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3Back to [[WesternAnimation/{{Futurama}} Main]]. '''Beware of spoilers!'''
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5[[foldercontrol]]
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7[[folder:T]]
8* TWordEuphemism: From "War is the H-Word":
9-->"If you say the A-word, you'll blow this whole planet straight to the H-word!"
10* TakeThat:
11** In "Crimes of the Hot", a call is put out for a global meeting of scientists. The one man who runs up claims to have a degree in homeopathy (from Evergreen College, which was Matt Groening's alma mater). The announcer informs him he has a "degree in baloney" and shoots him in the face with a water cannon.
12** In "I Second that Emotion", Fry, Leela and Bender visit the Sewer Mutants underneath New New York, whose entire civilization is built out of things people have flushed down their toilets. Eventually they get to their library:
13---> '''Bender:''' Nothing but crumpled porno and Creator/AynRand! [''He holds up'' Literature/AtlasShrugged]
14** [[IProduct Apple]] and Website/{{Twitter}} in ''Attack of the KillerApp''. Includes subtle references to the Foxconn suicide controversy and portrays Mom as a much more (or possibly less) evil caricature of Steve Jobs.
15** An almost heroically extended one after Planet Express is "back on the air" (Farnsworth: "[[LeaningOnTheFourthWall Yes, flying through the air in our spaceship]],") after renewing their contract with the "Box Network".
16** In "Yo Leela Leela", Leela warns everyone not to get to excited about the premiere of her kids' show, because "...we all know any show that's remotely good gets canceled. Sometimes two or three times."
17*** Also, Amy's line about ''Rumbledy Hump'' having a Periphery Demographic of adult hipsters who ironically love the show because of the low-budget sets and costumes.
18*** One of the new shows on Ticklelodeon is ''Popular Slut Club'', which is a slightly exaggerated burn on all the Disney and Nickelodeon kidcoms that are filled to the brim with candy-coated sexual innuendo.
19** In "Lrrreconcilable Ndndifferences", the gang visits ComicCon. The entire sequence is strewn with subtle [[TakeThat Take Thats]], but the part where the pilot of a new show-- ''Futurella''-- is shown off by its creators takes the cake, as the show is canceled [[ScrewedByTheNetwork five seconds into the intro]].
20---> '''Matt Groening:''' Wow. Fox has really streamlined the process.
21** In "A Clockwork Origin", the entrance sign for Olduvai Gorge reads "Birthplace of Ryan Seacrest... [[MyFriendsAndZoidberg And The Rest of Mankind]]"
22** The episode "Overclockwise" takes a stab at technology manufacturers for their somewhat draconian policies on dealing with people who mod their consoles.
23** In "Bender's Big Score" a ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' calendar can be seen in the background. It advertises that it includes a season's worth of jokes from the show, which comes out to one per month.
24** "Mars University" takes a jab at professors:
25---> '''Farnsworth:''' Please, Fry! I don't know how to teach. I'm a professor!
26** The scammer aliens in ''Bender's Big Score.'' Infantile {{Troll}}s that derive great pleasure in [[KickTheDog kicking the dog,]] the writers did everything in their power to portray them as sick, deviant, and with no sympathetic or positive traits whatsoever.
27** From "Mobius Dick":
28--->'''Amy''': You've gone from crazy like a fox to crazy like Fox News!
29** Speaking of Fox News, one of the reporters in "Decision 3012" says this:
30--->'''Scoop''': Scoop Chang, Fox Quote-Unquote News.
31*** Actually, the entire episode is a pretty big take that to the conservative side of the birther issue, Nixon, and Republicans in general.
32** From "Law and Oracle"
33--->'''Pickles''': Do you have any idea what a burden it is to know everything that will ever happen?! To never be surprised. To know the punch line of every joke hours in advance?!
34--->'''Fry''': Like watching ''[[Series/TheTonightShow Leno]]''!
35** From "A Farewell to Arms"
36--->'''Leela:''' Well, it wasn't a bad life. If only I could get back that time I spent watching ''Film/TronLegacy''.
37** A long digression in "Near-Death Wish" on the viability of humans as power source according to ''Film/TheMatrix''.
38** Quite a few towards UsefulNotes/NewJersey:
39--->''(in "I, Roommate," Fry and Bender [[HouseHuntingMontage search for a new apartment]])''\
40'''Fry:''' Well, I give up. What's the catch?\
41'''Apartment salesman:''' Oh, no catch. Although we are technically in New Jersey.\
42[[SmashCut *Smash Cut to Planet Express*]]\
43'''Fry:''' Not one place even remotely livable.\
44''(in "A Big Piece of Garbage," the crew watches a documentary about New York running out of places to empty its garbage)''\
45'''Narrator:''' The landfills were full. New Jersey was full.\
46''(in "Hell Is Other Robots," Fry and Leela discover Robot Hell)''\
47'''Leela:''' Who would've thought Hell would really exist, and that it would be in New Jersey?\
48'''Fry:''' Actually...\
49''(in "Attack of the Killer App," Leela notices a disgusting odor on Fry)''\
50'''Leela:''' What stinks? Were you rolling around in New Jersey?\
51''(in "All the Presidents' Heads," the Continental Congress meets in 1775)''\
52'''Thomas Jefferson:''' The yeas have it. Our nation's official joke state shall be New Jersey.\
53''(in "Stench and Stenchibility," Zoidberg and Marianne--who has no sense of smell--go on dates at a limburger restaurant, a petting zoo of pigs and skunks, and New Jersey)''
54** Also from "All the Presidents' Heads":
55--->'''Farnsworth:''' I'm sure no one's ever said this before, but I must get to Philadelphia as quickly as possible!
56* TakeThatAudience:
57** From "The Why of Fry":
58--->'''The Big Brain''': Detecting trace amounts of mental activity, possibly a dead weasel or a cartoon viewer.
59** In "The Day the Earth Stood Stupid", when the Nibblonians tell Leela that the brains want to wipe out all thought in the universe:
60--->'''Leela:''' My God! They're like flying televisions!
61** "Thank goodness most of our fans are huge perverts!"
