For many of us who grew up in the 90s, watching the first episode of Futurama was a defining moment in our lives. Just when the wholesome Simpsons were beginning to lose their appeal, the Planet Express crew showed up with nerdier jokes and better conflicts. Matt Groening had struck gold a second time and gave the world another cartoon masterpiece. From start to finish, Futurama has the perfect balance of slapstick and high-brow humor, of absurd aliens and relatable robots, of weird situations and heartfelt moments that leave you reeling, and it never gets old no matter how many times you watch it.
It’s obvious that a lot of work went into making Futurama because there’s so much detail packed into each second; you can’t watch an old episode without stumbling upon a joke you missed, or catching a gag in the background you never noticed before. Any series this complex is bound to have a few dark secrets hidden away, but it’s surprising how intense Futurama is just beneath the surface.
It’s no surprise that a satirical cartoon set in a mildly dystopian future comes with a weird sense of humor, but some of these twisted facts might change how you look at things if you think about them too much. Still, a true Futurama fan takes the bad with the good because the series gave us both in equal measure, so it’s fitting that the story behind Futurama isn’t always pleasant. Get ready, because these Futurama facts are guaranteed to make you think.
25 Seymour Was Real
Remember that Emmy-nominated episode, “Jurassic Bark,” in which Fry finds a fossil of his dog Seymour, and almost clones him? I dare you to say you didn’t cry when you saw it. It doesn’t get much sadder than a good, loyal dog waiting in vain for years for his best friend to return. That episode is absolutely stuffed with all the feels.
Speaking of stuffed, there’s a museum exhibit in Japan dedicated to an Akita dog who was basically Seymour in real life.
Hachikō greeted his master at the train station every day when he would return home from work, and when his master passed away, Hachikō continued to wait at the station each day. Hachikō waited for over 9 years until he passed away as well. To this day Hachikō’s love inspires people, and he is widely remembered in Japan as a symbol for faith and loyalty.
24 The Hypnotoad Episode
Hypnotoad is the greatest character in the whole Futurama universe, and anyone who disagrees just hasn’t been touched by his glorious power. He makes his first appearance competing in a pet show, using his hypnotic powers to herd sheep, force the judges to give him perfect scores, and inspire the audience’s perfectly synchronized applause. Hypnotoad even stars in his own television show, which is just 22 minutes of uninterrupted hypnosis.
Turns out that Hypnotoad’s show is a real thing.
Included as an extra in the DVD special, “Bender’s Big Score”, is an episode of “Everybody Loves Hypnotoad.” If you haven’t seen this episode, you are missing out. I was lost and without purpose before I watched it, but now I SERVE ONLY THE HYPNOTOAD.
ALL GLORY TO THE HYPNOTOAD.
23 Zapp’s Portrait
When the bumbling war hero, Zapp Brannigan, tries to seduce Leela in his bedroom, the painting on his wall might look familiar. That’s because, in classic Futurama style, the writers left an easter egg for observant viewers: Zapp Brannigan’s portrait is a reference to John F. Kennedy’s official White House portrait. This is a pretty surprising comparison: Futurama’s most pathetic, war crime-committing character posed like the president with the highest approval rating in United States history.
On the other hand, Zapp Brannigan’s public image is fantastic because most civilians don’t see what he’s really like, and none of us were there for JFK’s famous acts of heroism. Perhaps the writers used Zapp’s portrait to make a statement, but many artists say a painting has no meaning beyond that which the we give it. It’s just one more reason to love Futurama: there’s a layer of poignancy underneath all that comedy.
22 Owls Were Responsible
Like many running gags in Futurama, it’s easy to miss the implications of New York’s booming owl population because no one really addresses it. Instead of rats or pigeons, owls are the new vermin. It’s just how things are in the year 3001. We’re left to assume that owls were introduced into New York’s ecosystem to counter the rat problem, gradually becoming the new problem themselves.
