Futurama: Every Planet Express Crew Member Ranked
14. Clamps
It’s sometimes forgotten that Clamps (or, more accurately, Francis) was a part of the Planet Express crew, but in The Silence Of The Clamps, he joins them for a single episode.
It comes after Bender snitches on the Don Bot and is put into witness protection. Clamps is sent to replace him on the crew to try and get information out of Fry as to where Bender is, getting the job after murdering all the other applicants.
However, the episode quickly takes a sharp turn after that, and rather than throw Fry and Clamps together, it instead puts the metal mafia man with Zoidberg... John F***ing Zoidberg!
It’s a great rivalry they have, but it definitely plays up for Zoidberg more. The viewers all know Clamps’ real background, so there’s no ‘reveal’ around this. However, when we see Zoidberg rise to the occasion and fight him, that’s a much more entertaining development.
Maurice LaMarche won the Emmy for his voice acting as Clamps in this episode, but it does feel like without Joey Mousepad or the Don Bot to interact with, we aren’t getting vintage Clamps.