Futurama

Did You Know?

• Futurama Comics, a comic book series published by Bongo Comics, ran from November 2000 to July 2018.
• The show was nominated for a Nebula Award and received Environmental Media Awards for the episodes "The Problem with Popplers" and "The Futurama Holiday Spectacular".
• TV Guide ranked Futurama on its list of the '60 Greatest TV Cartoons of All Time' in 2013.

Premise

Futurama is a workplace sitcom centered on the Planet Express interplanetary delivery company and its employees, who largely fail to fit into future society. Most episodes focus on the central trio of Fry, Leela, and Bender, though occasional storylines highlight other main characters. Philip J. Fry, voiced by Billy West, is a slovenly but good-hearted pizza delivery boy who accidentally cryogenically freezes himself just after midnight on January 1, 2000, and reawakens on New Year's Eve of 2999. He takes a job as a cargo delivery boy at Planet Express, owned by his only living relative, Professor Hubert J. Farnsworth. Fry's romantic feelings for Leela are a recurring theme. Turanga Leela, voiced by Katey Sagal, is the one-eyed captain of the Planet Express Ship. Abandoned as a baby, she grows up believing she is an alien but later learns she is a mutant from the sewers. She works as a career assignment officer at the cryogenics lab where she first meets Fry, and she eventually becomes his wife. Bender Bending Rodriguez, voiced by John DiMaggio, is a foul-mouthed, heavy-drinking, kleptomaniacal robot originally programmed to bend girders. He works as assistant sales manager and cook at Planet Express, despite lacking a sense of taste, and is Fry's best friend and roommate. Professor Hubert J. Farnsworth, also voiced by Billy West, is Fry's distant nephew and descendant. He founds Planet Express to fund his mad scientist work, and at over 160 years old, he is prone to forgetfulness and temper. In one episode, he clones himself to produce a successor, Cubert Farnsworth.

Production

Fox wanted Matt Groening to create a new series after The Simpsons' success, and Groening began conceiving Futurama in the mid-1990s. In 1996, he brought David X. Cohen, a Simpsons writer, to help develop the show. They researched science fiction books, television shows, and films before pitching to Fox in April 1998 with many characters and storylines. Fox ordered thirteen episodes but feared the themes were unsuitable, leading to arguments over creative input. Fox was disturbed by suicide booths, Doctor Zoidberg, and Bender's anti-social behavior. Groening insisted on the same independence he had with The Simpsons, and after negotiations, he received it. The episode "I, Roommate" was produced to address Fox's concerns but was strongly disliked by the network. The name Futurama comes from a pavilion at the 1939 New York World's Fair designed by Norman Bel Geddes. Other considered titles included Aloha, Mars! and Doomsville, which were rejected. Producing an episode takes approximately six to nine months, with several episodes worked on simultaneously.

Hallmarks

Futurama has a distinctive opening sequence with minor gags, similar to The Simpsons' chalkboard gags and couch gags. The sequence begins with blue lights, the Planet Express Ship flying across the screen, and the title spelled out in its wake with a joke caption underneath, such as "Painstakingly drawn before a live audience." The ship then flies through downtown New New York and past recurring characters before crashing through a large screen showing a short clip from a classic cartoon, including clips from Quasi at the Quackadero, Looney Tunes, Merrie Melodies, Fleischer Studios, Famous Studios, or a Simpsons short. Some episodes in Season 6 and Season 7 use an abridged opening without the cartoon clip. Several episodes begin with a cold opening before the sequence. The opening has been lampooned within the show, appearing as "Future-roma" and "Futurella" in certain episodes. Two episodes directly tie into the opening: in one, Bender deliberately crashes after seeing a free beer advertisement, and in another, Leela crashes through during a Popplers ad. "Viva Mars Vegas" features a handmade variant using cardboard, plastic, and model ships. Series director Scott Vanzo noted the sequence took four to five weeks to animate, with over 80 levels of 3D animation composited together, each frame taking about an hour to render.

Cancellations, syndications and revivals

Groening and Cohen wanted Futurama to air at 8:30 pm Sunday following The Simpsons, but Fox initially placed it in a Tuesday slot after two Sunday episodes. It later moved to 8:30 pm Sunday, then to 7:00 pm Sunday, and was regularly pre-empted by sporting events. Fox did not air several produced episodes from seasons three and four, holding them for a fifth broadcast season. Midway through the fourth production season, Fox stopped buying episodes, letting the show go out of production before fall 2003. In 2003, Cartoon Network's Adult Swim acquired syndication rights, and TBS also picked up the show. The final film, Into the Wild Green Yonder, was designed as a series finale. Comedy Central began airing the show on January 1, 2008, after Futurama left Adult Swim on December 31, 2007. Groening expressed desire to continue the franchise, including a theatrical film.