Poor Matt Groening.

He’s kind of trapped by his own success at this point. The Simpsons has become a comedy juggernaut that simply refuses to die, and that overshadows absolutely everything else that its creators tries to do with his life.

We’re nearly thirty years into the world of Homer, Marge, and family, and still, The Simpsonsseems to keep going. Fox won’t ever let this thing die.

On the other hand, Fox is very, very eager to kill off other projects from Groening. Futuramaonly got four seasons initially, in large part because it wasn’t instantly the same huge hit that The Simpsons was at the time.

The science fiction show did finally see a return to televisions thanks to the appeal of fans and large DVD sales, but it took time to gain momentum, and its eventual return at a cable show, rather than a network tentpole, meant a reduced writing staff that created a far more neutered, watered-down experience – hence why, after only a few years on Comedy Central, Futuramaagain departed from our screens.

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