Calculon

Lore & Background

Calculon died in "The Thief of Baghead" after killing himself in a failed attempt to win an acting competition by making a death scene more realistic. A year later, Fry and Bender are so dissatisfied with Calculon's replacement Vaxtron on All My Circuits that they resolve to resurrect Calculon. Bender exhumes Calculon's body on live television, and Farnsworth organizes an occult ritual to return Calculon's soul to his body. The Robot Devil practically gives Fry and Bender Calculon's soul because Calculon has been driving him crazy with badly performed Shakespeare-style monologues ever since his suicide.

Successfully resurrected, Calculon returns to Hollywood but is rejected by the network president as "hammy" and "old-fashioned." He also sees his star removed from Hollywood's Walk of Fame and replaced with a second star for Robert Wagner's head. Undaunted, Calculon sees these setbacks as "an opportunity to prove anew" that he "is the greatest actor to ever trod the boards!" He performs "HAL 9000," a one-man play he had written years earlier, which is unanimously panned by critics.

Stunned and crushed, he realizes he is not the great actor he thought himself to be. Leela realizes Calculon is being sincere for the first time ever and explains that if he could channel real emotions into his acting and leave out the hamming, he could be "great." She convinces him to audition for a bit part on All My Circuits. Calculon goes to an audition in disguise and is hired to portray "Calculon, back from his kidnapping ordeal."

On set, he hams it up, ruining the scene. Leela verbally beats him back into submission, and in the second take Calculon deeply moves everyone on the set. He reveals his identity and is prevailed upon to take a bow. He inadvertently pulls on a rope still hanging from the ceiling, and equipment crashes to the floor, crushing Calculon to death.

"On the basis of one performance that almost no one saw," Calculon is posthumously re-awarded a star on the Walk of Fame. Back in Robot Hell, the Robot Devil's torments are just beginning as Calculon resumes annoying him.

Reader's Guide

Calculon is a sentient robot actor who appears in the episode "Calculon 2.0." His role within the episode is that of a resurrected celebrity trying to reclaim his former glory on All My Circuits. Personality traits include extreme vanity, dramatic intensity, and a tendency toward over-the-top acting. He initially fails to realize his hamming is not appreciated, but after being crushed by the realization that he is not the great actor he thought himself to be, he learns to channel real emotions into his acting. Memorable moments involve him performing badly performed Shakespeare-style monologues in Robot Hell, being rejected as "hammy" and "old-fashioned," performing the unanimously panned one-man play "HAL 9000," and delivering a deeply moving performance that gets him re-awarded a star on the Walk of Fame posthumously.