Futurama certainly loves its jokes about short-sighted decisions with ironic, long-term consequences.
The other layer to this running gag is that Futurama counters what owls traditionally symbolize in science fiction. In Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, Philip K. Dick uses robotic animals to represent the destruction of nature: so many species have gone extinct that people keep artificial animals around to make the world feel less barren, and the most prominent animal imitation is an owl.
21 Four Times?!
Fans of Futurama were pretty sad when Fox didn’t renew it for another season back in 2003. “The Devil’s Hands Are Idle Playthings” was Futurama’s series finale until Comedy Central picked it up five years later, to the excitement of everyone with a good sense of humor.
What you probably didn’t realize is that throughout its run, the series ended three more times after Fox canceled it.
It may be tedious at times watching Fry’s and Leela’s on-again, off-again relationship play out, but the reason behind their drama is that the writers were often unsure if the story would continue, so they wrote multiple finales that each give Fry and Leela a happy ending. When Futurama returned for another season, the writers had to split them up again to create conflict.
Still, it’s a small price to pay for another hilarious season.
20 What If Nothing Happened?
In the spirit of the “Treehouse of Horror” episodes in The Simpsons, Matt Groening used Professor Farnsworth’s “What If” Machine as a literal plot device for episodes that feature three non-canon stories. The “What If” Machine has a monitor that plays out hypothetical situations when characters ask it what would happen if things were different, and the results are predictably wacky.
Ironically, we’re left with an even bigger question: what if they never turned off the “What If” Machine?
Some fans theorize that this episode is the true series finale because there’s no way to really know that any episodes after that point aren’t “What If” scenarios playing out. A device that lets you vicariously undo your mistakes and achieve your greatest dreams would be incredibly addictive, so it’s not far-fetched to imagine the crew just kept watching.
19 Not The Same
In the very first episode, Bender is introduced as a depressed robot who cannot act against his programming. When things look grim, Fry’s rousing speech fails to inspire Bender toward rebellion, but a jolt of electricity completely reverses Bender’s decision. Some fans theorize that Bender’s personality derives entirely from his surroundings when booting up: he reboots in a jail cell, and suddenly, crime appeals to him.
Unfortunately, this also means the original Bender doesn’t survive the first episode.
We see evidence of this when Bender reboots in his tuxedo amidst a colony of penguins. Bender’s programming takes in the surroundings to surmise that Bender must also be a penguin, so he spends the episode waddling around and bringing food for baby penguins. He later reboots as a “human” when the first thing he sees is Leela.
18 The Futurama/Simpsons Paradox
The Simpsons and Futurama share a creator in Matt Groening, and it’s always a pleasure when the two shows reference each other. In each universe, the other series is a fictional television show, but that creates an interesting problem: they can’t canonically both be fiction because of these references. It wouldn’t make sense for Futurama characters to see themselves making cameos in a cartoon, and the reverse is just as true.
These crossover moments create a paradox.
Interactions between The Simpsons and Futurama characters further complicate things because that implies that these fictional-within-fiction characters are also real enough to interact with. Canonically, both shows are simultaneously TV shows and not TV shows. Seymour is actually threatening the foundation of his universe when he passes by the minigolf course from The Simpsons.
17 Fry’s Mom
Flashbacks show a strained relationship between Fry and his mother, who was more excited about the Mets winning than giving birth to her son. Her outrageous obsession with sports left Fry emotionally neglected, and doubtless her lack of parenting is a defining factor for Fry’s personality.
It’s part of what makes Fry such a compelling protagonist: everyone can relate to Fry’s low self-esteem, his hunger for validation, and his dreams of adventure as an escape from a loveless home.
If you thought “Jurassic Bark” couldn’t possibly be more emotional, imagine if the crew set out to clone Fry’s mother instead of his dog, as the writers initially intended. With all that pain and emotional baggage, it’s no wonder they decided that would be too upsetting for audiences.
