Joel Robinson
Encyclopedia
Joel Robinson is a fictional character
featured in the American
science fiction
comedy
television
series Mystery Science Theater 3000
(MST3K). He was portrayed by Joel Hodgson
, the creator of the series.
and inventor for Gizmonic Institute ("just another face in a red
jumpsuit
", in reference to Star Trek TOS, where red-clad characters were expendable statists often killed), Joel was launched into space by his boss Dr. Clayton Forrester
and coworker Dr. Laurence Erhardt
- later replaced by TV's Frank
- as part of an experiment to see which bad movies were capable of destroying the human mind. Joel built the 'Bots Tom Servo
, Crow
, Gypsy
and Cambot
to keep him company, but used parts that apparently caused him to lose the ability to control when the films would stop and start in doing so. Though bombarded with many horrible films, he tends to take his captivity in benign stride, delivering most of his riffs in dead pan, holding no ill will against his captors and even affectionately calling them "the Mads" (among other amusing nicknames such as "the Overlords") while riffing on popular culture ("Auntie Em and Toto
") or things found in Minnesota ("Milavetz and Associates", a prominent Twin Cities-area law firm).
As the opening theme song said, Joel generally wore a red jumpsuit during most of his time as host, but on occasion would wear other colors, such as tan (during the show's first improvisation season on KTMA) or green or bright aqua colored (often worn during Season 2). From season 2 episode 212 through his departure in episode 512 Joel wore a darker, maroon colored jumpsuit, though the original red jumpsuit (and season 2 green one) remained in the show's intro and opening theme.
Joel was the host of MST3K from 1988 to 1993. Episode #512, Mitchell
, was his last episode as host; beginning with the following episode (#513 The Brain That Wouldn't Die
) he was replaced by Mike Nelson, played by series head writer Michael J. Nelson
.
During the episode "Mitchell," Gypsy overhears The Mads talking about eliminating Mike, the temp working there after the "Mitchell" experiment. She thought that they were actually alluding to Joel, and struggled to think of some way to help Joel escape his alleged fate. Joel escaped the Satellite of Love
(S.O.L.) in a previously undiscovered escape pod (named the Deus Ex Machina
) mislabeled as a crate of "Hamdingers" that Mike told Gypsy about. Mike managed to override The Mads' control over the S.O.L. so that Gypsy could get Joel into the escape pod and launch it. After Joel's departure from the S.O.L., the Mads tried to rescue him, but gave up seconds later when they discovered that he had already safely landed in the Australian Outback. Instead of killing Mike, as they initially planned, they sent him up to take Joel's place. After Joel's departure he returned just once, in the show's final season (episode 1001: Soultaker
), having turned the escape pod into a makeshift spaceship. He returned to the S.O.L. to make repairs to parts that were programmed to self-destruct a decade after the ship's launch into orbit and give Mike a pep talk, after which he left the satellite through the corridor to the theater, where he had entered it earlier in that episode. Joel reported that, since leaving the ship, he had traveled around the Australia
n outback
, doing pyrotechnics for the band "Man or Astro-man?
", and that he was currently working as a manager at a Hot Fish Shop in Osseo, Minnesota
. (In the real world, the most famous Hot Fish Shop in Minnesota http://web.archive.org/web/20040705072509/http://www.winonadailynews.com/articles/2004/03/20/news/00lead.txt had closed the weekend that episode 1001 aired, although the shop was located in Winona, Minnesota
, rather than Osseo.)
After his departure, Joel was mostly forgotten until his appearance in Soultaker. However, he was indirectly mentioned in the episode Santa Claus
when Gypsy gives Mike a sweater with the word "Joike" written on it, explaining that she had started it when "the other guy" was present, but finished it after Mike's arrival. He was also inferred in Time Chasers
by Mike's brother Eddy (who, due to a time travel mistake caused by Crow, was now in Mike's place on the SOL), who called him the "sleepy-eyed guy". After his visit in Soultaker, he was mentioned again in episode 1004 (Future War) during the credits of the movie. Mike attempts to do something Joel-esque, worrying the Bots, and Crow eventually asks if this has anything to do with Joel stopping by recently. Joel was referenced again in episode 1008 (Final Justice), when Mike believed he could escape after "suffering though a horrible Joe Don Baker movie
" like Joel had previously.
