Doctor Laurence Erhardt
Encyclopedia
Dr. Laurence "Larry" Erhardt is a fictional character and one of the two original villains on the cult television show Mystery Science Theater 3000
. He was played by Josh "J. Elvis" Weinstein
.
and was Dr. Clayton Forrester's
first assistant. He is a very different character from Forrester's later assistant, TV's Frank
. He is more high-spirited than Frank, speaks with a high, squeaky voice, has curly black hair, and thick glasses. Erhardt is himself a "mad scientist" like Forrester, whereas Frank is neither a scientist nor, for the most part, mad. Just like Frank, however, Erhardt goes through many tortures by Dr. Forrester. His catchphrase was to, after soberly describing a horrible movie's plot or some other dire scenario, cheerily proclaim "Enjoy!"
Little is known of Erhardt's past save that he became a "mad scientist" while working at a zoo; he went mad when, in his own words: "...they promised me students, but all I got were monkeys! Monkeys! Monkeys! So I took off my wetsuit, dropped that hedge clipper, and walked out of that zoo forever!" Any additional details are left for the viewers to fill in themselves since MST3K was, after all, "just a show", and the viewers should "really just relax".
Eventually finding employment at Gizmonic Institute, he became Dr. Forrester's assistant and worked with him to launch Joel Robinson
into space, where the pair conducted their movie-watching experiments on him.
Dr. Erhardt was only on the show for the KTMA season and the nationally telecast Season 1. When Frank was first introduced on the show and Joel asked what happened to Dr. Erhardt, Frank simply held up a milk carton with Erhardt's picture on it saying, "He's missing". Later, in episode #313, the featured movie ("Earth vs. the Spider
") includes a scene in which a policeman closely resembling Erhardt is eaten by a giant spider, and Joel and the bots speculated that this was the true fate of Erhardt.
, and he also provided the voice of Gypsy during the KTMA years (replaced in season one by Jim Mallon
). Weinstein, the youngest of the MST3K creators, left the show after its first nationally telecast season due to creative differences once the show began being scripted instead of being ad-libbed. His youth and relative inexperience was also said to have rubbed his older co-workers the wrong way. In an interview, he stated the show simply quit being fun for him when they moved from KTMA to The Comedy Channel because it became "a business".
Mystery Science Theater 3000
Mystery Science Theater 3000 is an American cult television comedy series created by Joel Hodgson and produced by Best Brains, Inc., that ran from 1988 to 1999....
. He was played by Josh "J. Elvis" Weinstein
J. Elvis Weinstein
Josh "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 on Mystery Science Theater 3000.-Mystery Science Theater 3000:...
.
Role
Dr. Erhardt is mad scientistMad scientist
A mad scientist is a stock character of popular fiction, specifically science fiction. The mad scientist may be villainous or antagonistic, benign or neutral, and whether insane, eccentric, or simply bumbling, mad scientists often work with fictional technology in order to forward their schemes, if...
and was Dr. Clayton Forrester's
Doctor Clayton Forrester (MST3K)
Dr. Clayton Deborah Susan Forrester is a fictional character on the television series Mystery Science Theater 3000 . Named for the hero of the 1953 film The War of the Worlds, Dr. Forrester was the chief mad scientist on the show from its inception in 1988 through the seventh season in 1996, and...
first assistant. He is a very different character from Forrester's later assistant, TV's Frank
TV's Frank
TV's Frank, played by Frank Conniff, is a fictional character, mad scientist Dr. Clayton Forrester's lab assistant in the television comedy series Mystery Science Theater 3000. He appears at the beginning of Season 2, with the departure of Forrester's earlier co-scientist Dr. Laurence Erhardt, and...
. He is more high-spirited than Frank, speaks with a high, squeaky voice, has curly black hair, and thick glasses. Erhardt is himself a "mad scientist" like Forrester, whereas Frank is neither a scientist nor, for the most part, mad. Just like Frank, however, Erhardt goes through many tortures by Dr. Forrester. His catchphrase was to, after soberly describing a horrible movie's plot or some other dire scenario, cheerily proclaim "Enjoy!"
Eventually finding employment at Gizmonic Institute, he became Dr. Forrester's assistant and worked with him to launch Joel Robinson
Joel Robinson
Joel Robinson is a fictional character featured in the American science fiction comedy television series Mystery Science Theater 3000...
into space, where the pair conducted their movie-watching experiments on him.
Dr. Erhardt was only on the show for the KTMA season and the nationally telecast Season 1. When Frank was first introduced on the show and Joel asked what happened to Dr. Erhardt, Frank simply held up a milk carton with Erhardt's picture on it saying, "He's missing". Later, in episode #313, the featured movie ("Earth vs. the Spider
Earth vs. the Spider
Earth vs. the Spider is a 1958 American black-and-white science fiction horror film produced and directed by Bert I. Gordon, who also wrote the story, upon which the screenplay by George Worthing Yates and Laszlo Gorog is based...
") includes a scene in which a policeman closely resembling Erhardt is eaten by a giant spider, and Joel and the bots speculated that this was the true fate of Erhardt.
Behind the scenes
Dr. Forrester and Dr. Erhardt were first shown in episode #K06, during the show's original season on KTMA TV23. During this season, and season 1, J. Elvis Weinstein held a dual role as both Dr. Erhardt and the voice of Tom ServoTom Servo
Tom Servo is a fictional character from the American science fiction comedy television show Mystery Science Theater 3000 . 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 space madness as Joel was forced to watch...
, and he also provided the voice of Gypsy during the KTMA years (replaced in season one by Jim Mallon
Jim Mallon
Jim 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 ...
). Weinstein, the youngest of the MST3K creators, left the show after its first nationally telecast season due to creative differences once the show began being scripted instead of being ad-libbed. His youth and relative inexperience was also said to have rubbed his older co-workers the wrong way. In an interview, he stated the show simply quit being fun for him when they moved from KTMA to The Comedy Channel because it became "a business".