| Crow T. Robot | |
|---|---|
| Mystery Science Theater 3000 character | |
 | |
| First appearance | K00 – The Green Slime |
| Created by | Joel Hodgson |
| Portrayed by |
|
| In-universe information | |
| Species | Robot |
| Gender | Male |
Crow The Robot is a fictional character from the American science fiction comedy television series Mystery Science Theater 3000 (MST3K). Crow is a robot, who, along with others, ridicules poor-quality B to Z movies.
According to the MST3K storyline, Crow –like his fellow robots Tom Servo, Gypsy, and Cambot –was built by Joel Robinson (Joel Hodgson), who created them to help him withstand the torment of watching bad movies on the Satellite of Love (SOL). On the Satellite, Crow was forced with the rest of the crew to watch horrible retro movies sent by mad scientist Dr. Clayton Forrester and his assistants. In episode 814, "Riding with Death", Crow describes himself as being made from molybdenum, and in episode 908 Mike piles rocks atop Crow and comments on his "durable molybdenum frame."
Crow's middle initial stands for "The". In episode #K19: Hangar 18 , Joel stated that "Crow" was an acronym for "Cybernetic Remotely Operated Woman", giving Crow a brief identity crisis until Joel revealed he built Crow specifically to play this joke on him. Crow is also sometimes called "Art", but it is primarily by late-series antagonist Pearl Forrester. This arose from a gag in episode 203 Jungle Goddess following a skit centered on the sitcom The Honeymooners , where Joel referred to Crow as "Art Crow" (in reference to Honeymooners co-star Art Carney). After Best Brains received a letter from a child who had evidently missed the cultural reference and labeled a drawing of Crow as "Art" (episode 402, The Giant Gila Monster ), the show's writers turned the name into a recurring joke. [1]
Crow was voiced by Trace Beaulieu from the beginning of the series through the end of season seven, and Bill Corbett from the eighth season until the tenth season. Corbett's Crow was noticeably more cynical, irritable, and impatient when viewing the bad movies than Beaulieu's Crow had been. Corbett's Crow also occasionally appeared more unhinged than Beaulieu's incarnation. For example, in episode #902 The Phantom Planet Crow dresses as a Solarite (a monster from the movie played by Richard Kiel) and explains: "Have you guys ever noticed how I'll see a movie, snap, lose control of myself, and then decide I'm one of the characters in the movie, and then go out and dress myself up that way?" (Crow having done this before in episode #820 Space Mutiny as a "Bellerian"). He is voiced by Hampton Yount in the 2017 series revival. [2]
Crow's accomplishments during the show's run include:
In the earlier seasons of the show, he often announced "Ladies and gentlemen, Topo Gigio !" in the voice of Ed Sullivan.
During episode 416, Fire Maidens of Outer Space , Crow acquired a double named "Timmy", to whom the trio quickly took a liking. (Timmy was actually portrayed by the black-painted Crow used for the Shadowrama in the theater.) However, the double began playing tricks on Tom Servo and Joel, who blamed Crow for the actions. He eventually joined them in the theater during the movie and attacked Tom, cocooning him in a material identical to the xenomorph in Alien, forcing Joel (who referenced Aliens by growling, "Let go of him, you bitch!") and Crow to stuff him into an airlock and blast him out of the ship and into space. Timmy's appearance was a parody of the evil twin concept.
Crow holds the distinction of being the only SOL robot to ever visit Deep 13 (although Tom Servo and Gypsy once visited the alternate-earth version and Cambot is directly connected to the Mads' camera): In episode 615, Kitten with a Whip , he slid down the Umbilicus in an attempt to bring the SOL back to Earth, only to be frightened back up by Dr. Forrester (who then had Frank put a giant mousetrap beneath the Umbilicus). In the "Turkey Day" version of episode 701, Night of the Blood Beast , Crow attended the Forrester Thanksgiving dinner alongside such guests as Mr. B Natural, Pitch the Devil, and others. During this episode, Crow seems to have a friendship with Pearl Forrester, who seems to enjoy his company and the fact he would listen to her complain about her inept son, Dr. Forrester.
In the theatrical film based on the series, Crow distinguishes himself early on by attempting to tunnel back to Earth using a pickaxe. Even he admits the faulty logic employed in this scheme when he examines his calculations: "Well, look at that! 'Breach hull, all die' –I even had it underlined!" / "Well, believe me, Mike, I calculated the odds of this succeeding versus the odds I was doing something incredibly stupid, and... I went ahead anyway."
A running joke of Crow's character throughout the series, particularly in the last few seasons of the Sci-Fi channel's running of the show, is his frequent costume changes into film characters during the host segments. Often Crow has been known to take on the appearance and sometimes the personality of one of the characters in the movie that is currently being shown, usually ending with Mike, Tom Servo, or Joel using Crow's role-playing as a plot device or setup to a joke that mocks the film even more. As previously mentioned, this continuing effect finally was recognized by Crow himself during Episode 902, The Phantom Planet .
