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| actors ='''[[Trace Beaulieu]]'''<small> (1988-1997, 2008, 2014)</small><br> |
| actors ='''[[Trace Beaulieu]]'''<small> (1988-1997, 2008, 2014)</small><br> |
||
'''[[Josh Weinstein]]'''<small> (1988)</small><br> |
'''[[Josh Weinstein]]'''<small> (1988)</small><br> |
||
| − | '''[[Bill Corbett]]'''<small> (1997-1999)</small><br> |
+ | '''[[Bill Corbett]]'''<small> (1997-1999, 2020)</small><br> |
'''[[Paul Chaplin]]'''<small> (2007)</small><br> |
'''[[Paul Chaplin]]'''<small> (2007)</small><br> |
||
'''[[Hampton Yount]]'''<small> (2015-2018)</small><br> |
'''[[Hampton Yount]]'''<small> (2015-2018)</small><br> |
||
'''[[Grant Baciocco]]'''<small> ([[Mystery Science Theater 3000 Live - 30th Anniversary Tour|2018 tour]])</small><br> |
'''[[Grant Baciocco]]'''<small> ([[Mystery Science Theater 3000 Live - 30th Anniversary Tour|2018 tour]])</small><br> |
||
| − | '''[[Nate Begle]]'''<small> ([[Mystery Science Theater 3000 Live - The Great Cheesy Movie Circus Tour|2019 tour]], [[Turkey Day '19]] |
+ | '''[[Nate Begle]]'''<small> ([[Mystery Science Theater 3000 Live - The Great Cheesy Movie Circus Tour|2019 tour]], [[Turkey Day '19]] & [[The MST3K LIVE Social Distancing Riff-Along Special| Live Riff-Along]])<br> |
see ''[[#Performers|Performers]]'' for details</small> |
see ''[[#Performers|Performers]]'' for details</small> |
||
| 1stappearance =K00 - ''[[MST3K K00 - The Green Slime|The Green Slime]]'' |
| 1stappearance =K00 - ''[[MST3K K00 - The Green Slime|The Green Slime]]'' |
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==Personality== |
==Personality== |
||
[[File:Crowsolo.jpg|thumb|Crow during the SciFi Era]] |
[[File:Crowsolo.jpg|thumb|Crow during the SciFi Era]] |
||
| − | Though masculine in programming, Crow was described in the KTMA episode Hanger 18 as being a "hermaphrobot" which was really an elaborate joke by Joel.<ref>K19 [[MST3K K19 - Hangar 18|Hangar 18]]</ref> |
+ | Though masculine in programming, Crow was described in the KTMA episode ''[[MST3K K19 - Hangar 18|Hanger 18]]'' as being a "hermaphrobot" which was really an elaborate joke by Joel.<ref>K19 [[MST3K K19 - Hangar 18|Hangar 18]]</ref> |
| − | Crow is easy |
+ | Crow is easy-going, but snarky, quick-witted and opinionated. He often delivers the most sarcastic remarks and is the most frequent quipper on the show. |
| − | Crow describes himself as using cyber-based bubble memory, working off [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unix UNIX] and could use a variety of operating systems, underwent a complex personal evolution wherein painful confusion had given way to what he liked to think of as some degree of wisdom culminating in his current Zarasthustrian sense of self, often panics when making sandwiches, smells conspiracy in everything and doesn't know what he means most of the time.<ref>[[Monster A-Go Go]]</ref> |
+ | Crow describes himself as using cyber-based bubble memory, working off [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unix UNIX] and could use a variety of operating systems, underwent a complex personal evolution wherein painful confusion had given way to what he liked to think of as some degree of wisdom culminating in his current Zarasthustrian sense of self, often panics when making sandwiches, smells conspiracy in everything and doesn't know what he means most of the time.<ref>[[MST3K 421 - Monster A-Go Go|Monster A-Go Go]]</ref> |
| − | At the end of ''[[Master Ninja II]]'', Crow named ''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Castle Kafka's The Castle]'' as his favorite movie, but it is unclear if he meant the 1964 Danish version or the 1968 West German version. This confuses Tom, who had thought that Crow's favorite movie was [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070948/?ref_=nv_sr_1 ''Zardoz'']. Crow also expressed fondness for the film ''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willow_(film) Willow]''. |
