Lost In Time & Found In Space - Mystery Science Theater 3000 : 
Joel Hodgeson & Trace Beaulieu,  "The Lost MST 3000 Interview"

 - UNEARTHED! - By Terry L. DuFoe
 
During the 3rd season of a little offbeat cable show called Mystery Science 
Theater 3000 I had the opportunity to discuss the creation of this modern day 
classic with original MST cast members creator Joel Hodgeson & Trace Beaulieu.  
With it's UHF broadcasting origins in a small icy Minnesota TV station this 
throwback to the golden age of TV movie hosts may be the sole reason why Comedy 
Central became the cable raitings power house that it did during the maturity of 
the network. 
 
The show soon became a personal friend to a loyal group of followers called 
Misties and while the network that gave the show it's national fame jetsoned the 
Satellite Of Love the fan force of the show that would not die reanimated the 
series for the Sci-Fi Channel like one of the very B-movie creatures that is 
seen in a typical cheesy episode of the now cancelled series.
 
It is unfortunate that creator Joel Hodgeson who spoke about the MST 3000 movie 
in this very interview did not have the opportunity to appear in the very 
feature film that he started writing. What is even more unfortunate is that this 
pop culture icon that made week ends more bearable is now lost in space in a 
black hole of TV cathode tube memories. Now for the first time in unedited form 
is a flashback lost interview with the men who made talking back to the TV a 
household word & a national Sci-Fi treasure.
 
Terry: I must say that interviews with former stand ups are interesting.
 
Trace: Were sitting!
 
Terry: I am a real fan of the show. It reminds me of my lost youth when we used 
to run my old silent super 8mm print of "Metropolis" and rip it apart with funny 
ad libs.
 
Joel: "Metropolis"? Yeah, it's based on life.  (Chuckles) 
 
Terry: I first saw Joel doing comedy magic much like Harry Anderson on Saturday 
Night Live. Tell us about that Joel.
 
Joel:  That was in the 80's. In the early 80's. I used to do that and I got into 
doing this. I don't know why I became a stand up. I don't do that any more 
because I do Mystery Science Theater.
 
Terry:  How do you explain MST to someone who's never seen it?
 
Joel:  We often have to describe the show because a lot of people don't get the 
Comedy Channel.  So I say it's about a guy who's trapped in outer space and 
forced to watch really bad movies with his silhouette along the bottom of the 
screen, and he makes fun of the movies.
 
Terry:  The silhouette on the bottom of the screen - how is that accomplished?
 
Joel:  It's something called a chrom-a-key - sort of like the blue-screen effect 
that they use on the news programs when they show images.  It's really old 
technology.  We're sitting against a big blue wall, and we're watching monitors 
at our feet.  That is how we can tell what's going on in the movie.  We also 
have scripts with time codes so we know what lines to say.  That part of the 
show is fun, watching the movies... probably my favorite part.  I like watching 
the movies and making fun of them.
 
Terry:  How did the show originate?
 
Joel:  Well, Jim Mallon, the producer of the show, approached me; he wanted to 
do a local comedy show in Minneapolis.  I had this idea for a show and he liked 
it.  Kevin (Murphey), who does Tom Servo, and Jim had already been doing a lot 
of parodies on local television on this little independent station, Channel 23.  
Trace and I were in a writing group together; I liked the stuff Trace was doing, 
so he became Crow and Dr. Clayton Forrester.
 
Terry: What ages do you get feed back from in mail to the show?
 
Trace: All ages. 
 
Terry:  What audience is Mystery Science Theater directed at?
 
Joel:  We don't really direct it at anybody.  We just do what we think is funny. 
 Maybe it's me but I don't really think of it as a kiddie show like "Pee Wee's 
Playhouse" or something.  It's real different because it's for everybody.  If 
were putting on a show for a group of people from all different ages it would be 
Mystery Science Theater. When we started, we thought our audience would be 
college kids, videophiles and people who were really into bad movies, but it 
turned out to be a lot broader group than that.
 
Terry: Do you think MST will achieve cult status like Star Trek?
 
Trace: I think it already has a cult following. We have like 5 or 7000 fans in 
the fan club.
 
