Hermes' Name In Futurama Came From Two Unexpected, Nostalgic Places
"Futurama" is, at least on one level, a workplace show. The main characters all met because they are co-workers at Planet Express, an interplanetary delivery company. Planet Express, however, is more of a background setting and an excuse to have the characters organically occupy the same space. "Futurama" stories either tend to reach deep into weird sci-fi or involve the characters' personal lives. Plots rarely surround the business and its inner workings.
The biggest reminder that "Futurama" does indeed take place in an office is the presence of Hermes Conrad (Phil LaMarr), the company bureaucrat. Hermes takes care of all the paperwork and accounting and does so with gusto. He's a freewheeling limbo champion who is also weirdly fastidious and obsessed with red tape and organization. In the episode "How Hermes Requisitioned His Groove Back" (April 2, 2000), Hermes sings an upbeat calypso number about how great it is to be a bureaucrat. "We didn't choose to be bureaucrats," he sings, "No, that's what Almighty Jah made us. We'd treat people like swine and make them stand in line, even if nobody paid us."
"Hermes Conrad," however, is something of an odd name for a Jamaican bureaucrat. In the early days of the development of "Futurama," Hermes was originally named Dexter, a stereotypically "nerdy" name that would have fit the character better. LaMarr also provided a "nerdy" voice for the character. Hermes wasn't made Jamaican until actor Phil LaMarr claimed he could do a good Jamaican accent.
On the DVD commentary track for "How Hermes Requisitioned His Groove Back," show creators Matt Groening and David X. Cohen explained where the name "Hermes Conrad" came from. It seems that it was a mere combination of two personal details, one from each creator's life. Groening claimed the first name, and Cohen, the last name.
The name of your first pet, plus the name of the street you grew up on.
Groening selected the name "Hermes" after a very dear piece of vintage technology he was fond of back in high school. He said:
"Hermes was named after my typewriter in high school. I had a typewriter — Hermes Rocket was the name of the typewriter. And I just bought another one on eBay."
One might find that typewriter enthusiasts are a passionate lot. It's easy to become obsessed with the complex machinery and gorgeously efficient design of a good typewriter. Tom Hanks is famously a typewriter-phile and even wrote a book all about his favorite hobby. On the website ClassicTypewriter.com, the Hermes Rocket, also known as the Hermes Baby, was declared "arguably one of the most beautiful typewriters ever designed. That same website also pointed out that William S. Burroughs used a Hermes Baby. Groening, likely a fan of Burroughs, clearly romanticizes the writing process, and, being rich, can afford to grab his old high school model as the whim struck.
Cohen's contribution to Hermes Conrad's name is a little less interesting, but it's still personal. Cohen said:
"And Conrad is the street I grew up on, his last name. We know everything about Hermes now."
Cohen was born in New York City, although there's nothing terribly significant about his street other than it's his. "Hermes Conrad" was essentially a quainter version of the old "porn star name" game, wherein you combine your first pet and the street you grew up on.
As Cohen said, we know everything about Hermes now.