16 Wasting Fines
Futurama: Into the Wild Green Yonder is a straight-to-video film that served as one of the show’s finales. Since they didn’t know if Futurama would ever return, production spared no expense: one scene shows up to 200 minor characters on the screen in a single shot. While it is fantastic fan service to remind us of all the random characters that have shown up throughout Futurama’s run, the scene was less pleasant to create.
The animation studio Rough Draft Studios fined Futurama for the immense difficulty taken in creating that scene. It’s hard to imagine how many hours and animators it took to put together that massive crowd of distinct characters, but just knowing how much work went into it makes these scene a bit more special. You could spend hours poring over that picture, reminiscing over past episodes.
15 Fry’s Namesake’s Fate
Phil Hartman had quite the career leading up to Futurama. The actor/comedian/screenwriter worked on Pee-wee’s Playhouse, won an Emmy for his work on Saturday Night Live, and did extensive voice work on The Simpsons. Matt Groening loved working with him on The Simpsons and hired Hartman to voice Zapp Brannigan on Futurama, but sadly he passed away before it aired.
Futurama’s main character was named Philip J. Fry in Hartman’s memory.
The story behind Hartman’s passing is oddly intense: Hartman got into a heated argument with his wife one evening in 1998 and threatened to leave her if she would not stop using substances. She attacked him twice while he slept that night, and then she said her good byes.
I guess that’s one reason they say couples shouldn’t go to bed angry.
14 We’re All Cubert
You know how Cubert sucks the life out of every scene he appears in, how disappointed you feel when you realize you’re watching a Cubert-focused episode? That’s what the Futurama writers think of you. They intended for Professor Farnsworth’s child clone to take on the role of stereotypical know-it-all fans, pointing out logical flaws and scientific inconsistencies in every episode.
The Cubert you see isn’t even as bad as it could have been. The writers hated him so much that they dialed back his aggravating traits.
The crew treats him like a nuisance because that’s literally his entire purpose: to be annoying. I’m sure Cubert’s meaning will be lost on precisely the fans who need it, but for the rest of us, it’s a good reminder to keep our nitpicking in check.
13 Gone In The Future
Maintaining continuity is one thing Futurama does astonishingly well: plenty of punchlines were set up by jokes from seasons prior. One such running joke is the fate of the French language, spoken for the first (and last) time in the first episode. The New Year’s countdown for 2001 shows locations all over the world, each number in a different language. When Fry wakes up on the New Year in 3001, we see a similar countdown with all of the future’s crazy changes.
The big joke is the least wacky part of the countdown, when humans in France say, “Seven!” in English because speaking French isn’t a thing in the future. In a much later episode, Professor Farnsworth expresses frustration that a translating device only translates into an incomprehensible, forgotten language (i.e. French). It’s kind of sad when you consider how plausible this future is.
12 Stuck In Limbo
Like the fan theory about the “What If” Machine, there’s another popular theory that Fry never actually wakes up; everything that happens in Futurama is in the dream of a space-obsessed boy in a coma. Yeah, I know there’s an “it’s all a dream” theory about virtually everything, and I can hear the eyes rolling from here.
Theories like this are common because they make more sense than what’s canon.
Fiction requires the audience suspend their disbelief, so a believable alternative is enticing, especially when the implications are so heavy. Fry waking up in the future was his greatest wish come true. How bad would it be if that were a lie, and he never escaped the mundane loneliness that plagued him? Fan theories are usually fun to think about, but some are just sad.
11 The Juvenile Delinquent
In keeping with the Futurama tradition of naming characters after famous people (or orchestral music in Leela’s case), Bender was named after The Breakfast Club’s iconic bad boy, John Bender. The inspiration is pretty obvious upon closer inspection, and the similarities between the two characters go well beyond their shared name.
Much like John Bender, Futurama’s Bender uses substances to cope with his difficult upbringing, and they both care about others more than they let on. Remember that heart-wrenching The Breakfast Club scene where John Bender recalls the time his dad made him take up smoking?
