Futurama is an American animated science fiction sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company and later revived by Comedy Central, and then Hulu.

The series was envisioned by Groening in the mid-1990s while working on The Simpsons; he brought David X. Cohen aboard to develop storylines and characters to pitch the show to Fox.

[1] Following its initial cancellation by Fox, Futurama began airing reruns on Cartoon Network's Adult Swim programming block, which lasted from 2003 to 2007.

[15] Futurama is essentially a workplace sitcom, the plot of which revolves around the Planet Express interplanetary delivery company and its employees,[16] a small group that largely fails to conform to future society.

Several of the preserved heads shown are those of people who were already dead well before the advent of this technology; one of the most prominent examples of this anomaly is former U.S. president Richard Nixon, who died in 1994 and appears in numerous episodes.

The wheel is obsolete (no one but Fry even seems to recognize the design),[22] having been forgotten and replaced by hover cars and a network of large, clear pneumatic transportation tubes.

In another episode, the effects of global warming have been somewhat mitigated by the dropping of a giant ice cube into the ocean, and later by pushing Earth farther away from the sun, which also extended the year by one week.

Religious figures include Father Changstein-El-Gamal, the Robot Devil, Reverend Lionel Preacherbot, and passing references to the Space Pope, who appears to be a large crocodile-like creature.

While very few episodes focus exclusively on religion within the Futurama universe, they do cover a wide variety of subjects including predestination, prayer, the nature of salvation, and religious conversion.

[49] DiMaggio described Bender's voice as a combination of a sloppy drunk, Slim Pickens and a character his college friend created named "Charlie the sausage-lover".

Like The Simpsons, many episodes of Futurama feature guest voices from a wide range of professions, including actors, entertainers, bands, musicians, and scientists.

Recurring guest stars included Tom Kenny, Dan Castellaneta (as the Robot Devil), Dawnn Lewis, Nicole St. John, Al Gore, Phil Hendrie, Coolio and George Takei, among others.

[43] In addition to traditional cartoon drawing, Rough Draft Studios often used CGI for fast or complex shots, such as the movement of spaceships, explosions, nebulae, large crowds, and snow scenes.

"[54] After flying through downtown New New York and past various recurring characters, the Planet Express ship crashes through a large screen showing a short clip from a classic cartoon.

"Viva Mars Vegas" features a unique handmade variant of the opening, using cardboard, plastic, and model ships guided by strings and rods.

[59] This was first trialled in the opening sequence for "Mars University", however it was realized upon broadcast that the sound did not transmit well through most television sets and the idea was subsequently abandoned.

-plex" (aleph-null-plex) movie theater[68] – as well as various forms of science humor – for example, Professor Farnsworth, at a racetrack, complains about the use of a quantum finish to decide the winner, exclaiming "No fair!

[16][69] In the season six episode "Law and Oracle", Fry and the robot peace officer URL track down a traffic violator who turns out to be Erwin Schrödinger, the 20th-century quantum physicist.

[77]In an interview with Diego Molano, creator of Victor and Valentino, in April 2019, he said that he found Futurama "incredibly influential", calling the humor smart but "not alienating".

[84][85] In 2003, Cartoon Network acquired syndication rights to Futurama and Family Guy, another animated show Fox had cancelled, for its Adult Swim block.

[86][87] The run on Adult Swim revived interest in both series, and when Family Guy found success in direct-to-DVD productions, Futurama's producers decided to try the same.

[99] Similarly, an email sent to fans from Cohen and Groening reported that West, Sagal, DiMaggio, LaMarche, MacNeille, Tom, LaMarr, and Herman would all be returning for the revival.

[127][28] With the revival on Hulu, the season carries a new version of the opening title sequence, containing a briefly altered name "Hulurama" before reverting to "Futurama".

The critics consensus reads, "Futurama makes the most of its second life with biting social satire, kooky sci-fi scenarios, and a stirringly sweet series finale."

[41] When Futurama debuted in the Fox Sunday night lineup at 8:30 p.m. between The Simpsons and The X-Files on March 28, 1999, it managed 19 million viewers, tying for 11th overall in that week's Nielsen ratings.

In October 2005, Comedy Central picked up the cable syndication rights to air Futurama's 72-episode run at the start of 2008, following the expiration of Cartoon Network's contract.

[150] A Comedy Central teaser trailer announced the return of Futurama March 23, 2008,[151] which was Bender's Big Score divided into four episodes followed by the other three movies.

"[173] The first film, Bender's Big Score, was written by Ken Keeler and Cohen, and includes return appearances by the Nibblonians, Seymour, Barbados Slim, Robot Santa, the "God" space entity, Al Gore, and Zapp Brannigan.

Futurama: Bender's Big Score was the first DVD release for which 20th Century Fox implemented measures intended to reduce the total carbon footprint of the production, manufacturing, and distribution processes.

[178] Following the series' revival, the show's executive producer Claudia Katz had announced more upcoming movies for Hulu while also hinting a theatrical release.