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Gypsy (MST3K)
Encyclopedia
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 appeared during the show's host segments and introduction, but briefly took a seat in the theater to watch the movie in episode #412 (Hercules and the Captive Women). She was only able to deliver a couple of "riffs", 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.
. She needs to use most of her computing power to handle this responsibility, which generally makes her appear slow-witted when dealing with others. The episode #207: Wild Rebels
briefly demonstrated a much brighter Gypsy when the demand on her systems was temporarily reduced. (She also made a quick appearance in the theater during this experiment when someone mentioned Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea
, on account of her oft-stated fascination for that show's star, Richard Basehart
.)
As the show progressed, she became a more frequent participant in the host segments, and appeared more intelligent, even attempting to sit in on an experiment during one of the Hercules movies, Hercules and the Captive Women. But she begged out after a few minutes when she "realized there were these things" she had to go take care of. Gypsy is a big fan of Richard Basehart
; her brain was once X-ray
ed, and found to contain RAM chips and a photo of Richard Basehart. She is also a notary
.
In season six, the show introduced a device usually referred to as the Umbilicus, although in some episodes it was referred to as either the Umbilicon or the Umbiliport. The Umbilicus was a long tether that connected the Satellite of Love to the underground lair Deep 13, and allowed objects to be sent back and forth between Mike and the mad scientists who had stranded him in orbit. In its first appearance on the show, in episode #601: Girls Town
, the Umbilicus was directly connected to Gypsy's snake-like body, with objects being sent or received through her mouth. The receiving station was later changed to an oven-like hatch on the bridge of the Satellite of Love.
Gypsy also developed an independent Bohemian feminist side to her personality, beginning with the Creeping Terror
episode during the Mad Scientist's "coffeehouse poseur" experiment, when she sang, "You, the middle-class white male, are my personal oppressor!" Eventually, as the series went on, she penned her own cabaret-like one-woman show, "Gypsy Rose Me!" (a reference to burlesque
performer Gypsy Rose Lee
).
After the Satellite of Love crashed into the Earth in the final episode of MST3K (#1013: Diabolik
), Gypsy is not present with Mike and the Bots in their shared apartment. Tom Servo
is seen reviewing a "ConGypsCo Annual Report", and the guys reflect on their failure to have taken up new corporate mogul
Gypsy on her public offering.
During KTMA episode #6, Gamera vs. Gaos
, Joel claimed to have tried to program her voice to resemble Kim Carnes
, but messed it up. In a sketch in episode #13, SST: Death Flight
, Gypsy was uniquely voiced and operated by a woman (Faye Burkholder). In episode #409,The Indestructible Man
, Gypsy swapped voices with Magic Voice
in the opening host segment.
In the Season 1 pilot, Gypsy managed to uncoil herself; which revealed that she is at least 50 feet long. Joel explained that he just kept making her longer and longer compulsively when he built her.
were used for her eye, the white rubber "hood" portion generally absent after the first couple of seasons. Foam
tubing was used on her lips (usually a dull light gray), and her neck was made of a long black PVC
hose
. The head portion was painted a metallic purple, with a small amount of metallic blue on the inside of her mouth. Occasionally the tubing of her lips is colored red, giving the effect that she's wearing lipstick.
During the initial KTMA season a different children's car seat was used for the head portion, the entire puppet painted a copper color. This Gypsy, with small alterations, would later be used for Cambot
during the opening of season one episodes.
During the KTMA season, Gypsy's voice and operation were handled by Josh Weinstein
. From the first to eighth nationally telecast seasons, Gypsy was voiced and handled by Jim Mallon
, who was one of the producers and writers on the show. Midway through the eighth season, the job of operating and voicing Gypsy was handed over to Patrick Brantseg
, who also performed most of the puppetry during filming of Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie
so as to allow Jim Mallon to focus on directing rather than working the puppet. Patrick Brantseg would handle the role for the remainder of the series. For the new MST3K flash series on the show's official website, Jim Mallon once again provides the voice of Gypsy.
Robot
A robot is a mechanical or virtual intelligent agent that can perform tasks automatically or with guidance, typically by remote control. In practice a robot is usually an electro-mechanical machine that is guided by computer and electronic programming. Robots can be autonomous, semi-autonomous or...
characters on the television series Mystery Science Theater 3000
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....
. She is larger and less talkative than the other robots. Gypsy normally only appeared during the show's host segments and introduction, but briefly took a seat in the theater to watch the movie in episode #412 (Hercules and the Captive Women). She was only able to deliver a couple of "riffs", and left after realizing how bad the movie was. Along with the other robots, Gypsy was designed and built by series creator Joel Hodgson
Joel Hodgson
Joel Gordon Hodgson is an American writer, comedian and television actor. He is best known for creating Mystery Science Theater 3000 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.com...
