Futurama - how to watch and stream, what's it about and who's in the cast?
Everything you need to know about Matt Groening's well-loved animated series
There are few shows that successfully combine comedy with informed science fiction, but Futurama managed it over its seven seasons on our screens. Created by Matt Groening, the same man behind The Simpsons (so he has just a little bit of animated comedy success to draw on!), the show explores what life might be like in New York in the year 3000 and beyond. Or perhaps it's more accurate to say New New York, as New York has been built over and is now only home to mutant humans who form an underclass in the 31st century society. But we digress.
The show originally ran on Fox in the US between 1999 and 2003 and then then swapped to Comedy Central where it ran until 2013, and although it's been a long time since fresh episodes hit our screens, it's still a very popular and well-loved show with a large and loyal fanbase.
Here's everything you need to know...
Where to watch Futurama in the UK?
You can watch Futurama on Amazon Prime Video in the UK or buy the full DVD box set. You can also buy episodes on iTunes.
At present the series isn't available on Netflix in the UK.
What is Futurama about?
Tripping and falling into a cryogenic freezer wasn't the most common fear at the turn of the millennium, but Futurama shows us that you can never be too careful. When red-headed pizza delivery boy Fry accidentally gets frozen for a thousand years, he wakes up to find a completely new world.
Futurama follows him as he continues as a delivery boy a thousand years after his last job. Instead of pizzas, he now delivers packages for a mad scientist (who also happens to be his great-great-great-etc-nephew) Professor Hubert J. Farnsworth. He also becomes firm friends with a heavy drinking robot Bender, and falls in love with the cyclops Leela, although he is heartbreakingly bad at expressing his feelings.
How many seasons of Futurama are there?
There are seven seasons of Futurama,
How many episodes of Futurama are there?
Futurama has 140 episodes in total for you to enjoy!
Why was Futurama cancelled?
Comedy Central announced the cancellation of the show in April 2013, although Fox subsequently aired 'Simpsorama', a crossover episode between The Simpsons and Futurama. It's not clear why Comedy Central made its unpopular decision to let such a well-loved show go, and Groening and Cohen are keen to revive Futurama as a movie.
Is there going to be a new Futurama movie?
There have been four Futurama movies so far: Bender's Big Score, Bender's Game, Into the Wild Green Yonder, and The Beast with a Billion Backs.
However, although rumours circulated in 2018 that there might be a return of the show to the big screen soon, nothing has materialised yet. The show's creators have said previously that they'd would love to make a Futurama movie, but if it does happen, it'll have to be in the (hopefully not too distant) future.
Who was in the voice cast of Futurama?
John DiMaggio also voices a large number of characters, including Bender, Elzar, URL, Joey Mousepad, Igner, Barbados Slim.
Leela meanwhile is voiced by Katey Sagal, who played Peggy Bundy on Married... With Children and Gemma Teller Morrow on Sons of Anarchy.
Other cast members include Tress MacNeille, Lauren Tom, Phil LaMarr, Maurice LaMarche, and David Herman.
Who made and animated Futurama?
Futurama is one of Matt Groening's creations, alongside The Simpsons and Disenchantment. The show was animated by Rough Draft Studios, and developed by Groening alongside David X. Cohen.