Terry:  Do you think the show could have been as popular back in the 1950s and 
'60s?
 
Joel:  It wouldn't have worked back then - and certainly not on a network like 
NBC back in 1961.  I think one of the reasons why it works today is because 
people are much more media savvy, being saturated with so many choices in 
television and movies.  Mystery Science Theater is the first show that kind of 
turns on itself and makes fun of what's going on.
 
Terry: Do you think it is something that works best on cable?
 
Joel: Uh, it works best on TV! (Laughs)
 
Terry:  Was Comedy Central the first network that you offered the show to?
 
Joel:  Yes.  I knew some of the people working there.  It was just an "in" that 
we had, so we tried it.
 
Terry:  One unusual thing is that you maintain your own production facility 
(Best Brains Studio in Minnesota).
 
Joel:  It's a lot better that way.  It's just great. There's no pressure, and we 
can take as long as we like to shoot the show and we can take as long as we want 
to build props. We don't have the craziness there is on the coast when you go 
into production.  We lead a real good life; we come in at 9:30 and are often 
done by 5:30. This is because it's our own building & not other  TV facilities.
 
Terry:  In looking over the show's credits, many members of the crew have 
multiple production responsibilities.
 
Trace:  A lot of people here wear many hats and have a lot of different talents. 
When we first started, we were a pretty small operation.  There was not a lot of 
people here to do the different things. Now there are a lot of different people 
with a lot of different talents.  It's kind of fun to work on the set one day 
and be able to write the next.
 
Terry:  Are you a science fiction fan?
 
Joel:  Yeah, not deep. I'm not over the edge with it.  I don't go to the 
conventions.
 
Terry: Can you name some of your genre favorites?
 
Joel: I like anything that's about fantasy. Fantasy stuff I like. It's fun.
 
Trace: I am a Star Trek fan myself.
 
Terry:  What about the name "Robinson"?  Was that taken from the "Will Robinson" 
character on "Lost In Space"?
 
Joel:  Right; that's exactly where it's from.  I used to look like him when I 
was a little kid.
 
Terry:  Who designed the robots?
 
Joel:  I did at first, but then everybody started changing (little things on) 
the puppets.  Trace added things to Crow, and Kevin maintains Tom Servo.
 
Terry: Who built the robots for the show?
 
Joel: I built them at first but now each puppeteer maintains their own puppet. 
Trace added a lot of the stuff on crow. Kevin maintains Tom Servo while Jim 
maintains Gypsy. So each guy does his own thing now.
 
Terry:  How did the idea of the robots come about?  Tom Servo appears to have 
been manufactured out of a gum ball machine.
 
Joel:  Yeah, and Crow is made out of sports equipment.  The robots are just 
collages of stuff; they don't really follow a theme.  They're just a bunch of 
junk that looks good together.
 
Terry:  How are they operated?
 
Trace:  They're rod puppets.  The operator's hand doesn't go inside of the 
puppet; they're operated by rods and cables from the outside the puppet..
 
Terry: I noticed Servos head changed from time to time from the usual round gum 
ball bank head we used to see.
 
Trace: That's Servos sports head. I think in one of those episodes Joel was 
giving Servo a hair cut and he trimmed him down to that sleek sport head and he 
brings that back every now and then. 
 
Terry: Will there ever be new robots introduced on the show?
 
Joel: You never know!  It could happen. We are going into our fourth season next 
year.
 
Trace: Keep watching!
 
Terry:  Speaking of staying tuned who composed the theme music for MST3K & will 
it ever be released?
 
Joel:  I did.  I'm not a musician.  It's the only music I've ever written.  I 
wrote it with a guy who was a really good musician.  I just had a few ideas and 
he reiterated them.  Now all of the music is done by Mike (Nelson) and Kevin 
Murphy. Mike is our head writer and Kevin runs Tom Servo. They do pretty much 
all of the music.  As far as releasing it I think were doing a Christmas video 
tape with all of the songs on it.  It will be available through the fan club.
 
Terry: Your cast seems to really have a lot of fun on the set. Are there many 
out takes that may surface on video some day?
 
Trace: Yeah theres some. Boy that's a hard question!
 
