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=Futurama=

Futurama is an American animated television series created by Matt Groening and David X. Cohen. The series follows the character of Philip J. Fry, a twenty five year old pizza delivery boy, after he is cryonically frozen at midnight, December 31, 1999 and defrosted a thousand years later, in the year 2999. The series was produced by The Curiosity Company for the Fox Network, on which it aired from March 28, 1999 to August 10, 2003. On June 22, 2006, it was confirmed that the show would be returning for a run of at least thirteen episodes on Comedy Central, to air beginning in 2008.

The name "Futurama" is taken from an exhibit at the 1939 New York World's Fair. The exhibit Futurama, designed by Norman Bel Geddes, depicted what he imagined the world to look like in 20 years time (1959).

Characters and plot
Futurama centers around seven main characters who work for Planet Express, an intergalactic delivery company, as well as several secondary characters. Most of Futurama's characters embody a basic "gag contradiction" in stereotypes: a one-eyed pilot, a Yiddish lobster who is a penniless physician, a Jamaican accountant, a vice-ridden robot, a rich intern who is Asian yet clueless, and a senile inventor who is still smarter than everybody else. Only every-man Philip J. Fry, standing in for the world of the viewer (the "past"), is relatively normal.

Characters
thumb|300px|From left to right: [[Doctor Zoidberg|Dr. Zoidberg, Professor Farnsworth, Bender, Amy, Hermes, Leela, and Fry.]]


 * Philip J. Fry a.k.a. Fry (Billy West) &mdash; Fry was cryonically frozen just before New Year, 2000, and revived just in time for New Year, 3000. He got a job with Planet Express because it was owned by his closest living relative, Professor Farnsworth.
 * Turanga Leela a.k.a. Leela (Katey Sagal) &mdash; Leela is the one-eyed captain of Planet Express' ship. Abandoned at birth, she grew up in an "orphanarium" believing herself to be an alien of an unknown race. She eventually learns that she is, in fact, a human mutant.
 * Bender Bending Rodriguez a.k.a. Bender (John DiMaggio) &mdash; Bender is a foul-mouthed, drinking, smoking, kleptomaniacal, misanthropic, and sometimes evil robot. Built to bend girders, he followed Fry to Planet Express, where he was given a job. He is also Fry's roommate. His catchphrase is "Bite my shiny metal ass!". "Bender" is also slang for an alcoholic binge.
 * Professor Hubert J. Farnsworth a.k.a. The Professor (Billy West) &mdash; Farnsworth is Fry's distant nephew, though he is 161 and, thus, physiologically much older than Fry. He founded Planet Express to fund his mad scientist-like experiments and inventions.
 * Dr. John Zoidberg a.k.a. Zoidberg (Billy West) &mdash; Zoidberg is a lobster-like alien from Decapod 10, and is the unqualified staff physician of Planet Express. He speaks with an accent most commonly associated with native Yiddish speakers, and is generally disliked by his peers at Planet Express (especially Hermes). Zoidberg likes to eat garbage and smells like garbage, and is definitely not kosher.
 * Hermes Conrad (Phil LaMarr) &mdash; Hermes is the Jamaican manager of Planet Express. A proud bureaucrat, he is a stickler for doing everything according to regulations, especially if it involves paperwork and filing.
 * Amy Wong (Lauren Tom) &mdash; Amy is an intern at Planet Express, though she needs no job, as her parents are extremely wealthy. Born on Mars, she is ethnically Chinese, and prone to frequently using 31st century slang, and the occasional Chinese cursing when frustrated. She is also a bit man-crazy until she meets Kif Kroker, and frequently annoys Leela by virtue of being younger and cuter.

Planet Express
right|thumb|The Planet Express ship

Planet Express is an intergalactic delivery company held by Professor Farnsworth to fund his research and inventions. As most of the show's characters are employed by Planet Express, many of the episodes revolve around delivering packages or doing other tasks for the company.

The Professor often makes passing references to the brutal deaths of previous employees; the crew prior to Fry's arrival was said to have been devoured by a space wasp (modified in a later episode to stung to death by a swarm of gigantic space bees instead).

Planet Express Ship
Planet Express Ship shows the overbite of a Groening character, and the ship in many episodes appears a personification of its usual pilot Leela. This includes large booted landing feet, and a cyclopean wrap-around windscreen, without a center-divider.

Planet Express Ship is usually captained by Leela, with Bender serving as cook and Fry as delivery boy. Amy, Farnsworth, Hermes, and Dr. Zoidberg accompany/supplement the crew as needed. Sometimes Scruffy the Janitor wanders on board as well. The ship is equipped with an autopilot, a huge cargo winch, a shipboard artificial intelligence, and is powered by dark matter engines. In addition, the ship is armed with a single turret-mounted laser cannon, and four torpedo launchers.

Nearly every mission that the Professor assigns his crew is unusually dangerous. However, the ship's hull plating serves as suitable armor to protect the crew; an example of its effectiveness is seen in the episode "Love and Rocket", where the ship is able to withstand the full impact of several Omicronian concussion missiles whilst fleeing from the Omicronians, only suffering relatively minor physical damage as a result.

Relationships
New New York is a callous, anonymous urban environment where it is difficult to form close relationships. The characters often claim not to care about their co-workers, (see episode "I Second That Emotion"), but when push comes to shove, it turns out they do have some affection for each other, even if they often express it in strange ways. For example, when Bender is cursed to murder his best friend, Fry becomes jealous when Bender tries to kill Leela instead of him.

Some episodes involve the characters getting into (usually short-lived) sexual relationships with other characters. Fry's unrequited love for Leela is a recurring plot device, as well as Amy and Kif's eventual relationship. Friendships like the male bond between Fry and Bender also play an important role. Although the series is mostly filled with light hearted comedy when it comes to romance, Futurama's tone can suddenly become serious when it touches on themes of human relationships and estrangement.

Setting
thumb|right|Fry's first glimpse of New New York City after being defrosted

The setting is first and foremost a backdrop for humor, and the show is not above committing continuity errors if they serve to further the gags. The capabilities of many things vary according to what is most appropriate for the situation at hand.

The visually retro-futuristic world of Futurama is not a utopia but neither is it a dystopia. Unlike past cartoons like The Jetsons, which showed an efficient, clean, happy future, Futurama portrays a less idealistic view, with humans still dealing with many of the same basic problems of the 20th century. The show's vision of the future is very similar to the present in many ways: the same political figures and celebrities that we know today survive as heads in jars (a method invented by Ron Popeil), television remains the primary means of entertainment, the Internet is still slow and filled with pornography ("A Big Piece of Garbage") and spam advertising ("A Bicyclops Built for Two"), problems such as global warming ("Crimes of the Hot"), inflexible bureaucracy ("How Hermes Requisitioned His Groove Back"), and substance abuse ("Hell Is Other Robots") are still pressing issues. This is probably due to human civilization being virtually wiped out and replaced twice while Fry was frozen, along with many other events including various enslavements of humanity and nuclear wars.

Race issues in 3000 are now centered around relations among humans, aliens, mutants, and robots. A common clash between the first two groups is alien immigration plaguing Earth ("A Leela of Her Own"). Humans find it hard to treat aliens with respect because of their differences, as is seen with the Decapodians, who probably evolved from something resembling a lobster. This is also due to various invasions and obliterations of Earth's civilization in the past.

A specific issue on Earth is the large population of super-intelligent/super-incompetent robots (homeless robots and orphan children robots, like Tinny Tim); they are generally lazy, greedy, surly or a combination of these attributes (with few exceptions, such as the sycophantic super-efficient Robot 1-X), and often unwilling to assist their human creators. Almost all robots are fueled by alcohol-based substances ("Crimes of the Hot"), leading to widespread environmental pollution. Robots are treated as independent beings; indeed only three times in the series are robots referred to as property (in "The Route of All Evil" Cubert refers to Bender as "company property," in "Bendin' in the Wind", when Bender is crippled, Farnsworth is told "You'll have to get a new one", and in "The 30% Iron Chef" the Professor shouts "That's my robot! I own him!"). Each of these times, notably, is in the third season, suggesting that in earlier seasons the writers had conceived of robots as being people, not property. In fact, over the years robots have developed their own culture, with publications, music, and religion (much of this seems to be similar to African American culture in contemporary society).