62* ATaleToldByAnIdiot: When the [[BrainMonster Brainspawn]] attack Earth, draining the intelligence of everyone [[DisabilityImmunity except Fry]], Leela tries to explain the situation to him so that he can fight back. The results:
63-->'''Leela:''' Brain make people dumb!
64-->'''Fry:''' No, Leela. Brain make people ''smart''.
65* TakenForGranite: Fry thinks this is what happened to the plinths the Professor shows Fry in "The Duh Vinci Code". Given that heads are kept alive in jars in the 31st century, [[FridgeBrilliance this could have been a valid question]].
66* TangledFamilyTree: The Fry-Farnsworth-[[spoiler:Mom]] family tree is surprisingly complex when you sit down and draw it.
67* TheTeaser: The earlier episodes had cold openings before the credits. "Space Pilot 3000" (the very first episode where Fry wakes up in the year 2999 after slipping in the cryogenic chamber) is the only one where the teaser has a connection with the actual episode.
68* TechnicalEuphemism: Bender, the trope namer for BlackmailIsSuchAnUglyWord, claims in "Anthology of Interest I" that he prefers the term "extortion" over "blackmail", though played with as it's not to sound less bad, but because [[XtremeKoolLetterz the X makes it sound cooler]].
69* TechnoBabble: Subverted multiple times by many of the main cast. Scenes requiring a pseudo-scientific explanation often invoke the use of gibberish in the place of more traditional, partially plausible AppliedPhlebotinum.
70-->'''Bubblegum Tate''': Looks like what we got here is a chronoton mass in the sub-atomic inferences.
71-->'''Prof. Farnsworth''': Yes, something involving that many BIG words could easily destabilize time itself!
72* TemporalParadox: [[MST3KMantra Thinking]] about ''Bender's Big Score'' [[BellisariosMaxim too much]] is guaranteed to make your head hurt. Paradox-Free Time Travel my (shiny metal) ass!
73** More like "paradox correcting". Pretty much every paradox that shows up (The second Nudar, Hermes' body, [[spoiler: Lars]]) gets destroyed ("corrected") by the universe eventually. The one exception may be the [[spoiler: thousands of Benders at the end]]. Not even the Universe could handle that much paradox.
74* TemporaryBlindness: Leela suffers this when she is accidentally blasted in the face with Elzar's spice weasel (BAM!). Doesn't stop her from still trying to fly the Planet Express ship, with near-disastrous results. It takes Fry (of all people) to keep Leela from killing everyone, unbeknownst to her.
75* TemptingFate: In "Benderama":
76-->'''Bender:''' ...What?\
77'''Hermes:''' This place is crawling with yous!\
78'''Bender:''' So there's more Benders around. As far as I'm concerned, that's good news!\
79'''Farnsworth:''' Bad news, everyone!
80* TentacleRope: To name just one, the short scene in "A Farewell to Arms", complete with suction marks all over Leela. (The monster pays dearly for his transgressions...) Probably a dozen more {{FanService}} instances could be listed - and the scene with Yivo already smells like redlink....
81* {{Terraform}}: Mars and the [[PlanetOfHats Ancient Egypt-style planet]].
82* TerriblePickUpLines: Zap Brannigan has a book of bad pickup lines, which he loans to Kif for a date, with instructions to read as many as he can as fast as he can. It goes badly.
83* ThatLiarLies: Bender responds with the accusation that he is being used as a beer distiller with "Lies! Lies and slander!"... right before he burps up a bit of foam.
84* ThatMakesMeFeelAngry: [[TropeNamer Named the trope.]] From "The Devil's Hands are Idle Playthings":
85-->'''Robot Devil''': Your lyrics lack subtlety! You can't just have your characters ''announce'' how they feel! [[HypocriticalHumor That makes me feel angry!]]
86* ThatManIsDead: Made humorously literal in "The Late Philip J. Fry". When Fry shows up on time for Leela's birthday dinner, she admits she didn't think he'd actually do so. Fry tells her that the Philip J. Fry that stood her up before is dead... [[spoiler:because through the use of the Professor's forward-only time machine, the Professor, Fry, and Bender have cycled all the way through their universe and an additional one to get back to their relative present, killing the Professor, Fry, and Bender of the latest iteration of the universe upon arrival]].
87* ThatPoorPlant: In "The 30% Iron Chef", a palm tree dies after Bender's Lethal Chef food gets dumped in it's pot by Leela.
88* ThatRussianSquatDance: Done by Zoidberg in one episode, with Fry joining in. [[RefugeInAudacity They were singing about "Earthican" freedom, mind you]].
89* ThereIsNoKillLikeOverkill: Fry and Bender take out Dan [=McMasters=] by shooting him with laser pistols until his remains constitute a small pile of dust Bender is able to sweep under a floor tile.
90* TheyCalledMeMad: The Professor takes it even further:
91--> ""Even I laughed at me when I invented this alien cross-species genetic analyzer! But I guess I showed myself!"
92* ThinlyVeiledDubCountryChange: This trope was {{parodied|Trope}} in an episode where they were in turn doing an AffectionateParody of anime in general. Despite the obvious Japanese set pieces such as Japanese temples and such, text would appear under it stating an American location, such as Golden Gate Park.
93* ThirdPartyPeacekeeper: When Fry and Bender are having a fight about Fry prioritizing a luxurious apartment that is rent-controlled over his friendship with Bender (whose antenna was fouling up the t.v. for the apartment complex), Leela takes it on herself to try and mediate. When [[ShowWithinAShow the soap opera with Calculon]] has the titular robot making up with a human friend, Leela points out that Fry and Bender could learn a thing from them. Fry and Bender agree, and do the apology in reverse.
94* ThirdPersonPerson: Morbo.
95* ThisIsAWorkOfFiction: "The Route of All Evil" begins with "DISCLAIMER: Any resemblance to actual robots would be really cool."
96* ThisIsGonnaSuck: Inverted in "Parasites Lost":
97-->'''Professor Farnsworth:''' Anyhoo, your net-suits will allow you to experience Fry's worm-infested bowels as if you were actually wriggling through them.
98-->'''Dr. Zoidberg (cheerfully):''' There's no part of that sentence I didn't like!
