Futuramahas continued to be one of the most iconic and prolific series in the realm of adult animation, with its ingenious blending of comedy and parody elements of sci-fi stories giving it a distinct niche among other adult animated series. Even as other adult animated sci-fi shows likeRick & MortyandFinal Spaceare introduced and make waves, they still deeply owe credit toFuturamafor popularizing the genre and concept for a generation.
Part of what has madeFuturamasuch an effective series is its iconic cast of quirky, offbeat characters, with few side characters being as memorable and legendary as Dr. Zoidberg, voiced byBilly West. An alien crustacean who works as the staff doctor for Planet Express, Zoidberg’s comedic unfamiliarity with human biology and awkward disconnects with the rest of the cast have made him one of the most iconic facets of the show over the years. The show has had a multitude of episodes dedicated to the zany adventures and quarrels of Zoidberg across its 25-year run.
10"The Prisoner of Benda"
Season 7, Episode 10
In one of the most classic, tried and true concepts for an animated series, “The Prisoner of Benda” isFuturama’s sci-fi take on the body swap premise, with its main cast swapping bodies and dealing with the repercussions. Through all the chaos and confusion surrounding the bodies, Fry and Zoidberg end up switching bodies, and Zoidberg gets to live a life of luxury with friends and an actual home. To make matters more chaotic, Zoidberg ends up attempting to foster a friendship with a Washbucket robot who is inhabited by the mind of Emperor Nikolai, a ruler of Robo-Hungary.
While the episode has a great deal of memorable and hilarious moments that come from its body swap premise,Zoidberg’s simple yet chaotic adventures with finally getting to live a normal life are easily a highlight of the episode. His conversations with Emperor Nikolai are comedy gold, as each of them have a strange disconnect from normal living conditions in completely different ways. As for Zoidberg’s physical body, Fry makes great use of it for another of the episode’s highlights, focusing on their relationship and how they can succeed no matter what bodies they inhabit.
9"The Silence of the Clamps"
Season 8, Episode 5
One of the few times when Zoidberg effectively proves his worth to the Planet Express crew during the later seasons of the show, “The Silence of the Clamps”, has his role challenged by a new member of the team. With Bender missing and being forced to go into witness relocation, Planet Express ends up hiding Clamps, a member of the Robot Mafia, who is disguised under the fake name Francis. While everyone else seems to immediately accept and enjoy the new employee, Zoidberg quickly gets fearful that Clamps’s clamp-hands will end up replacing his useful claw pincer hands.
Jealosy is a frequent aspect of Zoidberg’s character throughout the modern seasons of the show, with him often being jealous of the better attention and condition of his fellow workmates. “The Silence of the Clamps” is easilythe most notable usage of his jealousy to drive the plot, with his annoyance and similarities with Clamps unintentionally ending up being the pivotal key that saves the day and stops the Robot Mafia’s schemes. While Zoidberg doesn’t get many moments of heroism in the modern seasons, this episode is a notable detractor from the trend.
8"Xmas Story"
Season 2, Episode 8
The first Christmas episode of the series as well asone of the most iconic holiday episodes of all time, “Xmas Story” sees Fry experiencing the horrifying truth of Christmastime in the future. The truth is that for centuries, Christmas has been a time of fear and hiding, as a vicious robot Santa Claus was created and subsequently went haywire, believing almost everyone to be naughty and going on murder sprees every Christmas. This doesn’t stop Fry from attempting to do the best to enjoy Christmas, despite the circumstances.
While not playing a major part in the episode’s plot, Zoidberg easily getsone of his greatest moments, as well as one of the most iconic moments of the series, during the episode’s climax. As the robot Santa Claus is getting ready to murder the Planet Express crew for being naughty, he comedically adds that Zoidberg, in fact, has actually been nice, and gifts him a pogo stick for Christmas. On top of being a great gag, Zoidberg ends up using this pogo stick to save the day and stop Santa, further adding to the iconic nature of this moment and episode as a whole.
7"A Taste of Freedom"
Season 5, Episode 4
A consistent trend that has affected Zoidberg throughout the series is his frequent misunderstandings of human and Earth culture, with this being no more apparent than in ‘A Taste of Freedom’. In this 4th of July-themed episode, Zoidberg ends up running the Earth celebration of Freedom Day by eating a beloved Earth Flag in front of everyone at a massive celebration. This ends up putting Zoidberg on trial, sentencing him to death, and creating an all-out war between Earth and the crustacean people of Zoidberg’s home planet, Decapod 10.
‘A Taste of Freedom’ is a massive example ofjust how quickly the stakes can be raised in an episode ofFuturama, as Zoidberg’s comedic eating of a flag ends up resulting in a complete enslavement of the human race by Decapodians. While he gets into a lot of trouble during the episode, Zoidberg goes through a great personal development through his conflict between his two homes of Earth and Decapod 10, with him finally accepting and feeling accepted with Earth as his true home.
6"That’s Lobstertainment!"
Season 3, Episode 8
“That’s Lobstertainment!” sees Zoidberg having completely bombed at an attempt at stand-up comedy, and hoping to get some advice on how to improve his act, writes to his uncle, Harold Zoid, who was a famous Hollywood star. Harold ends up seeing this letter as an opportunity to restart his career, with him, Zoidberg, and the rest of the Planet Express crew traveling off to Hollywood in order to create a new feature film. However, the film they end up making isn’t a comedy at all, as Harold has his sights on directing a hard-hitting drama, despite his inexperience in the genre.
