Return to Planet Express: ‘Futurama’s Longtime Showrunner David X. Cohen Delivers on the Show’s 12th Season

This article was written for the August '24 issue of Animation Magazine (No. 342).

The world around us may be falling apart, and we might be experiencing one of the hottest summers ever. But there are still things we can all get behind and celebrate, and the arrival of the brand-spanking-new 12th season of Futurama on Hulu (premiering July 29) is certainly on top of that list.

To mark the occasion, we had the great opportunity to interview the show’s brilliant showrunner & head writer David X. Cohen (The Simpsons, Disenchantment) who, along with Matt Groening, has been the driving force behind the six-time Emmy-winning show since its premiere on FOX 25 years ago. Here is what he told us:

David X. Cohen: Great! Much more fun than in 2023, when we were in the middle of the Writers and Actors Guilds’ strikes, and I could not even discuss the premiere of the show. Just try to shut me up this time!

What are some highlights of the new season that you can talk about?

The season starts with a couple of huge, ambitious episodes. In the season premiere, Bender makes an emotional return to his ancestral Mexican robot village, where Danny Trejo has a hilarious guest appearance as Bender’s cousin, Doblando. And the second episode, “Quid’s Game,” is a monster, featuring no fewer than 34 of your favorite Futurama characters attending a surreal replay of Fry’s emotional eighth birthday party. Except this time, the party games are played … to the death.

Last year, you were able to tackle some topical issues, as well as bring back some favorite characters and storylines from previous seasons. Will we continue to see the trend?

We certainly tried! One of my favorites of the upcoming season explores the disturbing future of fast fashion, with a major guest role for Cara Delevingne, who was truly fantastic. (She also volunteered to play an owl in several other episodes, which we took her up on.) And of course, AI continues to be big news in the 31st century, as Leela ends up becoming close friends with an AI chatbot who happens to suffer from a few major programming errors. And I don’t know if this is exactly topical — but we will be exploring the epic sci-fi story … of coffee.

What were some of the most surprising reactions you received from the past season?

Generally, people were pretty kind with their reviews, so no complaints. A few reviewers called us out for a little too much fan service, which is fair; coming back after a decade or so, we felt like we had to unwind a few tangled threads at the start of the first episode. But I think it fell back into the groove fairly quickly.

Why do you think the show has been so successful and popular for so long?

The longevity of The Simpsons taught us to plan for the possibility of a long existence. We work hard to base our episodes on the characters’ emotions and on long-term human themes and struggles that are not too reliant on references to specific current events or current pop culture. The sci-fi angle allows us to deal with current issues by analogy (“robot equality,” say), which makes it a little harder to pin down the actual date of production once the immediate inspiration starts fading into history.

Favorite episodes of all time?

I always feel proudest when we earn a tear from the audience. It’s a high degree of difficulty — you need viewers to be deeply invested in the emotions of characters who exist in an insane, animated, sci-fi setting. So, episodes like “Luck of the Fryrish” and “Meanwhile” are my favorites.

What is the biggest way the show has changed in the 25 years?

The process was much more difficult in the early years, before we quite knew what combination of science fiction and comedy was possible. Initially, it wasn’t clear to us that we could do a real (“serious”?) sci-fi story and still have it be funny. But over the years, we have found again and again that the more we respect the sci-fi angle, the more grand and epic the setting, the better the comedy plays against it, at least as long as we keep the characters’ emotions believable and relevant to whatever strange circumstances they find themselves in, which has always been Matt Groening’s No. 1 rule.

What is your take on the state of animation in 2024? What are you watching these days?

You won’t be surprised to hear that I am pleased by the return of some old classics — King of the Hill, Beavis and Butt-Head, uhm, Futurama?! But of course, it takes some great new stuff to keep the medium alive. I just started watching Scavengers Reign, and my head exploded — in the good way.

What would have been your response if someone told you back in 1999 that you would still be working on new seasons of Futurama in 25 years?

I would have gasped, fainted, then immediately gotten back to work, since we were spending about 23 hours a day in the office at the time.

The 12th season of Futurama premieres on Hulu on Monday, July 29.