The year 1999 was when Matt Groening, the legendary creator behind The Simpsons, first took us 1000 years into the future to visit the great year 3000 and meet the characters inhabiting the world of Futurama. Matt is no stranger to jokes from the past on his shows becoming part of reality as Simpsons fans will point out countless jokes and bits that actually came true, and the same can also be said for Futurama.
With Futurama returning with 20 new episodes on Hulu next year it's time to revisit all the times that the show actually got right about our brave new world, two decades prior.
Smartwatches
One instance of Futurama predicting new technology is through Leela Turanga (Katey Sagal) and her wrist-mounted computer. The name of this item is called the 'Wrist LoJack-a-mater' (although Leela usually just calls it a 'wrist-thingy') and is clear to viewers in hindsight that this is an early idea of a smartwatch, a device that can be found on the everyday wrists of people around us today. Leela uses it to communicate, check the time, play games and is a remote for the Planet Express ship, as well as an environmental scanner.
The invention of the Apple Watch has more or less made this fictional technology more or less real, however, there are no current plans by Apple to add a feature that can make the watch act as an emergency face laser. Maybe one day?
Virtual Reality
Futurama was hardly the first-ever science-fiction entity to explore the ideas relating to virtual reality, however, it is unique in showing just how mundane and familiar this once out-of-reach technology has become. First shown in the series' second episode when the crew visits a theme park on the moon and shows a person playing a real game of skeeball, then someone playing virtual skeeball, then finally Planet Express crewmember Amy playing virtual virtual skeeball. The headset looks eerily similar to a popular VR gaming headset, the Oculus Rift, and foreshadows how many of the games played include real examples such as Job Simulator, Cooking Simulator, and Tram Simulator.
These games are usually made with a bit of a comedic flair, as the idea of technology made popular in the realms of science-fiction and fantasy being used to relive commonplace moments that already happen in one's daily life is definitely going to raise a few eyebrows. Even the world of 1999's Futurama displays how even the most fantastic feats in human technology will one day be seen as ordinary and standard, and virtual reality is no exception.
Smell-O-Scope
There are so many television shows and movies that have some of the best inventions that can only be dreamed of, and Futurama is of course no exception. The otherwordly inventions made by elderly mad scientist and Planet Express boss Professor Farnsworth include the What-If Machine, Parallel Universe Box, the Mind-Switcher, and of course, the Smell-O-Scope. Arguably the most iconic, and one of the few inventions that makes it past one episode, the astronomical power of Smell-O-Scope is designed to trace any smell in the entire universe.
Even more remarkable, it actually has found a place in our reality with the Nasal Ranger, which measures odor strength in the air. Although not nearly as strong as the Futurama device, as it can only detect smells in a limited range, the nasal ranger still shows just how blurred the lines between fact and fiction have become.
Voluntary Euthanasia
Futurama is no stranger to dark humor, a staple of comedy in the early 2000s, and there are many times when the show does hint at the more dystopian parts of the future. This includes when main characters Fry and Bender meet each other for the first time in a mass-produced, death box machine called a suicide booth. The idea of death and suicide becoming a capitalized industry is a bit harrowing, and the morbid ways one can choose to end it all are gruesome, to say the least.
Voluntary euthanasia, however, is a much safer and more humane act that is quickly becoming more legal in countries around the world. Countries such as Canada, the Netherlands, Australia, Colombia, and New Zealand have all made voluntary euthanasia legal in the past few years, and more legislation in other places may follow suit. Futurama may have predicted suicide becoming legal, but thankfully our future is not quite as dark. (Yet.)
Interactive Media
During an episode where the Planet Express crew goes to watch "All My Circuits: The Movie" starring robot actor Calculon, the screen freezes and asks the audience to choose two options for how a scene will play out; either Calculon will travel to his special effects warehouse to break up a laser gun battle, or stay in his office and complete his tedious paperwork. The cinema audience presses buttons to decide which scene will play next, and Calculon remains at his desk.
Interactive media has been a concept in media for a while, with 1967 Czech comedy 'Kinoautomat' more or less following the same idea as the Futurama joke with pressing buttons. Since then, interactive media such as Netflix's Black Mirror episode "Bandersnatch", the new trivia quiz show "Trivia Quest", and even slapstick cartoon "Cat Burglar" have become more and more popular, and are new additions to the ever-expanding interactive media mega-verse. Futurama's one-off joke has become a foreshadowing of the different ways media can be consumed in the 21st Century, and still holds up today.