Following its initial cancellation by Fox,Futurama began airingreruns onCartoon Network'sAdult Swim programming block, which lasted from 2003 to 2007. It was revived in 2007 as fourdirect-to-video films, the last of which was released in early 2009.Comedy Central entered into an agreement with20th Century Fox Television to syndicate the existing episodes and air the films as 16 new, half-hour episodes, constituting a fifth production season, or the sixth to be broadcast (in 2008 and 2009).[2][3]
In June 2009, Comedy Central picked up the series for 26 new half-hour episodes, which aired in 2010 and 2011, constituting the sixth production season, or the seventh (in 2010) and eighth (in 2011) to be broadcast.[4][5] The show was renewed for aseventh (production) season, with the first half airing in 2012, (as the ninth broadcast season) and the second half airing in 2013, as the tenth broadcast season.[6][7][8] Anaudio-only episode featuring the cast members was released in 2017 as an episode ofThe Nerdist Podcast.[9] On February 9, 2022,Hulu revived the series with a 20-episode order, which premiered on July 24, 2023.[10][11] In November 2023, the series was renewed by Hulu for two more broadcast seasons, which will air through 2026.[12][13] The series returned to television on September 15, 2025, when the tenth season premiered onFXX.[14][15]
Futurama is essentially a workplace sitcom, the plot of which revolves around the Planet Express interplanetary delivery company and its employees,[18] a small group that largely fails to conform to future society.[19] Episodes usually feature the central trio of Fry, Leela, and Bender, though occasional storylines center on the other main characters.
Philip J. Fry (voiced byBilly West) – Fry is a slovenly, gullible, yet good-hearted and sensitive pizzadelivery boy who falls into a cryogenic pod, causing it to activate andfreeze him just after midnight onJanuary 1, 2000. He reawakens on New Year's Eve of 2999 and gets a job as a cargo delivery boy at Planet Express, a company owned by his only living relative, Professor Hubert J. Farnsworth. Fry's love for Leela is a recurring theme throughout the series.
Turanga Leela (voiced byKatey Sagal) – Leela is the competent,one-eyed captain of the Planet Express Ship.[18] Abandoned as a baby, she grows up in the Cookieville Minimum SecurityOrphanarium believing herself to be analien from another planet, but learns that she is actually amutant from the sewers in the episode "Leela's Homeworld".[20] Prior to becoming the ship's captain, Leela works as a career assignment officer at thecryogenics lab where she first meets Fry. She is Fry's primary love interest and eventually becomes his wife. Her name is a reference to theTurangalîla-Symphonie byOlivier Messiaen.[21]
Professor Hubert J. Farnsworth (voiced by Billy West) – Professor Farnsworth, also known simply as "the Professor", is Fry's distant nephew, and technically descendant.[23] Farnsworth founds Planet Express Inc. to fund his work as amad scientist. Although he is depicted as a brilliant scientist and inventor, at more than 160 years old (between 10-20 years off from death, according to "The Numberland Gap") he is extremely prone to age-related forgetfulness and fits of temper. In the episode "A Clone of My Own", the Professor clones himself to produce a successor,Cubert Farnsworth (voiced byKath Soucie), whom he treats like a son.
Hermes Conrad (voiced byPhil LaMarr) – Hermes is theJamaican accountant of Planet Express. A 36th-levelbureaucrat (demoted to level 37 during the series) and proud of it, he is a stickler for regulation and enamored of the tedium of paperwork and bureaucracy. Hermes is also a former champion in Olympic Limbo, a sport derived from thepopular party activity. He gave up limbo after the 2980 Olympics when a young fan, imitating him, broke his back and died. Hermes has a wife,LaBarbara, and a 12-year-old son,Dwight.
Dr. John A. Zoidberg (voiced by Billy West) – Zoidberg is a Decapodian, asquid/lobster-hybrid alien from his home planetDecapod 10, and the neurotic staff physician of Planet Express. Although he claims to be an expert on humans, his knowledge of human anatomy and physiology is woefully inaccurate (at one point, he states that his doctorate is actually in art history). Zoidberg's expertise seems to be with extra-terrestrial creatures. Homeless and penniless, he lives in the dumpster behind Planet Express. Although Zoidberg is depicted as being Professor Farnsworth's long-time friend, he is held in contempt by everyone on the crew.
Amy Wong (voiced byLauren Tom) – Amy is an incrediblyrich, blunt, ditzy, andaccident-prone yet sweet-hearted long-termintern at Planet Express. She is an astrophysics student atMars University and heiress to the western hemisphere ofMars. In the second episode of season one, the Professor states that he likes having Amy around because she has the same bloodtype as him. Born on Mars, she is ethnicallyChinese and is prone to cursing inCantonese and using 31st-century slang. Her parents are the wealthy ranchersLeo and Inez Wong. She ispromiscuous in the beginning of the series, but eventually enters a monogamous relationship withKif Kroker. In the show's sixth season, she acquires her doctorate, and in the eighth season, she and Kif become parents.
The flag of the Government of EarthVariant of the flag of Earth inFuturama
Futurama is set in New New York at the turn of the 31st century, in a time filled with technological wonders. The city of New New York has been built over the ruins of present-day New York City, which has become a catacomb-like space that acts as New New York's sewer, referred to as "Old New York". Parts of the sewers are inhabited bymutants. Various devices and architecture are similar to thePopuluxe style.Global warming, inflexiblebureaucracy, andsubstance abuse are a few of the subjects given a 31st-century exaggeration in a world where the problems have become both more extreme and more common. Just as New York has become a more extreme version of itself in the future, other Earth locations are given the same treatment; Los Angeles, for example, is depicted as a smog-filled apocalyptic wasteland.
