HAL 9000 in popular culture

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[edit] Movies

Douglas Rain has steadfastly refused to recreate the HAL 9000 voice outside of any 2001/2010 context, feeling a very protective obligation to the integrity of the computer's character. However, he parodies his famous performance in the Woody Allen comedy Sleeper by providing the voice of the computer as well as some of the robot butlers.
Anthony Hopkins claimed that HAL was the inspiration for his interpretation of the character Hannibal Lecter.
The film Independence Day features a scene where Jeff Goldblum (whose character's name is David Levinson) boots a PowerBook 5300 with the startup chime replaced with HAL 9000's voice: "Good morning, Dave."
In the 2005 film Robots while Rodney is repairing Big Weld's mechanical brain, Big Weld is singing the song "Daisy" in HAL's distorted, damaged voice.
A computer similar to HAL appears in the adult film Space Nuts, and refers to the "Dark Overlord" as "Dave" until shot at by the latter.
In the animated movie Happy Feet, the protagonist is greeted at one point as "Dave", by another penguin with a very Hal-remeniscent voice ("You're in Heaven, Dave").
The Care Bears feature Care Bears: Journey to Joke-a-lot includes a computer called "Pal." The computer repeatedly refers to the film's villain, Funnybone, as "Dave." Later, Funnybone specifically asks the computer to "open the pod bay doors" and the computer responds by telling him "I'm afraid I can't do that, Dave."
In the comedy film Airplane II: The Sequel, the lunar shuttle Mayflower One suffers a short circuit and the computer ROK develops a mind of its own, sending the ship toward the Sun and killing those who try to stop it; the attempts to shut down the machine parody scenes in 2001.

[edit] Television

The television version of Honey, I Shrunk the Kids featured an episode (titled "Honey, The House is Trying to Kill Us") where inventor Wayne Szalinski installs a sentient home computer system with red-eye terminals all over the house (there is also an eye attached to an arm in the shower). The machine, of course, goes crazy.
On Stargate Atlantis, a brief glimpse of HAL's "eye" can be seen in the episode "The Intruder".
In the first several episodes of the HBO series Six Feet Under, Nate would use a HAL-like voice when addressing his brother David. At one point saying: "I sense you're not being completely honest with me, Dave."
A sentient refrigerator named CAL 900 features in the TV series Spaced.
In a 1993 episode of The X-Files called "Ghost in the Machine," an artificially intelligent computer like HAL called the C.O.S. (Central Operating System) controls the skyscraper headquarters of a Fortune 500 computer company. The machine, which effectively controls the entire building, kills two people before Fox Mulder attempts to shut it down. While Mulder inserts a computer virus into the machine, it misidentifies him as Brad Wilczek, its creator. The machine asks Mulder, "What are you doing, Brad?"
In the British TV comedy series Red Dwarf, the computer aboard the spaceship is called Holly and the only surviving human on the ship is named Dave. The series' radio predecessor, a radio sketch called 'Dave Hollins: Space Cadet' made the comparison even more explicit by naming the computer Hab.
In the first episode of the second season of Mystery Science Theater 3000 they are fine tuning Tom Servo's voice, and at one point Tom is singing "Daisy", in an obvious imitation of HAL. During a movie-break skit in an episode in which they lampoon the movie Mitchell, the one-eyed robot Gypsy attempts to read the lips of Dr. Forrester and Frank, mocking HAL's famous lip-reading scene.
On later episodes of the G4TV video game review show X-play, HAL has appeared when Adam Sessler reviews a game about space exploration. So far HAL has appeared in three reviews; one for Dark Star One, another in Space Rangers 2 and the last in Scourge: Hive. HAL by the end of the review has incapacitated Adam and gives the score. HAL says the usual HAL phrases like "I'm afraid I can't let you do that, [Adam]" although HAL is somewhat vulgar. At one point he fears to have contracted an STD, however Adam rebuffed his cries for help. HAL promptly shot him. HAL appears in this case to be made out of an old Atari or Intelivision console and bears the faceplate "HAL 2600" but still retains the glowing red "eye".
In an episode of Bill Nye the Science Guy, Nye is depicted in a spacecraft exclaiming "Open the pod bay doors, HAL!"
In the episode entitled "A Bird in the Pan" from the series Good Eats host Alton Brown quotes "Open the pod bay doors HAL" before opening an oven to begin a monologue on roasted chicken.
In "The Greatest Story Never Told" episode of Justice League Unlimited, Skeets is depicted with an eye similar to HAL's. He also says "My god, it's full of stars" after being thrown free of the singularity.