Despite this, Futurama's world also showcases numerous technological advantages that have been developed by the year 3000. Wheels used in transportation have been made obsolete by hover technology, to the point that 31st century characters do not know what a wheel is ("Mother's Day"). Among the robots, spaceships, and floating buildings, Professor Farnsworth introduced many memorable new inventions such as the Smell-o-scope ("A Big Piece of Garbage") and the What-If Machine ("Anthology of Interest I"). Less inspiring 31st century innovations include coin-operated suicide booths, and Slurm, the highly addictive green ooze of questionable origin which is advertised at every opportunity on Futurama, whether in conventional television ads, on giant space signs or in peoples´ dreams. Medical technology has also taken a huge leap, as the maximum lifespan for a human has been increased by at least 40 years from 120 to 160 ("A Clone of My Own"). Professor Farnsworth is one notable example. It is also worth noting that people appear to remain sexually active for far longer than before, as Farnsworth at one point embarks on a sexual relationship despite being over 100.

Large companies hold a massive amount of power in the year 3000, in particular Mom's Friendly Robot Company, which builds and controls every robot on Earth ("Mother's Day"). Mom also has the word "Mom" trademarked. Advertising is everywhere ("A Fishful of Dollars"), and people often buy products not knowing or caring what goes into them or who manufactures them. For example, the unrestrained human consumption of the bite-sized "Popplers" which turned out to be alien young ("The Problem with Popplers").

Some of the show's humor comes from passing references to historical events of the past thousand years. For example, in the time that has passed, formerly endangered owls and marmosets have emerged as the primary urban pests, at the expense of rats and pigeons.("I, Roommate," "The Honking") Los Angeles has become a wasteland, with Fry mistaking it for a post-apocalyptic New New York in the year 4000 after believing he had been cryonically frozen for a further 1000 years ("The Cryonic Woman"). Atlanta, after being moved to sea, sinks due to over-development and becomes a "lost city" (a parody of the story of Atlantis); its residents evolve (with the help of caffeine from the Coca-Cola factory) into mermaids ("The Deep South"). In another episode, Pamela Anderson mentions that she won an Academy Award for Baywatch: The Movie, the first ever movie to be filmed entirely in slow-motion ("A Fishful of Dollars").

The suicide booths are not the only sign of a devaluing of human life. Murder is discussed casually, as if there were little or no penalty for it (Hermes: "Could you pick me up a license to kill?" Leela: "Sure. Bare hands or weapons?" Hermes: "Hm. What does piano wire count as?") ("Less Than Hero"). Grievous bodily injuries are shrugged off or treated with a sort of mild uncaring, perhaps in reference to the highly advanced medical technology as well as the general disregard for the lives of others or oneself. This sort of indifference to death and pain may be partly a mockery of the reactionary trend of citing rising crime statistics as a symptom of human life losing its value, partly on account of the failure to take proper precautions or care of themselves because of the availability of medicines and operations, and partly callousness (such as Fry's happy declaration that his organ transplant came from a guy who liked to ride motorcycles).

For a full list of events leading up to the current day in the show, see the timeline of Futurama.

Linguistics
thumb|right|Fry and Bender having a drink. The [[Slurm poster in the background features "Alien Language 1", which reads "drink" when translated.]]

Futurama has created several languages to reflect all the new aliens living on the planet. The first language, Alienese, is a simple one-to-one substitution cipher from the Latin alphabet. Creators apparently felt this was too easy and created a second, more complex modular addition code, called Beta Crypt III (this is officially an ancient alien language predating the universe). For translating information, see the Futurama Alien Language Translator. These languages often provide additional jokes for fans dedicated enough to decode the messages, but are generally left to the background and signs.

Futurama's universe also makes several bold predictions about the future of modern languages. In "A Clone of my Own" (and "Space Pilot 3000"), it is implied that French is now a dead language (in the French version of Futurama, German is substituted for French as the dead language), though this is contradicted often (for instance, the Professor's gargoyle Pazuzu speaks French in Teenage Mutant Leela's Hurdles, but as a gargoyle, he may be old enough to have learned French).

English has also evolved slightly from today, but remains comprehensible. The most notable change involves pronunciations, such as the metathesis of ask being said as axe, or library being said as lyberry. According to Groening on the DVD commentaries, he intended this to be a satirical comment on the gradual dumbing-down of the English language. Christmas has become X-Mas (pronounced ex-miss), but this is due to the changes in the holiday itself, not necessarily linguistic.

Hebrew and Japanese also seems to exist in the year 3000 (see "Fry and the Slurm Factory", "The Cryonic Woman", and "The 30% Iron Chef" for examples).



Galactic politics
thumb|right|Earth's flag, "Old Freebie".

Earth has a unified government called the United States of Earth, headed by the President of Earth. It seems that various sub-states may have individual leaders, much like the current American system of governors. This world government seems to be quite U.S.-centric as Earth's capital is Washington, D.C. and the flag of Earth looks similar to the current Flag of the United States. A previous global conquest by the U.S. is implied: Mexico is called "America's Heartland", while English is spoken in France. In addition, citizens of Earth are referred to as "Earthicans" rather than "Earthlings." The two main political parties are the Tastycrats and the Fingerlicans, obvious parodies of the U.S.'s Democrats and Republicans. There are other political parties as well in the 31st century, such as the Green Party, a party represented by green aliens, the Dudes for the Legalation (sic) of Hemp Party, the Brain Slug Party, and the Voter Apathy Party. ("A Head in the Polls")

In the second season, Richard Nixon is elected President of Earth when he mounts his disembodied head onto a gargantuan, armed cyborg body, helping to sway the robot vote in his favor. He remains in this position for the rest of the series. At most times, Nixon's head is carried around by the Secretary of Transportation or the headless body of Spiro Agnew.

Earth's national holiday appears to be "Freedom Day," which is traditionally celebrated by doing whatever one wants without regard to the consequences, as well as nude hot tub parties, and by dancing and chanting, "Freedom, freedom, freedom, oy!"

Sometimes, there is reference to other places on Earth, that are currently countries - it is unknown whether or not they are now just States within the United States of Earth. These include Canada, Australia, Sweden, Japan, Mexico, Turkey, The Nation of Joe. The city of Paris still exists, although French is claimed to be a dead language in A Clone of my Own (although other episodes in the series contradict this) and France may or may not have been renamed The Republic of French Stereotypes (Bend Her). There also appear to be Robot countries on Earth as mentioned in the series, most notably Cyberia and the Robo-Hungarian Empire (capital ThermoStadt).

Numerous other galaxies have been colonized or have made contact by the year 3000. Much of the Milky Way galaxy now operates under the Earth government's sphere of influence, similar to the United States of America's influence on world politics today. Mars has been terraformed to a great degree, and is home to Mars University. The Western Hemisphere of the planet is owned by Amy Wong's family. Earth's moon is still mostly unsettled with the exception of some farms, but has its own amusement park dedicated to the history of lunar exploration (though the loss of historical records over the 1,000-year interval has left the park's historical accuracy somewhat lacking).

For a full list of planets in Futurama, see the list of planets in Futurama.

There are occasional inconsistent references to the existence of other universes (one episode says that there are only two, another shows the characters travel through at least two dozen).

D.O.O.P. and intergalactic relations
right|116px|The Democratic Order Of Planets (DOOP) logo The Democratic Order Of Planets (D.O.O.P.) was founded in 2945 after the Second Galactic War. This organization, which is similar to Star Trek's United Federation of Planets, includes Earth and many other worlds. The inhabitants of Omicron Persei VIII are frequently engaged in conflicts with D.O.O.P. The D.O.O.P. symbol has rotational symmetry.

Earth will sometimes act on its own against worlds such as Spheron 1 or Tarantulon VI. The Earth forces are commanded by 25-star General Major Webelos Zapp Brannigan.

Beginning shortly after the Big Bang, an eternal war has been waged across space between the Nibblonians (Nibbler's race) and the Brainspawn (evil floating giant brains with telekinetic and telepathic powers). Fry getting frozen is, in fact, directly related to this war.

