Futuramais beloved for itscomedictake on classicscience-fictionstories and themes. One of the best examples can be found in its main character, Philip J. Fry (Billy West). Originally a pizza delivery boy from the 20th century, he was frozen inside a cryo tube as part of a cosmic plan and awoke on New Year’s Eve 2999 to a world where everything he knew and loved was gone.
Fry might just be one of the best protagonists in any adult comedyseries. He’s a fish out of water that the audience can latch onto as an everyman, and though he often acts immature and lazy, when given the chance, he is always there to support his friends with his big heart. These moments shine through in episodes focused on Fry and his struggles, many of which are amongthe show’s best episodes.
Futurama follows the exploits of Philip J. Fry, a pizza delivery boy from 1999 who is cryogenically frozen for 1000 years. Waking up in the year 3000, Fry befriends a cyclops named Leela and a roguish robot named Bender, and the three find employment with Planet Express, an interplanetary delivery service. Their work takes them to all corners of the universe, exploring space and the future as imagined by Matt Groening and the creators of The Simpsons.
10"Space Pilot 3000"
Season 1, Episode 1
After working overtime and learning that his girlfriend dumped him, Fry is frozen for a thousand years and awakens in the far future. Everyone is assigned a career chip that determines their profession, and when Fry learns that he will be stuck as a delivery boy for the rest of his life, he flees into New New York City, pursued bythe cyclops Turanga Leela (Katey Sagal), trying to administer his chip. As Fry tries to find his only living family member, Professor Hubert J. Farnsworth (Billy West), he meets and befriends a bending robot named Bender (John DiMaggio).
“Space Pilot 3000” is the first episode ofFuturama, so naturally, the characters and jokes are still trying to find their footing and don’t have the same punch as what will follow. That said, it holds up incredibly, especially in how Fry, and the audience, learn about this crazy world of tomorrow. Near the end of the episode, Fry has a particularly strong scene in the ruins of Old New York, where the reality that everything he knows and love is gone sinks in.
9"Game of Tones"
Season 7, Episode 23
As a mysterious alien ship approaches Earth, it plays four musical tones that threaten to destroy the planet. Fry recognizes the music, and Farnsworth deduces that he heard it on December 31st, 1999. Fry is then hooked up to a machine that sends him into his memories to find the tones, but he gets distracted by the chance to enjoy some time with his family, especially his mother.
“Game of Tones” is the final dive into Fry’s past that gives him closure with a family member, whichmakes it an underrated episodein the show’s lackluster seasons. Fry missing his old life has been brought up numerous times in the show, so the joy he experiences at seeing even a memory of his family is both heartwarming and heartbreaking, especially when he runs out of memories to traverse. The ending gives Fry some form of closure with his mother, and while not as strong as some of the show’s other emotional moments, it’s guaranteed to make your eyes watery.
8"Cold Warriors"
Season 6, Episode 24
Fry gets sick with the common cold after ice fishing with the rest of the crew and is surprised when they freak out. Since the virus has been extinct for five hundred years, the rest of humanity has no immunity, and thus Planet Express is put under quarantine. Meanwhile, the story flashes back to Fry’s youth when he got sick ice fishing with his father and attempted to use his disease in a science experiment.
The main story of “Cold Warriors”, aboutthe panic of a viral outbreak,is even more relevant today in a post-COVID world and is a testament to the episode’s staying power. However, the real meat of it is, once again, Fry and his relationship with a family member.This is the first time Fry and his father have proper conversations with one another, and it’s clear that, while Yancy Sr. (John DiMaggio) is hard on Fry, it’s so that he can survive whatever crazy turns life throws at him.
7"Time Keeps On Slippin"
Season 3, Episode 14
When Earth is challenged to a basketball game by the Globetrotter Homeworld, Farnsworth sends the Planet Express crew to collect chronitons to age-up his team of atomic super-men. This causes time to skip erratically, forcing Farnsworth and the Globetrotters (the smartest minds in the universe) to work together and fix things. Meanwhile, a time skip results in Fry and Leela getting married, and another sees them divorced, prompting Fry to wonder what he did to make Leela love him.
“Time Keeps on Slippin” is one of the more crucial episodes for Frey and Leela’s early romance, and another case of Futurama delivering a masterful ending.Fry learns that he won Leela’s heart by moving the stars to spell “I LOVE YOU LEELA,“but unfortunately, they are destroyed to stop the time skips before Leela can see them. It’s a bittersweet episode that shows Fry and the fans that he can win Leela over, but the road to that happy ending won’t be easy.
6"The Why of Fry”
Season 4, Episode 10
As Leela goes on a date, Fry takes her pet, Nibbler (Frank Welker) for a walk, and learns that not only can Nibbler talk, but that he needs Fry’s help to stop evil sentient brains, called the Brainspawn, from stealing all knowledge in the universe. Because he lacks Delta Brainwaves, the Brainspawn can’t detect his presence, allowing Fry to infiltrate their headquarters and plant a bomb to send them to another dimension. However, Fry learns at the last second that Nibbler deliberately got him frozen so he could fulfill this mission.
