Top 10 Details You Never Noticed in Futurama

Top 10 Details You Never Noticed in Futurama

Welcome to MsMojo, and today we’re counting down our picks for the most interesting, or surprising, easter eggs you may have missed while watching “Futurama.”

#10: Leela Gets “Married… with Children”
“A Bicyclops Built for Two”

Katey Sagal has been voicing Leela for twenty-five years now but, prior to taking on the role of the Planet Express captain, the actress was best known as Peggy Bundy on “Married… with Children.” In contrast to Leela, Peggy was self-serving and lazy, and often traded jabs with her hapless husband, Al. The episode “A Bicyclops Built for Two” offers us a brief glimpse into what a more Peggy-like Leela might look like. Donning the character’s signature hairdo, Leela walks in on her ‘cyclops’ boyfriend, aptly named Alcazar, lazing on the couch. A trio of unnamed characters even act as stand-ins for the “Married… with Children” studio audience, laughing and cheering as the pair exchange insults.

#9: The Car from “The Car”
“The Honking”

In spite of its futuristic setting, “Futurama” is chock-full of fun pop culture references from our modern day, and this car-based werewolf spoof is no different. Its title, “The Honking,” is a riff on the werewolf movie “The Howling,” and a car not unlike Stephen King’s Christine makes an appearance as one of the episode’s ‘werecars’. Ironically though, “The Honking’s” most prominent reference is also one of its most obscure. When Bender transforms into a ‘werecar’, his form is modeled after the titular car from the critically panned movie “The Car.” For more knowledgeable horror fans it’s a surprising shout out, but, for many, the stylized Lincoln Continental Mark III probably just read as a fun cartoon design.

#8: The Lament Configuration
“The Impossible Stream”

The first episode of “Futurama”s 2023 revival is one of its most referential yet. After being frozen in time for ten years, Fry decides to set a life goal - streaming every show that’s ever been made. Through appropriately futuristic titles, everything from “Pimp my Ride” to “Schitt’s Creek” is parodied in this incredibly meta return. And yet our favorite easter egg of the episode doesn’t come from Fry’s screen. When Leela calls Beelzebot to ask him about freeing Calculon for a new episode of “All My Circuits,” the Robot Devil is playing with an ornate puzzle box. This box is the Lament Configuration, a transcendent key to a dark dimension which was popularized in the “Hellraiser” film series.

#7: Binky the Rabbit
“The Series Has Landed”

Before there was “Futurama,” or even “The Simpsons,” there was “Life in Hell.” Initially self-published, the darkly comedic comic strip is how “Futurama” series creator, Matt Groening, got his start. Given the strip’s significance to his career, Groening has occasionally slipped references to this early work into his animated shows. One of its protagonists, Binky the Rabbit, has appeared as a stuffed animal in both “The Simpsons” and “Futurama.” Look for him in the second episode of the latter series, when Bender is reaching into the claw machine! Bongo, Binky’s son, also appears in “Futurama” - but as a living being rather than a plush toy. He is one of the exotic pets Fry passes up in “Xmas Story” before he buys Leela a parrot.

#6: Kif & Amy’s Offspring
“Kif Gets Knocked Up a Notch” & “Children of a Lesser Bog”

“Futurama” is one of television’s most resilient animated sitcoms. Just when you think it’s gone for good, it bounces back for another season. During its original run, Kif and Amy unexpectedly became parents when Kif became pregnant by Leela’s touch. This initially frightened Amy, who didn’t think she was ready for parenthood, but Kif reassured her that she’d have twenty years to prepare. …Of course, that was in 2003. When the series was renewed for Hulu, fans noted that twenty years had passed in our real world, but worried that the plotline would be forgotten. Fortunately, they had nothing to fear. “Futurama” was ten steps ahead, and reunited Kif and Amy with their children in the second episode of the 2023 season.

#5: Past Lovers
“Hell Is Other Robots”

“Life in Hell” isn’t the only Groening work to cameo in “Futurama.” The Simpsons have also made a few appearances. With a few exceptions, these references are mostly just fun easter eggs, so there hasn't always been a concrete canon to the relationship between the two shows. Sometimes, the Simpsons seem to be TV characters, appearing on badges or as toys, while other times they are shown to have been people from the past. One of the harder-to-spot instances of the latter can be seen as Fry and Leela enter an abandoned amusement park ride in season one. A heart bearing the initials HS and MB can be seen in the shadows. HS is naturally Homer Simpson, while MB stands for Marge Bouvier.

#4: The Extinct Language

“A Clone of My Own
In 2014, Forbes predicted that French could become the “language of the future.” But in the future of “Futurama,” it’s about as useful as Latin is to us. The death of the language is a running gag that has been a part of the show since its pilot, which shows France participating in the New Year’s countdown in French in 2000 and English in 3000. If you missed that, it’s ok. A less subtle instance of the joke appears in “A Clone of My Own,” when Farnsworth uses the Universal Translator. The device translates words into French, which he instantly dismisses as “crazy gibberish.” Ironically, French-speaking fans watching “Futurama” dubbed may not be aware of this slight, as, in their version, the “gibberish” is German.

#3: Leela’s Parents
Various

The reveal that Leela’s parents are actually Earth-born mutants, not aliens, was a huge moment - both for the character and for fans. But “Leela’s Homeworld” wasn’t our first introduction to Turanga Morris and Munda. In season 2, “Futurama” cleverly planted the characters into the background, laying the groundwork for the landmark episode. Don’t believe us? Check out the sewer scene in “I Second That Emotion,” in which the Planet Express gang are surrounded by mutants. Morris’s mouth and Munda’s arms are more human-like, but it is undeniably them. Though less directly, “A Bicyclops Built for Two” from the same season also hints at the possibility that Leela’s origins are not what they seem.

#2: Nibbler’s Shadow
“Space Pilot 3000” & “Jurassic Bark”

Season four was a real turning point in the history of “Futurama.” Not only did it mark the end of the series’ initial run on Fox – not to mention its emotional episodes like “Leela’s Homeworld” and “Jurassic Bark” – but it completely changed how we thought of Fry’s “accidental” time displacement. “The Why of Fry” seemingly retconned the show’s pilot, showing that Nibbler blew Fry into the cryogenic chamber that would eventually land him in the year 3000. But it wasn’t a retcon at all. Three episodes before his formal introduction, Nibbler’s shadow can be seen next to Fry’s tipped over chair. The plotline was even hinted at again during a flashback in “Jurassic Bark,” wherein Nibbler’s third eye can be seen peeking from a trash can.

Before we unveil our top pick, here are a few honorable mentions.

Zapp’s Portrait, “Love's Labours Lost in Space”
Zapp Appears to Have Modeled His Portrait After an Ironically Well-Liked President

Binary Warning, The Honking”
A Robot’s Version of “Redrum”

30th Century Fox, “Space Pilot 3000”
Stick Around After the Credits for This Fun Play on Fox’s Logo

#1: Alienese
Various

Have you ever seen these strange symbols in the background of “Futurama”? If so, you’ve likely (correctly) deduced that they’re part of an alien language. What you may not realize is that almost every instance of this “Alienese” writing translates into an actual word or phrase in English. One of the most prominent uses of the writing is in “Leela’s Homeworld,” when Leela's mother leaves an Alienese note with her daughter at the orphanage. Although the humans who find Leela are clueless to its meaning, Munda translates it as “your parents love you very much.” Other translations aren’t quite so sweet. In the “Futurama” crossover episode of “The Simpsons,” one instance of Alienese in the opening simply reads “congratulations, you’re a nerd.”

Did we miss any of your favorite “Futurama” easter eggs? Let us know in the comments!