99* ThreeLawsCompliant: In "Free Will Hunting", Prof. Farnsworth reveals that he designed Bender's operating system, which prevents him from picking up a free will unit or attempting to kill his programmer.
100* ThrowTheDogABone: [[spoiler: "Jurassic Bark", perhaps the most notorious tearjerker in the series so sad that it even brought the crew to tears. The first direct-to-video movie, ''Bender's Big Score'', softened the blow by creating a timeloop where Fry returned to the past and got to live a life with Seymour, so instead of waiting 12 years for Fry to return before getting petrified, Seymour actually got live a happy life.]]
101* TimeAbyss: The Nibblonians were 17 years old at the time of the Big Bang, and the Brainspawn came into existence 1 millisecond after.
102** After the events of "The Late Philip J. Fry," Fry, Bender, and the Professor also qualify, having lived through (chronologically, at least) the entire history of the universe. Three times.
103* TimeIsDangerous: The final episode of the penultimate season deals with the Professor inventing a ResetButton that reverts ten seconds. He has a time-proof chamber that those outside of the time bubble can sit in to avoid the effects of the jump. A collision of interactions between chronotons and anti-chronotons causes objects from the chamber to disintegrate upon leaving, however.
104* TimePassesMontage: In "Space Pilot 3000", we have this type of montage while Fry is frozen. It wouldn't be the last time this trope is utilized.
105** Used to soul crushing effect in "Jurassic Bark", where Seymour is seen waiting for him on the curb outside his old workplace for 15 or so years, until he lies down and dies.
106*** Both of these were among the things [[ContinuityNod nodded to]] in ''Bender's Big Score''. Both times, a time-traveling Bender was responsible. It also shows that the dog was being watched after by an alternate Fry, somewhat lessening the impact of the preceding episode in hindsight.
107** It's also used breathtakingly in the climax of ''The Late Philip J. Fry'' when Fry, Bender and the professor witness the end and beginning of the universe.
108* TimeTravel: Featured at several times in several forms throughout the series
109** Fry is frozen and sent to the future in "Space Pilot 3000."
110** A supernova and a microwave send the crew back in time in "Roswell that Ends Well."
111** Chroniton particles are used to age a team of atomic superbabies, leading to the universe leaping forward at random in "Time Keeps on Slippin'". The chronitons are later used to de-age the cast in "Teenage Mutant Leela's Hurdles".
112** Fry is given the opportunity to change the events of the pilot by travelling through a nexus between universes in "The Why of Fry."
113** A paradox-correcting timecode is used in ''Bender's Big Score''.
114** Senator Chris Travers is sent back using the same timecode in "Decision 3012."
115** In "The Late Philip J. Fry," the Professor builds a time machine that can only go forward. He has Bender and Fry help him test it, but they end up in the year 10,000.
116** In "All the President's Heads", Farnsworth discovers that licking the heads in the Head Museum causes one to travel briefly to the time period that head lived in.
117** In "Meanwhile," the professor invents a machine that can reverse time by 10 seconds, which breaks and freezes time entirely. Eventually, he is able to reverse time to just before the device was invented.
118* TimeTravelRomance: For Fry. Leads to [[spoiler: MyOwnGrandpa]].
119* TimeTravelingJerkass: The Nudists in ''Bender's Big Score'', and Fry and Bender in ''Meanwhile''.
120* TimeZonesDoNotExist: The pilot episode begins on New Year's Eve, 1999, and shows a worldwide simultaneous countdown to the Year 2000.
121* TimeyWimeyBall: The Universal Time Code in ''Bender's Big Score'' summons a literal TimeyWimeyBall. It's even green.
122* TimmyInAWell: Parodied in "Jurassic Bark":
123-->'''Mr. Fry:''' What's that, Seymour? You walking on sunshine?
124* TinCanRobot: Bending Units are designed to look like this.
125* TinfoilHat: During "The Wild Green Yonder" Fry gains mind reading powers. He quickly makes himself a tin foil hat to block out other people's thoughts and to keep other telepaths from reading his mind.
126* TitleDrop: At one point after seeing the bad influence he's caused, Bender says, "Bender Should Not Be Allowed on Television."
127** The Robot Devil hands Bender a pamphlet entitled "Hell Is Other Robots" during the episode that he first premiers in.
128** "Come on everybody, it's time to teach Bender about The Bots and The Bees."- from 'The Bots and The Bees'
129* ToiletTeleportation: After Bender gets rid of Nibbler by flushing him down the toilet, he tries to get him back by flushing himself piece by piece.
130* TokenEvilTeammate: Bender. The number of times he's sold out his closest friends is ''astounding''. And then there's his FantasticRacism towards humans.
131-->'''Bender''': This is a simple matter of justice! And normally, I'm against that.
132** Farnsworth isn't actively evil, but he has a near-total disregard for human life, has built a ton of Doomsday devices for reasons which are unclear, and once okayed the destruction of an entire planet because "There is no scientific consensus that life is important!" (though he did turn around in the end).
133* TomHanksSyndrome: In-universe example with Harold Zoid, once a famous silent comedian, turned drama director.
134* TomatoInTheMirror: [[spoiler: Happens twice in "Rebirth": first, when Robot Leela finds out that she's a robot, second when it's revealed that the Fry we've been seeing for the entire episode was a robot too.]]
135* TooStrangeToShow: The ThreeShorts episode "Reincarnation" does this [[RuleOfThree three times]] using a different ArtShift to hide what's being shown. It has a new colour in a black and white cartoon, a particle so detailed that it answers all scientific questions in a {{Retraux}} video game, and an impossibly beautiful dance in a LimitedAnimation 80s anime.
136* TookALevelInBadass: Zoidberg took a large one in "The Silence Of The Clamps" when he fights [[TheMafia Clamps]] in claw-to-clamp combat.
137** He also seemed to have gained a lot of self-confidence by the end of the episode.
138** Zoidberg's been earning a lot of Badass Points since the move to Comedy Central.
139** Fry gets a temporary one when he becomes a surprisingly competent cop.
140* ToplessnessFromTheBack: Whenever female nudity is involved.