“The Why of Fry” is a crucial episode that answers many questions regarding the circumstances around Fry’s freezing. It leads to interesting discussions from Fry and Nibbler about the value of one life vs many, and how one can construct new lives after losing their old ones. There are also plenty of great continuity nods to previous episodes, and some funny jokes, such as the answer to what really killed the dinosaurs.
5"The Devil’s Hands are Idle Playthings”
Season 4, Episode 18
Fry and Bender travel to Robot Hell to make adeal with the Robot Devil(Dan Castellanetta) so that he can learn to play an instrument called the holophonor. The Robot Devil agrees to swap Fry’s hands with any random robot, so that his fingers can match his imagination, but is shocked when he is the chosen robot. Fry becomes a master musician and is given the chance to compose an opera for Leela, but the Robot Devil is determined to reclaim his hands by doing what he does best: making deals.
“The Devil’s Hands are Idle Playthings” wasFuturama’soriginal season finale, and thus the focus was placed on giving Fry and Leela’s relationship a satisfactory conclusion.Fry’s opera is perhaps his most romantic gesture before shifting into hilarious melodramawhen he and the other characters begin singing during the climax when the Robot Devil crashes the party. Many of the jokes from this section have become internet memes, such asDr. Zoidberg’s (Billy West) statement, “Your music is bad, and you should feel bad.”
4"Meanwhile"
Season 7, Episode 26
When Leela almost dies during a mission, Fry decides that it’s time he proposes to her. He steals Farnsworth’s newest invention, which can reset the universe by ten seconds, which he uses to create an engagement ring, but forgets to adjust his watch for all of his jumps through time. Thus, when he thinks Leela rejected him, he jumps to his death and gets stuck in a time loop that threatens to destroy the universe.
“Meanwhile” was the series finale before Hulu revived it, and is considered by many to bethe best of their finale episodes. This is thanks largely to how it wraps up Fry and Leela’s story: after saving Fry, he accidentally destroys the device, freezing the universe except for Fry and Leela. This allows the couple to get married and grow old together, demonstrating why they are amongthe best couples in sitcoms.
3"The Late Philip J. Fry"
Season 6, Episode 7
After showing up late for work and Leela’s birthday lunch date, he promises to make it up to her by forgoing a party thrown by Hedonismbot (Phil LaMarr) to take her to a fancy restaurant. However, Farnsworth recruits him and Bender to help him test his newest invention: a time machine that can only go forward. They accidentally jump forward to the year 10,000 AD and are forced to keep going forward until they can find a time when a backward time machine has been invented.
“The Late Philip J. Fry” is a masterclass of balancing heartbreaking drama and thought-provoking science-fiction concepts. Fry and Leela’s relationship is once again made the focus, demonstrating how much the two mean to one another, and driving home the episode’s message about enjoying the time you have with your loved ones. The sci-fi concepts are also very existential and captivating to look at, from the death of the universe to a catchy song that parodies “In the Year 2525.”
2"The Luck of the Fryish"
Season 3, Episode 10
Cursed by a string of bad luck, Fry decides to look for his old seven-leafed clover. Unfortunately, the clover isn’t in its hiding place, leading Fry to believe that his older brother, Yancy (Tom Kenny), stole it since he was always jealous of Fry’s things. This is seemingly confirmed when Fry finds a statue of Yancy with the clover and Fry’s name, making him think that Yancy stole his name and dream of becoming the first man on Mars.
“The Luck of the Fryish” is another episode interspersed with scenes of Fry’s life in the 20th century, showcasing Yancy’s jealousy and fleshing out their parents. However, things are recontextualized during the final flashback, which plays when Fry discovers the truth in the 31st century.This builds to a powerful ending that shows Fry that his family did care about himand has a strong message to the audience about the importance of family and legacy.
1"Jurassic Bark"
Season 5, Episode 2
While visiting a museum, Fry discovers that one of the exhibits is the fossilized remains of his dog, Seymour Asses (Frank Welker). He is eventually given custody of the fossil, and Farnsworth reveals that he has a machine that can both clone Seymour and keep his memories. However, Bender becomes jealous that Seymour is getting Fry’s attention.
“Jurassic Bark” is widely considered the best episode of Futurama thanks to its tragic ending, in which Fry learns Seymour lived to the age of fifteen. In an act of maturity, he chooses not to revive his friend, believing that Seymour lived a full life without him. This is a great demonstration of how Fry is willing to put others before himself, but it makes things even harder for the audience when it’s revealed that Seymour died waiting for Fry to come home, making him one ofthe best animated pets.
