A Clone of My Own
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| Futurama episode | |
| "A Clone of My Own" | |
 The Professor's clone, Cubert Farnsworth. |
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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. It marks the first appearance of the recurring character Cubert Farnsworth.
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[edit] Plot
Professor Farnsworth receives word from Mars University that they are revoking his professorship. When he arrives before the university's professors, he reveals all their secrets until he realises it was his 150th birthday party. After he sees a short film summing up his life, Farnsworth becomes concerned with his own mortality. He decides he needs to name a successor. The Planet Express staff each expects one of them will be named, including Fry, 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. He makes cutting remarks about the Professor and his inventions, which include a time travel machine and a translator which turns words into an incomprehensible, dead language (French, despite this being used in the show before). A depressed professor makes a recording over Bender's soap operas 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 Grim Reaper-like hooded robot arrives, and takes the professor away while he says good-bye to everything in sight.
The crew set off to rescue the professor, and find the Near-Death Star, the Sunset Squad's base of operations. The crew sneak in with Fry dressed up as the professor (who apparently escaped) with Cubert on his back posing as a hump to make him look "old". They even brought a huge jar of Cubert's blood just in case. They locate the professor, who is unconscious and hooked to a life-support system. The robots discover the crew who then 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 make their escape. It is revealed 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] 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 city scene in the initial seconds of film on Farnsworth life shows a billboard "Slurm, Medicinal Tonic". This is likely a parody of the popular soft-drink Coca-Cola, which had its origins as a medicinal remedy.
- Birthplace of Farnsworth is mentioned as "Hell's Laboratory", likened to Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan in New York.
- 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 Star Wars references to a New Hope and Rebel Assault Two the PC game'.
- Old people being gathered up at a certain age is a reference to the film Logan's Run, and their eventual fate as further explained by the Professor is a reference to The Matrix.
- Dr. Zoidberg remarks that he had once appeared on Showtime at the Apollo (later elaborated on 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.
- The professor's gesture at the end of his holographic farewell is similar to Princess Leia's gesture at the end of her holographic message in Star Wars.
- In the roads of the Near-Death Star, there is a sign reading "Elm Street", a reference to horror film series A Nightmare on Elm Street.
- The "buildings" in the Near-Death star are all giant tombstones, while the drawers the old people are stored in are very similar to grave markers in mausoleums.
- As Farnsworth anguishes over his wasted years, we get a glimpse of the Time Machine as it appeared in the 1960 George Pal movie.
- The title of the episode refers to the folk song parody, "A Clone of My Own" written by Randall Garrett and Isaac Asimov.
[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!"
- Professor Farnsworth describes the French language as incomprehensible and dead; however, Bender is later able to speak fluent French in Insane in the Mainframe without confusing anyone. He is staying in a mental institution at the time, so it is possible he is just speaking it to blend in better. French is also spoken by the Professor's gargolye, Pazuzu in Teenage Mutant Leela's Hurdles.
- When showing Cubert his smelloscope Professor Farnsworth calls it "my award-winning smelloscope." He wins the award in the end of A Big Piece of Garbage.
[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 his heir for being so unimpulsive.
- In the French dubbed soundtrack, the "incomprehensible, dead language" is German.
- Cubert's role was originally intended to point out the inconsistencies and plot holes of the show[citation needed], 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.
- In this episode, Leela is shown as lacking depth perception. However, in most other episodes, she always seems to have it. A notable exception to this is in Space Pilot 3000 where she states she doesn't have good depth perception.
[edit] External links
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