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Futurama has been one of the smartest and funniest TV shows for so long, it’s managed to get canceled and brought back several times. It’s easy to see why: Every single episode is jam-packed with jokes, and those jokes range from the incredibly stupid to jokes based on science that about four people in the world understand (and they all work in the Futurama writer’s room, apparently). Its bent vision of the future of the universe is always a delightfully deranged adventure, and if you’re looking to bring a little more of that vibe into your life (and you’ve already binged the hilarious TV shows in that category), you should absolutely watch Idiocracy immediately.
Why you should watch Idiocracy after Futurama
Idiocracy and Futurama share a fundamental premise: A man of average intelligence is frozen, wakes up in the far future, and has adventures. In Futurama, Philip J. Fry (Billy West) fits right in with the ludicrous sci-fi universe he finds himself in; but in Idiocracy, Soldier Joe Bauers (Luke Wilson) emerges from hibernation five centuries later to discover that humanity has regressed so drastically he is now the smartest man on Earth—by a long shot. And if you’re thinking that Futurama played around very specifically with that premise, you’d be right—in season 3, episode 7, “The Day the Earth Stood Stupid,” floating alien brains use a beam of energy to turn humanity stupid—but the beam doesn’t affect Fry, because—stay with me here—he is his own grandfather and thus lacks a crucial “delta wave” in his brain function, leaving him briefly the smartest human on the planet.
Idiocracy is more a tightly focused satire than Futurama, using its premise to mock modern problems and behaviors, but it’s very much on the same wavelength as the show. Just like the show, Idiocracy has loads of hilarious jokes about consumerism and how we’re all manipulated by advertising and marketing tricks, and the film is populated by the kinds of ridiculous characters fans of the show will recognize and love—like Dwayne Elizondo Mountain Dew Herbert Camacho (Terry Crews), the deeply stupid and incredibly violent President of the United States (whose hair is a character unto itself in this movie).
Like Fry often does, Joe finds himself responsible for saving the day despite being, well, pretty average in most ways. Exasperated by the dumbness all around him (this is a future America where the death penalty involves monster truck demolition derbies, the Supreme Court has been renamed the Extreme Court, and an energy drink called Brawndo is used for literally everything from medicine to crop irrigation), Joe plods along, doing his best, and (again, just like Fry) eventually scores a win.
For fans of Futurama, there’s no better choice for movie night. Rent Idiocracy on Prime Video.
More movies that fans of Futurama should watch
Need more to watch? The obvious choice would be the actual Futurama films that were released—Bender’s Big Score (2007), The Beast with a Billion Backs (2008), Bender’s Game (2008), and Into the Wild Green Yonder (2009). You can find them on Hulu as part of their Futurama collection, but the movies have been cut into episode-length slices. You can also buy each movie individually on Prime Video.
But if you’ve already watched the Futurama movies (and you probably have), here are a few more movies that aren’t Futurama but offer a similarly wacky sci-fi experience.
Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure (1989)
As a sci-fi series, Futurama has played around with actual time travel several times, so Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure is the perfect movie for fans of the show. In San Dimas, California, in 1989, Bill Preston (Alex Winter) and Ted Logan (Keanu Reeves) are slacker high school students in danger of failing history—which would have dire consequences for the rather utopian future of humanity. A man named Rufus (George Carlin) is sent back in time to help by giving them access to a time machine—and hilarious shenanigans ensue. Stream Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure on Tubi or rent it on Prime Video.
Spaceballs (1987)
Futurama’s writers love a good movie parody—they’ve hit Willy Wonka, Armageddon, Animal House, and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest among many others. So one of the best parodies of one of our most cherished sci-fi franchises is the perfect follow-up to the show. It’s a Mel Brooks joint, so obviously this send-up of all things Star Wars (original trilogy only) can lean into the juvenile side, but it remains a demented takedown of a foundational science fiction universe. Plus, the long-awaited sequel is due in 2027, so a refresher is in order. Stream Spaceballs on Fubo or rent it on Prime Video.
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (2005)
In a lot of ways, The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy crawled so Futurama could walk. While this film, based on Douglas Adams’ original book, isn’t as pop-culture focused as Futurama, it has the same spirit of dizzy sci-fi craziness, from poetry as a torture device to an Infinite Improbability Drive that warps and bends reality every time it’s used. There are bizarre aliens, smart observations about the nature of our existence, and a rumination on the fundamental importance of towels. Rent The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy on Prime Video.
WALL-E (2008)
Futurama is funny, but it’s also very sweet-natured—Philip J. Fry may not be the brightest guy, but he means well, and the Planet Express crew almost always does the right thing. WALL-E has that same spirit while also hilariously lampooning modern life, giving us both an adorable, lonely robot marooned on an environmentally ruined Earth and a vision of humanity’s very fleshy, lazy, and kind of dumb future if we don’t change our ways. Stream WALL-E on Disney+ or rent it on Prime Video.
Megamind (2010)
If you love the rapid-fire gags in Futurama and enjoy the absurdity of wildly impractical technology, you’ll love Megamind. A parody of superhero stories, the film follows two alien babies who are sent ot Earth, Superman-style, when their worlds are destroyed. One becomes arch-villain Megamind (Will Ferrell), the other hero Metro Man (Brad Pitt), who battle each other until Megamind finally gets the drop on his rival, killing Metro Man—and deleting all meaning from his life in the process. With stuff like dehydration guns and realistic holographic disguises, Megamind riffs on sci-fi tropes in ways that Futurama fans will love. Stream Megamind on Peacock or rent it on Prime Video.
This articles is written by : Nermeen Nabil Khear Abdelmalak
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