It’s back to no future for Futurama

In seven seasons stretched over 14 years and more than 120 episodes, the time-bending, futuristic sci-fi ’ toon Futurama is about to disappear into the TV void that is late-night reruns and DVD boxed sets.

Futurama’s finale, titled — cue ironic sound effect — Meanwhile, aired earlier in the year on Comedy Central. It airs in Canada for the first time Dec. 5 on Teletoon. (In Thursday’s episode, Stench and Stenchibility, which is your penultimate chance to watch the show, Zoidberg meets the love of his life.) The show will be missed.

Although Futurama was cancelled once before — in 2003 — and is the focus of renewed efforts to revive it, this does look like the end. The Simpsons will end its season with a Futurama crossover in May. After that, Futurama’s fate rests in destiny’s hands.

The finale’s story is disarmingly simple. After years of being stranded 1,000 years into the future, shy service delivery clerk Philip J. Fry (Billy West) finally works up the nerve to ask Leela (Katey Sagal) to marry him. Spoiler alert: If she answered “No,” it wouldn’t be much of a series finale.

Meanwhile, back in the lab, Professor Farnsworth (also voiced by West) comes up with a new contraption, the Time Button, designed to alter the space-time continuum — which, unlike some of the Professor’s other inventions, does what it’s intended to do, with unintended sideeffects.

Then again, Futurama always did operate in an alternate universe from other animated ’toons aimed at adults. It sprang to life from the fertile, creative imagination of Simpsons creator Matt Groening, and while it wasn’t a strict spinoff, it shared many of that classic series’ signature touches, from its curious mixture of cynicism and starryeyed hope to its snappy oneliners and tart comebacks. (9 p.m., Teletoon)

■ Here’s one holiday tradition almost anyone can get behind — or beside, at any rate: The National Dog Show, where the American Kennel Club chooses the purebreds that will compete early next year at the prestigious Westminster Kennel Club show in New York.

Former Seinfeld J. Peterman boss-man and original Dancing with the Stars star John O’Hurley is once again the host.

Dog aficionados, please note: This year’s field has been expanded to include the Portuguese podengo pequeno for the first time. Now you know. (4 p.m., NBC)

■ Homegrown undercover police procedural Played features a new episode, Cops, in which the Covert Investigations Unit investigates Daniel Price’s (Dwain Murphy) former gangs-and-guns unit for evidence of corruption. (10 p.m., CTV)

■ Glee fans, a.k.a. Gleeks, should know two things about Thursday’s episode going in. First, it’s a new episode, not a rerun, unlike most of the night’s dramas and comedies. Second, Sue Sylvester (Jane Lynch) finally reveals the story behind her trademark tracksuit, and she gets uncharacteristically weepy-eyed with nostalgia.

It may not be a “very special episode” per se, but it’s a big deal for Glee fans. (9 p.m., Fox, Global)