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Futurama was created by Matt Groening, and developed jointly with David X. Cohen. Though, Groening had previously created The Simpsons, the most popular and long running animated sitcom ever. Thus, it is only natural that Futurama would include references to The Simpsons occasionally within the show (not to mention, owning the copyright means not having to license material). The Simpsons, too, has referenced Futurama many times. Following is a complete list of connections between Futurama and The Simpsons.
Crew
There have been a number of people who work on both The Simpsons and Futurama:
Voices
- Tress MacNeille: She has voiced many characters for The Simpsons and has appeared in 309 episodes (for a complete list see here). She has voiced many characters for Futurama.
- Dan Castellaneta: He has voiced many characters for The Simpsons, though he is best known as the voice of Homer Simpson (for a complete list see here), he has performed songs in 43 episodes and has written 4 episodes. He has voiced the Robot Devil in "Hell Is Other Robots", "The Devil's Hands Are Idle Playthings" (he also voiced the Snail) and The Beast with a Billion Backs, he also performed songs in the two episodes he appeared in.
- Nancy Cartwright: She has voiced many characters for The Simpsons, though she is best known as the voice of Bart Simpson (for a complete list see here) and she has performed songs in 17 episodes. She was credited for a soundbyte of Bart Simpson's line "Eat my shorts!" which was said by a doll on the garbage meteor in "A Big Piece of Garbage".
- Stephen Hawking has appeared on both shows, playing himself.
- Frank Welker, who plays Nibbler and many other animals on Futurama, has also played many animals on the Simpsons, including Santa's Little Helper.
- Hank Azaria who voices characters such as Chief Wiggum and Moe Szyslak also voiced the character of Harold Zoid.
Other
- Brian Sheesley: He was an animation timer for three episodes of The Simpsons in Season 7. He has directed nine episodes of Futurama.
- David X. Cohen: He did music/lyrics for "The Itchy & Scratchy & Poochie Show" (4F12), was writer for 35 episodes, story editor for 25 episodes, co-producer for 27 episodes, supervising producer for 15 episodes, co-executive producer for 10 episodes, producer for 9 episodes, consulting producer for 2 episodes and executive producer for 2 episodes of The Simpsons. He developed and was executive producer for all episodes of Futurama, voiced The Die of Power in Bender's Game, Fan #2 for the reading of "Futurama Returns" and the Computer in "Love's Labours Lost in Space", did music/lyrics for "Xmas Story" and "The Problem with Popplers", voice director for "Futurama (video game)" and designed one of the robots in the robot strip club.
The Simpsons in Futurama
The Simpsons has appeared in Futurama on many occasions:
Season 1
| Episode | Reference | Image |
|---|---|---|
| "Space Pilot 3000" (1ACV01) |
Blinky, the Three-Eyed Fish, from The Simpsons makes a brief appearance in an underwater section of tube-way Fry travels through. | 
|
| The chef on the Panucci's Pizza box is very similar to the chef Luigi in The Simpsons. | 
| |
| In The Simpsons two part episode "Who Shot Mr. Burns?" (2F16 & 2F20), Smithers dreamt that Mr. Burns was in a race on the TV. The intro to the race was an information text saying "In Color". The same font and color like in "Space Pilot 3000". "Who Shot Mr. Burns?" aired approximately four years before "Space Pilot 3000" did. | 
| |
| In an early storyboard of this episode, Fry is watching The Simpsons on TV. This does not appear in the final episode. | 
| |
| Other references: Rodney Dangerfield is drawn similar to his appearance in the Simpsons episode "Burns, Baby Burns" (4F05) as Larry Burns, there is a Ralph Wiggum-like character when Fry rides the tube and the music in the background, while the suicide booth is trying to kill Fry, sounds Simpsons-like in nature. | (N/A) | |
| "I, Roommate" (1ACV03) |
The sequence in which Fry, Bender, and Leela look at new apartments is very similar to a sequence in "Lisa's First Word" (9F02), in which Homer and Marge search for places to live for their growing family. | (N/A) |
| "Fear of a Bot Planet" (1ACV05) |