+ | At the end of ''[[MST3K 324 - Master Ninja II|Master Ninja II]]'', Crow named ''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Castle Kafka's The Castle]'' as his favorite movie, but it is unclear if he meant the 1964 Danish version or the 1968 West German version. This confuses Tom, who had thought that Crow's favorite movie was [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070948/?ref_=nv_sr_1 ''Zardoz'']. Crow also expressed fondness for the film ''[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Willow_(film) Willow]''. |
| − | Crow's accomplishments during the show's run include writing several screenplays, including ''[[Earth vs. Soup]]'' (his seminal work), ''[[Peter Graves at the University of Minnesota]]'', ''[[The Spy Who Hugged Me]]'', ''[[Chocolate Jones and the Temple of Funk]]'', and ''[[World War Space]].'' He also wrote a teleplay inspired by ''Crash of Moons,'' and a satirical political stage musical revue called ''[[Supercalafragalisticexpiala-wacky!]]''. During the Sci-Fi years, his interests turned towards making documentaries. Among his output on this front were ''Crow T. Robot's Bram Stoker's The Civil War'' (the bulk of which consisted of credits) and ''Let's Talk Women'' (which presented the gentler sex as akin to a mysterious and elusive cryptid). |
+ | Crow's accomplishments during the show's run include writing several screenplays, including ''[[Earth vs. Soup]]'' (his seminal work), ''[[Peter Graves at the University of Minnesota]]'', ''[[The Spy Who Hugged Me]]'', ''[[Chocolate Jones and the Temple of Funk]]'', and ''[[World War Space]].'' He also wrote a teleplay inspired by ''[[Crash of Moons (film)|Crash of Moons]],'' and a satirical political stage musical revue called ''[[Supercalafragalisticexpiala-wacky!]]''. During the Sci-Fi years, his interests turned towards making documentaries. Among his output on this front were ''Crow T. Robot's Bram Stoker's The Civil War'' (the bulk of which consisted of credits) and ''Let's Talk Women'' (which presented the gentler sex as akin to a mysterious and elusive cryptid). |
| − | Crow holds the distinction of being the only Bot who ever visited [[Deep 13]] (although Tom Servo and Gypsy once visited the [[Last of the Wild Horses|alternate-earth]] version). In ''[[Kitten with a Whip]]'', he slid down the Umbilicus in an attempt to bring the SOL back to Earth, but he retreated back up to the satellite after being caught by Dr. Forrester, who then had Frank put a giant mousetrap beneath the Umbilicus—only to accidentally set off the trap on himself. In the "Turkey Day" version of ''[[Night of the Blood Beast]]'', Crow also visited when attending the Forrester Thanksgiving dinner alongside such guests as [[Mr. B. Natural]], [[Pitch]] the Devil, and others. A second Crow may still be living in Wisconsin working at a cheese factory, due to a [[Wikipedia:time paradox|time paradox]] created during the ''[[Time Chasers]]'' experiment. |
+ | Crow holds the distinction of being the only Bot who ever visited [[Deep 13]] (although Tom Servo and Gypsy once visited the [[MST3K 611 - Last of the Wild Horses|alternate-earth]] version). In ''[[MST3K 615 - Kitten with a Whip|Kitten with a Whip]]'', he slid down the Umbilicus in an attempt to bring the SOL back to Earth, but he retreated back up to the satellite after being caught by Dr. Forrester, who then had Frank put a giant mousetrap beneath the Umbilicus—only to accidentally set off the trap on himself. In the "Turkey Day" version of ''[[MST3K 701T - Night of the Blood Beast|Night of the Blood Beast]]'', Crow also visited when attending the Forrester Thanksgiving dinner alongside such guests as [[Mr. B. Natural]], [[Pitch]] the Devil, and others. A second Crow may still be living in Wisconsin working at a cheese factory, due to a [[Wikipedia:time paradox|time paradox]] created during the ''[[MST3K 821 - Time Chasers|Time Chasers]]'' experiment. |
| − | During ''[[Fire Maidens of Outer Space]]'', Crow acquired a double named "[[Timmy]]", whom the trio quickly took a liking to; however, the double began playing tricks on Tom Servo and Joel, who blamed Crow for the actions. He eventually joined them in the theater during the movie and attacked Tom, cocooning him in a matter identical to the xenomorph from ''[[Wikipedia:Alien (film)|Alien]]'', forcing Joel and Crow to stuff him into an airlock and blast him out of the ship and into space. Timmy's appearance was a parody of the evil twin concept. In reality, Timmy is the black-painted Crow used for the Shadowrama during the Theater segments. |
