Line #118 YMMV/Futurama


1	* {{Adorkable}}:
2	** Fry is clumsy, ditzy, and [[{{Cloudcuckoolander}} very spacey]], but he's so eager about the things he loves (like space aliens, video games, and Leela) that it's hard not to love him. This is even more present when he de-ages into an awkward teenager in "Teenage Mutant Leela's Hurdles" and takes Leela on a date, his voice [[InopportuneVoiceCracking nervously cracking]] all the way.
3	** Kif is Zapp's meeker, smarter assistant with low self-esteem. He becomes painfully shy and nervous when he is around his crush Amy, and once they get together, he's an adorably nervous but doting boyfriend.
4	* AlternateAesopInterpretation:
5	** "Leela and the Genestalk" is apparently intended as a warning against genetically modified organisms. However, Mom is shown making very convincing arguments showing that [=GMOs=] have large tangible benefits, while Leela provides no real evidence of any harms and just alludes to the possibility of "long-term effects" which she insists are somehow still unknowable despite the technology being over a thousand years old. In addition, Leela instantly gives up on the opposition as soon as she realizes [=GMOs=] can cure ''her'' disease too. As a result, it's not hard to read the message as "genetic modification is a good thing, and its opponents are just willfully blind to the massive amount of suffering that [=GMOs=] have the capacity to prevent."
6	** Every episode that focuses on Bender's existentialism (i.e. Godfellas, Lethal Inspection, Ghost in the Machines, Free Will Hunting), each end with the same message "The relationships we build are what's truly important and those relationships can define the meaning of life". Bender is stopped from killing himself when Fry befriends him (he's also the reason how Bender is able to return home after being stranded in deep space), Hermes is the one who defied his orders to kill Bender for being defective and saves him from the killbots, and after Bender sacrifices himself to save Fry, he's allowed entry into heaven. In summary, every time Bender questions his own identity or existence, it's the friendships he makes that make his actions meaningful and worthwhile.
7	** In the episode "Hell Is Other Robots," the episode seems to have anti-religious overtones, yet Bender becomes a genuinely better person as a result of becoming religious and it’s the {{We Want Our Jerk Back}} of Fry and Leela that gets him sent to Robot Hell, which would seem to suggest that the episode is more pro-religious than it is trying to be.
8	* AlternativeCharacterInterpretation:
9	** Is Linda really blissfully unaware of what Morbo says when he goes on to threaten the human race? She's been working with the guy for years, and since his people still haven't done anything to Earth she could well view his tirades as big talk. Although a later episode revealed she's a hardcore [[TheAlcoholic alcoholic]] which may have something to do with her reactions.
10	** Hubert Farnsworth can be interpreted as a BitchInSheepsClothing who is really ObfuscatingStupidity. Most of his actions cause problems, and he admits on several occasions that he has multiple doomsday devices. The slogan of Planet Express states that all crews are expendable, and the company's current employees are not his first crew. Furthermore, the Professor once had a relationship with Mom, and even created albino atomic apes for the sole purpose of proclaiming his love for her. Last, but not least, he presents himself as fairly nice in the pilot, but later on is quite mean to Fry and Leela. Considering all these facts, Hubert's supposed senility does seem to be a very good act to get away with endangering people.
11	--->'''Universe A!Farnsworth''': I'm going home. Where's that blue box with our universe in it?\
12	'''Universe B!Farnsworth''': Oh, you'd like to get back to your ''evil'' universe, wouldn't you, and destroy your box with our universe inside it?\
13	'''A!Farnsworth''': Nonsense. I would never do such a thing unless you were already having been going to do that.\
14	'''B!Farnsworth''': Wha...?\
15	'''A!Farnsworth''': You heard me!
16	** Is [[TheMole Nibbler]] a [[BecomingTheMask bit too committed]] to his dumb animal act, or is he shrewdly exploiting it to get away with being a {{Jerkass}} to everyone? It helps the person his misbehaviour most irritates tends to be [[{{Jerkass}} Bender]], [[SitcomArchNemesis who hates him]], though even then we get cases such as him stealing Amy's bikini or taking Christmas dinner from orphans, not to mention several near lethal instances where even just acting ''less'' TooDumbToLive would have been more beneficial for his own well being.
17	** Lars Fillmore could be seen as [[spoiler:a version of Fry who straightened out his life, learned some valuable lessons about relationships and maturity, and knew what Leela was really looking for in a man better than Fry himself]] or an opportunist who almost stole [[spoiler:his less mature self's]] chance at happiness just because he saw a potential advantage without any regard for how Fry felt ([[spoiler:which is something he'd be well aware of in doing so, because of who he is]]).
18	** Is Bender a JerkWithAHeartOfGold or [[JerkWithAHeartOfJerk is he rotten to the core processor]]? [[DependingOnTheWriter The show has plenty of evidence for both]]. It gets more complicated once you account for the question of [[SlidingScaleOfFreeWillVsFate how much input he really has into his own personality and actions]]. [[EpilepticTrees A popular fan theory]] has it that he ''became'' the character we see throughout the show on the day of the pilot episode, with the lightbulb shock he recieved in the Hall of Criminals rebooting his system and turning him from [[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness passive and suicidal]] to, well, a criminal (though it's implied that [[AlwaysChaoticEvil criminality is actually part of the default bender unit programming]] and [[EstablishingCharacterMoment he cheats the suicide booth]] before the lightbulb encounter).
19	*** When he throws the Countess de la Roca's bracelet away, is it because of his greedy nature because it was fake, or an example of ItsAllJunk?
20	** Hermes might claim to hate Zoidberg, but perhaps Zoidberg is actually right in his belief that they're VitriolicBestBuds. After all, according to Fry's reading of Hermes' mind in "Into the Wild Green Yonder", he considers Zoidberg pathetic, but lovable.
21	** Related: does Zoidberg really just not realize how much Hermes dislikes him, or does he know it but is such a NiceGuy that he doesn't mind?
22	** Despite how narcissistic he is, Zapp is shown to be one of the few people not disgusted by Leela's eye, seemed to be okay with dating a very masculine cross-dresser (though he seemed to be unaware) in "Put Your Head On My Shoulders", and pursued a relationship with Leela's mother. Is Zapp not as shallow as he seems? Or is he just so desperate that he'll sleep with anything that moves?
23	** [[https://www.looper.com/201103/the-darkest-futurama-theories-we-hope-arent-true/ One theory]] posts the idea that Zapp is so [[GeneralFailure incompetent as a leader]] because of PTSD from sending so many of his men to die against the killbots in "Love's Labors Lost in Space"; he used to be a genuinely competent leader (explaining how he got his position to begin with despite his stupidity) but the stress of the incident drove him to become lecherous and alcoholic in the hopes of getting discharged.
24	** Did Fry's life genuinely suck as much as we're told it did before he ended up in the 31st century, or did he just paint a cynical light over everything in his life because he knew he could never go back to it? Unlike most examples, this isn't a matter of one or the other - there's too much evidence for both interpretations to outright dispute either one, and [[DependingOnTheWriter the show flips back on forth on it]] - but it's more a question of the proportion of both ideas.
25	** Is Frankie from "Insane to the Mainframe" really a patient, or is he an actual lunchroom worker who the self deluded Unit 2013 convinced himself was a patient and he's just been working at a mental institution long enough not to question things like a patient asking him in a ridiculously patronizing voice how he likes his job.
26	** In "Brannigan Begin Again", Kif comes across as less of an annoyed sidekick and more like a person who's legitimately struggling with depression. The way he says "I'm actually laughing!" implies that his job has sucked almost all of the joy out of him and that moments of genuine happiness are a rarity for him. Meeting Amy seems to have given him a more meaningful life (most evidently in "Kif Gets Knocked Up a Notch").
