Joel Hodgson
Encyclopedia
Joel Gordon Hodgson
is an American
writer, comedian and television actor. He is best known for creating Mystery Science Theater 3000
(MST3K) 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. Hodgson is currently "movie riffing" with fellow cast members of MST3K under the name Cinematic Titanic
, performing live and producing content for DVDs and direct download.
in 1960. He began his career in seventh grade as a magician and ventriloquist. Joel performed for local events in his hometown of Green Bay, Wisconsin
, and attended Ashwaubenon High School
. Upon graduation, Joel moved to Minneapolis to attend Bethel College
to study Theatre and Mass Media. While there, Joel further developed his magic act by adding comedy and began opening for musical acts at Bethel as well as performing in coffee houses and comedy clubs. Joel cites a Theatre of the Absurd class at Bethel for helping him crystallize the meaning of his comedy. In 1981 he won the Campus Comedy Contest and then the first annual Twin Cities
Comedy Invitational in 1982. In November of the same year Joel moved to Los Angeles
where he became a regular performer at the Comedy Store and the Hollywood Magic Castle, as well as the Comedy Magic Club. At the Comedy Magic Club, Joel was spotted by Late Night with David Letterman
producer Barry Sand and three months later at age 22 had his network television debut. He later made four other appearances on the Letterman show, as well as four on Saturday Night Live
as a guest act. Joel also was a featured performer on HBO’s "Eighth annual Young Comedians special hosted by John Candy
" along with Bill Maher
, Paula Poundstone
, and the Amazing Jonathan.
He worked at the Comedy Store while in LA, also doing traveling stand-up in San Jose
, San Francisco, Detroit, Kansas City
and Minneapolis. Joel left stand-up in 1985, citing the need for a creative sabbatical, and moved back to Minneapolis.
Between 1984 and 1988, Joel's 'official' return to comedy, he built and sold sculptures, worked at a T-shirt factory, designed toys, and began designing and building props (including robots) for other comedians. In 1986 he co-wrote an HBO special with Jerry Seinfeld
. He met Jim Mallon
in 1987, and Mallon became production manager at the St. Paul UHF station KTMA Channel 23 in 1988. Hodgson was the first choice to portray "Philo" in the "Weird Al" Yankovic
film UHF
, but at the time of the filming (1988), he had begun the production of a new form of television program
for KTMA.
influenced the premise of the show.
MST3K originally aired on KTMA, before becoming one of the first two shows to be picked up by the Comedy Channel, the forerunner of Comedy Central
. The other show, also created and written by Hodgson, was the short-lived Higgins Boys and Gruber, a sketch comedy program that starred Steve Higgins, David Anthony Higgins and Dave Allen.
Hodgson surprised many fans when he left MST3K after its 100th episode in 1993. In contemporary interviews, he said he was uncomfortable with acting and being in front of the camera, citing that as the reason he quit the show.
During a 1999 interview with The Onion A.V. Club, Hodgson added that he and producer Jim Mallon
had been fighting over creative control of MST3K. His departure allowed the show to continue and gave him the opportunity to focus more on his preferred creation and production work than on performing, which he did only reluctantly.
Hodgson later made a surprise guest appearance in the season premiere for the final season of MST3K ("Soultaker," episode 1001).
In a 2008 Slashdot
interview, Hodgson admitted that he felt leaving MST3K, "was a bit of a personal tragedy," and that he had, "...created the appearance to the press that I had other plans, but I didn't. It was all to keep [MST3K] alive." He also stated that he felt his run on MST3K, "...was the perfect job."
In a 2008 interview with Public Radio International's
The Sound of Young America
, Hodgson said of his departure from MST3K, "I was, like, totally happy at Mystery Science Theater. I loved it. I wanted to stay, but I was basically having a fight with my partner, Jim Mallon. So we weren't getting along and so I just felt like -- I thought it really could possibly jeopardize the show. It would have been easy to create factions out of the group. And by that time it would not have been a fun show to work on. And so, I felt like I saw it coming and I just thought [leaving] was the best thing at the time."
for HBO, which Joel produced and hosted. It aired only once, on Comedy Central, after the last new Comedy Central episode of MST3K.
Hodgson's other post-MST3K projects and contributions include Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves
, You Don't Know Jack
, Jimmy Kimmel Live
, and Everything You Need to Know.
Over the years Hodgson and his brother Jim maintained a side project that utilized the repurposing of movie footage with digital effects; code named "jollyfilter."
Hodgson also played a recurring role as a disco
-loving clothing store owner and DJ on the short-lived series Freaks and Geeks
.
In 2007, he portrayed Blackbeard
the pirate in two episodes of The Radio Adventures of Dr. Floyd
and recently joined fellow MST3K alum Frank Conniff
's monthly comedy revue Cartoon Dump
, helming his self-created puppet "Dumpster Diver Dan."
