7 Unusual Demands Made By Guest Stars On Futurama

Australian Cinephile

That's some serious Futurama drama.

Transcript

00:00Futurama is a big hit with some A-list celebrities out there.

00:03Known for its wacky storylines and scientific anomalies,

00:06the show clearly attracts a certain kind of viewer,

00:09and occasionally they happen to be famous.

00:11Of course, when you're famous, people will bend over backwards for you

00:14and even write you into their show.

00:16So who really wanted to time travel through space,

00:18and what demands did they have while doing so?

00:21In this list, we'll take a look at some of the guest appearances on the show

00:24and what was going on behind the scenes.

00:26Whether it be stars who wanted to appear on the show to boost their presidential campaign,

00:30or stars who wanted to make fun of themselves more,

00:33there have been some interesting requests and demands made while recording this hit animated series.

00:39And so with that in mind then, I'm Ellie with WhatCulture here

00:42with seven unusual demands made by guest stars on Futurama.

00:46Number 7. Larry Bird didn't want to be a part of the show.

00:50This cameo is so much more hilarious when you know the backstory.

00:53The episode follows the story of Leela trying to learn how to pitch for Blurnsball.

00:57While seeking out the help of Hank Aaron the 24th,

01:00who actually did agree to voice his character,

01:03the Scooby-Doo spoof episode soon turns to Bird

01:05and his recorded message is repeatedly played during his cameo.

01:09One of the funnier entries on this list,

01:11this celeb barely spoke a word when recording for the series.

01:14His lines were in fact the same lines, just repeated.

01:17This is due to the fact that the star never actually agreed to be on the show,

01:20but rather called the producers and left a voice note,

01:23which was eventually used to voice the cartoon version of himself.

01:26In the voice note, the basketball player explains how his agent had sent him the script

01:30and he'd read through the lines and immediately decided he wanted to be no part of it.

01:34Graining obviously didn't catch that part of the message and featured the star in the episode.

01:39Number 6. George Takei wanted to be funnier.

01:42George Takei has featured in quite a few episodes of Futurama over the years,

01:46but his first episode is perhaps one of the more iconic occasions the star has appeared.

01:50This episode was one that went down extremely well with the Futurama superfans

01:54and supernerds around the world.

01:56The episode, where no man has gone before,

01:58starts off with Fry learning that Star Trek has been banned on his home planet,

02:02Earth, for a few hundred years.

02:04In an attempt to right this wrong, he tracks down the actors from the show

02:07and thus the greatest sci-fi animation, Baby, is born.

02:11George Takei featured alongside a number of the original Star Trek cast members,

02:15including William Shatner, Nichelle Nichols, Walter Koenig,

02:18as well as Jonathan Frakes from The Next Generation.

02:20Takei was reportedly a great sport while filming

02:22and made very few demands besides having a more humorous character.

02:26He hadn't made much of a social media presence for himself,

02:29but after the episode started airing

02:31and everyone realized the wicked sense of humor he had, it all changed.

02:34Who would say no to a star asking to have more jokes added in?

02:38Number 5. Ad Rock wanted to record lines via telephone.

02:41This episode is one of the first times the show had guest appearances from well-known celebrities.

02:47In true Futurama style, the members of the Beastie Boys show up as heads in jars and perform a concert.

02:52Backstage, Leela Fry and Bender meet the band.

02:55This brief tangent is interrupted by the robot devil as he challenges Bender to a music off.

03:00The rest of the episode is consumed with Bender and his struggles

03:03as he grapples with his electricity addiction

03:05and takes on the robot devil, voiced by Dan Castellaneta.

03:08The Beastie Boys do not return during the episode, much to the dismay of the fans.

03:12One of the stranger requests from a guest on the animated series,

03:15Beastie Boys Ad Rock claims that they accepted his request to do all of the recordings over the phone.

03:21The episode in which this band feature has only two of the band members' real voices.

03:25Mike D and Ad Rock were the only two available to do the voices,

03:29and so MCA had to be impersonated by Rock.

03:32Some have questioned his confession, stating that the sound quality was too good to be a phone call.

03:36Who knows, maybe they accepted the request because two out of the three is better than only one.

03:41Number 4. Mark Hamill demanded not to voice Bender.

03:45Mark Hamill is one of the few guest stars who hasn't played themselves.

03:49Instead, this Star Wars actor featured as the rather bland Hanukkah zombie

03:53during the episode Bender's Big Score.

