Futurama

On-screen title card.

Futurama is an American animated sci-fi sitcom created by Matt Groening and produced by The Curiosity Company and 20th Century Fox Television for the Fox Broadcasting Company (Fox). It has been on the air since March 28, 1999, with 140 episodes across 7 seasons. There have also been several DTV movies. It aired on Fox from 1999 to 2003, then on Comedy Central from 2008 to 2013, and has recently been picked up by Hulu for a new season to be streamed in 2023.

The series follows the life of Fry, who on the eve of the new millennium of 2000, accidentally falls into a cryogenics pod while delivering a pizza. Having activated the pod, it preserves him for 1000 years, releasing him on New Year's Eve of 2999. He looks for his only living relative, Professor Farnsworth, a descended nephew, becoming the delivery boy for his Planet Express business, which funds his crazy inventions. Now living in the 31st century, Fry has to learn to adapt and fit into this new world he has chosen to call home, which is where much of the humor comes from. Chief among his crew, is his best friend and robot, Bender, and the one-eyed captain and love interest, Leela.

Despite being set centuries ahead of its time, when television has been taken over by aliens and robots, the pop culture references are still abundant, so we, fortunately, get a slew of fun Hanna-Barbera nods.

Flintstones

Main article: Flintstones (franchise)

• "Hell is Other Robots:" Fry dances to the Beastie Boys' song "Intergalactic" which features the "Flintstone flop" line, inspired by Fred's dance in "Shinrock A Go-Go."
• "Fun on a Bun:" At the end of the episode, Zap Brannigan orders large ribs which are so heavy they bring down the corner of the table, just like when Fred orders some at the drive-in theater in closing to each episode of The Flintstones that used "(Meet) The Flintstones."

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Jetsons

Main article: Jetsons (franchise)

• "Space Pilot 3000:" In the DVD audio commentary for the pilot episode, creator Matt Groening stated that he didn't want the future to be "bland and boring" like The Jetsons.
• Futurama Comics #26 - "A Whole Lotta Leela:" A cameo of Rosie.
• Bender's Game (part 2): Rosie has been sent to the HAL Institute for Criminally Insane Robots for killing Astro and possibly Elroy for being dirty, only referring to the latter by name. Interestingly, Tress MacNeille voices Rosie, before she officially voiced her in the DTV The Jetsons & WWE: Robo-WrestleMania.
• Futurama Comics #58 - "Boomsday!:" Farnsworth builds a mother for Bender who resembles Rosie.
• "The Bots and the Bees:" There is a robot teen center called The Rosie D. and Robbie T. Robot Teen Center.
• "Assie Come Home:" Rosie, who has the top half of her head missing, has been discarded at the robot chop shop.

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Josie and the Pussycats

Main article: Josie and the Pussycats in Outer Space

• "Möbius Dick:" In the Bermuda Tetrahedron, the Planet Express ship passes an aged-looking version of Josie's spaceship, implying that Josie and the Pussycats never made it back to Earth and their rotten corpses are probably inside.

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Scooby-Doo

Main article: Scooby-Doo (franchise)

• An unidentified episode of the second season would've had a fake sponsor for a dog food called Soylent Chow, with a Scooby soundalike voiceover saying, "It's really good."
• Anthology of Interest I:" In the DVD audio commentary, David X Cohen points out that Frank Welker was the original voice of Fred.
• "Hell is for Other Robots:" John DiMaggio points out that Welker is the voice of Fred.
• "Bendless Love:" When the crew question who could've straitened the L-unit, when it was obviously Bender, who was bending and straitening it right in front of them, Zoidberg declares, "Well, gang, it looks like we have another mystery on our hands."
• "I Dated a Robot:" When the Planet Express crew uncovers that Nappster is really Kidnappster who had been illegally holding Lucy Liu's head for 800 years, the CEO says to the CFO, "And we would've gotten away with it if it weren't for those meddling adults."
• "Crimes of the Hot:" Leela bribes Bender with a "Bender snack," which is beer.
• Futurama: Beast with a Billion Backs (part 4): Of the fake angels, Leela asks Yivo if they were "some kind of Scooby-Doo-esque flashlight projection?" In the DVD audio commentary, Michael Rowe, a writer for the special, just randomly brings up how "[guest actor] David Cross was on a Scooby-Doo episode as himself", which gets a big laugh from everyone, and Billy West responds in a Scooby voice, "Ravid Ross?"
• Futurama: Bender's Game (part 4): When Leegola orders the last strike against the orcs, two of them sound like Scooby, with the first one saying, "Ruh-roh," while the other says, "Phew," after surviving, but right before he gets punched unconscious by Leegola.
• "Fry Am the Egg Man:" The crew catches Mr. Peppy, the bone vampire, only to discover it is Angus McZongo in disguise. Shocked by the deceit, Amy cries out, "Jinkies, he Scooby-Doo'ed us!"
• "Saturday Morning Fun Pit:" The head of Richard Nixon and the headless body of Spiro Agnew watch Bendee-Boo and the Mystery Crew on a Saturday morning. The episode is called "Bendee-Boo Meets the Spooky Kabuki," which is full of allusions to production limitations, canned laugh track, gags, tropes, assumed inside jokes, a 60s pop song during a Scooby-Dooby-doors moment, and Bender, Fry, Leela, Amy, and Hermes as parodies of Scooby-Doo, Shaggy, Daphne, Velma, and Fred, respectively, who drive the Planet Express ship in the shape and colors of The Mystery Machine. There are also celebrity guests in George Takei, the Harlem Globetrotters, and Larry Bird. Takei turns out to be the monster, who tells the gang, "And I would never have gotten away with it, regardless of you meddling kids," because according to himself, he is mentally ill. There is also an unmasking with Zoidberg, who they originally thought was the culprit, but Leela discovers he is innocent and wasn't wearing a mask when she accidentally ripped his head off. An interesting anecdote is that West was also the official voice of Shaggy in the 1998 DTV Scooby-Doo on Zombie Island, and had to gracefully bow out of further movies due to Futurama.
• "Radiorama:" In this podcast episode, Leela says, "Jinkies," when coming to her first epiphany.

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Speed Buggy

Main article: Speed Buggy (TV series)

• "Law and Oracle:" Fry excels in police law enforcement, with his bust ups making it possible for him to become a detective soon, which makes him happy because then he'll get to be Sherlock Holmes or Speed Buggy. Later, when catching Pickles, he sets up a charade based on an episode of Speed Buggy.

The Smurfs

Main article: The Smurfs

• "Saturday Morning Fun Pit:" During Nixon and Agnew's Saturday morning cartoons, there was a commercial for Purpleberry which combined Strawberry Shortcake with The Smurfs, both of which have been criticized for being nothing more than a half hour commercial in selling merchandise to kids.

Yogi Bear

Main article: Yogi Bear (segments)

• The Beast of a Billion Backs (part 2): When asked by Calculon if he's worthy of being in the League of Robots, Bender says in a Yogi Bear-like voice, "Worthier than the average robot."

External links

• The Infosphere fansite