Futurama: 10 Things It Did Better Than The Simpsons
7. Heartwrenching Storytelling
Find anyone who didn't weep at least a single tear during the episode featuring Fry's dog and you may have found a sociopath. It's not easy to create a heart-wrenching storyline in an animated comedy, but the writers for Futurama pulled it off several times.
The Simpsons has had its fair share of well-written episodes... some of which might have even made Bender cry, but not to the level of Futurama. Because the characters were so well-developed and the creators open to change them, the show was able to better serve up stories of loss, regret, and love in a way The Simpsons could never achieve.
Fry's dog was a sad story, but there were others spread about that made it easy to care for and fall in love with the characters. For most of the series, the audience was led to believe Leela was an alien, but it turned out she was a mutant who was abandoned to the orphanarium to be raised above ground.
It turned out, her parents not only loved her, they watched over their daughter her entire life. The last few minutes of the episode showing how they were there for her made more than a few viewers ugly cry into their couch pillows.