Variety reported today that Futurama reruns will be shown as part of Cartoon Network's Adult Swim block on Sunday night beginning in January, raising hopes that merchandise sales will continue their steady, if unspectacular, pace.  This must be the new venue about which series creator Matt Groening hinted in San Diego (see 'Futurama's Not Dead Yet'), in the wake of the news that new shows were no longer going to be created for Fox (see 'No Future for Futurama?'). 

 

The valuable exposure in this high profile setting will probably continue after Fox finishes running new Futurama episodes, since Cartoon Network acquired rights to all 72 episodes.  And there's also some precedent for new episodes to be produced for Cartoon Network, which has already ordered new episodes of one series that found a home on Adult Swim after being canceled by another network (Home Movies).