Futurama Season 12 Premiere’s Obscure Science Joke Requires Understanding This 88-Year-Old Invention’s History


Warning: Contains SPOILERS for Futurama season 12, episode 1!


Summary

  • Futurama season 12 premiere delves into Bender’s family history, highlighting an ancient technology link to real-world computer history.
  • Episode 1 explores Turing Machines, early computers by Alan Turing, inspiring the ancient stone robots in the storyline.
  • The use of the Turing Machine joke in season 12 echoes the show’s tradition of blending high-brow science jokes with low-brow humor.


Futurama is known for making niche scientific jokes, but the Futurama season 12 premiere has one obscure gag that requires viewers to understand the history of this 88-year-old invention. Futurama is back for season 12, with the Planet Express crew kicking off a new batch of adventures with a Bender-centric storyline. Although most of Futurama‘s obscure jokes are smaller details, Futurama season 12 puts an interesting spin on things by putting this old technology at the forefront of the episode.

Futurama season 12, episode 1, “The One Amigo” finally fleshes out the lore of one of the show’s most important characters: Bender. In the episode, Bender decides that he wants to learn more about his family, leading to him heading to Mexico to find the rest of the Rodriguezes. Upon arriving, however, Bender discovers a link to an ancient form of robotics, with this technology containing an interesting connection to real-world computer history.


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Futurama Season 12, Episode 1 Is All About Turing Machines

Bender Meets A Race Of Ancient Turing Machines

Futurama season 12, episode 1 doesn’t ever explicitly state it, but the story is all about Turing Machines. Created by and named after computing legend Alan Turing, a Turing Machine is an early form of computer that works by reading marks on a piece of tape that is fed through a machine. These symbols in various sequences are what allows the computer to perform functions like mathematical calculations, with this invention having a massive impact on future computers.


Throughout Futurama season 12, episode 1, ancient stone robots that function by reading various patterns of beads are featured, with these being inspired by the technology of Turing Machines. Bender even recreates a Turing Machine near the end of the episode to read some code, with this device reading “Maquina de Turing,” which translates to “Turing Machine.”

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Futurama Season 12’s Turing Joke Continues The Show’s Best Trend

The Obscure Science Jokes

Futurama season 12 using the Turing Machine joke so heavily is a good sign, as it continues the show’s best trend. Since the very beginning, Futurama has featured jokes that require a science degree to understand, with the team of highly-educated writers featuring obscure science references, niche historical nods, and codes that are nearly impossible to crack.

Futurama
season 12 will consist of 10 episodes.


Futurama centering its season 12 premiere entirely around an 88-year-old piece of computer history proves that the show is continuing this trend into the streaming era. Futurama‘s science jokes are one of the reasons that it excels past a lot of other adult animated comedies, as the high-brow science jokes combined with the low-brow gags creates a unique blend of humor. Futurama season 12’s Turing Machine story proves that it is off to a great start, with this trend hopefully continuing into the future.

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