A Clone of My Own
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Futurama episode | |
| "A Clone of My Own" | |
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| Episode no. | 23 |
| Prod. code | 2ACV10 |
| Airdate | April 9, 2000 |
| Writer(s) | Patric M. Verrone |
| Director | Rich Moore |
| Opening subtitle | Coming Soon To An Illegal DVD |
| Opening cartoon | "Koko's Earth Control" |
| Season 2 November 1999 – December 2000 |
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| List of all Futurama episodes... | |
"A Clone of My Own" is episode ten in season two of Futurama. It originally aired in North America on April 9, 2000.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
While attending his 150th birthday party, Professor Farnsworth becomes concerned with his own mortality. He decides he needs to name a successor. The Planet Express staff expects one of them will be named, but Farnsworth reveals that his successor will be a 12-year old clone of himself, Cubert Farnsworth.
Cubert decides that being an inventor is not an appealing career choice, and makes cutting remarks about the Professor and his inventions. A depressed professor makes a recording telling his crew that he has been lying about his age. He is actually 160, the age when robots from the Sunset Squad take people away, never to be seen again. Under cover of an overly-dramatic thunderstorm, a hooded robot arrives, and takes the professor away.
The crew sets off to rescue the professor, and finds the Near-Death Star, the Sunset Squad's base of operations. The crew sneaks in, and locates the professor, who is unconscious and hooked to a life-support system. The robots discover the crew, and they race back to the Planet Express Ship, Professor Farnsworth in tow.
As they reach the landing pad, Cubert is knocked unconscious, but they make it onto the ship in one piece. When the ship takes off, the robots open fire, damaging the engines. A reawakened Cubert announces that he knows how to fix the engines, and the crew makes their escape. (The dark matter engines don't move the ship, but instead move the universe, allowing the ship to go faster than the speed of light.) Safely back on Earth, Cubert tells the professor that he has decided to follow in his footsteps.
[edit] Characters
Characters who first appear in this episode are:
[edit] Professor Farnsworth's inventions
Professor Farnsworth's inventions in this episode are:
- The Smell-o-scope
- A Time Machine
- A Universal Translator
[edit] Cultural references
- Captain Muskie's introduction music is a musical cue from the original Star Trek television series. His appearance and chair are based on that of Christopher Pike from the Star Trek episodes "The Menagerie" parts I and II.
- The time machine that the Professor says set him back fifteen years is based on that from the George Pal movie version of The Time Machine.
- The Sunset Squad's mission to rid the world of old people is a reference to the plot of Logan's Run.
- The quarters on the Near-Death Star, the music when they are discovered and the Professor's later description of what happened to him there are both reminiscent of the film The Matrix. Furthermore, during the escape from the Near-Death Star, the Bullet Time camera technique, which was heavily incorporated into the Matrix movies, is used to pan around Planet Express ship for a climactic conclusion.
- The Near-Death Star and the crew's escape from it are both references to Star Wars.
- The tube containing Cubert Farnsworth is similar to the bacta tank Luke Skywalker was submerged in from The Empire Strikes Back.
- Dr. Zoidberg remarks that he had once appeared on Showtime at the Apollo (first revealed in "Anthology of Interest I".)
- Zoidberg makes a reference to Ringo Starr; when he told his joke and the drummer failed to play.
- It is revealed that the Planet Express ship moves in a manner similar to that described in the Arrow Paradox.
- When Leela tries to smell the professor, she smells "BendGay", a reference to Bengay which was also used by Bender in "Bendless Love."
- During the Summary of Farnsworth's time video, there is a picture of the professor with the note Dungeon Master and a wand. An obvious reference to Dungeons and Dragons.
- The condition Professor Farnsworth tell Cubert to look up, "wandering bladder", is a play on the archaic belief in the condition, "wandering womb", which was believed to cause hysteria and lunacy in women.
- The Sunset Squad Robot that comes for Farnsworth is a parody of the Grim Reaper.
[edit] Continuity
- In this episode it is revealed that Professor Farnsworth is 160 years old.
- This is the first time the Professor actually admits to "good news" being bad news. ("Good news everyone! The University is bringing me up on disciplinary charges! Wait. That's not good news at all!") This is also the first time he says "Bad news everyone!"
[edit] Production notes
- In this episode Cubert is named as the professor's heir. However, in "Anthology of Interest I" it is revealed that if Leela were a little more impulsive she would have been named as heir.
- The professor shows Cubert a Universal Translator device, which unfortunately translates to a "dead, incomprehensible language". Cubert says hello to the translator to test it, to which the translator responds, "Bonjour!" This could imply that the French language no longer exists in the Futurama timeline (despite being used on several occasions). In the French dubbed soundtrack, the "dead, incomprehensible language" is German.
- Cubert's role was originally intended to point out the inconsistencies and plot holes of the show, though the producers couldn't figure out a way to introduce him until season two, and this episode is the only one in which he took upon his intended role.
- The Planet Express Bullet time escape is a parody of the overkill use of the effect on movies, music videos and advertisement at the time, especially since the perspective pan is one of the simplest effects on 3D animation software.
