It's back to the "Futurama"

Following in the footsteps of "Family Guy," Matt Groening's "Futurama" gets resurrected Thursdays at 10, because of great success in reruns and on DVD, particularly 4 DVD movies.

Unlike "Family Guy," it isn't being resurrected on Fox. Instead you can watch it on cable station Comedy Central (Perhaps, Fox's animation cash is sitting in Seth MacFarlane's pocket?)

So there will be 26 new episodes of the adventures of Philip  J. Fry (Billy West), a pizza delivery boy accidentally frozen in suspended animation in the year 2000, who wakes up  a thousand years later. He's still crazy for Leela (voiced by Katey Sagal), the hottest one-eyed pilot you'll ever meet and is buds with Bender (John DiMaggio), a crude (as in nasty) robot. In fact, all the original cast returns.

Taking a fan-friendly approach, the new episodes pick up where the last DVD movie ended. But you needn't have seen  the movie to watch the premiere episode, "Rebirth." Basically, a space battle has left the crew reduced to head and skeletons. The professor's experimental rebirth device is their only hope.

The second episode follows Leela and buffoonish space captain Zapp Brannigan stranded on a Garden of Eden-like planet.

Both are classic "Futurama" episodes: silly, at times crude, funny, fast-paced. It's "Simpsons" humor, but more adult. And the theme music is kind of funky.

If you need a refresher or an introduction, check out his clip that condenses 5 years of back story.

Images: Futurama TM and 2010 Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. All Rights reserved.