The Title Of Futurama Was Almost Completely Different
At this point, the legacy of "Futurama" is set. It's been over 20 years since Fox debuted the irreverent animated sci-fi series, and so much about it feels the same as it did when it first came out in 1999. True, it has spent much of that time off the air, but that still leaves seven seasons where the show's animation style, voice actors, and even the opening title sequence stayed the same. What's more, fans don't really expect any of these things to change when Hulu revives the series for the umpteenth time. When news broke that Bender's voice actor, John DiMaggio, initially refused to rejoin the cast for the latest revival, "Futurama" fans caused a major stir on social media until the actor changed his mind.
Considering how resistant fans are to change when it comes to "Futurama," it's hard to imagine that the show could be any different. Before it came out, however, there wasn't exactly a fandom to gatekeep any oddball creative decisions. The show could've gone off in any direction, and it almost did. It may seem small, but once upon a time, the title for "Futurama" was set to be something almost completely different.
What happens when Futurama loses the Future?
One of the best things about the title of "Futurama" is that it tells you some critical information about the series right off the bat. Immediately upon hearing the name, someone can deduce that "Futurama" is probably a science fiction series set in the future. You don't exactly need to be The Professor to figure that out. For a time, however, the show's creators had workshopped other title ideas, ones that made the show's subject matter far less obvious. In the DVD commentary for Season 1 Episode 5, "Fear of a Bot Planet," series creator Matt Groening revealed some of those original alternate title ideas (via The InfoSphere).
"There was a long list of possible names, the only two I remember, which were resoundly rejected by everyone concerned with it; 'Doomsville' was my number one choice. And my number two choice — and I don't even know why I thought this was a good idea for a name — somehow, 'Aloha, Mars.'"
In retrospect, Groening and his team probably had the right idea ditching those two titles. While Mars isn't an uncommon setting for the series, and doom often seems to be right around the corner, neither one strikes at the heart of "Futurama" like, well, "Futurama." Maybe if the show had been about Amy and her wealthy Martian family, or The Professor making doomsday machines, these would have been better titles.