Jonah Heston

Last updated

Jonah Heston
Mystery Science Theater 3000 character
Jonah Heston, Mystery Science Theater 3000.jpg
Jonah Heston
First appearance1101 – Reptilicus
Created by Joel Hodgson
Portrayed by Jonah Ray
In-universe information
SpeciesHuman
GenderMale

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. [1]

Contents

Overview

Jonah's first episode explains his backstory: Formerly an ore transporter and inventor for Gizmonic Institute, Jonah was tricked into believing that a moon station was experiencing an emergency: [2] He landed his transport spaceship on-site, and was captured by Kinga Forrester and her assistant Max, respective children of primary villains in the previous iteration of the show, Dr. Clayton Forrester and TV's Frank. Jonah was immediately transported onto the Satellite of Love in order to renew the Forrester experiment: Subjected to watching terrible movies which may drive him crazy. On the Satellite, he found the 'Bots Tom Servo, Crow T. Robot, Gypsy, and Cambot, who assist him in keeping his sanity and getting through the movies.

Jonah has been the host from 2017 to 2018, for Seasons 11 and 12, has brought a return of the "Invention exchange," where he and his tormentors would come up with whimsical inventions, a common feature when Joel Robinson was the test subject from the beginning of the series until he escaped with the help of the ’Bots.

In Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Comic, Jonah and the Bots are transported into bad comics thanks to Kinga's new invention the Bubbulat-R. After Servo was transported into Johnny Jason, Teen Reporter, Jonah and Crow were transported into Black Cat, fighting alongside Linda Turner/Black Cat, whom Jonah has a romantic interest in. But then, Jonah starts to lose his movie riffing self confidence when Crow went into Horrific after a motorcycle crash and becomes a monster based on the Crypt-Keeper, the "Crow Keeper" thanks to four-color fever. Realizing how much he needs the Bots, Jonah and the other Bots desperately tries to riff themselves out of separate comics so they can save Crow and stop Kinga Forrester's plan in conquering comic-media. Part of this plan is ad sponsorship by Totino's Pizza Rolls. This campaign interferes with the events, characters and continuity of the comic books.

Jonah Heston
Media offices
Preceded by Host/Test Subject Succeeded by
Incumbent

Related Research Articles

<i>Mystery Science Theater 3000</i> American science fiction comedy television series

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crow T. Robot</span> Fictional character in Mystery Science Theater 3000

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tom Servo</span> Fictional character in Mystery Science Theater 3000

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Michael J. Nelson</span> American comedian and writer (born 1964)

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joel Hodgson</span> American writer, comedian and television actor

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joel Robinson</span> Fictional character in the American Mystery Science Theater 3000 television series

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.

<i>Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie</i> 1996 American film

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kevin Murphy (actor)</span> American actor and writer

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 (<i>Mystery Science Theater 3000</i>) Fictional character in the American comedic film review series

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trace Beaulieu</span> American comedian, puppeteer, writer, and actor

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.

Bridget Jones Nelson, also credited as simply Bridget Jones or Bridget Nelson, is an American screenwriter and actor for Mystery Science Theater 3000. She worked as a contributing writer for the show before becoming a full-time writer in season 4.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Frank Conniff</span> American actor

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bill Corbett</span> American actor

William DanielCorbett is an American writer and performer for television, film and theatre. He was a writer and performer on the cult television show Mystery Science Theater 3000 (MST3K), for which he voiced Crow T. Robot during the show's later seasons on the Sci Fi Channel. During that time, he also played the character Observer, along with other minor roles.

<i>The Magic Sword</i> (1962 film) 1962 film by Bert I. Gordon

The Magic Sword is a 1962 American adventure fantasy film directed by Bert I. Gordon that is loosely based on the medieval legend of Saint George and the Dragon.

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.

<i>Incognito Cinema Warriors XP</i> American TV series or program

Incognito Cinema Warriors XP is a post-apocalyptic zombie comedy DVD and web series created by Rikk Wolf and produced by Agonywolf Media. The show premiered on Myspace and was meant to be a one-time homage to Mystery Science Theater 3000, but after Wolf was contacted by the producers of RiffTrax to participate in the launch of their new site iRiffs, he decided to produce more episodes. The first season of the show follows the same "host segment-movie segment" format that MST3K established, while featuring completely original characters and plot. The second season is more plot-driven and riffs short films as opposed to full-length movies.

References