Fan backlash doesn't always work out but in this case, it slammed a home run for the return of Futurama. A few weeks after the production company 20th Century Fox TV angered fans with news that they could be replacing the original voice actors over a salary dispute, HR is reporting the series will return with stars Katey Sagal, Maurice LaMarche, Tress MacNeille, John DiMaggio and Billy West. All five "Futurama" actors on Friday reached an agreement with the producing studio to reprise their parts on the show, set to come back with new episodes on Comedy Central in mid-2010.
Financial terms of the agreements were not released but it is understood that both sides have made compromises to bridge the initial salary gap, in which the actors were said to have asked for several times what the studio was offering.
The dispute between the Futurama voice cast and 20th TV escalated earlier this month when the studio hired casting directors to recast the roles. The show's fans reacted by vetoing any cast changes and petitioning for the original actors to come back.
At the show's panel at Comic-Con last week, co-creators Matt Groening and David X. Cohen spoke in support of the actors and expressed optimism that the salary dispute would be resolved so they can return. In a sign that things were headed toward resolution, Groening was joined by a couple of members of the series' original voice cast in signing autographs at the Comic-Con exhibit hall.