Numerous technological advances have been made between the present day and the 31st century. The Head Museum, which keeps a collection ofheads alive in jars thanks to technology invented byRon Popeil (who has a guest cameo in "A Big Piece of Garbage"), has resulted in many historical figures and current celebrities being present, including Groening himself; this became the writers' device to feature and poke fun at contemporary celebrities in the show. Several of the preserved heads shown are those of people who were already dead well before the advent of this technology; one of the most prominent examples of this anomaly is former U.S. presidentRichard Nixon, who died in 1994 and appears in numerous episodes. The Internet, while being fully immersive and encompassing all senses—even featuring its own digital world (similar toTron orThe Matrix)—is slow and largely consists of pornography,pop-up ads, and "filthy" (or Filthy Filthy)chat rooms. Some of it is edited to include educational material ostensibly for youth. Television is still a primary form of entertainment. Self-aware robots are a common sight, and are the main cause of global warming due to the exhaust from theiralcohol-powered systems. The wheel is obsolete (no one but Fry even seems to recognize the design),[24] having been forgotten and replaced byhover cars and a network of large, clearpneumatic transportation tubes.
Environmentally, common animals still remain, alongside mutated, cross-bred (sometimes with humans) and extraterrestrial animals. Ironically, spotted owls are often shown to have replaced rats as common household pests. Although rats still exist, sometimes rats act like pigeons, though pigeons still exist, as well. Anchovies have been extinct for 800 years because of the Decapodians. Earth still suffers the effects ofgreenhouse gases, although inone episode Leela states that its effects have been counteracted bynuclear winter. In another episode, theeffects of global warming have been somewhat mitigated by the dropping of a giant ice cube into the ocean, and later by pushing Earth farther away from the Sun, which also extended the year by one week.
Religion is a prominent part of society, although the dominant religions have evolved. A merging of themajor religious groups of the 20th century has resulted in the First Amalgamated Church,[25] whileVoodoo is now mainstream. New religions includeOprahism,Robotology, and the banned religion ofStar Trek fandom. Religious figures includeFather Changstein-El-Gamal, theRobot Devil,Reverend Lionel Preacherbot, and passing references to the Space Pope, who appears to be a large crocodile-like creature. Several major holidays have robots associated with them, including the murderous Robot Santa, Kwanzaa-bot and (in a couple of appearances) Hanukah Zombie. While very few episodes focus exclusively on religion within theFuturama universe, they do cover a wide variety of subjects including predestination, prayer, the nature of salvation, and religious conversion.[25]
Futurama's setting is a backdrop, and the writers are not above committingcontinuity errors if they serve to further the gags. For example, whilethe pilot episode implies that the previous Planet Express crew was killed by a space wasp, the later episode "The Sting" is based on the crew having been killed by space bees instead.[26] The "world of tomorrow" setting is used to highlight and lampoon issues of today and to parody the science-fiction genre.[27]
This list follows the season box sets, which feature the episodes in the original production season order, ignoring the order of broadcast. The Hulu revival has alternatively been titled the eighth and ninth seasons (production),[28] and the eleventh and twelfth seasons (broadcast).[29][30] The tenth and eleventh production seasons will also be considered asFuturama's thirteenth and fourteenth broadcast seasons.[31]
The television network Fox expressed a strong desire in the mid-1990s forMatt Groening to create a new series after the success of his previous series,The Simpsons; Groening began conceivingFuturama during this period. In 1995, he enlistedDavid X. Cohen, then a writer and producer forThe Simpsons, to assist in developing the show. The two spent time researching science fiction books, television shows, and films. When theypitched the series to Fox in April 1998, Groening and Cohen had composed many characters and story lines; Groening claimed they had gone "overboard" in their discussions.[32] Groening described trying to get the show on the air as "by far the worst experience of my grown-up life".[33]
Fox ordered thirteen episodes. Immediately after, however, Fox feared the themes of the show were not suitable for the network and Groening and Fox executives argued over whether the network would have any creative input into the show.[32] WithThe Simpsons, the network has no input.[34] Fox was particularly disturbed by the concept ofsuicide booths,Doctor Zoidberg, andBender's anti-social behavior.[35] Groening explains, "When they tried to give me notes onFuturama, I just said: 'No, we're going to do this just the way we didSimpsons.' And they said, 'Well, we don't do business that way anymore.' And I said, 'Oh, well, that's the only way I do business.'"[36] The episode "I, Roommate" was produced to address Fox's concerns, with the script written to their specifications.[35][37] Fox strongly disliked the episode, but after negotiations, Groening received the same independence withFuturama.[38]
The nameFuturama comes from a pavilion at the1939 New York World's Fair (as later mentioned in the opening caption of the episode "The Inhuman Torch"). Designed byNorman Bel Geddes, theFuturama pavilion depicted how he imagined the world would look in 1959.[39] Many other titles were considered for the series, includingAloha, Mars! andDoomsville, which Groening notes were "resoundly rejected, by everyone concerned with it".[40][41] It takes approximately six to nine months to produce an episode ofFuturama.[42][43] The long production time results in several episodes being worked on simultaneously.[44]
The planning for each episode began with a table meeting of writers, who discussed the plot ideas as a group. The writers are given index cards with plot points that they are required to use as the center of activity in each episode. A single staff writer wrote an outline and then produced a script. Once the first draft of a script was finished, the writers and executive producers called in the actors for a table read.[45] After this script reading, the writers collaborated to rewrite the script as a group before sending it to the animation team.[46] At this point the voice recording was also started and the script was out of the writers' hands.[43]
