comic-con 2002

adam, jonathan, sumir, and vince on 08/09/2002 12:19:50 -0700

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Panelists: Matt Groening, David X. Cohen, Bill Odenkirk, Patrick Verrone, Ken Keeler, Dan Vebber, Billy West, John DiMaggio, Phil Lamarr, Maurice Lamarche, Claudia Katz, and Rich Moore

This was absolute the highlight of the convention for me. Heaven is watching an unseen episode of Futurama on the big screen with 600 other fans. The panel addressed many concerns surrounding the doubtful future of Futurama, the fact being that Fox asked the writers to start finding other jobs. However, I was relieved to learn that Futurama would live on no matter what the cost. Here some other fun moments/news from the panel:
 

	Katey Sagal and John Ritter are apparently going to be in a sitcom together.
	Al Gore will return in a new episode next season.
	David X. Cohen commented on Fox's censorship, which is nothing short of a word search program. Futurama exploits this in certain ways. They found that they could slip in "freebase" as long as they separated it into "free" and "base". Also, they frequently employ handy euphemisms for genitalia and genitalia-related activities.
	John DiMaggio emulating Bender as a woman.
	Maurice Lamarche emulating Kif making love.
	Billy West as Fry, singing "I'm Walking on Sunshine" with John DiMaggio beatboxing.
	Maurice Lamarche relaying an anecdote about William Shatner refusing to pronounce "sabotage" correctly in a voiceover.
	Most of the voice actors are apparently able to do the other voices from the show, so there was a short "conversation" in which each voice actor adopted another character's voice.

I would say that the focus of the panel was centered on the voice actors, who are in particular a very talented group. Billy, Phil, John, and Maurice each mentioned how some of their character's voices were "born", which in every single case was somewhat of a marriage of other voices they've done or they've admired when growing up. There was also some recognition for the writers, however, specifically when an audience member brought up an episode entitled "Godfellas", in which Bender is floating in space as a god to tiny beings living on him. It stands out in particular as some of the best science fiction I've ever seen, and original as well.

I encourage those who don't watch Futurama to give it a first chance or a second chance, and those who do to force other people to watch it. The entire staff behind this show is outrageously creative and intelligent, and if you need more evidence, one of the writers (Dan Vebber) was also a panelist on the Starship Smackdown: Battleship! panel.

-Vince

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