Joel's tenure as host was marked by "invention exchanges", where Joel and his mad scientist
tormentors would come up with wacky inventions in a contest with each other. These sketches were a good match for Hodgson, who began his career as a prop comic; indeed, many of the inventions were items originally found in his standup act. The gag remained during early episodes with the show's second host, but was quickly done away with (since the writers wanted to focus on Mike's strengths in portraying comic characters), as were any references to Gizmonic Institute, which Joel Hodgson owned the rights to. The in-show reasoning behind the disposal of invention exchanges was that they were part of Gizmonic corporate culture, which Mike (having never worked at the institute) knew nothing of. Another change was the relationship between host and bots; whereas Joel was more of a parental authority figure to Crow and Tom Servo (in keeping with his status as their creator), the pair treated Mike more as a peer, occasionally subjecting him to pranks which they never would have considered playing on Joel.
Joel's "sleepy eyed" persona was reportedly the result of Hodgson staying up all night working non-stop on the pilot, which was kept after the pilot was shot because the crew and other performers thought it was funny. Off-Camera, Hodgson wears eyeglasses, which can be occasionally seen when he turns his head in profile during scenes in the theater.
Robinson, after the protagonist
of Lost in Space
. (When Hodgson was interviewed on Space Ghost: Coast to Coast, Space Ghost referred to him as "Mr. Lost in Space himself".)
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...
featured in the American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
comedy
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...
television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
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....
(MST3K). He was portrayed by 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...
, the creator of the series.
Overview
Formerly a janitorJanitor
A janitor or custodian is a professional who takes care of buildings, such as hospitals and schools. Janitors are responsible primarily for cleaning, and often some maintenance and security...
and inventor for Gizmonic Institute ("just another face in a red
Redshirt
-Groups and movements:* Redshirts , , followers of Giuseppe Garibaldi in southern Italy during his Expedition of the Thousand.Other groups and movements have use the phrase since Garibaldi...
jumpsuit
Jumpsuit
Jumpsuit originally referred to the utilitarian one-piece garments used by parachuters/skydivers, but has come to be used as a common term for any one-piece garment with sleeves and legs.-Use:...
", in reference to Star Trek TOS, where red-clad characters were expendable statists often killed), Joel was launched into space by his boss Dr. Clayton Forrester
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...
and coworker Dr. Laurence Erhardt
Doctor Laurence Erhardt
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.- Role :...
- later replaced by 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...
- as part of an experiment to see which bad movies were capable of destroying the human mind. Joel built the 'Bots 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...
, Crow
Crow T. Robot
Crow T. Robot is a fictional character from the American science fiction comedy television series Mystery Science Theater 3000 . Crow is a robot, who, along with others, quips and riffs upon poor-quality B movies.- Overview :...
, Gypsy
Gypsy (MST3K)
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...
and 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...
to keep him company, but used parts that apparently caused him to lose the ability to control when the films would stop and start in doing so. Though bombarded with many horrible films, he tends to take his captivity in benign stride, delivering most of his riffs in dead pan, holding no ill will against his captors and even affectionately calling them "the Mads" (among other amusing nicknames such as "the Overlords") while riffing on popular culture ("Auntie Em and Toto
The Wizard of Oz (1939 film)
The Wizard of Oz is a 1939 American musical fantasy film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was directed primarily by Victor Fleming. Noel Langley, Florence Ryerson and Edgar Allan Woolf received credit for the screenplay, but there were uncredited contributions by others. The lyrics for the songs...
") or things found in Minnesota ("Milavetz and Associates", a prominent Twin Cities-area law firm).
As the opening theme song said, Joel generally wore a red jumpsuit during most of his time as host, but on occasion would wear other colors, such as tan (during the show's first improvisation season on KTMA) or green or bright aqua colored (often worn during Season 2). From season 2 episode 212 through his departure in episode 512 Joel wore a darker, maroon colored jumpsuit, though the original red jumpsuit (and season 2 green one) remained in the show's intro and opening theme.
