Every Star Trek Reference In Futurama
28. The Federation In Brannigan Begin Again
In the Season 2 episode Brannigan Begin Again, Zapp Brannigan is court martialed . He is fired from the intergalactic council, DOOP and begins working at Planet Express. He quickly tries taking charge over Leela. This, unsurprisingly, does not work out for him.
Beyond the actual reference within the episode, Brannigan is a clear parody of Kirk and is described in the DVD commentary to Love Labour's Lost in Space as '40% Kirk, 60% Shatner'. This is clear from his character design and mannerisms, which place him as a space captain who, if we wasn't already meant to be Kirk, definitely thought he was.
As for the actual clear reference within the episode. At one point Brannigan tries to explain to Fry what DOOP is. He likens it to The United Nations which Fry, unsurprisingly, does not understand. Hermes then says it's 'like The Federation, from your Star Trek Program.' This makes it clear to Fry who perfectly understands it once it is explained in the reference.
While The Federation may be a clearer comparison, due to DOOP being an intergalactic, rather than international, council, the joke perfectly sums up the character of Fry while still having a funny nod to Star Trek.