The Ralph Wiggum-like character, first seen in "Space Pilot 3000", makes a reappearance; he can be seen in the background of Madison Cube Garden. | (N/A) |
| "My Three Suns" (1ACV07) |
The badge at second from the bottom of Bender's sash has a profile of Homer Simpson. | 
|
| "A Big Piece of Garbage" (1ACV08) |
Bart Simpson dolls appear on the garbage meteor and when Bender eats the doll's shorts, he says "Mmm...shorts" which is a reference to one of Homer Simpson's quotes. | 
|
| "Hell Is Other Robots" (1ACV09) |
When Fry and Leela open the door to Robot Hell, in the bottom right side of the screen there is a heart with an arrow through etched on the wall, reading "H.S 4 M.B". This means Homer Simpson for Marge Bouvier. Also, Dan Castellaneta, a voice actor from The Simpsons, appears in this episode as the Robot Devil. | 
|
| "Mars University" (1ACV11) |
Bart and Homer dolls are prizes near Coney Island Community College. Also, a character looking a little like Professor Frink is biking past one of the college buildings. The same biker appears when Farnsworth mentions Utah. | 
|
| "Fry and the Slurm Factory" (1ACV13) |
The cartoon clip on the billboard in the opening credits is Bart, Lisa and Maggie in The Simpsons shorts (on The Tracey Ullman Show) episode "Making Faces". | 
|
Season 2
"I Second that Emotion" (2ACV01)
"Brannigan, Begin Again" (2ACV02)
"A Head in the Polls" (2ACV03)
"Why Must I Be a Crustacean in Love?" (2ACV05)
"The Lesser of Two Evils" (2ACV06)
"Put Your Head on My Shoulder" (2ACV07)
"A Bicyclops Built for Two" (2ACV09)
"How Hermes Requisitioned His Groove Back" (2ACV11)
"The Problem with Popplers" (2ACV15)
"Anthology of Interest I" (2ACV16)
Season 3
"Amazon Women in the Mood" (3ACV01)
"A Tale of Two Santas" (3ACV03)
"The Luck of the Fryrish" (3ACV04)
"The Birdbot of Ice-Catraz" (3ACV05)
"The Day the Earth Stood Stupid" (3ACV07)
"That's Lobstertainment!" (3ACV08)
"The Cyber House Rules" (3ACV09)
"Where the Buggalo Roam" (3ACV10)
"Insane in the Mainframe" (3ACV11)
- Fry's "Battle droid" attack is like one used in The Simpsons. David X Cohen and his sister used this when they were kids.
"The Route of All Evil" (3ACV12)
"Bendin' in the Wind" (3ACV13)
"Time Keeps on Slippin'" (3ACV14)
"A Pharaoh to Remember" (3ACV17)
"Anthology of Interest II" (3ACV18)
"Roswell that Ends Well" (3ACV19)
Season 4
"Kif Gets Knocked Up a Notch" (4ACV01)
- Among the parts of parade balloons, used in creating the hot air balloon that returns to the surface, is a Bart Simpson balloon.
"Bender Should Not Be Allowed on Television" (4ACV06)
"Teenage Mutant Leela's Hurdles" (4ACV09)
"Where No Fan Has Gone Before" (4ACV11)
"Obsoletely Fabulous" (4ACV14)
"The Farnsworth Parabox" (4ACV15)
"Three Hundred Big Boys" (4ACV16)
- This episode is similar to The Simpsons episode "22 Short Films About Springfield" (3F18), which David X Cohen co-wrote.
"The Devil's Hands Are Idle Playthings" (4ACV18)
- Dan Castellaneta, a voice actor from The Simpsons, appears in this episode as the Robot Devil.
Films
The Beast with a Billion Backs
- Dan Castellaneta, a voice actor from The Simpsons, appears in this episode as the Robot Devil.
- Disco Stu is seen in the crowd.
Video Game
Comics
"Who's Dying to Be a Gazillionaire?" (US#005)
- On the cover, Milhouse Van Houten is seen and Fry, Bender, Leela and Amy are on the couch, seen in the couch gags
"Robot Santa's Little Helpers" (US#040)
- The title may be a reference to Santa's Little Helper.
- Maude Flanders is seen outside the Carton Network building. Comic Book Guy also has a cameo near the end.
Futurama Simpsons Infinitely Secret Crossover Crisis
"Somewhere Over the Brain-bow!" (US#X01)
"Liquid Diamond Is Forever!" (US#X02)
The Simpsons Futurama Crossover Crisis II
"Slaves of New New York!" (US#X03)
Other
- Early versions of the characters in Futurama had five fingers to diferentiate from The Simpsons, but it looked weird and was changed. Poster Guy still retains the extra finger.
- Matt Groening mocked The Simpsons commentaries in the commentary for "Love and Rocket" and says that Futurama commentaries are a lot more lively.
- Both The Simpsons and Futurama have been nominated several times (up to 2004) for Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Animated Program (for Programming Less Than One Hour):
- Neither "A Big Piece of Garbage" or "Viva Ned Flanders" (AABF06) won in 1999.