27	* AlternativeJokeInterpretation:
28	** The "person" who orders a pizza for Fry to deliver at the cryogenics lab is named "I.C. Weiner." This is a PunnyName in two directions, both of which foreshadow Fry's fate. It's likely meant to be "icy weiner" as an insult to Fry getting frozen (especially since [[spoiler:Nibbler is the one who placed the order under the name, as Fry was fated to go to the future]]). However, it could also be "I see weiner," referencing how Fry immediately gets naked after he's unfrozen and has to be probed.
29	** Hermes responding to Leela's question that she thought circus-itis only affects children by clarifying the disease affects "children of all ages" in "Proposition Infinity" can either be interpreted as Hermes [[{{Manchild}} being immature at heart]] or that ExactWords are in play (as reaching adulthood doesn't technically mean one is no longer someone's child).
30	** Bender mispronounces "Jésus", "Chihuahua" and "Guacamole" in "Bender Should Not Be Allowed on Television" while trying to do a Spanish accent. This could be interpreted as Bender really not know how to pronounce these words, or he was pronouncing them the way he thought they would be pronounced with a Spanish accent.
31	** Zoidberg calling his tentacles his testicles in "Bender's Game". Given this is the notoriously anatomically-ignorant Zoidberg, who's been ''particularly'' stupid through the movie, are they actually that, or is it just another Zoidberg gaffe?
32	* AluminumChristmasTrees:
33	** Leela is a one-eyed pilot. There have been examples of commercial pilots in real life, including Captain Carlos Dardano of [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/TACA_Flight_110 Taca Flight 110]], who successfully landed a crippled plane in a nearly impossible situation, having only one eye as a result of the other being shot out years earlier.
34	** Hermes' favorite sandwich filling (Manwich, which is [[RunningGag constantly being taken from him]]) is a real thing. It's canned instant sloppy joe mix.
35	* AngstWhatAngst:
36	** Fry brushes off all of Bender's attempts to make him cry "[[Recap/FuturamaS1E7MyThreeSuns My Three Suns]]" in spite of the fact that he needs to to save his life because he's "too macho" until he tells Fry that Leela's hurt. However, since it's ineffective (only "two tears" as Amy states), [[NoHoldsBarredBeatdown the rest of the crew end up beating him in order to make him cry)]].
37	** Fry and Leela don't seem too bothered by the idea that [[spoiler:everything in the universe is frozen in place besides them]] in "Meanwhile." [[SugarWiki/HeartwarmingMoments Well, they did have each other.]]
38	** PlayedForLaughs in "[[Recap/FuturamaS1E1SpacePilot3000 Space Pilot 3000]]", where Fry actually expresses joy for leaving his old time period, though a later episode suggests that he just convinced himself that his past was horrible because he knew he could never go back.
39	* {{Anvilicious}}:
40	** "[[Recap/FuturamaM4IntoTheWildGreenYonder Into the Wild Green Yonder]]", with heavily pro-feminist and pro-environment messages, can come across as this. Alternatively [[ZigZaggingTrope zig-zagged]] or [[DoubleSubversion double-subverted]], as the eco-feminists come off half the time as well-intentioned heroes, and the other half as disorganized, overzealous morons.
41	** "[[Recap/FuturamaS1E9HellIsOtherRobots Hell is Other Robots]]" has anti-religious overtones (specifically how Bender takes up a religion and becomes a genuinely better person. It's especially heavy-handed that [[WeWantOurJerkBack his friends don't like his newfound faith and character]] and persuade him to leave his religion and cheat to save him from the punishment his religion doles out).
42	* {{Applicability}}: Mutant oppression has parallels to multiple types of real-world oppression. The parallels are usually drawn towards [[FantasticRacism cultural oppression]] (with "The Mutants are Revolting" satirizing affirmative action funds and segregation), but there are also shades of [[FictionalDisability ableism]]. Leela is [[DependingOnTheWriter occasionally]] shown to be impaired by her lack of depth perception, and episodes like "The Cyber House Rules" show her being condescended for being a cyclops ("That's so good for a person with one eye") and coerced into fixing her appearance just so she'll fit better into society. As such, these episodes can resonate with fans from various marginalized groups.
43	* ArcFatigue: Fry and Leela's relationship is popular with fans, but the WillTheyOrWontThey approach to their story grows tiresome by the time of the Comedy Central run, especially because the fourth movie moved towards a RelationshipUpgrade, but whether they're actually together after that varies from episode to episode. Only in the final Comedy Central season are they allowed to consistently exist as an unambiguous couple.
44	* AssPull: The reveal that [[spoiler: Igner is Professor Farnsworth's son]]. First, in "[[Recap/FuturamaS2E14MothersDay Mother's Day]]" Mom and Farnsworth both stated [[WritersCannotDoMath they hadn't seen each other in 70 years]], and [[spoiler: Igner is in his 20s]]. Second, unless Mom managed to cover it up, [[spoiler: Igner]] didn't show up as one of Fry's living relatives in the pilot. It doesn't help that after the reveal, it pretty much never came up again in the series.
45	* AwesomeEgo: Bender isn't just a selfish, petty crook, he's a shameless AttentionWhore who's genuinely in love with the fact that he exists! One of his catchphrases is "Bender is great!" and in one episode, he enters singing literal songs of his own praise. He also never ends a sentence with just "me," it's always "me, Bender," ''just in case'' anyone forgets his name! And all of it is ''hilarious''!
46	* SugarWiki/AwesomeMusic:
47	** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Ha1odu94eA A Moment of Caffeine Transcendence.]]
48	** Christopher Tyng's iconic [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D_UdZ_j2uXw theme song]], especially the [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8moY5KktQ28 extended remix]]. Not many animated sitcoms can claim to open with a banging techno song.
49	** Or even [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3jRM45yO9Rg the original 5 minute remix]].
50	** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=elvV6RfD3Kc "My broken friend can do it all..."]]
51	** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QYQ4uV8NDJo "When push comes to shove, you've gotta do what you love, even if it's not a good idea!"]]
52	** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rSGDM6WDAGo "Here on Level One of Robot Hell!"]]
53	** Speaking of songs performed by the Robot Devil, there's also [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=juswcAfJSDQ the musical number]] near the end of "The Devil's Hands Are Idle Playthings".
54	** Pizzicato Five's [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVdxrjpzD1o Baby Love Child]], a rather nice, soft song, which plays in one of the most heartwarming moments of the plot: In "Leela's Homeworld", [[spoiler:when a montage shows that, despite never seeing them, Leela's parents were always looking out for her.]]
55	** Elizabeth Mitchell's "Little Bird, Little Bird" in "Lethal Inspection," a touching song that includes small children imitating birds, which plays [[spoiler:when we find out Hermes had sacrificed his former job to save Bender as a baby]].
56	** The remix theme from the videogame was so good, it was used in ''[[Recap/FuturamaM1BendersBigScore Bender's Big Score]]'' during Hermes' BigDamnHero moment.
57	** The [[https://youtu.be/L1GH7pLg7AU swingin' Vegas version]] of the main theme from "Into the Wild Green Yonder", with vocals by none other than Creator/SethMacFarlane.
58	** [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b21kNh-Guyo "This Trinity's Going to War"]], a catchy jig performed by Robot Santa and his pals Kwanzaabot and the Hanukkah Zombie as they prep to fight back against the scammers. It's a hilarious rap filled to the brim with clever wordplay involving their respective holidays, all sung by Creator/JohnDiMaggio, Creator/MarkHamill, and freakin' ''Music/{{Coolio}}''.
59	* BaseBreakingCharacter:
60	** Zapp Brannigan. Depending on who you ask, he's either hilarious or the worst character on the show.
