It feels a little silly to review Futurama at this point—the show aired its first episode in 1999 and survived multiple cancellations and revivals before, after a 10-year absence, finding a new home on Hulu in 2023. But season 14 is here, and season 13 was such a notably standout installment that we were curious to see if that trend would continue.
The answer is “sort of.” The six episodes (of 10) shared with critics provide that reliable Futurama mix of goofy entertainment and topical satire. But of the six, none quite reach the heights of last season’s Pacific Rim-inspired storyline pitting a giant Bender against a suspiciously familiar creature named “Godzooka,” that “PizzaGate” riff, or the near-perfect journey of futility in the season finale, “The White Hole.” We mention Futurama’s recent past also because several of season 14’s episodes include elements from the Hulu era, including Planet Express-adjacent family members like Hermes’ father, Bender’s grandmother, and Kif and Amy’s youngest son, Newt. However, there are also some old-school references; you always know Mom is going to pop up eventually. Mostly, though, season 14 focuses on the core cast, with episodes structured around subjects very contemporaneous to 2026 filtered through a far-future lens, with an added dose of sci-fi ridiculousness. This season’s crosshairs find lab-grown meat, scammers and catfishers, politicians determined to stay in office despite term limits, the cruel treatment of lab animals, and Ticketmaster, to name a few.
