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The Higgins Boys and Gruber is an American cable television show that aired on weekday afternoons on The Comedy Channel, a precursor to the cable network Comedy Central, from 1989 to 1991. It was one of the first television shows to air on the channel. The eponymous sketch comedy trio that comprised the show's cast consisted of Dave (Gruber) Allen and brothers David Anthony Higgins and Steve Higgins.
Higgins Boys was created and co-written by Joel Hodgson, the creator and original lead actor on Mystery Science Theater 3000 , another Comedy Channel program which was picked up at the same time. Like MST3K, much of The Higgins Boys and Gruber's comedy consisted of obscure pop culture references. The trio were presented as archetypal slackers who sat in a kitchen stage set, drank coffee, chain-smoked cigarettes, and talked between clips of various comedy shows, movies, and stand-up comedy acts. Aside from the standard format presented, the dialogue was largely improvised. The show was also distinctive for rerunning episodes of Bob and Ray , Clutch Cargo , and Supercar in their entirety, with interstitial commentary by the trio before and after commercial breaks.
The cast of The Kids in the Hall guest-starred in one episode. Joel Hodgson also appeared on the program with MST3K executive producer Jim Mallon.
The theme song of the show, entitled "Fillet of Soul", was written and recorded by The Young Fresh Fellows. The song originally appeared as the b-side of the band's rare 1986 "Beer Money" single, and has never appeared on compact disc.
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Mystery Science Theater 3000 is an American television comedy series created by Joel Hodgson and produced by Alternaversal Productions, LLC. The show premiered on KTMA-TV in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on November 24, 1988. It later aired 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 seasons until another cancellation in August 1999. A 60-episode syndication package titled The Mystery Science Theater Hour was produced in 1993 and syndicated to 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. As of 2021, 217 episodes and a feature film have been produced as well as three live tours.
Kids Incorporated is an American children's television program. It was largely a youth-oriented program with musical performances as an integral part of every episode. The pilot episode was shot on September 1, 1983. It aired in syndication from September 1, 1984 to May 25, 1986, and on the Disney Channel from November 3, 1986 to February 9, 1994. Reruns aired on the Disney Channel until May 30, 1996.
Comedy Central is an American basic cable channel owned by ViacomCBS through its domestic network division's MTV Entertainment Group unit, based in Manhattan. The channel is geared for mature audiences and carries comedy programming in the form of both original, licensed, and syndicated series, stand-up comedy specials, and feature films. It is available to approximately 86.723 million households in the United States as of September 2018.
Michael John Nelson is an American comedian and writer, most known for his work on the cult 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.
Gypsy is one of the robot characters on the television series Mystery Science Theater 3000. She is larger and less talkative than the other robots. Gypsy 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, Gypsy was designed and built by series creator Joel Hodgson. He named Gypsy after a pet turtle his brother once owned, as the robot's size and ponderousness reminded him of the turtle.
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. In 2010 he published a book of poems entitled Silly Rhymes For Belligerent Children with illustrations by artist Len Peralta. In 2014 he released a musical short film entitled The Frank with the original MST3K cast, including Bill Corbett, who assumed the role of Crow after Beaulieu left MST3K. Beaulieu briefly attended the University of Minnesota.
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.
Best Brains, Inc. is an entertainment company based in Eden Prairie, Minnesota. It is best known for the creation and production of the comedy/sci-fi television program Mystery Science Theater 3000, a.k.a. MST3K (1988–1999). The company ceased producing the program when it was cancelled by the Sci-Fi Channel in 1999 and closed its studio. The company then functioned as the holder of the MST3K brand for negotiating home video releases of the show on Shout! Factory and its availability on streaming services like Hulu until its sale of the MST3K property to Shout! Factory in 2015.
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.
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 the middle of the eighth season.
David Anthony Higgins is an American actor. He is known for his television roles of Craig Feldspar on Malcolm in the Middle, Joe on Ellen, and Reginald Bitters on Big Time Rush. He also recurred on the television series Mike & Molly as Harry.
The Comedy Channel was a television comedy cable channel owned by HBO, a division of Time Warner. It premiered on November 15, 1989 at 6 PM ET. In 1991, HBO agreed to merge the channel with Viacom's competing channel, Ha!. The new network, CTV: The Comedy Network, premiered on April 1, 1991, but rebranded to Comedy Central on June 1, 1991.
The TV Wheel is a 1995 television pilot created by and starring Joel Hodgson, of Mystery Science Theater 3000 fame. The pilot was funded by cable network HBO, but they ultimately passed on picking up the show. The pilot episode eventually aired once on Comedy Central as a special presentation following the last new episode of MST3K to be broadcast on that network.
The Canned Film Festival is a comedy-based motion picture television series that was nationally syndicated during the late night hours in the United States for a single season in the summer of 1986. With only a one-letter difference in the spelling, the name is an intentional play on the name for the Cannes Film Festival, the annual world-renowned film-screening celebration in Cannes, France. Not to be confused with the latter, the Canned Film Festival featured B movies as the centerpiece for each television episode, and was composed of short vignettes interwoven throughout the films. Boasting the tagline "late night with the best of the worst", the series was promoted and sponsored by the Dr Pepper Company, whose then-tagline "out-of-the-ordinary" echoed the show's collection of odd and strange movies. The series was created by Young & Rubicam, developed for television by Chelsea Communications, and distributed by LBS Communications.
Rated K: For Kids by Kids is an American movie review television program that ran on the cable network Nickelodeon from 1986–1988. The original hosts were Matt Nespole, Lakmini Besbroda, Mark Shanahan, and Rebecca Schwager. Other first wave hosts included Jennifer Rosa, Kimani Bethea, and Eben David. Each week, the show would feature a rotating blend of three young teenagers giving their opinions on the latest feature films and sometimes, what was new on home video. Each review was capped by an otherwise inconsistent letter grade system with Letter K being that show's equivalent to an ultimate, perfect 5- or 4-star scale.