--- description: A weird half-hour celebrates the Matt Groening shows' shared DNA. title: Simpsons-Futurama Crossover Review image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt79c7d3351315ed32/698767ba06f2c1cf56332228/simp_homer-and_bender_hires1.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Entertainment](/section/entertainment/) ## Entertainment Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # The _Simpsons-Futurama_ Crossover: Not a Classic, But Beats _Family Guy_ ## Video: Couch Gag from Simpsorama [Watch (HLS stream): Couch Gag from Simpsorama](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/rq8BXDKR.m3u8) (0:45)  _Published 2014-11-08. Couch Gag from Simpsorama_ by [James Poniewozik](/author/james-poniewozik/) ## James Poniewozik Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 10, 2014 5:05 AM CUT  THE SIMPSONS: In a special crossover episode, ÒFuturamaÕsÓ Planet Express crew comes to present-day Springfield to prevent the Simpsons from destroying the future in the all-new ÒSimpsoramaÓ episode of THE SIMPSONS, airing Sunday, Nov. 9 (8:00-8:30 PM ET/PT) on FOX. THE SIMPSONS ª and ©Ê2014 TCFFC ALL RIGHTS RESERVED THE SIMPSONS: In a special crossover episode, ÒFuturamaÕsÓ Planet Express crew comes to present-day Springfield to prevent the Simpsons from destroying the future in the all-new ÒSimpsoramaÓ episode of THE SIMPSONS, airing Sunday, Nov. 9 (8:00-8:30 PM ET/PT) on FOX. THE SIMPSONS ª and ©Ê2014 TCFFC ALL RIGHTS RESERVEDFOX by [James Poniewozik](/author/james-poniewozik/) ## James Poniewozik Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 10, 2014 5:05 AM CUT _Spoilers for last night’s episode of The Simpsons follow:_ Back in the distant past, in another technological era, another century–that is, in 1999–_Futurama_ was supposed to be the next _Simpsons_. It too was created by Matt Groening; it had _Simpsons_ talent aboard (including producer David X. Cohen); it had a vast cast of characters and a satirical edge. The TV world and animation fans donned their shades on the launchpad and waited for Fox’s next big comedy to take off like a Planet Express rocket. But _Futurama_ was not the next _Simpsons_. Fox’s next big animated hit–eventually, after cancellation–would be _Family Guy_, which also premiered in 1999\. It wasn’t the next _Simpsons_ in quality (dear God, no), but it was the more direct, slavish imitation, building itself around a boorish fat guy and his family while cranking up the speed of its non sequitur jokes. _Futurama_, on the other hand, was more obviously its own thing. It was a workplace comedy, but it was also, in its weird way, legitimately well-constructed sci-fi. It had _The Simpsons’_ cynicism about consumer culture–it saw the future as one big drink of Slurm–but it had a darker, less sentimental spirit. If it borrowed anything from _The Simpsons_, it was the tone of the Treehouse of Horror episodes, with their inspired grotesqueness, free from fealty to Earthbound realism. Earlier this season, _Family Guy_ aired a crossover episode with _The Simpsons_–or really, a _Family Guy_ episode with _Simpsons_ characters in it, but with _Family Guy_\-style beats and gags. The whole exercise had an off-putting, “Dad, why don’t you love me!” feel to it, with Seth MacFarlane’s crew expressing sincere affection for the older show, but also seeming to try a little too hard to show they were cool with being a successful franchise that never got Simpsons-sized respect. It says something, then, that the “Simpsorama,” the _Simpsons_–_Futurama_ crossover, took place on _The Simpsons_‘ own air, in its own time slot. Of course, it’s not like there was another option; _Futurama_ finally ended for good (or for now) last year, on its second home Comedy Central. But _The Simpsons_ didn’t just let its spiritual heir crash at its house; it gave it the keys, producing an episode that was much like an episode of _Futurama_ than _The Simpsons_. Not a great episode of _Futurama_, to be totally honest. Compared with _Futurama_‘s regular-run episodes, which is their own goofy way were built on strict sci-fi plotting logic, dropping Bart’s DNA into a pool of radioactive sludge was a bit of a something-gets-hit-by-lightning crutch. (It was a stretch by _The Simpsons_‘ latter-year standards of disregarding its own rules of cartoon reality. This really might have worked better as a Treehouse of Horror episode–it even included Kang and Kodos.) And the resulting Homer-Simpson-must-die story was little more than an excuse to put the characters together and take a tour of _Futurama_‘s greatest hits. But great hits they were, and for a fan of both shows, “Simpsorama” was at least a way to show how the two series–to borrow the episode’s metaphor–shared DNA but manifest it in different ways. Bender may look like metal Homer with an antenna, but his mercenary trickster personality is distinctly his own. (I could imagine him happily fleecing Moe for free drinks for the rest of his days.) The _Simpsons_ aspects of this _Simpsons_ half-hour mostly receded into the background, allowing a parade of favorite _Futurama_ bits and characters (Lrrr and Ndnd, the Nibblonians, the Hypnotoad, Hedonism Bot–twice!–and a cameo by earlier Groening creation Binky from his comic _Life in Hell_.) It wasn’t a classic episode, but–by imagining an alt-universe in which _Futurama_ still shared Fox airtime with _The Simpsons_–it was a generous one. Toward the end of the episode, as the devil-bunny-Barts were slingshotted into space, Bart said, “You realize you’re cheering the deaths of millions of my children.” Really, “Simpsorama” simply celebrated the life of one of them. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3572757/simpsons-futurama-crossover-review/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3572757/simpsons-futurama-crossover-review/"},"headline":"The Simpsons-Futurama Crossover: Not a Classic, But Beats Family Guy","datePublished":"2014-11-10T05:05:56.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-21T11:18:45.751Z","description":"A weird half-hour celebrates the Matt Groening shows' shared DNA.","url":"https://time.com/3572757/simpsons-futurama-crossover-review/","keywords":["Television","review","The Simpsons"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt79c7d3351315ed32/698767ba06f2c1cf56332228/simp_homer-and_bender_hires1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"James Poniewozik","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/james-poniewozik/"}],"articleSection":"Entertainment","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt79c7d3351315ed32/698767ba06f2c1cf56332228/simp_homer-and_bender_hires1.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"THE SIMPSONS Meets ÒFuturamaÓ in a Special Crossover Episode!","caption":"THE SIMPSONS Meets ÒFuturamaÓ in a Special Crossover Episode!","creditText":"FOX","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/entertainment/","name":"Entertainment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3572757/simpsons-futurama-crossover-review/","name":"The Simpsons-Futurama Crossover: Not a Classic, But Beats Family Guy"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Couch Gag from Simpsorama","description":"Couch Gag from Simpsorama","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/rq8BXDKR/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2014-11-08T16:43:27.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/rq8BXDKR.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/3572757/simpsons-futurama-crossover-review/","duration":"PT45S","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/3572757/simpsons-futurama-crossover-review/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```