{"id":657,"date":"2016-06-28T04:20:35","date_gmt":"2016-06-28T08:20:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nickzaino.com\/departmentoftangents\/?p=657"},"modified":"2016-11-09T04:20:50","modified_gmt":"2016-11-09T09:20:50","slug":"department-of-tangents-minicast-mst3k-reunion-edition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nickzaino.com\/departmentoftangents\/2016\/06\/28\/department-of-tangents-minicast-mst3k-reunion-edition\/","title":{"rendered":"Department of Tangents Minicast &#8211; MST3K Reunion Edition"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Tonight is a very exciting night for fans of the beloved movie-riffing show, Mystery Science Theater 3000. Stars from the show\u2019s past and present are gathering at the State Theatre in Minneapolis for <a href=\"http:\/\/www.rifftrax.com\/live\" target=\"_blank\">RiffTrax Live 2016: MST3K Reunion<\/a>. <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/michaeljnelson?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor\" target=\"_blank\">Mike Nelson<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/kwmurphy?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor\" target=\"_blank\">Kevin Murphy<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/BillCorbett?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor\" target=\"_blank\">Bill Corbett<\/a> of RiffTrax will be joined by MST3K creator <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/JoelGHodgson\" target=\"_blank\">Joel Hodgson<\/a>, as well as <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/TraceBeaulieu\" target=\"_blank\">Trace Beaulieu<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/FrankConniff\" target=\"_blank\">Frank Conniff<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MaryJoPehl\" target=\"_blank\">Mary Jo Pehl<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/bridgetjnelson\" target=\"_blank\">Bridget Nelson<\/a> from the show\u2019s original run, plus Jonah Ray, who will be the host when the show begins anew in the not-too-distant future. <\/p>\n<p>Over the years, I\u2019ve gotten to speak with Hodgson a few times, once with Beaulieu at a presentation for M.I.T. in 2009 where they were interviewed by members of that vaunted institute\u2019s comparative media department. And I spoke with Pehl for Kirkus Reviews. This minicast features a few bits from those interviews. <\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" style=\"border: none\" src=\"\/\/html5-player.libsyn.com\/embed\/episode\/id\/4475748\/height\/90\/width\/640\/theme\/custom\/autoplay\/no\/autonext\/no\/thumbnail\/yes\/preload\/no\/no_addthis\/no\/direction\/backward\/no-cache\/true\/render-playlist\/no\/custom-color\/87A93A\/\" height=\"90\" width=\"640\" scrolling=\"no\"  allowfullscreen webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen oallowfullscreen msallowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Unfortunately, the audio for the interview with Hodgson and Beaulieu is lost, but I do have a partial transcript. I waited for probably close to an hour after the lecture as a long line of fans got things signed, showed off their homemade bots, and shared their memories of the show. It was clear they were touched by their fans\u2019 display. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey\u2019re loyal and dedicated,\u201d said Beaulieu. \u201cWe wouldn\u2019t be successful without the fans adopting the show. It wasn\u2019t like a network show that got shoved down your throat. This was discovered and harvested by those guys.\u201d    <\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"659\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/nickzaino.com\/departmentoftangents\/mst3k_signing_three_new\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/nickzaino.com\/departmentoftangents\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/mst3k_signing_three_NEW.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"300,267\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"mst3k_signing_three_NEW\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/nickzaino.com\/departmentoftangents\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/mst3k_signing_three_NEW-300x267.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/nickzaino.com\/departmentoftangents\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/mst3k_signing_three_NEW.jpg\" src=\"http:\/\/nickzaino.com\/departmentoftangents\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/mst3k_signing_three_NEW.jpg\" alt=\"mst3k_signing_three_NEW\" width=\"300\" height=\"267\" class=\"alignleft size-full wp-image-659\" \/>\u201cThere was one kid that came up,\u201d said Hodgson, \u201cand he said, yeah, somebody had the Comedy Channel and we didn\u2019t, and so when they\u2019d come at Christmas they\u2019d bring a bunch of tapes. And they said after we\u2019d open presents we\u2019d sit and watch Mystery Science Theater. So you kind of go, oh, wow, that\u2019s really amazing. It\u2019s part of people\u2019s lives.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>I also got to ask about the rumor that Joe Don Baker said threatened physical violence against the cast after the beating he took for Mitchell, Hodgson\u2019s final episode before turning the jumpsuit over to Nelson. \u201cIt\u2019s not true,\u201d Hodgson said. \u201cNot that I know of. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think that\u2019s been largely inflated,\u201d added Beaulieu. \u201cIt\u2019s fun to think about.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>That story is no longer online, so here\u2019s a little bit of it:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p>Joel\u2019s original inspiration for the concept of a lone man out in space came from a Bruce Dern film, \u201cSilent Running.