The news of the latest COVID-19 variant isn’t good, but there is one bright spot related to the name and its connection to Futurama, an animated show that ran for seven seasons, from 1999 to 2003.
The World Health Organization named the latest variant Omicron. In Futurama, there is a race of beings called the Omicronians. People are understandably hyped about this.
The Omicronians are a hyper-aggressive species, so it fits perfectly.
We’ve obviously entered a new phase of the pandemic.
Omicronians hail from Omicron Persei Eight.
Futurama fans were always quick with a joke.
Some people are still understandably upset.
While many are making jokes that someone at WHO is a Futurama fan, and that could very well be the case, the procedure for naming variants comes from the organization’s decision to label variants using the Greek alphabet.
Omicron is the 15th variant of variant, following alpha and delta. It was first reported on November 24 from a specimen on November 19 in South Africa. It’s also shown up in Israel, Hong Kong, Botswana and Belgium.
Futurama is a show from The Simpsons creator Matt Groening. That show is often cited for predicting the future, so it’s not that surprising that Futurama is on a similar hilt.
In fact, The Simpsons seemingly predicted the Coronavirus way back in 1993 in the episode “Marge in Chains.”
Time will tell what nerds will do when variant Pi is eventually unveiled.
Futurama is available to watch on Hulu and available for purchase on various other streaming services.