Fresh off the news of last week's announcement that Family Guy will be hosting a crossover episode with The Simpsons in 2014 comes the announcement of another crossover with America's longest running animated sitcom. This time the Simpsons will be joined by fellow Matt Groening brain spawn Futurama.
Showrunner Al Jean revealed the news at The Simpsons' Comic-Con panel on Saturday. According to Jean, the episode will air as either the finale to season 25 or the premiere of season 26 in 2014.
According to an interview with Entertainment Weekly, Jean says the plot will have to do with a bit of time travel.
"Bender has to come back from the future to kill Bart because there's something that Bart does now that makes the future really, really, really bad. Tip of the hat to Harlan Ellison," Jean said in the interview. "Futurama is such an easy fit. It's really funny, and their show lends itself to any variety of plot lines. By having them on, we have a little freedom... The biggest thrill for me is that we don't have to adjust the animation style."
This isn't the first time the two series have acknowledge the one another. DiMaggio made a cameo as Bender in the season 16 Simpson's episode "Future-Drama" and the two have taken light jabs at one another for years.
Futurama cast members Billy West (Fry/Farnsworth/Zoidberg/Zapp Brannigan), Katey Segal (Leela), John DiMaggio (Bender), Phil LaMarr (Hermes) and Maurice LaMarche (Kif) will be returning to the series to lend their voices to the Simpsons episode. In addition, Tress MacNeille (Mom) who is already a long-time Simpsons regular will be featured as well.
Futurama is about to wrap up its series with its seventh season airing on Comedy Central. The characters will be returning to the small-screen for the crossover episode following their series finale. So, for anyone who can't bare the idea parting ways with the Planet Express crew can rest easy knowing they'll be back for one more adventure in 2014.
