The Colonel

The Colonel turns up as one of Futurama's parade of gruff authority figures, a military officer who barks orders and expects them followed without question. He carries himself with rigid, self-serious formality, the kind of stock commander whose bluster the show loves to puncture.

David Herman gives the type its snap: a flat, no-nonsense delivery that plays the character's self-importance completely straight, which is exactly what makes Futurama's absurd sci-fi trappings around him land as funny. It's a small role done with real comic discipline rather than showy mugging.