Hodgson was featured as the cover story in the November 1996 issue of Genii
magazine.
He has since starred in the science fiction computer game DARKSTAR - The Interactive Movie as Scythe Commander Kane Cooper.
, together with former MST3K cast and crew members Trace Beaulieu
, J. Elvis Weinstein
, Frank Conniff
and Mary Jo Pehl
.
As of April 2011, he continues to tour with Cinematic Titanic.
is an American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
writer, comedian and television actor. He is best known for creating 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) and starring in it as the character Joel Robinson
Joel Robinson
Joel Robinson is a fictional character featured in the American science fiction comedy television series Mystery Science Theater 3000...
. In 2007 MST3K was listed as "one of the top 100 television shows of all time" by Time.com. Hodgson is currently "movie riffing" with fellow cast members of MST3K under the name Cinematic Titanic
Cinematic Titanic
Cinematic Titanic is a project by Mystery Science Theater 3000 creator and original host, Joel Hodgson.The project involves "riffing" B-movies, in a manner similar to that of MST3K....
, performing live and producing content for DVDs and direct download.
Early life and career
Hodgson was born in Stevens Point, WisconsinStevens Point, Wisconsin
Stevens Point is the county seat of Portage County, Wisconsin, United States. Located in the central part of the state, it is the largest city in the county, with a population of 24,551 at the 2000 census...
in 1960. He began his career in seventh grade as a magician and ventriloquist. Joel performed for local events in his hometown of Green Bay, Wisconsin
Green Bay, Wisconsin
Green Bay is a city in and the county seat of Brown County in the U.S. state of Wisconsin, located at the head of Green Bay, a sub-basin of Lake Michigan, at the mouth of the Fox River. It has an elevation of above sea level and is located north of Milwaukee. As of the 2010 United States Census,...
, and attended Ashwaubenon High School
Ashwaubenon High School
Ashwaubenon High School is a high school in Ashwaubenon, Wisconsin, a suburb of Green Bay.-Academics:Ashwaubenon High School excels in some academic traditions. AHS offers many Advanced Placement classes such as United States History, Art History, Statistics, Chemistry, Biology, Psychology,...
. Upon graduation, Joel moved to Minneapolis to attend Bethel College
Bethel University (Minnesota)
Bethel University is a Christian higher education institution with approximately 6,000 students from 36 countries enrolled in undergraduate, graduate, seminary, and adult education programs...
to study Theatre and Mass Media. While there, Joel further developed his magic act by adding comedy and began opening for musical acts at Bethel as well as performing in coffee houses and comedy clubs. Joel cites a Theatre of the Absurd class at Bethel for helping him crystallize the meaning of his comedy. In 1981 he won the Campus Comedy Contest and then the first annual Twin Cities
Twin cities
Twin cities are a special case of two cities or urban centres which are founded in close geographic proximity and then grow into each other over time...
Comedy Invitational in 1982. In November of the same year Joel moved to Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
where he became a regular performer at the Comedy Store and the Hollywood Magic Castle, as well as the Comedy Magic Club. At the Comedy Magic Club, Joel was spotted by Late Night with David Letterman
Late Night with David Letterman
Late Night with David Letterman is a nightly hour-long comedy talk show on NBC that was created and hosted by David Letterman. It premiered in 1982 as the first incarnation of the Late Night franchise and went off the air in 1993, after Letterman left NBC and moved to Late Show on CBS. Late Night...
producer Barry Sand and three months later at age 22 had his network television debut. He later made four other appearances on the Letterman show, as well as four on Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live
Saturday Night Live is a live American late-night television sketch comedy and variety show developed by Lorne Michaels and Dick Ebersol. The show premiered on NBC on October 11, 1975, under the original title of NBC's Saturday Night.The show's sketches often parody contemporary American culture...
as a guest act. Joel also was a featured performer on HBO’s "Eighth annual Young Comedians special hosted by John Candy
John Candy
John Franklin Candy was a Canadian actor and comedian. He rose to fame as a member of the Toronto branch of The Second City and its related Second City Television series, and through his appearances in comedy films such as Stripes, Splash, Cool Runnings, The Great Outdoors, Spaceballs, and Uncle...
" along with Bill Maher
Bill Maher
William "Bill" Maher, Jr. is an American stand-up comedian, television host, political commentator, author and actor. Before his current role as the host of HBO's Real Time with Bill Maher, Maher hosted a similar late-night talk show called Politically Incorrect originally on Comedy Central and...
, Paula Poundstone
Paula Poundstone
Paula Poundstone is an American stand-up comedian.- Early life :Poundstone was born in Huntsville, Alabama, and her family moved to Sudbury, Massachusetts. Poundstone attended Lincoln-Sudbury Regional High School, but dropped out to pursue a show business career...