141* TopTenList: Zapp Brannigan reveals Bender's ten most frequently used words in this manner during "War is the 'H' Word". For the record, the words are:
142** #10: Chump
143** #9: Chumpette
144** #8: Yours
145** #7: Up
146** #6: Pimpmobile[[note]]Censored to "of course" when shown in the UK[[/note]]
147** #5: Bite
148** #4: My
149** #3: Shiny
150** #2: Daffodil (as in "Hot diggety daffodil!")
151** #1: Ass
152* TouchOfTheMonster: "Calamari Surprise" version on the cover of "The Beast with a Billion Backs", showing Leela in a skimpy nightdress struggling in the grip of Naughty Tentacles as the rest of the cast look on in horror.
153* ToyBasedCharacterization: In "How Hermes Requisitioned His Groove Back", Hermes reveals through song that when he was four years old, he had alphabet blocks, and when a hurricane blew them out of order, he cried for an entire night. He then grows up to become a stuffy bureaucrat.
154* TradeSnark: In "Brannigan, Begin Again", Zapp's spaceship laser has three settings - Stun, Kill, and Hyperdeath. Hyperdeath has the small "tm" next to it.
155* TrademarkFavoriteFood:
156** Bender and all other robots love alcohol, as it is their power source.
157** Hermes and Manwiches.
158** Fry seems to like pineapples, as shown in "The Why of Fry" and "Ghost in the Machines". He won't eat it on pizza, though. On the other hand, he loves anchovies on his pizza. Too bad they went extinct while he was frozen.
159** Fry and Zoidberg share a love for anchovies, though in the latter's case it borders on insane feeding frenzy obsession.
160* TrappedInAnotherWorld: The basic premise of the series. Fry gets frozen for 1000 years and wakes up in the future to find that the world and society he once knew no longer exists. He realizes that all of his friends, family, and his old life are gone... before celebrating that all his friends, family, and old life are gone.
161* TriggerHappy: The machine gun robots from "Lethal Inspection".
162--> "Someone said ''shoot''!"
163--> "Someone said ''fire''!"
164--> "[[RuleOfThree Someone said]] ''Howitzer''!"
165* TrivialTragedy: In the episode "The 30% Iron Chef", Zoidberg frames Fry for breaking Prof. Farnsworth's model ship, leading to Fry (who couldn't even be bothered to defend himself) having to... pay $10 towards the cost of materials (and later being unable to buy a turkey baster with it.) Zoidberg is stricken with guilt, culminating with an attempt at committing seppuku on live television to atone.
166* TrojanPrisoner
167* {{Troperiffic}}: this show is pretty much the embodiment of this trope. It celebrates in every single cliche and trope, and often uses RuleOfCool just because it is so freaking awesome.
168* TroubleFromThePast: The future of ''{{WesternAnimation/Futurama}}'' may not be a utopia, but poverty has been mostly eliminated; however, it came at the expense of many a DystopianEdict. The unemployed are forced to take jobs against their will, the remaining poor have been sent to insane asylums, and mutants are forced to live in the sewers. Also, in the episode "A Big Piece of Garbage", the people of the 31st century have to deal with the garbage problems of the 21st century.
169* TroublesomePet: Nibbler, Leela's pet alien, often annoys the other characters by [[ExtremeOmnivore eating random objects.]]
170* TrouserSpace: [[spoiler: While thinking he is a [[{{Hammerspace}} robot]]]], Fry takes some sandwiches from his pants and offers them to his friends. They are not interested.
171* TrueCompanions: The Planet Express crew, no matter what they go through, will always pull together for each other in the end. Often though, they will get each other into the mess they are being rescued from.
172* TubeTravel: The Tube Transport System.
173* TurnedOffByTheJerkass:
174** In "How Hermes Requisitioned His Groove Back", Fry and Morgan's forbidden affair is going well until Bender catches them and threatens to spread gossip about them. Morgan coldly responds by [[DeathOfPersonality downloading Bender's brain, reverting him to his factory settings]], and shipping it to Central Filing. Fry is outraged and breaks up with her the very next time they meet.
175** In "The Cyber House Rules", Leela has a second eye grafted onto her face and begins dating Adlai, the surgeon responsible. When they decide to adopt an orphan, Leela favors one with a mutation like her own, but Adlai refuses unless he can surgically fix her mutation too. Realizing how shallow Adlai is, Leela not only dumps him but forces him to [[StatusQuoIsGod revert her own surgery]].
176** In the episode, "The Why of Fry", Leela is on a date with Chaz, The Mayor's Aide (as he loves to remind everyone). He shows off by using his status (dubiously), culminating in booking the entire ice rink so he and Leela can skate alone. Unfortunately, the children of the local Orphanarium were planning to go skating and look on sadly. Leela suggests they let them skate, which he scoffs at, shouting at them to get connections. This goes over as well as you'd expect.
177* TwoGirlsToATeam: Amy and Leela are the only regular female employees at Planet Express. There have been exceptions, such as Morgan Proctor filling in for Hermes, and LaBarbara, but it's usually only Amy and Leela.
178[[/folder]]
179
180[[folder:U]]
181* UglyGuyHotWife: Hermes and LaBarbara Conrad.
182* TheUnapologetic: The Hedonismbot's first ever spoken line was (in the context of all robots being responsible for Earth's eventual destruction):
183-->"I apologize for ''nothing''!"
184* {{Understatement}}: Fry, during the episode "A Flight to Remember":
185-->'''Fry:''' ''[[[spoiler:as the ship is headed towards a black hole]]]'' Talk about a mood killer...
186* UnderwaterCity: Atlanta.
187* UnexpectedInheritance: Bender's uncle, Vladimir, willing him his castle in "The Honking".
188* UnfazedEveryman: Fry.
189* UnflinchingWalk: Hermes in "Lethal Inspection".
190-->'''Bender:''' He did it! And he's [[LampshadeHanging not looking back]] at that [[StuffBlowingUp cool explosion]]! He's a hero!