Religion
thumb|left|The logo of the First Amalgamated Church, featuring symbols of several present-day religions. Religion has changed quite a bit since the year 2000. Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Hinduism, and Buddhism have all merged into one Amalgamated Church, somewhat more comically than the post-Rapture one-world religion of the Left Behind series. There is some form of Space Catholicism, led by the reptilian Space Pope (Crocodylus pontifex). One tenet of its teachings discourages romantic relationships between robots and humans (featured in "I Dated a Robot", an episode wherein Fry breaks the robot-human love taboo by dating a robot version of Lucy Liu). Oprahism and Voodoo are now mainstream religions (Waltermercadoism is also mentioned in the Latin American version.). The Second Coming took place in the 25th Century, destroying many video tapes, but the repeated mentions of Zombie Jesus suggest that this might not have been an altogether glorious event. Jesus, however, is still held with reverence by many.

Some of today's holidays still exist, but with slightly different mascots. Christmas, now Xmas (pronounced "Ex-miss"), is 'celebrated' with the fear of a giant robotic Santa Claus, who is based on the North Pole of Neptune. He was originally created and programmed by Mom's Friendly Robot Company to judge people, whether naughty or nice, and distribute presents accordingly, but his standards were set so high that he invariably deems virtually everybody naughty (Dr. Zoidberg being among the few exceptions), and attempts to punish them on Christmas Eve with an excruciating death if they are caught outdoors after sundown. Hanukkah is now represented by the Hanukkah Zombie and Kwanzaa by Kwanzaabot.

Robot religions exist as well, with the most popular being the quasi-Christian religion of Robotology, which has its Hell located in an abandoned New Jersey amusement park, presided over by the crafty Robot Devil. Robot Jews exist as well, although all we know about them is that they hold functions to celebrate "Bot Mitzvahs". They believe that Robot Jesus was built and that he was a very well programmed robot, but he was not their messiah, and they do not permit Decapodians to attend their functions (presumably because shellfish aren't kosher, although this is a little ironic since the Decapodians are a parody of Jewish stereotypes).

Over the years, as life began to imitate Star Trek more and more, the sci-fi series evolved into an enormous mainstream religious cult that swept the world (while advertising itself as "the sci-fi religion that won't steal all your money"). This caused the "Star Trek Wars" (not to be confused with the "Star Wars Trek," the mass migration of Star Wars fans). The destruction because of the "Wars" ultimately led to its banning by the Earth government and the execution of its followers "in the manner most befitting virgins," i.e., by being thrown into a volcano to the phrase "He's dead, Jim." By the year 3000, even discussing the show is a serious legal offense. Despite this, it is mentioned with no penalties once by Hermes Conrad while describing the Democratic Order Of Planets, again in the episode where the Planet Express crew uses the Internet, and once more in the first episode when Fry says the doors are just like the ones from Star Trek. There is little mention of what happened to The Next Generation and the other spin-offs, but the head of Jonathan Frakes lives on in a glass jar (normally on a shelf directly behind the jar housing the head of Leonard Nimoy). Star Trek: The Pepsi Generation does, however, get an Oscar nomination for best soft-drink product placement. The prison known as Rikers Island is in the series "Commander Riker's Island", and San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf is likewise known as "Fisherman's Worf".

Sex and mating norms
In many regards, the series takes a "Playboy feminism" view on gender and sexual norms, not unlike the Star Trek television franchise. The seedy world of adult pornography and aphrodisiacs are shown in "Spanish Fry", with an item, seen only briefly in the background of the alien porn shop that could be a dildo, although it is only cryptically referenced on episodes DVD audio commentary. There also does not appear to be much in the way of organized political or religious sexism or homophobia in the future except a degree of male (human and robot) bravado (Bender: "I don't want anyone thinking we're robo-sexuals!").

In the episode titled "A Taste of Freedom", the lawyer unsuccessfully defending Dr. Zoidberg before the Earth Supreme Court for flag desecration is able to persuade the court to declare that the law banning polygamy is unconstitutional, and quips about how he cannot wait to tell his wives and his husband- booing from the gallery seems to indicate that polygamy and/or homosexuality continue to be relatively unpopular. However, in "Future Stock", Fry casually refers to the "lesbian coven" across the street from Planet Express as a traditional family. In "Kif Gets Knocked Up A Notch" the male alien Kif becomes pregnant, and in "Three Hundred Big Boys" Hermes Conrad's son quips about how he wishes he had two mothers.

A few secondary characters in the series were established as or suspected of being gay; the Neptunian toy makers in "A Tale of Two Santas" were confirmed as being gay on the episodes DVD audio commentary. There has been some speculation as to the sexuality of both Hedonism Bot and The Robot Devil due to their flamboyant mannerisms. While not gay, Bender cross-dressed in one episode for a professional wrestling career and temporarily had a sex change operation in order to compete in the female Olympics. Bender doesn't want anyone to think him and Fry are "robosexuals" in the first episode, so he tells Fry to say that he is Bender's debugger. A deleted scene, available on DVD, established that two of the Amazonian women in "Amazon Women in the Mood" are lesbians. In "The Birdbot of Ice-Catraz", the police robot URL and his human partner Smitty embrace, and thus allow Bender to escape. In the episode "Spanish Fry", Dr. Zoidberg invites Bender to join him and Hermes for "a little 'just friends' spooning." There is also a recurring human character, who is usually used simply as an extra, who speaks and acts in a stereotypically gay fashion. (For example, he is seen as the neighbor in "I, Roommate" who exclaims with a lisp "The TV'th back!" Though not named in the series, in DVD commentaries he is referred to as "Randy.") In "Three Hundred Big Boys," DVD commentary revealed that "Randy" had a subplot in the multiple-storyline episode that had to be cut for time: he and his boyfriend argue over how to spend their tax refunds, which they resolve by tossing both $300 bills into a fireplace, deciding love is more important.

In terms of gender, while some measure of male bravado sexism does seem to still exist in the future, and women are not allowed in the earth's armed forces (mostly due to the incompetence of Zapp Brannigan when around females), there does not seem to be much wide-spread sex discrimination on earth. As was the case with sexual orientation certain worlds may have been more or less committed to the value of equality between the sexes. Aside from the parody of male chauvinism and "men-hating women" in the episode titled, "Amazon Women in the Mood", Zapp Brannigan's sexism and general stupidity was a running gag throughout the series.

Production
Futurama takes its name from a General Motors exhibit at the 1939 New York World's Fair, which depicted future technologies. Also demonstrated at that World's Fair was Philo Farnsworth's vacuum tube television; Professor Farnsworth is named after him.

Actors lending their voices to the series include Billy West, Katey Sagal, John DiMaggio, Maurice LaMarche, Lauren Tom, Phil LaMarr, and Tress MacNeille. Phil Hartman was cast as a voice actor on the series, but he was murdered before production began. Some believe Billy West performs the character of Zapp Brannigan in a Hartman-ish voice as a tribute to him (hence why Zapp looks so much like Hartman's Simpsons character, Troy McClure), but the DVD commentary reveals that West's version of Zapp's voice is actually unchanged from the way he did it originally in auditions. The character Philip J. Fry's first name was originally going to be Curtis. It was changed to Philip as a way to remember Hartman.

Celebrities who have lent their voices to the show include Dick Clark, Beck, Donovan, Al Gore, Stephen Hawking, The Beastie Boys, Sigourney Weaver, Lucy Liu, Pamela Anderson, Bob Barker, John Goodman (as Robot Santa), and the Star Trek cast, in "Where No Fan Has Gone Before". This episode did not include a speaking role for the character of Dr. McCoy, DeForest Kelley, by that time deceased, or James Doohan, who refused to appear. (It was explained in the episode that when the cast did a musical version of the show in the 2200s, "the actor who played Scotty" had trouble yodelling, so they brought along a replacement named Welshy, who was quickly killed in the episode in typical red shirt fashion.)

