Futurama begins with a single fixed point in time: 11:59 PM on 31 December 1999, the last minute of the twentieth century, when Philip J. Fry stumbles backward into a cryogenic tube and is accidentally frozen for exactly one thousand years. Everything that follows is a consequence of that moment. Fry awakens in New New York on 31 December 2999, a city built on top of the ruins of the old one, and finds himself in a world that is simultaneously familiar in its human concerns and completely alien in its specifics.
The 31st century of Futurama is a densely populated universe. Earth has long since made contact with dozens of alien civilisations, established a unified planetary government, and developed technologies ranging from suicide booths to smell-o-vision to faster-than-light delivery spacecraft. The dominant corporation, MomCorp, manufactures most of the robots that run the planet's infrastructure and has the political influence to match its market share. Against this backdrop, the crew of Planet Express, a small and chronically underfunded interstellar delivery company owned by Fry's enormously old descendant Professor Farnsworth, navigate the delivery business and the wider universe with varying degrees of competence.
The timeline spans from Fry's freezing in 1999 through the original four-season Fox run, the four direct-to-DVD films, two further seasons on Comedy Central, and the 2023 Hulu revival that advances the in-universe year to approximately 3023. Futurama's continuity is deliberately loose in places, the show has never been above contradicting itself for a good joke, but the major milestone events recorded here follow the established chronology as consistently as the series allows.
Philip J. Fry, a pizza delivery boy in New York City, is accidentally knocked into a cryogenic tube at Applied Cryogenics at 11:59 PM on New Year's Eve 1999. The pod seals and the timer sets itself for one thousand years.
Open record →At some point in the twenty-third century, Earth's nations unify under a single democratic government. New New York is established as the capital. The specifics of how this transition occurred are not covered in the series, but its consequences shape every political institution Fry encounters in the 31st century.
Open record →Earth establishes contact with the Omicronians, a large and aggressive alien species with a particular cultural investment in television programming from the late twentieth century. The relationship between the two civilisations is best described as uneasy.
Open record →Carol Miller, known universally as Mom, founds MomCorp and builds it into the dominant technology corporation on Earth. The company manufactures the majority of the planet's robots and has accumulated political power to match its commercial reach.
Open record →Professor Hubert J. Farnsworth establishes Planet Express as an interstellar delivery company. The Professor is at this point already extraordinarily old. The company operates with a skeleton crew, a secondhand spacecraft, and a succession of dangerous delivery routes that its insurance provider would prefer not to know about.
Open record →Fry's cryogenic pod completes its thousand-year cycle and opens on the last day of the thirtieth century. He emerges into New New York, meets Turanga Leela and Bender Bending Rodriguez, and ends up employed at Planet Express within the first twenty-four hours.
Open record →The core crew assembles and Planet Express resumes active deliveries. The first mission takes the crew to the Moon, which by the year 3000 has been developed into a theme park. The journey establishes the format that the series will follow for the next decade of in-universe time.
Open record →Mom deploys an army of robots using a remote control capable of overriding their behavioural inhibitors. The attempted takeover of Earth represents the first major escalation of her long-running campaign against the interests of everyone who is not Mom.
Open record →A robot uprising briefly succeeds, with Bender finding himself in an unexpected leadership position. The episode addresses the rebellion with the level of philosophical rigour appropriate to a show that also features a character whose default setting is theft.
Open record →Fry's pet, Nibbler, is revealed to be a member of an ancient and highly intelligent alien species. His proximity to Fry is not accidental. The revelation connects Fry's accidental freezing in 1999 to a conflict that has been ongoing for billions of years.
Open record →Nudist alien scammers take over the Planet Express company and discover a time travel code tattooed on Fry's body. The resulting cascade of time travel paradoxes produces multiple versions of events that the series treats as simultaneously canonical.
Open record →A rift in the fabric of space opens following the time travel events of the previous film. On the other side of the rift is a parallel universe and an entity whose relationship with humanity takes an unexpected form.
Open record →Bender develops an obsession with fantasy role-playing games and the crew find themselves drawn into a medieval fantasy world that exists inside his imagination. Meanwhile, in the real world, a crisis involving dark matter and MomCorp is escalating.
Open record →The crew become involved in a conflict over a vast region of space earmarked for development. Fry develops unexpected psychic abilities. The film serves as a finale for the original run of the series and concludes several long-running storylines.
Open record →Planet Express resumes operations following the events of the fourth film. The Comedy Central seasons continue the established timeline from approximately 3010 onward, adding new crew members and revisiting ongoing storylines including the relationship between Fry and Leela.
Open record →After years of near-misses and parallel-universe complications, Fry and Leela establish a relationship. The moment is treated with the appropriate combination of sincerity and immediate comic deflation that defines the show's approach to its own emotional content.
Open record →The 2023 Hulu revival advances the in-universe timeline to approximately 3023, with Fry and Leela now an established couple and Bender rebuilt following some intervening difficulties. The new episodes introduce updated versions of the show's ongoing themes for a different era.
Open record →Q: What year is Futurama set in?
Futurama is primarily set in the 31st century, beginning on 31 December 2999. Most of the series takes place between 3000 and 3013, with the four films covering 3004 to 3009. The 2023 Hulu revival advances the timeline to approximately 3023.
Q: When does Fry get frozen in Futurama?
Fry is accidentally frozen at 11:59 PM on 31 December 1999, the last minute of the twentieth century. He awakens exactly 1,000 years later on 31 December 2999 in New New York.
Q: What is the Futurama timeline in order?
Fry frozen on 31 December 1999 → Earth unified government (approx. 2208) → MomCorp founded (approx. 2900) → Planet Express founded (approx. 2975) → Fry awakens on 31 December 2999 → first Moon delivery (3000) → MomCorp takeover attempt (3000) → robot uprising (3001) → Nibbler reveals Fry's importance (3002) → Bender's Big Score (3004) → Beast with a Billion Backs (3005) → Bender's Game (3007) → Into the Wild Green Yonder (3009) → Comedy Central revival (3010) → Fry and Leela together (3012) → Hulu revival (3023).