Movies - TV
Futurama Used This Bender Plot To Throw Shade At Fox
By JOE ROBERTS
While Matt Groening began developing "Futurama" when "The Simpsons" was already an iconic show, some Fox executives had issues with the creator’s new project from the beginning.
During the Season 1 DVD commentary track for "I, Roommate," Groening revealed that the network had always "felt that the show was too outrageous and too much outer space."
Groening and executive producer David X. Cohen clashed numerous times with the executives trying to change the show, which led to the creators taking a jab at Fox.
In the Season 4 episode "Bender Should Not Be Allowed on TV," Bender gets a part in the sitcom "All My Circuits" but quickly draws the public’s ire for his boorish behavior.
According to Groening, the entire episode was a response to network interference and Fox's ongoing attempts to change aspects of "Futurama."
Groening explained to Entertainment Weekly that Fox never got the show: "The executives never understood the show and I was not able to explain it to them to their satisfaction."