Figure 1 - "This is the worst kind of discrimination. The kind against me."

In my excitement for Futurama’s triumphant return to television, I was browsing the internet to see if any new information had been posted regarding the return, such as production schedules and future air dates.  To my horror, I stumbled on a post over at the blog Forces Of Geek stating that a casting notice has gone out seeking to recast several notable voices for Futurama, namely John DiMaggio, Maurice LaMarche, Billy West, and Katey Sagal.

FOX continues to prove my theories true.  In resurrecting a show that has done well after initial cancellation in syndication and DVD sales, FOX is only interested in pushing something out that will make a buck, with quality as an afterthought. I understand this is a business, but if you’re going to push out crap, people won’t watch it for more than the short term, thus, less money to be had.  1980’s guy probably said it best when he said, “Blank?  BLANK???  You’re not looking at the big picture!”

To better understand the magnitude of this potential change, I’ll fill the uninformed on some of the voices these talented folks do for the show.  John DiMaggio voices the lovable robot rascal Bender (Figure 1) among various other characters. Maurice LaMarche is responsible for many secondary characters in the show, most notably Leiutenant Kif Kroker, Calculon, Morbo the news monster, and Lrr of Omicron Persei 8. Katey Sagal, from Married … With Children fame as Peggy Bundy, voices the one-eyed love interest of our dim-witted protagonist, Turanga Leela.  With no disrespect to the other actors, the greatest loss would be Billy West. Futurama’s main character, Philip J. Fry, isn’t the only character West has brought to life with his talented voice.  Here are some of the many characters Billy West has voiced over the years:

Futurama: Philip J. Fry, Professor Hubert Farnsworth, Dr. Zoidberg, Zapp Brannigan, Leo Wong, Earth President Richard M. Nixon’s head, various others

Ren & Stimpy: Ren Höek, Stimpy

Doug: Douglas “Doug” Yancy Funnie

Various Looney Tunes Projects, including Space Jam: Bugs Bunny, Elmer Fudd

…among many others.  It seems that FOX, in the spirit of bringing back Futurama, has adopted the Planet Express slogan of “Our crew is replaceable, your package isn’t.” From the referenced article, apparently you can let your distaste with this proposition be known by sending an email to Futurama@ScottMullerCasting.com.

FOX can bite my shiny metal ass.

UPDATE (9:06 PM 7/28/2009): According to an interview with IGN, John DiMaggio, the voice of Bender, was pretty mum on the whole recasting situation, but did offer some optimism in saying:

All I can say is that Matt [Groening] and David [X. Cohen] have such a wonderful project and I love it dearly – love it to death. And hopefully we’ll be able to work it out. And I think we will. It’s just going to take a little time and that’s about it.

DiMaggio also went on to praise the fans for their support.  All I can say is I hope the next thing we hear out of DiMaggio’s mouth is “I’m back baby!”