Matt Groening's other well known cartoon series, "Futurama", has really stood the test of time. For those who are unaware of the show, it is set in the 31st century and mostly follows Philip J. Fry, a slacker from the 20th century 'accidentally' frozen in a cryogenic tube, awakening in the future and getting a job at his distant relative's interstellar delivery company, working with a quirky staff of characters. In addition to the comedy and science fiction, it also had a lot of drama that really made you feel for all these strange characters, caring for them as if they were real people. And unlike the Simpsons, Futurama never really had a major dip in quality, indicating how much everyone cared about working on it.
Much like my SpongeBob list from 2015, I wanted to take a look back and share what I feel are the 10 best episodes of Futurama. And while I will keep spoilers to a minimum, there still will be some.
10. THE SIX MILLION DOLLAR MON
WHY IT MAKES THE LIST: The episode begins with Hermes conducting the annual performance review and planning to fire the least necessary employee. We get a montage of the Planet Express crew doing their usual thing, which makes for some funny moments. Ultimately, Hermes decides to fire himself due to his constant performance reviews (oh sweet irony). He's replaced by a new robot, and coupling that with him and his wife Labarbara being mugged by psychotic robot Roberto (who ends up being executed for the crime), Hermes has Bender use his black market connections to get a robotic enhancement to initially get his job back. But as feelings of inadequacy continue, he keeps getting robotic enhancements to the point where the only human part of him left is his brain.
The real star of this episode though is Zoidberg. While he's usually the most hated member of the Planet Express crew, he takes it in strides, even considering Hermes his best friend. As Hermes continues to upgrade himself, Zoidberg is the only one noticing Hermes' personality becoming less and less like himself, indicated by how tame his insults toward Zoidberg become. Missing his "friend", Zoidberg creates a ventriloquist doll from Hermes' discarded body parts. It sounds morbid, but it's funny when he actually puts on an act with the "doll" at a comedy club.
Eventually, Hermes wants a robot brain, even going with Bender and the Professor to rob a robot graveyard (unknowingly robbing Roberto's grave). While the Professor is asked to do the procedure, he changes his mind due to the pleas of Labarbara. When Hermes doesn't take "no" for an answer, Zoidberg offers to do it, even doing the procedure while singing an entertaining parody of "Monster Mash". But it's all a ploy so Zoidberg can put Hermes' brain back into the fixed up body of Hermes he was using before (which apparently still had all his working organs since Hermes is able to function it before).
But the threat isn't over as Roberto does take over the Mecha-Hermes body, though there's a bit of a continuity error as the body acts like Roberto before putting his brain in. Ignoring that however, Roberto is defeated after he eats a piece of Hermes' skin, but it's so saturated from Labarbara's spicy cooking that it causes him to melt into a puddle.
Overall, it's just a fun and weird episode, and part of it is thanks to Zoidberg. It shows that even with the way he's treated by everyone, he still cares for his friends and not really expecting anything in return. It's a good personality trait.
9. LUCK OF THE FRYRISH
PREMISE: After a day at the horsetrack leads to many losses and an electrocution, Fry travels underground to the ruins of old New York to find his lucky seven leaf clover.
WHY IT MAKES THE LIST: The heart of this episode is through the flashbacks told of Fry's life growing up with his family, including his over-patriotic/doomsday prepping dad, his sports obsessed mother, and his jerky older brother Yancy. The relationship with Yancy is the main focus, as it shows how much they fought and how Yancy always felt the need to copy his brother in all their activities from basketball to break-dancing. I think it indicates a hint of jealousy over how creative his brother appears to be, going so far as wanting to steal the seven leaf clover, forcing Fry to hide it in a record vault.
When Fry, Bender, and Leela go to retrieve the clover, they discover it missing where Fry left it. Soon enough, they discover a statue of a man in a business suit that looks like Yancy, including the likeness of the clover in the lapel. Noticing the name on the statue read "Philip J. Fry", Fry theorizes that Yancy stole his clover and his name and used it for his own success, later learning that "Philip J. Fry" was also a rock star and the first person on Mars. Finding out that the clover was buried with him, Fry leads Leela and Bender to steal it back from his grave (and I just realized that's two episodes already on this list that involve grave robbing).
Without spoiling too much about how the episode goes from there, I believe this is the first overly emotional tear jerking ending to come from Futurama, a trope that would come when you'd least expect it on the show (and prepare for more of those episodes on this list). I will just say that it's a real eye-opener for Fry, and I love how the episode is bookended with the births of both Philip J. Frys.
