Welcome to the world of tomorrow! For this list, we’re taking a look at the Top 10 Best Episodes of Futurama. Matt Groening’s animated sci-fi series is filled with so many spectacular episodes, it was a challenge to narrow them down to only ten. Despite this, these episodes will prove themselves to be some of the best that Futurama has to offer.
10. Anthology of Interest I & II
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOCxEV8BD8o
I couldn’t dare pick one over another, so I’m choosing both of them. In each episode, the audience is treated with a trio of different tales as the Planet Express crew asks questions to the Professor’s What-If Machine. We see what it would be like if Bender was a human and a giant robot, Leela was more impulsive, and if life itself were more like a video game. The freedom these anthologies provide allows the show to go nuts with their creative concepts, and boy, does it deliver. One of them even starred Stephen Hawking and, for some reason, Al Gore.
9. Where No Fan Has Gone Before
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZC0zhDRdVM
This is the ultimate love letter to Star Trek. In this episode, Fry, Leela, Bender, and Leonard Nimoy venture into space to find the lost tapes of Star Trek, which were banished from Earth after the series grew too powerful. The team crash lands on a mysterious planet where they encounter the original cast of Star Trek, who are prisoners of a mysterious entity who claims to be their biggest fan. This episode could only get better if they had Shatner scream out Kahn’s name. Oh wait, he totally does!
8. The Why of Fry
20th Century FoxFry is once again forced to save the universe when the Brainspawn returns to steal all knowledge in the universe. Along the way, he learns the shocking truth of why he was frozen and sent to the year 3000. This episode shows Fry realizing his place in the universe and embracing that role, despite his own desires, emphasizing the value of sacrificing your dreams for the greater good.
7. The Farnsworth Paradox
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dmbi5lg3v3g
When the Professor accidentally creates a portal to a parallel universe, the Planet Express crew ends up on the other side of it. They all meet alternate versions of themselves, including a gold Bender, and the way they bounce off each other is hilariously entertaining. They even end up traveling to other multiple realities in their race to return home. At the same time, the episode explores the romantic relationship between Fry and Leela and the likelihood of them becoming a couple.
6. Three Hundred Big Boys
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X_HyY-8dQJA
What would you do if you suddenly got 300 dollars? This episode shows what the cast would do when they all get a tax rebate. Everyone at Planet Express gets into some wacky antics with the money they receive: Fry drinks 100 cups of coffee, Leela meets a whale, Bender goes cigar shopping, the Professor gets a facelift, Amy and Kif go flying on a winged bicycle, and Hermes gets stilt shoes that take him around New New York. All these subplots intersect in a comedic fashion akin to a Seinfeld episode, ending with a hilariously explosive climax.
5. Roswell that Ends Well
20th Century FoxIn this classic episode, the Planet Express crew is thrust back in time by a supernova and crash in Roswell in the year 1947. From there, Bender loses his body, Zoidberg is studied by scientists, and Fry meets his grandfather. This is a hilarious fish-out-of-water scenario. The cast hilariously fumbles through this unfamiliar era in the style of Back to the Future, which culminates in one of the most shocking twists in the show’s history.
4. The Luck of the Fryrish
20th Century FoxWhen Fry tries to reclaim his lucky seven-leaf clover, he learns it was taken by his jealous older brother, Yancy. When he learns of all the success the clover brought, Fry attempts to take back his clover from his brother’s grave. The story flashes between past and present, demonstrating Fry’s relationship with his brother and how it evolved since he was frozen. It is a sad and profound tale that culminates in one of the show’s most heart-wrenching endings.
3. Jurassic Bark
20th Century FoxFry discovers the fossil of his dog, Seymour, whom he took care of before he was frozen. When Fry attempts to clone his dog and reunite with his friend, Bender becomes jealous of the dog, creating friction between him and Fry. Like the last entry, the story goes back and forth through time and depicts the loving relationship between Fry and his beloved dog. Likewise, the episode ends without one of the saddest scenes in TV history.
2. Godfellas
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VNsxU5JOGAk
When Bender gets accidentally shot into space, Fry desperately searches for him as he drifts across the cosmos. Meanwhile, Bender becomes the home for a race of miniature aliens who see him as a god. Though he tries to be a good leader, he screws things up as usual before encountering an actual god-like entity. This classic episode explores themes of religion, leadership, and existentialism, with Bender learns a powerful lesson that he describes as such: “You can’t count on God for jack. He pretty much told me so himself.”
1. Bender’s Big Score
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEiJ3QA4kKs
After Futurama was taken off the air for a couple years, the show returns with a four-part movie that sent the show skyrocketing. When Planet Express is bought by Internet scammers, the universe is threatened when they discover the key to time travel. As the delivery crew scrambles to stop them, Fry returns to the 21st century after Leela seemingly finds her true love. This complex but sprawling adventure is Futurama at its finest, and it comes with Fry learning a message that I can really respect. Seeing how happy Leela is with someone else, he realizes “she needs what’ll make her happy, not what’ll make [him] happy.” This episode is so grand that it ends with a crack in the universe itself, while finishing with another mind-boggling twist that’ll make you want to keep watching this classic series to the very end.
