Why Futurama Remains One Of TV's Most Unexpected Comfort Shows

Matt Groening's and David X. Cohen's "Futurama" has more lives than a cat. The animated series debuted in 1999 as a way for Groening (a long-time sci-fi fan) and Cohen (a computer whiz and brilliant comedy writer) to get their geekier impulses up on a screen. The "Futurama" writers room is famously staffed by scientists and multiple possessors of advanced math degrees, so the series contains a lot of subtle (and explicit) references to real-life physics and math. At the same time, though, it is a slapstick comedy with drunken droids, TV-obsessed aliens, a murderous robot Santa Claus, and dumpster-dwelling lobster doctors. 

"Futurama" initially possessed a dystopian streak as well. It takes place in the year 3000, and city dwelling has become so bleak and difficult, there are coin-operated suicide booths on every corner. As the show progressed, it mellowed a bit and the suicide booths were referred to less and less. Luckily, "Futurama" retained a certain degree of cynicism; the world is still ruled by wicked, corrupt leaders, and corporate mastery has only become more insidious. 

The weirdness of "Futurama" may have been what got it canceled the first time. Too many aliens, perhaps. Too many spaceships, too many Hypnotoads, too many murderous robot Santa Clauses. But the series has been brought back, and canceled again, and brought back, and canceled, and revived again since its initial cancelation in 2003. It currently lives on Hulu. Clearly, there's something about "Futurama" that has people returning to it like a relaxing hot tub filled with two-headed goat vomit. We here at /Film have a few theories as to why it keeps pulling people back. "Futurama" is an optimistic show. Human, no matter how advanced our tech becomes, are still going to be recognizably dumb in the year 3000.

To reiterate, "Futurama" is fueled largely by cynicism. Matt Groening is one of Generation X's finest representatives, and he still clearly possesses a great deal of disenchantment with politics, with the corporate world, and with the way entertainment companies operate. On "Futurama," the world is run by the openly corrupt and villainous Mom (Tress MacNeille) who pals around with a still-alive Richard Nixon (Billy West). The leader of Earth's space fleet is Zapp Brannigan (West), an idiotic, sexist blowhard. The police take a great deal of pleasure in beating up anyone they can. And at the center of all this corruption is our core group of characters, a gaggle of people who are variously lazy, horny, drunk, dumb, senile, or meticulous to a fault. Everyone is flawed and idiotic on "Futurama," or at the very least have their dumb moments.

But, weirdly enough, that's where the optimism comes in. "Futurama" takes place in a world where we have mastered faster-than-light travel and are regularly visited by aliens from myriad worlds. We have mastered artificial intelligence, and robots tool around town as individuals with their own hope and dreams (not to mention unsavory impulses and addictions). We have created microscopic robot duplicates and androids of celebrities. A miracle fluid allows human heads to remain alive in jars for centuries. And yet, through all that, we are the same petty morons we have always been. 

As petty morons, we have — "Futurama" declares — managed to stay alive, persist, and even push civilization forward. We look around at the world in the 2020s, and see greed, destruction and despair. But "Futurama" argues that we'll continue to advance and survive, even if our basest impulses are never properly wrangled. 

So "Futurama" is comforting because it takes place in a world we recognize, because we see ourselves in the dumb, horny, alcoholic, elderly weirdos on screen. And if they can make it work in the year 3000, so can we. Matt Groening once said on the "Futurama" DVD commentary tracks that the series provided him with a vital fantasy fulfillment. When he was in his 20s, Groening said he was trapped in low-paying jobs, already at his wit's end. The thought of being cryogenically frozen for 1,000 years and thawed when everyone he knew was dead (the fate of Fry, who in one version of the pilot's script was also forced to attend an organ auction) was appealing to Groening. "Futurama" is a "fresh start" series.

"Futurama" is also some of the smartest sci-fi you'll ever encounter. The show may bank in "low" humor, but — like "The Simpsons" before it — it's clearly being written by smart people. As mentioned, the "Futurama" writers room has multiple degree-holders at any given moment, including David X. Cohen himself. And these intelligent, learned nerds are all sci-fi fans with a deep appreciation for the genre. Both Cohen and Groening are clearly sci-fi fans, and they know how to tell sci-fi stories based on old favorites. Sci-fi fans, then, can tune into "Futurama" knowing they're in good hands. We're not watching a crowd of neophytes struggling through the basics of sci-fi; we're seeing people who are many steps beyond us in their analysis and knowledge of the genre. 

As a longtime sci-fi fan, it's comforting to tune into "Futurama" and know I'm in good hands. David X. Cohen is one of our reigning Nerd Kings, and it's been grand watching him operate.