ON CD.
3.EMAILED AS ATTACHMENTS TO: FUTURAMA@SCOTTMULLERCASTING.COM (NOTE: PLEASE USE THIS METHOD SPARINGLY, ATTACHMENTS NOT TO EXCEED 5 MB) AUDITIONS SHOULD BE SENT ASAP AS WE WILL BE MOVING QUICKLY. PRODUCER SESSIONS WILL BE HELD AT A DATE TBD.
We are starting casting immediately for Futurama, a half-hour animated comedy created by Matt Groening and David X. Cohen. Descriptions of these established characters follow, along with links to clips of previous episodes for reference.
SERIES REGULAR ROLES:
[ PHILIP J. FRY (FRY) ]
Fry, a 20th century slacker, works as a pizza delivery boy. On December 21st, 1999, he is cryogenically frozen and wakes up 1000 years in the future in the city of New New York. Through a series of events, Fry tracks down his great (x30) nephew Professor Hubert Farnsworth and lands a job at the Professors Planet Express delivery company as a delivery boy. Fry bunks with Planet Expresss beer-swilling robot, Bender. Fry is constantly trying to win the heart of Leela, the companys ship captain…SERIES REGULARhttp://www.comedycentral.com/videos/index.jhtml?videoId=164702&title=flashback-freeze (Episode 5ACV03)
[ TURANGA LEELA (LEELA) ]
Leela, a sexy Cyclops, is the captain of the Planet Express delivery ship. Leela is in charge of every company mission, having her hands full keeping Fry and Bender in line. Her early years were spent in an orphanage where she was a bit of an outcast for having one eye. She took up kickboxing and other similar sports to make up for the lack of friends. She still has problems with men and often gets jealous of Amys (her co-worker) popularity among the opposite sex. She has a soft spot for Fry but is unsure of anything further than that, due to Frys clumsy advances…SERIES REGULARhttp://www.comedycentral.com/videos/index.jhtml?videoId=162824&title=leelas-timeline (Episode 4ACV02)
[ BENDER BENDING RODRIQUEZ (BENDER) ]
Bender, a cigar-smoking, booze-guzzling, kleptomaniac robot, had a successful career in bending girders but tired to kill himself when he found out the girders were being used for suicide booths. He was saved by Fry and later took a job at Planet Express. To be able to function properly, Bender needs the chemical energy from alcohol. Excessive drinking is mandatory or he will become sober and unable to control his body. Magnets stuck to his head make him sing like a folk singer…SERIES REGULARhttp://www.comedycentral.com/videos/index.jhtml?videoId=188899&title=bender-the-drone (Episode 5ACV05)
[ PROFESSOR HUBERT FARNSWORTH (PROFESSOR) ]
Professor Hubert Farnsworth is the owner of the Planet Express delivery company, which he uses to fund his strange scientific experiments. He also lectures at Mars University on the mathematics of quantum neutrino fields (he made up the name so no one would dare take the course). He is technically 160 years old, but to avoid being picked up by the sunset squad and taken to the near death star he says he is only 150…SERIES REGULARhttp://www.comedycentral.com/videos/index.jhtml?videoId=217636&title=back-in-action (Episode 5ACV01)
[ DR. JOHN ZOIDBERG (ZOIDBERG) ]
Dr. Zoidberg, a lobster-like alien, left his home planet of Decapod 10 to become a rich doctor but instead became the Planet Express staff doctor (doesnt pay so well). Zoidberg, who is usually shunned by the rest of the Planet Express crew, is always in search of his next meal. His skill as a surgeon, and basic knowledge of human anatomy, are often called into question. He secretly desires to become a stand-up comedian…SERIES REGULARhttp://www.comedycentral.com/videos/index.jhtml?videoId=147743&title=love-lessons (Episode 2ACV05)
FUTURAMA RECURRING ROLES:
[ MOM ]
Mom is the very old, very rich, very ruthless founder of Moms Friendly Robot Company. She has three sons: Walt, Larry, and Igner, who work for the company and help Mom do her dirty work. Many years ago, Farnsworth worked for Moms Friendly Robot Company, and they had a fling, which ended when Mom kept turning Farnsworths cute inventions into mad, killing machines…RECURRINGhttp://www.comedycentral.com/videos/index.jhtml?videoId=147736&title=mothers-day (Episode 2ACV14)
[ ZAPP BRANNIGAN ]
Zapp Brannigan is a 25-star General of the Democratic Order of Planets and has been responsible for several successful wars including a triumph over the pacifists of the Ghandi Nebula. He is always accompanies on mission by his hapless assistant Kif Kroker. Behind all his bravado he is a wimp who is not very intelligent. He once slept with Leela, a fact hat he constantly reminds her of…RECURRINGhttp://www.hulu.com/watch/60311/futurama-zapp-in-the-shower (Episode 2ACV17)
[ KIF KROKER (KIF) ]
Kif Kroker is a hard working, long suffering alien Lieutenant of the DOOP who does all the hard work and takes the rap for problems usually caused by Zapp Brannigan (his superior officer). Zapp considers Kif to be his most loyal friend however, Kif in fact views Zapp as an imbecile. He is smitten with his current girlfriend Amy. He has no bones and is supported by a system of inflated bladders…RECURRINGhttp://www.hulu.com/watch/4471/futurama-kif-is-pregnant (Episode 4ACV01)
it’s a shame, but entertainment is a business. they better find some damn good voice actors though, cuz if the voices change significantly, a lot of people are gonna hate it.
