The Premise
Matt Groening and David X. Cohen's 1999 sci-fi comedy about a pizza delivery boy cryogenically frozen into the year 3000, revived yet again on Hulu after previous resurrections at Comedy Central and streaming. The original voice cast is all here: Billy West as Fry, Farnsworth, Zoidberg and half the crowd scenes, Katey Sagal as Leela, John DiMaggio as Bender, Tress MacNeille and Maurice LaMarche filling in the rest of the universe. Season 13 is on the platform now, with a fresh batch that landed in August, and Hulu has already renewed for two more seasons.
The Case For
The voice cast has been doing these characters for close to thirty years and it shows — West's Fry still lands the dumb sincerity, DiMaggio's Bender is unchanged in the best way, and Sagal keeps Leela the emotional center whenever the show remembers it needs one. Season 13 pulled a 100% on Rotten Tomatoes because Cohen's writers' room finally stopped white-knuckling the revival. The show stopped chasing the news cycle and got back to what it always did well: a workplace comedy in a stupid, thought-through future, where a bit about phone addiction becomes a bit about a specific alien species and a specific piece of Farnsworth junk science. When it hits, it hits the same brainy-dumb sweet spot it did in 2001.
The Case Against
The current batch is softer. The Hollywood Reporter called it "acceptably amusing," which is the review no revival wants. When the writers reach for a topical target — crypto scammers, pop stars, whatever's trending the week they broke the story — the jokes calcify by the time the animation ships. The plots often feel like the B-story got promoted. And there's a fan-service reflex where every fifth beat is a callback to a character or planet you liked twenty years ago, which is comforting the first time and a crutch the fourth.
Who It's For, Who'll Bounce
If you already love Futurama, this is Futurama, and you'll be fine watching it while you cook dinner. If you're coming to it new in 2026, start with the original run or the Comedy Central years — the current stuff assumes you know why Zoidberg being sad is funny. Fans of The Simpsons' current era, late-period Bob's Burgers, or Rick and Morty when it's coasting will recognize the energy. Anyone who wants sci-fi comedy with actual teeth right now should go watch Scavengers Reign or rewatch Mission to Zyxx.
The Ruling
BACKGROUND TV is the honest call. The craft is competent — the animation is clean, the cast is locked in, the scripts are professionally structured half-hours that resolve. What's missing is the density. Peak Futurama packed three good jokes into every establishing shot and had a real emotional payload hiding under the Bender antics. This version paces slower, telegraphs more, and lets premises do the work punchlines used to. It's not preachy and it's not trying to be A Statement, which is to its credit — when the writing dates itself, it's because someone chased a trending topic, not because they were trying to sermonize. It's an old comfort show being made by pros who still care. Put it on. Don't cancel plans for it.
Sources: