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The long-canceled Fox animated comedy “Futurama” is returning with an order from Comedy Central for 26 episodes to run over two seasons, says The Hollywood Reporter.

“Futurama” creators Matt Groening and David X. Cohen already are working on stories for the new batch of episodes of the sci-fi cartoon, slated to premiere on Comedy Central in mid-2010.

As with “Family Guy,” whose improbable return was triggered by big DVD sales and solid ratings for the show’s reruns on Cartoon Network, the performance of “Futurama’s” repeats on Comedy Central and on disc was key to its resurrection.

“Futurama,” which aired from 1999-2003 on Fox, centers on Philip Fry (voiced by Billy West), a pizza delivery boy who accidentally freezes himself on Dec. 31, 1999, and wakes up 1,000 years later with a “diverse” new group of friends including Leela (Katey Sagal), a tough but lovely one-eyed alien, and human-like robot Bender (John DiMaggio).

All key voice cast members are expected to return for the new episodes, along with the series’ core writing team. The new episodes will pick up where “Yonder” took off — with the main characters fleeing death and flying into the unknown.

Source: ComingSoon