61	** Zoidberg. Despite his large fanbase, many people hate him just as much as the other characters do.
62	** Relatedly, Hermes. Some find him a funny subversion of stereotypes around Jamaican people, but others feel his constant KickTheDog moments towards Zoidberg completely destroy any likeability he has.
63	** Kif in later seasons. Some fans don't mind his relationship with Amy, while others didn't like how his personality changed from a DeadpanSnarker to an ExtremeDoormat.
64	** Bender. Some people love him for how much of an unapologetic JerkAss he can be. However, some, especially after the first revival when {{Flanderization}} set in, see him as a CreatorsPet who gets too much focus and too much lenience for his sociopathic behavior.
65	* BetterOnDVD: The original two runs were broadcast out of order and at erratic intervals (to the point that there are actually five broadcast seasons made up of four production seasons, and broadcast season six and seven were ''both'' cut in half, creating four Comedy Central seasons). The [=DVD=]s thankfully allow you to watch the series as it was originally intended.[[labelnote:*]]iTunes, Disney + (Which streams the show outside of the US) and Hulu all use the broadcast order, though.[[/labelnote]]
66	* BigLippedAlligatorMoment: Seen all over the place. Most notably in the episode The Sting where 60% of the episode are these. Also subverted a number of times.
67	* BizarroEpisode:
68	** The "Anthology of Interest" episodes are two sets of three WhatIf shorts.
69	** "[[Recap/FuturamaS6E13TheFuturamaHolidaySpectacular The Futurama Holiday Spectacular]]" is a pastiche of holiday specials.
70	** "[[Recap/FuturamaS6E26Reincarnation Reincarnation]]" imagines the cast of the show in three different animation styles: old-time "rubber hose" cartoons from TheThirties, early 1980s video game pixel art, and badly-dubbed, stiffly-animated Japanimation from the 1970s.
71	** "[[Recap/FuturamaS7E19SaturdayMorningFunPit Saturday Morning Fun Pit]]" is one big spoof of Saturday morning cartoons (the popular American ones like ''Franchise/ScoobyDoo'', ''WesternAnimation/StrawberryShortcake'', and ''[[WesternAnimation/GIJoeARealAmericanHero G.I. Joe]]'') that straddle the line between [[TakeThat ribbing on their flaws]] and [[AffectionateParody spoofing the original works out of love]] wrapped in a ThreeShorts package with a framing device of UsefulNotes/RichardNixon's head trying to deal with angry MoralGuardian protesters.
72	** "[[Recap/FuturamaS7E13Naturama Naturama]]" reimagines the characters as wildlife and is structured like an episode of ''Series/MutualOfOmahasWildKingdom''.
73	** "The Prince and the Product" has three extended ParodyCommercial segments in which the crew are different brands of toys. Even the framing device is strange: Leela randomly falls for the Prince of Space and Fry duels the King so she can marry someone else, only for Leela to take his place, accidentally kill the prince, and reveal she was under a "science spell" of sorts, with this plot being interrupted by the aforementioned fake commercials. [[GainaxEnding Then their ship turns into a Bender spaceship and they crash into a planet and explode, suggesting not even the framing device was canon.]]
74	* BrokenBase:
75	** The made-for-DVD Movies: Some like them for their higher stakes and their drama, but others hate them for having too many sub-plots to pad them out and for being full of retcons.
76	** The Comedy Central episodes: Some think they're just as good as the original run, but others hate them for Flanderizing the characters (Fry and Bender getting the worst of it), making their plots more topical ([[UnintentionalPeriodPiece you know, despite being set in the future]]) [[{{Anvilicious}} and preachy]], and for the jokes feeling more forced.
77	** The Hulu revival likewise split the fanbase as many of the same criticisms applied, but other fans found the episodes just as funny as the best of Comedy Central, if not as good as the original, as well as fixing a couple of issues with the Comedy Central run (such as writing Fry and Leela more consistently as an OfficialCouple, barring a couple of odd moments). The {{Sequel Episode}}s and returning characters were especially divisive, as fans either appreciated the nostalgia and/or found the follow-ups to long-awaited plotlines satisfying, or found them underwhelming and/or PanderingToTheBase.
78	** "Jurassic Bark" is either loved for being a heartwrenching TearJerker or hated for the exact same reason.
79	* CanonFodder: Nibbler referring to Leela as "the other" in "The Why of Fry." It's never explained, nor is it known if it was ''going'' to be explained or if Nibbler was just making up something to convince Fry to get back to the future. Those who choose the latter have fun speculating on what exactly it means -- whether Leela was also a chosen one in her own right, whether it's related to the preservation of the universe in the fourth movie, or whether it's related to Fry and Leela having kids who would save the universe somehow.
80	* CaptainObviousAesop: Parodied:
81	-->'''Jack Johnson''': It's time that someone had the courage to stand up and say: "I'm against those things that everybody hates!"
82	-->'''John Jackson''': I respect my opponent. He's a good man. But frankly, I agree with everything he just said!
83	* CargoShip: Scruffy owns a robotic Washbucket with a female voice. In "The Prisoner of Benda", Amy gets her brain switched with the Washbucket, and Washbucket declares her love for Scruffy. Scruffy declares his love back, but turns her down because she's a robot even in Amy's body. She leaves the room, and he curls up and cries.
84	* CatharsisFactor:
85	** Kif punching Zapp in the stomach near the end of "The Beast with a Billion Backs" is very satisfying after the latter used Kif's DisneyDeath to sleep with Amy.
86	** "Zapp Gets Cancelled" has Kif finally put Zapp on trial for his creepy behavior, getting his status as captain stripped. It doesn't last, but it's very satisfying to see Kif finally speak out about his poor treatment and not get dragged down with Zapp.
87	* CharacterRerailment: Kif was gradually flanderized in the movies and Comedy Central era to be more of a meek ButtMonkey, with his relationship with Amy suffering along the way -- "Proposition Infinity" depicts him as extremely fretful to justify Amy temporarily leaving him for Bender and "The Butterjunk Effect" subjects him to [[DoubleStandardAbuseFemaleOnMale constant physical abuse from a steroid-laced Amy]]. The Hulu revival rectifies this in the second episode, not only giving him and Amy a stronger bond through the emergence of their children, but giving him a B-plot depicting him as a badass PapaWolf and highlighting his military training.
88	* CrossesTheLineTwice:
89	** Fry's repeated deaths in "[[Recap/FuturamaS7E26Meanwhile Meanwhile]]". At first it's gruesome and horrifying, but after the fourth or fifth time, it becomes gruesome and ''hilarious''.
90	** Robot Santa's entire existence is based solely on this trope.
91	** Any time that Fry casually mentions domestic abuse is ''far'' funnier than it has any right to be.
92	*** From "[[Recap/FuturamaS1E2TheSeriesHasLanded The Series Has Landed]]":
93	---->'''Fry''': [[Series/TheHoneymooners He]] wasn't an astronaut, he was a TV comedian! [[ItMakesSenseInContext And he was just using space travel as a metaphor for beating his wife!]]
94	*** From "[[Recap/FuturamaS4E12TheSting The Sting]]":
95	---->'''Leela''': Remember: bees communicate by dancing.\
96	'''Fry''': Hey, just like my parents! ''({{beat}})'' No, wait... That was "hitting".
97	** Leela murdering all her coworkers one by one through "Anthology of Interest", but especially Hermes' demise, as Zoidberg remains completely oblivious the whole while.
98	--->'''Hermes:''' What are you hacking off? Is it my torso? ''(violent chopping sound)'' IT IS! MY PRECIOUS TORSO!\
99	'''Zoidberg:''' Hermes, quiet! I'm deducing things!