8. LETHAL INSPECTION
PREMISE: With the aid of Hermes, Bender seeks "Inspector #5", the main who approved Bender despite him not being built with a back-up program.
WHY IT MAKES THE LIST: After the episode opens with a reenactment of the "Sith-al War", which is the Planet Express crew in Union soldier costumes play-fighting with a group of nerds in Star Wars costumes and lightsabers (which was pretty funny), Bender discovers an oil leak. Upon inspection, the Professor discovers Bender to be defective, being built without a back-up program. This means if Bender's body is destroyed, his programming can't be transferred to a new one. Realizing his mortality, Bender seeks revenge on "Inspector #5". Hermes aids Bender by going to the Central Bureaucracy to discover the inspector's identity, only to find no trace of him. A dejected Bender then calls Mom, the head of the robot company who built him, to file a complaint. However, not wanting a defective robot under her name running around, Mom sends a group of killer robots to eliminate Bender. They're not very competent though, as they continue to shoot and destroy each other in hilarious fashion. Bender and Hermes eventually wind up in Tijuana, where Bender was built, leading Bender to believe Inspector #5 may still live there, only to find his house abandoned.
Hermes comforts Bender in the fact that he may never find Inspector #5 or the answers he seeks, telling him that he should enjoy his life even if it is finite. This is actually why this episode makes my list. Before this, we never had any real extended interaction between Bender and Hermes, and this episode shows them become true friends.
Watching the episode the first time, I was able to figure out that Hermes was Inspector #5. However, that didn't take away any emotion from the flashback at the end of the episode, showing a young Hermes and baby Bender. Despite Bender being defective, Hermes couldn't bring himself to throw the cute little robot away, overriding the system so Bender could live.
7. THE DUH-VINCI CODE
PREMISE: The Professor leads the Planet Express crew to discover the dark secrets of Leonardo Da Vinci.
WHY IT MAKES THE LIST: Much like how "Lethal Inspection" focused on Bender and Hermes, "The Duh-Vinci Code" gives the relationship between Fry and the Professor much needed spotlight. It's very easy to forget the two are actually related. The episode shows Fry wanting to be closer with the Professor, but finds Fry's stupidity too off-putting. Trying to explain to Fry how he was inspired by the likes of Leonardo Da Vinci, the Professor discovers the blue prints to Da Vinci's lost invention in his beard (which he bought from a famous people's body parts auction). Inspecting the "Last Supper" painting, they discover that St. James was a robot, leading them to Rome to find his body. In the tomb of St. James though is a robot known as Animatronio, the guardian of Da Vinci's greatest secrets. Fortunately for the Professor, Animatronio is very bad at this job, letting clues slip out of his mouth. This eventually leads to Fry and the Professor to blast off into space after accidentally assembling a spaceship from multiple inventions in Da Vinci's lost workshop. They end up on the planet Vinci, a utopia for geniuses, where they meet Leonardo himself. While the Professor takes part in the society, Leonardo laments to Fry that on his own planet, he's considered an idiot and mocked mercilessly for it. When Fry gives Leonardo the lost blueprints he found, the two work to build it, only for Fry to find out that it's a doomsday device for Leonardo to get revenge on everyone who tormented him. Even the Professor wants in on it after he has been mocked by the planet's inhabitants himself ("Just because I'm dumber than them, they think they're smarter than me!"). This leaves Fry of all people to be the voice of reason, saying that there's always going to be someone smarter than you and that people should make due with what they have. In his own klutzy way, Fry disables the doomsday device, which smashes down on Leonardo, killing him.
The episode ends with Fry and the Professor making amends, and I think there's a good lesson in this. No matter how smart or dumb someone is, it's how you treat people that matters. The people of Vinci mocked Leonardo and the Professor, who in turn wanted to make them pay for how they made them feel. You can be a good person or an asshole no matter your level of intelligence.
Besides that, this episode has some of my favorite Futurama moments. It's here we learn that Zoidberg's doctorate is in art history (keeping in mind he works at Planet Express as its physician) and Hermes questioning "Didn't we use to be a delivery company?" which is so funny considering all the crazy adventures they go on. And of course, you have Fry casually saying "Hi Animatronio" to the robot, no matter how tense the situation. It's just funny every time I hear him say it.
6. A FLIGHT TO REMEMBER
PREMISE: The Planet Express crew take a vacation on a space cruise called the Titanic.
