Comedy Central cancels animated series 'Futurama'

LOS ANGELES, April 22 (UPI) -- U.S. cable network Comedy Central says it has decided not to renew the animated space series "Futurama" for an eighth season.

The show, created by Matt Groening, aired from 1999-03 on Fox, then was revived by Comedy Central in 2008.

The second half of its seventh season is to begin airing on Comedy Central June 19 and will wrap up Sept. 4, EW.com said Monday.

"I felt like we were already in the bonus round on these last couple of seasons, so I can't say I was devastated by the news," executive producer David X. Cohen told the entertainment magazine. "It was what I had expected two years earlier. At this point I keep a suitcase by my office door so I can be canceled at a moment's notice."

Comedy Central's executive vice president of programming, Dave Bernath, told EW.com the network's decision is "the natural end" of the series' life.

"That's a helluva run that few shows achieve, and especially given the fact that it came back to life it's really an amazing story," Bernath said. "I'm more thankful and feel a sense of gratitude toward the whole process -- and that we found a way to keep going for 52 more episodes -- than I really am even thinking about the ending. It's a blessing that it came back and lasted so long."