Dr. Banjo

Dr. Banjo turns up in the sprawling background of Futurama's future New New York, one of the show's endless supply of oddball professionals whose title promises expertise the setting immediately undercuts. He appears briefly, does his job with straight-faced conviction, and lets the joke live in the gap between his credentials and the absurdity around him.

Futurama's genius is often in its throwaway names and faces, and a character like Dr. Banjo works because the show commits fully to a bit part instead of winking at it. Voiced with genuine seriousness by David Herman and Maurice LaMarche, he's funny precisely because he isn't trying to be.