Well, the closest thing Futurama’s Bender has to a parent is Mom, the sociopathic robot mogul who literally forces her “children” to commit acts against their will. Did I mention that Bender is technically a child, created in a factory only four years before the first episode?
10 Ayn Rand
When the Planet Express crew visits the sewer-dwelling mutants beneath New York City, they see a society cobbled together with the garbage that New Yorkers flush down their toilets. Bender hilariously remarks that the mutant library has nothing but adult pictures and Ayn Rand novels. Ayn Rand preached—and boy, were her books preachy—a philosophy of reason, capitalism, and selfishness through unrealistically flawless characters rising above societal constraints.
That stuff sounds great as a teenager, but most of us grew out of it and flushed those books after high school.
Think about the implications of this throwaway joke, though. Mutants have literally nothing else to read. That’s not just a tragic lack of literature, that’s a disenfranchised minority with nothing in their library but pro-capitalist propaganda. It’s no wonder the mutants have such a hard time rebelling: Ayn Rand’s been telling them they deserve to live in the sewers.
9 Fake Memes
Futurama spawned countless memes for the internet’s viewing pleasure, and those memes have kept the series relevant years after its final episode aired. What better way to ensure their legacy than providing fans with the greatest visual expressions of ignorant consumerism (“Shut up and take my money!”) and disappointment in humanity (“I don’t want to live on this planet anymore.”). It’s kind of sad to think that one of these hilarious memes led to rampant misquoting among fans.
No one in Futurama ever says, “Why not Zoidberg?”
Darn it, that was one of the best memes we had! Everyone’s favorite crustacean quack gives us endless chuckles by asserting his superiority to virtually every noun you can think of. This meme comes from the ongoing gag that everyone treats Zoidberg like a hard-shelled punching bag, but the words don’t come from Futurama at all.
8 The Show Calls Us Nerdlingers
Futurama writers like to hide secret jokes throughout the show, written in an alien language. They’ve actually had to create multiple alien languages because the fans kept deciphering it much faster than they anticipated; the first language was solved in just one day. Each iteration of the mysterious, alien language was much more complex than what came before, but that didn’t deter the fans from figuring those out either.
One secret message written in an alien language appears in the Futurama season 4 DVDs.
The message calls any reader who takes the time to decode the message a “compulsive Nerdlinger” with no life. The long message is pretty funny, and being personally insulted by Futurama writers isn’t the worst reward for faithful fans. At least they softened the blow by admitting everyone who worked on the show is also a Nerdlinger, whatever that is.
7 30th Century Fox
It’s amazing how much networks like Fox seem to struggle with humor. Fox refused Matt Groening’s request to change the production logo at the end of the credits each episode, presumably because they hate comedy (as if canceling Futurama weren’t enough evidence).
Fortunately, Matt Groening has a spine of steel, and he won’t let anyone stand in the way of his artistic integrity. Groening himself paid for the rights to use the 30th Century Fox logo at the end of every episode, all so viewers could get one final chuckle.
It’s great that Groening made it happen because that logo is iconic the way it captures Futurama’s playful sense of humor. Fox came around in the end and reimbursed Groening for what he spent on the gag, which is unusual given Groening’s other experiences with TV networks.
6 The Worst Experience
If you thought the process behind creating Futurama was as funny as watching it, you thought wrong. Matt Groening hated doing business in Hollywood, and specifically described getting Futurama on the air as the worst experience of his life. It started off okay, with Fox ordering 13 episodes after one short pitch meeting. What surprised Groening was how quickly things soured, given his success with The Simpsons.
Once Fox began to see his work, they worried the show would be too dark and mean-spirited for their audience. They tried to make changes to the show, but Groening resisted their every demand, fighting what he considered to be pointless battles. From his perspective, Fox preferred a flop of a show they created to a successful show someone else made on their network. This might be why great shows like Futurama are such a rarity.
