Which episode of Futurama is the funniest? Top 10 ranked

Futurama is a show about Philip J. Fry, a pizza delivery guy, who accidentally gets cryogenically frozen and wakes up a thousand years in the future. It is basically everyone’s fantasy. Think about it: every once in a while, everyone wants to escape their current life and wake up somewhere cool, fun, and maybe full of robot best friends?

The series was created by Matt Groening (the other creator of The Simpsons), and is a perfect cocktail of science fiction, rib-tickling humor, social satire, and surprisingly emotional storytelling. Futurama is one of those shows that can sneak up on you. It may start slow, but it will eventually be in your top 10 TV shows list.

At first, you will think that you’re just going to watch some silly futuristic sci-fi comedy with a talking lobster and a robot that drinks more alcohol than Tyrion Lannister. Then suddenly, a few episodes in, you’re trying to catch your breath while laughing at jokes about quantum physics, bureaucracy, or the mating rituals of Decapodians.

Disclaimer - This article contains the opinion of the author. Reader's discretion is advised.

Top 10 funniest Futurama episodes ranked.

Futurama is a cocktail of sharp humor and tear-jerker episodes, and it does an amazing job at entertaining the audience with both sides. However, its real magic lies in the humor; you may be watching it for the twelfth time and still laughing out loud on hearing "I'll build my own theme park! With blackjack! And h**kers!"

So, which is the funniest Futurama episode? It's hard to pick just one, so instead, here is a list of the top 10 episodes. These are ranked based on which one will make you spit out water, to choking on saliva, to forgetting to breathe. The last one is the best.

10) A Fishful of Dollars (Season 1, Episode 6)

It is an early Futurama episode showcasing one of the best depictions of consumerism, skillfully shown with a mix of silliness and nonsense. Fry discovers that his 20th-century bank account has compounded interest and made him a billionaire. So, what does that mean? Shopping spree.

Fry decides to spend his newly acquired fortune on anchovies, Ted Danson skeletons, and things nobody in the year 3000 understands. After being a nobody for a thousand years, it was finally his time to shine. The highlight of the episode is his feud with Mom, which snowballs into a proper corporate battle over pizza toppings.

9) The Day the Earth Stood Stupid (Season 3, Episode 7)

In this episode, Earth is invaded by floating brains who aim to make everyone stupid. Their plan works on everyone, except Fry, because he is already stupid. This makes him immune to their attack, and so he becomes the unlikely hero who saves the day, with pure chaos, of course.

It was a time when Fry's stupidity finally paid off, and it didn't require any hard skills or intellect; he just had to be himself. Watching Fry outwit the floating brains is the star of the episode, but the subplot involving Nibbler is also a treat to watch.

8) A Clone of My Own (Season 2, Episode 10)

The episode begins with Professor Farnsworth realizing that he is too old to run Planet Express and thus creates a clone, an insufferable know-it-all kid named Cubert. It is one of those episodes where humor comes from skewering itself, and it has loads of Farnsworth lines like "Good news, everyone!"

It's fun to see Cubert explain how the tech on the show doesn't make sense, and the crew's shared annoyed looks whenever he does that.

7) Spanish Fry (Season 4, Episode 17)

In this hilariously chaotic episode, the gang goes camping, and Fry gets abducted by aliens. In a bizarre twist, he wakes up and is horrified to discover that his nose is missing. It turns out that the aliens have a habit of collecting human noses as prizes.

Just when you would think that the plot couldn't get any funnier, mayhem ensues when a bidding war over the severed nose begins. As all of this is boiling over, Zapp Brannigan is standing tall with his ignorance-filled arrogance.

6) Anthology of Interest I (Season 2, Episode 16)

The “What If Machine” allows people to explore bizarre alternate realities, and the results were three mini-episodes of utter chaos and madness. Anthology episodes are always mad and give writers a chance to let their wildest imaginations let loose, and this episode does exactly that. Writers let their pens flow, and the result was comedy gold.

Bender becomes a giant robot who loves destroying cities. Leela’s arc isn’t any different, as she also lets her inner devil out and goes on a violent rampage, and Fry lives in a video game world. The Pac-Man funeral alone is worth the price of admission.

5) Where No Fan Has Gone Before (Season 4, Episode 11)

There are many great Star Trek parodies made on screen by various shows, and one of them is Futurama. It is the ultimate nerd crossover with the crew trying to track down the forbidden Star Trek cast, only to realize that they are trapped by a fanboy energy being who is playing with them like action figures.

The episode features voices from the original Star Trek cast, including William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, and it is a riot. There are some brilliant scenes with Fry faulting his encyclopedic Star Trek knowledge and the cast poking fun at their own legacy. Besides being comedy gold, the episode subtly paid homage to one of the greatest sci-fi series of all time.

4) Godfellas (Season 3, Episode 20)

This episode gives viewers the best of both worlds; besides being utterly funny, it also has a deep and philosophical message. It is peak Bender humor where he finds himself drifting through space, doing what he does best, shouting insults, but this time at poor meteors.

He eventually becomes the god of tiny aliens living on him. His tenure as an alien god soon spirals into disaster and meets a grim ending filled with many snarky jokes.

3) Brannigan, Begin Again (Season 2, Episode 2)

Zapp Brannigan is the Homer Simpson of this show, and you will be reminded of it multiple times during the episode. Every time Brannigan appears in a Futurama episode, odds are it’s hilarious, but this one is the crown jewel of Brannigan appearances. In this chaotic episode, he accidentally blows up the DOOP headquarters, resulting in his court-martial.

This prompts him to join Planet Express as a crew member. Watching Leela forced to take orders from him throughout the episode is comedy gold, and what makes the episode one of the funniest is his utter incompetence at literally everything.

2) War Is The H-Word (Season 2, Episode 17)

How far would you go to get a discount on an item? Surely won’t join the army, at least not if your name is Fry or Bender. In this episode, the roommates join the army just to get a discount on gum. Their quest for a discount spirals out of control when they are shipped off to war under Zapp Brannigan.

His strategy of war includes sending waves of soldiers until the enemy’s killbots reach their kill limits. If chaos were an episode, it would be this one. Madness is everywhere, and jokes fly at machine-gun pace. Bender’s heroic malfunction in battle makes this one of the funniest Futurama episodes.

1) Roswell That Ends Well (Season 4, Episode 1)

This time travel romp isn’t just one of Futurama’s best episodes; it’s considered one of the funniest in TV history. The crew accidentally travels back to 1947 Roswell, New Mexico, and accidentally participates in the Roswell incident.

Zoidberg is dissected by scientists, Bender’s body gets stolen by the military, and just when you think the plot can’t get any crazier, Fry becomes his own grandfather in one of the boldest jokes ever pulled off on television.

The part about the episode is that every character gets their moment to shine. When the writing is sharp and the comedy sets a benchmark, the episode is bound to receive an Emmy for Outstanding Animated Program (Programming Less Than One Hour).

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Futurama isn't just a great sci-fi animated series; if humor were a weapon, then it would be a weapon of mass destruction. For people who think it is just another nonsensical animated show, they must know that Futurama includes satirical swipes at wars, consumerism, and blends it with a touch of nonsense to make a perfect cocktail of comedy.