. He named Gypsy after a pet turtle his brother once owned, as the robot's size and ponderousness reminded him of the turtle.
Role
According to the MST3K storyline, Gypsy takes care of the higher functions on board the Satellite of LoveSatellite of Love (MST3K)
The Satellite of Love is the fictional main setting of the comedy television series Mystery Science Theater 3000. It is a giant bone-shaped spacecraft that Joel Robinson and his friends — robots Crow, Tom Servo, Gypsy, Cambot, and the noncorporeal Magic Voice — live in...
. She needs to use most of her computing power to handle this responsibility, which generally makes her appear slow-witted when dealing with others. The episode #207: Wild Rebels
Wild Rebels
Wild Rebels is a 1967 film directed by William Grefe. It was featured as an episode of movie-mocking television series Mystery Science Theater 3000, and was released on the Collection, Volume 9 box set. The tag line for the movie was "They live for kicks... love for kicks.....
briefly demonstrated a much brighter Gypsy when the demand on her systems was temporarily reduced. (She also made a quick appearance in the theater during this experiment when someone mentioned Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea (TV series)
Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea is a 1960s American science fiction television series based on the 1961 film of the same name. Both were created by Irwin Allen, which enabled the movie's sets, costumes, props, special effects models, and sometimes footage, to be used in the production of the...
, on account of her oft-stated fascination for that show's star, Richard Basehart
Richard Basehart
John Richard Basehart was an American actor. He starred in the 1960s television science fiction drama Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, in the role of Admiral Harriman Nelson.-Career:...
.)
As the show progressed, she became a more frequent participant in the host segments, and appeared more intelligent, even attempting to sit in on an experiment during one of the Hercules movies, Hercules and the Captive Women. But she begged out after a few minutes when she "realized there were these things" she had to go take care of. Gypsy is a big fan of Richard Basehart
Richard Basehart
John Richard Basehart was an American actor. He starred in the 1960s television science fiction drama Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, in the role of Admiral Harriman Nelson.-Career:...
; her brain was once X-ray
X-ray
X-radiation is a form of electromagnetic radiation. X-rays have a wavelength in the range of 0.01 to 10 nanometers, corresponding to frequencies in the range 30 petahertz to 30 exahertz and energies in the range 120 eV to 120 keV. They are shorter in wavelength than UV rays and longer than gamma...
ed, and found to contain RAM chips and a photo of Richard Basehart. She is also a notary
Notary public
A notary public in the common law world is a public officer constituted by law to serve the public in non-contentious matters usually concerned with estates, deeds, powers-of-attorney, and foreign and international business...
.
In season six, the show introduced a device usually referred to as the Umbilicus, although in some episodes it was referred to as either the Umbilicon or the Umbiliport. The Umbilicus was a long tether that connected the Satellite of Love to the underground lair Deep 13, and allowed objects to be sent back and forth between Mike and the mad scientists who had stranded him in orbit. In its first appearance on the show, in episode #601: Girls Town
Girls Town
Girls Town is a 1959 film produced by MGM, starring Mamie Van Doren, Mel Tormé and Ray Anthony; Paul Anka also appears in his first acting role. Van Doren stars as a juvenile delinquent who is sent to a girls school run by nuns, where she finds herself unable to help her sister...
, the Umbilicus was directly connected to Gypsy's snake-like body, with objects being sent or received through her mouth. The receiving station was later changed to an oven-like hatch on the bridge of the Satellite of Love.
Gypsy also developed an independent Bohemian feminist side to her personality, beginning with the Creeping Terror
The Creeping Terror
The Creeping Terror is a 1964 horror/science fiction film, in which a slug-like monster terrorizes an American town after escaping from a crashed spaceship...
episode during the Mad Scientist's "coffeehouse poseur" experiment, when she sang, "You, the middle-class white male, are my personal oppressor!" Eventually, as the series went on, she penned her own cabaret-like one-woman show, "Gypsy Rose Me!" (a reference to burlesque
Burlesque
Burlesque is a literary, dramatic or musical work intended to cause laughter by caricaturing the manner or spirit of serious works, or by ludicrous treatment of their subjects...
performer Gypsy Rose Lee
Gypsy Rose Lee
Gypsy Rose Lee was an American burlesque entertainer famous for her striptease act. She was also an actress, author, and playwright whose 1957 memoir was made into the stage musical and film Gypsy.-Early life:...
).
After the Satellite of Love crashed into the Earth in the final episode of MST3K (#1013: Diabolik
Danger: Diabolik
Danger: Diabolik is a 1968 feature film from Italian filmmaker Mario Bava based on the Italian comic character Diabolik.- About the film :...
