Warning: Contains SPOILERS for Futurama season 12, episode 1!
Summary
Futuramais known for making niche scientific jokes, but theFuturamaseason 12 premiere has one obscure gag that requires viewers to understand the history of this 88-year-old invention.Futuramais back for season 12, with thePlanet Express crewkicking off a new batch of adventures with a Bender-centric storyline. Although most ofFuturama’s obscure jokes are smaller details,Futuramaseason 12 puts an interesting spin on things by putting this old technology at the forefront of the episode.
Futuramaseason 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
Futuramaseason 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 computerthat 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.
ThroughoutFuturamaseason 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
Futuramaseason 12 using the Turing Machine joke so heavily is a good sign, as it continues the show’s best trend. Since the very beginning,Futuramahas 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.
Futuramaseason 12 will consist of 10 episodes.
Futuramacentering 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.Futuramaseason 12’s Turing Machine story proves that it is off to a great start, with this trend hopefully continuing into the future.
Futurama
Cast
Futurama is an animated science fiction series that follows Philip J. Fry, a pizza delivery boy from late-20th-century New York City. He is accidentally cryogenically frozen for a thousand years and becomes an employee at Planet Express, a delivery service in the retro-futuristic 31st century.
