Real name: (see below)
Years active: 1988-1989 (KTMA, Minneapolis, Minnesota),
1989-1991 (The Comedy Channel), 1991-1996 (Comedy Central), and 1997-1999
(Sci-Fi Channel)
And here we bring the 2014 Horror Host countdown to a close.
Again, somewhat of a controversial choice, as Mystery Science Theater 3000 showed other things besides horror and
riffed them, but here o brothers and sisters is where I truly fell in love with
b-movies. This was the first b-movie showcases I followed and one of the first
fan clubs I joined.
The show; although you are encouraged to repeat to yourself it is just a show, and you should really just relax, tells the trials and tribulations of Joel Robinson (Joel Hodgeson) an unlucky janitor for the Gizmonic Institute. He was just another guy in a red jumpsuit when his bosses, Dr. Clayton Forrester (Trace Beaulieu) and Dr. Laurence Erdhart (Josh Weinstein) launched him into space and trapped him on the Satellite of Love and forced him to watch bad movies. While they were the worst they could find, Joel vexed them by creating a series of robots to help him watch the movies. There was Crow T. Robot (voiced by Beaulieu and later Bill Corbett), Tom Servo (Weinstein and later Kevin Murphy), Gypsy (Jim Mallon and later Patrick Brantseg) and the voiceless Cambot (as himself). Joel himself was even replaced with the temp Mike Nelson (Michael J. Nelson), and evens the Mads were switched as well. Dr. Erdhart ended up on a milk carton in order to make room for TV’s Frank (Frank Coniff). Dr. Forrester didn’t make the transition from Comedy Central to Sci-Fi, leaving his mother Pearl Forrester (Mary Jo Pehl) and later sidekicks Professor Bobo (Murphy) and Brain Guy (Corbett).
It was this show that showed me the wonders of Sandy Frank,
Hal Warren’s utter bizarre magnum opus Manos:
Hands of Fate, and Bert I. Gordon’s obsession with giant things. Without Mystery Science Theater 3000, I doubt
there would even be a list of hosts in the first place. I think it goes deeper
than that though. This show started as a few guys with some thrift shop
purchases and ended as a ten season hit that reached the world over. This show
was the partial inspiration for Geekademia. I’ve bonded with so many people
over this show that I think I may have to do another article over it.
Three network changes later the show ended mostly due to,
once again, changes at management. The ideas behind it and the cast are still
producing though. Joel, Trace, Josh, and Mary Jo formed Cinematic Titanic,
while Mike, Kevin, and Bill formed the Film Crew before morphing into Rifftrax. The spirit of the show is still
very much alive, not only in the cast but in the fans. The official site is still active and has the latest news.
Keep circulating the tapes
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