, and the Amazing Jonathan.
He worked at the Comedy Store while in LA, also doing traveling stand-up in San Jose
San Jose, California
San Jose is the third-largest city in California, the tenth-largest in the U.S., and the county seat of Santa Clara County which is located at the southern end of San Francisco Bay...
, San Francisco, Detroit, Kansas City
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Missouri is the largest city in the U.S. state of Missouri and is the anchor city of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area, the second largest metropolitan area in Missouri. It encompasses in parts of Jackson, Clay, Cass, and Platte counties...
and Minneapolis. Joel left stand-up in 1985, citing the need for a creative sabbatical, and moved back to Minneapolis.
Between 1984 and 1988, Joel's 'official' return to comedy, he built and sold sculptures, worked at a T-shirt factory, designed toys, and began designing and building props (including robots) for other comedians. In 1986 he co-wrote an HBO special with Jerry Seinfeld
Jerry Seinfeld
Jerome Allen "Jerry" Seinfeld is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and television and film producer, known for playing a semi-fictional version of himself in the situation comedy Seinfeld , which he co-created and co-wrote with Larry David, and, in the show's final two seasons,...
. He met 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 ...
in 1987, and Mallon became production manager at the St. Paul UHF station KTMA Channel 23 in 1988. Hodgson was the first choice to portray "Philo" in the "Weird Al" Yankovic
"Weird Al" Yankovic
Alfred Matthew "Weird Al" Yankovic is an American singer-songwriter, music producer, accordionist, actor, comedian, writer, satirist, and parodist. Yankovic is known for his humorous songs that make light of popular culture and that often parody specific songs by contemporary musical acts...
film UHF
UHF (film)
UHF is a 1989 American comedy film starring "Weird Al" Yankovic, David Bowe, Fran Drescher, Victoria Jackson, Kevin McCarthy, Michael Richards, Gedde Watanabe, Billy Barty, Anthony Geary, Emo Philips and Trinidad Silva, in whose memory the film is dedicated.The title refers to Ultra High Frequency...
, but at the time of the filming (1988), he had begun the production of a new form of television program
Television program
A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...
for KTMA.
Mystery Science Theater 3000
Building on his gift for designing toys and other gizmos, Hodgson built three robot puppets and created MST3K in 1988. He starred as the show's long-suffering but inventive protagonist, Joel Robinson, who in the backstory is responsible for creating his own robot companions. Hodgson has claimed that the 1972 film Silent RunningSilent Running
Silent Running is a 1972 environmentally themed science fiction film starring Bruce Dern and directed by Douglas Trumbull, who had previously worked as a special effects supervisor on such science fiction films as 2001: A Space Odyssey and The Andromeda Strain.-Plot summary:Silent Running depicts a...
influenced the premise of the show.
MST3K originally aired on KTMA, before becoming one of the first two shows to be picked up by the Comedy Channel, the forerunner of Comedy Central
Comedy Central
Comedy Central is an American cable television and satellite television channel that carries comedy programming, both original and syndicated....
. The other show, also created and written by Hodgson, was the short-lived Higgins Boys and Gruber, a sketch comedy program that starred Steve Higgins, David Anthony Higgins and Dave Allen.
Hodgson surprised many fans when he left MST3K after its 100th episode in 1993. In contemporary interviews, he said he was uncomfortable with acting and being in front of the camera, citing that as the reason he quit the show.
During a 1999 interview with The Onion A.V. Club, Hodgson added that he and producer 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 ...
had been fighting over creative control of MST3K. His departure allowed the show to continue and gave him the opportunity to focus more on his preferred creation and production work than on performing, which he did only reluctantly.
Hodgson later made a surprise guest appearance in the season premiere for the final season of MST3K ("Soultaker," episode 1001).
In a 2008 Slashdot
Slashdot
Slashdot is a technology-related news website owned by Geeknet, Inc. The site, which bills itself as "News for Nerds. Stuff that Matters", features user-submitted and ‑evaluated current affairs news stories about science- and technology-related topics. Each story has a comments section...
interview, Hodgson admitted that he felt leaving MST3K, "was a bit of a personal tragedy," and that he had, "...created the appearance to the press that I had other plans, but I didn't. It was all to keep [MST3K] alive." He also stated that he felt his run on MST3K, "...was the perfect job."
In a 2008 interview with Public Radio International's
Public Radio International
Public Radio International is a Minneapolis-based American public radio organization, with locations in Boston, New York, London and Beijing. PRI's tagline is "Hear a different voice." PRI is a major public media content creator and also distributes programs from many sources...
The Sound of Young America
The Sound of Young America
The Sound of Young America is a public radio program and podcast based in Los Angeles, California and distributed by Public Radio International...
