Episode Recap: A Clone of My Own

The staff flies Professor Farnsworth to Mars University, where he faces disciplinary charges brought forward by the dean’s council. Inside a large auditorium, the Professor addresses his peers. Suddenly, confetti and streamers fly into the air. It soon becomes apparent that the "disciplinary charges" were fabricated as cover for the Professor’s surprise 150th birthday party. Bender then emcees a roast in the Professor’s honor.

As the evening progresses, the audience views a documentary focusing on Farnsworth’s life. When the film ends, the Professor addresses the crowd…and laments that the best years of his life are now far behind him. The next day, Farnsworth’s mood brightens when he realizes he must name a successor to take over his research and his incredible fortune.

Eventually, the Professor announces his decision to leave everything to his closet living relative. Fry steps forward, raising his arms in victory. But moments later, the professor reveals that his successor is his clone, Cubert Farnsworth. He pulls a string on a curtain, revealing a 12-year-old boy floating naked in a cylindrical tank. When Cubert emerges from the tank, it doesn’t take long for his obnoxious personality to surface, and he delights in browbeating the staff.

The Professor then pulls Cubert aside and shows him his inventions, such as the smelloscope and the universal translator, neither of which impress the 12-year-old. Farnsworth then shows the boy one of his most brilliant inventions, the spaceship’s dark matter engines. Unfortunately, the secret of their incredible speed came to him in a dream, and he subsequently forgot how to go about building more.

Later, the Professor and his staff go out for dinner, where Elzar, the television chef, approaches the table and gives the Professor his special "birthday bam." During the meal, Cubert states that although he is identical to the Professor physically, he has dreams of his own…and none of them include becoming an inventor. The news leaves the Professor heartbroken. He contacts the Sunset Squad robots and is rocketed away to a planet for old people. Fry and the others realize what the Professor has done and decide they must get him back.

Unfortunately, no one knows where the planet is located. Leela realizes the Professors own invention, the smelloscope, can track him down by pinpointing the scent of his after shave lotion. Using the device, the crew locates the Near-Death Star, an ominous planet dotted with hearse-like spaceships. The crew manages to sneak by robot security guards. They make their way to an area on which stands an endless series of hundred-foot high walls containing row upon row of marble-faced numbered drawers. Using a hover-platform, Leela and Fry make their way to the drawer containing Farnsworth.

When the drawer opens, they see the Professor lying comatose with tangled wires and tubes covering his body and head. When a robot patrolman arrives, Leela yanks the rofessor away from the life support system and flies the hover-platform back to the Planet Express ship. Unfortunately, one of the engines blows out, leaving the crew vulnerable to the robot guards’ laser cannons.

Cubert springs into action, explaining that he now understands how the engines work, thanks to a dream. He tinkers with the engines, repairs the problem and the spaceship rockets out of harm’s way. Later, Cubert announces his intention to be just like his father.