The Feat Lisa Accomplished On The Simpsons That Futurama's Fry Never Could

As the longest-running animated series, The Simpsons has done pretty much everything, including numerous cases of predicting the future. The use of celebrity guests, pop culture references, and political satire has allowed the show to stay up to date for over 20 years. When Homer Simpson met Peter Griffin in the Family Guy's crossover episode "The Simpsons Guy," fans knew it would only be a matter of time before the Simpsons teamed up with creator Matt Groening's other animated hit, Futurama.

When Groening brought his new sci-fi animated show to Fox in 1999, he had a hard time getting it off the ground, thanks to creative differences between Groening and the network. Regardless of the show's ups and downs — including the change of hands between Fox and Comedy Central — Futurama was a big hit with fans and critics alike. In its 26th season, The Simpsons finally showed America's favorite 21st century family teaming up with the 31st century gang of the Planet Express in the episode "Simpsorama." 

The episode was a madcap mix of science fiction and self-deprecating humor, and was everything that Groening fans could have hoped for. Yet one seemingly small detail in "Simpsorama" caught the attention of some die-hard Futurama fans, and once they noticed it, they couldn't stop thinking about it.

Everyone knows about Lisa Simpson's innate talent as a musician, particularly her sweet saxophone riffs. While her playing may not be appreciated by family members Bart and Homer, Lisa's years of practice paid off when she picked up a new instrument in "Simpsorama."

The holophonor is a fictional instrument featured in Futurama, one that when played correctly produces beautiful holographic images. As stated by Leela in the Futurama episode "Parasites Lost": "Only a few people in the universe can play that — and they're not very good at it." Fry tried to learn how to play the instrument in his efforts to woo Leela, although he was only successful when infested by sentient parasites or by making a deal with the Robot Devil.

When the future of New New York of the 31st century is threatened by mutant Bart clones, Lisa has the situation in hand. She plays the holophonor in order to lure the Bart-like gremlins onto a ship for the creatures to be expelled from the planet. In spite of Leela's previous statement that the holophonor is nearly impossible to play, Lisa seems to have no trouble mastering the instrument. This just goes to show how incredible the 8-year-old's talents are, and with a few years of practice, who knows what else Lisa can accomplish?