COMEDY CENTRAL's® "Futurama" Returns at Warp Speed With All-New Episodes Beginning Wednesday, June 20 at 10:00 p.m.

NEW YORK, May 14, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Missing the future?  Well don't worry because the 31^st century zaniness continues as Matt Groening and David X. Cohen's brilliantly subversive animated sci-fi comedy, "Futurama," returns with 13 all-new half-hour episodes beginning on Wednesday, June 20 at 10:00 p.m. on COMEDY CENTRAL. The all-comedy channel is kicking off the "Futurama" season in style with two new episodes airing back-to-back. 

"Futurama" focuses on the life of Philip J. Fry (Billy West), a 25-year-old pizza delivery boy who accidentally freezes himself on December 31, 1999 and wakes up 1,000 years later with a fresh start at life at Planet Express, an intergalactic delivery company.  There, he meets love interest Leela (Katey Sagal), a sexy cyclops with anger management issues, and best friend Bender (John DiMaggio), a beer-powered kleptomaniac robot.  In 2011, the series earned two Emmys for Outstanding Animated Program and Outstanding Voice-Over Performance by Maurice LaMarche.

In the premiere episode, "The Bots and the Bees," Bender fathers a child with the office beverage machine, played by guest star Wanda Sykes.  In the second episode, "A Farewell to Arms," an ancient prophecy predicts the world will end in the year 3012.

In addition to Wanda Sykes, special guest stars this season include George Takei, Dan Castellaneta, Patrick Stewart, and Estelle Harris. The show's entire original voice cast will be returning.

COMEDY CENTRAL Digital will feature "Futurama" episode previews, highlights and photo galleries featuring concept artwork from the upcoming episodes.  The site contains clips from the entire library of "Futurama" episodes and also features exclusive interviews with the show's cast, as well as with Matt Groening and David X. Cohen, plus a "making of an episode" mini-documentary.  The "Futurama" Facebook fan base has grown from one million "likes" prior to its return in 2010 to over 21 million "likes" today, making it one of the top television pages on Facebook.  Earlier this month, COMEDY CENTRAL launched the "Countdown to Futurama" on Facebook that features an exclusive sneak preview of content each day, including sneak peek clips, episode stills, storyboards, character designs and more.

"Futurama," created by Matt Groening and developed by Matt Groening and David X. Cohen, is produced by Twentieth Century Fox Television, with Rough Draft Studios, Inc. contributing the animation.

20th Century Fox Television, a division of News Corp, is a leading supplier of entertainment content domestically and around the world.

Available in 99 million homes nationwide, COMEDY CENTRAL (www.comedycentral.com), the only all-comedy network, is owned by, and is a registered trademark of, Comedy Partners, a wholly-owned unit of Viacom Inc. (NASDAQ: VIA and VIAB).  For up-to-the-minute and archival press information and photographs visit COMEDY CENTRAL's press Web site at www.cc.com/press and follow us on Twitter @ComedyCentralPR for the latest in breaking news updates, behind-the-scenes information and photos.

SOURCE COMEDY CENTRAL Corporate Communications