WHY IT MAKES THE LIST: As you can probably tell from the premise, this is a parody of the 1997 Titanic film, so that involves some romantic plots and a doomed voyage (that part being thanks to the ineptitude of Captain Zapp Branigan).
One of the main storylines of the episode involves Fry being caught up in some charades by having to pretend to be boyfriend to both Leela, who is trying to avoid the advances of Branigan, and Amy, who is trying to avoid being set up with someone by her parents. While this involves some hijinks, the episode is really the first hints of Fry and Leela's relationship, from their "first kiss" which was just Leela trying to avoid Zapp, to Leela's jealousy having to watch Fry and Amy kiss. This leads to a deep moment between the two that almost leads to their first real kiss before the ship begins getting sucked into a blackhole.
In being one of the earliest episodes of the show, the relationship between Fry and Leela isn't the only recurring plotpoint that would run for the rest of the series. It's in this episode where Amy meets Kif, where the chemistry is so instant that the two immediately kiss. Of course, the two don't officially become a couple for over another season due to Kif's shyness. I know that sounds weird considering how forward he was in this episode, but I'm willing to chalk it up to the adrenaline rush of the terrifying situation they were in. We also learn in this episode of Hermes' past as an Olympic level limbo competitor; Hermes' limbo skills become a running gag for the rest of the series.
There's one element of this episode that I don't think gets enough attention, that being Bender's romance with the rich fembot, Countess de la Roca. While Bender initially intends to steal from her, the two truly fall in love with each other. In true tragic romance though, the Countess sacrifices herself to the Black Hole so Bender and his friends can escape. This is the obvious Jack and Rose relationship stand-in for this Titanic parody, but in rewatching this episode for this list, I've developed a theory: the Countess was Bender's true love. Of all the relationships Bender has had in the show, the Countess is the only one Bender never felt the need to test or have a change of heart about. You could even say that losing the Countess is what makes Bender unable to keep any relationship for the rest of the series.
Even watching this episode for the first time as a kid, it really resonated with me for some reason, so its place on my list was assured.
5. JURASSIC BARK
PREMISE: Fry discovers the fossilized body of Seymour, his dog from before he was frozen.
WHY IT MAKES THE LIST: It's another tear jerker episode, and one that should hit the dog and pet lovers right in the heart.
After Fry discovers the fossilized body of his dog Seymour on exhibit in a museum, he attempts and succeeds to reclaim it, with plans for the Professor to clone the canine. This leads to jealousy from Bender, who thinks he's losing his best friend. Bender gets so mad that he throws Seymour into the lava that was powering the cloning machine. After seeing Fry cry, coupled with the fact Seymour was encased in the durable mineral dolomite, Bender feels remorse and saves Seymour at risk to himself.
Much like "Luck of the Fryrish", the heart of this episode is in its flashbacks. We start with Fry first meeting and becoming friends with Seymour, followed by Seymour becoming the unofficial of Panucci's Pizza, the place Fry used to work as a delivery boy. This includes some cute yet unhygienic moments at the restaurant. Fry also taught him to sing "Walking on Sunshine", and every time I hear that song, I can't help but think of this episode (as well as Charlie from "Supernatural). We also see that Seymour may have been the smartest person in Fry's life back in the 20th century. He tried to keep Fry from going on the delivery that would lead to him being frozen, sensing something bad would happen. Afterwards, he was the only one who tracked Fry down to his cryogenic tube, as no one else afterwards were smart enough to listen to him.
The end of the episode sees Fry discovering that Seymour lived for 12 more years after he was frozen, deciding to not clone him believing Seymour most likely forgot about him. But it turns out Fry was wrong. Following Fry's last command to wait for him, the final scene shows Seymour outside Panucci's through the years waiting for Fry to return, all the way to his death by natural causes. This is regarded as one of the saddest endings to not only a Futurama episode, but in all of TV history. Even the mere reference to this episode's ending can stir up sad feelings. It just goes to show not to underestimate the loyalty pets can feel towards their owner.
4. LEELA'S HOMEWORLD
PREMISE: Leela seeks answers when she finds a shrine built to her within the lair of the sewer mutants.
WHY IT MAKES THE LIST: One of the long running mysteries since Futurama began was Leela's lineage. Orphaned as a new born, Leela was believed to be an alien from an unknown planet, and she always longed to know where she came from and who her parents were. This episode adds a real twist to the mystery as instead of looking up, we should have been looking down.
