Futurama

:For the exhibit/ride, see Futurama (New York World's Fair).

Characters and plot

Futurama centers around seven main characters who work for Planet Express, as well as several secondary characters.

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Characters

• Philip J. Fry ("Fry") (Voiced by Billy West) - was "accidentally" cryogenically frozen just after New Year, 2000, and thawed out in time to usher in the year 3000. Something of a misfit in the 20th century, he adapted to 31st century life with ease after finding employment outside the field of pizza delivery and taking up residence in Bender's closet at the Robot Arms apartment building. He generally has a lower intelligence than the rest but occasionally has moments of genius. Through a time travel accident, he is his own grandfather.
• Turanga Leela ("Leela") (Katey Sagal) - The ship's captain, and usually the most disciplined member of the Planet Express crew. For most of the series she believed she was an orphaned alien (mainly because she is almost completely human-looking, except for the fact that she only has one eye), and desired to learn of her origins. It was later revealed - in Season 4 - that she is a sewer mutant instead of an alien as previously believed.
• Professor Hubert Farnsworth (Billy West) - Fry's great-great-...-great grand-nephew who runs Planet Express. In his 160s, he peers through cokebottle glasses, has bad posture and frequently forgets who or what he was talking about. Farnsworth is a mad scientist whose inventions are of variable usefulness. Has a long-standing rivalry with former student Professor Wernstrom. His catchphrases are "Good news, everyone!", and "Oh, my no."
• Bender Bending Rodriguez ("Bender") (John DiMaggio) - a foul-mouthed, hard drinking, misanthropic robot (catchphrase: "Bite my shiny metal ass!") built in America's heartland - Mexico. He frequently violates the Three Laws of Robotics. The only thing he fears is an industrial-size electric can opener. He also is known to uncontrollably sing folk music when exposed to a magnetic field.
• Hermes Conrad (Phil LaMarr) - a Jamaican Bureaucrat with a flair for filing. He is also an Olympic Limbo-er. He manages Planet Express delivery business, and his responsibilities include paying bills, giving out legal waivers, and notifying next of kin. In direct contrast to most stereotypes of Jamaicans, he is an uptight workaholic, a stickler for doing everything according to regulations, and frequently admonishes the staff for not working hard enough. He frequently makes bizarre exclamations, such as "Sweet manatee of Galilee!", "Sweet lion of Zion!" or "Sweet gorilla of Manilla!" The character was originally named "Dexter" and did not sport a Jamaican accent; this was changed after the first few episodes were recorded.
• Dr. John Zoidberg (Billy West) - a lobster-like alien from planet Decapod 10 who (as a self-proclaimed expert on humans) provides incompetent medical care for the crew. He is strongly disliked by Hermes Conrad and lives below the poverty line. Zoidberg combines features of several sea creatures, scuttling sideways like a crab, producing ink like an octopus or squid, and creating pearls in his digestive tract like oysters. He is often treated as the outcast in the group. Zoidberg is curiously a joke on a few levels. A famous New England sauce is named Lobster Newburg, while Zoidberg himself also exhibits many of the stereotypes of Jewish doctors, including his grammar, his accent, and his sandals.
• Amy Wong (Lauren Tom) - an intern at Planet Express (kept around because she shares the professor's blood type) and heir to half of Mars. Her parents, who constantly pester her about the lack of grandchildren, came to own half the planet through a legitimate deal that parodied colonial exploitation of gullible natives. On the show, Amy is known for being somewhat shallow and ditzy, and for her overuse of futuristic 31st century slang. She also tends to dress provocatively, frequently being the person on screen wearing the least clothing. When aggravated, she occasionally starts cursing in Cantonese.

See also: Futurama's recurring characters.

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Planet Express

Planet Express is a delivery company held by Professor Farnsworth to fund his "research" and "inventions". It is revealed later in the series that Farnsworth thought of the company as a form of cheap labor, "like a family."

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The Professor often makes passing references to the fact that many of his past crews have been brutally killed (Leela, as the new captain, is obliged to sign waivers making sure Planet Express will not be held accountable if she should die of "sonic diarrhea", among other things). The crew prior to Fry's arrival was said to have been devoured by a space wasp, although in the episode "The Sting", the crew is sent on the same mission that killed the last crew and finds the old Planet Express ship whose crew was killed by giant space bees while attempting to gather space honey.

Related Topics:
Wasp - Bees

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The Planet Express ship is helmed by Leela as captain and pilot, Bender as cook, and Fry as delivery boy. Amy and Dr. Zoidberg join the crew as needed. Hermes oversees operations and human resources in the company. The ship has an autopilot and a shipboard AI, which may be separate entities. Nearly every mission that the Professor gives to his crew is dangerous or quickly degenerates to a suicide mission.

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