Futurama's Matt Groening Thinks Bender Is The Homer Of The Show - Not Fry

"Futurama" takes a lot after creator Matt Groening's previous series — a little series you may have heard of called "The Simpsons" — but the main casts of both don't quite line up with each other. After all, "The Simpsons" is about a nuclear family, while "Futurama" is about a group of coworkers. These different comedy settings is one reason why the creators of "Futurama" and "The Simpsons" don't feel they're in competition with each other.

For instance, as the main character of "Futurama," shouldn't Philip J. Fry be the equivalent of Homer Simpson? While both men are lovable and reckless idiots, Groening doesn't think so. Rather, he thinks that Fry's robot best friend, Bender — the lovable scamp (read: sociopath) — is the Homer of "Futurama."

During a 2013 LA Times interview (when "Futurama" was wrapping up its time at Comedy Central), he said, "I think [Bender is] our Homer character — Fry's a little too wimpy." Bender may not be flesh and blood like Homer, but the two are both surly alcoholics who often embark on outrageous adventures. ("[Co-creator David X. Cohen] thought it would be funny to have a robot that could only stay sober by drinking," Groening explained.) 

Bender is definitely more evil than Homer (Homer is not a remorseless criminal nor does he want to kill all humans), but the similarities are undeniable. When Bender briefly became a hedonistic human in "Anthology of Interest II" (grossing out his own actor John DiMaggio along the way), he was basically a blond Homer, down to the white shirt and blue pants.

The 2014 crossover episode "Simpsorama" mined most of its humor by comparing Homer and Bender. In the episode's first act, Bender travels back in time to Springfield, Present Day (or the past for "Futurama" fans — the episode itself jokes about these competing perspectives.) He and Homer hit it off; they drink at Moe's, go bowling, and even nap together. ("Kill all humans," Bender whispers in his sleep. "Start with Flanders," Homer snores back.)

Bart and Lisa Simpson notice the similarities, with Bart proposing that "The guy who designed Bender just took a drawing of Dad and stuck an antenna on it." (You be the judge.) "Simpsorama" throws out some other character comparisons; Leela is the sensible one like Marge (with purple hair to contrast Marge's blue), and the episode also gives Professor Frink a sizable role to contrast him and Professor Farnsworth.

So, who is Fry's "Simpsons" counterpart? "Simpsorama" doesn't give them much screen time together, but it's Bart. Fry is not a malicious prankster like Bart, but both are impulsive, immature, lazy, and not too bright. Fry provides a good look at what Bart would be like at age 25 (if the Simpsons aged, anyway).

So, has Bender eclipsed Fry as the protagonist of "Futurama" like Homer did Bart? Bender is unquestionably the breakout character of "Futurama" ("Why not Zoidberg?"), but I think Fry's character arc of a 20th-century man stranded 1000 years in the future is still the central idea of "Futurama."

No one can relate to being a foul-mouthed robot, but a lot of us can empathize with an everyman slacker. In that way, Fry and Homer do have something in common.

The new season of "Futurama" premieres on Hulu on July 29, 2024.