Set in the year 3024, the story follows robot Bender as he enlists a group of schoolchildren to create a non-fungible token collection of himself. After a museum purchases the collection, the robot flees to Mexico while the other characters try to reclaim ownership of the set. But the technology thwarts them, with the schoolchildren explaining that only the museum has the code by which the art can be authenticated.
While NFTs are a familiar storyline among satirical TV shows, many critics panned this latest episode of Futurama, saying that the jokes are too old and the topic too stale. It’s been two years since NFTs were in the mainstream cultural consciousness after all. To the critics, the reminder of a time when NFTs were popular was not welcome.
This is not the first time the show has taken aim at Web3. In its first season on Hulu, the characters found themselves in debt to the Robot Mafia and journeyed to Crypto Country to mine bitcoin to pay off their debts. That episode, “How the West Was 1010001,” aired in 2023.
Degens on the social media platform X largely took the Futurama episode in stride, with some even saying that they would have bought a Bender NFT if the collection launched during the bull run. And, moreso, this is not the first time TV shows have satirized NFTs.
Nine months ago, The Simpsons aired a Halloween special that devoted part of its running time to NFTs. Like with Futurama, The Simpsons took specific aim at profile-picture NFTs, Bored Ape Yacht Club, and the tech. Critics viewed The Simpsons episode more favorably, although it did air at a time when NFTs were more relevant.
South Park has also satirized NFTs. In December 2021, it released an episode where the NFT craze had taken over the town, resulting in mayhem and chaos. The NFT community on X responded well to the episode with many believing that the inclusion in South Park meant that the technology was entering mainstream culture.
In general, the episodes have been in good fun and have captured the zany, enthusiastic vibes of the space, along with its occasional absurdity. An NFT skyrocketing in value overnight was not unusual during the bull market, and the shows have generally captured the mania surrounding these developments well.
Although the NFT market has struggled to recover its 2021-2022 glory, there are still memecoins, which are more PVP but have a similar enthusiasm surrounding them. Maybe that part of Web3 will become so big that it warrants inclusion in a show next.