, Hodgson said of his departure from MST3K, "I was, like, totally happy at Mystery Science Theater. I loved it. I wanted to stay, but I was basically having a fight with my partner, Jim Mallon. So we weren't getting along and so I just felt like -- I thought it really could possibly jeopardize the show. It would have been easy to create factions out of the group. And by that time it would not have been a fun show to work on. And so, I felt like I saw it coming and I just thought [leaving] was the best thing at the time."
Work after MST3K
After MST3K, Hodgson formed Visual Story Tools (VST) with his brother Jim Hodgson. They created a special for an interactive sketch comedy program called The TV WheelThe TV Wheel
The TV Wheel was a television experiment created by and starring Joel Hodgson, of Mystery Science Theater 3000 fame. Cable network HBO ordered a pilot, but ultimately passed on picking up the show...
for HBO, which Joel produced and hosted. It aired only once, on Comedy Central, after the last new Comedy Central episode of MST3K.
Hodgson's other post-MST3K projects and contributions include Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves
Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves
Honey, We Shrunk Ourselves is a 1997 direct-to-video sequel to Honey, I Shrunk the Kids and Honey, I Blew Up the Kid. It is the last film in the Honey, I Shrunk the Kids franchise...
, You Don't Know Jack
You Don't Know Jack
You Don't Know Jack is a series of computer games developed by Jellyvision and Berkeley Systems, as well as the title of the first game in the series. YDKJ, promoted as the games "where high culture and pop culture collide", combine trivia with comedy...
, Jimmy Kimmel Live
Jimmy Kimmel Live
Jimmy Kimmel Live! is an American late-night talk show, created and hosted by Jimmy Kimmel and broadcast on ABC.The nightly hour-long show made its debut on January 26, 2003, following Super Bowl XXXVII. Jimmy Kimmel Live! is produced by Jackhole Productions in association with ABC Studios...
, and Everything You Need to Know.
Over the years Hodgson and his brother Jim maintained a side project that utilized the repurposing of movie footage with digital effects; code named "jollyfilter."
Hodgson also played a recurring role as a disco
Disco
Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...
-loving clothing store owner and DJ on the short-lived series Freaks and Geeks
Freaks and Geeks
Freaks and Geeks is an American teen comedy-drama television series, created by Paul Feig and executive produced by Judd Apatow, that aired on NBC during the 1999–2000 television season...
.
In 2007, he portrayed Blackbeard
Blackbeard
Edward Teach , better known as Blackbeard, was a notorious English pirate who operated around the West Indies and the eastern coast of the American colonies....
the pirate in two episodes of The Radio Adventures of Dr. Floyd
The Radio Adventures of Dr. Floyd
The Radio Adventures Of Dr. Floyd is a short audio and video series distributed via podcasting. Created by Grant Baciocco and Doug Price, it is a family friendly show in the style of old-time radio. The show also draws much inspiration from The Rocky & Bullwinkle Show. The show first began in April...
and recently joined fellow MST3K alum Frank Conniff
Frank Conniff
Frank Conniff is a writer and actor who is perhaps best known for his portrayal of TV's Frank on Mystery Science Theater 3000 .-Early work:...
's monthly comedy revue Cartoon Dump
Cartoon Dump
Cartoon Dump is an online comedy series/video podcast created by Frank Conniff and animation historian Jerry Beck...
, helming his self-created puppet "Dumpster Diver Dan."
Hodgson was featured as the cover story in the November 1996 issue of Genii
Genii
Genii , a plural form of genie, which is an alternate spelling of jinnī , are supernatural creatures in Arab folklore and Islamic teachings...
magazine.
He has since starred in the science fiction computer game DARKSTAR - The Interactive Movie as Scythe Commander Kane Cooper.
Cinematic Titanic
On October 30, 2007, Hodgson announced he was starting a new show with the same "riffing on bad movies" premise as MST3K called Cinematic TitanicCinematic Titanic
Cinematic Titanic is a project by Mystery Science Theater 3000 creator and original host, Joel Hodgson.The project involves "riffing" B-movies, in a manner similar to that of MST3K....
, together with former MST3K cast and crew members Trace Beaulieu
Trace Beaulieu
Trace Beaulieu is an American puppeteer, writer, and actor. He is best known for his roles on Mystery Science Theater 3000 .-Mystery Science Theater 3000:...
, 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:...
, Frank Conniff
Frank Conniff
Frank Conniff is a writer and actor who is perhaps best known for his portrayal of TV's Frank on Mystery Science Theater 3000 .-Early work:...
and Mary Jo Pehl
Mary Jo Pehl
Mary Joseph Pehl born February 27, 1960 in Circle Pines, Minnesota, is an American writer, actress and comedienne. She is best known for her various roles on the television series Mystery Science Theater 3000.-Mystery Science Theater 3000:...
.
As of April 2011, he continues to tour with Cinematic Titanic.