+ | During ''[[MST3K 416 - Fire Maidens of Outer Space|Fire Maidens of Outer Space]]'', Crow acquired a double named "[[Timmy]]", whom the trio quickly took a liking to; however, the double began playing tricks on Tom Servo and Joel, who blamed Crow for the actions. He eventually joined them in the theater during the movie and attacked Tom, cocooning him in a matter identical to the xenomorph from ''[[Wikipedia:Alien (film)|Alien]]'', forcing Joel and Crow to stuff him into an airlock and blast him out of the ship and into space. Timmy's appearance was a parody of the evil twin concept. In reality, Timmy is the black-painted Crow used for the Shadowrama during the Theater segments. |
| − | Crow doesn't fall hard in love the same way that Tom Servo does, but he has developed crushes every now and then. In the Season |
+ | Crow doesn't fall hard in love the same way that Tom Servo does, but he has developed crushes every now and then. In the Season 4 episode ''[[MST3K 403 - City Limits|City Limits]]'', he becomes attracted to [[Kim Cattrall]]. He later became infatuated with [[Estelle Winwood]] during the episode ''[[MST3K 411 - The Magic Sword|The Magic Sword]]''. He was also enamored of the cigarette-smoking Mrs. Hargrove in [[MST3K 905 - The Deadly Bees|''The Deadly Bees'']]. It has also been implied that Crow may to be attracted to Servo, having dreamed of a salacious Servo in a nurse's outfit in ''[[MST3K 423 - Bride of the Monster|Bride of the Monster]]''. In ''[[MST3K 616 - Racket Girls|Racket Girls]]'', Crow is inspired by the short ''Are You Ready for Marriage?'' to ask Mike for Tom Servo's hand in marriage. During the wedding ceremony, everyone starts wrestling, prompting them all to forget the whole affair. |
| − | Crow is somewhat prone to injury, as he gets blown up, attacked, set on fire, or falls from great heights quite often during the series' host segments. He has also suffered bouts of vertigo, as he experienced nausea and dizziness from the unusual layout of the credits for ''[[Warrior of the Lost World]]'' and ''[[Beginning of the End]]''. |
+ | Crow is somewhat prone to injury, as he gets blown up, attacked, set on fire, or falls from great heights quite often during the series' host segments. He has also suffered bouts of vertigo, as he experienced nausea and dizziness from the unusual layout of the credits for ''[[MST3K 501 - Warrior of the Lost World|Warrior of the Lost World]]'' and ''[[MST3K 517 - Beginning of the End|Beginning of the End]]''. |
==Running Gags== |
==Running Gags== |
||
| − | Crow's name also lent itself to a number of [[host segment]] punchlines. In the aforementioned '' |
+ | Crow's name also lent itself to a number of [[host segment]] punchlines. In the aforementioned ''Hangar 18'', one of the early [[KTMA]] episodes, Joel performs maintenance on Crow's RAM chips, and shows what he claims is Crow's first memory. In this "flashback" scene, Joel explains that Crow's name is an acronym for "Cybernetic Remotely Operated Woman". Back in the present, Crow is shocked to discover that he's a woman, and instantly starts worrying about the dishes and watching ''[[Wikipedia:Thirtysomething|Thirtysomething]]''. Joel chuckles and explains, "Take it easy, Crow. It's all just a real elaborate joke... I basically invented you to put that memory in and pull that joke you." Crow calms down: "So my life has been one big setup for a punchline? Boy, I feel like [[Wikipedia:Morey Amsterdam|Morey Amsterdam]]." |
<gallery> |
<gallery> |
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</gallery> |
</gallery> |