Futurama had eight main cast members.Billy West performed the voices ofPhilip J. Fry,Professor Farnsworth,Doctor Zoidberg,Zapp Brannigan, and many other incidental characters. West auditioned for "just about every part", landing the roles of the Professor and Doctor Zoidberg.[48] Although West read for Fry, his friendCharlie Schlatter was initially given the role.[48] Due to a casting change, West was called back to audition again and was given the role. West claims that the voice of Fry is deliberately modeled on his own, so as to make it difficult for another person to replicate the voice.[48] Doctor Zoidberg's voice was based onLou Jacobi andGeorge Jessel.[49] The character of Zapp Brannigan was originally created for and intended to be performed byPhil Hartman.[48][49] Hartman insisted on auditioning for the role, and "just nailed it" according to Groening. Due to Hartman's death, West was given the role. West states that his version of Zapp Brannigan was an imitation of Hartman and also "modeled after a couple of big dumb announcers I knew".[48][49]
Katey Sagal voicedLeela, and is the only member of the main cast to voice only one character. The role of Leela was originally assigned toNicole Sullivan.[48] In an interview in June 2010, Sagal remarked that she did not know that another person was to originally voice Leela until many years after the show first began.[50]
John DiMaggio performed the voice of the robotBender Bending Rodríguez and other, more minor, characters. Bender was the most difficult character to cast, as the show's creators had not decided what a robot should sound like.[27] DiMaggio originally auditioned for the role of Professor Farnsworth, using the voice he uses to perform Bender, and also auditioned for Bender using a different voice.[51] DiMaggio described Bender's voice as a combination of a sloppy drunk,Slim Pickens and a character his college friend created named "Charlie the sausage-lover".[50]
Scruffy, Roberto, Mayor Poopenmeyer, Dr. Ogden Wernstrom, Turanga Morris, Larry
In addition to the main cast,Frank Welker voiced Nibbler andKath Soucie voiced Cubert and several supporting and minor characters. LikeThe Simpsons, many episodes ofFuturama feature guest voices from a wide range of professions, including actors, entertainers, bands, musicians, and scientists. Many guest-stars voiced supporting characters, although many voiced themselves, usually as their own head preserved in a jar. Recurring guest stars includedTom Kenny,Dan Castellaneta (asthe Robot Devil),Dawnn Lewis, Nicole St. John,Al Gore,Phil Hendrie,Coolio andGeorge Takei, among others.Bumper Robinson used to be a cast member of the series (who played Hermes' sonDwight), but left the series afterseason 4 which caused Phil LaMarr to take over the role afterwards.John Goodman was meant to reprise the role ofRobot Santa after "Xmas Story" in future episodes but was unable to reprise the role due to scheduling problems. As a result, John DiMaggio took over that role starting with "A Tale of Two Santas". In that same episode, Dan Castellaneta was unable to reprise theRobot Devil due to his work onThe Simpsons. Maurice LaMarche took over that role for that episode only as Castellaneta did reprise the role in future episodes. Following Coolio's death in 2022,David X. Cohen has revealed onTMZ that he recorded new dialogue forKwanzaabot before his death in an upcoming episode, scheduled to be released in 2023.[53]
Computer-generated explosion from the episode "The Sting" (season 4)
Futurama is animated byRough Draft Studios inGlendale, California andSouth Korea. The American studio would receive the completed script of an episode and create astoryboard consisting of more than 100 drawings. It would then produce a pencil-drawnanimatic with 1,000 frames. Rough Draft's sister studio in Korea would render the 30,000-frame finished episode.[45]
In addition to traditional cartoon drawing, Rough Draft Studios often usedCGI for fast or complex shots, such as the movement ofspaceships, explosions,nebulae, large crowds, and snow scenes. The opening sequence was entirely rendered in CGI. The CGI was rendered at 24frames per second (as opposed to hand-drawn often done at 12 frames per second) and the lack ofartifacts made the animation appear very smooth and fluid. CGI characters looked slightly different due to spatially "cheating" hand-drawn characters by drawing slightly out of proportion or off-perspective features to emphasize traits of the face or body, improving legibility of an expression.PowerAnimator andMaya were used to draw the comic-like CGI whilstToonz was used fordigital ink and paint and compositing.[54]
The series began high-definition production inseason 5, withBender's Big Score. The opening sequence was re-rendered and scaled to adapt to the show's transition to 16:9widescreen format.
For thefinal episode ofseason 6,Futurama was completely reanimated in three different styles: the first segment of the episode features black-and-whiteFleischer- andWalter Lantz-style animation, the second was drawn in the style of alow-resolution video game, and the final segment was in the style of Japaneseanime.[55]
Beginning withseason 8,Digital eMation also handles the overseas animation along with Rough Draft Korea.
Much like theopening sequence inThe Simpsons with itschalkboard gags,Lisa's sax solo, andcouch gags,Futurama has a distinctive opening sequence featuring minor gags. As the show begins, blue lights fill the screen and thePlanet Express Ship flies across the screen with the title of the show being spelled out in its wake. Underneath the title is a joke caption such as "Painstakingly drawn before a live audience" or "When you see the robot: DRINK!"[56] After flying through downtown New New York and past various recurring characters, the Planet Express ship crashes through a large screen showing a short clip from a classic cartoon. These have included clips fromQuasi at the Quackadero,Looney Tunes andMerrie Melodies shorts, cartoons produced byFleischer Studios andFamous Studios, ashort ofThe Simpsons from aTracey Ullman episode,[57] the show's own opening sequence in "The Devil's Hands Are Idle Playthings" or a scene from the episode. Most episodes inSeason 6 andSeason 7 use anabridged opening sequence, omitting the brief clip of a classic cartoon. "Rebirth", "That Darn Katz!", "Benderama", "Yo Leela Leela", "Decision 3012", "Forty Percent Leadbelly", "T.: The Terrestrial", "Leela and the Genestalk", and "Stench and Stenchability" have been the only episodes since "Spanish Fry" to feature a classic cartoon clip. Several episodes begin with a cold opening before the opening sequence, although these scenes do not always correspond with the episode's plot. The opening sequence has been lampooned several times within the show, in episodes including "That's Lobstertainment!", "The Problem with Popplers", as "Future-roma" in "The Duh-Vinci Code" and as "Futurella" in "Lrrreconcilable Ndndifferences". "Decision 3012" and "The Problem with Popplers" are the only episodes that directly tie into the opening, with Bender deliberately crashing the ship after seeing an advertisement for free beer in "Decision 3012", while in "The Problem with Popplers", Leela crashes through it during an ad for Popplers, with Fry saying "That's the second billboard you've crashed through this week!". "Viva Mars Vegas" features a unique handmade variant of the opening, using cardboard, plastic, and model ships guided by strings and rods.
