Movies - TV
The Star Trek Frustration That Inspired Futurama’s Doctor Zoidberg
By WITNEY SEIBOLD
David X. Cohen, co-creator of "Futurama," revealed on Reddit that Dr. Zoidberg's inability to grasp human physiology was a result of childhood anxiety while watching "Star Trek."
Cohen used to watch "Star Trek" and wonder how the half-Vulcan Spock felt about a non-Vulcan doctor operating on him. Flip the species, and that idea points to Zoidberg.
Cohen gave more detail to the idea, “I always thought that if I were Mr. Spock, a Vulcan, I would not feel very comfortable having a doctor of another species operating on me.”
The hilarity of Dr. Zoidberg’s biological cluelessness comes from Cohen’s idea that “Dr. Zoidberg would be knowledgeable only about the bizarre anatomy of his own species."