The theme and incidental music for the show were composed by Christopher Tyng. The original theme song for the show was to be the 1960s electronic music recording "Psyche Rock" by Pierre Henry, but the inability to license the track for the show led Tyng to compose a theme strongly reminiscent of it. Three remixes of the theme song were produced and used as the main theme in three different episodes. Another remix of sorts, heard over the closing credits of the episode "Hell Is Other Robots", featured the Beastie Boys (guest-starring in the episode) giving shout outs to main Futurama characters set to one of the versions of the theme. This show is also one of the few animated series to use fully orchestrated original music in almost every episode.

Many of the spacecraft and backgrounds appearing in Futurama were made using 3D computer graphics. The scenes were first painted by hand and then implemented in 3D. This way, camera movements provided a perfect geometry of the environment and characters (for example, at the beginning of the series when the camera flies around the Planet Express building).

Though Futurama was broadcast in five seasons, there were actually only four production seasons. Due to numerous preemptions and other schedule shuffles, Fox had enough new episodes backlogged for another full year of shows. These delays account for the difference in Fox's broadcast season number and production season number. The production season forms the basis for the DVD and video sets.

While Futurama was never officially cancelled, Fox decided not to buy a fifth season and the program fell apart soon after. The 72nd and final episode, called "The Devil's Hands Are Idle Playthings", aired in the United States on August 10, 2003. With this episode, the fifth television season (fourth production season) and the whole series ended. The episode was not a true series finale however, and though many plot issues were resolved in the last season, the final episode was in no way a clear "conclusion" to the series. The last line of dialogue (recorded months after the episode was taped, and after the show's cancellation), aptly enough, was "Please don't stop playing, Fry - I want to hear how it ends."

Series revival
In October 2005, Comedy Central picked up the exclusive cable syndication rights to air Futurama's 72-episode run at the start of 2008, following the expiration of Adult Swim's current deal. It was cited as the network's largest and most expensive acquisition in their history.

The following summer, on June 22, 2006, Comedy Central announced that 13 brand new episodes were to be produced, to air with the reruns in 2008. Comedy Central also confirmed that Billy West, Katey Sagal, and John DiMaggio will return for the new episodes, with a 2008 debut planned.

At Comic-Con 2006, Matt Groening announced clips from the 13 all-new episodes of Futurama will be shown at next year's convention.

References and referenced
Since Futurama ended, Matt Groening's The Simpsons series has made several references to Futurama:
 * "Fraudcast News": The squeaky-voiced teen jumps off a cliff, screaming "Why did they cancel Futurama?"
 * "Bart vs. Lisa vs. The Third Grade": Bender appears in one of Bart Simpson's dreams.
 * "My Big Fat Geek Wedding": Matt Groening appears as himself (animated) and was introduced at a convention as the creator of the hit show Futurama. He then signs Bender dolls and draws a sketch of Fry for Bart's friend Milhouse.
 * "Future-Drama": Bart and Lisa Simpson explore their teenage years with the help of Professor Frink. During this sequence, Homer and Bart drive through a "quantum tunnel" where they shift dimensions temporarily.  When they exit, Bender is in the car with them and says, "All right! You guys are my new best friends!"  Homer then says, "You wish, loser!" and throws him out of the back of the hovercar, breaking him. (The episode's title is also an obvious reference.)
 * "Missionary: Impossible": Bender is seen as one of the phone operators at the end for PBS.
 * "HOMR": In the couch gag, the Simpsons family arrives on the couch in Futurama-like tubes, and Fry (drawn Simpsons-style) comes out of one, replacing Bart. He is quickly sucked back through the tube so Bart can enter.

Similarly, Futurama references The Simpsons. In "Space Pilot 3000", we see an appearance from "Blinky" the three-eyed fish. In "A Big Piece of Garbage", the crew is sent to destroy a huge ball of garbage. On the surface of the giant garbage ball, Bender finds a pile of Bart Simpson dolls, which say "Eat my shorts" when its string is pulled. Bender eats the shorts of one, then says "mmmm... shorts" imitating the popular mannerism used by Homer. Groening revealed in the DVD audio commentary for this episode that he intended The Simpsons to be a television show in the Futurama universe, and conversely Futurama was a television show in The Simpsons universe, which is somewhat confirmed in the Simpsons episode in which he guest stars. Using this explanation, the Bart dolls may have been a reference to Bart's stint as the "I didn't do it." boy when Futurama aired in the Simpsons Universe.

There is also a reference to Futurama in Stewie Griffin: The Untold Story. Stewie, when walking down the red carpet to the premiere, is stopped by various reporters asking questions. The last reporter asks "Stewie, do you know if Fox has any plans to bring back Futurama?" Stewie then asks "What magazine are you from?" and the reporter replies Entertainment Weekly. Stewie then angrily snaps the reporter's neck, killing him. It should be noted that Entertainment Weekly disparaged Family Guy early in production, leading to the show's animosity towards the magazine.

Non-broadcast production
In the United States (DVD Region 1), the first season of Futurama was released on DVD on March 25, 2003; the second season on August 12, 2003; the third season on March 9, 2004; and the fourth (and final) on August 24, 2004.

In Europe (DVD Region 2), the first and second seasons were both released in 2002; the third season was released on June 2, 2003; and the fourth on November 24 2003. The DVDs were released in Europe first as a test to see if they would sell, and sales were very good on both sides of the Atlantic. Despite the different release dates, the content of the DVDs are identical for both regions.

Unique Development Studios released a video game titled Futurama for the Xbox and PlayStation 2 consoles in August 2003. Critical reviews raised the issue of poor play control and graphic quality, but noted that the game possessed an excellent storyline and voice acting. Due to an extremely small production run, the video game is quite scarce and generally sells for more than most games that are just being released.

Matt Groening's Bongo Comics group is still producing a spin-off series of Futurama comic books. These are currently the only new stories featuring the Futurama characters. There are two sets of comics available, the US series and UK series.

The US series was first published in 2000 and so far consists of 25 issues plus 2 2-part crossovers with The Simpsons. The comics are A5-size and now published 4 times a year.

The UK series was first published in 2002 and so far consists of 33 issues, incorporating the Simpsons crossovers. The comics are of a larger size in the UK, and although the stories are exactly the same as the US comics, they are published in a different order, with some stories published in two parts. See Futurama Comics for more details.

In June 2006 the creators and voice artists of Futurama created a brief video about the documentary film An Inconvenient Truth featuring Al Gore.

DVD releases
There were four production seasons, but the FOX network broadcast most episodes out of order, and split them into five seasons. The DVD releases are based on the original sequence of episodes.

Season releases
thumb|right|900px|Season 2 Cover.
 * The box sets in Regions 2 and 4 are titled "Season" rather than "Volume".

Opening credits
At the start of each episode, just as the Futurama logo appears on the screen, a caption appears on the bottom of the screen, different in every episode. Some captions include "Coming Soon to an Illegal DVD", "You can't prove it won't happen", "Condemned by the Space Pope", "Krafted With Wuv (By Monsters)". 'Now interactive! Joystick controls Fry's left ear." "Available in DoubleVision (where drunk)" and "Hey, TiVo! Suggest this!". Occasionally, a joke advertisement is displayed as well.  The first season also sometimes featured cold openings, which were often short gags or sequences (such as Bender using a car wash-like "Botwash").

A Planet Express Ship then flies through the text, and around a futuristic city. During the final shot of the opening credits, a billboard screen appears in view, upon which the executive producer credits appear. Just before they do, a clip from a classic public domain cartoon is shown on the screen. A number of classic cartoon stars have been featured on the billboard, including Koko the Clown, Betty Boop, Bugs Bunny, Porky Pig, Daffy Duck, Little Lulu, Felix the Cat, The Simpsons and Bosko. During the last episode, "The Devil's Hands are Idle Playthings", the billboard shows the Futurama billboard inside of it, implying a visual infinite regression. The opening ends with the ship crashing into the billboard and becoming stuck (in "The Problem with Popplers" Leela flies through a billboard to which Fry exclaims "Leela! That's the second billboard you've crashed into this week."). The gag here (as throughout the series) is that Leela has no depth perception, and thus cannot tell a 2-dimensional cartoon on a billboard screen, from 3-dimensional flying-space.

The opening theme pays homage to the 1967 piece "Psyché Rock" from the album Messe pour le temps présent, a collaboration between a rock band and Pierre Henry, one of the founders of musique concrète and electronic music as a genre.



