Trivia for
"Futurama" (1999) More at IMDbPro »

• Futurama was the name of the famous General Motors exhibit at the 1939 New York World's Fair that depicted a futuristic landscape.
  
  
• Fry's first name, Philip, is a tribute to Phil Hartman, who was originally cast to do the voice of Zapp Brannigan.
  
  
• Some of the show's sound effects are from other science-fiction television series, including "The Jetsons" (1962) and "Star Trek" (1966).
  
  
• Lines of an unknown language, similar to hieroglyphics can be seen in varying locations throughout the intro song. According to Matt Groening, the glyphs *do* mean something, and it's up to loyal viewers to figure them out.
  
  
• At the beginning of the show, during the opening credits and theme song, there is always something different displayed in text at the bottom of the screen. At the very end of the theme song, there is always something different displayed on the screen before the ship crashes into it. This is reminiscent of Matt Groening's cult phenomenon of "The Simpsons" (1989), as there are three distinctly varying elements in the intro music as well. (Bart's chalkboard writings, the method of the family sitting down on the couch and Lisa's saxophone solo as she leaves band practice.)
  
  
• The hieroglyphics in the opening titles read: "Tasty Human Burgers". There are also two other examples of that alphabet (one just on the left a few frames after the ship passes through the R, and one during a quick pan to the right).
  
  
• The show was canceled in May 2002. The last first-run episode of the show aired on 10 August 2003. In 2006, Billy West announced on his website that 26 new episodes had been ordered, but then later retracted the announcement, stating that series co-creator David X. Cohen had corrected him "with a hammer". Instead, the feature-length direct-to-DVD release Futurama: Bender's Big Score (2007) (V) will be produced.
  
  
• Creator Matt Groening admits to naming Bender the robot after John Bender, a character in The Breakfast Club (1985).
  
  
• According to Matt Groening, viewers were able to decipher the alien language that is sometimes seen in the background the same night as the pilot episode aired. The only primer for the code in that episode was a sign that read "Drink Slurm". The sign appeared once with the word "Drink" written in the alien code and once in plain English. This resulted in the producers creating a second, more complex alien code to be seen in the background of later episodes.
  
  
• Zapp Brannigan's portrait in his captain's quarters is based on the famous White House portrait of US President John F. Kennedy. They are both in the same distinctive pose, arms crossed against the chest and solemnly looking downward.
  
  
• Writer/producer David X. Cohen is a Dungeons and Dragons player. References to the game have been included in the show, including a cameo by D&D creator E. Gary Gygax, and 'Al Gore' referring to himself as a "10th level vice-president". At least two D&D monsters have made appearances as well: a Rust Monster at a veterinarian's office, and a beholder appearing as a guard in the bureaucratic building. The third straight-to-DVD Futurama feature film, Futurama: Bender's Game (2008) (V), also uses a lot of D&D references, and is, in fact, hugely based on the game. The credits tribute the film to the memory of Mr. Gygax.
  
  
• In the episode "The Luck of the Fryrish", Fry screams out, "HOWARD STERN IS OVERRATED!" Billy West, the voice of Fry, was a regular on 'Howard Stern' 's radio show for many years.
  
  
• The Wong's Mars ranch house is modeled after the Benedict's house in Giant (1956).
  
  
• One of the more subtle running jokes in the show is that in the future, owls have replaced pigeons and rats as being pests. If you look carefully in many episodes, you can see owls pecking at food on the ground or coming out of mouse holes.
  
  
• Over the course of the show, Bender's composition is revealed to be 30% iron, 40% dolomite, 40% titanium and 40% zinc, with a 0.04% nickel impurity. This is a result of the fact that the writers pretty much made it up as they went along and forgot to keep track of what they'd already stated about Bender's composition.
  
  
• The show's creators said that after the show was cancelled it occurred to them that they should have done a parody of Martin Scorsese's films and called the episode "Gangs of New New York".
  
  
• In one episode it is said that they can translate the second alien language, but only into beta crypt 3, a language so complex that it is even less likely to understand, this is an inside joke, because the second alien language is in fact beta crypt 2 with symbols replacing the initial alphabet.
  
  
• Matt Groening actually bought the rights to use the "30th Century Fox" logo after Fox said they shouldn't use it. A couple months later, Fox said they loved it.
  
  
• Matt Groening has said that he got the idea for the show from listening to a song by the Incredible String Band called "Robot Blues."
  
