Rebirth

"Rebirth" is the eighty-ninth episode of Futurama, the first of the sixth production season, the seventh broadcast season and the second run of Futurama. It is scheduled to air 24 June, 2010, on Comedy Central.

The story
The first episode of the sixth season will pick up from the events of Into the Wild Green Yonder. According to previews, it will feature a "literal" rebirth of the characters, and according to David X. Cohen, it will focus on the Fry-Leela relationship, rather than more complicated consequences of the "rebirth".

After the first table reading on 7 August, 2009, Maurice LaMarche commented that the script was "hilarious, & strangely touching", and noted that "[y]ou guys are gonna LOVE this episode in nine or ten months! What a fantastic way to get back into Futurama, The Series!"

Storyboard
According to concept art and other pictures released so far, it would appear that the birthing machine is introduced quite early on (as the concept art for the birthing machine says 'act 1'), but a new revelation of a robot Leela in act three seems to indicate the possibly of the machine going haywire at one point during its functioning. Whether it is just Leela or the entire crew, remains unknown.

Another storyboard released from Act 1 of "Rebirth" previews a scene entitled "Mouth to Ass". This scene starts showing Bender on the ground covered possibly in oil. He appears very weak, his eye lids half shut. Three people stand above him, one of them possibly The Professor, the other a woman in a long skirt, and the third Fry. Fry kneels down by Bender who says weakly "I'm dying". As Fry looks on concerned, Bender coughs and says "I need mouth-to-ass resuscitation!" To which Fry replies "I'm on it!" Fry then inhales and leans off screen to where Bender's ass would be. Muffled sounds of Fry breathing can be heard.

Still off screen, Fry lifts his face from Bender's ass and says "It's not working!" Fry leans back on camera while Bender says weakly "I die happy, knowing you fell for that." Bender then lets out a weak moan, turns so that he is laying on his back, and lies motionless. As this happens The Professor walks into frame, most likely leading into dialogue. But this is where the storyboard posted on Comedy Central Insider concludes.

Animatic
The three-minute animatic showed at Animation SuperCon in Florida on 4 October reveals the opening scene of the episode.

The Professor is shown working on some sort of experiment in the dome of the Planet Express building, when Fry enters. His body is burned, but he does not remember why. The Professor then recalls what happened: Zapp Brannigan chased the Planet Express Crew into a wormhole, and upon appearing on the other side, they found themselves right in front of Earth. Then the Professor realizes it was the "Panama Wormhole," a channel used for shipping. While trying to return to Earth, Zapp's ship also exits the worm hole, and manages to damage the Planet Express Ship's engines. Then it crashes head first into the ground outside of the Planet Express building, and explodes. During the crash, the Professor activates everyone's "safety spheres," which protect a person from any external harm. The Professor has a full body safety sphere, while everyone else's only protect their heads. The Nimbus then crashes into the ground in the exact same spot as the Planet Express ship. This ends the Professor's explanation, and he then shows Fry what remains of the rest of the crew and Zapp. All of their lifeless heads are orderly hung by hangers on a long bar, with their skeletons dangling beneath them (including Bender).

Production
As the first episode of a new run, the production first and foremost focused on continuing from Into the Wild Green Yonder's cliffhanger ending. David X. Cohen explained in an early interview, before the confirmation was even near, that he did consider what to do with the position they ended in, almost daily, which Matt Groening called "painted [themselves] slightly into a corner". While disagreeing on the ease, they were both in agreement that it could and should be resolved in respect with the film.

At the San Diego Comic-Con 2009, Matt Groening and David X. Cohen were asked once again about the issue. Matt Groening wanted to ignore it entirely by then, while Cohen stated that they would address it, but only for a single episode.

The first table read for this episode began on 7 August, 2009, according to Maurice LaMarche and Katey Sagal, the following week, Maurice LaMarche revealed that the recording session was under way. And as of 20 August, 2009, the recording sessions for this episode have ended, and moved on to the table readings of the next episode.

In a 28 August interview, David X. Cohen revealed that the first episode was tentatively named "Rebirth", and in an October interview, he confirmed it was the title they were using.

On the Animation SuperCon in Florida on 4 October, David X. Cohen along with the male cast, gave a sneak peak of the first three minutes of the first episode's animatic. The original concept was for the story to take place in a new universe, but Matt Groening wanted to do the rebirth instead.

A full color trailer of this episode first aired during the premiere of  on Comedy Central on 18 March, 2010.

Beginning on 6 May, 2010, Comedy Central's online newsletter, Comedy Central Insider, began releasing various pictures to tease the premiere every weekday until 24 June, 2010.

Allusions

 * The Build-A-Bot Workshop is a reference to the Build-A-Bear Workshop.
 * The Professor says Leela "went all Bladerunner" on them.

Trivia

 * Leela tells Fry that if he had died, she probably would have built a copy of him too; as it turns out in the twist, however, that's exactly what she did.

Characters

 * Amy
 * Bender
 * Cyclophage
 * Fry
 * Hermes
 * Kif
 * LaBarbara Conrad
 * Leela
 * Professor Farnsworth
 * Robot Fry
 * Robot Leela
 * Scruffy
 * Zapp Brannigan
 * Zoidberg