Closing credits: "30th Century Fox"
thumb|right|150px|30th Century Fox logo.

"30th Century Fox" is a variation of the "20th Century Fox" closing logo listed in the end credits. Fox initially rejected the idea of show creator Matt Groening, who sponsored the design of the logo by himself. Later, it became popular, and Fox repaid the difference.

The episode "That's Lobstertainment!" (season 3) reveals that 30th Century Fox is a television and film studio within the Futurama universe. The studio building is shaped like the logo. The spotlights surrounding it are used to blind pilots, so that the resulting plane crashes can be filmed.

Timeline to revival
Well, I spoke to David X. Cohen [...] and he said that they did have talks with the top guys at FOX and they were extremely impressed with the sales of the Futurama DVDs. The idea was to make a Futurama movie right to DVD and then a 2nd and a 3rd [...]
 * May 22, 2005, the Can't Get Enough Futurama website carried the following unofficial post, attributed to Billy West's discussion board:


 * July 2005, Billy West seemed to have confirmed a "straight to DVD" Futurama movie on a video blog.


 * October 2005, Matt Groening told The Sydney Morning Herald that he "has faith in the relaunch of Futurama." He stated that the Fox Network did not understand the show, and he discussed the possibility of the show's return and a straight-to-DVD movie.


 * August 2005, The Internet Movie Database has a Futurama movie page, which claims that the movie will be released in 2007. The IMDb once had a plot summary, but Can't Get Enough Futurama reported that the plot summary was submitted by a user who wished to show that the IMDb would report "unconfirmed rumours."  The summary has since been deleted.


 * January 2006, Variety reported that there have been negotiations to bring back Futurama as a television show, though only a 'limited' number of episodes may be produced.


 * January 19, 2006, Billy West wrote on his message board that four Futurama direct-to-DVD movies will begin production in July or August 2006.


 * February 16, 2006, it was mentioned on the British television program This Morning by presenter Paul Ross that Futurama would return, with episodes premiering later this year in the US and next year in the UK.

And the other good news is that they're doing 26 new episodes of Futurama for TV and we're hammering out the deal now. The original plan was to have the DVDs first but that's no longer the case.
 * March 18, 2006, Billy West wrote on his message board that Futurama would return in 26 episodes for television and that the plan for four Futurama DVD movies, which he previously wrote about, is either delayed or dropped.

On the next day he retracted his earlier statement with a post on his message board. I'm sorry I gave inaccurate info on the cartoon. I was told on one end that the TV show was a go but DXC enlightened me (with a hammer) that this was not the case. I think there is a Futurama project as in DVDs but I appearently had bad info. But I do live to give good Futurama news to people. So I must've died or something.

We're going to do four of them, straight to DVD. And as we speak, I'm exchanging e-mails and ideas with David X. Cohen and Ken Keeler, both of whom worked on the show from the very beginning. Right now we're trying to figure out whether to do a giant epic, or separate crazy movies, or what. But I wager that Bender will be featured prominently.
 * April 26, 2006, the weekly newspaper The Onion published an interview with Futurama creator Matt Groening. Referring to the rumoured Futurama movies, Groening remarked:


 * May 8, 2006, CNN.com reported that a Futurama return was probable. However, Fox's "upfront" presentation for the 2006-07 season made no mention of the show.


 * June 20, 2006, Katey Sagal, as a guest on The Late Late Show with Craig Ferguson, stated that Futurama is very likely to return for either 13 or 16 new episodes on Comedy Central, in addition to the DVD movies. She also stated that she had already signed the contract to do voice work in Futurama.
 * Also, on Adult Swim, it was announced that Billy West spoke of 3 straight-to-DVD episodes of Futurama which would begin production during the Summer of 2006, hopefully arriving Fall of 2006.

We are thrilled that Matt Groening and 20th Century Fox Television have decided to produce new episodes of 'Futurama' and that Comedy Central will be the first to air them. There is a deep and passionate fan base for this intelligent and very funny show that matches perfectly with our audience and it is great that we can offer them not just the existing library, but something they've never seen as well.
 * June 22, 2006, Comedy Central officially announced that they have ordered 13 new episodes of the series. Billy West, Katey Sagal and John DiMaggio are confirmed to return for the new run slated to air in 2008. David Bernath, senior VP for programming at the cable network, stated:


 * July 27, 2006, At Comic-Con 2006, Matt Groening was interviewed, stating simply that "Futurama Lives!" He also mentioned that at 2007's Comic-Con, he would bring clips of the new 2008 Comedy Central episodes. David X. Cohen was said to be writing the episode scripts as they spoke.

Kinds of Pokémon
A standard Pokémon card is named after the Pokémon. However, later sets featured Pokémon that were different than a standard Pokémon, easily recognisable by a difference in its name.

Dark Pokémon and Light Pokémon
Dark Pokémon were the first available variation of a Pokémon. They were first introduced in the Team Rocket expansion set and have appeared in Neo Destiny and EX Team Rocket Returns. They represent Pokémon used by evil trainers or by evil organizations such as Team Rocket. Dark Pokémon are evolved Pokémon which generally had stronger attacks than the "regular" versions, but they also tended to have lower HP so they were easier to knock out. Because they are named differently, a deck is allowed to have 4 normal versions and 4 dark versions of a Pokémon at the same time.

Light Pokémon, first introduced in Neo Destiny, represented Pokémon that were exceptionally good in nature, and are supposed to parallel Dark Pokémon. Many of these Pokémon have good-willed attacks, such as attacks that could heal Pokémon on both sides of play. Just like Dark Pokémon, these pokemon are named differently, which allows 4 light versions of a Pokémon in the same deck as 4 normal versions.

Owner's Pokémon
Owner's Pokémon were first introduced in the Gym Series. Pokémon belonging to each gym leader, as well as a few Pokémon belonging to Team Rocket, were available in these two sets. These versions of Pokémon had stronger attacks and higher HP, but also required more energy.

In the EX Team Magma VS. Team Aqua Expansion, Team Magma's Pokémon and Team Aqua's Pokémon were introduced. These cards often were more effective if one had several Pokémon from the same team.

Shining Pokémon
Shining Pokémon, first introduced in Neo Revelation and appearing in Neo Destiny, paralleled the shiny Pokémon introduced in the Pokémon Gold and Silver video games. They often have devestating attacks; however, they require energy cards of three different types to be effective. Evolved Pokémon which are Shining are Basic Pokémon and do not need to be evolved from their normal pre-evolved Pokémon. Shining Pokémon are considered to have a different name than normal Pokémon; however, only one of each Shining Pokémon are allowed in a deck.

Pokémon EX
Pokémon EX, first introduced in EX Ruby and Sapphire, are cards that are more powerful than their normal counterparts and have higher HP. However, if an EX Pokémon is knocked out, it counts the same as knocking out two regular Pokémon. Additionally, some other Pokémon have powers that protect them from EXs, so a good game player knows it's generally not a good idea to have a deck that relies exclusively on EX Pokémon. These Pokémon are recognised by the EX after its name, e.g. Mewtwo EX.

Delta Species
Delta Pokémon were introduced in EX Delta Species. A fully-evolved Delta Pokémon would usually be a dual-type, one being Metal and the other being the Pokémon's normal color. Also, Pokémon classified as Dragon-type in the video game has either Electric or Fire-type Delta counterparts. Unlike other special versions of Pokémon, Delta Pokémon are to be played like a normal Pokémon, its benefit being that special cards released in this set are designed to work with Delta Pokémon.

Pokémon Star
Pokémon Star cards debuted at the EX Team Rocket Returns set; these cards are very powerful, and only one can be in a deck at a time. The current list of Pokémon Star cards in America are Treecko, Torchic, Mudkip, Latias, Latios, Rayquaza, Raikou, Entei, Suicune, Kyogre, Groudon, Metagross, Regirock, Regice, Registeel, Pikachu, Gyarados, and Mewtwo. In the upcoming EX Crystal Guardians set are Alakazam and Celebi, and in the upcoming Furthest Ends of Offense and Defense are Charizard and Mew.

