The entirety of Futurama season 11 has joined the rest of the beloved animated series at its streaming home on Hulu. That can mean only one thing: it’s time for 10 more Star Trek references from Matt Groening and David X. Cohen‘s seminal cartoon sitcom.
Here are another 10 times that the Planet Express crew delivered with allusions to the greatest sci-fi franchise of all time. This batch comes from throughout Futurama history, including season 1 and through to season 11. But stay tuned, nerdlingers: Futurama has been renewed for seasons 13 and 14, promising more references yet. And we still haven’t even touched “Where No Fan Has Gone Before”!
3D Scrabble
Photo credits: Matt Groening, Hulu, Paramount+.
In Futurama season 1’s “Fry and the Slurm Factory,” Turanga Leela (Katey Sagal) and Hubert Farnsworth (Billy West) can be seen playing a game of 3D Scrabble. However, note that this episode is listed as part of season 2 on Hulu. The 3D board would be seen again in Futurama season 2’s “Xmas Story,” when Farnsworth and Hermes Conrad (Phil LaMarr) can be glimpsed playing the game nude.
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The 3D Scrabble board pays homage to Star Trek‘s 3D Chess board. These were first seen in Star Trek: The Original Series. However, they also appear in many subsequent Trek shows. One example is Star Trek: Discovery season 2’s “Project Daedalus,” in which the game plays an important role in several scenes featuring Spock (Ethan Peck) and Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green).
Sounds of the Nimbus
In Futurama season 4’s “A Taste of Freedom,” John Zoidberg (West) is the catalyst for an invasion by his people, the Decapodians. This leads to the arrival of DOOP defensive forces led by Zapp Brannigan (West). However, the crew of the Nimbus is compromised by the inclusion of “Hugh Mann,” who is obviously a Decapodian disguised as a human. This may pay passing homage to the many alien characters throughout Star Trek who have infiltrated the ranks of Starfleet thanks to surgical alteration.
In the audio commentary for this episode, those who make Futurama acknowledge the influence Star Trek has on the sounds of Nimbus bridge. “I hear a little Star Trek noises in there,” observes DiMaggio. “Similar,” corrects Cohen. After everyone present laughs, DiMaggio replies, “Exactly similar.”
Star Trek: The Original Reboot
In the Futurama season 11 premiere, “The Impossible Stream,” Fry realizes he’s spent 23 years in the future but has nothing to show for it. To remedy this, he resolves to stream every episode of television ever produced. However, Bender warns him that there’s a “mighty deep diaper of content.” To illustrate this, the mechano-man scrolls through a few dozen TV show titles.
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These include several references to Star Trek. Among them are Star Trek: The Original Reboot, a presumably violent program called Family Gorn, and finally, a Trek reference wrapped in a Futurama allusion: Melllvar‘s Place.
H2O Ursa Major
“Eat Kif! He’s boneless!”
In Futurama season 11’s “Children of a Lesser Bog,” new father Kif Kroker (Maurice LaMarche) joins Brannigan on a mission to a remote outpost in Ursa Major. Once they arrive, they discover the exobiology station’s area of study is giant tardigrades. The tardigrades soon attack Brannigan, who stinks of Clump o’ Honey candy. But Kroker eventually learns that the tardigrades are merely protecting their family.
Discovery season 1’s “The Butcher’s Knife Cares Not for the Lamb’s Cry” introduces a macroscopic tardigrade. The oversized water bears in “Children of a Lesser Bog” closely resemble this creature. In the Star Trek: Short Treks episode “Ephriam and Dot,” an antagonistic relationship between a macroscopic tardigrade and one of the USS Enterprise‘s DOT-7 robots turns friendly after it is revealed Ephriam the tardigrade has been attempting to protect their family.
“Zapp Gets Canceled”
In Futurama season 11’s “Zapp Gets Canceled,” Brannigan is removed from his position at DOOP. This leaves an opening for Leela to step up as captain of the Nimbus. However, this becomes especially complicated when Leela is tasked with a morally ambiguous away mission.
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Naturally, this premise leads to an extended Star Trek parody. Featuring references to Captains’ Logs, bridge officer positions, Red Alert kalxons and even the Prime Directive, “Zapp Gets Canceled” is chockablock with references to the Franchise.
I Love Beaming
In Futurama season 7’s “Lrrreconcilable Ndndifferences,” Fry makes a comic book. Like all print comics, this comes replete with a page full of advertisements. Included among these items is “The Farnsworth Novelty Disintegrator Ray.”
However, Farnsworth reveals that the Disintegrator Ray is merely a teleporter ray. He demonstrates the toy by firing it at a trash can, which is subsequently beamed across the room so Farnsworth can drop the Disintegrator Ray into it. As the can is teleported, the familiar sound of a Star Trek transporter can be heard.
Janeway’s Guide
In Futurama season 7’s “In-A-Gadda-Da-Leela,” a mysterious ship approaches Earth. However, it resists identification. Hermes observes, “It’s not in the Janeway’s Guide, either.”
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This refers to Jane’s Fighting Ships, a real-life annual reference book of active military ships. It has been combined with the name Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew), the protagonist of Star Trek: Voyager, to create a Star Trek reference.
V-Ger & V-Giny
Speaking of things combined to make a Star Trek reference, the ship Hermes can’t find in the Janeway’s Guide is called V-GINY. As “In-A-Gadda-Da-Leela” progresses, the origins of this strange name are revealed. It was created when the V-Chip satellite and the U.S. Air Force satellite “Flying Destiny” collided. Thus, the new ship was created, and the name “V-GINY,” which combines the two original ships’ names.
V-GINY’s origin story, narrative function and name strongly recall V’Ger, the enigmatic A.I. antagonist of Star Trek: The Motion Picture.
The Measure of a Fox
In Futurama season 10’s “31st Century Fox,” a discount uniform allows Bender to participate in a fox hunt. However, his mood sours when he learns the fox being hunted is actually a robot.
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In “31st Century Fox,” the Master of the Hunt is voiced by Patrick Stewart, known to Trekkies as the actor who plays Jean-Luc Picard. In the Star Trek: The Next Generation season 2 episode “The Measure of a Man,” Picard must argue that Data (Brent Spiner) deserves human rights even though he is a robot. But “31st Century Fox” sees Stewart playing an inversion of this role, as the Huntmaster argues that a robotic fox is worthy of being the object of the fox hunt.
Xmas Reference
In Futurama season 11’s “I Know What You Did Next Xmas,” Bender and Zoidberg do the unthinkable: become friends! This is after they have traveled back in time and kidnapped Robot Santa (DiMaggio).
However, at the episode’s climax, it is revealed that the not-so-dynamic duo didn’t travel backward in time. Instead, they traveled forward. Zoidberg defends this mistake with a line immediately familiar to Trekkies. “Dammit, Bender, I’m a doctor, not a time machine guy,” he shouts, echoing the catchphrase of Doctor Leonard “Bones” McCoy (DeForest Kelley).
All 11 seasons of Futurama are currently available for streaming on Hulu. Meanwhile, all of Star Trek (except Star Trek: Prodigy) is currently available for streaming on Paramount+.
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