There are few animated series that have been resurrected from cancellation. 'Family Guy' is one; 'Futurama' is another.

'Family Guy' went on to become so popular, it got a spin-off in 'The Cleveland Show.' Could 'Futurama,' which starts a brand new season this coming week, follow suit? If so, which supporting character would be the centerpiece and main attraction?

Let's postulate, shall we? Here are the top five characters I would have star in a hypothetical 'Futurama' spin-off, in no particular order.


Robot Santa, the Chanukah Zombie and KwanzaaBot. What works better for a roommate comedy than two robots and a zombie? They could share an apartment in New New York. It would be like 'Three's Company,' but it could be called 'Holy Trinity' and have more homicide. Plus Chanukah Zombie is voiced by Mark Hamill. What's not to love?


Lrrr and Ndrd of Omicron Persei 8. Imagine a family sitcom about planetary royalty and the problems they have. It's 'Dynasty' meets 'All In The Family.' Perhaps the couple could have children (that they did not eat), who'd engage in various hijinks and threaten to destroy some planet like Earth every once in a while. Since they're fans of 20th and 21st Century Earth television, the show could contain various modern pop culture references. "I don't not understand why the lead character iCarly simply does not eat the other, smaller, less important characters."


The Hypnotoad. The Hypnotoad must have his own television program. Actually, he must have a set of television programs every night of the week. Actually, he must have his own cable channel. Actually, he must have all the cable channels and even the pay-per-view channels devoted to him. All glory to the Hypnotoad ...


Morbo. Morbo's character reminds me a bit of 'Invader ZIM,' had Zim become a news anchorman instead of an elementary school student (mind you, 'Futurama' was created before 'Invader ZIM'). If Zim could get his own show, why not Morbo? It could even serve as a prequel series. Think of it as 'V' meets 'The Mary Tyler Moore Show,' about an alien invasion advance scout trying to make it as a journalist in the big city.


Zoidberg. Finally, an ethnic television series that doesn't bother to hide its ethnicity for fear of offending a particular group. Someone on Earth finally wakes up to the fact that Dr. John A. Zoidberg shouldn't be practicing medicine on people ... or anything else for that matter. He loses his license (I envision his reaction as, "You mean you need a LICENSE to practice medicine?") and tries to find his place on Earth since his home world of Decapod 10 doesn't want him around anymore. Bender could even make a cameo later in the series.


Please note that of all the characters I have chosen, none of them are human. I am well aware that I haven't even scratched the surface of the sheer number of supporting characters in this awesome series. So what do you think? Which 'Futurama' characters are worthy of a spin-off?