The Professor Farnsworth Scene On Futurama That Went Too Far

The cast of characters on "Futurama" are far from perfect. Each one, from the simple-minded Fry (Billy West) to the drunken Bender (John DiMaggio), are full of flaws and make plenty of mistakes throughout the course of the hit adult animated series. And one of these characters, Professor Hubert J. Farnsworth (also West), has made some of the most hilarious blunders on the show. The 160-year-old scientist, CEO of Planet Express, and nephew of Philip J. Fry (30 times removed) is characterized by his blunt, looney personality. Farnsworth's arrogance and complete belief in his scientific knowledge often leads to him willing to disregard the safety of his employees in the name of his business. This, combined with his argumentative and somewhat competitive nature to prove his know-how, has created numerous unusual situations over the show's 150 episode run (via IMDb). 

While most of Farnsworth's antics lead to petty squabbles or his team being in extreme discomfort, it's hard to look at that face and imagine him being capable of anything on a world-ending level. But there is an episode of "Futurama" that centers entirely on a massive mistake made by Professor Farnsworth due to his blinding ego getting the best of him. Regardless of how you see the lovable old mad scientist, there's no denying that what he did at this moment might have been going a little bit too far, even for someone like Professor Farnsworth.

On Episode 14, Season 3 of "Futurama," the Globetrotters (in their first of several reoccurring appearances on the show) challenge Earth to a basketball game. Professor Hubert Farnsworth takes up the offer, claiming to have a league of Mutant Atomic Supermen at his disposal. To accelerate their growth, Farnsworth orders Fry, Leela, and Bender to pick up a time particle called chronitons (which Bender notes destroyed an entire civilization). The material does the trick, growing the supermen and giving them exceptional abilities. But during the game, time begins to skip around, confusing everyone. This continues and it is discovered that the time skips, caused by the chronitons, can result in the end of time itself if they are not controlled. 

The most heartbreaking aspect of this is that we see Fry and Leela married at one point during a time skip. Fry tries recalling what he did to impress Leela to such a degree that she married him, despite her denying it throughout the episode. The subplot ends as we see Fry learn that he was able to rearrange the stars themselves to impress Leela, only for the doomsday device that stops the chronitons from spreading any further to destroy his work without anyone knowing what he did. Fans consider the scene amongst the saddest moments in the show and it, along with the chaos brought to Earth, was all thanks due to the irresponsibility of Professor Farnsworth.