Joel was the host of MST3K from 1988 to 1993. Episode #512, Mitchell
Mitchell (film)
Mitchell is a 1975 film starring Joe Don Baker as an abrasive, alcoholic police detective, released by Allied Artists Pictures Corporation in the USA on September 10, 1975....
, was his last episode as host; beginning with the following episode (#513 The Brain That Wouldn't Die
The Brain That Wouldn't Die
The Brain That Wouldn't Die, also known as The Head That Wouldn't Die, is a 1962 science-fiction/horror film directed by Joseph Green and written by Green and Rex Carlton. The film was completed in 1959 under the title The Black Door, but was not released until May 3, 1962, when it was renamed...
) he was replaced by Mike Nelson, played by series head writer Michael J. Nelson
Michael J. Nelson
Michael John Nelson is a U.S. comedian and writer, most famous for his work on the cult television series Mystery Science Theater 3000 . Nelson was the head writer of the series for most of the show's 11-year run, and spent half of that time playing the on-air host, also named Mike Nelson...
.
During the episode "Mitchell," Gypsy overhears The Mads talking about eliminating Mike, the temp working there after the "Mitchell" experiment. She thought that they were actually alluding to Joel, and struggled to think of some way to help Joel escape his alleged fate. Joel escaped the Satellite of Love
Satellite 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...
(S.O.L.) in a previously undiscovered escape pod (named the Deus Ex Machina
Deus ex machina
A deus ex machina is a plot device whereby a seemingly inextricable problem is suddenly and abruptly solved with the contrived and unexpected intervention of some new event, character, ability, or object.-Linguistic considerations:...
) mislabeled as a crate of "Hamdingers" that Mike told Gypsy about. Mike managed to override The Mads' control over the S.O.L. so that Gypsy could get Joel into the escape pod and launch it. After Joel's departure from the S.O.L., the Mads tried to rescue him, but gave up seconds later when they discovered that he had already safely landed in the Australian Outback. Instead of killing Mike, as they initially planned, they sent him up to take Joel's place. After Joel's departure he returned just once, in the show's final season (episode 1001: Soultaker
Soultaker (film)
Soultaker is a 1990 fantasy horror film starring Vivian Schilling, Joe Estevez, and Robert Z'Dar. The film was featured on an episode of movie-mocking TV show Mystery Science Theater 3000. However, despite the negative reception, it won a Saturn Award in 1992 for Best Genre Video Release...
), having turned the escape pod into a makeshift spaceship. He returned to the S.O.L. to make repairs to parts that were programmed to self-destruct a decade after the ship's launch into orbit and give Mike a pep talk, after which he left the satellite through the corridor to the theater, where he had entered it earlier in that episode. Joel reported that, since leaving the ship, he had traveled around the Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
n outback
Outback
The Outback is the vast, remote, arid area of Australia, term colloquially can refer to any lands outside the main urban areas. The term "the outback" is generally used to refer to locations that are comparatively more remote than those areas named "the bush".-Overview:The outback is home to a...
, doing pyrotechnics for the band "Man or Astro-man?
Man or Astro-man?
Man or Astro-man? is a surf rock group that formed in Auburn, Alabama, in the early 1990s and came to prominence over the following decade.Primarily instrumental, Man or Astro-man? blended the surf rock style of the early 1960s like that of The Spotnicks with the new wave and punk rock sounds of...
", and that he was currently working as a manager at a Hot Fish Shop in Osseo, Minnesota
Osseo, Minnesota
As of the census of 2000, there were 2,434 people, 1,035 households, and 606 families residing in the city. The population density was 3,179.7 people per square mile . There were 1,060 housing units at an average density of 1,384.7 per square mile...
