Futurama is an animated science-fiction comedy show, which was also created by Matt Groening. Numerous references have been made to the show throughout the run in The Simpsons as well as Futurama making references to The Simpsons. Many people have compared the Futurama main characters with the main Simpsons characters such as Bender is Futurama's Homer. A running joke is that on The Simpsons, Futurama is a fictional cartoon show. On Futurama, however, it is The Simpsons that is a fictional cartoon show. The show originally aired new episodes on Fox until cancellation, but moved to Comedy Central (as well as reruns) when it was un-cancelled. However, it was canceled again.
Futurama in The Simpsons
- "Treehouse of Horror IX": David X. Cohen's pseudonym is David "Watch Futurama" Cohen.
- "Mayored to the Mob": Üter wears a Futurama T-shirt at the "Bi-Mon-Sci-Fi-Con". This episode aired three months before Futurama premiered.
- "Missionary: Impossible": Bender appears taking calls for the FOX telethon.
- "HOMЯ": In the couch gag, The Simpsons come out from tubes, like in Futurama, and a yellow Fry comes from one of them.
- "Bart vs. Lisa vs. the Third Grade": Bender is one of the TV characters Bart hallucinates.
- "Helter Shelter": A model of the Planet Express Ship can be seen in Comic Book Guy's shelf.
- "I, (Annoyed Grunt)-Bot": Bender's name appears on a videotape fighting Killhammad Aieee.
- "My Big Fat Geek Wedding": Matt Groening appears as himself at the Comic Book convention, billed as the creator of Futurama.
- "Fraudcast News": Squeaky-Voiced Teen shouts: "Why did they cancel Futurama?!" before jumping off a mountain.
- "Catch 'Em if You Can": There is a Futurama poster hanging on the video game store's wall.
- "Future-Drama": Bender appears when Homer and Bart pass through the tunnel with John DiMaggio reprising his role. The episode's title is a reference to Futurama itself.
- "That '90s Show": Homer says that Matt Groening created the then-new Futurama.
- "Treehouse of Horror XIX": Bart, when looking for a present for Lisa, picks up a bottle with a crude picture of Fry hung on the side of it.
- "Bart Simpsons comics": In an issue, Bart has taken over Comic Book Guy's stall at the comic book convention. Suddenly the doors open and thousands of kids rush towards Bart's booth, asking him to trade their comics with him (since the stall was a kinda Comic trade center). One of them being a kid who wants to trade his Futurama comic which his cat "peed on".
- "The Simpsons Wrestling": In this video game, Leela and Bender are among the public in Kang and Kodos spaceship.
- "Love is a Many Strangled Thing": The Planet Express appears in the title screen gag with the theme song of the series.
- "Replaceable You": When Bart and Martin are creating a robo-pet, Bender appears smoking on the front cover of Popular Robotics magazine.
- "Holidays of Future Passed": When Maggie were about to transport in Heathrow Teleport Departures, you can see the title says New New York. The next one when Lisa inside the Ultranet, it's similar to itself.
- "The Simpsons Game": In this video game, Bender and Zoidberg appear as enemies in the level "Five Characters in Search of an Author". When the player goes in Krusty Burger, the Squeaky-Voiced Teen mentions when he tried to commit suicide in Fraudcast News, because of Futurama's cancellation.
- "Beware My Cheating Bart": In the end, it zooms out from Springfield and in outer space sitting on an asteroid, you can see Leela and Fry.
- "Treehouse of Horror XXIV": The special intro ends with the Hypno-Toad having Lisa under its control.
- At the end of The Kid is All Right, the Hypno-Toad is in the audience of the 2056 presidental election between Lisa and Isabell.
- At Comic-Con 2013, an official Simpsons/Futurama crossover was announced, in which Bender would come back in time to try to kill Bart in order to prevent him from making the future look bad. The episode is an episode in Season 26. The crossover episode was aired on November 9, 2014 and is titled "Simpsorama."
- "Homer the Heretic": Zoidberg's wooping can be heard in the television show Homer is watching while staying home from church. This is actually referencing The Three Stooges. Futurama was not in production or had even been conceived when Homer the Heretic was produced.
- "Cue Detective": Marge grabs a bag full of money from Bender's deactivated body. Also a reference to Simpsorama, where Bender earns the money by betting on horse races.
- "Simprovised": During the Live broadcast, Bender walks past the screen holding a sign that reads "Bring back Futurama (again)".
The Simpsons in Futurama
In return, there have been a few references to The Simpsons on Futurama.
- "Space Pilot 3000": when Fry passes through an underwater tube, Blinky briefly appears (albeit differently coloured) in the water below him. Also, in an early storyboard of this episode, Fry is watching The Simpsons.
- "My Three Suns": one of Bender's badges at the bottom of his sash has a profile of Homer.
- "A Big Piece of Garbage": on the trash asteroid, a pile of Bart Simpson dolls can be seen. Bender picks up one and hears Bart say his catchprase, "Eat my shorts". Bender complies and eat them and mimics Homer in saying "Mmm... shorts". Nancy Cartwright voiced the Bart Simpson doll.
- "Hell Is Other Robots": when Fry and Leela open the door to the Robot Hell, a heart with an arrow through reads "H.S. 4 M.B.". This means "Homer Simpson for Marge Bouvier" (later Simpson).
- "Mars University": Homer and Bart toys appear as prizes at the "Coney Island College".
- "Fry and the Slurm Factory": Bart, Lisa, and Maggie appear in the opening sequence on the TV screen in Tracey Ullman Shorts "Making Faces".
- "A Clone of My Own": When Cubert laughed at Leela, she says Why you little... to him.
- "Why Must I Be a Crustacean in Love?": the opening subtitle is "From the network that brought you 'The Simpsons'."
- "Anthology of Interest II": the clothes Bender wears as a human resemble Homer's.
- "The Luck of the Fryrish": Bart's head appears on the shelf.
- "Leela's Homeworld": Bart's face appears in as part of the hot air balloon the main characters use to escape the sewers.
- "Jurassic Bark": the hole of the miniature windmill is closed until further notice due to someone being inconsiderate and creating an unsanitary condition. This is a reference to "Natural Born Kissers" in which Homer and Marge have sex at a minigolf windmill.
- "Bender's Big Score": Apu and Manjula's heads appear in the head museum.
- Dan Castellaneta and Hank Azaria were guest stars on the show as Robot Devil and Harold Zoid characters respectively. Tress MacNeille, Maurice LaMarche, and Frank Welker are recurring voice actors on both shows.
- In reference to the longevity of the show, it was stated that in the year 3000 The Simpsons are still on the air and keep producing original episodes even over 1000 seasons.
- "Hostile Makeover": The wig Amy puts on Leela about halfway through the comic is the same style as Marge's from the simpsons.
- "Lrrreconcilable Ndndifferences": Matt Groening's head appears at the comic con giving a sneak preview of a show he created called Futurella (a self-parody of Futurama, right down to the opening credits and the fact that it was cancelled before its time). Bender asks Matt Groening when he is going to make a second Simpsons movie, and Groening responds by shooting at Bender.
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