The Best TV Dog

My choice for best dog in a TV series might be unconventional.  In fact, he’s animated. But he ended up being more real than others I’ve seen on the small screen.

Futurama was an animated show about a guy who was frozen, and woke up in the future.  He then began living a glorious life in the future as…a delivery boy.

It’s a fantastic series, both funny and weirdly touching at random moments, in many cases even better than The Simpsons, which was created by the same people.

One episode, Jurassic Bark, Fry finds the fossilized remains of his dog, Seymour, a stray he found while delivering pizza that attached itself to him.  He then becomes obsessed with taking the DNA and cloning his beloved dog.  This is all intercut with flashbacks of how he got the dog, and their happy adventures before Fry got himself frozen.

Long story short, they date the fossil and discover that Seymour died at the ripe old age of 15, and so Fry doesn’t want to bring him back just for selfish reasons.  After all, Seymour eventually forgot about Fry.

But the final few minutes of the episode show Seymour, waiting for Fry to come back, always looking.  He waits in the same spot for years.  Finally, tired and old, he lays down to rest.

This scene will bring tears to almost any dog lover’s eyes.  And you’ll want to get down in the floor and hug your own dog for about 3 hours straight.

Here’s to you, Seymour.  You were only in one episode, and in one of the direct to DVD movies (plus you were just animated), but you reminded me why I love dogs in the first place.

What is your favorite TV moment involving a dog? Your favorite TV dog?

Coincidentally, Futurama is coming back after more than a 6 year hiatus,
and the new season is premiering tonight on Comedy Central.

The full episode can be seen here (clicking on it causes a pop-up, but just close that and hit play again and you’re good to go. It’s worth watching.):