Simpsorama
A crossover episode uniting The Simpsons and Futurama.
"Simpsorama" is the sixth episode of *The Simpsons*' twenty-sixth season and the 558th episode overall. It aired on Fox in the U.S. on November 9, 2014. The story involves the Planet Express crew traveling to the present to stop a future disaster. This crossover brings together *The Simpsons* with Matt Groening’s other animated series, *Futurama*, which had ended its run on Comedy Central with the episode "Meanwhile" on September 4, 2013. The episode’s name combines the titles of both shows. Voice actors John DiMaggio, David Herman, Maurice LaMarche, Phil LaMarr, Katey Sagal, Lauren Tom, Frank Welker, and Billy West returned to voice their *Futurama* characters. The episode received mixed reviews.
In the plot, Principal Skinner presents a time capsule to be opened in a thousand years, and Bart’s class adds items. Bart puts in a sandwich he blew his nose into, and Milhouse contributes a lucky rabbit’s foot. During burial, nuclear waste from the Springfield Nuclear Power Plant leaks into the hole, but the capsule is buried anyway. That night, the Simpsons hear a noise and find Bender in their basement. Bender claims to be from the future, and Homer befriends him. Lisa doubts his origin, so she takes him to Professor Frink. Frink reboots Bender, revealing his mission: to kill Homer. Bender cannot do it. A hologram from the Planet Express crew shows rabbit-like creatures attacking New New York. Professor Farnsworth explains the creatures have Homer’s DNA, and Bender was sent to kill Homer before the creatures evolve. Farnsworth, Leela, and Fry travel to the past to kill Homer themselves, but Bender stops them. Farnsworth and Frink discover the DNA is half Homer’s and half Marge’s, so they must kill the Simpson child the creatures evolved from. Bender shows a hologram of the creatures transforming into lizard-like versions of Bart, suggesting Bart’s sandwich, Milhouse’s rabbit’s foot, and the ooze created the creatures. They dig up the capsule, but the creatures damage the time portal, sending everyone except Maggie and Bender to the future. Farnsworth proposes sending the creatures into space. Lisa lures them into Madison Cube Garden, and the Planet Express ship hurls the cube into space. Meanwhile, Bender takes Maggie to the racetrack, uses his future horse-race records to win, and gives her a share. The portal is fixed, and the Simpsons return.
- Series
- The Simpsons
- Season
- 26
- Episode number
- 6 (overall 558)
- Original air date
- November 9, 2014
- Network
- Fox
- Director
- Bob Anderson
- Writer
- J. Stewart Burns
Lore & Background
In the episode, Principal Skinner shows a time capsule to be opened a thousand years later. Bart puts in a sandwich he has blown his nose into, while Milhouse puts in his lucky rabbit's foot. Nuclear waste from Springfield Nuclear Power Plant seeps into the hole, but the capsule is buried anyway. That night, the Simpsons find Bender in their basement. Bender says he is from the future and becomes friends with Homer. Lisa doubts Bender's origin, so she takes him to Professor Frink. After Frink restarts Bender, Bender reveals his mission is to kill Homer, but he cannot bring himself to do it. A communication hologram from the Planet Express crew shows rabbit-like creatures attacking New New York. Professor Farnsworth explains that the creatures have Homer's DNA, and Bender was sent back to kill Homer before the creatures could evolve from him. Farnsworth, Leela, and Fry go into the past to kill Homer themselves, but Bender prevents Leela from shooting Homer. Farnsworth, Frink, and Lisa investigate and discover the DNA was half Homer's and half Marge's. They deduce that Bart's sandwich, Milhouse's rabbit's foot, and the ooze created rabbit-like creatures with Bart's DNA. They dig up the capsule, but the creatures damage the time travel portal, sending everyone but Maggie and Bender to the future. Farnsworth proposes sending the creatures into space; Lisa lures them into Madison Cube Garden, and the Planet Express Ship hurls the cube into space. Bender takes Maggie to the racetrack, wins money using his records of every horse race, and gives her a portion. The portal is fixed, and the Simpsons return to the present. Bender sets an alarm to wake in 1,000 years and shuts down; Homer puts him in the basement and pours him one last beer. The creatures land on Omicron Persei 8, visited by Kang and Kodos.
Reader's Guide
The episode was first announced in July 2013, two days after "The Simpsons Guy"—the hour-long crossover between Family Guy and The Simpsons—was announced. It was originally planned to air as either the season 25 finale or the season 26 premiere, ultimately airing on November 9, 2014. The episode received an audience of 6.70 million, making it the most-watched show on Fox that night. Critical reception was mixed: Max Nicholson of IGN called the storyline "a bit dull especially considering some of Futurama's more epic storylines." Dennis Perkins and Zack Handlen of The A.V. Club gave the episode a B−, stating there was no reason for the episode to exist in terms of storytelling. Darren Franich of Entertainment Weekly noted that the episode settled for simple gags. Screen Rant called it the best episode of the 26th season. The episode revealed that The Simpsons aliens Kang and Kodos are a lesbian couple, as confirmed by Al Jean. Re-Recording mixers Tara Paul and Mark Linden were nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Sound Mixing for a Comedy or Drama Series (Half-Hour) and Animation at the 67th Primetime Creative Arts Emmy Awards.
Did You Know?
- The episode was first announced in July 2013, two days after the announcement of "The Simpsons Guy," the crossover between Family Guy and The Simpsons.
- The episode's title is a portmanteau of the titles The Simpsons and Futurama.
More in Characters & Aliens
Elsewhere in Futurama
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