Joel: We had a guy die on the set! (Laughs) You know, it's our job. Yeah it's 
like what we do and we really like coming to work every day. It's fun. We have 
to live with each other on the set so were not too nutty! We have to be with 
each other every day so we have learned to save the nuttiness for our off times.
 
Terry:  What is your criteria for selecting a particular movie?
 
Trace:  Recognizable "has-been" movie-stars, people whose careers were once 
bright and promising.  Then, if we can get the rights to the film, we make our 
selections.  Sometimes we select them and we like them and they tell us we can't 
get them.  We also reject a lot of film when we go through the selection 
process.  For every ten we screen, we find maybe one that's suitable for what 
were going to do.  
 
Joel:  Usually the film distributors will package 13 good movies with 13 bad 
movies, and we tend to want the bad movies.  It gets confusing because the 
distributors want us to pay for the good movies, too, but we can't use them.
 
Terry:  Do you ever find yourselves at a friend's house watching a film and 
you're asked to lay off of the comments?
 
Joel: Oh yeah. It's a great day when a kid realizes its's ok to talk back to the 
TV because it's fun!  I think that's why the show is so popular because 
everybody identifies with that.  Everybody has done it and as long as there is 
TV people will be talking back to the TV!  
 
Trace:  I get called on that a lot.  Mostly from my wife, who says, "Leave your 
work at work!"
 
Terry: What does your wife think of the show Trace?
 
Trace: She likes it. She doesn't get to see it too much because I  am usually 
watching Star Trek or something and I've got control of the cable thing.  She 
watches it Saturday nights here I think.  
 
Terry: Do you ever get recognized in public when your shopping.
 
Joel: Yeah I do occasionally.  Most folks are really nice.  They just say hi and 
I like your show.  It's not like they come after me or want anything from me.  
That is what is nice about our audience because when they discover it their 
selves they treat it a bit more special then if it was a big network show and 
was kind of jammed down their throat like it was a big deal.  So we are really 
fond of our fans because as a group we think they're pretty great.  People don't 
make me feel stupid in public because they are pretty nice so it's been a real 
good experience.
 
Terry: So you enjoy getting approached?
 
Joel: Well it's kind of like a necessary evil you know.  It comes with the 
territory.  I guess I don't enjoy it.  It makes me kind of self conscious but at 
least the people who come up are nice.
 
Terry: Well, Paul Newman doesn't give autographs any more because he was asked 
for one while standing at a urinal.
 
Joel: Oh really? He could only initial it right! (Chuckles)
 
Terry:  Joel, do friends or fans expect you to be funny in real life? You are on 
the phone.
 
Joel:  I just tell people that I'm not funny in real life and that takes the 
pressure off... 
(chuckles).  
 
Terry: Trace do you get recognized for your voice?
 
Trace:  Not really.  people don't make the connection.  I look completely 
different from the scientist on the show so I don't get recognized that much.  
People that I've known for a long time are just now getting it that I'm on the 
show which is cool.  I was setting in a restaurant the other night listening 
people talk about the show and I could be the mouse in the corner and listen to 
them. I was like the man on the street and I could listen to them expressing 
their opinions about the show.
 
Terry: How much different do you look then Dr. Clayton Forrester?
 
Trace: Umm, I'm shorter (Laughs) and my eyes aren't blackened in otherwise I am 
pretty much the same.
 
Terry: Are those green glasses yours?
 
Trace: No, No, those are a prop. I don't know where those came from.  I don't 
wear glasses in real life.
 
Terry: Joel, how alike are you to your TV self?
 
Joel: I don't know.  I'd like to think I am more dimensional then him.  I think 
I have a shorter temper then him.  He is more paternal then I am.  It's really 
hard for me to say.  I am different though.
 
Terry: Are you married Joel?
 
Joel: No, but I have a girl friend.
 
Terry: Do you ad lib lines at a party like Trace does at home?
 
Joel:  I don't do it when there's a group because it's what we do.  When you do 
it for a living you don't want to do it in real life.  When I am at home alone I 
can do it.  I have learned one thing and that is I have gotten a lot better at 
it.  Sometimes people expect me to do it, so that makes me not want to .  But 
when I'm at home, I can.  When we first started, we had to improv the show; we 
didn't rehearse like we do now and Trace was a little bit ahead of me because he 
had done improv.  At the begining I really wasn't very good at it.
 
