Matt Groening wants to chat; he really does.
Unfortunately, the creator of the upcoming animated TV show “Futurama” and “The Simpsons” is a bit distracted when we phone him at his home in L.A.
“My computer got soaked in a rainstorm, and I’m hoping it’s not ruined,” Groening gripes, tapping away desperately at his laptop. “I’m sorry. What do you want to know?”
How about giving us a preview of “Futurama”?
“The premise is this…
A pizza delivery guy from 1999, whose name is Fry (voiced by Billy West), is inadvertently frozen on New Year’s Eve and wakes up 1,000 years from now,” Groening reveals. “The rest of the series will be about his adventures in the future and his friendships with Bender (John DiMaggio), a very corrupt robot who drinks, shop-lifts and gambles, and Leela (Katey Sagal), a beautiful alien Cyclops.”
Groening continues: “Fry is the main guy, an oaf from our time, who we can relate to as he stumbles around the future. Part of the fantasy of `Futurama’ is: What would it be like to wake up one day and have everyone you know, love and despise be long gone? Can you reinvent yourself, or are you doomed to repeat the mistakes of your previous life?”
We figure Fry could turn out to be another Bart Simpson, an animated superstar lots of kids adore and lots of parents consider a menace to society. Asked if kids will like “Futurama,” Groening replies, “If you like `The Simpsons,’ if your parents let you watch `The Simpsons,’ you’ll probably dig `Futurama.’ It’s fast and funny like `The Simpsons.’ The characters have big eyeballs and no chins, just like in `The Simpsons,’ because that’s all I know how to do. And we’ve got cool robots and ray guns and people getting zapped left and right.”
The action in “Futurama” unfolds not in Springfield, but in New York City. And if life in the Big Apple is nuts now, wait until you see Groening’s depiction of it!
“It’s basically like Springfield 1,000 years from now,” he says, still banging on his computer. “Is Springfield a good place to live? Kind of. People are pretty happy there, but there’s a nuclear power plant that has a meltdown every third or fourth episode. So, in the future we have a wonderful world full of amazing gadgets, but they don’t always work right. It still takes a long time to download things off the Internet. Many of our favorite celebrities (including Dick Clark, Pamela Anderson and Leonard Nimoy) are still alive in the form of disembodied heads in jars. So, it’s not too dark and it’s not too light a depiction of the future.”
Groening laughs: “Actually, I just hope `Futurama’ is funny.”
And where might Groening like to be in 1,000 years?
“I hope I’m not a head in a jar,” he says instantly – then adds: “You know what? That actually beats the alternative, which is being dead!”
`FUTURAMA’ FACTOIDS
“Futurama” debuts at 7:30 p.m. Central Time March 28. It also airs the following Sunday, then moves to Tuesday nights.
Fans who tape shows and like to hit the pause button should be on the lookout for a secret language Groening and his animators will sneak into episodes.
Sci-fi fans take their shows and movies very seriously, pointing out every little mistake. Beating them to the punch, Groening will soon introduce a character named Q-Bert, who sneers at “Futurama” slip-ups.
Bart Simpson lives, man.
“The Simpsons” is more than 10 years old, and it’s still thriving. How long can the show go on?
“We’ll probably stick around as long as people want to watch,” Groening says. “In the world of `Futurama,’ actually, `The Simpsons’ will still be airing. The voices are still done by Nancy Cartwright, Dan Castellanata, Julie Kavner, Harry Shearer and so on; they’re just now heads in jars.”
