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Ringed worlds seem to be a fertile source of science fiction material, whether it be in sci-fi master Larry Niven’s circular alien constructs in his “Ringworld” novels, the spherical megastructures of “Halo’s” video game universe — which just launched its “Campaign Evolved” remake of the original game for PS5 and Xbox Series X|S on July 28 — or the ringed orbital habitat for the ultra-rich depicted in director Neill Blomkamp’s 2013 sci-fi flick, “Elysium.”
Leave it to the funny folks at Hulu’s “Futurama” to tap into that popular trope in the latest episode titled “Lords of the Ring,” where the Planet Express crew crash-lands on a strange world whose shape resembles a colossal space ring.
This weird location is inhabited entirely by super-smart rats, and it’s not long before Fry, Leela, Amy, Bender, Hermes, Zoidberg and Professor Farnsworth are embroiled in a mission to figure out how this all came to be. “Futurama” Season 14 just blasted off Aug. 3, so there’s plenty of time to catch up with the zany far-future antics.
“‘Lords of the Ring’ is absolutely loaded up with references and inspirations from classic sci-fi, even by our standards,” showrunner David X. Cohen tells Space. “To begin with, the setting of the episode is a massive ‘space ring’ that creates its own artificial gravity as it rotates. I am a huge fan of space rings.
“The classic influence, of course, is the novel ‘Ringworld’ by Larry Niven, often cited as a prime example of the ‘Big Dumb Object’ genre of science fiction. It’s a very memorable book, but the part you remember is the ring. If you have to pick one or the other, I’d recommend the ‘Futurama’ episode for more action.”
Another influential ring for series executive producer Cohen, and a particular favorite of episode writer Bill Odenkirk, is the elegant orbiting space station seen in Stanley Kubrick’s “2001: A Space Odyssey” from 1968.
“I think in our earliest discussion of the episode he proposed something more like that, but it evolved as we pitched out the story from a small orbiting ring into a medium-sized big dumb space ring,” he adds. “I need to mention that both Bill and I played a lot of ‘Halo’ back in the early ‘Futurama’ days and that surely lurked in the back of our minds.
“Aside from rings, the episode draws influence from ‘Planet of the Apes.’ If not for the whole ring aspect, we could have called it ‘Planet of the Rats.’ Several aspects of the episode, including the idea of forbidden ancient relics and the non-human mammal civilization, take inspiration from ‘Planet of the Apes.’ I guess it’s an example of convergent evolution… all mammals in science fiction eventually evolve to run their own terrifying Planet-of-the-Whatever. And lastly… I’ll mention there are some Easter-Egg references to the classic ‘Rats of NIMH.’ Keep an eye out!”
Spectacular visuals presented in this seriously geeky episode are another standout for Cohen, who claims it’s one of his favorites of the new season.
“The director, Crystal Chesney Thompson, actually had pet rats, and she really brought this insane world to life,” he notes. “The rat acting as they switch between animal and human behaviors is hilarious, the ring itself is one of the most glorious things ever seen in the series, and the stylized section depicting the mysterious backstory of the ring world is a classic. I hope our nerding out over the details comes through!”
“Futurama” Season 14 currently airs on Hulu, with new episodes arriving each Monday through Sept. 28, 2026. “Lords of the Ring” aired on August 17, so it’s available to watch right now.
