Futurama cast 'in doubt over pay'

Animated comedy Futurama could be voiced by new actors after the studio behind its comeback failed to reach an agreement with the original cast.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, talks have broken down after a pay dispute with actors including John DiMaggio, Katey Sagal and Billy West.

"We love the Futurama voice performers and absolutely wanted to use them," 20th TV said in a statement.

"But unfortunately, we could not meet their salary demands."

The other original cast members are Maurice LaMarche and Tress MacNeille.

It was announced last month that the show would return to US TV screens with 26 new episodes - seven years after it was axed by Fox.

Simpsons creator

They will air in 2010 on cable network Comedy Central, which shows repeats and previously commissioned specials.

Futurama tells the story of pizza delivery boy Philip Fry, who was cryogenically frozen at the end of 1999 before being defrosted in 2999.

Creators Matt Groening and David X Cohen said they were "excited and amazed" the show was returning.

The show, which follows the space-age adventures of Fry, his love interest Turanga Leela and Bender - a cigar smoking misanthropic robot - originally ran on Fox between 1999 and 2003.

The popularity of the repeats of the 72 original episodes - bought from Fox in 2006 - as well as strong DVD sales for the four feature-length specials has led to the resurrection.

In 2005, Fox resurrected another animated comedy, Family Guy, which it had cancelled in 2002.

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