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| − | Crow is also sometimes called "Art," primarily by late-series antagonist [[Pearl Forrester]]. This arose from a gag in ''[[MST3K 203 - Jungle Goddess|Jungle Goddess]]'', in which Joel introduces the bots as Jackie Gleason did with his fellow cast members at the end of every episode of ''[[wikipedia:The Honeymooners|The Honeymooners]]'', calling each one out individually to take a bow. During this, Joel refers to Crow as "Art Crow!", a reference to the enthusiastic way that Gleason would introduce his long-time partner Art Carney. Later, [[Best Brains]] received a letter from a child named Shanon who had evidently missed the cultural reference and labeled a drawing of Crow as "Art". The letter was read in ''[[The Giant Gila Monster]]'', and the writers were so taken with it that it became a recurring joke.<ref>[http://mst3kinfo.com/mstfaq/subtle.html MST3K FAQ -- Subtleties]</ref> In ''[[The Touch of Satan]]'', "babysitter" [[Steffi]] calls him "Cow". And the joke has outlived MST3K itself: Trace Beaulieu was part of the Paul Feig-created comedy ''Other Space'', which premiered in 2015, voicing a robot named Art opposite Joel Hodgson. |
+ | Crow is also sometimes called "Art," primarily by late-series antagonist [[Pearl Forrester]]. This arose from a gag in ''[[MST3K 203 - Jungle Goddess|Jungle Goddess]]'', in which Joel introduces the bots as Jackie Gleason did with his fellow cast members at the end of every episode of ''[[wikipedia:The Honeymooners|The Honeymooners]]'', calling each one out individually to take a bow. During this, Joel refers to Crow as "Art Crow!", a reference to the enthusiastic way that Gleason would introduce his long-time partner Art Carney. Later, [[Best Brains]] received a letter from a child named Shanon who had evidently missed the cultural reference and labeled a drawing of Crow as "Art". The letter was read in ''[[MST3K 402 - The Giant Gila Monster|The Giant Gila Monster]]'', and the writers were so taken with it that it became a recurring joke.<ref>[http://mst3kinfo.com/mstfaq/subtle.html MST3K FAQ -- Subtleties]</ref> In ''[[MST3K 908 - The Touch of Satan|The Touch of Satan]]'', "babysitter" [[Steffi]] calls him "Cow". And the joke has outlived MST3K itself: Trace Beaulieu was part of the Paul Feig-created comedy ''Other Space'', which premiered in 2015, voicing a robot named Art opposite Joel Hodgson. |
Crow is the most likely of the four movie-riffers to make off-color, cruel or lewd comments during the film, and receives frequent scoldings from Joel, Mike, and occasionally Tom because of this habit (see [[#Crow Syndrome|Crow Syndrome]]). In earlier seasons, Joel will sometimes get frustrated and tear off and fling away Crow's arms during the theater or one of the host segments, much to Crow's annoyance. |
Crow is the most likely of the four movie-riffers to make off-color, cruel or lewd comments during the film, and receives frequent scoldings from Joel, Mike, and occasionally Tom because of this habit (see [[#Crow Syndrome|Crow Syndrome]]). In earlier seasons, Joel will sometimes get frustrated and tear off and fling away Crow's arms during the theater or one of the host segments, much to Crow's annoyance. |
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| Line 74: | Line 74: | ||
[[File:KTMA_Crow.jpg|thumb|Crow during the KTMA era.|left]]During the [[KTMA]] season, he only had one floralier tray, his arms were made from PVC pipe with pipe insulation tied to the tray, and his eyes were glued to an entire Schwartz Bros. soap dish, which didn't include a separate eye movement mechanism, leaving them with a bulgier appearance. He is painted with Testors Gold Metalflake paint, which looks basically gold, and highlighted with flat black spray paint. in the KTMA season he is painted with cheap gold paint. Another version of Crow is used for the theater segments. This version is painted flat black and instead of Italian fanny pinchers for hands, he has claw parts from a Toysmith Robot Claw toy. This flat black version was also used as his Doppelganger "[[Timmy]]" in the ''Fire Maidens of Outer Space'' episode. |
