Claim: There are characters in Futurama.

Futurama is an American animated science fiction sitcom created by Matt Groening for the Fox Broadcasting Company . The series follows the adventures of a late-20th-century New York City pizza delivery boy , Philip J. Fry , who , after being unwittingly cryogenically frozen for one thousand years , finds employment at Planet Express , an interplanetary delivery company in the retro-futuristic 31st century . The series was envisioned by Groening in the mid-1990s while working on The Simpsons ; he later brought David X. Cohen aboard to develop storylines and characters to pitch the show to Fox .   In the United States , the series aired on Fox from March 28 , 1999 , to August 10 , 2003 , before ceasing production . Futurama also aired in reruns on Cartoon Network 's Adult Swim from 2003 to 2007 , until the network 's contract expired . It was revived in 2007 as four direct-to-video films ; the last of which was released in early 2009 . Comedy Central entered into an agreement with 20th Century Fox Television to syndicate the existing episodes and air the films as 16 new , half-hour episodes , constituting a fifth season .   In June 2009 , producing studio 20th Century Fox announced that Comedy Central had picked up the show for 26 new half-hour episodes , which began airing in 2010 and 2011 . The show was renewed for a seventh season , with the first half airing in June 2012 and the second set for mid-2013 . It was later revealed that the seventh season would be the final season , as Comedy Central announced that they would not be commissioning any further episodes . The series finale aired on September 4 , 2013 . While Groening has said he will try to get it picked up by another network , David X. Cohen stated that the episode `` Meanwhile '' would be the last episode of season 7 and also the series finale .   Throughout its run , Futurama has received critical acclaim . The show has been nominated for 17 Annie Awards and 12 Emmy Awards , winning seven of the former and six of the latter . It has also been nominated four times for a Writers Guild of America Award , winning two for the episodes `` Godfellas '' and `` The Prisoner of Benda '' , been nominated for a Nebula Award and has received Environmental Media Awards for episodes `` The Problem with Popplers '' and `` The Futurama Holiday Spectacular '' . Futurama-related merchandise has also been released , including a tie-in comic book series and video game , calendars , clothes and figurines . In 2013 , TV Guide ranked Futurama as one of the top 60 Greatest TV Cartoons of All Time .