Terry: What are some of your favorite films?
 
Trace: "Rocketship XM", "Ring of Terror", and the "Ator" movie we did. He is 
flying in a giant furry hang glider at some point.
 
Joel: I like "The Amazing Colossal Man". It was funny to us because we could get 
great ones like that. The demand is not high for those movies and we were able 
to afford to buy the lease on them. We were surprised to get them because you 
would think people were really into things but they were affordable to us so we 
got them.
 
Terry:  Do fans ever complain about your irreverence toward the films?
 
Trace:  We've had some negative reactions - even back at TV 23 we had people 
calling in and complaining when we were showing really terrible movies that we 
were talking over these movies.  It's a small percentage; generally, people like 
what we're doing.  Only one out of about every 2,000 letters is negative.
 
Joel:  If people don't like it, they'll turn the channel.  It's a strange person 
that's not going to like something enough and then care enough to take the time 
to write a letter.  You tend to discount those kind of people any way.  We do 
get criticized by our fans though, but they're usually constructive criticisms 
and pretty good ideas.  
 
Terry:  Would you ever tackle an acknowledged classic, one that's universally 
loved, like "Gone With the Wind" or "King Kong"?
 
Trace:  We have our own favorite movies that we will see them as screeners and 
we will like them but won't touch because we hold them in such high esteem.  But 
there are some that we wouldn't mind taking a swing at.  
 
Joel: The hardest part about it is getting the rights to classic movies because 
everyone wants to see them.  They charge higher rates for them, and we can only 
do films we can afford to lease.  Maybe some day we can do the classics but the 
nature of our show is really drawing attention to movies who really aren't very 
good.  We find crummy old movies and show them to people and make fun of them.  
We usually find movies that people are not going to see every day.  
 
Terry: Are there bad movies that you would like to lease for the show but have 
not been able to obtain?
 
Joel: We would really like to do some Irwin Allen stuff.  I think that's kind of 
unanimous.  He had great movies, they're real cheese ball.  They have lots of 
celebrities and they have a lot of goofy action in them.
 
Terry: Would a Irwin Allen disaster fan appeal to your sci-fi or horror fans?
 
Joel: Well, we have done every type of movie on our show.  We have done beach 
party movies, we have done teen exploitation movies, biker movies, Japanese 
monster movies, horror movies so we have run the gamut.  It isn't a science 
fiction show.
 
Terry: Has any of the actors from the films you show ever contacted you?
 
Joel: Oh they really liked it.    
 
Trace: Miles O'Kief called Joel from the "Ator" and the Bo Derek "Tarzan" movie. 
 He called up and also his co star from that film called.
 
Terry: Oh no, what did they say?  
 
Joel: It was really nice.  He said he was trying to come up with the same thing 
himself & he seemed to really like it.  He invited us to come out and see him 
when we get out to La.
 
Terry:  Are you going to?
 
Joel: Oh, I don't know. It's possible. It would be fun to go work out with 
Miles.  It's really been nice.  Over all people understand overall that what 
were doing is fun and were not really too hard on people.  we could be a lot 
worse on people.  I mean there are a lot more comics who are more harsh, Joan 
rivers for one.  Were fond of these movies and were mostly making fun of the 
world view that the guy who made the movie had.  Were making fun of tyhe 
director and the choices that he made.  Were making fun of the white male 
reality of the fifties, sixties, and seventies and so people understand that and 
get a feeling that it's good.  Miles actually agreed to stop in as a guest on 
the show some time.
 
Terry: At the end of each show we read, "Keep Circulating The Tapes". Does that 
have special meaning?
 
Trace: We are encouraging our fans if they are taping them to send them to 
friends who don't have the network yet.  That started back at TV 23.  People 
were taping it and sending it out to California and New York to friends.  This 
is good for a lot of people who don't get the show.
 
Terry: Why has your show lasted on Comedy Central when others have failed?
 
