Top 20 Futurama Guest Stars Who Stole the Show

Welcome to WatchMojo, and today, we’re counting down our picks for the Top 20 best “Futurama” guest stars of all time!

#20: Bill Nye

With COVID-19 finally defeated (how timely), the city of New New York celebrates with a grand ceremony. Not only that, but the mayor decides to award the key to the city liquor cabinet to none other than Bill Nye the Science Guy…er, Head. Right as the famed TV scientist declares the pandemic to be over, he and the rest of the crowd succumb to a new virus that causes everyone to break out in a fight. “Rage Against the Vaccine” would not be the last episode Nye appeared in the show, though. He does make a brief appearance in a later episode “The World Is Hot Enough,” albeit an appearance not as prominent here.

#19: Dick Clark

How could we possibly forget one of the very first guest appearances in the show’s history? After becoming familiar with the futuristic world of New New York, Fry pays a visit to his distant nephew, Professor Farnsworth. Moments prior, we see Farnsworth has fallen asleep while watching the New Year’s Eve celebration, which is still hosted by Dick Clark - or by his head, at least. And yes, Clark voices himself for this one particular appearance. This would be the first, last, and only time he ever appeared on “Futurama.”

#18: Conan O’Brien

As “Simpsons” and “Futurama” fans may know, Conan O’Brien was once a writer for “The Simpsons,” long before he stepped into the world of late night talk shows. So it’s neat to see him come back to another Matt Groening cartoon. The Season Two episode “Xmas Story” opens with the Planet Express crew staying at a lodge and enjoying a standup routine from Mr. O’Brien himself. Unfortunately, his jokes aren’t exactly with the times, which leads to Bender heckling him from the crowd. Surprisingly, Conan manages to get the one-up and even manages to get Bender to break down and cry.

#17: Buzz Aldrin

Throughout the Season Six episode “Cold Warriors,” we get to experience some of Fry’s life as a kid. One moment in particular shows him competing in a science fair named “NASA Presents Nerd Search ‘88.” At the event, the kids get a brief speech from storied astronaut Buzz Aldrin, the second man to ever walk on the moon way back in 1969. And yes, that is Dr. Aldrin voicing himself in this brief scene! He may not be a massive celebrity like some of the actors and comedians we’re used to seeing, but it was pretty cool seeing a historical figure be recognized and immortalized in an animated show like “Futurama.”

#16: Brittany Murphy

“Clueless,” “8 Mile,” “Uptown Girls,” “Sin City” - these are just a few of the movies you have likely seen the stunning and talented Brittany Murphy in. She is sadly no longer with us as she passed away in 2009. However, one of her final roles was in the “Futurama” movie “The Beast With A Billion Backs.” In this feature, Murphy voiced Colleen O’Hallahan, Fry’s new girlfriend who just so happens to be dating four other guys. Of all the women Fry’s dated, Colleen is the one that stays in our mind the most because for a second, it did seem like she and Fry were going to work out. Only Brittany Murphy could play the role of a heartbreaker this well.

#15: Sarah Silverman

Speaking of Fry’s romantic interests, let’s go back to an old flame. Though Michelle was voiced by Kath Soucie in the pilot, she would be voiced by legendary comedian Sarah Silverman in all future appearances. Having returned in the Season Two episode “The Cryonic Woman,” Michelle finds herself in the year 3000 and winds up getting back with Fry. However, the future has caused her to experience some severe culture shock, and Silverman’s performance and humor sell us on the mental anguish.

#14: Wanda Sykes

If you’re a major fan of Bender’s, there is almost no way you could have possibly forgotten about this episode! In Season Seven’s “The Bots and the Bees,” Bender enters a relationship with Planet Express’s new vending machine, a sassy bot named Bev. Of course, who better to deliver the sass than smart-mouthed comedian Wanda Sykes? Yes, Sykes voices Bev the vending machine and manages to hurl insults faster than Bender can keep up. But what follows her arrival is a tragic tale about neglectful parents and the ways it affects the kids involved, and it’s one of the best TV episodes Sykes has ever appeared in.

#13: Bea Arthur

While we’re on the subject of spunky, older women, Bea Arthur guest starred in an episode in “Futurama’s” first run. The premiere of Season Three sees Fry, Bender, and Leela visiting a planet that is entirely inhabited and run by women. Ruling this society is Arthur’s character, the Femputer, who serves as judge, jury, and executioner in every trial. Not surprisingly, Arthur does a tremendous job at sounding like a sentient computer. Her delivery and sense of comedic timing are just as spot-on as they were when she was on “The Golden Girls.” Long live the queen.

#12: Patrick Stewart

With his posh accent and sultry voice, it only makes sense that Patrick Stewart would appear in an episode like “31st Century Fox.” Here, Stewart voices a ruthless and snooty hunter known only as “The Master of the Hunt,” who frequently participates in the illegal sport of “robot fox hunting.” It’s a fitting episode for the famed actor to appear in as Stewart has spoken out against animal cruelty and frequently collaborated with the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. “31st Century Fox” not only served as another stellar credit for the thespian, but it was also the perfect story for him to make an appearance.