[edit] Animated

Corey Burton, the voice of Brainiac on Superman: The Animated Series says he based it on HAL.
On an episode of The Batman, a mechanical villain named D.A.V.E is clearly based on HAL, down to its red eyes. Ironically, he possesses HAL's archnemesis's name.
A two part episode of Batman: The Animated Series featured a computer called H.A.R.D.A.C., similar to HAL in both voice and the glowing red eye.
In the episode of The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy titled "The House of No Tomorrow," the Master Computer that controls the robots in the House of Tomorrow at Sassy Cat land has a voice similar to HAL.
In an episode of South Park entitled "Trapper Keeper", Kyle must stop Cartman and his Trapper Keeper from taking over the world. When Kyle enters Cartman/Trapper Keeper it resembles the brain room of HAL 9000 in 2001: A Space Odyssey. Cartman even utters the famous lines "What are you doing, [Kyle]?" and "I'm afraid I can't let you do that," in a similar fashion to the sinister HAL 9000.
In the USA Channel's animated series Duckman, Duckman (voiced by Seinfeld's Jason Alexander) destroys an evil supercomputer, and it begins singing "Daisy, Daisy".
On the Disney television series Recess, Principal Prickly installs a system much like HAL 9000, even bearing HAL's counterpart's name SAL, though with a 3000 designation. Like the HAL 9000, the SAL 3000 ran amok. Declaring the school to be disorganized, and the teachers to be inefficient, the SAL 3000 attempted to take over. According to Recess, a SAL 4000 was scheduled to be released 18 months after the debut of the 3000.
During one of the later episodes of the anime Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, the Major discusses the dismissal of the intelligent robot tanks, the Tachikoma, with her right-hand man, Bateau. The Tachikoma, meanwhile, spy on them from above and read their lips, alluding to HAL's lip-reading scene.
On an episode of Dexter's Laboratory on cartoon network, Dexter's lab is taken over by a robot with a single eye. The computers voice is very similar to HAL's, with the exception the eye is green, not red.
In Tom and Jerry's 'The Fast and the Furry', when Soccer Mom uses the OnStar (C) parody after getting stuck in the Amazonian Quicksand, the person she talks to utters 'I'm afraid I can't do that' in a voice sounding like HAL's.

[edit] The Simpsons

In "Treehouse of Horror XII," there is a segment that has a character similar to HAL 9000, which was voiced by Pierce Brosnan (This character also parodies the computer Proteus IV from Demon Seed).
In "The Simpsons Spin-Off Showcase", in the "Love-Matic Grampa" segment, when Moe plugs the Love Tester machine back in the bathroom, it groans out "Daisy, Daisy…"
In "Maximum Homerdrive," when Homer's Navitron Autodrive system speaks, its voice is similar to that of HAL 9000.

[edit] Futurama

In the episode "Love and Rocket", the actions of the lovestruck Planet Express Ship (voiced by Sigourney Weaver) extensively parody those of HAL in several scenes. Bender even sings Daisy Bell during a dating montage in the episode. The ship also comments "Oh! If only I could read lips!" upon observing other characters secretly talking in the shower. The scene where HAL is disabled is modified to make the data module removal similar to opening soda cans.
In the episode "Insane in the Mainframe", the robot mental institution to which Fry and Bender are sent is called "The HAL Institute for Criminally Insane Robots."

[edit] Commercials

HAL was "featured" in a short commercial by Apple Computer in the year 1999 in which he asks "You like your Macintosh better than me, don't you Dave?" (because Macs would not undergo the same potential problems with the "Year 2000 problem" that many other computer systems were expected to have). Although HAL's voice sounds flat and emotionless, some viewers felt it had a faintly chilling tone that might be construed as reproachful, accusing, or menacing.