100	** The "Lovey Bears" from "[[Recap/FuturamaS4E3LoveAndRocket Love and Rocket]]". A set of adorable stuff-animal toys, made by genetically engineering super-adorable little bears, raising them in a cutesy, loving environment, and then on their first birthday, finding the cutest, murdering them and stuffing them full of fire-retardant fluff. Even Bender actually looks unnerved by that one.
101	** Bender tapdancing on the recently dead body of a young girl with a heart condition, after stating that he couldn't wait to dance on her grave. What saves is that, a) she was a manipulative BitchInSheepsClothing who tried to sabotage his performance earlier, and b), the tap dancing ends up resuscitating her.
102	** Bender telling the Scammers he can figure out how to stealthy steal the doomsday device handcuffed to the Professor's hand, himself, only cut to him holding ''a bloody saw with the device still cuffed to his severed hand''. Somehow topped afterwards, when a flashback reveals the saw was ''dull and it took several minutes to work'' and the Professor was '''still asleep the whole time.'''
103	** Yet another one for Bender, when he goes to the Robot Devil for some help. All Bender needs to do is to bring his first born son. The scene is set up for a seemingly heart warming reunion between estranged father and son... and then Bender promptly punts his child into a ''vat of magma''. It is both cruel and hilarious. Even the Robot Devil {{lampshade\|Hanging}}s how messed up it was.
104	--->'''Robot Devil''': Wow, that was pretty brutal even by ''my'' standards.
105	** ''Still'' Bender in "The Thief of Baghead". [[ItMakesSenseInContext After accidentally draining Fry's lifeforce and leaving his body a floppy pile of skin by showing him a picture of an unmasked Langdon Cobb]], he starts contemplating Fry melting ''could'' have been an unrelated incident, before showing the photo to Amy (with similar results) and noting that there's a pattern, ''and then tests it on Hermes just to make sure''. When it happens to Fry it's pure NightmareFuel, but by the time Hermes is drained Bender's indifference to the whole thing has turned hilarious.
106	** Mom's over-the-top abuse of her sons. It's very harsh, but she's so bluntly cruel and finds so many different ways to slap them that it becomes hilarious.
107	%% ** The whale barf. Horrific, cruel, disgusting... and damn funny.
108	%% --->'''URL:''' It just keeps coming...!
109	* DesignatedVillain: There's the parody example of the Ball aliens that Earth went to war with on "[[Recap/FuturamaS2E17WarIsTheHWord War Is The H-Word]]". As it turns out, it was the ''Earthican'' forces that were the invaders, the Ball people were just harmless aliens that only wanted to bounce. When Fry realizes this, he's understandably confused.
110	* DiagnosedByTheAudience: While canon implies that Fry's ditziness and social awkwardness are side effects of him lacking a delta brainwave, it's common for fans to read him as having ADHD and/or autism, taking into consideration his impulsivity, his poor motor skills, his self esteem issues, and how he's skilled in very specific areas (i.e. video games, the arts, and certain pop culture knowledge) but struggles to pay attention to most anything else. It's worth noting that his [[Creator/BillyWest voice actor]] opened up about having ADHD and autism in 2019, and has drawn parallels between Fry and his own younger self.
111	* DoNotDoThisCoolThing: Bender the robot has no sense of morality or ethics, goes around insulting everybody while drinking beer and smoking cigars. Yet as Matt Groening explained: "He can't be a bad role model for children, because he's a robot!" Lampshaded on "[[Recap/FuturamaS4E6BenderShouldNotBeAllowedOnTelevision Bender Should Not Be Allowed on Television]]":
112	-->'''Bender''': You're watching ''Futurama'', the show that does not advocate the ''cool'' crime of robbery!
113	* EnjoyTheStorySkipTheGame: The ''Futurama'' game is a fairly unremarkable ThirdPersonShooter[=/=]Platformer hybrid that isn't considered bad, but not great either. Its main saving grace is its story, which was penned by the actual writers and performed by the voice actors of the show and has a lot of hilarious gags lampooning both the show itself and various video game clichés. Notably, all of the cutscenes would later be stitched together and released as a special unofficial episode for "The Beast With a Billion Backs" DVD.
114	* EnsembleDarkhorse:
115	** "MORBO DEMANDS RECOGNITION OF HIS POPULARITY!"
116	** "All glory to the hypno-toad!"
117	** Calculon and his [[PunctuatedForEmphasis UNGODLY! ACTING! TALENT!!!]]
118	** Scruffy was a popular character during the interim when ''Futurama'' was not producing new episodes. He only made a few appearances in the original run, and was mostly noteworthy for his extreme apathy. Since the first revival, Scruffy has had a much larger role, frequently appearing alongside the main cast, almost solely due to his popularity on the Internet.
119	** "That Guy" from "[[Recap/FuturamaS3E21FutureStock Future Stock]]" is fairly popular and frequently quoted despite only being in one episode (one that he dies at the end of, no less) and not even having a name in the episode proper (according to WordOfGod, his name is Steve Castle).
120	** Fatbot was fairly well-liked in his [[Recap/FuturamaS1E11MarsUniversity debut episode]], to the point where he made numerous appearances in later episodes.
121	** Fry's dog Seymour, who managed to deliver one of the [[TearJerker saddest endings of all time]] in his debut episode. To date, he's only appeared in five episodes, including "[[Recap/FuturamaM1BendersBigScore Bender's Big Score]]" and the Simpsons crossover.
122	** Zoidberg's girlfriend Marianne from "Stench and Stenchability" is beloved in the fanbase for finally [[ThrowTheDogABone giving Zoidberg a happy ending]] that wasn't ripped away from him at the last second. Being voiced by famed actress Creator/EmiliaClarke certainly doesn't hurt. Since she only appeared in the penultimate episode of the Comedy Central run, one of the biggest recurring fan wishes for the Hulu revival were for her to make a return, though unfortunately Zoidberg was established to be single again in "I Know What You Did Next Xmas."
123	* EstrogenBrigade: The fandom is dominated by male geeks, but there's a surprising amount of female fans who are enamored with Fry, despite the running jokes about him ''not'' being attractive. This is mostly due to the increased focus on his ShipTease (and eventual OfficialCouple status) with Leela in later seasons, allowing Fry to develop out of his more selfish habits into a well-meaning {{adorkable}} boyfriend.
124	* FanficFuel:
125	** The end of "The Sting" reveals [[spoiler:Leela was comatose for several days dreaming about Fry's death, and Fry sat at her bedside the whole time, trying to reach out to her]]. Fanfics (especially ship fics) like to fill in what was happening in the real world during that time to influence her dreams.
126	** One issue of the comic books indicates that foiling [[spoiler: and then assisting]] the Zookeeper was not the only adventure that Fry, Leela, and Bender had as the New Justice Team. Who knows what other adventures they had with their superpowers?
127	* {{Fanon}}: One wiki has listed Fry's mother's name as Sherri. This seemingly doesn't stem from any official material, but has caught on to the point some fans [[CommonKnowledge believe it's her canon first name.]]
128	* FanPreferredCouple: Fry and Leela has been a popular couple since before it even became canon, but in certain circles, its popularity is eclipsed by that of Fry and Bender, which was never canon but was the subject of much HoYay. On Website/ArchiveOfOurOwn, Fry/Bender has twice as many fanfictions as Fry/Leela.
129	* FanPreferredCutContent: The episode "[[Recap/FuturamaS6E16LawAndOracle Law and Oracle]]" is a ''Film/MinorityReport'' spoof that isn't particularly hated or loved by the fandom. The original concept for the episode is more interesting to several fans, as it would have focused on Fry and Leela's KidFromTheFuture. This was cut for not being funny enough, but Fry and Leela having kids is a common enough FandomSpecificPlot for fans to wish it happened in canon.