Another recurring joke that was more prominent during the earlier seasons of the series –dating, in fact, from the KTMA days –was Crow's apparent inability to distinguish between different types of animal; he would joyfully cry "Kitty!" when an animal appeared on screen, regardless of whether it was at all feline, and regardless of whether it was even cute enough to elicit such a positive response.
In Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Comic, Crow along with the other Bots and Jonah Heston were sent into the comics thanks to Kinga's new invention the Bubbulat-R. While Tom Servo was sent into Johnny Jason, Teen Reporter and Jonah was sent into Black Cat, Crow was sent into Horrific but then the effects of the comic started to make Crow succumb a comic disease called four-color fever and turns into a monster called "the Crow-Keeper" which eventually starts to threaten his relationship with Jonah and the other Bots and Kinga's plan in conquering comic media.
In the season 13 premiere Santo in the Treasure of Dracula , Crow is given the ability to blink by Jonah.
Crow spoke the final line of dialogue when the original series ended in 1999. ("This movie looks kind of familiar doesn't it?"; Season 10 episode 13: "Diabolik")
Crow is a gold-colored puppet composed of, among other things, a soap dish eye cowl, ping pong ball eyes, a split plastic bowling pin mouth, a lacrosse face mask webbing (Cooper XL7-FG), and Tupperware panels for the body. The original puppet for Crow was built by Joel Hodgson in a single night before filming the pilot episode. At the beginning of Season One, the puppet was redesigned and built by Trace Beaulieu, adding a second Tupperware tray to Crow's torso as well as movable eyes. Another version of Crow is used for the theater segments. This version is painted flat black. Of all the bots, Crow was the least changed from his KTMA incarnation to when the series became nationally broadcast. He is the only one who retained his general primary color.
Trace Beaulieu operated Crow in the initial KTMA season and throughout the Comedy Channel/Comedy Central years of seasons 1–7, as well as in Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie . During KTMA and season 1, Trace slowly refined Crow's voice. Originally, it was somewhat babyish, with a pronounced Minnesota accent. By season two, Crow's voice had become more sharp. Upon Trace's departure, Brooklyn-raised Bill Corbett took over Crow's operation. Corbett jokingly mentioned that during his time alone on the SOL, Crow suffered a stroke, thus explaining the change of his voice and his initially less-than-graceful handling of the puppet. [3] Despite initial concerns from the fanbase regarding Beaulieu's departure, the reception for Corbett's performance was very positive and he quickly became a fan favorite. The show's writers later made a joke of the change in episode 904, Werewolf , by suggesting that Crow's inherent characteristics included a change of voice every seven years. When Joel Hodgson returned for a guest spot in episode 1001, Soultaker , he offhandedly suggests that Crow "changed his bowling pin" (that is, his mouth). From Season 8 onward, in the opening theme during the "Robot Roll Call", Crow can be heard exclaiming "I'm different!"
Many first-time viewers of the series are confused by Crow's appearance during the movie segments. Only the outline of his head can be seen, and (due to multistable perception) it can appear as if Crow is facing toward the viewer. This phenomenon was addressed in The Mystery Science Theater 3000 Amazing Colossal Episode Guide with illustrations comparing Crow to a Necker cube. [4]
At Dragon Con in 2009, Beaulieu and Corbett made a joint appearance for a "Crow vs. Crow" panel discussion, in which they discussed their respective work with the character. The discussion is included as a bonus feature on the Mystery Science Theater 3000: Vol. XX DVD set from Shout! Factory.
For the series revival, a new Crow was built with much larger hands, controlled with arm rods, similar to Kermit the Frog, which makes the puppeteering more complicated, so two puppeteers are dedicated to Crow, with Yount controlling the opening and closing of Crow's beak and providing the voice off-camera.
The "Crow Syndrome" is a frequent joke on the show and MSTings, wherein Crow chimes in with an off-topic and/or excessively lewd comment and the other two reprimand him, often bemusedly and perturbedly shouting "Crow!" in response. "Crow Syndrome" is a general term, and is used in MSTings that do not feature Crow or other regular characters. [7]
Mystery Science Theater 3000 is an American science fiction comedy film review television series created by Joel Hodgson. The show premiered on KTMA-TV in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on November 24, 1988. It then moved to nationwide broadcast, first on The Comedy Channel/Comedy Central for seven seasons until its cancellation in 1996. Thereafter, it was picked up by The Sci-Fi Channel and aired for three more seasons until another cancellation in August 1999. A 60-episode syndication package titled The Mystery Science Theater Hour was produced in 1993 and broadcast on Comedy Central and syndicated to TV stations in 1995. In 2015, Hodgson led a crowdfunded revival of the series with 14 episodes in its eleventh season, first released on Netflix on April 14, 2017, with another six-episode season following on November 22, 2018. A second successful crowdfunding effort in 2021 produced 13 additional episodes shown on the Gizmoplex, an online platform that Hodgson developed which launched in March 2022. As of 2023, 230 episodes and a feature film have been produced as well as three live tours.