Series director Scott Vanzo has remarked on the difficulty of animating the sequence. It took four to five weeks to fully animate the sequence, and it consists of over 80 levels of3D animation composited together.[58] It takes approximately one hour torender a single frame, and each second of the sequence consists of around 30 frames.[59]
TheFuturama theme was created byChristopher Tyng. The theme is played on thetubular bells but is occasionally remixed for use in specific episodes, including a version by theBeastie Boys used for the episode "Hell Is Other Robots", in which they guest starred as their own heads for both a concert and as part of the Robot Devil's song.[56] The original version of the theme also samples adrum break originating from "Amen, Brother" by American soul groupThe Winstons. The theme has been noted for its similarities toPierre Henry's 1967Psyché Rock.[60]
It was originally intended for theFuturama theme to be remixed in every episode.[61] This was first trialled in the opening sequence for "Mars University", however it was realized upon broadcast that the sound did not transmit well through most television sets and the idea was subsequently abandoned.[62] Despite this,beatbox renditions of the theme performed by Billy West and John DiMaggio are used for the episodes "Bender Should Not Be Allowed on TV" and "Spanish Fry".
As the series began high-definition production in 2007 with the four direct-to-DVD movies and season 6 on Comedy Central, the opening sequence was updated to match, and a slightly slower and revamped remix of the theme song, which replaced the Amen break with a higher-fidelity drum recording and was previously used in theFuturama video game, replaced the original theme.Bender's Big Score has an extended opening sequence, introducing each of the main characters. InThe Beast with a Billion Backs andBender's Game the ship passes through the screen's glass and temporarily becomes part of the environment depicted therein—a pastiche ofDisney'sSteamboat Willie andYellow Submarine respectively—before crashing through the screen glass on the way out. InInto the Wild Green Yonder, a completely different opening sequence involves a trip through a futuristic version of Las Vegas located on Mars. The theme tune is sung byFamily Guy andAmerican Dad! creatorSeth MacFarlane and is different from the standard theme tune. The end of the film incorporates a unique variation of the opening sequence; as thePlanet Express Ship enters a wormhole, it converts into a pattern of lights similar to the lights that appear in the opening sequence. All four movies' end credits utilized an edited version from the full-length remix of the theme instead of the original end credits theme, and an even shorter edit was introduced in season 6. Another update of the opening sequence in season 8 for Hulu added more visual gags, and the end credits theme was replaced again with an edit of the 2012 digital download release version, which added an extra layer of beats.
There are three alternative alphabets that appear often in the background of episodes, usually in the forms ofgraffiti, advertisements, or warning labels. Nearly all messages using alternative scripts transliterate directly into English. The first alphabet consists of abstract characters and is referred to as Alienese,[20] a simplesubstitution cipher from theLatin alphabet.[63] The second alphabet uses a more complexmodular addition code, where the "next letter is given by the summation of all previous letters plus the current letter".[64] The codes often provide additional jokes for fans dedicated enough to decode the messages.[27] The third language sometimes used isHebrew. Aside from these alphabets, most of the displayed wording on the show uses the Latin alphabet.
The show predicts that several English expressions will have evolved by the year 3000. For example, in the show the wordChristmas has been replaced withXmas (pronounced "ex-mas"), and the wordask withaks (pronouncedaxe). According to David X. Cohen, it is a running joke that theFrench language isextinct in theFuturama universe (though the culture remains alive), much likeLatin is in the present.[65] In the French dubbing of the show,German is used as the extinct language instead.