#11: Mark Hamill

It’s just way too fitting to have Luke Skywalker himself in your cartoon show set in a technologically advanced future. And yet, his role was nothing close to anything he has played before. Hamill has been the voice of Chanukah Zombie across a couple of episodes of “Futurama,” starting with this appearance. But what really sells the character is the tribute to Hamill seen in “Bender’s Big Score.” During the musical number with the other Bizarro-esque holiday characters, Chanukah Zombie sings about his spaceship, which looks eerily similar to the TIE Fighters seen in “Star Wars.”

#10: Lucy Liu

This TV and film star didn't just play herself as a pickled head on Futurama; she also voiced a full-bodied robot version of herself programmed to be attracted to Fry - as well as an army of evil Liu Bots, an homage to her reputation as an action star. At one point all the Lius are fighting at a screening of a “Charlie's Angels” movie starring Lucy. That's a whole lotta Liu to pack into one show, so much so that she would even return in another episode, “Love and Rocket.”

#9: David Cross

This quirky funnyman may have only appeared on Futu rama once, but it sure was a memorable guest spot. TV's Tobias Fünke played the principal antagonist and titular character Yivo in the feature-length “Beast with a Billion Backs”. At first Yivo comes across as a scary mind-controlling alien with many tentacles from another universe, but then we find out that schlee just wants to date us. All of us. Everyone in our universe. So who better to play a lovestruck space monster than this master of sarcastic, self deprecating comedy?

#8: John Goodman

Yes, Virginia, John Goodman really did play Santa Claus, but he sure wasn’t Jolly Old Saint Nick. This is “Futurama,” after all, so naturally Santa is a huge robotic killing machine who keeps a list of who has been naughty, and seeks to eradicate the offenders with a wide array of holiday-themed weaponry. Though the character would go on to appear a few times during the series' run, Goodman only voiced Santa's first appearance, which many would argue – for obvious reasons – is his most memorable.

#7: Beastie Boys

So how do you put on a great concert, bouncing around the stage, when you're just three preserved heads in jars? It’s easy as long as you get a little help from the crew. At least that's how The Beastie Boys pulled it off when they appeared in this first season episode. Oddly, however, while Mike D voiced himself, Adam “Adrock” Horovitz had to pull double duty, voicing both himself and an absent Adam “MCA” Yauch. The episode started with the Planet Express crew catching one of their shows, only to have the trio show up again later on to throw some more rhymes.

#6: Dan Castellaneta

Seeing as Futurama is a Matt Groening creation, it was only a matter of time before stars from Groening’s other series made an appearance. Dan Castellaneta, the voice of Homer Simpson, Krusty the Clown and other characters has made multiple visits to New New York, voicing Beezlebot. Also known as the Robot Devil, Beezlebot ran Robot Hell – the dark underworld of Robotology - and was played to perfection by Castellaneta in all but one of his appearances. As the musically-inclined deal-making manufactured demon, Beezlebot had plenty of encounters with the Planet Express crew, Bender in particular.

#5: Sigourney Weaver

She's no stranger to outer space or dealing with alien life, and, in general, she’s accustomed to weirdness. But this time around, Sigourney Weaver wasn't locked in a life or death battle to protect her ship – she was the ship itself. Voicing the Planet Express ship's newly installed female personality, Weaver sparks something in Bender, who finds her irresistible. The two quickly fall for each other, but when Bender gets bored, the ship gets jealous. Bender clearly never saw any of Sigourney's movies, because if he had, he would have thought twice about messing with her.

#4: Stephen Hawking

We can argue about who the most famous, most interesting or funniest guest star was, but when it comes to the smartest Futurama guest star, it's hard to beat the theoretical physicist, cosmologist, published author, and one time “Star Trek: The Next Generation” guest star Stephen Hawking. Universally regarded as brilliant, Hawking appeared in two TV episodes and one Futurama movie, each time playing himself, sometimes as a head and sometimes not. While we're sure this Hawking is just as smart as his real-life counterpart, he also has the ability to vaporize people with lasers, something the real Hawking couldn't do.

#3: Al Gore

There have been plenty of politicians impersonated on Futurama but when you see two term Vice President, one-time Democratic Presidential Nominee, film director and environmentalist Al Gore on the show, it's really him doing the voice. Sometimes he's his head, once he led a shadowy group trying to preserve the timeline and once he played himself losing the 2000 election with a little help from Bender. In all he made an impressive five appearances on the show, though his daughter Kristin being a writer on the series may have helped make this happen.

#2: Beck

Grammy-winning musician Beck is known for experimentation and incorporating electronic elements into his genre-defying sound. On Futurama he takes it one step further by adding Bender, a fully electronic being, to his band. He even shows the robot how he can play music without the use of his arms or legs, something a rock star who's just a head in a jar would probably be pretty familiar with. Beck performs some of his biggest hits on the show, but also an original duet with Bender. Soy un perdedor!

#1: The Cast of “Star Trek: TOS”

It was bound to happen, and for all our enjoyment, one time it did. Having already featured cameos from Trek stars Leonard Nimoy and Nichelle Nichols, as well as countless Trek references, “Futurama” decided to bring as much of the original series cast together as they could for one episode. Nimoy and Nichols were joined by William Shatner, George Takei and Walter Koenig, and together they played both their own celebrity heads and youthful versions of themselves re-animated by a cheesy Original Series approved alien. Naturally, this means there was plenty of trivia, references to the show and, of course, some of their most famous lines throughout.

Which of these “Futurama” cameos was your favorite? Let us know down in the comments, and don’t forget to subscribe to WatchMojo!