They’re making a goddamn stupid business decision, then, aren’t they? Part of the reason the show is good is because of the voice actors. Recasting a classic is going to make people hate it. Period.
If they make a new Futurama without the old cast they really are fucking assholes!
i have to really agree with you guys/girls because what makes futurama is the voices of the actors and if you dont have that with the new series coming out then what is the point of making a new season of futurama????? please inform me if you will becuase you all know im RIGHT!!!!!
This rates as the most dumb thing I have read this week, possibly this year. Why on Earth would they change the formula they plan to revive? Argh. F’ing fools.
My email is as follows:
“Are you serious? You idiots are actully considering recasting the show? How dumb can Fox become? They simply screw up everyshow they create that is worth a damn. You guys killed the show because you didnt think it was viable anymore. Adult Swim brings it back (same as family guy) and then you guys realize how stupid you are for canceling it in the first place. Then you decide to go ahead and screw up what made the original great by recasting the characters? What are you people smoking? This will fail. The people that want this back are the hardcore fans. You will cause backlash. I’m sure you could care less, but its fact. This will fail. Youre going to ruin a good thing. For no apparent reason.”
yup, so wrong.
wtf are they thinking?? joe does bender’s voice so well.
imo, this is tv suicide. what if family guy decided to recast all of its characters? yea, i am not sure i could come back and watch it.
“joe does bender’s voice so well.”
An honest mistake, but also hilarious.
You’re still watching Family Guy? Do you get stoned out of your mind ahead of time? If people are still watching Family Guy than this new recast Futurama will do just fine, because apparently people will watch anything.
You still watch Futurama?
No.
People are still watching family guy because they didn’t change the voice actors. Maybe if someone new watched Futurama after they changed the voices they would not care, but after watching it for ages and then they change them then… i will not watch it. FUCK YOU FOX.
I’m glad the show is coming back, but I won’t be happy (and I probably won’t watch) if they don’t cast the same actor’s voices from the prior seasons.
The only reason I could think of is that the actors thought they were worth more than than Fox thought they were worth.
With falling advertising revenue, cuts need to be made.
With falling advertising revenue, cuts need to be made.
Yeah, but the actors are the show. If it isn’t financially feasible to sign on the original cast, they should just bag the whole idea and forget about doing the show. It’ll be a break-even decision, which is a whole lot better than they would do if they tried to re-cast. The ratings would be zero.
Isn’t Futurama a Matt Groenig show? And doesn’t another MG show, some obscure show called, ummm, the Simpsons… yeah, that’s it. Doesn’t the Simpson’s have a policy of NOT replacing the actor who does a voice, even if that original actor dies?
Sigh…. No accounting for taste with this one.
Umm .. actually The Simpsons’ voice cast have had strikes and extended negotiations several times, and each of those times Fox has brought up the possibility of replacing the cast with ringers.
RodriQuez? ¿Qué?
They are just trying to scare the actors into lowering their rates. This type of thing happens all the time, it is just a BS negotiating tactic. It’s really nothing to worry about.
From memory, Fox threatened to do this with the Simpsons. I hope this is the same type of thing.