130	* FanonDiscontinuity: "Anthology of Interest II" gives Bender a semi-canonical human design, a blonde white guy. Human fanart of Bender almost never uses it; most fans instead make him a dark-skinned Mexican (since he was built in Mexico and has the surname Rodriguez) with a more rugged appearance.
131	* FranchiseOriginalSin: Both of the revivals were criticized having topical episodes. Defenders of these episodes would point out that the Fox era had topical episodes too, such as the ''Film/Titanic1997'' parody in ''A Flight To Remember'' or spoofing Napster in ''I Dated A Robot.'' However, the difference was that during the Fox era, these episodes weren't nearly as frequent.
132	* FriendlyFandoms:
133	** Due to the shared creators and occasional crossovers, most fans are also big fans of ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons''.
134	** Many fans of ''Franchise/StarTrek'' enjoy the show due to the frequent ''Trek'' references, including [[Recap/FuturamaS4E11WhereNoFanHasGoneBefore a Trek-themed episode]] featuring most of the crew of ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries'' and a lot of fandom in-jokes.
135	* GeniusBonus:
136	** A lot of jokes, references, and continuity errors are more understandable if you know anything about college-level math and science.
137	** The series has a number of particularly extreme examples in which complicated jokes (possibly made in a fictional language) are hidden in the background and can [[FreezeFrameBonus only be seen for a split-second]], requiring a very devoted fan to pause and get the absolute most out of episodes.
138	** Everything's playing at the [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleph_number Aleph-Null-Plex]]!
139	** In real life, Professor ''Philo'' Farnsworth was the inventor of cathode-ray video transmission, which brought us television, which brought us ''Futurama.''
140	** Leela was named after Olivier Messiaen's [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Turangalîla-Symphonie Turangalîla-Symphonie]], which is notable for a few reasons, the most-relevant being its featuring of an electronic instrument, the ''[[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ondes_Martenot ondes Martenot]]'' (Martenot waves), which has provided distinctive sound effects and music in many sci-fi works.
141	* HarsherInHindsight: Has a [[HarsherInHindsight/{{Futurama}} whole page]].
142	* SugarWiki/HeReallyCanAct:
143	** It goes without saying that Creator/BillyWest has a great range, but he also deserves credit for his genuinely heartfelt performances in episodes like "Jurassic Bark" and "Luck of the Fryrish".
144	** Bender is first and foremost a comedic character. This doesn't stop Creator/JohnDimaggio from nailing his performance during the climax of "The Bots and the Bees".
145	** As a secondary member of the crew, Amy rarely gets serious plots to herself, but in "Children of a Lesser Bog," Creator/LaurenTom's performance is genuinely moving and truly sells that Amy cares about her children.
146	* HeartwarmingInHindsight:
147	** In the pilot, Terry dramatically tells Fry "Come! Your destiny awaits!" before taking him to get his career chip assigned, which is how Fry meets Leela. As the seasons progress, Fry falls deeply in love with her, even giving up his old life on multiple occasions to spend his life with her. Essentially, Leela ''was'' his destiny.
148	** In the second episode, one reason Fry lists for why he couldn't become an astronaut is that nobody liked spending a week with him. [[DeadpanSnarker Leela]] agrees, "A week would be a little much." Contrast this with "Meanwhile," where [[spoiler:not only do the two get married and explore the world while everything in the universe is frozen in time, eventually growing old together, Leela is the one to say she was never lonely during all those decades alone with Fry.]] It really shows how their relationship has strengthened throughout the show.
149	** The last episode's opening has the caption "Avenge Us!" before its cancellation. Hulu listened, reviving the show ten years later. [[CallBack Sure enough, the first episode of the Hulu revival's opening has the caption "Avenged!"]]
150	* HilariousInHindsight: Has a [[HilariousInHindsight/{{Futurama}} whole page]].
151	* IKnewIt: When the Hulu revival was announced to premiere in 2023, many fans wondered if this would mean the return of Kif and Amy's children born in 2003's "Kif Gets Knocked Up a Notch," in which Kif says the children will sprout legs and crawl onto land in twenty years. When the revival's episode titles were leaked, these fans paid special notice to the title "Children of a Lesser Bog," as the use of "children" and "bog" could refer to the fact the tadpoles will emerge from a bog, indicating a SequelEpisode about Kif and Amy raising the children at last. This all turned out to be correct.
152	* InformedWrongness: Bender in "[[Recap/FuturamaS2E1ISecondThatEmotion I Second That Emotion]]". His reason for lashing out at Nibbler was because an unattended can-opener nearly killed him, and as he implied, killed his father in the past. While Bender's behavior later was uncalled for, that can-opener was pretty much a deathtrap for robots.
153	* IronWoobie: Leela. She was abandoned as a baby and never knew her family or even her ''species'', and everybody at her orphanage bullied her for being a cyclops, making her feel alone and unlovable. This spurned her to grow up cynical and tough, always trying to prove her superiority and not letting herself be vulnerable, but it's made clear that she's repressing a lot of childhood trauma and abandonment issues. She also faces frequent heartbreak and manipulation, and it's occasionally suggested that she's just given up on seeking love because of it. She all but says it herself in "Leela's Homeworld" after Fry catches her crying:
154	-->'''Leela''': I'm sorry you saw that, Fry. I usually try to keep my sadness pent up inside where it can fester quietly as a mental illness.
155	* ItWasHisSled:
156	** Leela's origins and parentage were a big twist when "[[Recap/FuturamaS4E2LeelasHomeworld Leela's Homeworld]]" first aired, but it's unlikely any viewers make it to that episode without knowing ahead of time these days.
157	** Fry becoming [[MyOwnGrampa his own grandpa]] was the surprise punchline of "[[Recap/FuturamaS3E19RoswellThatEndsWell Roswell That Ends Well]]," but it's since become a [[InnocuouslyImportantEpisode recurring plot element]] and an oft-marketed joke, to the point even some episode synopses (like on Hulu) outright spoil it.
158	* JerkassWoobie: Bender is a psychopath of the highest order, goes beyond megalomania, has a laundry list of felonies, and is constantly [[WithFriendsLikeThese abusing his own friends]]. He was also born without a backup unit, only got saved because [[spoiler:Hermes took pity on him as a baby]], is constantly abused by the Professor by being sent on deadly missions, and [[spoiler:has a son who cannot remember him, because Bender and his son decided to have the latter's memory card replaced in order for him to go to bending school]].
159	* LGBTFanbase: Leela has a committed lesbian and bisexual fanbase who love her for being a strong, commanding, [[EvenTheGirlsWantHer and attractive]] space captain, as well as a relatable mutant outcast.
160	* LoveToHate: Zapp Brannigan, he's a [[SmugSnake smug]] [[EntitledBastard entitled]] {{Jerkass}} with an ego too big for his own ship. [[BaseBreakingCharacter But according to his fans,]] he's too funny to truly hate.
161	* MagnificentBastard:
162	** Carol Miller, better known as "[[OneBadMother Mom]]", is the head of the massive company [=MomCorp=] who hides her ruthlessness behind a grandmotherly facade. Throughout the series, Mom effortlessly manipulates others to her own ends, notably draining [[Characters/FuturamaPhilipJFry Fry]]’s bank account to protect her oil monopoly, and using the eyePhone to brainwash people into buying the eyePhone 2. Mom even used her control over all robots to enact a plan to conquer Earth, only to relent upon reconnecting with Professor Farnsworth. In "[[Recap/FuturamaM3BendersGame Bender's Game]]" it’s revealed that Mom uses a massive farm of force fed Nibblonians to monopolize the fuel industry. When she is pulled into [[Characters/FuturamaBenderBendingRodriguez Bender]]'s imagination, she is turned into the witch Momon and uses her powerful magic to attain the Die of Power. Mom is revealed to be performing illegal genetic experiments to solve world problems, when Leela contracts Squidification and finds her lab, Mom captures her and uses her DNA to help solve world hunger, and then [[PetTheDog cures Leela as thanks]].