191* UniversalAdaptorCast: Several episodes place the cast into a variety of bizarre situations and artstyles beyond the show's usual SciFi-based scope, whether it's WhatIf scenarios (both "Anthology of Interest" episodes), black-and-white cartoons, 8 bit-video games and anime ("Reincarnation"), animals ("Naturama") or parodies of other cartoons ("Saturday Morning Fun Pit").
192* UnluckyExtra: The Australian man always ends up doing backbreaking labor.
193* UnnecessarilyCreepyRobot:
194** Sure, Robot Santa Claus is evil ''now'', but as originally designed he shouldn't be that scary.
195** One episode has a robot nanny who not only looks frightening, but speaks in a loud, angry voice and claims to have replaced the baby's mother before feeding it with a bottle from its toothy maw. Leela thinks it's cute. Notably, the baby doesn't seem to mind either.
196* UnPaused: In the pilot, Fry pushes Leela into a stasis pod mid-lecture, and sets the release time for later that day. When she comes out she's still yelling at him.
197* UnrequitedLoveSwitcheroo: In the original series, Fry would often ask Leela out on dates, and she would reject through lame excuses. In the Comedy Central revival, when they do start dating, Fry would often brush off Leela's advances because he's distracted by something else, like eavesdropping on Bender, meeting the Professor's parents or listening to one of the Professor's lectures.
198* UnroboticReveal: In a horror movie for robots.
199* UnusualEuphemism: Amy uses "Gleesh" for "Sheesh", words that rhyme with "duh" for "duh".
200** ''As though!''
201** Snu-Snu.
202** Let me axe you something...
203*** [[UsefulNotes/AmericanAccents ...Which is not that unusual]].
204** The horizontal monster mash.
205* UranusIsShowing: According to Professor, astronomers changed the name of the planet Uranus to stop that stupid joke once and for all. It's now named [[ComicallyMissingThePoint "Urectum"]].
206* UselessAccessory: Bender and many other robots have antenna that serve no apparent purpose, which gets a LampshadeHanging several times. First when the thing turned out to be interfering with the satellite transmission in his new apartment, and Fry says he should just cut it off since it doesn't do anything, after which it's treated as a robot equivalent of his penis. Again when it's suggested he has a toilet somewhere in his body and pushing down on it flushes.
207** {{Subverted|Trope}} again when Mom says most people think she puts antenna on her robots just to make them "more [[BuffySpeak science-fictiony]]" but they really let her take control of everything with a remote control.
208** The antennae also allow DOOP to take military control of the robots.
209[[/folder]]
210
211[[folder:V]]
212* VandalismBackfire: During "A Pharaoh to Remember", Bender vandalizes a building with a drawing of himself flexing and reading "Bender lives large and kicks butt." When the demolition crews initiate the implosion of the condemned building, the pieces rearrange themselves into the shape of a butt and now reads: "Bender licks butt." Cue raucous laughter from the demolition crew.
213* VaryingCompetencyAlibi: In "[[Recap/FuturamaS3E11InsaneInTheMainframe Insane in the Mainframe]]", Fry and Bender are falsely accused of bank robbery. Their lawyer, the incompetent Hyper-Chicken, asks that they be declared innocent by reason of insanity... and presents the fact that they hired ''him'' to represent them as proof. This actually works, getting them sent to a robot insane asylum.
214* VengefulVendingMachine:
215** "My Three Suns": A machine selling "Refreshing Crack" gets stuck, and the customer whines "Don't hold out on me, Man!"
216** "Mother's Day": All the machines rebel against humanity, including a coffee machine that sprays its contents at Fry and a vending machine that shoots cans at people.
217---> ''"I got a big, big thirst for human blood!"''
218** "The Bots and The Bees": Bev, the new beverage vending machine at the office, hates Bender and insults him at every occasion. Soon the two start fighting, [[SlapSlapKiss which then leads to lovemaking]], which leads to Bev having a baby.
219** In the episode "Ghost in the Machines", one of Bender's methods in his attempt to kill Fry involved possessing a vending machine that serves pineapples and has them launch at Fry when he tries to make a purchase.
220* VetinariJobSecurity: Hermes apparently has this at Planet Express. During the events of "Lethal Inspection," he leaves Leela in charge for a few days. During that time things fall apart completely: he returns to find that the ship has been repossessed, unexplained alarms are going off, the Professor is trapped in a giant beaker, Leela has been reduced to a gibbering mess, and the crew is preparing to cook and eat Zoidberg. It only takes him an hour to get things back to normal.
221* VideoWills: Professor Farnsworth leaves one in "A Clone Of My Own".
222* ViewersAreGeniuses: There are a lot of complex jokes on science, science-fiction, and engineering and mathematical principles.
223* VillainWithGoodPublicity: Mom.
224* ViolentGlaswegian: Parodied in "Yo Leela Leela" with ''Extreme Toddler Wrestling'' held in Glasgow, Scotland.
225* VirginSacrifice: In 'I Second That Emotion', Leela is a virgin sacrifice to lure out sewer monster El Chupanibre, despite the fact that the sewer mutants have seen [[NeverLiveItDown Zapp Brannigan's website]].
226* VirtualAssistantBlunder: In "[[Recap/FuturamaS3E4TheLuckOfTheFryrish The Luck of the Fryrish]]," Professor Farnsworth's computer overhears the cast's conversation and helpfully [[CoincidentalBroadcast pulls up a plot-relevant documentary]], but also does two irrelevant actions:
227-->'''Professor Farnsworth:''' Shut up, friends. My Internet browser heard us saying the word "Fry" and it found a movie about Philip J. Fry for us. It also opened my calendar to Friday and ordered me some French fries.
228* VirtualRealityInterrogation: In one episode, Mom is after Fry's bank information, with the intention to bankrupt him so that he'll be forced to sell his tin of anchovies to her. Since Fry's PIN is related to his old job in the twentieth century, her sons set up an elaborate hoax to convince Fry that coming to the future was AllJustADream and he's back in his old life.
229* VitriolicBestBuds: Bender and Fry, although it's usually Bender who's vitriolic. To a lesser extent, Amy and Leela can be considered this as well; both women insult each other on a regular basis but state they aren't really fighting.
