One Of Futurama's Funniest Recurring Characters Was Only Meant To Be In One Scene
The character of Roberto, the homicidal robot, first appeared on the "Futurama" episode "Mother's Day" (May 14, 2000), although he would become more of a star in the following season's "Insane in the Mainframe" (April 8, 2001). Roberto, played by the amazing Dave Herman, was a vicious criminal often frustrated that he was programmed to be as violent as he was. He had a penchant for stabbing, and rarely spent much time outside of robot prisons and/or mental asylums. Roberto once forced Bender (John DiMaggio) and Fry (Billy West) to help him with a bank robbery, broke into Planet Express to take the main characters hostage, and escaped from an asylum by wearing the robotic skin of his doctor. "Don't call me crazy!" he would yell, "I'm just not user-friendly!" His parole officer once ordered Roberto to get an upgrade, otherwise, he wouldn't get back his stabbin' knife.
Roberto eventually even had a catchphrase of sorts. While stabbing something, Roberto would unleash a high-pitched "Ha-ha!" Herman always brought a delightfully erratic performance to Roberto.
In a 2021 "Futurama" retrospective, actors Maurice LaMarche, West, and show creator David X. Cohen reminisced about working on the show, as well as some of their favorite co-stars. Naturally, they all agreed that the legendary Tress MacNeille was one of their favorites, but were equally impressed with Herman who, they said, could read a single word of dialogue and make it funny. Cohen also noted that Roberto, like many elements on "Futurama," was only supposed to appear maybe once. The writers liked him so much, though, that he was brought back many times. As of this writing, Roberto has appeared in 12 episodes of "Futurama" and in three of the movies.
Ha-ha!
West and LaMarche admired Herman's comedic skill, noting that he would sometimes record his lines over a speakerphone and still knock 'em dead. "Why can't we do that?" West idly wondered in a fit of professional envy. Herman, it should be noted, voices many supporting characters on "Futurama," including Mayor Poopenmeyer, Leela's dad Morris, Scruffy the Janitor, Ranger Park the park ranger, Slurms MacKenzie, Mom's son Larry, Nudar, the Number 9 Man, Helmut Spargle, Fatbot, and Ogden Wernstrom (Wernstrom!). Of all his characters, though, West and Lamarche were especially fond of Roberto, likely because Herman was permitted to cut loose and be as zany as possible.
Cohen noted that expanding on the backstories of tiny supporting characters is a demand often made by his cast. He said:
"Somebody asked a question about side characters that we want to know more about, that's often the doing of the actors. When we write a character like Roberto, the homicidal robot who Dave Herman plays, and we mean it to be a joke that's gonna be five seconds in one episode, and Dave comes in and invented that 'Ha-ha!' That stabbing noise. [...] So like in that one second he made it a character that we brought back again and again."
One can get the sense watching "Futurama" that many of its supporting characters are meant to be one-off jokes that, because they were so hilarious, return just like Roberto. LaMarche, for instance, plays the voice of the Hedonism Bot, a robot that is built into its own chaise lounge. That's a one-off visual gag right there, but it seems that "Futurama" had many humorous uses for a Hedonism Bot, and he returned often.
The brilliance of Dave Herman
West continued to be effusive, pointing out that Herman's job was much harder than his. West and LaMarche each play multiple characters on "Futurama," but the bulk of their roles are recurring; they know how each of their characters sounds. Herman, meanwhile, is handed new characters every week, requiring him to invent new voices each time. West said:
"Dave Herman has one of the toughest jobs because, we know we're going to do every week, pretty much. So I don't have to sweat about that. But he might get a sign, you know, Astronaut #3. It's hard to just come up with a voice, you know? To pull it out of your ... place ... But that's real tough to do! Be this ancillary guy. 'This week you're Peanut #12.' You know, cause anything good happen on the show."
LaMarche chimed in to point out that "He makes you forget the other 11 Peanuts. That's how good he is." West and LaMarche were also impressed with Herman's modesty; he rarely attends conventions and doesn't "push" himself as part of the main "Futurama" cast. Although he very much is.
It wasn't until relatively recently, before the panel above, that the entire "Futurama" cast assembled on a stage for a Comic Con. Herman was there.
Herman, of course, was once a regular performer on "MADtv," played the Secretary of State in "Idiocracy," and plays dozens of characters across his jobs on "King of the Hill," "Invader Zim," American Dad!," and "Bob's Burgers." He may be one of the hardest-working voice actors in the business.