03:55While some believe this was a waste of a cameo,

03:58Hamill was reportedly happy to play any part in the series.

04:01His demands for the show actually came later on, once the series had already been cancelled in 2013.

04:07When fans learned that the show would be renewed,

04:10but without the help of the original voice of Bender, John DiMaggio,

04:13there was a major upset and public reaction from a number of celebs.

04:17Hamill tweeted out in support of the voice actor,

04:20requesting that he be returned to the show while reassuring fans

04:23that he would not be auditioning for the voice of fake Bender.

04:26Hamill is one of many to take a stand in support of the incredible voice actor,

04:30so hopefully Hulu will listen and up the payment

04:33so that everyone's favourite pissy robot can return to our screens,

04:36along with the rest of the much-loved team.

04:39Number 3. Stephen Hawking demanded to voice himself.

04:43This one made everyone very happy, including the star himself.

04:47To have such an icon appear on the show was a real highlight

04:50for the sci-fi enthusiast behind the scenes,

04:53and to have him request to do the recording himself was the cherry on top.

04:57Unlike when he recorded for Family Guy,

04:59Hawking was actually in the studio for the recording of his lines

05:02when he featured on Futurama and The Simpsons.

05:05As his voice can be replicated on most computers,

05:08he wasn't actually needed for the recording,

05:10but he had made a close friend with Matt Groening,

05:13and the two agreed he would record it himself.

05:15Hawking was apparently a fan of the show,

05:17and was more than happy to have a little sci-fi fun with the team.

05:21He cameoed on the show twice in the episodes Anthology of Interest 1 and Reincarnation,

05:26in which he plays Dungeons & Dragons while trying to save the world,

05:30and shoots freeze beams while trying to distract two professors from a fight.

05:34Hawking was definitely at the top of the list for guest stars that had to appear on Futurama,

05:38and his legacy will live on through the animation and comedy that everyone has come to know and love.

05:44Number 2. Al Gore demanded to be made fun of.

05:48Perhaps one of the sweetest scores Futurama has ever made in terms of guest stars,

05:52Al Gore voiced himself on the show, even while preparing to run in the elections.

05:57Whether this did more harm than good is uncertain,

06:00but he definitely came away with a new audience of devoted supporters.

06:03Al was a fan of the show, but his family connection is what really sealed the deal.

06:08His daughter, Kristen Gore, was a writer for Futurama across seasons 3 and 4.

06:12While preparing for the role as himself, Al was a great sport,

06:15and actually requested for more jokes to be put in that poke fun at things that he has said or done in the past.

06:21His line in the show,

06:22Invented the environment, directly mocks how the politician likes to say he invented the internet.

06:28This move was most probably strictly political,

06:30as he wanted everyone to know he's one of the cool vice presidents

06:33who uses comedy to relate to potential supporters.

06:36Definitely one of the more standout guest appearances on the show,

06:39and it's amazing he returned so many times.

06:42Despite debuting on TV screens across the world five years after the death of this former president,

06:54Futurama still managed to feature Richard Nixon on the show during the episode A Head in the Poles,

07:00where he uses Bender's body as his own while his head has been preserved in a jar.

07:04Although it wasn't his own voice, but rather the voice of Billy West,

07:08it still ruffled a few feathers at the Nixon family HQ.

07:11In the show, Nixon is played as himself,

07:13but with more of a nightmarish edge and his bold claims to be president of the earth.

07:18With the villainous connotation surrounding this portrayal,

07:21the Richard Nixon Library got in contact with the show

07:24and requested that he no longer be involved,

07:26as they did not like what the show was doing for his reputation.

07:29A few years later, the Richard Nixon Library had done a full 180

07:33and actually requested that the creators provide them with some materials

07:36so that they could be put on display during the Nixon in Popular Culture exhibition.

07:41A strange turnaround, but at least everyone's happy now,

07:43and the ex-president won't be rolling in his grave anymore.

07:46And that concludes our list.

07:48If you can think of anything that we missed,

07:50then do let us know in the comments below.

07:52And while you're there, don't forget to like, and subscribe,

07:54and tap that notification bell.

07:56Also, head over to Twitter and follow us there,

07:58at WhatCulture, and I can be found across various social medias

08:01just by searching Ellie Littlechild.

08:03I've been Ellie with WhatCulture.

08:05I hope you have a magical day, and I'll see you real soon.

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