230** Zapp and Kif seem to be a more extreme and subtle example, though it's usually always Kif showing the hidden friendship aspect, [[JerkAss not Zapp.]] Kif calls Zapp "the jackass" but Zapp calls Kif his closest friend.
231* VocalEvolution: Many examples, but the ones that stand out the most are Hermes, Morbo, Bender, and Professor Farnsworth. Hermes had a much deeper voice, his accent slightly more prominent. Likewise, Morbo had a more prominent guttural tone to his voice, but now, it only shows when he coughs.
232* VoicesAreMental
233* VoodooShark: Parodied. Often. Hell, the most prominent example is the page quote.
234[[/folder]]
235
236
237[[folder:W]]
238* WallpaperCamouflage: In "Lethal Inspection", Hermes is wearing a shirt the exact same color as the wall behind him, just as Leela talks about how bureaucrats blend into the walls.
239* WaxingLyrical: In "the 30% Iron Chef", Bender and Elgar have a food competition in Japan. Koji declares Bender the winner. Bender says, "Thank you, Chairman". Koji replies, "Domo Arigato, Mister Roboto."
240* WeAllLiveInAmerica: Partially justified in-universe, since the main cast live and work in New New York, and IRL, since most of the people working on the show live in the US and has the USA as main audience. However, for a setting where Earth is supposed to be unified, it is pretty clear that everything revolve around New New York and Washington DC, the political system of the entire planet is based on the XXth-early XXIst century US system, horaries of world wide broadcasted TV emission are based on the North American East Coast hour, and the rest of the world rarely appears onscreen - to the point that sometimes other part of the world are occasionnaly still refered to as if they were still independant countries in this setting.
241* WeHaveForgottenThePhlebotinum: In ''Love's Labours Lost in Space'', Bender forgets to replenish the ship's dark matter supply. It is mostly due to him being lazy rather than forgetful.
242* WeHaveReserves: The way that Zapp Brannigan defeated the rampaging killbots from the Octillian System. You see, Killbots have a preset kill limit. Knowing their weakness, Zapp sent wave after wave of his own men at them, until they reached their limit and shutdown. Kif, show the tropers the medal he won.
243* WeWillAllFlyInTheFuture: In the world of ''Futurama,'' they do not even know what a wheel is because all cars have been floating, flying, and/or hovering for so long that wheels are too ancient to remember. And if that doesn't fit the bill, they also have tubes that wind through the city of New New York that people hop into and are whisked away in to whatever destination they need to get to in the city. And if that is still not enough to qualify, they also have every other means of insta-flight available to them. Such as rocket boots, antigrav belts, and jet packs. Want to fly in Futurama-verse? Pick your poison.
244* WeWillHavePerfectHealthInTheFuture: Subverted on a few counts. The Professor's back, memory, and mental stability are often called into question; [[spoiler: Leela is put in danger by giant space bees]], Zapp Brannigan claims to suffer from the "very sexy learning disability" of Sexlexia (though that's most likely a cheesy pick-up line, as this is Zapp Brannigan we're talking about)--even the robots get sick!
245** On the other hand, the average human lifespan has been extended to the point where robots collect people when they turn 160, then process them as energy in pods à la ''Film/TheMatrix''.
246** Certain conditions that used to be fatal, such as decapitation, can be recovered from pretty easily. On a related note, it seems blood has also been totally replaced by medication and nanobots.
247** Even [[spoiler: Americans that have been taken over by Britons]] in an AlternateUniverse are not immune to this, as proved by "All The President's Heads". Given a brilliant [[LampshadeHanging lampshade]] by a Cockney version of Bender.
248--->'''"Oy, 'ow come we Brits got unionized healthcare, but [[BritishTeeth our teeth]] still look like this?"'''
249* WeWillUseManualLaborInTheFuture: At least in the planet Osiris VII, which builds pyramids like those of ancient Egypt, the old fashioned way.
250* WealthyYachtOwner:
251** Duchess de la Roche, the wealthy robot Bender dates in the episode "A Flight to Remember". She doesn't just own a yacht, she ''is'' a yacht.
252** Calculon owns two yachts: a well-sized vessel called "''Calculon's Pride''"...which floats in the pool of a ''gigantic'' yacht called "''Calculon's Talent''".
253* WeaponizedLandmark: Done as a variation with 20th Century Fox's iconic searchlight logo, which is an actual building in Hollywood. The tour guide explains that the searchlights are designed to blind pilots so Fox can film the resulting crashes for their reality shows.
254* WearingItAllWrong: There's an episode where a monkey forgets where to put his intelligence-enhancing hat, at one point putting it on his butt.
255* WeirdWorldWeirdFood: Many common foods still exist in the 31st century, but the diverse species population means more alien-like food may casually show up, such as bug legs or horse fries. One episode centers around the Planet Express crew finding a delicious new food on a planet and bringing it back to Earth... only for it to be revealed they're eating ''infant aliens''.
256* WellDoneSonGuy: Apparently Lrrr's reason for entering the Universal Poker Championship during the events of "Into the Wild Green Yonder" was to win his father's approval.
257* WhamEpisode: The last few minutes of ''Luck of the Fryrish''. It doesn't get any less shocking or impacting on further re-watches, either.
258** The last few minutes of ''Jurassic Bark'' as well.
259*** Most likely ''because'' these two episodes are so shocking and emotional, they're considered to be some of the best and most memorable Futurama episodes out there and are frequently included on people's "best of" lists.
260* WhamLine: The end of "Into the Wild Green Yonder" pulls a double whammy:
261-->'''Leela:''' (to Fry) Maybe I waited too long to say this, but [[spoiler: I love you too. ''(Interrupted)'' WORMHOLE!]]
262** From the episode "Leela's Homeworld"
263--->'''Fry:''' Don't do it, Leela!\
264'''Leela:''' But they killed my parents!\
265'''Fry:''' Close. (takes off the hoods to reveal the mutants featured in Leela's flashback...)\
266'''Leela:''' [[spoiler: ...they ARE my parents...]]