A modified version of the20th Century Fox Televisionlogo is displayed at the end of each episode, reading "30th Century Fox Television"[66] to fit the show's setting in the 31st century. Syndicated episodes use a 30th Television closing logo instead of the 20th Television one, while episodes from Season 8 onward use a30th Television Animation logo. Initially, Fox did not want this logo to be used on the show, but when creator Matt Groening purchased the rights to the logo, the network had a change of heart and allowed the altered version to be aired.[67][68]
Although the series uses a wide range of styles of humor, includingself-deprecation,black comedy,off-color humor,slapstick, andsurreal humor, its primary source of comedy is itssatirical depiction of everyday life in the future and itsparodical comparisons to the present.[18] Groening notes that, from the show's conception, his goal was to make what was, on the surface, a goofy comedy that would have underlying "legitimate literary science fiction concepts".[69] The series contrasted "low culture" and "high culture" comedy; for example, Bender's catchphrase is the insult "Bite my shiny metal ass" while his most terrifying nightmare is a vision of thenumber 2, a joke referring to thebinary numeral system (Fry assures him, "there's no such thing as two").[18]
The series developed acult following partially due to the large number ofin-jokes it contains, most of which are aimed at "nerds".[18] Incommentary on the DVD releases, David X. Cohen points out and sometimes explains his "nerdiest joke[s]".[70] These includedmathematical jokes – such as "Loew's-plex" (aleph-null-plex) movie theater[70] – as well as various forms of science humor – for example, Professor Farnsworth, at a racetrack, complains about the use of aquantum finish to decide the winner, exclaiming "No fair! You changed the outcome by measuring it", a reference to theuncertainty principle ofquantum mechanics.[18][71] In the season six episode "Law and Oracle", Fry and the robot peace officer URL track down a traffic violator who turns out to beErwin Schrödinger, the 20th-century quantum physicist. On the front seat of the car is a box, and when questioned about the contents, Schrödinger replies "A cat, some poison, and a cesium atom". Fry asks if the cat is alive or dead, and Schrödinger answers "It's a superposition of both states until you open the box and collapse the wave function." When Fry opens the box, the cat jumps out and attacks him. The run is a reference to theSchrödinger's cat thought experiment of quantum mechanics. The series makes passing references toquantum chromodynamics (the appearance ofStrong Force-brand glue),[72]computer science (two separate books in a closet labeledP andNP respectively, referring to the possibility that P and NP-complete problem classes are distinct),[73] electronics (an X-ray – or more accurately, an "F-ray" – of Bender's head reveals a6502 microprocessor),[74] andgenetics (a mention of Bender's "robo- or R-NA").[75]
The show often features subtle references to classic science fiction. These are most often toStar Trek – many soundbites are used inhomage[18] – but also include the reference to the origin of the wordrobot made in the name of the robot-dominated planetChapek 9,[76] and the black rectangular monolith labeled "Out of Order" in orbit aroundJupiter (a reference toArthur C. Clarke'sSpace Odyssey series).[77] Bender and Fry sometimes watch a television show calledThe Scary Door, a humorous parody ofThe Twilight Zone.[78]
Journalist/criticFrank Lovece inNewsday contrasted the humor tradition of Groening's two series, finding that
The Simpsons echoes the strains ofAmerican-Irishvaudeville humor – the beer-soaked, sneaking-in-late-while-the-wife's-asleep comedy ofHarrigan and Hart, McNulty and Murray, theFour Cohans (which, yes, includedGeorge M.) and countless others: knockabout yet sentimental, and ultimately about the bonds of blood family.Futurama, conversely, stems fromJewish-American humor, and not just in the obvious archetype of Dr. Zoidberg. From vaudeville to theCatskills toWoody Allen, it's that distinctly rueful humor built to ward away everything from despair to petty annoyance – the 'You gotta do what you gotta do' philosophy that helps theFuturama characters cope in a mega-corporate world where the little guy is essentially powerless.[79]
I'm Jewish, and I know what you're saying. Fry has that [type of humor], Dr. Zoidberg, all the [vocal artist]Billy West characters. I see it. The bottom line is, the producers are trying to make sure the shows are completely different entities.[79]
In an interview with Diego Molano, creator ofVictor and Valentino, in April 2019, he said that he foundFuturama "incredibly influential", calling the humor smart but "notalienating".[80] He added that it makes him "feel smart" and adding that Groening's "sense of comedic timing is masterful".
Groening and Cohen wantedFuturama to be shown at 8:30 pm on Sunday, followingThe Simpsons. The Fox network disagreed, opting instead to show two episodes in the Sunday night lineup before moving the show to a regular time slot on Tuesday.[81] Beginning with its second broadcast season,Futurama was again placed in the 8:30 pm Sunday spot,[82] but by mid-season the show was moved again, this time to 7:00 pm on Sunday, its third position in less than a year.[83] Even by the fourth season,Futurama was being aired erratically.[84] Because the show was regularly pre-empted by sporting events, it became difficult to predict when new episodes would air. The erratic schedule resulted in Fox not airing several episodes that had been produced for seasons three and four, instead holding them for a fifth broadcast season. According to Groening, Fox executives were not supporters of the show.[85] AlthoughFuturama was never officially cancelled, midway through the production of the fourth season, Fox decided to stop buying episodes ofFuturama, letting it go out of production before the fall 2003 lineup.[86][87]
In 2003,Cartoon Network acquired syndication rights toFuturama andFamily Guy, another animated show Fox had cancelled, for itsAdult Swim block. Both shows proved to be successful immediately, leading to sister networkTBS picking up the show later in 2003.[88][89] The run on Adult Swim revived interest in both series, and whenFamily Guy found success indirect-to-DVD productions,Futurama's producers decided to try the same.[90][91] In 2005,Comedy Central entered negotiations to take over the syndication rights, during which they discussed the possibility of producing new episodes. In 2006, it was announced thatfour straight-to-DVD films would be produced, and later split into 16 episodes comprising a fifth season of the show.[92] Since no newFuturama projects were in production at the time of release, the final movie releaseInto the Wild Green Yonder was designed to stand as theFuturama series finale. However, Groening had expressed a desire to continue the franchise in some form, including a theatrical film.[93] In an interview withCNN, Groening said that "we have a great relationship with Comedy Central and we would love to do more episodes for them, but I don't know... We're having discussions and there is some enthusiasm but I can't tell if it's just me."[94]Futurama left Adult Swim's lineup on December 31, 2007, following a week-long marathon of the entire series. Comedy Central began airing the show the next day, with season 5 making its broadcast debut on March 23, 2008.
In June 2009,20th Century Fox Television announced that Comedy Central had picked up the show for 26 new half-hour episodes that began airing on June 24, 2010.[95][96][97] The returning writing crew was smaller than the original crew.[98] It was originally announced that main voice actors West, DiMaggio, and Sagal would return as well, but on July 17, 2009, it was announced that a casting notice was posted to replace the entire cast when 20th Century Fox Television would not meet their salary demands.[99] The situation was later resolved, and the entire original voice-cast returned for the new episodes.
