Warning: Spoilers ahead forFuturamaseason 12, episode 3, “The Temp.”
Summary
Futuramaseason 12 just quietly added to the story of a 23-year-old episode, but the decision has resulted in the show’s timeline making very little sense. The installment chosen to be expanded more than two decades after airing is widely regarded by many as one of thebestFuturamaepisodesof all time, making the move especially risky. While it leaves the events of the original intact, addressing the episode so long after it debuted - especially from a “present-day” perspective - does something very weird to the universe’s fictitious timeline.
The coreFuturamacasthas thankfully remained intact throughout the show’s various runs and cancelations, so everyone from the original episode is available to reprise their roles in the season 12 revisit of an existing story. The wonders of animated shows mean flashbacks are incredibly easy to achieve as there’s little consideration of aging characters or similar obstacles that need to be overcome. That being said, this ease ofrevisiting any point inFuturama’s timeline is part of what has created the issuein question.
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Futurama’s “Snoo Snoo” Episode Sequel Confirms The Events Of The Original Took Place 23 Years Ago
“Amazon Women in the Mood” first aired in 2001
Futuramabeing an animation as well as a sitcom doubles the chances of all the characters ending each episode in the same situation as when they started. As a result, it becomes difficult to gauge how much time has passed overall. However,Futuramaseason 12, episode 3,“The Temp,” openly confirms that the main story’s events take place 23 years afterFuturamaseason 3, episode 5, “Amazon Women in the Mood.” All the characters look and act the same in both episodes, which makes the sequel a little jarring to watch.
The passage of time inFuturamais generally quite linear. The in-universe year of each episode largely depends on when it first aired. For instance, “Amazon Women in Mood” debuted in 2001, and the year in the show is 3001. Similarly, it’s 3024 in “The Temp,” because it first aired in 2024. The thousand-year time gap betweenFuturamaand reality allows for a sense of continuity while also forgiving the presence of sci-fi tech and all the various alien beings. So, the confirmed 23-year gap between “Amazon Women in the Mood” and “The Temp” isn’t that surprising, all things considered.
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“The Temp” flashes back over 2 decades without Futurama’s world changing
Althoughtime does pass fairly normally in theFuturamauniverse, it’s also evident that the show’s present-day continues to last far longer than it should in reality. This is fine most of the time, as it’s nothing new in animated sitcoms. It lets more stories be told without having to worry about character lifespans and the general progression of life. Unfortunately, “The Temp” is one of the few occasions when focus is drawn to the temporal quirk.
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The paradox of the passage of time without any real consequences is an easy phenomenon to ignore and forgive when it’s done as gradually asFuturamaoften does. The issue with “The Temp” is that it flashes back 23 years without aging down any of the characters, which is when the problem becomes incredibly noticeable. Of course,it wouldn’t make any sense to make Fry and the gang look any youngerin theflashbacks to “Amazon Women in the Mood,“because they did just look the same. Instead, it’s one of those odd scenarios that just have to be accepted.
Farnsworth bids Fry farewell by saying, “Enjoy Amazonia!” This confirms Fry’s immediate return to the planet from “Amazon Women in the Mood” for a two-week vacation.
Futurama Has Already Proven That Time Can Pass Conventionally
Matt Groening’s sci-fi sitcom has included traditional flashbacks too
Futurama’s entire premise depends on time flowing traditionally. Without it, Fry would never have made it to the future in the first place. So, this is enough evidence that the time-jump quirk in “The Temp” doesn’t negate the fact that time isn’t completely disconnected from how it works in the real world. There is also more proof that is the case, and it comes during one ofFuturama’s many other flashbacks.Glimpses of the past aren’t just confined to seeing Fry’s familyin the 20th century, either - although these do contribute to the body of evidence.
The younger years of many otherFuturamacharacters have been shown throughout the show’s run, and when they have, they’ve appeared physically younger than the iteration with which the audience is most familiar.
The youngeryears of many otherFuturamacharacters have been shownthroughout the show’s run, and when they have, they’ve appeared physically younger than the iteration with which the audience is most familiar. As a result, the same confusing experience that happens in “The Temp” is prevented from happening. Again, it’s unavoidable that a sequel to “Amazon Women in the Mood” would cause such a temporal disparity, as 23 years is a significant amount of time, but it still makes the situation tricky to ignore.
Futuramahas also included more than one type of time travel device, which allows its users to traverse the timeline.
Matt Groening’s Biggest Animated Show Has Avoided This Problem
The Simpsons' flashbacks always abide by conventional rules
Futurama’s sporadic run on TV since 1999 is put to shame by another Matt Groening show,The Simpsons.Groening’s most-known project has been continually active since 1989- a decade beforeFuturama’s first season began. Despite having a much longer run thanFuturamayet boasting the same semi-frozen-in-time approach,The Simpsonshas managed to avoid temporal disparities. Of course,The Simpsonshas produced sequel episodes in its time, but the passage of time becomes a secondary concern to the fact that a character has returned, or some other scenario.
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IfThe Simpsonswere to flashback 21 years asFuturamadid in “The Temp,” the characters would be appropriately aged down - which is sometimes done inFuturamatoo, but the sci-fi show rarely revisits events from previous episodes so directly.The Simpsonsflashing back so far would result in many considerations, such as Bart, Lisa, and Maggie not being born, as well as Homer and Marge appearing much younger. In fact, with Homer and Marge’s marriage happening as a result of Bart’s conception, they wouldn’t have even tied the knot yet.
WhileFuturamahas managed its approach to time almost as well asThe Simpsons, “The Temp” is the former’s first major disparity.
So, whileFuturamahas managed its approach to time almost as well asThe Simpsons, “The Temp” is the former’s first major disparity. Annoyingly,Futuramadidn’t really need to revisit “Amazon Women in the Mood” for the story to work, which highlights the problem. Fry just needed to have been gone for a while at some point in the past, and by making a direct sequel to a 21-year-old episode, the show’s temporal formula unravels. On the other hand,Futurama’s status as an absurdist sci-fi show, rather than anything more serious, could be argued to make the misstep forgivable.
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Beauty and the Bug
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One is Silicon and the Other Gold
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Attack of the Clothes
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Futurama
Cast
Futurama is an animated science fiction series that follows Philip J. Fry, a pizza delivery boy from late-20th-century New York City. He is accidentally cryogenically frozen for a thousand years and becomes an employee at Planet Express, a delivery service in the retro-futuristic 31st century.
