It's been more than seven years since Futurama ended, and its influence on the sci-fi comedy game can still be felt in inventive, genre-bending works like Rick and Morty or Final Space. Taking the future from the cold, dystopian hands of more cynical writers and giving it the kind of heart and grit that's likely more true to form, Futurama was the sci-fi series for the slackers, nerds, and rejects of the world, i.e. people who are fans of science fiction.
While that same heart stayed the same over the years, Futurama did go through a few evolutions as it went on. Trusting the intelligence of their viewers, the creators of Futurama weren't afraid to change the series as it went on, giving substance to the journeys of each of its characters and honoring the endless progression that goes with the future.
It Changed Networks
One of the most obvious changes to Futurama was its change in territory. After sustaining cancellation from Fox, Futurama spent a few years off the air before finding refuge again in Comedy Central. Starting off with a few, made-for-DVD movies, Futurama would eventually see broadcast time again in 2010, going on to release another four seasons before ending on better terms than it did on Fox.
Along with the change in network, Futurama itself noticeably became more silly yet inventive, going as far as to create one of its most critically acclaimed and scientifically sound episodes to date, "The Prisoner of Benda."
They Start Doing Fewer Deliveries
Before even heading over to Comedy Central, Futurama began to change its formula towards its later years on Fox. Originally, the Planet Express crew was a delivery company whose various clients would be the jumping-off points for their adventures. While they're still a delivery company in name, the crew noticeably did fewer and fewer deliveries as the story went on.
Planet Express's accountant, Hermes Conrad, even slyly commented, "Hey, didn't we used to be a delivery company?" as the crew excitedly headed off to solve a centuries-long mystery about Leonardo Da Vinci.
Nibbler Becomes Intelligent
While Nibbler first debuted, he was just Leela's simple yet insatiably voracious pet. However, this would turn out to be a façade (at the least the part about being simple), as he used his time with Leela to get close to Fry so as to prepare him for to take on the Brain Spawn. Nibbler is, in fact, part of a hyper-intelligent, alien race that, while eloquent, were too fragile and cute to take them on themselves.
Nibbler was even revealed to be the one who sent Fry into the future in the first place, giving Fry the very nudge that got him cryogenically frozen. After saving the world a couple of times from the Brain Spawn, Nibbler eventually just stayed smart and articulate though he did maintain a few, pet like qualities.
Leela Meets Her Parents
One of the most engaging stories of the early series was Turanga Leela's origins. When she first appeared, she was quick to reveal that she was the only cyclops that she was aware of and that she was an alien. This would hint at a greater story where she would look for her real people and parents while exploring the stars in Planet Express. Little did she know that she was searching in all of the wrong places.
After getting kidnapped due to Bender's negligent, waste disposal, Leela discovered that her parents weren't aliens but in fact sewer mutants who gave her up so that she could have a better life. She began spending more time with them after this and would go on to even liberate New New York's mutant society from the sewers.
Nixon Becomes President (Again)
While Nixon's head may be considered a classic villain upon the series' end, there was a time in the series that didn't know his wrath. It wouldn't be until the episode "A Head in the Polls" that he'd begin betraying and terrorizing the Earth in the way that fans know and love today.
A symbol of the cyclical, corrupt nature of politics, Nixon ruled the Earth with an iron...nose and was either at odds with the Planet Express crew or entrusting them with dangerous missions. Though the original never actually did this, it's also hard to imagine any incarnation of Richard Nixon that didn't constantly go, "Haroo!"
Kif And Amy Get Together
While Amy never had the same stakes or problems as the rest of Planet Express, she did have plenty of fun arcs with her romance with Zapp Brannigan's froggy aid, Kif Kroker. Initially meeting in "A Flight to Remember," likely as just a sight gag, the two would eventually develop a serious relationship. Kif would even get pregnant and have Amy's (technically Leela's) babies.
At the end of "Kif Gets Knocked Up A Notch," he and Amy would marry and become what his species calls "Fonfon Ru," though the legitimacy of that is joked about later in the series.
The Professor Invents Cubert
If fans pay close enough attention, they might notice the fact that the Professor, Hubert J. Farnsworth, is really old. Feeling the weight of his age, the Professor tries to protect his legacy by cloning himself in "A Clone of My Own." He'd go on to create Cubert, a near-perfect clone of his that seems to have spawned in his adolescent years.
While Cubert is a clone of the Professor, he was his own person and often acted independently of the professor, to the point that Huber just raised him as a son and not his counterpart.
Amy Becomes A Scientist
It's not often stated in the series, but Amy Wong was an intern under the Professor. She was a student of Mars University that was studying to become a scientist. With that premise running kind of thin at the tail end of the series, she would eventually graduate and earn her doctorate in "That Darn Katz!" after inventing a sustainable form of energy and saving the world from the wrath of cats.
Despite graduating, she stayed with Planet Express and took a job as the Professor's assistant. She even helped the Professor build his body swap machine in "The Prisoner of Benda."
Fry Got To Live His Original Life
Despite cheering about it in the pilot, Philip J. Fry did miss his life and family from the 20th Century. This would lead to some sad and nostalgic episodes, such as him lamenting his strained yet close relationship to his brother in "The Luck of the Fryish" or the loss of his dog in "Jurassic Bark." As sad as these episodes may have been, Futurama did give Fry an easy way to have the best of both worlds.
In "Bender's Big Score," Fry would get the chance to go back in time and live out his entire life once again like normal, though he'd eventually return to the future to be with Leela. While this wouldn't be the Fry that fans know and love, this means that Fry didn't leave as much of a gap in the past as the series led people to believe.
Fry And Leela Get Together
One of the biggest though surprisingly subtle changes is the fact that Fry and Leela actually start seeing each other on a regular basis. More so than actually exploring the galaxy and fighting aliens, the big story of Futurama's early years was Fry's attempts to romance Leela. He tried to write her a love letter in the stars, nearly killed himself finding the perfect candy heart, and even learned one of the universe's most complicated instruments to impress her.
It wouldn't be until Season 7 that the two would start seeing each other on a consistent basis, inspiring romantically tense episodes such as "The Late Philip J. Fry," "The Prisoner of Benda," "Overclockwise," and, of course, the series finale, "Meanwhile."