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In a commentary track on a "Futurama" DVD, voice actor Billy West reveals that his voice for Dr. Zoidberg -- the clueless, revolting, dumpster-dwelling lobster medic -- was partially inspired by 1940s Hollywood impresario George Jessel, one of the producers on the original "Nightmare Alley" and an actor in films such as "Four Jills in a Jeep" and the bawdy 1969 Anthony Newley musical "Can Heironymus Merkin Ever Forget Mercy Humppe and Find True Happiness?" When series creator Matt Groening incredulously asks West how he knows who George Jessel is, West shoots back with his own age (West was born in 1952). 

Fun trivia: Eddie Cantor once joked that his gravestone should be inscribed with the poem "Here in nature's arms I nestle, free at last from Georgie Jessel." Jessel, not to be outdone by the burn, was actually buried next to Cantor. 

The writers of "Futurama" likely didn't know that Jessel inspired the voice of Dr.

The episode of "Futurama" entitled "Jurassic Bark" was about the unfrozen 20th-century boob Fry (Billy West) going to a museum in the year 3002 to find ancient antiques of the pizza joint where he used to work. There was a pizza paddle, an old dining booth, and, most shockingly, the fossilized remains of his beloved pet dog Seymour. Professor Farnsworth (West) explains that, because Seymour was fossilized so quickly, there may still be a creamy center of organic dog matter somewhere inside Seymour's rock shell. With such matter, Seymour could be cloned and returned to life with his memories and personality intact, so Fry endeavors to steal Seymour's remains from the museum. Half of the episode is told in flashback, and audiences enjoy scenes of Fry bonding with his dear dog. At one point, Fry teaches the pooch how to bark Katrina and the Waves' 1985 hit "Walking on Sunshine."

Eventually, the...