10 Futurama Secrets You Never Knew

By Ewan Paterson / December 7, 2021

4. Professor Farnsworth Has A Real Life Namesake

More of a tribute than anything else, the inspiration behind Professor Farnsworth's name actual has real life origins.

According to the show's creators, Futurama's professor was actually named after a man called Philo T. Farnsworth, a television pioneer who also exhibited at the 1939 New York World's Fair - the same place that hosted a 'Futurama' exhibit, which is obviously the namesake of the show too.

Tellingly enough, Farnsworth appears as a head in a jar in Futurama, with the Professor even remarking to Fry that Philo is one of their ancestors.