During last week's Costco sale on FOX animated sets, I picked up the remaining volumes of Futurama. I regret not having watched the show more when it was still on (as I recall it was constantly delayed/pulled by FOX because of football so I gave up trying to VCR it).

My question is, this show was so witty, clever and humorous. Why didn't the writers of this show get picked up/moved over to The Simpsons when Futurama finally got cancelled? Understandably the humor is slightly different, but The Simpsons has needed some sort of humor injection/new direction in the last few seasons that these writers might have been able to remedy.

Any thoughts?

Some writers actually left The Simpsons to do Futurama. I tended to feel The Simpsons dipped in quality around that time.

A couple, like J. Stewart Burns and Jeff Westbrook were Futurama writers now doing The Simpsons. But that doesn't explain why the show still hasn't been up to par.

I remember when...say, about a year before "Futurama" aired that i started to notice a dip in quality on "The Simpsons"...that horrid "musical" season.

Futurama had better writing than "The Simpsons" did the whole time it was on air.

The Futurama episodes, mostly the ones dealing with those Fry left behind and "The Sting", blow away any Simspons episode that has been on in the past 7 years.

After the shaft that Futurama got from the network I can only imagine how jaded the writers would of been.....I know I would of been if I were them.

The network stood behind The Simpsons as the show quality took a dive like the first dip on the world's largest roller coaster....and left Futurama out in the cold.

While I collect both shows I'm far more proud to have all the Futurama seasons and if someone visiting doesn't like the show or just hasn't seen it I find it very easy to change their mind with nearly any show.

Not to mention Jurassic Bone is one of the most heartfelt and endearing episodes of any sitcom, let alone a cartoon.

I think the creators always said Futurama was the "real world" and Simpsons was just fantasy. Too bad it wasn't the other way around and we couldn't have the Simpsons kids watching some Futurama just so the rest of us can get a fix.

I do remember some mentions of "Futurama" on the "Simpsons".

One of the last episodes i watched was one where Bart was overly sleep deprived and he started seeing "TV Characters" around him.....Bender was one of them

And i believe that Matt played himself on the show as "the creator of Futurama".

I think it's called "Jurassic Bark". Great episode, in any case.

Was it the episode concerning's Fry's dog(Considering the title, I'd venture to guess yes)?

I have to agree...with it being a heartfelt episode. This episode made my eyes water. I can't see how any dog-lover would not be moved by this episode.

Also, the episode where Leela eats the space honey is pretty heart-wrenching, too.

I would say that even weak Futurama episodes can stand up with the best Simpsons episodes. The world they created for Futurama was just so evocative, and the characters had a much wider range of expression than the characters on the Simpsons do. It's a shame Cartoon Network didn't offer to pick up Futurama for new seasons.

Yeah. First time I saw that episode on Cartoon Network I bawled like a little bitch. I had to give my dog a big hug afterwards.

I too got volumes 2-4 at Costco last week, showed that episode to my wife and she too was crying.

The level of detail in Futurama is astounding. Just the little things the characters do make them seem more real than any Simpsons character. Plus I absolutely love Morbo.

I'd throw in the episode with Fry's brother, too.

Absolutely. The Nibbler shadow in the pilot that didn't pay off until Season 4 stands out in my mind.

I think Futurama is a wonderful evolution of The Simpsons in many ways: much tighter continuity, more focused character development and a re-dedication to satire (relative to the direction of The Simpsons over the last 6 or 7 years).

It also helped that Futurama had David Cohen overseeing every single episode, it doesn't seem like Groening is that closely connected with the Simpsons any more. But after listening to every single commentary, it seemed pretty clear to me that David Cohen was the real brains behind the show, and that's why it doesn't really feel anything like the Simpsons at all.

I think "Jurassic Bone" was a porn movie that came out circa 1993.

Morbo, Lurr, Url, Calculon and of course eveyones favorite space captain

I laugh till i cry every single time "Amazon Women in the Mood" is on and Zap does his karaoke and that little dance.

"BUH BUH BA BUH BUH BUH

LA LA LA LEEEE LAAAAA"

"Pathetic humans! Prepare to write down the recipe!"

Human Horn!!

Shouldnt that be Morbo instead of Lrrr? Granted, they do sound alike...

A handful did. Bill Odenkirk, J. Stuart Burns, and Brian Kelley all went to Simpsons after Futurama. Ken Keeler came over from the Simpsons, although he didn't go back after Futurama ended.

I thought that was called Jurassic Pork ? (I mean, I heard that it was called that )