[[File:KTMA_Crow.jpg|thumb|Crow during the KTMA era.|left]]During the [[KTMA]] season, he only had one floralier tray, his arms were made from PVC pipe with pipe insulation tied to the tray, and his eyes were glued to an entire Schwartz Bros. soap dish, which didn't include a separate eye movement mechanism, leaving them with a bulgier appearance. He is painted with Testors Gold Metalflake paint, which looks basically gold, and highlighted with flat black spray paint. in the KTMA season he is painted with cheap gold paint. Another version of Crow is used for the theater segments. This version is painted flat black and instead of Italian fanny pinchers for hands, he has claw parts from a Toysmith Robot Claw toy. This flat black version was also used as his Doppelganger "[[Timmy]]" in the ''Fire Maidens of Outer Space'' episode. |
||
| − | ===Appearance=== |
||
His appearance slightly changed over the series. In between the Comedy Central and Sci-Fi Channel episodes, his beak was a shorter "crown" style Empire Bowling pin (As Joel observed in ''[[MST3K 1001 - Soultaker|Soultaker]]'' "You changed your bowling pin"), he became noticeably smaller and his eyes went from light pastel yellow to a luminescent neon yellow. Crow also has seldom-seen legs made from swing-arm type desk lamps and Toysmith robot claws or 1/2 inch 45 degree and elbow 1/2" <span>CPVC </span>couplings. |
His appearance slightly changed over the series. In between the Comedy Central and Sci-Fi Channel episodes, his beak was a shorter "crown" style Empire Bowling pin (As Joel observed in ''[[MST3K 1001 - Soultaker|Soultaker]]'' "You changed your bowling pin"), he became noticeably smaller and his eyes went from light pastel yellow to a luminescent neon yellow. Crow also has seldom-seen legs made from swing-arm type desk lamps and Toysmith robot claws or 1/2 inch 45 degree and elbow 1/2" <span>CPVC </span>couplings. |
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| Line 95: | Line 94: | ||
Upon Trace's departure, Bill Corbett took over Crow's operation and thus his voice became rougher, though Corbett's voice began to settle in and became more natural in episode 804, ''[[MST3K 804 - The Deadly Mantis|The Deadly Mantis]]''. The in-story explanation for Crow's voice change is that it developed during his 500+ years of solitude on the Satellite of Love while Mike and the other SOL inhabitants played at the edge of the universe as pure essences. Joel wryly noted when he dropped in during ''[[MST3K 1001 - Soultaker|Soultaker]]'' that Crow had "changed his bowling pin," thus altering his voice. The show's writers later made a joke of the change in episode 904, ''[[MST3K 904 - Werewolf|Werewolf]]'', by suggesting that Crow's inherent characteristics included a change of voice every seven years. |
Upon Trace's departure, Bill Corbett took over Crow's operation and thus his voice became rougher, though Corbett's voice began to settle in and became more natural in episode 804, ''[[MST3K 804 - The Deadly Mantis|The Deadly Mantis]]''. The in-story explanation for Crow's voice change is that it developed during his 500+ years of solitude on the Satellite of Love while Mike and the other SOL inhabitants played at the edge of the universe as pure essences. Joel wryly noted when he dropped in during ''[[MST3K 1001 - Soultaker|Soultaker]]'' that Crow had "changed his bowling pin," thus altering his voice. The show's writers later made a joke of the change in episode 904, ''[[MST3K 904 - Werewolf|Werewolf]]'', by suggesting that Crow's inherent characteristics included a change of voice every seven years. |
||
| − | Another noticeable difference between the two performances is that Trace's Crow is more animated, often "interacting" with the film (such as listening to train tracks in ''[[Radar Secret Service#The Short|Last Clear Chance]]'' or eating chicken feed in ''[[The Brute Man#The Short|The Chicken of Tomorrow]]''), and almost always leaning forward to look at something, moving his mouth or eyes slightly, and turning his head slightly. Corbett attributes this to Trace being a more skilled puppeteer, and on some occasions has jokingly justified the change by claiming Crow had a stroke some time during his isolation. |
