139: Philip J. Fry Accidentally Kills His Gay Grandpa (But Saves the Universe)

“Roswell That Ends Well” (December 9, 2001)

Equal parts sitcom and sci-fi epic, Futurama has some deep lore, and at the core of one of its most important storylines — that Fry is genetically destined to save the universe — is the fact that he also accidentally kills his gay grandfather and impregnates his own grandmother. Which is a lot, we realize, but in this episode we try to explain why Futurama is great and why dead, gay Grandpa Enos is vital to the cosmology of the show.

If you like deep dives into Futurama, go throw money at the Talking Simpsons Patreon, where they’ve done whole bonus seasons about it.

What does it mean that Leela is “the other”?

If you want to listen to us discuss a far less good episode by the same writer, listen to “Marge Simpsons Is a Homophobe and a Transphobe,” about the Simpsons episode “There’s Something About Marrying.” It really sucks! Less critical is “Drew and Glen Discuss Instrumental Sitcom Themes.”

Bender’s connection to The Breakfast Club is sourced to this Mental Floss article, which sadly does not cite its sources.

Listen to Astonishing Legends breakdown of the Alien Autopsy hoax.

Listen to Smart Mouth’s episode about how World War II made American children eat like they were going to war.

Read about the history of Japanese hydrogen balloon bombs.

Read about how studying after a test can make you retroactively do better on it, time causality be damned.

No, microwaved water is not toxic and neither are microwaves.

And listen if you dare to Tom Arnold’s rendition of “I’m My Own Grandpa” from the movie The Stupids.

Episode artwork designed by Ian O’Phelan.