Tom Servo is a fictional character from the American science fiction comedy television show Mystery Science Theater 3000 (MST3K). Tom is one of two wise-cracking, robotic main characters of the show, built by Joel Robinson to act as a companion and help stave off madness as he was forced to watch low-quality films. At least during the Comedy Central era, he was somewhat more mature than his theatre companion, Crow T. Robot. Tom, more often than the others, signals the need to exit the theater to perform host segments.
Michael John Nelson is an American comedian and writer, most known for his work on the television series Mystery Science Theater 3000 (MST3K). Nelson was the head writer of the series for most of the show's original eleven-year run, and spent half of that time as the on-air host, also named Mike Nelson. In addition to writing books, Nelson is currently part of the online movie riffing site RiffTrax, and was previously part of the straight-to-DVD Film Crew with fellow MST3K alumni, Bill Corbett and Kevin Murphy.
Joel Hodgson is an American writer, comedian and television actor. He is best known for creating Mystery Science Theater 3000 (MST3K) and starring in it as the character Joel Robinson. In 2007, MST3K was listed as "one of the top 100 television shows of all time" by Time.
Joshua Stuart "Josh" Weinstein, known professionally as J. Elvis Weinstein, is an American writer and performer, best known for his roles as Dr. Laurence Erhardt and the original puppeteer and voice for Tom Servo and Gypsy on Mystery Science Theater 3000.
Joel Robinson is a fictional character featured in the American science fiction comedy television series Mystery Science Theater 3000 (MST3K). He was portrayed by series creator Joel Hodgson. If counting the locally-produced episodes, Joel Robinson is the show's longest-tenured host with 107 episodes on television. He also returned as an occasional host in the online Season 13.
Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie is a 1996 American science fiction comedy film and a film adaptation of the television series Mystery Science Theater 3000, produced and set between the series' sixth and seventh seasons. It was distributed by Universal Pictures and Gramercy Pictures and produced by Best Brains.
Kevin Wagner Murphy is an American actor and writer best known as the voice and puppeteer of Tom Servo on the Peabody Award-winning comedy series Mystery Science Theater 3000. Murphy also records audio commentary tracks with Michael J. Nelson and Bill Corbett for Nelson's RiffTrax website.
GPC, formerly Gypsy, is one of the fictional robot characters on the television series Mystery Science Theater 3000. She is larger and less talkative than the other robots. GPC normally only appears during the show's host segments and introduction, but briefly took a seat in the theater to watch the movie in episode #412. She only delivered a couple of "riffs" – partially because she took the movie and what the 'boys' were saying too literally, and left after realizing how bad the movie was. Along with the other robots, GPC was designed and built by series creator Joel Hodgson. She was named Gypsy after a pet turtle his brother once owned, as the robot's size and ponderousness reminded him of the turtle.
Cambot is one of the fictional robot characters on the Mystery Science Theater 3000 television series. It is through Cambot's "eye" that viewers watch Joel Robinson and the other robots as they watch the movies that are sent to the Satellite of Love each week.
Trace Beaulieu is an American comedian, puppeteer, writer, and actor. He played roles on Mystery Science Theater 3000 (MST3K) as well as his work with MST3K's successor Cinematic Titanic with the original creators and cast of MST3K.
Mary Jo Pehl is an American writer, actress, and comedian. She is best known for her various roles on the television series Mystery Science Theater 3000.
Frank Conniff Jr. is an American writer, actor, comedian and producer, who is best known for his portrayal of TV's Frank on Mystery Science Theater 3000 (MST3K). He is the son of journalist and editor Frank Conniff.
Mitchell is a 1975 American action film directed by Andrew V. McLaglen, written by Ian Kennedy Martin, and starring Joe Don Baker as an abrasive police detective. The film was released in the United States on September 10, 1975 by Allied Artists Pictures Corporation.
Mr. B Natural is a short sponsored film produced in 1956 by Kling Film Productions for the C.G. Conn Company, directed by Phil Patton. It is also the name of the film's main character, played by Betty Luster.
James Joseph Mallon is an American television and film producer and writer, most notable for being executive producer of the Peabody Award-winning series Mystery Science Theater 3000 (MST3K). He is also president of the series' original production company, Best Brains, Inc., directed more than 75 episodes of MST3K, and played the role of Gypsy from the first season until Jack Frost in the middle of the eighth season.
Mystery Science Theater 3000, also referred to as "The 'Bots Are Back!" is an Internet cartoon created by Best Brains, Inc. It was inspired by BBI's original Mystery Science Theater 3000 TV series, and was directed by former Executive Producer Jim Mallon. The series featured the robot characters from the original series in a variety of brief sketches taking place at an undetermined point during the original show's fictional timeline. However, no human character is present.
Jonah Heston is a fictional character featured in the renewal of the American science fiction comedy television series Mystery Science Theater 3000 (MST3K). He is portrayed by actor/comedian Jonah Ray.
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