Near the end of a message from Maurice LaMarche sent to members of the "Save the Voices of Futurama" group on Facebook, LaMarche announced that the original cast would be returning for the new episodes.[100] TheToronto Star confirmed, announcing on their website that the original cast ofFuturama signed contracts with Fox to return for 26 more episodes.[101] Similarly, an email sent to fans from Cohen and Groening reported that West, Sagal, DiMaggio, LaMarche, MacNeille, Tom, LaMarr, and Herman would all be returning for the revival.[102]
Cohen toldNewsday in August 2009 that the reported 26-episode order means "[i]t will be up to 26. I can't guarantee it will be 26. But I think there's a pretty good chance it'll be exactly 26. Fox has been a little bit cagey about it, even internally. But nobody's too concerned. We're plunging ahead".[79] Two episodes were in the process of being voice-recorded at that time, with an additional "six scripts ... in the works, ranging in scale from 'it's a crazy idea that someone's grandmother thought of' to 'it's all on paper'.[79]
WhenFuturama aired June 24, 2010, on Comedy Central, it helped the network to its highest-rated night in 2010 and its highest-rated Thursday primetime in the network's history.[103] In March 2011, it was announced thatFuturama had been renewed for a seventh season, consisting of at least 26 episodes, scheduled to air in 2012 and 2013.[6][7] The first episode of season 7 premiered June 20, 2012, on Comedy Central.[104]
Comedy Central announced in April 2013 that they would be airing the then final episode "Meanwhile" on September 4, 2013.[107] The producers said that they are exploring options for the future of the series as "[they] have many more stories to tell", but would gauge fan reaction to the news.[108] Groening and Cohen had previously expressed a desire to produce a theatrical film or anotherdirect-to-video film upon conclusion of the series.[109]
In an August 2013 interview withMilwaukee Journal Sentinel,Katey Sagal said regarding the series finale, "So I don't believe it... I just hold out hope for it because it has such a huge fan base, it's such a smart show, and why wouldn't somebody want to keep making that show; so that's my thought, I'm just in denial that it's over". Sagal also mentioned during the same interview that Groening told her atComic-Con that "we'll find a place" and "don't worry, it's not going to end".[110]
The Simpsons episode "Simpsorama" is an officialcrossover withFuturama. It originally aired during thetwenty-sixth season ofThe Simpsons on Fox on November 9, 2014, over a year after theFuturama series finale aired on Comedy Central.[111][112][113]
In July 2011, it was reported that the show had been picked up forsyndication by both localaffiliates andWGN America. Broadcast of old episodes began in September 2011.[114] On September 19, 2011, WGN America began re-runningFuturama, carrying it until 2014.[115]Futurama doubled its viewership in syndication in 2012.[116]
In October 2017,Syfy announced that they had acquired syndication rights to all 140 episodes ofFuturama, adding it to its lineup on November 11, 2017, with a weekend long marathon.[117]Futurama was Syfy's first ever American animated series (the network had ananime programming block in the past), and eventually became paired with Syfy's TZGZ block of animated original series on Saturday nights. Comedy Central continued to air the series concurrently with Syfy, usually in the mornings and early afternoon. Syfy aired episodes from the first four seasons cropped to16:9 instead of airing them in their original4:3 aspect ratio; Comedy Central (since 2017) and FXX would do the same.
In September 2021,FXX, which already carriesThe Simpsons and other 20th Television animated programming, announced that it would begin airingFuturama that November.[118] Syfy stopped airing the show on November 10, 2021, and FXX began airing the show on November 15, 2021. Adult Swim then picked the show back up on December 27, 2021.[119] Unlike FXX, Adult Swim airs the first four seasons in their original 4:3 aspect ratio,pillarboxed. However, seasons 5 through 7, which were produced in 16:9, are cropped to 4:3. In 2024, Comedy Central held the rights to the series, usually airing it in the early morning, but was since dropped as of September 22, 2025, withThe Cleveland Show airing in its place.[120]
In February 2022, Hulu revived the series with a 20-episode order to premiere in 2023. At the time of the announcement, the majority of the main voice cast was set to return, while John DiMaggio was still in negotiations.[10] The next day,Disney+ (Hulu's sister streaming service) announced in a press release that the new season would stream internationally as a Star Original.[121] DiMaggio stated that he had not accepted the role in mid-February 2022 because he believed the entire cast ofFuturama should be paid more. He stated, "Bender is part of my soul and nothing about this is meant to be disrespectful to the fans or myFuturama family. It's about self-respect. And honestly, [it's about] being tired of an industry that's become far too corporate and takes advantage of artists' time and talent... I wish I could give you every detail so you would understand, but it's not my place."[122]
In March, DiMaggio officially rejoined the series after working out a new deal, calling the prior events "Bendergate".[123] He later revealed that he did not get a raise, "but what I did get was a lot of respect". Had he not returned, Bender would have been voiced by a different guest star in each episode.[124] In August 2022, the titles of the first ten episodes were announced by Hulu,[125] and by November 2022, the production team was aiming to complete the episodes by the end of the year.[126] In February 2023, a new release date was set sometime around the 2023 summer season.[127] On May 18, 2023, a teaser trailer was released, announcing the premiere date as July 24, 2023.[11] This second revival has alternatively been titled theeighth andninth seasons (production)[128] and the eleventh and twelfth seasons (broadcast).[129][30] With the revival on Hulu, the season carries a new version of the opening title sequence, containing a briefly altered name "Hulurama" before reverting to "Futurama".[130][131]
On November 2, 2023, Hulu renewed the series for tenth and eleventh production seasons;[132] a total of 20 episodes were ordered for the new seasons, which will air from 2025 to 2026.[12][13] All of season ten was released on Hulu on September 15, 2025,[133] whileFXX will begin airing new episodes weekly the same day.[134]