As Fry, Leela, and Bender are being chased through the sewer by its mutant inhabitants (due to Bender pouring toxic waste into their lair), they discover in one of the mutants' homes a shrine to Leela, made up of newspaper clippings of her and personal belongings she discarded. Believing two cloaked mutants to know something about her past, Leela leaves Fry and Bender to escape while she goes after answers. Fry does some investigating on his own, by having the Professor examine the note left with Leela at the orphanage. First off, I like this subplot because it continues to show how much Fry cares for Leela and what he'll do to try and make her happy.
If you hadn't already guessed, it turns out Leela's parents were mutants, making her one herself. In a flashback scene to the day Leela was born, seeing how normal looking she is, with the doctor claiming her to be the least mutated mutant in history, her parents decide that she deserves to have a happier, normal life than one of a mutant. So they decide to leave her at an orphanage, making it appear that she's an alien, hoping she never has to learn the truth of what she is. Back to the present, Leela tracks down the cloaked figures, theorizing that the two killed her parents and plans to do the same to them. Rather than tell the truth, the two accept their impending fate until Fry drops in (literally) to reveal their true identities. This results in a tearful family reunion that always makes me join in with them. And if that wasn't enough, the final moments of the episode are a montage of scenes showing Leela's parents in the shadows looking out for their daughter through her own life. It's a nice touch, showing that they didn't outright abandon her.
It's an intense, emotional episode that wraps up a long running mystery. If I had any gripes, it's that they could have built up the reveal a little more, but it's easy to overlook.
3. GAME OF TONES
PREMISE: The key to Earth's survival lies within a memory of Fry's from the day he was frozen.
WHY IT MAKES THE LIST: As an alien ship approaches Earth continually blasting 4 musical tones, sending shockwaves that will soon destroy the planet, Fry recognizes the tones but can't recall from where. A brain analysis concludes that the memory originates from the day Fry was frozen. To discover its origins, Fry is put into a dream state that allows him to relive his last day in the 20th century to find the source of the tones. But Fry goes off plan as he begins to spend time with his family, and it's actually nice to see. Episodes like "Luck of the Fryrish" or "Jurassic Bark" kind of made it look like Fry's past kind of sucked. But here, even if it is supposed to be a dream, it shows that Fry supposedly did have good times with his family. With time running out though, the rest of the Planet Express crew, as well as President Richard Nixon's head, enter the dream to drag Fry out of his house and continue with the rest of the day. This devastates Fry, who only wanted to find closure with his mom. Fry, along with everyone else, begrudgingly goes through the rest of the day up until he gets frozen, where he hears the tones from the ship, followed by two more. With that information, Fry plays back the two tones, leading to the ship landing in front of them. It's revealed that the pilot of the ship is another Nibloian named Digby, who had helped Nibbler ensure Fry would end up in the future (for more on that, see the episode "The Why of Fry"). The sound Fry heard was Digby locking up their ship. Celebrating their mission accomplished, the two get drunk and lose the keys to their ship, having to take a space cab off Earth. Digby had only been using a spare set of keys to find the "company car". All ends well with Fry leading them to the ransacked ship on top of the cryogenics building, with Nibbler saying he'll repay Fry for his help.
Later that night, Fry has a dream about his mother watching the 2000 Rose Bowl, confusing Fry since that game happened after he was frozen. Nibbler then enters stating that he (somehow) transported Fry into a dream of his mother's in the past, giving Fry the chance to say what he wanted. When his mom asks what he wants to talk about, the only thing Fry can do is hug her. And honestly, that's all that's needed to end the episode.
This episode has a good traditional sci-fi threat to deal with an unexpected twist to its conclusion and gives us yet another look at Fry's past, albeit a happier one compared to others. But that ending is probably the most tear-jerking of all the tear-jerking endings the show has had. Hell, I'm tearing up thinking about it while typing this out. Even if you never watched an episode of Futurama before this one, if you're not crying like a baby by the end of this episode, you may not have a heart.
2. THE STING
PREMISE: Leela is racked with guilt after Fry dies on a mission.
WHY IT MAKES THE LIST: The episode begins with Leela forcing Fry and Bender to take on a mission that killed the Professor's last crew: collecting honey from giant space bees.
I'm actually not that far off with that reference, as the mission does wind up with Fry being impaled by a bee's stinger as he tries to protect Leela. Despite the nature of cartoons and how things do tend to go back to normal by the end, it was a real shock to me when I saw Fry die for the first time. I mean, they killed off the essentially main character of the show. And considering that this was during what was meant to be the final season of the show, it might not have been that far out for the creators to go this route. Fry's funeral included quite a few minor characters in attendance, with Terry from the cryogenics lab bidding him "Farewell from the world of tomorrow!", a callback to his line from the first episode ("Welcome to the world of tomorrow!")
