Movies - TV
Futurama Made A Small But Vital Change For Its New Hulu Seasons
By WITNEY SEIBOLD
When “Futurama” aired on Fox, it conformed to the traditional network TV 30-minute time slot. However, when the show moved to Hulu, its time allowance changed in a beneficial way.
Most half-hour network shows have only about 22 minutes of actual programming, allowing for two extended commercial breaks roughly at the 10-minute mark and the 20-minute mark.
Since “Futurama” was beholden to this schedule, the show’s writers had to efficiently communicate plot points and not allow episodes to get bogged down with too much nuance.
“Futurama” producer Claudia Katz told Gizmodo that when Hulu revived “Futurama” in 2023, the show’s usual time limit was expanded by two minutes per episode.
The additional time has allowed for larger stories. Katz said, “I think these two seasons of episodes we’ve produced are probably the biggest in scope so far, at least on average.”
Katz added, “We're running about two minutes longer which is really liberating for storytelling and giving some of the more stunning visuals a little more time when needed.”