The Funniest ‘Good News Everyone’ Gags in ‘Futurama’
Some of the best TV comedies of all time have featured recurring bits. The Simpsons had Bart’s prank phone calls to Moe’s Tavern, Cheers had the bar shouting “Norm!” followed by a humorous quip to mask the character’s debilitating alcoholism and Futurama had Professor Farnsworth entering a room while declaring “Good news everyone…” followed by a statement that was frequently, in fact, not good news.
So to celebrate this running joke from TV’s greatest elderly nudist mad scientist, here are some of our favorite times Farnsworth declared, “Good news, everyone…” followed by…
One of the more ominous “good news, everyone” follow-ups came in the episode where the Planet Express crew visits the hostile robot planet Chapek 9 (which, confusingly, is not a planet run by former Disney CEO Bob Chapek).
‘ We were supposed to make a delivery to the planet Tweenis 12, but it’s been destroyed’
Leela questions, “Why is that good news?” To which Farnsworth replies, “They paid in advance.”
‘ It’s a suppository’
Technically this “good news” isn’t followed by “everyone,” but Farnsworth giving Fry his “experimental anti-pressure pill” is still one of the show’s best jokes.
‘ There’s a report on TV with some very bad news’
Even in the future, the news is terrible.
‘ I’ve taught the toaster to feel love’
This good news is followed by the appearance of a bouncy, puppy-like toaster — and then the less good news that Hermes is being controlled by a parasitic brain slug.
‘ I’m in terrible pain’
When Hermes asks, “How is that good news?” Professor Farnsworth replies, “It’s not. I’ve run out of Good News brand herbal supplement.”
‘Those asinine morons who canceled us were themselves fired for incompetence’
Perhaps the best ever “good news everyone” is the meta dig at FOX in the straight-to-DVD movie Bender’s Big Score, which revived the show after it was unceremoniously canceled by the same network that kept COPS on the air for roughly 5,000 years.
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