Goodbye Netflix: Hulu will stream Futurama episodes starting October 16

Futurama is headed to Hulu in its entirety starting on October 16 in the US. That includes all 140 episodes from both Fox and Comedy Central, as well as the four movies, Variety reports.

Futurama aired on Fox from 1998 to 2003. Four DVD movies were then announced in 2006, and Comedy Central picked up the series again in 2010 before concluding the run in 2012. A radio drama was produced as part of the Nerdist podcast last month to promote a popular mobile game, and the series has led to numerous video games, toys, and other works and products. It's one of the best-known stories of a cult hit that found new life after its broadcast network cancellation.

The episodes of Futurama that were produced by Comedy Central are still on US Netflix for now, but you'll have to go to Hulu if you want to stream the entire series from the beginning. That said, Hulu's deal with Fox is not exclusive, so it's always possible that Futurama will show up somewhere else at a later date.

This isn't the only series Hulu has snatched up as it departed Netflix; other Fox animated shows like Bob's Burgers and American Dad have followed the same path. The deals that put shows on platforms like Netflix aren't indefinite; they expire, and content owners may seek better deals with competing platforms. We don't know the details behind Fox's decision, but if you binge on streaming platforms a lot, you've doubtless learned the rules of this game already.

Of course, Futurama creator Matt Groening is working on a new series exclusively for Netflix, called Disenchantment. It's a fantasy series that revolves around a "hard-drinking" princess, and it stars several Futurama voice actors, like Billy West, John DiMaggio, Maurice LaMarche, and Tress MacNeille. It's expected sometime in 2018. And if you like Groening's biggest animated hit, The Simpsons, you'll have to stream that on a Simpsons-specific streaming app from FXX that requires authentication with a cable provider.

In other words, Groening fans are finding, like everyone else, that streaming TV's future lies in multiple networks, services, and subscriptions—not a single one-stop shop.