LOL at drawing any comparison with The Simpsons, which brings in nine figures/year in merchandise. Futurama isn’t nearly as profitable, especially with new technologies and the show airing on cable.
I paid $70 for the Season 5 DVDs…not gonna pay that much for Season 6 now that I have a DVR at home.
Sorry for the double post, had to confirm. Here’s a quote from Fox:
“We love the ‘Futurama’ voice performers and absolutely wanted to use them, but unfortunately, we could not meet their salary demands,” the studio said in a statement Friday. “While replacing these talented actors will be difficult, the show must go on.”
Seriously.. why do producers keep selling to Fox?
If they do this they should save their money and let the show stay dead because it will be dead to me anyway.
This is the dumbest mother*(&*)*)(* idea from Fox in years…
What fucking idiots. Fucking, fucking idiots.
Did you used to go to KPS?
people that are sticking up for the studio and claiming that the show will still be the same I am calling you out “You are not true fans of the show” you cant be. If this is to be a true business decision then make the right one. Let the show die. Go ahead blame it on the actors I dont care call it greed or whatever. True fans of this show would never except an imatation Bender. Let it die or lose a ton of cash trying to shove crap down our troats.
I thought they were going to Comedy Central so why does Fox have anything to do with them anymore
Sorry for the double post, but are we 100% sure this isn’t some 4chan prank? This seems like the type of crap they’d pull.
i bet the /b/tards are infuriated as well. this is the final nail in the coffin, re-cancelled after episode 1, guaranteed.
If this is a ploy to get the actors to lower their rates, I bet we see a joke about it in the first new episode.
Seriously, this is even low for Fox’s standards. They cancelled so many decent shows only to revive them later. What idiots do they have down there running the place. I will forever stop watching Futurama if a recast were to happen. I also hope that the show would fail and the advertisers would suffer. Matt and David (and the cast) deserve better than Fox.
This is simply the way Fox gets revenge. The show will do horribly because of the new voice cast, Fox will cancel the show based on poor ratings, and will then use this as an excuse to never bring back shows ever again.
haha did you notice the clip the casting call uses for the professor? http://www.comedycentral.com/videos/index.jhtml?videoId=217636&title=back-in-action
too funny…
let’s hope its just a tactic and billy and the gang end up doing the voices.
This has happened before (specifically to The Critic, among others) where this is an executive decision to kill its own show. Fox has tried many many times to kill Futurama with no success. And since Futurama hasnt had quite as much success as Family Guy, Fox continues to try to kill it, mostly to give the middle finger to Matt Groenig.
Its a stupid decision, probably spurred on by alienation of the original talent, but I think Fox will finally get their way and Futurama will die and unfortunate and unfair death.
I’m sorry, but I’m a little confused. I assume this was 20th Century Fox’s decision, and not Fox the network as Comedy Central is the one who is going to be airing the new episodes?
Is it also possible that this is all some big hoax that the 3 voice actors perpetrated on an easily-fooled public? I’m not sure I trust 3 people’s fb pages as the most reliable source…
Thank you! I didn’t see what you wrote until I posted my thoughts on this article. COMEDY CENTRAL is responsible for Futurama NOT FOX. It’s terrible that I see Fox SUX on every site linking to this one. Way to go shitty journalism……….
You all do realize that the actors are to blame as well; they want a ridiculous amount of money each for reprising these roles. Now, I love the show, will hate any changes and will boycott the show if the familiar voices are no longer foamier. I do think that Comedy Central AND the actors needs to rethink the salary demands because they will lose fan base if they do not.
I think this is fake. For one thing, the descriptions don’t explain a lot about the characters, and for another, there are a whole lot of typos. I can see this as a publicity stunt to get everyone’s attention (which it has).
Fox would be incredibly stupid to think that they can change the voice actors who made Futurama what it is.
If this is in fact true, then all the DVD sales were for nothing.
Cheap bastards!
Hit the advertisers: period. They want to play this game. We need a strong show of solidarity and boycott the products that support the show. I would rather live with only what we have of the Futurama canon than to have replacements. We support the show and that mean the actors as well.
Start a boycott on Facebook! Watch how fast they retract this foolishness.
Alright folks. Being that doing a google search for Scott muller casting brings nothing up, I’m long to go with this just being a big joke. Let’s all calm down a bit.