The show received critical acclaim. The first season holds an 82% approval rating atreview aggregator siteRotten Tomatoes, based on 32 reviews, an average rating of 8.75/10. The critical consensus reads, "Good news, everyone!Futurama is an inventive, funny, and sometimes affecting look at the world of tomorrow." Season 5 holds a rating of 100%, based on seven reviews, and an average score of 8.67/10. Season 6 has an approval rating of 100%, based on 16 reviews, and the average rating is 8.31/10. The website's critical consensus states, "Good news everyone!Futurama is as funny and endearing as ever in its sixth season." The next season received a rating of 92%, and an 8.24/10 average score based on 12 reviews. The critics consensus reads, "Futurama makes the most of its second life with biting social satire, kooky sci-fi scenarios, and a stirringly sweet series finale." For the eighth season,[c] 86% of 29 reviews are positive, while the consensus states, "Shut up and take our money!".[141]
Futurama's 7:00 p.m. Sunday time slot caused the show to often be pre-empted by sports and usually have a later-than-average season premiere. It also allowed the writers and animators to get ahead of the broadcast schedule so that episodes intended for one season were not aired until the following season. By the beginning of the fourth broadcast season, all the episodes to be aired that season had already been completed and writers were working at least a year in advance.[43]
WhenFuturama debuted in the Fox Sunday night lineup at 8:30 p.m. betweenThe Simpsons andThe X-Files on March 28, 1999, it managed 19 million viewers, tying for 11th overall in that week'sNielsen ratings.[148] The following week, airing at the same time,Futurama drew 14.2 million viewers. The third episode, the first airing on Tuesday, drew 8.85 million viewers.[149] Though its ratings were well belowThe Simpsons, the first season ofFuturama rated higher than competing animated series:King of the Hill,Family Guy,Dilbert,South Park, andThe PJs.[150]
WhenFuturama was effectively canceled in 2003, it had averaged 6.4 million viewers for the first half of its fourth broadcast season.[151]
In late 2002,Cartoon Network acquired exclusive cable syndication rights toFuturama for a reported $10 million (equivalent to $17 million in 2024).[152][153] In January 2003,[153] the network began airingFuturama episodes as the centerpiece to the expansion of theirAdult Swim cartoon block. Spanish-languageFuturama reruns were broadcast on theNBC-ownedmun2 cable network from March 3, 2003 to July 9, 2005.[154] In October 2005, Comedy Central picked up the cable syndication rights to airFuturama's 72-episode run at the start of 2008, following the expiration of Cartoon Network's contract.[155] A Comedy Central teaser trailer announced the return ofFuturama March 23, 2008,[156] which wasBender's Big Score divided into four episodes followed by the other three movies.
On June 24, 2010, the season 6 premiere, "Rebirth", drew 2.92 million viewers in the 10:00 p.m. time slot on Comedy Central.[157] The second episode of the sixth season, "In-A-Gadda-Da-Leela", aired at 10:30 p.m., immediately following the season premiere. "In-A-Gadda-Da-Leela" drew 2.78 million viewers.[157] This was the series' premiere on the network, with original episodes—the fifth season had previously aired on the network, but it had originally been released in the form of the four direct-to-video films.
First started in November 2000 and lasting until July 2018,Futurama Comics is a comic book series published byBongo Comics based in theFuturama universe.[175] While originally published only in the US, a UK, German and Australian version of the series is also available.[176] In addition, three issues were published in Norway. Other than a different running order and presentation, the stories are the same in all versions. While the comics focus on the same characters in theFuturamafictional universe, the comics may not becanonical as the events portrayed within them do not necessarily have any effect upon the continuity of the show.
Like the TV series, each comic (except US comic #20) has a caption at the top of the cover. For example: "Made In The USA! (Printed in Canada)". Some of the UK and Australian comics have different captions on the top of their comics (for example, the Australian version of #20 says "A 21st Century Comic Book" across the cover, while the US version does not have a caption on that issue). All series contain a letters page, artwork from readers, and previews of other upcoming Bongo comics.
Its final issue was on July 18, 2018, three months before Bongo Comics would shut down.[177]
When Comedy Central began negotiating for the rights to airFuturama reruns, Fox suggested that there was a possibility of also creating new episodes. Negotiations were already underway with the possibility of creating two or threestraight-to-DVD films. When Comedy Central committed to sixteen new episodes, it was decided that four films would be produced.[92] On April 26, 2006, Groening noted in an interview that co-creator David X. Cohen and numerous writers from the original series would be returning to work on the movies.[178] All the original voice actors participated. In February 2007, Groening explained the format of the new stories: "[The crew is] writing them as movies and then we're going to chop them up, reconfigure them, write new material and try to make them work as separate episodes."[179]
The first film,Bender's Big Score, was written by Ken Keeler and Cohen, and includes return appearances by theNibblonians, Seymour, Barbados Slim,Robot Santa,the "God" space entity,Al Gore, and Zapp Brannigan.[180] It was animated in widescreen and was released on standard DVD on November 27, 2007, with a possibleBlu-ray Disc release to follow.[181] A release onHD DVD was rumored but later officially denied.Futurama: Bender's Big Score was the first DVD release for which 20th Century Fox implemented measures intended to reduce the total carbon footprint of the production, manufacturing, and distribution processes. Where it was not possible to completely eliminate carbon, outputcarbon offsets were used, thus making the complete processcarbon neutral.[182]
The second movie,The Beast with a Billion Backs, was released on June 24, 2008. The third movie,Bender's Game, was released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc[183] on November 3, 2008, in the UK, November 4, 2008, in the US, and December 10, 2008, in Australia. The fourth movie,Into the Wild Green Yonder, was released on DVD and Blu-ray Disc on February 24, 2009.[184]
Following the series' revival, the show's executive producerClaudia Katz had announced more upcoming movies forHulu while also hinting at a theatrical release.[185][186]
On September 15, 2000, Unique Development Studios acquired the license to develop aFuturama video game for consoles and handheld systems.Fox Interactive signed on to publish the game.[187]Sierra Entertainment later became the game's publisher, and it was released on August 14, 2003.[188] Versions are available forPlayStation 2 andXbox, both of which usecel-shading technology. However, the game was subsequently canceled on theGameCube andGame Boy Advance in North America and Europe.
