Futurama has had several ups and downs with the network that saw it born throughout its existence, since it was generally treated as a distant cousin of The Simpsons rather than as a series of the same quality or potential. You could almost think that Fox kept it for years out of mere consideration for Matt Groening, creator of both, and was somewhat permissive with how far its humor could go but never the same affection.
That’s why its original run had to deal with some problems, such as the possible elimination of an already-finished episode. This was the case in A Tale of Two Santa Clauses, a Christmas episode from the third season where Bender has to pretend to be the robot Santa after being neutralized. An episode that had to wait a whole year to see the light of day.
The reason was that Fox unexpectedly canceled the episode’s broadcast, as producer David X. Cohen told IGN in an interview. The network claimed that the episode was inappropriate for the time slot in which the series aired, around 7 p.m., when children could still watch it. Probably because of the amount of violence and destruction that usually accompany each appearance of Robot Santa.
A watered-down party
Although it was a strange decision, since this violent Christmas character was already introduced in the previous season in the episode A Christmas Carol, which probably contains more inappropriate barbarities, But Fox made this decision, to the misfortune of the entire team, who, in addition to having worked quite hard to carry it out, had plans to see him during the Christmas party in their office in Los Angeles.
“We were all depressed at the time,” Cohen explained, who, in an attempt to lift spirits at the pre-holiday party, prepared something special: a mini-video of himself in a tuxedo speaking to the employees and recounting what had happened. It was my introduction to why [the episode] is unsuitable for anyone.” This short clip was later repurposed as an extra on one of the Season 3 DVDs, serving as an Easter egg for an episode that ultimately worked its Christmas miracle, and was shown on December 23, 2001, when Futurama was moved to 9:30 p.m. by the network.
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