“Bite my shiny metal ass!” For fans of Matt Groening’s Futurama, it’s an expression as familiar as The Simpsons’ “Doh!” or “Ay, carumba!” Loyal viewers who followed the schedule-hopping, hysterically funny animated sci-fi sitcom can relax for a while: Word is, the show is staying put at 7 P.M. EST Sundays.
John DiMaggio, voice of Futurama’s anti-social robot Bender Unit 22, has the catchphrase and the regular time slot. “Now all I need are some of those cartoon groupies,” he laughs. Are there such things? “If there are, I haven’t seen any,” he says. ”This show hasn’t gotten me laid at all.”
But it has gotten him a fair amount of other work: DiMaggio just landed a role on Doomsday, Howard Stern’s upcoming animated sci-fi series. And he recently shot a pilot for My So-Called Life producer Scott Winant. Without giving too much away, “I play a gay guy in that one,” DiMaggio says. “I’m hoping it’ll take off, and women will really think I’m gay so they’ll take me home and try to change me. And, you know, I could come back for boosters every once in a while, like it didn’t take the first time.” Beats chasing cartoon tail.