), Gypsy is not present with Mike and the Bots in their shared apartment. Tom Servo
Tom 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...
is seen reviewing a "ConGypsCo Annual Report", and the guys reflect on their failure to have taken up new corporate mogul
Business magnate
A business magnate, sometimes referred to as a capitalist, czar, mogul, tycoon, baron, oligarch, or industrialist, is an informal term used to refer to an entrepreneur who has reached prominence and derived a notable amount of wealth from a particular industry .-Etymology:The word magnate itself...
Gypsy on her public offering.
During KTMA episode #6, Gamera vs. Gaos
Gamera vs. Gyaos
is a 1967 daikaiju eiga featuring the giant turtle Gamera by the Daiei Motion Picture Company. Gamera vs. Gyaos was released in the United States by AIP-TV as Return of the Giant Monsters, and later by Sandy Frank as Gamera vs. Gaos...
, Joel claimed to have tried to program her voice to resemble Kim Carnes
Kim Carnes
Kim Carnes is an American singer-songwriter. She is a two-time Grammy Award winner noted for her distinctive raspy vocal style. Some people have called her "The Female Rod Stewart" due to her raspy voice....
, but messed it up. In a sketch in episode #13, SST: Death Flight
SST: Death Flight
SST Death Flight is a 1977 made-for-TV movie produced by ABC Circle Films. It featured an all-star television cast and was directed by David Lowell Rich, who went on to direct The Concorde ... Airport '79...
, Gypsy was uniquely voiced and operated by a woman (Faye Burkholder). In episode #409,The Indestructible Man
Indestructible Man
Indestructible Man is an American black-and-white science fiction film, an original screenplay by Vy Russell and Sue Dwiggins for producer-director Jack Pollexfen and starring Lon Chaney, Jr.. It was produced independently, and picked up after completion for distribution in the United States by...
, Gypsy swapped voices with Magic Voice
Magic Voice
Magic Voice is the voice of the Satellite of Love's computer on the science fiction/comedy TV series Mystery Science Theater 3000.-Overview:...
in the opening host segment.
In the Season 1 pilot, Gypsy managed to uncoil herself; which revealed that she is at least 50 feet long. Joel explained that he just kept making her longer and longer compulsively when he built her.
Behind the scenes
Gypsy's head was built out of a "Century Infant Love Seat". Parts of an Eveready flashlightFlashlight
A flashlight is a hand-held electric-powered light source. Usually the light source is a small incandescent lightbulb or light-emitting diode...
were used for her eye, the white rubber "hood" portion generally absent after the first couple of seasons. Foam
Foam
-Definition:A foam is a substance that is formed by trapping gas in a liquid or solid in a divided form, i.e. by forming gas regions inside liquid regions, leading to different kinds of dispersed media...
tubing was used on her lips (usually a dull light gray), and her neck was made of a long black PVC
PVC
Polyvinyl chloride is a plastic.PVC may also refer to:*Param Vir Chakra, India's highest military honor*Peripheral venous catheter, a small, flexible tube placed into a peripheral vein in order to administer medication or fluids...
hose
Hose (tubing)
A hose is a hollow tube designed to carry fluids from one location to another. Hoses are also sometimes called pipes , or more generally tubing...
. The head portion was painted a metallic purple, with a small amount of metallic blue on the inside of her mouth. Occasionally the tubing of her lips is colored red, giving the effect that she's wearing lipstick.
During the initial KTMA season a different children's car seat was used for the head portion, the entire puppet painted a copper color. This Gypsy, with small alterations, would later be used for Cambot
Cambot
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.- Appearance :Cambot is only seen...
during the opening of season one episodes.
During the KTMA season, Gypsy's voice and operation were handled by Josh 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:...
. From the first to eighth nationally telecast seasons, Gypsy was voiced and handled 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 ...
, who was one of the producers and writers on the show. Midway through the eighth season, the job of operating and voicing Gypsy was handed over to Patrick Brantseg
Patrick Brantseg
Patrick Brantseg was the Art Director and puppeteer for "Gypsy" on Mystery Science Theater 3000, taking over the character from Jim Mallon, the show's producer, mid-way through the show's eighth season. He began his career at Best Brains, Inc. as an intern in 1992. In that same year he was hired to...
, who also performed most of the puppetry during filming of Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie
Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie
Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie is a 1996 theatrical adaptation of the television series Mystery Science Theater 3000, produced and set between seasons 6 and 7 of the show. It was released by Gramercy Pictures and Best Brains with distribution held by Universal Pictures...
so as to allow Jim Mallon to focus on directing rather than working the puppet. Patrick Brantseg would handle the role for the remainder of the series. For the new MST3K flash series on the show's official website, Jim Mallon once again provides the voice of Gypsy.