267* WhatIsOneMansLifeInComparison: In ''The Why Of Fry'', it's revealed that Fry was [[spoiler: frozen by Nibbler so he could live long enough to fight the Brain Spawn.]] While explaining himself and trying to convince Fry to go through it all over again, [[spoiler:Nibbler]] asks the all important question of "what is one man's life weighed against the entire universe?" Fry's response? "But it was MY life..."
268* [[WhatIsThisThingYouCallLove What Is This Thing You Call 'Wuv'?]]: The Omicronians' reaction to Valentine's Day.
269** Parodied in "Why Must I Be a Crustacean in Love?", when Fry tries to help Zoidberg to get a woman.
270--->'''Zoidberg:''' I'm confused, Fry. I'm feeling a strange new emotion. Is it love when you care about a female for reasons beyond mating?\
271'''Fry:''' Nope. Must be some weird alien emotion.
272* WhatMeasureIsANonHuman: Often PlayedWith. ZigZagged as per the RuleOfFunny when it comes to the robot society: In one episode, robots have the vote, and are the most important demographic in an election; but in another episode, damaged robots are unceremoniously destroyed and turned into recycled cans. Some robots seem to be independently wealthy, and even employ human servants; but sometimes, robots are ''explicitly'' said to be mere tools meant to make human lives easier.
273* WhatWeNowKnowToBeTrue: According to Farnsworth, genetic engineering is preposterous science-fiction mumbo-jumbo.
274** Also, the [[{{Film/TheMatrix}} Matrix]] [[{{Headscratchers/TheMatrix}} human-battery thing]] actually works.
275* WhereAreTheyNowEpilogue: Parodied ''Film/AnimalHouse''-style at the end of "Mars University".
276** Fry successfully dropped out and returned to his dead-end delivery job.
277** Gunther got his MBA and became president of the FOX network.
278** Fatbot caught a computer virus in Tijuana and had to be rebooted.
279** Leela went on one date with Dean Vernon, but he never called again.
280** His job done, Bender stole everything of value from Robot House and ran off.
281* WhoEvenNeedsABrain: The episode "Roswell That Ends Well" has Bender's brain (a collection of computer chips) being mistaken for food and eaten. Bender isn't happy but he suffers no ill effects.
282** The Headless Body of Agnew. Who can nonetheless snarl, and hear commands.
283--->'''[[SignificantAnagram Spiro Agnew]]:''' *Rar!*
284* WhoYouGonnaCall:
285-->'''Fry:''' All I know is I've got a ghost that needs busting. ''(dials a phone)''\
286'''Hermes:''' Who you gonna call?\
287'''Fry:''' Franchise/{{Gho|stbusters}}--\
288'''Phone:''' ''(BEEP!)'' The number you have dialed has been ''lame'' [[Film/GhostbustersII since 1989.]]
289* WholePlotReference: Futurama often bases its episodes around the plots of other works
290** "Fry and the Slurm Factory" is a parody of Charlie and the Chocolate factory.
291** "A Flight To Remember" is a parody of ''Film/{{Titanic 1997}}'' (with a title based on the earlier Titanic film ''Film/ANightToRemember'')
292** "Love and Rocket", parodies ''[[Film/TwoThousandOneASpaceOdyssey 2001]]'', but with a {{Yandere}} female AI.
293** The second "Anthology of Interest" episode cuts short Leela's questions about her origins to have a Wizard of Oz parody.
294** "Obsoletely Fabulous" uses the twist from "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" though non fatally.
295** "T: The Terrestrial" is a spoof of ''Film/ETTheExtraterrestrial'', with Fry in the E.T. role, stranded on Omicron Persei 8 and taken in by Lrrr's son.
296** The second half of "Bender's Game" is primarily a ''Literature/TheLordOfTheRings'' parody, with a dose of ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' for good measure.
297** Most of "Mars University" is a parody of ''Film/AnimalHouse''.
298* WiperStart: In "Space Pilot 3000", Fry attempts to start up the Planet Express ship by himself, only to activate an automatic coffee machine, leaving him with a dumbfounded stare.
299* WithDueRespect
300* WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds:
301** Arguably the Unattractive Giant Monster from "Benderama" counts as one. After attacking the Planet Express crew for insulting his mother, he tries to apologize and even seeks psychological help. This is only for his appearance and mother to be insulted yet again until he breaks. The fact that he had what was probably one of the most agonizing deaths in the entire series does not help.
302** Similarly, Leonardo Da Vinci in "The Duh-Vinci Code". The way he was treated by the other people from his planet was pretty horrible, especially considering his long lifespan meant [[FridgeHorror it had been going on for centuries]], and all he did to earn it was to be dumber than the rest (but still a super genius by the standards of pretty much all other races), but that doesn't justify attempting to wipe out the whole rest of his species.
303* WorldOfPun: Invoked in-universe with the "Goofy Gopher Revue" from "The Series Has Landed".
304* WorldsSmallestViolin: Featured at the end of the episode "A Farewell to Arms".
305* WorstAid: Everything Zoidberg does to his patients is likely to do more harm than good, given his terrible understanding of human anatomy.
306* WorthlessForeignDegree: No degree and being out of time instead of out of space but the basic principle is the same. In one episode, Fry was told that being a college drop-out back in his [[HumanPopsicle pre-freezing days]] was like being a High School drop-out in the series' time. Wanting the same respect he believes college drop-outs have, he enrolled at Mars University just to drop out. He even took it as a compliment when Leela told him he'd not last two weeks.
307* WouldHarmASenior:
308** Bender has sometimes been shown to be willing to cause harm to the elderly Professor Farnsworth, such as bending his spine backwards in "Bendless Love" and cutting off his hand to remove a doomsday device in "Bender's Big Score".
309** In "A Tale of Two Santas", a boy writes a letter to Robot Santa requesting a coffin for his grandfather, who was choked to death by Robot Santa last Xmas.
310* WriteBackToTheFuture: Leela uses this trope to send a message to Fry a billion years in the future.
311* WritingAroundTrademarks: {{Lampshade|Hanging}}d and used to point out how things have changed in the course of 1000 years. Examples include "Admiral Crunch" and "Archduke Chocula".