. (In the real world, the most famous Hot Fish Shop in Minnesota http://web.archive.org/web/20040705072509/http://www.winonadailynews.com/articles/2004/03/20/news/00lead.txt had closed the weekend that episode 1001 aired, although the shop was located in Winona, Minnesota
Winona, Minnesota
Winona is a city in and the county seat of Winona County, in the U.S. State of Minnesota. Located in picturesque bluff country on the Mississippi River, its most noticeable physical landmark is Sugar Loaf....
, rather than Osseo.)
After his departure, Joel was mostly forgotten until his appearance in Soultaker. However, he was indirectly mentioned in the episode Santa Claus
Santa Claus (film)
Santa Claus is a 1959 live action Mexican motion picture featuring Santa Claus. In the film, Santa works in outer space and does battle with a demon sent to Earth by Lucifer to ruin Christmas by killing Santa and "making all the children of the Earth do evil." Santa Claus was directed by René...
when Gypsy gives Mike a sweater with the word "Joike" written on it, explaining that she had started it when "the other guy" was present, but finished it after Mike's arrival. He was also inferred in Time Chasers
Time Chasers
Time Chasers is a 1994 science fiction film directed by David Giancola and starring Matthew Bruch, George Woodard, and Bonnie Pritchard. The film follows the adventures of an amateur inventor who goes through time with his female accomplice to stop an evil megacorporation intent on changing...
by Mike's brother Eddy (who, due to a time travel mistake caused by Crow, was now in Mike's place on the SOL), who called him the "sleepy-eyed guy". After his visit in Soultaker, he was mentioned again in episode 1004 (Future War) during the credits of the movie. Mike attempts to do something Joel-esque, worrying the Bots, and Crow eventually asks if this has anything to do with Joel stopping by recently. Joel was referenced again in episode 1008 (Final Justice), when Mike believed he could escape after "suffering though a horrible Joe Don Baker movie
Mitchell (film)
Mitchell is a 1975 film starring Joe Don Baker as an abrasive, alcoholic police detective, released by Allied Artists Pictures Corporation in the USA on September 10, 1975....
" like Joel had previously.
Joel's tenure as host was marked by "invention exchanges", where Joel and his mad scientist
Mad 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...
tormentors would come up with wacky inventions in a contest with each other. These sketches were a good match for Hodgson, who began his career as a prop comic; indeed, many of the inventions were items originally found in his standup act. The gag remained during early episodes with the show's second host, but was quickly done away with (since the writers wanted to focus on Mike's strengths in portraying comic characters), as were any references to Gizmonic Institute, which Joel Hodgson owned the rights to. The in-show reasoning behind the disposal of invention exchanges was that they were part of Gizmonic corporate culture, which Mike (having never worked at the institute) knew nothing of. Another change was the relationship between host and bots; whereas Joel was more of a parental authority figure to Crow and Tom Servo (in keeping with his status as their creator), the pair treated Mike more as a peer, occasionally subjecting him to pranks which they never would have considered playing on Joel.
Joel's "sleepy eyed" persona was reportedly the result of Hodgson staying up all night working non-stop on the pilot, which was kept after the pilot was shot because the crew and other performers thought it was funny. Off-Camera, Hodgson wears eyeglasses, which can be occasionally seen when he turns his head in profile during scenes in the theater.
Name
In the KTMA season of MST3K, Hodgson simply used his real name while hosting the show. When the program switched to the nationally-broadcast Comedy Channel, Joel began using the surnameSurname
A surname is a name added to a given name and is part of a personal name. In many cases, a surname is a family name. Many dictionaries define "surname" as a synonym of "family name"...
Robinson, after the protagonist
Protagonist
A protagonist is the main character of a literary, theatrical, cinematic, or musical narrative, around whom the events of the narrative's plot revolve and with whom the audience is intended to most identify...
of Lost in Space
Lost in Space
Lost in Space is a science fiction TV series created and produced by Irwin Allen, filmed by 20th Century Fox Television, and broadcast on CBS. The show ran for three seasons, with 83 episodes airing between September 15, 1965, and March 6, 1968...
. (When Hodgson was interviewed on Space Ghost: Coast to Coast, Space Ghost referred to him as "Mr. Lost in Space himself".)