=Q Squared Joe= Q Squared Joe (also known in the abbreviated name of Q²J, or Q2J) is a popular card game among students at Harbord Collegiate Institute. It can be played with two to ten players, and one standard 52-card pack is used. The object of the game is to get rid of all your cards by discarding your cards based on set rules, one at a time onto a discard pile.

The Creation Process
The game was created in 2005 by two high school students at Harbord Collegiate Institute, nicknamed Q Squared and Joe. Despite many failed attempts at creating a new, but fun card game, Q Squared and Joe kept trying to create a fun and entertaining new card game. It wasn't until their third year at this school that the concept of Q Squared Joe was created. While at their favourite hangout, they created a very rough version of a new card game where they took bits and pieces from other card games popular at this time, and added some ideas of their own. This rough version of the game would later come to be known as Q Squared Joe Classic.

However, after some testing with fellow students, Q Squared and Joe were not satisfied with this card game. They soon expanded upon this rough version to add more rules, such as the Q Squared and Joe rules. These rules added more significance to the name of this card game, and improved the overall fun factor of this card game. This version would become the normal version of Q Squared Joe.

Preliminaries
2 to 10 players Use a standard 52-card pack. Cards are ranked K (highest) Q J 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 A (lowest). There is no ranking among suits.

Deal
Five cards to each player dealt one at a time face down save for each player's fifth card which is dealt face up. The rest of the deck is placed face down at the centre of the table to form the stock. The person with the highest card value their face up card goes first. In case of a tie, the second card is turned over, and so on. All face up cards are then turned face down, and added to each player's hand. The top card of the stock is then turned up to start the discard pile.

Play
In turn, players must discard a card onto the discard pile based on the following criteria:

1. Different Suit and Higher Number: A card can be played as long as it is of a higher value than the top card of the discard pile. For example, a J can be played on a 4, but a 4 cannot be played on a J(considering that the cards are of different suit).

2. Same Suit and Lower Number: A card can be played on a higher value card as long as it is of the same suit. For example, 4♣ can be played on J♣, but 10♠ cannot be played on 2♠.

3. Any Ace can be played on any face card: An ace of any suit can be played on a face card of any suit. For example, an A♠ can be played on a Q♣.

4. No face cards can be played on an ace: A face card can never be played on an A, despite any suit or value rules.

5. Same Number, but you must draw a card: If a card has the same value as the one on top of the discard pile, then the player may play it, but he must pick up another card from the top of the stock.

6. Q Squared Rule: If a player is in possession of two Q in their hand, they can play them both at the same time during their turn. This rule overrides all other rules, and can be played on top of anything. Implementing the Q Squared rule forces all players to pick up one card from the stock, and you continue with another turn.

7. Joe Rule: When a player puts the Q Squared rule into effect, a player does not need to draw a card if he/she can play a J. This will only cancel the Q Squared on your behalf. Everybody else must still draw a card, but you will be left unaffected.

If a player cannot play a card, he/she must draw a card from the stock. If the stock has run out, the discard pile can be turned over and shuffled to start a new stock.

Ending the Game
The first player to successfully discard his/her entire hand into the discard pile is considered the winner. However, many games are played with multiple rounds with the last player remaining from each game being eliminated from the next round. This happens until one player remains, and is declared the winner.

Variations
Many variations of this card game was created to suit the needs of people.

Q Squared Joe Classic
This was the original version of Q Squared Joe, but is still played as a simplistic version. This version is usually taught to newcomers to the game before they play the normal version. In this version, only playing rules 1 to 3 apply. This allows a simplistic game while not eliminating qualities of the game such as mind games.

Q Squared Joe Face-up
This version of Q Squared Joe requires less luck and more skill. All the standard rules apply, and a new rule is added. All players' hands are presented face-up, and must remain face-up for the other players to see.

Q Squared Joe Challenge
A less popular version of Q²J that can only be played with two people. One player is dealt a single card whereas the other is dealt 5. This game is very challenging for the player with 5 cards, hence the name.

Q Squared Joe Countdown
This version was created when some players thought the game did not last very long. In this version, when a player successfully discards his/her first hand, he/she must draw a new hand with one less card. In the case of the second hand, one must draw a new hand of 4 cards. When this hand is discarded, he or she must draw a new hand of 3 cards and so on. The person who discards the hand of 1 card first wins. This version was based on Crazy Eights and the Crazy Eights Countdown variation.

History
Harbord was opened in 1892 as Harbord Street Collegiate Institute. Since then, Harbord has had many important events.

Harbord's First Centennial
Harbord's first centennial was celebrated in 1992. This celebration included the inauguration of the Harbord museum, which is a repository of Harbord memorabilia. To mark this major event, Harbord's alumni group, the Harbord Club, published a 300-page history of the school entitled The Happy Ghosts of Harbord, which traces the history of the school from its opening 1892 to 1992. The book is still available.

Remembrance Day 2005
On November 11, 2005, a huge Remembrance Day ceremony took place at Harbord. With the donations from the W. Garfield Weston Foundation and many other corporate sponsors and individuals, the rededication of the 1921 World War I monument back to its original splendor was held. The master of ceremony was Syd Moscoe while poignant addresses were given by President of George Weston Ltd. Galen Weston, former Minister of Defence Barney Danson, Canadian Armed Services Chief of Land Staff Lieutenant-General Marc Caron, and Chairperson of the TDSB Sheila Ward. Harbord's Jazz Band played a piece written by band teacher Mr. Alberts, called On Remembrance Day. The Cantemus Choir also performed and poems written by students Kevin Tung and Michael Lee were read. The Last Post was played by David Chou, which was followed by a moment of silence. The ceremony ended with a picture that was taken of the students, teachers, alumni and neighbours all standing in front of the school.

Harbord Club
The Harbord Club is the longest continuous high school alumni group in Canada with over 2600 members. It was established in 1978 by Elsie Affleck, who brought along other alumni including Ken Prentice, Willie Zimmerman, Johnny Wayne, Max Goldhar and Julius Molinaro. The Harbordite, founded in 1979, is the Harbord Club newsletter that keeps former students of the school in contact with one another and up-to-date on Harbord activities. The Harbord Charitable Foundation was also created at this time, supporting both student scholarships and alumni activities. Currently, the president of the Harbord Club is Annie Kwong.

Notable graduates
Since Harbord opened its doors in 1892, there have been many graduates over the years that have achieved/are achieving remarkable accomplishments.

Day to Day Schedules
First to third year students must take 8 courses to fill up a schedule, while students in their fourth or possibly fifth years are allowed to take less courses as required for a Ontario Secondary School Diploma. The school is non-semestered, so all selected courses are in the schedule.

Harbord runs on a four day schedule, with each day labeled Days 1 through 4. Days 1 and 3 contain the same 4 courses; however, the 2 morning classes in Day 3 are flipped when compared to Day 1, as are the 2 classes in the afternoon and the same applies to Days 2 and 4. These four days are then cycled in order to make up a students schedule. Tests are only allowed if the class is the first class in the morning or the first class after lunch. This ensures that students do not have more than two tests a day, hence the necessity of Day 3 and 4. Any block in the schedule without a course is called a spare.

"Silent Sustained Reading" or SSR is a time block in between the first and second periods of the day in which everyone, students, teachers, and administration, all read for 20 minutes. During this time no one is allowed in the hallways and everyone has to remain quiet. This period of time is intended to give students and teachers a chance to pick up a book and read. This is the third 3rd school year that SSR has been in place.

The schedule is as follows:

Exams
There are two exam periods a year at Harbord, one in December before the Winter break, and one in June before the Summer break. During these exam periods, there are no classes, and students will only need to go to school to write their exams as needed. In total, there are 10 combined exam days in a school year. Due to the school being non-semestered, a student could have 8 exams to write during an exam period, instead of 4 in a semestered school. Exams in June may be part of the 30% required Summative Evaluation. Two report cards are given out after these exam periods, and also once in November.

Multiculturalism
Harbord has been a multicultural school for many years. From the 1920s to the 1950s, about 90 percent of the student body was Jewish and many prominent Jewish Canadians had attended Harbord. Today, the student body consists, but is not limited to students of Chinese and Portuguese descent, which is representative of the surrounding neighbourhoods. Many of the clubs at Harbord are reflective of the ethnic groups present. Harbord is well known for its language program, offering courses in Cantonese, Mandarin, Spanish, Latin, French and Portuguese. Such courses allow students to learn basic language structure and conversation skills in these languages.