Dear Crunchgear,
Please get your info right, and redirect your hatefest. Comedy Central is Futurama’s new Network and Fox has NOTHING do to with it anymore. So I suggest you rename this article and edit a few key details, because Comedy Central is our new enemy.
Thanks!
I call for boycott if they do this atrocity.
Even here in Belgium we think it is the biggest mistake Fox would ever do. Why does someone like Matt waste his time with those jerks anyway! :0)
Cheers!
I have to agree that something doesn’t seem right about this whole situation. Being that Futurama is now on Comedy Central, not Fox anymore, The Box Network (Futurama humor) shouldn’t have anything to do with the series anymore unless they own Comedy Central. Also, there is no way they would claim to not have the currency to pay the assorted voice talent their episode dues with all the money they make. Futurama without Billy, John, Maurice, Katy, Tress and the rest of the cast would be a fatal mistake on their part. Everyone knows the show and the voice cast. Any change would be instantly noticeable and spurned. I definitely would not watch a new season without my favorite voice actors, especially Billy West and Maurice LaMarche.
FOX still owns Futurama, they just let Comedy Central air it.
FOX is just leeching off the show, hating it and they hate everyone who loves it
“The show must go on” they say, coming from the people who cancelled it, never wanted the movies to be made, the hypocritical fucks.
Just found this over on Billy West’s forum.
————————————–
Join the following group on Facebook:
Save the Voices of Futurama
Follow the instructions:
Use YOUR voice to save THEIR voice
•Step 1:
Write an email with “Save the Voices of Futurama” in the subject line
•Step 2:
In the body of the email start with, “If the vocal cast of Futurama is changed I will not watch the new episodes”
•Step 3:
Add whatever additional comments you would like to make. Please be decent and respectful. Don’t allow them to discount your opinion because of rude or crude comments.
•Step 4:
Send this email to the following addresses:
futurama@scottmullercasting.com
melissa.sugiura@mtvstaff.com
steve.albani@comedycentral.com
•••••Extra Credit/Extra Fun•••••
Literally use YOUR voice instructions:
•Step 1:
Record an MP3 file in the voice of your favorite Futurama character saying, “Leave the cast alone!”
•Step 2:
Attach file to email with Subject “Casting call”
•Step 3:
Send to futurama@scottmullercasting.com
This whole thing is probably a joke they’ll work into an episode. If new episodes ever actually air. And if they do, please, for the love of everything holy, don’t bring back those annoying kids.
Very bad idea. You have to keep the voices the same.
Please don’t hassle Scott, The casting director.
Its the executives’ decision. He’s just doing his job.
Futurama is one series that I’ve actually refrained from downloading and, instead, paid for all the DVDs and movies that have been released since the series was cancelled because I want to support the Futurama Team and encourage a comeback.
But I won’t be buying or watching the series if they don’t bring back the original voice talent for all of the main characters. They shouldn’t even waste their time doing the project if they can’t keep some continuity like voice talent (which was pivotal to the show’s success, imo).
Well, I guess I won’t be watching the new episodes. How is Fox still making money by making nothing but bad decisions? Oh wait, they have Family Guy, a show about a retard and a gay baby that only fat, socially inept stoners find funny.
Count me in — I too have bought (and liked) most of the DVD releases. I’m not a pirate anyway and the double-standards put out by execs (e.g. lower prices in countries where piracy is higher but they still can’t fathom how FREE IS STILL CHEAPER EVEN IF IT’S A SHADY DOING), but I digress.
The original voice actors made the show.
And $75k per episode? That’s NOTHING for an established series.
Mind you, where do I sign up? If hollywood wants to pay big sums of money for merely speaking into a microphone, I’ll be more than happy to do it for less per episode… certainly big compared to what I currently do and make, which is still more substantial than saying lines with proper inflection into a microphone…
Andy Hansen: http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0612242/
Scott Muller is he executive casting director for Futurama. Googling brings that up as the first result so I’m not sure which “google” you’re using.
the*
I’ve started a petition: http://www.petitionspot.com/petitions/futuramarecast/
omfg, cant belive their replacing their voice actors. Its their second biggest mistake ever(seeing as the biggest mistake is taking Futurama off air back in 2003)
Its pointless and wont make the same *Bite my shiny metal ass* feeling as DiMaggio would make it.