- Futurama wasn't nominated, while "Behind the Laughter" (BABF19) won in 2000
- "Amazon Women in the Mood" lost against "HOMR" (BABF22) in 2001.
- "Roswell That Ends Well" won against "She of Little Faith" (DABF02) in 2002.
- "Jurassic Bark" lost against "Three Gays of the Condo" (EABF12) in 2003.
- Neither "The Sting" or "The Way We Weren't" (FABF13) in 2004.
- Fry's middle initial is J. This seems to be a popular choice for Matt Groening characters, having used it for Homer Simpson, Bart Simpson and Grampa on The Simpsons. Matt uses the "J." middle name, referring to one of his favourite shows, The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show.
- Some Futurama characters are similar to some The Simpsons characters:
- Nine looks faintly similar to Homer.
- Zapp Brannigan is semily based on Troy McClure as a tribute to Phil Hartman. Phil Hartman was the voice of Troy McClure, and was also scheduled to be the voice of Zapp Brannigan until his untimely death. He was instead voiced by Billy West.
- Horrible Gelatinous Blob, and his species Blobs, are similar to the re-recurring "Space Mutants" of The Simpsons.
Futurama in The Simpsons
Futurama has appeared in The Simpsons on several occasions:
Episodes
Season 5
Futurama had not yet premiered yet.
| Episode | Reference | Image |
|---|---|---|
| "Rosebud" (1F01) | In Burns's dream about the future, he appears as a head in a jar (with robotic body). This episode aired approximately 5 and a half years before Futurama started. |
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| "Bart Gets Famous" (1F11) | There is a head in a jar in a dream about the future from Bart. This episode aired approximately 5 years and a month before Futurama started. |
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Season 6
| "Itchy & Scratchy Land" (2F01) | The robotic arms behind Professor Frink are very similar to the arms of Bender in form (even with three fingers) and colours. This episode aired approximately 4 and a half years before Futurama started. |
|
Season 8
| "Treehouse of Horror VII" (4F02) | The city is built around the tooth Lisa keeps a resemblance to the city of New New York, especially the Tube Transport System. This episode aired approximately 2 and a half years before Futurama started. |
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| Some of the ships leaving the miniature city are similar to the Planet Express ship. | 
| |
| "Homer's Phobia" (4F11) | A Robot Santa Claus (similar to Futurama's) appears in this episode. This episode aired approximately 2 years and a month before Futurama started. |
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Season 10
| "Mayored to the Mob" (AABF05) | Üter Zörker is seen wearing a Futurama T-Shirt at the Bi-Mon-Sci-Fi-Con. This episode aired approximately 3 months before Futurama started. |
|
Season 11
Futurama had been premiered by this time.
| "Treehouse of Horror X" (BABF01) | In the opening credits, David "Watch Futurama" Cohen appears as executive producer. | 
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| "Missionary: Impossible" (BABF11) | Bender is seen working for PBS. | 
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Season 12
| "HOMR" (BABF22) | The couch gag shows the family enter through tubes with Bart replaced by Fry, only for Fry to be sucked up and replaced by Bart. | 
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| "Trilogy of Error" (CABF14) | Lingua bears a slight resemblance to Bender. For example in the shape of the head and antenna. Moreover, Homer gets Lingua to drink beer which again may be a reference to Bender. | 
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Season 14
| "Bart vs. Lisa vs. the Third Grade" (DABF20) | Bart starts to hallucinate due to lack of sleep and sees Bender among other TV show characters. | 
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| "Helter Shelter" (DABF21) | A model of the Planet Express Ship is on Comic Book Guy's shelf. | 
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Season 15
| "I, (Annoyed Grunt)-Bot" (FABF04) | Bender's name appears on a videotape fighting Killhammad Aieee. | 
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| "My Big Fat Geek Wedding" (FABF12) | Matt Groening appears in this episode as the creator of Futurama, signing Bender dolls at Bi-Mon-Sci-Fi-Con Springfield. He also draws a sketch of Fry for a fan. | 
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| "Catch 'Em If You Can" (FABF14) | There is a Futurama poster on one wall of the store videos. | 
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| "Fraudcast News" (FABF18) | The Squeaky-Voiced Teen attempts suicide and, while jumping off a cliff, screams "Why did they cancel Futurama?" | (N/A) |
Season 16
| "Future-Drama" (GABF12) | Bender appears in the hovercar Homer and Bart are driving after crossing a "quantum tunnel". There are references to heads preserved in jars, Hovercars and cities similar to Futurama. Homers under water house is resembles one that Fry considers buying in "I, Roommate". The title, "Future-Drama", is an obvious reference to the title of Futurama itself. | 
|
Season 19
| "That 90's Show" (KABF04) | Homer mentions that Matt Groening was working hard to release Futurama during the 1990s. | (N/A) |
Season 20