163	** [[SantaClaus Robot Santa]], the terrifying monster of Xmas, sees almost everyone on the Naughty List and conducts a terrifying yearly raid that leaves many dead or maimed. Upon judging Fry and friends naughty--save Dr. Zoidberg, [[PetTheDog who gets a pogo stick]]--Santa is driven back but vows to return the next Xmas. Seemingly bested in favor of Bender, Santa frees Bender and ropes him in for the rampage before revealing a threat to Bender to never play Santa ever again. Even after being dethroned, Santa is able to launch a [[BestServedCold plot of revenge]] after enjoying a rap with the Hanukkah Zombie and Kwanzaa Bot.
164	** "[[Recap/FuturamaS4E4LessThanHero Less Than Hero]]": [[TheBeastmaster The Zookeeper]] is a supervillain who commits crimes with a pack of highly trained animals. Planning to steal the Quantum Gemerald, he causes chaos in the Museum of Natural History by having animals attack the patrons, distracting the New Justice Team long enough for him to grab the Gemerald. When the heroes corner him, he drops the Gemerald off of a balcony which distracts them and allows him to escape. Learning that Leela is Clobberella, the Zookeeper kidnaps her parents and holds them hostage so the New Justice Team will steal the Gemerald for him, [[TheBadGuyWins and ultimately escapes with the Gemerald]].
165	** "[[Recap/FuturamaS7E25StenchAndStenchability Stench and Stenchability]]": Tanya is a little girl competing with Bender in a local tap-dancing competition. Initially seeming to be a sweet girl with a heart condition, [[TheFakeCutie Tanya]] reveals her true devious nature when she breaks Bender's leg right before their final competition. When Bender still competes, Tanya tricks him into knocking himself out, winning the competition. After Bender saves her life, Tanya wins his respect with her evil nature and works with him to mug people using their tap-dancing.
166	* MemeticMutation: [[{{Memes/Futurama}} A page full of them!]]
167	* MisaimedFandom: The "Shut up and take my money" line from "Attack of the Killer App" is often quoted in response to things that are expensive, but incredibly impressive and thus worth every dollar. This is the ''opposite'' of the original context; the joke is about Fry ignoring all the downsides of the overpriced [=eyePhone=] and just dropping money on it immediately because it's so popular -- a TakeThat at the Apple fan culture. Even official marketing has used it in the misaimed context, though.
168	-->'''Salesman''': Okay, it's $500, you have no choice of carrier, the battery can't hold a charge and the reception isn't very--
169	-->'''Fry''': [taking out a wad of cash] Shut up and take my money!!
170	* {{Misblamed}}: Some newer fans get mad at Creator/{{Hulu}} (or whatever service streams ''Futurama'' in their country) for cutting the movies into four episodes each and cutting out scenes in the process. Hulu did not do this; the movies were cut up that way for syndication on Comedy Central first, and the streaming package simply airs them as they were aired on television.
171	%%* SugarWiki/MostWonderfulSound:
172	%%** Creator/JohnDiMaggio has stated he thinks this of the sound effect used when Mom slaps all three of her sons at once.
173	%%** The sound of the Hypnotoad doing its thing.
174	* NarmCharm: The part in "Hell is Other Robots" where Fry calls Bender out for his drug-addled jerkish behavior. Fry's [[BrickJoke frizzed up hair]] is funny to look at, but his [[AngerBornOfWorry angry speech to Bender]] still makes the scene work.
175	* NauseaFuel:
176	** Fry drinking a tub of beer that others have spat out in "[[Recap/FuturamaS7E8FunOnABun Fun on a Bun]]".
177	** Fry drinking bathtub eggnog that Zoidberg turned out to be in in "[[Recap/FuturamaS3E3ATaleOfTwoSantas A Tale of Two Santas]]". Zoidberg's response makes it more gross depending on whether you think Zoidberg's being a FishOutOfWater and thinks the eggnog is a bath or he's in the right and the "eggnog" isn't even eggnog at all but scented bathwater.
178	** Bender drinking the alcohol-flavored water Professor Farnsworth was bathing in and commenting on the flavor being a fine cognac with a hint of aged scrotum in "[[Recap/FuturamaS6E17Benderama Benderama]]".
179	** Bender as a morbidly obese human in "[[Recap/FuturamaS3E18AnthologyOfInterestII Anthology of Interest II]]".
180	** The tub full of alien goat vomit and diarrhea that Fry and Bender make a bet over who has to dive in it in "[[Recap/FuturamaS6E3AttackOfTheKillerApp Attack of the Killer App]]".
181	** "[[Recap/FuturamaS7E24MurderOnThePlanetExpress Murder on the Planet Express]]" manages to best them all, with Leela [[spoiler: eating Fry's kidney. Made even worse when you consider that at this point, they're dating]].
182	** From [[CharlieAndTheChocolateParody "Fry and the Slurm Factory"]], the secret ingredient of Slurm, actually the ''only'' ingredient: concentrated slime [[{{Squick}} from a giant alien slug's ass]]. Said alien slug queen also states that the true ingredients of toothpaste is so disgusting even ''she'' doesn't like to talk about it! Even worse is the scene at the end where she sucks the Slurm out of her own ass while crying over the fact that the Planet Express crew escaped knowing their secret.
183	* NeverLiveItDown: Some fans use Leela's failed date with the lizard-tongued Doug and her ensuing conversation with Amy and Fry as an excuse to claim she has ''ridiculously'' high standards for romance, turning down any man who doesn't fit her image of pure perfection. The joke of the scene is that Amy and Fry both think Leela is "too picky" for turning down men with actual issues (including "low IQ" and "an explosive violent temper"), with the lizard tongue being depicted as one of them. Even with the HypocriticalHumor angle of Leela judging Doug after commending him for ''not'' judging her and her eye, Leela [[AllegedlyDateless does agree to date]] several [[SingleWomanSeeksGoodMan seemingly-decent men]] throughout the series, and only dumps them when they demonstrate blatant selfish behavior. The closest thing she has to actually being unfairly judgmental is her RelationshipRevolvingDoor status with Fry, and even then, she's usually understandably put off by his immaturity and stupidity.
184	* SugarWiki/NoProblemWithLicensedGames: ''Game of Drones'', a puzzle game based on the show, has excellent animation and catchy music. It's also at a good difficulty level - it's not so hard that it's frustrating, but it's not so easy that it's boring. Unfortunately it is [[KeepCirculatingTheTapes no longer available to purchase]].
185	* OlderThanTheyThink:
186	** The "Do you remember [X]? Pepperidge Farm remembers." joke had been done in "[[Recap/FuturamaS1E6AFishfulOfDollars A Fishful of Dollars]]", seven years before ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy'' did it in "[[Recap/FamilyGuyS5E3HellComesToQuahog Hell Comes to Quahog]]".
187	** Bender declaring "BlackmailIsSuchAnUglyWord. I prefer extortion!" is a near-word for word quote from ''Series/{{MASH}}''.
188	** The non-reversible body-swapping plot from "[[Recap/FuturamaS6E10ThePrisonerOfBenda The Prisoner of Benda]]" was done eleven years earlier by ''Series/StargateSG1'' in "[[Recap/StargateSG1S2E17Holiday Holiday]]", and it even used a similar solution to work around the problem.
189	* OneTrueThreesome: Bender sometimes gets thrown into Fry and Leela's relationship to account for how inseparable he and Fry are and the fact the trio are the collective main characters and most tight-knit of the crew. The ship even has its own PortmanteauCoupleName -- "Freeler."