Zoidberg’s extended family is rarely touched upon throughout the series, yet the introduction of Harold Zoid and use of him to create a comedic, award circuit parodyworks well at building Zoidberg’s character. His relationship with his uncle is one that is sparse and small at the beginning, but as the duo garner an appreciation for one another as the episode goes on, it culminates into a truly sweet moment where Zoidberg gets his uncle to accept an award on stage.
5"Why Must I Be a Crustacean in Love"
Season 2, Episode 9
Zoidberg’s awkwardness and socially unaware qualities are one of the most defining aspects of the character, making “Why Must I Be a Crustacean in Love?”, one of his first attempts at finding love in the series, a standout comedic experience. The episode sees Zoidberg entering a physical frenzy after his species has entered its mating season, with him and the rest of the Planet Express crew traveling to Zoidberg’s home planet so he can get a mate. However, Zoidberg only ends up being rejected by the women he encounters, including his former crush, Edna, who he hatches a plan to somehow win back.
“Why Must I Be a Crustacean in Love” marks a turning point for Zoidberg as a character, as this isone of the first episodes of the series to place an extended focus on the characterand his crustacean heritage. We learn a great deal about the culture and heritage of the Decapodians in the episode, culminating in a great battle between Zoidberg and Fry after a misunderstanding had Zoidberg believe Fry was sleeping with Edna. This would only be the beginning of the series' ability to give a voice to the iconic crustacean and all of his zany antics.
4"Viva Mars Vegas"
Season 9, Episode 11
A rare look at what would happen if Zoidberg entered the limelight of riches and success, ‘Viva Mars Vegas’ is a hilarious and exciting power fantasy that sees Zoidberg for one moment on top of the world. The episode sees the Planet Express crew traveling to Mars to visit a famous Martian casino, and while initially not invited for his lack of funds, Zoidberg soon begins to live it up after $8 million lands in his dumpster. While initially successful at gambling, he ends up losing all of his riches at the casino, placing a target on his back from the original owners of the money, the Robot Mafia.
With just the simple change of having a notoriously poor character being given untold riches, ‘Viva Mars Vegas’ becomesan infinitely entertaining experience on behalf of Zoidberg’s wild and extravagant use of money. His time at the roulette table, where he transforms his $8 million into $10 billion before immediately losing it all, is one of the funniest moments from the modern seasons of the show, and is a testament to the timeless absurd antics of Zoidberg as a character.
3"Roswell that Ends Well"
Season 4, Episode 1
‘Roswell that Ends Well’ is widely considered to beone of the best episodes ofFuturama, and while it isn’t entirely focused on Zoidberg, he certainly has a major role and a great number of comedic moments. The episode sees a chaotic accident involving microwaving popcorn during a supernova and end up transporting the Planet Express crew back in time to 1947, crashing in Roswell, New Mexico. While the rest of the crew attempt to find the pieces to return home, Zoidberg is left behind and discovered by the U.S. Government as the legendary conspiracy theory alien that has been discovered.
Futurama has always done a terrific job of not only playing into the tropes and conventions of science fiction stories, but having a deep knowledge and usage of historical moments both in the past and present. The ingenious concept of having Zoidberg be the discovered Roswell alien is a hilarious parody and implementation of Futurama’s characters into our real world, and is just one aspect that makes this episode a true highlight.Zoidberg himself fully delivers in this episode, not being scared of being dissected by the government at all and treating the experience like a spa day.
2"The Tip of the Zoidberg"
Season 8, Episode 10
While Zoidberg has been a staple part of the Futurama cast since the beginning, it would take until ‘The Tip of the Zoidberg’ for fans to get the true answer behind why he was hired in the firstplace and his past with Professor Farnsworth. The episode sees Professor Farnsworth refusing to fire Zoidberg for his incompetence, telling a story of how they met on a dangerous mission to kill a yeti that got the professor possibly contracted hyper-malaria. In order to stay safe, the Professor hired Zoidberg afterward as the only person who could fix him if the symptoms began occuring.
‘The Tip of the Zoidberg’ does an effective and brilliant job of reintroducing Zoidberg into the flow and concepts of what we already knew about Farnsworth and his past, creating a nuanced element and value to their longstanding friendship. Even more interesting is the connection and alluded to the history between Zoidberg and series antagonist Mom, a character that he knew well enough to call by her first name, Carol. Even outside these deeper series implications, this episodefinally gives Zoidberg a moment of glory and seriousnessthat was severely lacking from modern seasons.
1"Stench and Stenchibility"
Season 10, Episode 12
The beauty that can come from a character like Zoidberg is that, even when the rest of the world and cast find themselves picking and belittling him, Zoidberg is still able to find love and happiness as shown in ‘Stench and Stenchibility’. The episode sees Zoidberg wallowing once again about his failure to find love, before seemingly finding a perfect match in flower merchant Marianne. While his other attempts at dates have failed due to Zoidberg’s inherent stench, Marianne’s lack of a sense of smell makes them perfect for each other, but when Marianne begins a nose transplant, Zoidberg is scared that she will leave like everyone else.
Futurama has a deep and continuous relationship with the themes and concepts of love, whether it be the on-again off-again relationship of Leela and Fry or the endless supply of familial and friendship bonds. The series is sometimes at its very best when it taps into the raw, unwavering feelings and emotions of love, with ‘Stench and Stenchibility’finally giving Zoidberg a beautiful heartwarming experience to call his own. It would be easy for any episode that introduced a one-off girlfriend to find an excuse to write them off by the end, but the fact that the duo stay together and in love in the end shows just how Futurama is consistently able to shatter barriers and go against the grain.