\u201d When Joel showed clips from the pilot (\u201cThe Green Slime,\u201d if you\u2019re wondering) and \u201cSilent Running\u201d back to back, it\u2019s obvious what Joel took from it, from the geodesic construction of the Satellite of Love to Dern\u2019s hairstyle. So obvious, that Trace laughed, calling it \u201cA frightening copy, a rip-off.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The pilot also wasn\u2019t nearly as funny, but it was funnier than what Joel originally had in mind, concentrating on the lonely man in space concept that he ultimately decided was \u201ctoo bleak.\u201d He designed the robots \u2013 Crow and a Servo-like robot named \u201cBeeper\u201d with a candy tub for a head that housed what looked like a single eye \u2013 and ramped up the interstitial sketches. Joel was obviously a tad embarrassed by the pilot, stopping it after a few minutes and saying, \u201cSo it just goes on like that.\u201d <\/p>\n<p>Joel and Trace talked about the changes, especially to Beeper, who only communicated in weird blurting beeping sounds. \u201cWe could tell right off the bat that this robot was just awful,\u201d said Trace. Beeper got a major redesign, closer to the wisecracking gumball machine fans came to love on the Comedy Central and Sci-Fi series. And the writing started to focus a bit more on the jokes, inching closer, said Joel, to the \u201c600 jokes a show, which is what it became.\u201d <\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Keep track of the new MST3K on the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.kickstarter.com\/projects\/mst3k\/bringbackmst3k\" target=\"_blank\">KickStarter Web site<\/a>.  <\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_547\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-547\" style=\"width: 175px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/itunes.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/department-tangents-podcast\/id1093377146?mt=2\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"547\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/nickzaino.com\/departmentoftangents\/itunes\/\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/nickzaino.com\/departmentoftangents\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/itunes.jpg\" data-orig-size=\"175,175\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;orientation&quot;:&quot;0&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"itunes\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"&lt;p&gt;Subscribe to the DoT Podcast on iTunes! &lt;\/p&gt;\n\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/nickzaino.com\/departmentoftangents\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/itunes.jpg\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/nickzaino.com\/departmentoftangents\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/itunes.jpg\" src=\"http:\/\/nickzaino.com\/departmentoftangents\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/itunes.jpg\" alt=\"Subscribe to the DoT Podcast on iTunes! \" width=\"175\" height=\"175\" class=\"size-full wp-image-547\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nickzaino.com\/departmentoftangents\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/itunes.jpg 175w, https:\/\/nickzaino.com\/departmentoftangents\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/itunes-150x150.jpg 150w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 175px) 100vw, 175px\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-547\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Subscribe to the DoT Podcast on iTunes!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Tonight is a very exciting night for fans of the beloved movie-riffing show, Mystery Science Theater 3000. Stars from the show\u2019s past and&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":658,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3,5,11],"tags":[377,381,385,375,376,371,383,380,374,372,379,370,384,378,382,373],"class_list":["post-657","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-comedy","category-horror","category-podcast","tag-bridget-nelson","tag-comedy-central","tag-felicia-day","tag-frank-conniff","tag-j-elvis-weinstein","tag-joel-hodgson","tag-jonah-ray","tag-ktma","tag-mary-jo-pehl","tag-mike-nelson","tag-mst3k","tag-mystery-science-theater-3000","tag-patton-oswalt","tag-rifftrax","tag-sci-fi-channel","tag-trace-beaulieu"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/nickzaino.com\/departmentoftangents\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/MSTScreenshot.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7lGwW-aB","jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nickzaino.com\/departmentoftangents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/657","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nickzaino.com\/departmentoftangents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nickzaino.com\/departmentoftangents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nickzaino.com\/departmentoftangents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nickzaino.com\/departmentoftangents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=657"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/nickzaino.com\/departmentoftangents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/657\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1186,"href":"https:\/\/nickzaino.com\/departmentoftangents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/657\/revisions\/1186"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nickzaino.com\/departmentoftangents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/658"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nickzaino.com\/departmentoftangents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=657"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nickzaino.com\/departmentoftangents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=657"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nickzaino.com\/departmentoftangents\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=657"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}