Futurama: 10 Most Annoying Little Inconsistencies

As a cartoon set in the 31st century, about an interplanetary delivery crew’s encounters with robots, mutants, and aliens, Futurama was never the most serious of TV shows. There were very few narratives running throughout the entire run, or even further than the span of an episode, in this sense it was a typical animated show.

However, there were several themes that did last the entire series, such as life and technology in the 31st century, character traits and relationships, and a little bit of history. For the most part, the show did a good job of keeping all of this in check. For the most part, but certainly not 100% of the time.

Particularly after the show’s revival on Comedy Central, the writing seemed to ignore more and more what had come before it. There were certain points that episodes either contradicted or retconned moments of Futurama lore previously established through the series.

These aren’t the kind of plot holes that could ruin the show for anyone, though they may spoil an episode or two. Instead, these are things that some fans may not have even noticed, but when they are clocked, it’s impossible to ignore them.

While The Simpsons has its Treehouse of Horror episodes typically once a season, Futurama has the Anthology of Interest. There may have only been two of these so far, but they are among the more popular entries in the entire Futurama back catalogue.

In 'Anthology of Interest Part I', one of the three stories told is about how the Professor named Leela his new heir. This was followed by the Planet Express captain going on a killing spree, taking out the likes of Amy, Bender, Hermes, Zoidberg, and Cubert before it was just her and Fry left.

The whole piece was based around the Professor not previously having an official heir named, but wasn’t this exactly the basis of a different episode earlier in that same season? A Clone of My Own came five episodes prior to 'Anthology of Interest Part I', but was seemingly ignored here.

The Professor created Cubert literally with the specific motive of him being his heir, yet five episodes later he had no one and thus named Leela. Why would this be the case? Cubert was even in this particular Anthology story, so how could his entire reason for being alive have been forgotten about so quickly?