Joel: We are a separate entity.  We did it all ourselves.  We didn't have a lot 
of intrusion.  We just did one thing and tried to do it as good as we could and 
it seems to have worked.
It's great having steady work.
 
Terry: I heard Comedy central partner and HBO chairman Michael Fuchs showed up 
at Best Brains?
 
Joel: Yeah, it was fun to have him come out & give his benediction.  Yeah, I was 
nervous though. With somebody like that you are afraid you are going to trip and 
break their arms or something.  Maybe fall all over them or even blind them. 
(Laughs)  I was afraid I would accidentally blind him and that would have been 
really bad!  That's a problem. It was great because we knew his visit was going 
to be meaningful to a lot of people.  It's good for business.  He is a guy who 
really works hard and is really into work.  He's a big shot but he was really 
nice to us and enjoyed being here.  He is really powerful in the business so I 
don't think you treat him like you would just anybody.  You tend to be a little 
bit guarded around him.  I don't think he cares that we want to do the show in 
Minnesota rather then La or New York because he knows we have a different point 
of view.
 
Terry: Are you all from the Midwest?
 
Joel: I am from Wisconsin, Paul or new writer is from Chicago, Frank is from New 
York, and Trace and Jim is from Minnesota.
 
Terry: Did you watch any TV movie hosts in growing up as a child such as 
Zacherely?
 
Joel: Yeah and I think that had something to do with my creation of the show. 
When I was growing up in Green Bay, Wisconsin there was a show on called "Eerie 
Street" with a guy called Alexander and I guess when I was a kid I figured that 
was the only way I could get on TV is by hosting monster movies so I think that 
had something to do with the inception of the show. Elviria and the other horror 
hosts I have seen don't really do what we do with the movies so I guess I don't 
really pay that much attention but ours is a totally different type of show in 
the way we touch the movies.  I never really compare myself to those people. I 
remember when Elviria came out.  I was living in La and I thought oh that's 
neat.
 
Trace: When I grew up the local kids show host or wacky side kick "Roundhouse 
Rodney" lived in my neighborhood so I kind of just took it for granted that the 
people you see on TV are the same people living in your neighborhood.  I could 
only get so far on my bike and that was to his house so I assumed other TV 
personalities lived just a little farther away. It was kind of neat to have this 
guy who was this really great character as a neighbor.   He's dead now.
 
Terry: When you were a boy I bet you never imagined that you would make a living 
as the voice of a puppet.  
 
Trace: Uh, it never occurred to me at the time. (Laughs)
 
Terry: Tell us about the fan club.
 
Trace: Well, we wanted to offer quality merchandise. (Laughs) We had a phone 
number when we were at the little local TV station that people could call & that 
just got 
swamped with calls so then we went to putting the address on the screen for 
people to write in.  That was a wonderful thing to get response from people and 
drawings from kids and adults.  It just grew from that!  We offered a free 
membership card when we were at the TV station & that was real popular. In fact 
Jeff our prop master has an orginal MST 3000 fan club card.  He was a big fan of 
the show when we were on locally here & now he has a job here with us. So fans 
turn into employees.  The club has been real successful!
 
Terry: I noticed your phoney ads in the fan club kit borrowed from old comic 
books.
 
Joel: Trace did that.
 
Trace: That was a direct rip off of all of those pulp comic book ads we knew as 
kids.
 
Terry: I assume you are safe as I doubt these companies are in business anymore.
 
Trace: I think they were from a 1952 Mutt & Jeff comic book.  
 
Joel: They are still up and running....(Laughs)
 
Terry: In the club kit I loved the high quality Sparky The Robot that was made 
of thin colored paper and The Home Viewing Simulator with the MST 3000 
silhouette images that you tape to the bottom of your TV screen but it's kind of 
small for my big screen TV.
 
Joel: We tried to make it as adjustable as we could. (Laughs)
 
Trace: You can use your Xerox machine to enlarge it.
 
Terry: Will there ever be a MST movie?
 
Trace: That's possible.
 
Terry: That's a good peace of news!
 
Joel: Yeah!  Were working on it. We have already written a MST 3000  movie.  It 
will be a lot like the show is.  I can't say much about it except we are working 
on it now and I am looking forward to it!

-END-