| "Lisa the Drama Queen" (KABF22) | The "Two-nicorn" belches out rainbows. He then exclaims "I didn't know I could do that!" This is a reference to Stephen Hawking shooting lasers out of his eyes and then saying the same sentence in The Beast with a Billion Backs. | (N/A) |
Video Games
| Game | Reference | Image |
|---|---|---|
| "The Simpsons Wrestling" | At the scene of the spaceship of Kang and Kodos, Leela and Bender are among the public. | 
|
| "The Simpsons Road Rage" | There is a rumor that you can play Bender, but it is not confirmed. Some sources say that you can choose Bender in "Stop Time", others say you need to enter codes in the options menu (PS2: hold down L1 & R1, press Triangle, Square, Square, Circle) (GameCube: hold down L & R, press B, Y, B, Y) (Xbox: hold down L & R, press Y, A, B, X) and others say that this is an urban legend that has never existed. | (N/A) |
| "The Simpsons Game" | Bender and Dr. Zoidberg are characters at the end of Level 15 - "In Search Of an Author." Fry also appears in a painting from Matt Groening. | 
|
Comics and Books
"Simpsons Comics"
| Issue | Reference | Image |
|---|---|---|
| #11 | There is an album that has a picture that looks a lot like Kif. This issue was published approximately 3 and three quarter years before Futurama started. |
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| #46 | The dialogue between Dolph and Nelson is clearly allusive to Futurama. Nelson says "I just wanted to draw robots and an alien girl from one eye as I saw on TV the other night". | (N/A) |
| #50 | There is a cameo appearance by Fry at the wall. (Top centre) | 
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| #84 | On the cover the hair of Leela and Fry can be seen. (Centre right) | 
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| #85 | There is a cameo appearance by Bender on the cover of the "Corporate Annual Reports" of Bongo. | 
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| #95 | Homer (nearly) exclaims "Bite my shiny metal ass", Bender's phrase. | 
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| #99 | There is a cameo appearance by Bender. | 
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| #100 | There is a cameo appearance by Bender. (Centre) | 
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| "Monkey Sea, Monkey Doom!'s" cover appears in a pile of comic books. | 
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| #128 | Bender appears on one of the TV channels. | 
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| #145 | There is a comic book entitled "Anthology of Interest" with a a Bender-like robot on the cover. | 
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Other
| Publication | Issue | Reference | Image |
|---|---|---|---|
| "Bart Simpson" | #14 | Space Boy in Outer Space and "Fry Me to the Moon" appear on the back cover of the comic that Homer is reading on the front cover. | 
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| #25 | Someone wants to sell Bart a Futurama comic that has been peed on by a cat. | 
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| #31 | There is a cameo appearance by Bender at the Bi-Mon-Sci-Fi-Con. | 
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| "Bart Simpson's Treehouse of Horror" | #5 | There is a head inside a jar and Mr Burns is holding a head similar to that of Bender. | 
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| #7 | Fry is seen in the crowd of people on the last panel. | 
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| "Radioactive Man" | #7 | The Sea Monkeys are similar to those seen in "Monkey Sea, Monkey Doom!". | 
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| Dr Crab, one of Radioactive Man's enemies, is similar to Zoidberg. | 
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| "Simpsons Super Spectacular" | #6 | The Planet Express crew appear at the end of this comic. | 
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| "Bart Simpson's Treehouse of Horror Heebie-Jeebie Hullabaloo" | Kang and Kodos are in the office of Matt Groening, surrounded by all kinds of articles from The Simpsons, along with a poster of Bender and the Planet Express ship hanging from the ceiling. | 
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| "The Simpsons Holiday Humdinger" | There is a toy of Robot Santa Claus when Comic Book Guy is daydreaming of being Santa. | 
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| "Simpsons Winter Wing Ding" | There is a toy of Robot Santa Claus in this comic. | 
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| "Free Comic Book Day" | 2005 | The two covers for this comic include Futurama comics on them. This issue also has "The Bender You Say" among the comics inside it. This first cover has "The Owner of Mars Attacks!" on it. | 
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| 2005 | The second cover has "The Time Bender Trilogy: Part 3" on it. | 
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| "The Simpsons Library of Wisdom: Comic Book Guy's Book of Pop Culture" | "Bite my shiny metal ass" appears in his personal greatest quotes of all time | 
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| A "Bender blender" appears in his best apartment ever. | 
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See also
- In popular culture for connections to Futurama other than The Simpsons.