@Symbeline It wasn’t due to controversy, but rather a convoluted set of issues involving time slots, ratings, and executives. Here’s the short version. In its original time slot (Sundays at 8:30 pm), Futurama did very well. Then it was moved around a bit and eventually settled into 7:00 pm on Sunday nights. The show was never aired regularly in this time slot because of how often it was preempted by sports programs, and the network executives weren’t interested enough to advertise the show.
They even went so far as to advertise their Sunday night line up with the slogan “It all begins Sunday at 8, here on Fox!” Groening was angry at Fox for mistreating his show, and Fox was angry at Groening for not just doing whatever he was told. The situation devolved, and Fox stopped buying new episodes (forcing the series out of production and effectively canceling it).
Luckily, Cartoon Network kept it in syndication long enough for Comedy Central to decide it was worth reviving the series, allowing Bender to continue kicking ass.