Futurama (season 6)
Introduction The sixth season of ''Futurama'' originally aired on Comedy Central from June 24, 2010, to September 8, 2011, and consisted of 26 episodes. The season marks the change of networks from Fox to Comedy Central.The first 13 episodes (known as Season 6-A) aired during 2010, and the remaining 13 episodes (known as Season 6-B) aired during 2011.This makes the episode "The Futurama Holiday Spectacular" the mid-season finale, despite airing almost twelve weeks after ''Futurama'' 100th episode. The final episode of the season, "Reincarnation", aired on September 8, 2011 as a three-segment non-canonical special after the official season finale.The first 13 episodes of the season have been released on a box set called ''Futurama: Volume 5'', on DVD and Blu-ray Disc. It was released in the United States and Canada, on December 21, 2010, and on UK DVD on boxing day 2011.The remaining 13 episodes are available on a box set called ''Futurama: Volume 6'', which was released in the United States and Canada on December 20, 2011.Both volumes have all episodes ordered in production order as was the case with Volumes 1–4.
Production With the future of the series uncertain at the time of production, the final of the four film releases that comprise Season 5 was designed to stand as the series finale. However, both Matt Groening and David X. Cohen had expressed a desire to continue the franchise in some form, possibly a theatrical film. Shortly before the films concluded airing in their episodic form, 20th Century Fox announced that Comedy Central had picked up the show for 26 new half-hour episodes that began airing on June 24, 2010.Due to budget concessions, the number of returning writing staff had to be reduced.Initial voice actor contract talks resulted in a dispute, with 20th Century Fox reportedly refusing to meet the cast's demands for $75,000 per episode. The claim was strenuously denied by members of the cast, and on July 17, 2009 Fox announced that auditions would be held to recast the characters. Groening and Cohen had no part in the discussions, with the former stating "we hope that Fox and the actors can come to an agreement as soon as possible." It was speculated by some in the media that this was merely a ploy in order to get the cast to agree to Fox's offer, citing a similar situation with the cast of ''The Simpsons'' as a previous example. The dispute resulted in the voice cast being unable to attend the ''Futurama'' booth at Comic Con 2009.However, a deal was struck and on July 31, 2009, it was announced that the full original voice cast would be returning.Groening, Cohen and the cast expressed extreme optimism for the return of ''Futurama'', with Katey Sagal and Phil LaMarr claiming that the new season's episodes are "hysterical" and "the best yet". Commenting on the revival, Groening revealed that several plots for the upcoming episodes had actually been devised during or even before the original run of the series. Groening has also explained that he had been inspired by J. J. Abrams' ''Star Trek'' film, and had even considered rebooting ''Futurama'', before opting for a "rebirth". "Overclockwise" was originally written to serve as an open-ended series finale, much in the way that the season 4 episode "The Devil's Hands Are Idle Playthings" and the film ''Into the Wild Green Yonder'' were produced, in case the show did not get renewed. It was eventually announced on March 24, 2011, that the show was renewed by Comedy Central for a seventh production season.
Episodes Comedy Central chose to air the second half of this season out of the intended production order. This list is depicted in production order as this is the order used in Volume 6 and intended by the producers.
Home releases  '''''Futurama Volume 5''''' '''Set details''''''Special features'''* 13 episodes (Season 6-A)* 2-disc DVD set/2-disc Blu-ray Disc set* 1.78:1 aspect ratio* Languages:** English (DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1) (Blu-ray only)** English (Dolby Digital 5.1) (DVD only)*Subtitles:** English SDH** French** Spanish* Optional commentaries for all 13 episodes* Deleted and extended scenes* "Bend it Like Bender" featurette* "Previously On..." featurette* "Fry's Crudely-Drawn Comic Book – The Crudely Animated Edition" featurette* "Behind the Fungus: Makin' a Hit Song" featurette* "The Prisoner of Benda" table read* Hidden Concept Drawings Of "Delivery-Boy Man" Easter egg (media)* Hidden Bender audio outtake Easter egg (media) '''Release dates''' Region 1 Region 2 Region 4 December 21, 2010 December 26, 2011 November 2, 2011 '''Blu-ray Disc release dates''' Region A Region B Europe Region B Australia December 21, 2010 December 26, 2011 March 28, 2012 '''''Futurama Volume 6''''' '''Set details''''''Special features'''* 13 episodes (Season 6-B)* 2-disc DVD set/2-disc Blu-ray Disc set* 1.78:1 aspect ratio* Languages:** English (DTS-HD Master Audio 5.1) (Blu-ray only)** English (Dolby Digital 5.1) (DVD only)*Subtitles:** English SDH** French** Spanish* Optional commentaries for all 13 episodes* Deleted and extended scenes* "Professor Farnsworth's "Science of a Scene"" featurette* "Reincarnation Explained! With Director Peter Avanzino" featurette* "Futurama F.A.Q. (Frequently Axed Questions)" featurette* Animatic of Season 7 episode "The Bots and the Bees" (exclusive to BD-Live)* Hidden Emmy Award Easter egg (media)* Hidden Original Mr. Peppy concept artwork Easter egg (media) '''Release dates''' Region 1 Region 2 Region 4 December 20, 2011 June 24, 2013 December 21, 2011 '''Blu-ray Disc release dates''' Region A Region B Europe Region B Australia December 20, 2011 June 24, 2013 March 28, 2012
References
External links *Season 6 on the Infosphere.