# How many Futurama seasons are there? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [May 31, 2006, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-futurama-seasons-are-there/358808 "2006-05-31T00:10:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 8\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Andrew\_Bug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ba9def/32.png) [@Andrew\_Bug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andrew_Bug)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2006, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-futurama-seasons-are-there/358808/1 "2006-05-31T00:10:02Z")
My friend and I just got into an argument about how many seasons of Futurama there are. I own all the dvd sets which ends with S4. She just downloaded S5. According to IMDB, there are five seasons but the episode listings for the 5th season are the episodes on my S4 dvds. I say that there were 4 seasons filmed,but 5 seasons aired because some episodes were shown on Cartoon Network for the first time after the run on Fox ended. Seasons 1-4=Fox Season 5=Cartoon Network My friend just insists that there are five total seasons. So, who is right? ---
**Author:** ![Andrew\_Bug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ba9def/32.png) [@Andrew\_Bug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andrew_Bug)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2006, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-futurama-seasons-are-there/358808/2 "2006-05-31T00:12:41Z")
> [@Andrew Bug](#): > > I say that there were 4 seasons filmed Sorry animated not filmed. ---
**Author:** ![carterba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/85e7bf/32.png) [@carterba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carterba)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2006, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-futurama-seasons-are-there/358808/3 "2006-05-31T00:13:44Z")
There were four production seasons that were aired over five seasons. Episodes produced at the end of the last season of production were aired during the next season, when production had already shut down (IIRC). Since it takes so long to complete an episode, it’s common in cel animation to keep episodes finished at the end of one season for the beginning of the next. ---
**Author:** ![Santos\_L\_Halper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/santos_l_halper/32/1_2.png) [@Santos\_L\_Halper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santos_L_Halper)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2006, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-futurama-seasons-are-there/358808/4 "2006-05-31T00:16:31Z")
There were four seasons produced. Fox pre-empted the show so much that they stretched those four seasons out over five years. IMDB lists them by their air dates. Note how few episodes they list for some of those seasons: Season 1: 9 episodes Season 2: 20 episodes Season 3: 15 episodes Season 4: 12 episodes Season 5: 16 episodes ---
**Author:** ![Waenara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/50afbb/32.png) [@Waenara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Waenara)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2006, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-futurama-seasons-are-there/358808/5 "2006-05-31T00:31:42Z")
> [@Santos L Halper](#): > > There were four seasons produced. Fox pre-empted the show so much that they stretched those four seasons out over five years. IMDB lists them by their air dates. Note how few episodes they list for some of those seasons: > > Season 1: 9 episodes > Season 2: 20 episodes > Season 3: 15 episodes > Season 4: 12 episodes > Season 5: 16 episodes Yeah, broken down by DVD volumes it’s" Volume 1: 13 episodes Volume 2: 19 episodes Volume 3: 22 episodes Volume 4: 18 episodes Even if they had been aired like that, that still short-ish seasons. Most TV shows are 22 episodes per season. ---
**Author:** ![Cliffy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/59ef9b/32.png) [@Cliffy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cliffy)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2006, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-futurama-seasons-are-there/358808/6 "2006-05-31T01:30:48Z")
So, to sum up, you’re both wrong! 😉 –Cliffy ---
**Author:** ![KJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b2d939/32.png) [@KJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KJ)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2006, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-futurama-seasons-are-there/358808/7 "2006-05-31T02:56:33Z")
> [@Waenara](#): > > Most TV shows are 22 episodes per season. As I understand it, most live action TV shows are 22-26 episodes, and a lot of cartoons have only 13 episodes. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [May 31, 2006, 5:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-many-futurama-seasons-are-there/358808/8 "2006-05-31T05:12:19Z")
> [@KJ](#): > > As I understand it, most live action TV shows are 22-26 episodes, and a lot of cartoons have only 13 episodes. The Simpsons does 22 every year. I think 13 is usually the result of a show being used as a mid-season replacement.