Joel Hodgson Movies
Mystery Science Theater 3000, whose characters make merry by poking fun at bad B-movies, was the brainchild of Joel Hodgson, who appeared as the show's host, Joel Robinson, for its first five seasons. Hodgson's definitive quirkiness, so dorky it's adorable, is perhaps one of the most prominent characteristics of the long-running series. On the show, along with two robots created by his character, he inserted clever dialogue over the lines in films otherwise too horrible to sit through. A post-modern sense of humor, with references to film and literary history, was infused into the series through Hodgson's creative input. He was involved from the show's creation and original appearance on a Minneapolis public access station through its getting picked up by Comedy Central and the Sci Fi Channel, and becoming a cult classic.Born on February 20, 1960, in Stevens Point, WI, Hodgson was a magician and a standup comedian long before MST3K earned him infamy. In 1982, he competed with and won against several more recognized comedians in a Minneapolis standup competition, and appeared on Jerry Seinfeld's Stand-Up Confidential in 1987. In 1988, he created MST3K, where he wrote, performed, and puppeteered his robot friends. He also had a hand in set design and music composition during his work on the program, as well as on the theatrical release Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie. He left the show in 1993, when writer Mike Nelson took the reigns as host. Once, in 1999, he revisited, making a cameo as himself in the episode "Soultaker."
In addition to appearances on Freaks and Geeks and Space Ghost Coast to Coast in the late '90s, Hodgson also earned writing credits on You Don't Know Jack (2001) and Statistical Planets (1997). Although many of his later projects received little notice, he has continued to write and produce independently in the film industry in Los Angeles. One such project was a feature he began shooting, Statistical Planets, which was never completed. His smaller scale creative endeavors include his own inventions, a real-life reflection of the "Invention Exchange" running gag he created and deployed on Mystery Science Theater 3000. ~ Sarah Sloboda, All Movie Guide
- 2003
Chubby, cheeky comedian Jimmy Kimmel, late of cable TV's raunchy The Man Show, was launched in his own late-night ABC talk-variety series on January 26, 2003. Cashing in on Kimmel's patented profane irreverence, the series -- designed to go head-to-head with NBC's Late Night With Conan O'Brien and CBS' The Late Late Show with Craig Kilborne -- pushed the envelope of propriety and good taste farther than ABC had ever gone before. On the opening episode alone, a woozy George Clooney passed out booze to the studio audience, Snoop Dogg flipped a bird at the camera, and a spectator threw up, a spectacle lovingly described by the host. This prompted ABC to close the "open" bar that was the centerpiece of the first episode, and to tightly monitor all future programs, especially during the impromptu stunts perpetrated by the production crew on innocent bystanders outside the studio. Even without the threat of censorship from its parent network, Jimmy Kimmel Live did not appear to be long for this world, its already meager ratings diminishing with each new episode. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jimmy Kimmel
- 1996
- PG13
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The cult television series Mystery Science Theatre 3000 transfers its brand of science-fiction wisecracking to the big screen with relatively few changes. The concept is the same in series and film: an innocent man (Michael J. Nelson, playing Mike Nelson) is stranded in outer space by a mad scientist, who subjects the poor slob to "experiments" that involve watching the worst movies ever made. In order to survive this cinematic torture, Mike and his two companions, sarcastic robots Tom Servo and Crow T. Robot, mercilessly heckle the film in self-defense. In this case, the target is This Island Earth, a 1950s sci-fi opus that, despite its silly makeup effects and stilted dialogue, actually stands slightly above the usual Mystery Science Theatre fare. Otherwise, despite the larger budget, the film plays as a shorter version of the television show, with the robots and sets purposefully maintaining their ingenious, homemade look. Despite its loyalty to the original concept, many long-time fans found the film less sharp than the series, and the cinematic version failed to attract many viewers beyond the original audience. Nevertheless, it serves as a good introduction for the uninitiated, demonstrating the show's combination of pop culture deconstruction and intelligent, playful humor. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael J. Nelson, Trace Beaulieu, (more)
- 1988
"In the not too distant future..." evil scientists Dr. Clayton Forrester and Frank conduct an experiment by sending unsuspecting victim Joel into orbit on a spaceship, aka "The Satellite of Love." Beguiled from any sort of entertainment, Joel (Joel Hodgson, show creator) has no choice but to watch the worst movies the scientists can find. With time on his hands, he builds companions out of parts on the ship -- robots named Crow, Tom Servo, Gypsy, and Cam-Bot (who films the show). Through the miserable screenings, Crow and Tom keep Joel company, and survive by adding their own dialogue and cynical commentary. Thus, the MST3K viewing audience avoids the perilous experience of the bad films, delights in an hysterically dense soundtrack, and relishes the moments when the silhouetted figures of Joel and the 'bots play camera tricks by interacting with the images on the screen in front of them. Every flaw in B-moviemaking is brought to light -- right down glitches in sound and bad prints -- with emphasis on plot structure, screenwriting, and performance (or, more appropriately, the lack thereof). Intermittently (to allow for commercials when the show appeared on the Sci-Fi Channel), Cam-Bot provides a break from the film viewing with sketches by Joel and the 'bots continuing the movie-mocking, television screen interactions with the evil scientists including the ritual "invention exchange," and other low-budget preposterousness. Later seasons brought episodes that replaced Joel with Mike Nelson (program writer) on the spaceship, and incorporated other characters, spacecraft, monkeys, and more into the repertoire -- all the while maintaining the film-feigning premise of the original program. ~ Sarah Sloboda, All Movie Guide
