The Futurama Episode That Threw Some Not So Subtle Shade At Fox Execs

By the time Matt Groening began to develop "Futurama," his previous show, "The Simpsons," had already attained legendary status. As such, you might think his follow-up would have been treated with nothing but reverence and support. However, it seems Fox, who had been lampooned by "The Simpsons" on multiple occasions throughout its run, weren't all that excited for the debut of "Futurama." As "Futurama" voice actor Phil LaMarr, once put it during a panel:

"'The Simpsons' had basically launched the Fox network, so the executives at Fox at that time [that 'Futurama' launched] were not the people who launched the Fox network. So Matt Groening was way more important than them. They could not give him notes on 'The Simpsons,' but they could on 'Futurama.' 'Futurama' was his redheaded stepchild [mimicking a Fox exec] 'Oh, let's kick that one's a**. Yeah, we have some notes, Matt.'"

Those notes would prove to be a major sticking point for Groening and "Futurama" executive producer David X. Cohen. So much so, the pair took it upon themselves to create an episode that would set the show's writers free from Fox's terrible notes — essentially by following every network suggestion they'd been given. Season 1, episode three, "I, Roommate" was the result. Groening revealed in a DVD commentary for the installment that the network had always "felt that the show was too outrageous and too much outer space" and had been "freaked out" by the "suicide booths and lobster creatures and Bender being so antisocial." According to the creative, 'I, Roommate" did not impress the Fox execs, and gave the writers the right to turn down future notes. But that doesn't mean it was the end of friction between the show and its original network.

Fox executives didn't get off to the best start when they ruthlessly recast "Futurama" at the last minute. Since that moment, there was ongoing tension between the "Futurama" staff and the network, which ultimately canceled the series in 2003. It has since returned in various incarnations, but 2003 saw the end of "Futurama" on Fox.

Happily, though, the show did manage to get a few digs in before its cancellation. "The Simpsons," having faced intervention from Fox on several occasions, had taken numerous shots at the network throughout its run, lampooning former Fox owner Rupert Murdoch and even killing the Fox censor during a "Treehouse of Horror" cold open. But "Futurama" went further, with an entire episode devoted to sending up the mechanics of network TV and censorship.

Season 4, episode 6, "Bender Should Not Be Allowed on TV," aired on August 3, 2003. In the installment, Bender lands a part of the sitcom "All My Circuits" but quickly draws the ire of the public for his boorish and inappropriate behavior. After Bender sees first-hand how his antics encouraged children to steal his own belongings, the foul-mouthed robot joins Hermes and Professor Farnsworth's campaign group, Fathers Against Rude Television (FART), and protests against his own casting. It all ends with Bender giving a speech while on-air, in which he claims "all the blame rests with the parents" and confronting viewers with the question, "Have you ever tried simply turning off the TV, sitting down with your children, and hitting them?"

According to Matt Groening, the entire episode was a response to network interference and Fox's incessant attempts to change aspects of "Futurama."

In an Entertainment Weekly interview, Matt Groening was asked about "Bender Should Not Be Allowed on TV" and how it "eviscerates TV execs." His response was simply to elaborate on his feeling that "Futurama" never had Fox's full support:

"It was frustrating to have a show on Fox at 7 on Sunday night when Fox's slogan was 'The fun begins at 8!' I got the feeling that they didn't even realize we were on the schedule. We had the guillotine hanging over our heads from before the show went on the air, so we were always happy that we got to do any episodes at all. The executives never understood the show and I was not able to explain it to them to their satisfaction."

Groening went on to explain how he saw Fox execs as being "annoyed" by the show "because they wanted to give the shows notes like they do with all their other shows — except 'The Simpsons' — and we wouldn't take them." The show creator also claimed the notes they were given were "contradictory and ill-informed," which only led him and his writers to "make the show we wanted to make."

Interestingly enough, "Bender Should Not Be Allowed on TV" came in the wake of another contentious "Futurama" installment. The murderous Christmas episode "A Tale of Two Santas" was initially banned by Fox during the show's third season, eventually airing a year after it was originally supposed to debut. Considering this, combined with the show's inauspicious start at the network and the events of "Bender Should Not Be Allowed on TV," it's a wonder "Futurama" lasted for as long as it did on the Fox network.