190	* PlayAlongMeme: Fans often gas up [[HypnoticCreature the Hypnotoad]] and his sitcom as one of the best things ever. The Hypnotoad does nothing but stare into people's eyes and hypnotize them into loving him, so the implication is that he also hypnotizes the audience (which the show has [[TheFourthWallWillNotProtectYou itself implied]] once or twice). Often crosses over with InterruptingMeme, as people will drop everything to shout "ALL GLORY TO THE HYPNOTOAD!"
191	* PortmanteauCoupleName:
192	** Freela = Fry/Leela
193	** Fender = [[HoYay Fry/Bender]] The show itself uses "Frender" in "Murder on the Planet Express", when Fry wears Bender to save each other.
194	** Leeler = Leela/Bender
195	* TheProblemWithLicensedGames: Opinions on ''VideoGame/{{Futurama}}: The Game'' vary. While it's not a terrible game, it is an uninspired ThirdPersonShooter, merely SoOkayItsAverage by most fans' standards. While the graphics do look rather nice and the character designs translate well into 3D, its main saving grace is [[EnjoyTheStorySkipTheGame its hilarious story]], which was penned by the actual writers and performed by the voice actors of the show. Not only does it manage to lampshade a few aspects of the show, but it makes fun of a few video game clichés as well. Luckily, all of the cutscenes (and some filmed gameplay) were strung together and released as an unofficial episode, which is available as a special feature on the second [[TheMovie film]] release, ''The Beast With a Billion Backs''.
196	* TheScrappy:
197	** The "Susan" butt boil gets a lot of hate for various reasons, such as it being an already outdated joke in an already topical-heavy episode, for having a really annoying voice, and for adding an unnecessary {{squick}} factor to Leela. Thankfully, she only appeared in one episode.
198	** Yivo, despite being the main antagonist of ''[[Recap/FuturamaM2TheBeastWithABillionBacks The Beast with a Billion Backs]]'', is not really villainous or evil, but shklee is hated for forcing almost everyone in the universe into a relationship with shkler, meaning that shklee forcibly put shkler tentacles into people's necks and was revealed to be "mating" with those people through those tentacles, meaning that Yivo was technically raping them. Despite how serious shkler crimes were, shklee [[KarmaHoudini got away with everything]] and was EasilyForgiven for it, and was also an InvincibleVillain due to being entirely composed of electromatter.
199	* SeasonalRot:
200	** Generally agreed to not have gotten anywhere near as severe a case as [[WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons its sister show]], but the Creator/ComedyCentral episodes and made-for-DVD movies are viewed by some as inferior to the earlier FOX episodes.
201	** ''Futurama'' post-first revival (Seasons 6 and 7) are also viewed as some of the weaker seasons, where plots started to be more anvilicious (see above), make reference to recent events that had fallen by the wayside by the time the episode aired, more outlandish (as in, TheoryOfNarrativeCausality so much it's a borderline AssPull), and also doing a TwoLinesNoWaiting plot (for Matt Groening shows, this usually means we end up with two mediocre plots instead of one decent one). However, despite these flaws, these two seasons still have several beloved episodes, and are usually seen in hindsight as pretty good, but they fail to live up to the original FOX run in terms of consistency.
202	* SpiritualSuccessor:
203	** Its down-to-earth and humorous portrayal of complex scientific concepts, and its depiction of such things as "the big bang" and "the heat death of the universe" makes it one for Creator/ItaloCalvino's Literature/{{Cosmicomics}}, this is especially true of the episode "[[Recap/FuturamaS7E13Naturama Naturama]]".
204	** While [[ShowWithinAShow The Scary Door]] is mainly a parody of ''[[Series/TheTwilightZone1959 The Twilight Zone]]'', it can also seem like an animated equivalent of ''ComicBook/ThargsFutureShocks'', given that both consist of short sci-fi stories with [[MandatoryTwistEnding mandatory twist endings]].
205	** The show itself can be considered one to ''WesternAnimation/TheJetsons'', to which it has given a few ShoutOut (namely Amazon Women in the Mood's opening nightclub is done in the same retro-future aesthetic). ''The Jetsons'' expressed the 60s view of the future, and projected the nuclear family and "man in the gray flannel suit" into the far future. ''Futurama'' on the other hand is a 90s view that is informed by both the utopian views of the future formed early in the 20th century and the more cynical and jaded, dystopian vision of the 70s-90s and early 2000s. Indeed, the line "Here's to another lousy millennium" that originated from ''Futurama'' was a typical expression of 90s disillusionment that the future would be as fun and awesome as everyone expected.
206	* StrangledByTheRedString: The plot of "The Prince and the Product" has Leela fall in love immediately with the Prince of Space, casually leaving Fry (who is, as of this run, her consistently supportive live-in boyfriend) to get engaged to him after a mere thirty minutes of conversation. This turns out to be an IntendedAudienceReaction, both to artificially heighten the drama for the sake of the MoodWhiplash {{Parody Commercial}}s and because a HandWave at the end reveals that Leela was under a love spell (and implies the episode as a whole wasn't canon).
207	* StrawmanHasAPoint:
208	** A spritz from Zoidberg's empathy bladder actually does sound relaxing, if a bit gross.
209	** That Guy (Steve Castle) from "Future Stock" is a parody of a ruthless 80s corporate raider, and also [[VillainyFreeVillain completely correct about everything while never even breaking any laws]]. He manages to legitimately raise the value of Planet Express to massive levels in about a week via a smart PR campaign, and if his deal with [=MomCorp=] had gone forth, every member of the cast would've been a millionaire. Lampshaded near the end of the episode where Leela basically admits as much.
210	* SuspiciouslySimilarSong: The main theme, to both Pierre Henry's original [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AOqfWj0HqNE "Psyché Rock"]] and the Music/FatboySlim [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fQWkitvfncc remix]] thereof; the influence of the latter is especially obvious in the extended version.
211	* SugarWiki/SweetDreamsFuel: Surprisingly enough, despite its [[NightmareFuel/{{Futurama}} occasionally horrifying moments]], there's an [[https://www.reddit.com/r/Futurama_Sleepers/ entire subreddit]] dedicated to falling asleep to the show.
212	* TaintedByThePreview: When the titles of the Hulu revival were first leaked, some were concerned that the Hulu revival would repeat the Comedy Central era's practice of blatant topicality, with the titles indicating that there will be episodes on streaming services [[labelnote:Explanation]]"The Impossible Stream"[[/labelnote]], algorithms [[labelnote:Explanation]]"Related To Items You've Viewed"[[/labelnote]], cancel culture[[labelnote:Explanation]]"Zapp Gets Cancelled"[[/labelnote]], and COVID-19 [[labelnote:Explanation]]"Rage Against The Vaccine"[[/labelnote]]. The trailer and further press releases confirmed some of these points, but the reaction to seeing clips from the actual show was more mixed-to-positive (which carried over to the season's reception).
213	* TheyChangedItNowItSucks: For the Hulu run, Leo Wong was recast from Creator/BillyWest to Feodor Chin. While the casting was likely done to give the character a more authentic Asian-sounding voice, some viewers [[NarmCharm preferred West's voice]] and found the recasting unnecessary.
214	* TheyWastedAPerfectlyGoodCharacter:
215	** After it was revealed that [[spoiler: Igner was Farnsworth's son]], that gave the show potential for story ideas after it was UnCanceled. However, after the reveal, [[spoiler: Igner]] stayed a side character and it was never brought up again.
216	** The writers didn't really do anything with Nibbler once the crew found out he could talk. In fact, he only appeared in about 4-5 episodes of the Comedy Central run, in which he spoke in only about 3 episodes.
217	* UglyCute: Fry's pet bone vampire, Mr. Peppy. It looks like a hideous monster and has corrosive body fluids, but acts like a puppy and loves Fry (and to an extent, the rest of the Planet Express Crew).