The focus of the episode is on Leela. This all started with her wanting to prove herself, which is reasonable for her character (especially compared to a later episode, "Mobius Dick"). So she definitely feels responsible for Fry's death. Soon after, Leela begins having dreams of Fry, believing him to actually be alive and contacting her in her sleep. Everyone at Planet Express believes she's going crazy from guilt. They actually have some merit to this, as Leela's insanity begins to intensify, from imagining the crew performing a musical number to "Don't Worry, Be Happy" and even seeing each character on the walls and floor of her apartment chanting "You killed Fry!" over and over. You really start to wonder what's real and what's happening in this episode.
We then get the twist ending: it turns out Fry survived the impalement from the bee sting while the tip still poisoned Leela, placing her in a coma. Leela lies in a hospital bed for two weeks with Fry not leaving her side, continually talking to her hoping he'll get through. It's a really admirable act on Fry's part as another display of his love for Leela.
This is another pretty good story twist and it makes sense when you look back at it. In her coma, Leela was happier in her dreams with Fry while appearing to go crazy in the real world. She has the chance to sleep forever, but it's Fry's words getting through to her telling her not to give up. Leela is essentially hanging by a thread between life and death, and Fry is the beacon trying to bring her home.
Besides all that, this had a couple of my favorite Professor moments from the series. The first is at Fry's funeral when he's trying to console Leela as she blames herself for his death, the Professor then turns to Bender and unknowingly shouts "I'm lying to make her feel better!", causing Leela to cry harder. The other is later on when the Professor tries to cut off Leela's head with a guillotine. Leela asks "Can't you examine my brain without removing it?" to which the Professor replies "Yes. Easily." and then pulls out a device to do such.
And finally, in my opinion, the best episode of Futurama is...
THE DEVIL'S HANDS ARE IDLE PLAYTHINGS
PREMISE: Fry makes a deal with the Robot Devil to trade hands.
WHY IT MAKES THE LIST: This was intended to be, and for five years was, the final episode of Futurama due to its cancellation by Fox. And for what it's worth, it was really damn good finale.
The episode is actually a follow-up to a previous episode, "Parasites Lost", as Fry continues to perfect his skills on the holophonor, a musical instrument that also produces a holographic story, to woo Leela. He is so desperate that Bender leads him down to Robot Hell to make a deal with the Robot Devil. The Robot Devil offers Fry to switch his hands with that of a random robot in the universe. Fry accepts and the Robot Devil spins the Wheel of Robots to see who Fry will swap hands with; as it turns out, the wheel lands on the Robot Devil and the two switch hands. Thanks to the Robot Devil's hands, Fry becomes a sensation on the holophonor, putting out his own albums and being commissioned to write an opera, which he decides to make about Leela. However, the Robot Devil wants his hands back and creates a convoluted plan to do so. He engineers it so Leela will be deafened, making her unable to hear Fry's opera. Desperate, Leela makes a deal with the Robot Devil for robot ears in exchange for one of her hands. As the opera goes on, the Robot Devil is angered by how he is depicted and interrupts the show, leading to a musical number involving him, Fry, Leela, and the rest of the Planet Express crew. It's a really entertaining moment and I find myself thinking about and singing it in my head from time to time. It's during this number where the Robot Devil reveals he tricked Leela and that the contract she signed said she would give him her hand in marriage ("You should have checked the wording in the fine...print.") The Robot Devil tells Fry he'll call off the marriage if he returns his hands. Fry reluctantly agrees, and when he's asked to continue the opera, his skills on the holophonor revert back to miniscule levels. It's here where the show gives birth to what would be one of its most famous memes:
Everyone storms out except Leela, who wants to hear how the show ends. And with that...the show ends. At least for five years, as thanks to fan support, Comedy Central picked the show up, and ran it for five more years before ending it again.
"The Devil's Hands are Idle Playthings" was an excellent episode in its own right and what would have been a great finale. It signified the official beginning to Fry and Leela's relationship, although it would take another whole season before they actually became a couple for the rest of the series. The series' actual final episode "Meanwhile" was also very well done, but it was done with the possibility of another season pick-up. With "Devil's Hands", there was more of a sense of finality to everything. In any case, "The Devil's Hands are Idle Playthings" is without a doubt of my favorite episode to come from such a spectacular series.
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