Harbord has 3 French programs to choose from, Immersion, Extended or Core. This gives students the opportunity to become bilingual in Canada's official languages. Now, there is even a French Club within Harbord.

Harbord has a full ESL program to help all students new to Canada learn English. Harbord also has an International Club to help the students get used to Toronto and the new environment. The club has many activities throughout the year to help new students get involved in the school and give them the chance to socialize with other students in the school.

Clubs
Harbord has a variety of clubs. With over 40 clubs, there's one for every student.

Student Activity Council
President: Rajithan Ithayalingam Senior Vice-President: Lily Truong Junior Vice-President: Tracey Biinna Secretary/Treasurer: Blaire Lam-Greene Social Convenor: Kailla D'Armiento Public Relations Officer: Hilary McKee External Affairs Officer: Jackie Tang Year 4 Rep: Jason Huang Year 4 Rep: Christina Wong Year 3 Rep: Chantel Arce Year 3 Rep: Vanessa Gold Year 2 Rep: Cindy Liang Year 2 Rep: Camille Or Year 1 Rep: Lea Damata Year 1 Rep: Alan Lin

The Student Activity Council, better known as SAC, is the largest student run organization at Harbord, which is run by dedicated and involved individuals who wish to make your stay at Harbord more enjoyable. These students are participants of athletics, the arts, and everything in between, and are therefore very representative of Harbord Collegiate's population.

They organize special activities such as semi-formals, activity days, and spirit weeks. They also hold Movie Nights, and Talent Shows throughout the year, as well as two barbeques: the Welcome Back Barbeque at the beginning of the year, and the Farewell Barbeque at the end of the year. Both barbeques take place outdoors with great food, a live D.J., and live entertainment, and is a chance for both students and teachers to have fun and relax.

In order to fund for these activities, students purchase a SAC card from the Student Council at the beginning of the year, which allows students to join clubs and teams, and entitles each student to a yearbook. Using the money collected, SAC distributes the money from these cards to support and fund most of the school teams, clubs, and activities within the school. While maintaining a great reputation with the Administration and Harbord staff, this year's Student Council is looking forward.

Currently, the President of Harbord's Student Council is Rajithan Ithayalingam. Presidents of SAC in the past include Martyna Bocian, Gia Milne-Allan, and Max Kerman. The new teacher advisor of SAC starting this year is Ms. Williams. Ms. Clark, now retired was the teacher advisor for many years prior to her retirement.

Other representatives within the Student Council include Class Representatives, a representative from the Athletic Association, a representative from the Creative Arts, and finally, a representative from the school newspaper, Tiger Talk.

Creative Arts Council
President: David Cheung Music Vice-President: Ricky Tran Visual Arts Vice-President: Jamie Alexander McMillan Drama Vice-President: Kadesha Myrie Secretary: Carolyn Trinh Treasurer: Cindy Liang Music Representative: Connie Jia Visual Arts Representative: Ive Delic Drama Representative: Tiya Sisson

The Creative Arts Council, also known as CAC, is consists of music, art and drama students that work together to improve the school's Creative Arts program. This council was created three years ago, when the music council was restructured to include students in the disciplines of visual arts and drama. For all three years the teacher advisor of the council has been Ms. Renata Todros, also head of the Music and Arts department.

The group of CAC members is involved with all events that have Arts students involved. These events include: the Awards Assembly, Remembrance Ceremony, Holiday Assembly, Feeder School Concert, Musical Theatre Performance, Junior and Senior Spring Concerts and Showcases. Besides events, CAC also organized fundraisers to raise money for better instruments and supplies for the Arts students at Harbord.

At the end of the school year, all the members of the council help to plan a CAC banquet. It is for sure an unforgettable night, where outstanding participation as well as talent is recognized and awards are given. Great food and dancing is also on the program for that special night.

The current president of Harbord's Creative Arts Council is David Cheung. Presidents of CAC in the past include Rajithan Ithayalingam, Natalie Maxwell and Mary Margaret Wood. Ms. Renata Todros is the teacher advisor of CAC and has been since the start. Other teachers involved in CAC are Mr. Ross and Ms. Martin.

In previous years, there were many other positions including: Fundraising Co-ordinators, Banquet Co-ordinator, Senior Concert Co-ordinator, Junior Concert Co-odinator, Public Relation Officers and also Year reps in place of department reps.

Boys and Girls Athletic Association
The Boys Athletic Association, also known as the BAA, and the Girls Athletic Association, also known as the GAA, are two different clubs in Harbord that work closely together to organise most athletic events, such as the athletic banquet and intramurals.

The current president of BAA is Kevin Tung and the current president of GAA is Amy Chong.

Break Dancing Club
Harbords very first Break Dancing Club was Recently Created. The president of the club is the skillful James Hsiao, and the Vice-President is the strong man Austin Hung and with strong determination formed this club for the school and giving students from Harbord Collegiate Institute the chances to learn about break dancing. Therefore we will be more than happy to accept any information about the art. Popping, locking, tutting, roboting, freestyling, or beat boxing are freely wide-ranged expressive to those multi-talent students who are interested in those. Practices will be held once or twice a week in the MPR. We will be supervised by the talent and experienced Mr. Baker. If you are interested in learning a few things or willing to show ur skills drop by because all serious students are welcome.

Comic Book Club
Founders Daniel "King Kwan" Kwan Eduardo "Wardo" Brandao Victor "the Victor" Nhan Honourary Member Alton "GTM" Chiu Teacher Advisor Mr. Morgan

The Comic Book Club is a newly created club at Harbord. The members within, who most wish to be called Nhanites, meet every Tuesday during the lunch break at their headquarters, The Hall of Justice (room 210). To raise money for their super-human sexual needs, they have been holding fundraisers such as "The Unofficial Super Smash Bros. Melee 4 Stock Doubles Tournament of Justice" (TUSSBM4SDTOJ for short).

The founders and current co-presidents of the Comic Book Club are Daniel "King Kwan" Kwan, Eduardo "Wardo" Brandao, and Victor "the Victor" Nhan. The teacher advisor is Mr. Morgan, the space pirate with flaming balls of fury.

Rivalry with ESP
The feud between the Comic Book Club and the Empowered Student Partnership (ESP) is a tale as old as time. It started when the ESP leaders, Raji whatever-his-last-name-is and Linda Au Yeung, first discovered their psychic powers and made the school glorify their names by appointing them heads of such groups as SAC and CAC, the two largest school organizations. The leaders and ultimate Nhanites, King Kwan and the Victor, have been known to send their minions to watch the ESP because, although they also have powers and use them for good, the Nhanites have cooler powers (which are to make a person's head asplode when thinking dirty thoughts about them (King Kwan) and to hit it... with a stick (the Victor)) and do not trust them. This also didn't fly with King Kwan and the Victor because for the longest time ever, these two heroes have been protecting the school secretly under their aliases, not once asking for anything in return. However, under the newly created Superhuman Registration Act, the two Nhanites were forced to reveal their identities in a shocking meeting that involved lunch and Adam West as Batman.

When the psychic leaders of the school heard of the news, they quickly confronted the two heroes and stated, "This school is only big enough for one pair of crime fighters." The two sides fought valiantly, but it ended when the ultimate Nhanite mentor, Mr. Morgan, swooped down from space and forced his balls of fury on Raji and Linda's faces. He told both quarreling sides to live at peace with one another or to face his fury. At that moment, Morgan unleashed his true powers which was so terribly horrendous that those who looked upon it (Linda and Raji), never touched themselves again. Luckily for King Kwan and the Victor, they knew of their mentor's devastating powers and turned away. The feud still continues, but the two teams have been able to work cooperatively for the safety of the school.

Debating Society
The Harbord Debating Society is a place to enhance students’ political awareness as well as their oratorical skills. The society is open to all Harbord students. The topics range from school uniform to George W. Bush’s policies, from gay marriage to NAFTA. Each year, students participate in various tournaments, such as the Ontario Model Parliament and the Southern Ontario Model United Nations Assembly. The club has many enthusiastic and capable members, and a dedicated Mr. Harrison as its staff advisor.