218	* UnconvincinglyUnpopularCharacter: Fry is set up as the ultimate loser in the pilot, and later he has a sub-average mind, a schlubby body, and limited social skills. Yet somehow he racks up a significant history with lots of beautiful women and winds up involved in momentous, historic events.
219	* UnintentionalPeriodPiece: Despite the setting being in the future, a lot of the humor of the show comes from commenting on modern events and other pop culture trends of the time.
220	** "[[Recap/FuturamaS1E10AFlightToRemember A Flight to Remember]]" features a sub-plot that follows the best-known story beats from ''Film/{{Titanic\|1997}}'', which was still being referenced[=/=]parodied in pop culture at the time of the episode's first broadcast.
221	** "[[Recap/FuturamaS1E12WhenAliensAttack When Aliens Attack]]" is built around a parody of ''Series/AllyMcBeal'', which was topical at the time, but the show quickly fell out of public consciousness after going off the air.
222	** "[[Recap/FuturamaS3E15IDatedARobot I Dated A Robot]]" involves celebrities' personalities being downloaded onto blank robots through a company called (Kid)Nappster. This is dated to the early 2000s when the Napster media-sharing service was popular, but which has since been shut down. The writers acknowledge this on the DVDCommentary.
223	** "[[Recap/FuturamaS4E16ThreeHundredBigBoys 300 Big Boys]]" was based on big news in mid-2001 about plans for the newly-elected UsefulNotes/GeorgeWBush to give a $300 tax rebate to American taxpayers, owing to a budget surplus. It was dated even by the time it aired, because [[ProductionLeadTime it finally did so two years later]] in June 2003, well after the September 11th attacks and the subsequent [[UsefulNotes/TheWarOnTerror invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq]] ended those plans.
224	** "[[Recap/FuturamaS6E4PropositionInfinity Proposition Infinity]]" is about the efforts to allow robosexual marriage as an analogy to same sex marriage. In 2015 in the United States, a federal ruling allowed same sex marriage across all the states, rendering the topical nature of the episode dated.
225	** "[[Recap/FuturamaS6E5TheDuhVinciCode The-Duh-Vinci-Code]]" makes a crack at Leonardo being unable to determine the mass of the Higgs Boson. At the time of its production (July 2010), researchers at the Large Hadron Collider famously furiously attempted to discover it. It was discovered in March 2013.
226	** "[[Recap/FuturamaS6E8ThatDarnKatz That Darn Katz!]]" is made up largely of WebOriginal/LOLCats jokes at their peak of popularity. They are still reasonably popular now but have been slipping out of the mainstream.
227	** "[[Recap/FuturamaS7E2AFarewellToArms A Farewell to Arms]]" is a parody of the supposed end of the world in 2012, complete with a stone calendar supposedly predicting this, a belief that was extremely common and widely made fun of in the months leading up to December 2012 but which fell from cultural relevancy shortly thereafter.
228	** "[[Recap/FuturamaS7E3Decision3012 Decision 3012]]" is set around the premise of getting a qualified, passionate but young politician elected President of Earth, but his opponents start spreading rumors that he was not born on Earth and thereby cannot become president. The episode aired during the 2012 election campaign, featuring UsefulNotes/BarackObama running for a second term and the exact thing became an issue in his first presidential bid.
229	* UnintentionallySympathetic:
230	** Leonardo Da Vinci in "[[Recap/FuturamaS6E5TheDuhVinciCode The-Duh-Vinci-Code]]". The fact that he built a device [[spoiler:solely to kill the rest of the population of his planet]] is supposed to be seen as some sort of great MoralEventHorizon and is even lampshaded by Fry's horrified reaction. However, he comes off as much more tragic due to the fact that the rest of his race were complete and utter jerkasses who bullied him, mocked him, belittled him, and harassed him all his life just because he wasn't as smart as the rest of his population. Given how several people in real life can be severely traumatized from excessive bullying from just a few days and how he had to put up with being bullied [[FridgeHorror for several millennia due to their advanced lifespans]], he comes of more of a would-be WoobieDestroyerOfWorlds than anything else. And his race showing pity for Da Vinci after [[spoiler: his death]] comes off as more hypocritical of them than anything else.
231	** The Aesop of "I, Roomate" would seem to be "two people can be friends and not necessarily compatible in living together". Instead, Fry gets treated as the jerk for not wanting to leave a great home that isn't a good fit for Bender, because Bender is upset about them not being roommates any more. Leela pretty much scolds Fry into moving back in with Bender even though Bender's "apartment" is literally a closet that's unfit for human habitation, and Fry had been miserable in it before. Everything turns out fine because there's actually a perfectly decent living space behind the cubbyhole, but Leela didn't know that--she was basically telling Fry to suck it up so Bender wouldn't be sad.
232	* UnintentionallyUnsympathetic:
233	** Fry in "[[Recap/FuturamaS7E23GameOfTones Game of Tones]]". His desire to spend time with a dream simulation of his deceased mother is totally understandable... except that by doing so, he's willfully ignoring his mission and jeopardizing every actual living person on Earth.
234	** Munda in "Zapp Dingbat." Her desire to travel the world and be loved in her old age is meant to be sympathetic, but the way she rubs her relationship with Zapp in Leela's face despite Leela's terrible history with him (to the point Leela thinks Zapp is assaulting her mother when they kiss) makes her just look incredibly selfish and dismissive of her own daughter.
235	* UnpopularPopularCharacter: Zoidberg is the InUniverse Scrappy to the other characters, but he's very popular amongst fans and probably second to Bender in marketability.
236	* ValuesDissonance: As funny (and even somewhat heartwarming) as it is, a lot of the gender bending and misogynistic jokes in "[[Recap/FuturamaS4E13BendHer Bend Her]]" feel a lot crueler in an age more enlightened about trans issues.
237	* ValuesResonance: "I Dated a Robot" uses a company that kidnaps celebrities and sells robots in their likeness to the public as a metaphor for digital piracy, specifically music piracy via Napster. While the Napster parody is pretty dated to 2001, the sci-fi premise actually aged very well with the AI boom of the late 2010s and early 2020s. The episode can be retroactively viewed as a critique of people making deepfakes of actors and even studios profiting off actors' artificial likeness without said actors' consent.
238	* ViewerGenderConfusion: Newt, Kif and Amy's (physically) youngest child, is said to be a male (i.e. Kif refers to him as "what's-his-name"). However, since he's voiced by Lauren Tom like his mother and his older sister Mandy, and as an alien baby lacks any obvious gendered traits, it's easy to mistake him as a female.
239	* WhatDoYouMeanItsNotForKids: In the mid 2000s, there were passionate child fans of the show who were in the 7-12 range. Even though it may look like a cool animated sitcom about outer space (and is overall much tamer compared to shows such as, say, ''WesternAnimation/FamilyGuy''), at times it can be [[DarkerAndEdgier darker, edgier]], and racier than Matt Groening's other animated sitcom, ''WesternAnimation/TheSimpsons''. This didn't stop the Arabic kids station Creator/{{Spacetoon}} from airing a heavily {{Bowdlerized}} dub of the first two seasons. All the more baffling is that Spacetoon did have a separate channel and later block for animation aimed at teens and young adults called Space Power, meaning it could have gone there with less edits.
240	** The show also aired on Creator/{{YTV}} in Canada, a channel for kids. It would eventually find a home over at sister station Creator/{{Teletoon}} in a more appropriate late-evening timeslot.
241	* WheelchairWoobie: Tinny Tim, a TinyTimTemplate with a crutch replacing a mechanical leg, who only seems to exist to be picked on despite being a poor, good-natured kid robot.

Context YMMV / Futurama