312* WroteTheBook: Spoofed in "How Hermes Requisitioned His Groove Back":
313-->'''Number 1.0:''' Don't quote me regulations! I co-chaired the committee that reviewed the recommendation to change the color of the book that regulation's in. ''We kept it gray.''
314[[/folder]]
315
316[[folder:X-Z]]
317* XDaysSince:
318** In one episode a sign counts the days since the last time Omicron Persei 8[[note]]a very belligerent race who have invaded Earth numerous times[[/note]] has invaded Earth.
319** In another episode there's one in a working ground for slaves counting the days since the last accident (and Fry accidentally nails his own hand to the sign while changing the number).
320** When Fry enters the cryogenics lab, the sign says "No power failures since 1997," with the "7" being handwritten and taped on.
321* XMakesAnythingCool: The trope namer.
322-->'''Leela:''' You're blackmailing me?
323-->'''Bender:''' Blackmail is such an ugly word. I prefer 'extortion'. The 'X' makes it sound cool.
324** In a more meta example, Producer David X. Cohen said he changed his middle initial from the original "S" (which he used when he worked on The Simpsons) for two reasons: 1) there was another writer that went by the name "David S. Cohen" and Writers' Guild of America union rules state that no two film or TV writers can have the same name, and 2) "X" makes his name sound "science fiction-y."
325* {{Yandere}}: Interestingly enough, the Planet Express crew's primary mode of transportation, as seen in "Love and Rocket".
326* YankTheDogsChain: Fry all the damn time.
327** He gains several billion dollars from compound interest, and loses all his wealth to Mom.
328** He becomes super-intelligent, witty and charming due to intestinal alien worms, capable of playing a difficult-to-master instrument amazingly well, enough to seduce Leela. He throws it all away because he doesn't feel he's earned it.
329** He saves the Earth from the Brain-Spawn, but nobody else remembers or cares (save Nibbler).
330** When time starts skipping, he somehow manages to impress Leela enough for her to marry him. She attacks him at the altar, being convinced that whatever he did must've been underhanded or involved blackmail or emotional manipulation, then quickly divorces him. When he finally discovers what he did to make Leela fall in love with him, it's in the instant before it's destroyed.
331** In the first series finale, he manages to make a deal with the Robot Devil and becomes a holophonor virtuoso... only to give it all up to save Leela, making his fame and skill instantly evaporate. She's still touched enough to listen to whatever he can still play... but immediately vibes with Lars when the first movie comes around.
332** In the episode "Fry Am the Egg Man" Leela calls Fry her "strictly platonic friend". Fry's reaction is one of great disappointment.
333** Another example is in "Fry and Leela's Big Fling" we see Leela's often-mentioned ex Sean for the first time in person. Leela states that she and Fry are.."what would you say we are again?" and also doesn't have an issue leaving him to go catch up. Though she is clearly over Sean, it's still a little disrespectful.
334* YouGoGirl: Played with in the Blernsball episode. Leela is awed at the chance to be the first woman to play the sport in the Major League, despite being told up front that it's a stunt hire because she's so [[SoBadItsGood entertainingly awful]]. Then she's discouraged when she realizes she's actually making it ''harder'' for female athletes to be taken seriously, and resolves to become at least slightly competent. She fails, but her opponent consoles her with the fact that she'd made lots of other female players determined to prove they don't all suck as much as she does.
335* [[YouSaidYouWouldLetThemGo You Said You Would Let Me Go]]: Zoidberg's reaction to the Professor after the game of Deathball in, "The Beast with a Billion Backs":
336-->'''Farnsworth:''' Congratulations, Deathballers! We've won the right to explore the anomaly!\
337'''Zoidberg:''' What? I thought I was playing for my freedom!\
338'''Farnsworth:''' (offhandedly) No.
339* YouSayTomato:
340** Zapp Brannigan enjoys drinking "champaggin" and eating "guacamowl".
341** Bender makes the same mistake with "guacamole" when showing off his [[JustAStupidAccent "flawless" Spanish accent]].
342** And on "The Day the Earth Stood Stupid", Fry confronts the Giant Brain in the "liberry".
343* YouWillBeBeethoven: Fry replaces/becomes his own grandfather.
344* YouWillBeSpared
345* YouWouldntHitAGuyWithGlasses: In "How Hermes Requisitioned His Groove Back", Bender is caught cheating in a game of poker using X-ray glasses. When he's cornered, he nervously states, "Hey...you wouldn't hit a guy wearing X-ray glasses, would ya?" Unsurprisingly, it doesn't work.
346* YourBrainWontBeMuchOfAMeal: We see a Brain Slug starve to death after it gets on Fry's head. This is originally played as this trope, but eventually {{Retcon}}ned into being because he's [[MyOwnGrampa his own grampa]] and lacks the Delta brainwave.
347* YourFavorite: For Fry, Captain Crunch Casserole.
348* YourMindMakesItReal: In "Forty Percent Leadbelly", Bender becomes a folksinger and finds that everything he sings about comes true. This is because [[spoiler:his mind is accidentally left connected via wireless to a 3-D printer he used to recreate a famous folksinger's guitar, which keeps creating things from Bender's memory.]]
349* YourSoulIsMine: Quantum lichens [[spoiler:such as Langdon Cobb]] are a Type One.
350* {{Zeerust}}: Some of the parody targets in early episodes are showing signs of this, such as the episode with Kidnappster ("I Dated A Robot").
351** The use of floppy disks too. (Although this is intentional in episodes such as ''Murder on the Planet Express''.)
352*** Not even the Hulu episodes are safe from this. "Related To Items You've Viewed" is about an Alexa parody taking over the universe.[[https://arstechnica.com/gadgets/2022/11/amazon-alexa-is-a-colossal-failure-on-pace-to-lose-10-billion-this-year/ Alexa was actually deemed a "colossal failure" and a huge financial loser for Amazon 9 months before the episode premiered]], as well as the future of standalone voice assistants generally looking rather bleak.
353* ZeroGSpot: The "Zero-G Juggs" magazine.
354* ZipMeUp: Happens in ''Bender's Big Score'' with Hermes.
355[[/folder]]
356----
357->''"Farewell from the world of tomorrow!!"''

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