The current chairs of the Debating Society are Jimmy Lu, Allison Lee and Yunus Mohamed.

Empowered Student Partnership (ESP)
The Empowered Student Partnership is a new club at Harbord that works with the TDSB, the Toronto Police Service and the Toronto Catholic District School Board to make the school and the community a safer and better place by using their psychic abilities for the good of humanity. They work towards minimizing violence, drug use, graffiti, guns, racism, etc with their psychic powers. The teacher advisor is Mrs. Townsend and the club is also strongly supported by vice-principal Mr. Mirza. Since the club is relatively new, there are not many psychic members, but the members are working hard to promote the club and find other students that share their interests special abilities.

The current co-ordinaters and the strongest minds of ESP are Rajithan Ithayalingam and Linda Au-Yeung. They got owned by the Comic Book Club. NOT EVEN

French Club
The French Club is dedicated to imporoving the Francophone population at Harbord. Originally started by Mme Berezowsky, the French club was a very small club at Harbord. After her departure from Harbord, the French club was restarted by the new president Selina Mohabir. During the 2005-2006 school year, the French club held a number of fundraisers, which included outings to Café Crêpe (a restaurant in Toronto). Other fundraisers are being planned. Although predominently consisting of Francophones, the French club is attracting many other students through their events.

Green Club
The Green Club (A.K.A. "E.A.P.S.") is a group of enthusiastic students commited to the improvement and the awareness of the environment problems around the school, and to change the school and make it more environmentally friendly. The Green Club currently is working on the "Watt Wise" program which monitors the energy consumption of different school electrical equipment and to try and see if energy use around the school could be reduced. The Green Club has also a couple of fundraiser in development to raise money to fix the solar panel on the roof that is currently inoperative, and also plans on revamping the Green House.

The president and co-founder of the Green Club is Alison Lee.

History Club
The History Club is composed of students who recognize and promote Harbord's rich history. The club was created only recently, but gained recognition after helping to organize the 2006 Remembrance Day assembly. The current goals of the History Club are to care for and update the Harbord Museum, to work on the possible creation of a Harbord History course, which has been suggested by alumni, and to recruit more members. The club is currently co-presidented by founders Caitlin Stewart and Lidia Likhodi; Nariné Martiros-Gharakhanian is a publicly prominent and active member.

Key Club
The Key Club does not make keys, in fact KEY stands for Kiwanis Educating Youths. As a student-led organization, the Key Club builds character and develops leadership while we give back to our home, school and community. This year, the Key Club has partnered with the Toronto Western Hospital in its patient visiting program. If you are looking into getting some volunteer hours fast, the Key Club is the club that makes it happen.

The current president of the Key Club is Natalie Maxwell. Co-presidents of Key club in the past include Uyen Tran and Lisa Tai.

Robotics Team
This is a team dedicated to competing in various international competitions such as the FIRST Robotics Competition and the FIRST Vex Challenge. The team name of the Robotics Club is Tiger Techs, or T2 for short. The registered team number for Tiger Techs is 919 in all robotics challenges organized by FIRST. This club has been in existence for over five years and has built many a successful robot. In 2006, the team proudly ranked 31 out 74 in the Greater Toronto Regional. The teachers involved in the 2006/2007 Robotics Club are Mr. Hulays, Mr. McIntyre, Mr. Sangha and Mr. Lee.

Tigerline Announcements
This savvy group of motivators informs the school of events and essential student/teacher info. The current president, Hannah Fogel has called the shots for about two years.

Tiger Talk
Tiger Talk is Harbord's official newspaper. It is sectioned into five categories: School, Sports, World Issues, Entertainment and Miscellaneous. It covers many topics in and out of the school environment. It has been a great source of information for Harbordites for many years.

The current Head Editors of Tiger Talk are Alexandra Papaelias and Cindy Tang.

Other clubs
Here is a (incomplete) list of other various other clubs offered at Harbord:


 * Astronomy Club
 * Badminton Club
 * Board Game Association
 * Book Club
 * Brit Com Club
 * Chess Club
 * Chinese Club


 * Christian Fellowship
 * Cooking Club
 * Girls Club
 * Guitar Club
 * International Club
 * Mandarin Tigers
 * Philosophy Club


 * Programming Team
 * Prom Committee
 * School Reach
 * Silver Club
 * South Asian Club
 * Stock Market Club
 * United Way


 * Tea Club
 * WACC
 * Website Team
 * Weight Training Club

Sports
Harbord has a wide variety of sport teams, coached and managed by many members of the faculty and sometimes with help of old students of Harbord.

Here is a list of sport teams offered at Harbord:

Music program
Harbord has a very wide range of musical opportunities. At Harbord, the head of the Music Department is Mrs. Todros. Other teachers in the department include Mrs. Martin and Mr. Alberts.

Band
Band is taught by Mr. Alberts and Mrs. Martin. The band program goes from the Grade 9 Beginner Band to the Grade 12 Senior Band. Harbord's Jazz Band is conducted by Mr. Alberts and is comprised of the most experienced band players in the school. Their practices are early in the morning and therefore require a lot of dedication. The senior band is also taught by Mr. Alberts, while Mrs. Martin teaches the Junior Band class. Instruments in band include flute, clarinet, saxophone, french horn, trombone, tuba, bass guitar, keyboard, drums, baritone and trumpet. The band performs at assemblies and concerts which includes the Remembrance Ceremony, Senior Showcase, Feeder School Concert, Commencement and the Farewell Assembly.

Vocal
Vocal is taught by Mrs. Todros. The classes range from Grade 9 Beginner Vocal to Senior Vocal. There is also a Cantemus Choir at Harbord that sings for many events inside and outside of Harbord. This Choir won Second Place at this year's Kiwanis Festival.

Strings
Strings is taught by Mrs. Todros. She teaches the Grade 9 Beginner Strings, the Junior Strings and the Senior Strings. Instruments available for strings at Harbord include: violin, viola, cello and bass. Strings are a very difficult instrument to play, as any instrument is, and the students that take part in this are highly dedicated and passionate. Harbord's String Quarter won First Prize at last year's Kiwanis Festival. The Chamber Orchestra has performed at other venues such as Massey Hall, and George Weston Hall. The Strings Chamber Orchestra plays at school events such as the Awards Assembly, Feeder School Concert and Senior Concert, and from time to time, accompanies the Cantemus Choir in creating wonderful pieces of work!

Staff
Besides the students, the staff are the most important people in the school.

School spirit
School spirit is shown off in many ways at Harbord Collegiate Institute. Councils such as the Student Activity Council, the Creative Arts Council, the Boys Athletic Association, the Girls Athletic Association, and Key Club all have their very own uniforms for their respected members to wear. These uniforms are purchased by the students and are worn to meetings and at events that their council is leading.

School spirit is also shown by clothing that the Boys Athletic Association sells annually. They sell everything from sweaters, to shirts, to sweat pants, and it can all be personalized while having Harbord  on the front in big, bold letters. Students that take part in athletics at Harbord wear uniforms, and this year, most of which is personalized. Their outstanding school spirit by sporting the orange black while participating in extracurricular activities does not go unnoticed.

Finally, Harbord's Student Council holds Spirit Weeks throughout the course of a school year for students to take part in. These weeks, running from Monday to Friday, include fun days such as Pajama Day, Twin Day, and even Backwards Day. This year, since the first Spirit Week was in late October, there was a day that was dedicated to Halloween. Wondeful costumes were worn on this day, and most definitely revealed Harbord's school spirit!



Symbols of Harbord
A lot of recognisable symbols can be linked to Harbord. Harbord's official slogan is "Virtus et Doctrina." Harbord has an official coat of arms, shown at right.

Harbord's official mascot is the tiger. A Tiger can be seen in the middle of the gym floor which is familiar to all of Harbord's students. A tiger can also be found on team uniforms. Harbord's official colours are orange and black, which are based on the colours of a tiger.

Onward Harbord
Onward Harbord is Harbord's official song, it is sung along with the school band playing at the same time. Generally at the behest of the principal ("One more time!"), the song gets sung twice. The lyrics are as follows: