JK: Did Zapp Brannigan change much? Because I saw the first episode he was in and it sounded pretty much like how he sounded later.
BW: Did he change? Um, I don't know, I try to keep it pretty consistent. Phil Hartman was supposed to do that character, and I was imitating Phil Hartman. I knew Phil Hartman; when I came to work with him on some commercials and stuff out here in Hollywood, we both had this real fascination and love for these big, old-time dumb announcers. You know, the guys who have their balls in a wheelbarrow and think that every word is so precious that it's hard to give birth to it, like everything comes out in four syllables instead of one. Guys who think far and away that of everything else in this universe, he loves his voice. So that's what was going on with him. He's modeled after a couple of big dumb announcers I knew.
Fry was named after Phil. Phillip Fry.