Petunia

Petunia turns up on the margins of New New York, one more face in the crowd of Futurama's sprawling universe. She isn't a lead or even a regular fixture — just a passing presence, glimpsed doing something small and odd, the kind of blink-and-you-miss-her role the show scatters through its background for texture and a quick laugh.

The pleasure here is Tress MacNeille's range rather than Petunia's plot importance. MacNeille is one of animation's great utility voices, and a nothing walk-on character becomes a little gift of comic timing in her hands — proof that even a single throwaway line can carry a distinct, funny voice if the right performer picks it up.