It’s been a space-traversing ride, but it looks as if The Planet Express will be making last delivery quite soon. Yes that’s right, for the second time, Futurama has been cancelled. It happened once before, to the dismay of the show’s fans, but then Comedy Central came in and saved the day by picking up two seasons.

It didn’t work, and the all important ratings dropped despite the elation felt by the cartoon’s cult demographic. Comedy Central’s EVP of Programming Dave Bernath views the network’s decision as “the natural end” to the show’s improbable comeback. “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,” he says. “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.”

Matt GroeningIs Matt Groening annoyed? Probably not

“We’ve been in this situation before and it’s tempting when you’re doing episodes that are as good or better than anything you’ve ever done to continue doing it,” Groening tells EW. “We’re catching our breath and seeing what the fans have to say. The experience of this show has been so much fun from the very beginning to now — everybody is so happy to work on this show — that it’d be a shame if we all went our separate ways… We would love to continue. We have many more stories to tell. But if we don’t, this is a really great way to go out… I think these episodes are the best ones we’ve ever done.”