Despite FOX’s disproportionately high success rate at killing the brain cells of primetime television devotees faster and more cost effectively than their competitors, the occasional clever bit of programming will quietly insert itself between Rob and Amber: Against the Odds and Celebrity Boxing. Inevitably, it is cancelled (see: Firefly, Wonderfalls), but the scrappier programs have a way of persevering.

Case in point: Futurama. We’ll never know whether it was due to the success of The Simpsons or if a FOX bigwig simply saw potential in drunken robots and the sexual tension generated by a one-eyed mutant pilot and a once cryogenically frozen pizza delivery boy, but Futurama was ultimately green lit. Slowly but surely, Futurama developed a vast fan following and a well-deserved reputation for being one of the most quotable shows to hit the small screen. Shortly thereafter, it was cancelled. Luckily, hope has been restored in the form of Bender’s Big Score, a straight-to-DVD full length film featuring the most awesome vocal talents of Al Gore, Mark Hamill, and Coolio. Bender’s Big Score and the three — yes, three — follow-up films will be split into a fifth season of Futurama to be aired on Comedy Central beginning in 2008.