Futurama Fans Agree That Every Joke Lands In This Iconic Parody Episode
Calling "Futurama" a funny show is like calling the sky blue – it's an undeniable fact. The brainchild of Matt Groening, the creator of "The Simpsons" and "Disenchantment," the show is renowned for its plethora of quotable characters, off-the-wall humor, and background gags that have become as in-grained into pop culture as the acclaimed show itself. Groening and his team not only implement their typical "Simpsons"-esque humor within "Futurama," but amp it up by taking a satirical approach to their world-building by predicting how current trends might evolve in the future, continuing to poke fun at modern-day customs in the process.
However, one style of humor that has always proven hit or miss with the series is that of parody. While there are some parody episodes such as Season 7's "Naturama" that have received good reviews, others such as Season 10's "Saturday Morning Fun Pit" have not been as warmly received. However, there's always an exception to the rule, and in the case of "Futurama" parody episodes, there's one that many fans and critics agree comes out on top.
Law & Oracle doesn't miss a beat
Season 6, Episode 16 of "Futurama," titled "Law & Oracle," sees Philip J. Fry (Billy West) quit the Planet Express delivery crew to become a police officer. In doing so, he learns about a dastardly crime that Bender will be pulling off and tries stopping it from happening. Packed to the brim with pop culture references from the likes of "Police Academy," "Avatar," "Minority Report," and "Tron," just to name a few, the episode manages to balance out its grab bag of film and TV show tributes to gut-busting effect. It remains one of the most beloved parody episodes of the show as a result, with Den of Geek, for one, calling it one of the strongest episodes in some time, even despite the numerous references.
Fans of the show have similarly shown love towards this fresh and hilarious episode. On a thread created by u/ashthundercrow asking what are fans' favorite sight gags within "Futurama," u/TheHumanPickleRick pointed to the clever gag from "Law & Oracle" where a couple walks in front of a police station that has their wanted photos in the window. This brought upon a barrage of fan responses commenting on the great quality of the episode. u/Ashthundercrow called it " ... one of my all-time favorites. Every joke lands like a B-52." Similarly, u/Dr_M4ntis declared it to be one of the show's best-written episodes.
Others couldn't help but quote their favorite moments from "Oracle," such as u/ericks87, who brought up the hilarious Schrodinger's cat joke, u/USS_Barack_Obama, who mentioned Fry's no-pants bit, and u/lovewasbetter, who talked about the "Police Academy" reference at the start of Fry's training. It goes to show that in the right hands, parody episodes can work for any sitcom, no matter how far in the future.