  
• As the opening credits cut to the final shot, just before the Planet Express Ship crashes, several characters are seen moving through one of the transport tubes. The very first guy to go through is reading a news paper, the headline reads, "Moon pie fight in Mars Bar."
  
  
• Bender's first words were, "Bite my shiny metal ass."
  
  
• Leela's full name is Turanga Leela. This is a reference to French composer Olivier Messiaen's "Turangalîla-Symphonie" (1948), an 80 minute work in ten movements for piano, ondes Martenot and orchestra. The name "Turangalîla" derives from two Sanskrit words which may be translated a number of ways, including "love song".
  
  
• Fry's favorite song is "I'm Walking on Sunshine".
  
  
• Hermes' original name was Dexter, and he was not Jamaican until after the first of his lines were recorded.
  
  
• Dr. Zoidberg had teeth in the first few episodes.
  
  
• The show's cold openings were phased out in the latter part of the series.
  
  
• Characters intended for one-time appearances, such as Professor Wernstrom, were brought back because the writers liked them so much.
  
  
• The character Cubert (the Professor's clone) was initially conceived as being somebody who would point out all of the show's inconsistencies and plot holes. The idea was that he would be the voice of obsessed fans that paid far too much attention to detail. Unfortunately, the writers couldn't figure out a way to introduce him until Season 2, and aside from his debut episode he never took on his original intended role.
  
  
• Professor Hubert J. Farnsworth is named after the inventor Philo T. Farnsworth, one of the pioneers of television, whose invention was premiered at the 1939 New York World's Fair, along with the Futurama exhibit.
  
  
• J is Matt Groening's favorite middle initial in tribute to Jay Ward, creator of Rocky and Bullwinkle (Bullwinkle J. Moose) and other classics; hence the J in Philip J. Fry, Hubert J. Farnsworth, Cubert J. Farnsworth, Homer J. Simpson, Abraham J. Simpson, and Bart J. Simpson.
  
  
• EASTER EGG: In volume 4, there is an easter egg that can be found by clicking on the robot devil's hands. Doing this will start a table read of the final episode.
  
  
• Leela's costume choice is inspired by the popular female heroines that have graced famous science fiction films. Starting in the pilot episode, she takes off her jacket to reveal a white tank top underneath. The fashion is believed to have originated with Sigourney Weaver in Alien (1979) and has been copied by Linda Hamilton in Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991) and Carrie-Anne Moss in Red Planet (2000).
  
  
• One of Bender's secret fantasies is to be a folk-singer.
  
  
• Crater Face, the mascot of Luna Park, is based on the "moon with a face" from the 1902 film Le voyage dans la lune (1902).
  
  
• Other titles thought of for the show were ‘Aloha Mars!’ and ‘Doomsville’.
  
  
• DVD EASTER EGG: Season 4, disc 3. Go into the sub menu for "Where no fan has gone before". Highlight the option "HOME". Press "RIGHT" on the DVD remote to display the Planet Express ship in the menu. Press "PLAY" to start a behind the scenes video.
  
  
• Katey Sagal is the only member of the regular cast not to voice multiple characters.
  
  
• Bender's antenna has been used as the following: an antenna, a timer button for his internal digital camera, a beer pump lever, a measure of his manhood, a popcorn butter dispenser lever, a pager vibrator, a flushing lever, a cooking timer, an alarm clock snooze button (accidentally by Fry), a voice mail alert light, a voice mail "delete all" button, "little bender", a cap for a beer still, and an audio tape dispenser button.
  
  
• Planet Express is a package delivery company; however, very few packages actually get delivered.
  
  
• After there was already a David S. Cohen in the crew of Futurama, David S. Cohen changed the S to an X because "he thought X's were cool".
  
  

• SPOILER: In Volume 4 DVD an Easter Egg can be found by clicking on the sandwiches in the fridge. It reveals a long alien message, the message reads: "This DVD includes a specially encoded Easter egg which you are now meticulously translating from an alien language because you have no life and are a compulsive nerdlinger, how sad. It's especially sad if you don't speak English and you have to translate the alien language into English and then into your own tongue and you come upon a word like nerdlinger which really isn't a word at all, but still aptly describes someone who would actually translate such a word twice and those of you who are reading this translation on a Futurama newsgroup aren't any better. We lurk on those newsgroups and we know what nerdlingers you guys are, too, of course, you're also probably our biggest fans, which is sad in its own way, but since you went to all this trouble to translate an Easter egg we do owe you something, so here's a secret about the show. The writers, producers, directors, and most of the actors who worked on the show are all nerdlingers too."
  
  

Related Links