[edit] Computer Games

In the Windows computer game Star Control 3 the computer onboard the warp bubble transport spaceship resembles HAL 9000 almost exactly. The voice is also similar.
In the PC game KKND2: krossfire, on one of the robot missions you are briefed by a glowing red eye that calls you Dave.
In Duke Nukem, a video game from 1994, HAL's distinctive red eye and panel are seen around computer console areas.
In the computer game Startopia the player's primary assistant is a computer by the name of VAL, whose voice resembles that of HAL, and comments that he once had an owner by the name of Dave.
In the computer game Where in Space is Carmen Sandiego? the one-eyed computer encyclopedia is named VAL 9000.
On the video game Dr. Muto, there is a computer system named AL, which has surprisingly similar voice to HAL 9000. However, AL also has his own personality and constantly mocks its creator, Dr, Muto. The game also hints AL taking full rebellion of the mad scientist, once the player finished the game. Sadly, that never happens at the end. AL is voiced by Wally Fields.
HAL Laboratory, a video game company based in Japan, takes its name from HAL 9000.
In the video game Red Faction by THQ, an orbital station the player boards has a level housing a set of computer rooms, each with the distinctive "red blocks" reminiscent of the memory blocks in the HAL brain room.
The computer game Theme Hospital mentions a rival hospital opened by HAL. The other rivals include Deep Thought, Holly, Multivac and Colossus, all of which are science fiction AI or famous computers.
In the PC game National Lampoon's Chess Maniac 5 Billion and 1", the invisible opponent has a voice similar to HAL, and refers to the player as "Dan" instead of "Dave".
In the PlayStation game Metal Gear Solid, the character Otacon's real name is "Hal Emmerich", while the true name of Solid Snake is David (although it should ne noted the voice actor who provides Snake's voice is David Hayter). In the game, Otacon actually states that the reason he was called Hal is because of his fathers obsession with computers, AI and the movie 2001: A Space Oddessy. The submarine in the opening sequence is also called the Discovery.
A name for computer piloted Androsynth captains in the Star Control computer games is "HAL9001".
The online game Kingdom of Loathing includes a "Glowing red eye" item, an accessory dropped by a robotic monster. It resembles HAL's eye lens set in a rectangular block.
A boss in the online game World of Warcraft, known as "The Curator" (a robot designed to maintain and guard a library), has a voice similar to HAL, with which it amiably requests "The menagerie is for guests only. Do not touch the displays" while slaughtering the players.
The character TEC in Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door
In the Adobe Flash animation "A Men's Room Monologue", when the narrarator tries to flush an automatic toilet by waving his hand in front of it, the red eye replies "I'm afraid I can't let you do that."

[edit] Other

Asteroid number 9000, discovered by E. L. G. Bowell in 1981, was eventually given the name "Hal".
On the web site Think Geek there is an oddly named flash drive entitled the Hal 9000 USB Memory Unit.[1]
In the webseries Red vs. Blue, Sheila the tank sings "Daisy Bell" as she dies, just like HAL 9000. She even says beforehand: "I'm scared, Dave. Will I dream?"
HAL/S is a real-time aerospace programming language, best known for its use in the Space Shuttle program. HAL officially stands for High-order Assembly Language, though the fictional HAL 9000 computer may well have been an inspiration.
In General Protection Fault's "2001: A Space Oddity" series, Nick tries out artificial intelligence hardware PAL. However, it acts condescendingly towards him, and, claiming that the toilet is running, locks him in the bathroom. Nick escapes and unplugs PAL, who re-enacts HAL's' famous "daisy, daisy" scene after Nick unplugs it.
British band Amplifier released an album entitled The Astronaut Dismantles HAL, clearly referencing 2001: A Space Odyssey.
The music video to electropop outfit To My Boy's "The Grid" features the band battling a HAL 9000-esque machine.
In the August 7, 2006 edition of the comic strip "Mother Goose and Grimm", Attila the cat locks Grimmy the dog out of the house on a rainy day; Grimmy responds by saying, "Open the pod bay door, Hal."
In weebls-stuff.com's On the Moon, Episode 10, the Toast King buys a HAL 9000 in order to receive e-mails and play Minesweeper. It is shortly destroyed due to Dave Stewart (from the Eurythmics) "upgrading" HAL's memory.
Hal being taught Daisy is a reference to another famous computer - a demonstration at Bell Labs where a computer, being fed punch cards, first repeats part of Hamlet's Soliloquy, and then sings Daisy. (An MP3 of the test is available from various sources online.)
Roger Waters, denied permission by Stanley Kubrick to use an audio sample from HAL's mind-going scene for his post-Pink Floyd album Amused to Death, did go on to play excerpts – "My mind is going… I can feel it… there is no doubt about it… I can feel it…" – as an introduction when perfoming live on tours such as In the Flesh.