Futurama earned its status as a beloved cult classic animated series the hard way. Its initial run on the Fox television network was hampered by inconsistent airing schedules, though it still boasted four terrific seasons that would cement its future success. It later enjoyed a stellar run in syndication before being brought back for new episodes not once, but at least three times. That includes its current run on Hulu, which will continue until 2026 after a decade-long hiatus. Few shows in television history can claim such resilience, beyond the generations of fans that have made its clever mockeries of science fiction popular.
Strangely, Futurama The multiple cancellations had an unwanted side effect that no one could have predicted at the beginning of the series. The show had not one, but multiple opportunities to formally wrap up its storylines, resulting in a series of “final” episodes that feel like a final farewell. They weren't, of course, but the show runners didn't know that at the time and took the opportunity to give their fans a proper conclusion. This can lead to a fair amount of confusion when viewed after the fact. Considering Futurama incredible 25-year run, means the show has brought in a lot of fans who hadn't seen it during its initial reruns. No wonder it leaves people wondering exactly how many endings Futurama had.
Futurama's first airing on Fox was chaotic

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Where can you watch Futurama?
Futurama has gone through 25 years of cancellations and reboots, but where can fans watch and stream this groundbreaking sci-fi parody series?
Futurama It aired thanks to the success of The Simpsonswhich became a monster hit for the Fox network and shares a co-creator with Futurama in Matt Groening. Unfortunately, Fox executives didn't have the same confidence in the new show that they had in its predecessor, which led to it bouncing around the schedule. Originally, it was planned to air immediately after The Simpsons in its Sunday night timeslot. However, this has run into problems with Fox's NFL coverage, which has sometimes been lengthy and has often led to Futurama to be cut off from time.
A Tuesday night slot didn’t work out well either, and the show ended up jumping back and forth between the two depending on the football season. Meanwhile, several episodes from Seasons 3 and 4 got lost in the shuffle. Fox had earmarked them for a fifth season of the series, but decided to pull the show entirely at the end of Season 4. Futurama was never formally canceled; Fox simply refused to fund additional episodes. The show went on permanent hiatus, despite its creators believing it had more stories to tell.
Futurama was never formally canceled; Fox simply refused to finance further episodes.
Luckily for Futurama fans, syndication saved the show and Cartoon Network began airing reruns in January 2003, a few months before the final episode aired on Fox in August. It was very successful as part of Adult Swim's programming, and because it aired multiple times a week, viewers were able to find it much more easily than they had on Fox. Ratings were high, and when the show's contract with Cartoon Network ended, it was picked up by Comedy Central starting in 2005. Futurama aired nightly on the new network, with equally strong ratings. In fact, it was never taken off the air, even after Fox stopped producing more episodes.
Futurama Direct-to-DVD Movies Turned Into Season 5 and More
Title |
Written by |
Directed by |
DVD Release |
First cable TV |
---|---|---|---|---|
Bender's Big Shot |
Ken Keeler and David X. Cohen |
Dwayne Carey Hill |
November 27, 2007 |
March 23, 2008 |
The Beast With A Billion Backs |
Erik Kaplan and David X. Cohen |
Peter Avanzino |
June 24, 2008 |
October 19, 2008 |
Bender's Game |
Eric Horsted, David X. Cohen, Michael Rowe, and Patric M. Verrone |
Dwayne Carey Hill |
November 4, 2008 |
April 26, 2009 |
In the wild green down there |
Ken Keeler and David X. Cohen |
Peter Avanzino |
February 24, 2009 |
August 30, 2009 |

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The ratings were so good that Comedy Central threw it away Futurama a lifeline that changed everything. A series of new Direct-to-DVD films would be produced, starting with Bender's Big Shot, released in late 2007. Three more films followed, each of which could be broken down into four half-hour episodes for later cable airing. The formula worked, and the films did well with both new and existing fans. The final DVD release was in February 2009, with a sequel on Comedy Central starting in August. This is where the first of the series' confusing endings begins to appear.
The showrunners were clearly frustrated that they couldn't finish Futurama properly on Fox, and they weren't about to waste the opportunity to wrap up the series with a Comedy Central twist. The last DVD out — In the wild green down there — was intended as the series finale. It ends with Fry and Leela finally admitting that they love each other, and they kiss just as the Planet Express ship flies into a wormhole. It gave fans a sense of closure, while also leaving the door open for more episodes in the future, which came surprisingly quickly.
The showrunners were clearly frustrated that they couldn't finish
Futurama
properly on Fox, and they weren't about to waste the opportunity to end the series with a touch of class on Comedy Central.
Again, Groenig and co-creator David X. Cohen have expressed a desire to continue, saying that the Futurama the crew still had a lot of life ahead of them. Comedy Central agreed, and another season began airing in June 2010, about a year after the “finale” of Wild green down there. The Planet Express crew was revived by one of Professor Farnsworth's devices and continued their adventures. The new series was ordered for 26 episodes, which were split into two 13-episode halves and effectively aired as two separate seasons between 2010 and 2011.
After that, a second final run of episodes was produced, again lasting 26 episodes and again split in half to be broadcast as two seasons in effect. They were billed as the series finale once again, and the series ended with “Meanwhile”, which aired on September 4, 2013. It was the fifth most-watched episode ever on Comedy Central. Needless to say, there was still an audience for the show.
Futurama is back on Hulu again

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Where can you watch Futurama?
Futurama has gone through 25 years of cancellations and reboots, but where can fans watch and stream this groundbreaking sci-fi parody series?
Just like before, another round of reruns continued Futurama in circulation despite no new episodes being produced. This included a long-running series on Netflix, which ended up being one of the streaming service's highest-rated offerings. Futurama left Netflix in 2017, but continued to stream on various platforms, gaining more fans along the way. Hulu responded with another round of new seasons, which began airing in 2023, a decade after the “final” episode aired on Comedy Central.
All of this has led to a huge amount of confusion over how many shoe finales there will be. New episodes are scheduled to air on Hulu through 2026, and possibly even longer if the streaming service decides to continue. Eventually, it will end again, and once again the producers will have a chance to provide a fitting finale to give fans closure. That would bring the series total to three: something more or less unprecedented in modern television. In fact, even when Futurama ends its run on Hulu, there's no guarantee another streaming service won't pick it up and deliver another round of episodes that demand another ending. The cycle is potentially infinite at this point.
Furthermore, The show's complicated production history makes it difficult to pinpoint exactly when the series “ended” at any given point.. The final batch of episodes aired out of order in some cases, coinciding with the “lost” episodes of seasons 3 and 4. This adds to decades of copious reruns, where episodes were watched out of order, making the question of when it ended a complete mess. Hulu currently splits the series into 12 seasons, including the one airing at the time of writing. Given this, it’s no surprise that any meaningful viewing of the series will encounter an episode meant to turn the lights off forever, only to find the characters starting over just one episode later.
In many ways, it's a badge of honor. Multiple endings are signs of how many times Futurama was canceled, only to come roaring back louder than ever. The right combination of elements kept it afloat, not the least of which was a loyal audience tuned into its unique brand of irreverent humor. Given that, it will no doubt take its multiple returns from the dead in stride when Hulu finally decides to pull it. To do otherwise would mean missing a golden opportunity, and we have long since learned to do better.
New episodes of Futurama air every Monday on Hulu.