In 2012, an app inspired by the head in a jar gag was launched by Matt Groening.[189]
On July 25, 2023,Fortnite released an update that included theme content centered on the showFuturama, including purchasable outfits. These outfits include Bender Bending Rodríguez, Philip J. Fry, and Turanga Leela, as well as other themed accessories. The weapon "Bender's Shiny Metal Raygun" has also been included in the game.[195]
^Rotten Tomatoes uses FOX's broadcast order, listing the show as eleven seasons; the eighth season is labeled "season 11", but reviews of previous seasons are included following the production order.
^abGoldberg, Lesley (February 9, 2022)."'Futurama' Revived at Hulu".The Hollywood Reporter.Archived from the original on May 20, 2022. RetrievedFebruary 9, 2022.
^abCohen, David X.; Groening, Moore, Rich; Vanzo, Gregg; Horsted, Eric; Haaland, Bret; West, Billy (2002).Futurama: Volume One DVD commentary for the episode "I, Roommate" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.Matt Groening: Well, I think that's a good idea– I always wanted to have Bachelor Chow right now and so– this was– Anyway, the network really– really was freaked out by the show, the suicide booths– and lobster creatures and Bender being so anti-social and so– yeah, this was our show to tone things down. This script was written specifically to their specifications.
^Cohen, David X.; Groening, Moore, Rich; Vanzo, Gregg; Horsted, Eric; Haaland, Bret; West, Billy (2002).Futurama: Volume One DVD commentary for the episode "I, Roommate" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.Matt Groening: This is the third episode in the series. And this is the series that– had a trouble beginning– with the Fox Network, who felt that the show was too outrageous and too much out of space. This was our attempt, the third episode, to bring the show back to Earth.
^Cohen, David X.; Groening, Moore, Rich; Vanzo, Gregg; Horsted, Eric; Haaland, Bret; West, Billy (2002).Futurama: Volume One DVD commentary for the episode "I, Roommate" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.Matt Groening: And their reaction, David?David X. Cohen: "Worst. Episode. Ever."Groening: Yeah, they really– they really hated this script, and — sorry, Eric — and this was the point at which, we decided we wanted to do the show that we wanted to do. Their notes made no sense anyway, they're completely contradictory. And so– we did what we wanted.
^Cohen, David X.; Groening, Moore, Rich; Vanzo, Gregg; DiMaggio, John (2002).Futurama: Volume One DVD commentary for the episode "Fear of a Bot Planet" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.Groening: The original name for this show was notFuturama, by the way. There was a long long list of possible names, the only two I remember which were resoundingly rejected, by everyone concerned with it;Doomsville was my number one choice. And my number two choice — and I don't even know why I thought this was a good idea for a name — somehow,Aloha, Mars! struck me and that was also not particularly...
^Cohen, David X.; Groening, Matt; Kelley, Brian; Sheesley, Brian; Moore, Rich; Vanzo, Scott; DiMaggio, John (2002).Futurama: Volume One DVD commentary for the episode "Love's Labours Lost in Space" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.Scott Vanzo: The final is kinda difficult for us to create, it has over 80 levels of 3D animation that are composited together, a lot of cheats, probably the single biggest scene that we have ever done, or at least we view it as a scene, so... I don't know what else to say.David X. Cohen: How long did it take just to animate that 28 seconds?Vanzo: I think we did it in about four or five weeks, all together.
^Cohen, David X.; Groening, Matt; Kelley, Brian; Sheesley, Brian; Moore, Rich; Vanzo, Scott; DiMaggio, John (2002).Futurama: Volume One DVD commentary for the episode "Love's Labours Lost in Space" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.David X. Cohen: How long does it take – out of curiosity, I don't even the answer to this – how long does it take to render one frame of that kind of degree of computer– 3D computer graphics?Scott Vanzo: We split it into a lot of different levels, because it was taking so long, and that way we can fix things a lot easier. I would say, probably about an hour a frame for that title.Cohen: And 30 frames per second? So that adds up.
^Hodgkinson, Will (October 15, 2006)."Soundtrack of my life: Pierre Henry".The Guardian.Archived from the original on September 26, 2014. RetrievedJune 7, 2015.In 1964 Henry had a pop hit with 'Psyche Rock'. It has since been remixed by Fatboy Slim and William Orbit, sampled countless times, and used as the basis for the soundtrack to the cartoon Futurama.
^Cohen, David X.; Groening, Moore, Rich; Vanzo, Gregg; Burns, J. Stewart; Haaland, Bret; West, Billy (2002).Futurama: Volume One DVD commentary for the episode "Mars University" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.Matt Groening: This is the remix theme, we were gonna remix the theme every week and then listened to this one and decided never to do it again.
^Cohen, David X.; Groening, Moore, Rich; Vanzo, Gregg; Burns, J. Stewart; Haaland, Bret; West, Billy (2002).Futurama: Volume One DVD commentary for the episode "Mars University" (DVD). 20th Century Fox.David X. Cohen: It actually sounds pretty good, if you have a good quality TV stereo system, but it didn't transmit that well on the air. It lost a lot of the dynamic range, so it doesn't sound as good on actual broadcast as we thought it would.
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