+ | Another noticeable difference between the two performances is that Trace's Crow is more animated, often "interacting" with the film (such as listening to train tracks in ''[[MST3K 520 - Radar Secret Service#The Short|Last Clear Chance]]'' or eating chicken feed in ''[[MST3K 702 - The Brute Man#The Short|The Chicken of Tomorrow]]''), and almost always leaning forward to look at something, moving his mouth or eyes slightly, and turning his head slightly. Corbett attributes this to Trace being a more skilled puppeteer, and on some occasions has jokingly justified the change by claiming Crow had a stroke some time during his isolation. |
| − | Beaulieu returned to voice Crow in a special feature on the DVD for ''[[The Giant Gila Monster]]'' and in a cameo along with Joel on Season 4 of Netflix's ''Arrested Development''. |
+ | Beaulieu returned to voice Crow in a special feature on the DVD for ''[[MST3K 402 - The Giant Gila Monster|The Giant Gila Monster]]'' and in a cameo along with Joel on Season 4 of Netflix's ''Arrested Development''. |
For the web cartoon series "[[The 'Bots Are Back]]", Crow is voiced by ''MST3K'' writer [[Paul Chaplin]]. |
For the web cartoon series "[[The 'Bots Are Back]]", Crow is voiced by ''MST3K'' writer [[Paul Chaplin]]. |
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Crow made a brief cameo (along with Tom Servo) at the end of the online [[Turkey Day '13|Turkey Day '13 Marathon]], joining Joel at the dinner table. Neither of them were shown speaking and the puppeteers are unknown. |
Crow made a brief cameo (along with Tom Servo) at the end of the online [[Turkey Day '13|Turkey Day '13 Marathon]], joining Joel at the dinner table. Neither of them were shown speaking and the puppeteers are unknown. |
||
| ⚫ | |||
During the [[Turkey Day '14]] online show, Trace returned once again as the voice of Crow alongside [[Josh Weinstein]] as the voice of Tom Servo. Crow commented on the change, claiming to "miss my [[Bill Corbett|other voice...]]". During these segments, the Crow puppet was operated by puppeteer [[Grant Baciocco]]. Trace and Baciocco also performed Crow for the concurrently released ''[[Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Turkey Day Collection]]'' DVD set. |
During the [[Turkey Day '14]] online show, Trace returned once again as the voice of Crow alongside [[Josh Weinstein]] as the voice of Tom Servo. Crow commented on the change, claiming to "miss my [[Bill Corbett|other voice...]]". During these segments, the Crow puppet was operated by puppeteer [[Grant Baciocco]]. Trace and Baciocco also performed Crow for the concurrently released ''[[Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Turkey Day Collection]]'' DVD set. |
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Many first-time viewers of the series are confused by Crow's appearance during the movie segments. Only the outline of his head can be seen, and (due to [[Wikipedia:multistable perception|multistable perception]]) it can appear as if Crow is facing ''toward'' the viewer. Best Brains have compared this to a Necker Cube. |
Many first-time viewers of the series are confused by Crow's appearance during the movie segments. Only the outline of his head can be seen, and (due to [[Wikipedia:multistable perception|multistable perception]]) it can appear as if Crow is facing ''toward'' the viewer. Best Brains have compared this to a Necker Cube. |
||
| + | |||
== Popular Culture == |
== Popular Culture == |
||
*A silhouette of a robot resembling Crow also appeared in the ''[[Wikipedia:Futurama|Futurama]]'' episode "[[Wikipedia:Raging Bender|Raging Bender]]" . The robot was in the audience of a movie theater alongside a robot that resembled Tom, shushing Fry and ironically telling him that it's not polite to talk while a movie is playing. |
*A silhouette of a robot resembling Crow also appeared in the ''[[Wikipedia:Futurama|Futurama]]'' episode "[[Wikipedia:Raging Bender|Raging Bender]]" . The robot was in the audience of a movie theater alongside a robot that resembled Tom, shushing Fry and ironically telling him that it's not polite to talk while a movie is playing. |
||
| + | ==Gallery== |
||
| − | |||
| + | The evolution of the Crow T. Robot puppet. |
||
| ⚫ | |||
| + | <gallery> |
||
| + | KTMA Crow.jpg|<center>[[Season K]]<br />1988 |
||
| + | crowtubes.jpg |
||
| + | crow88.jpg |
||
| + | Crow89.jpg|<center>[[Season 1]]<br />1989-1990 |
||
| + | Crow91.jpg|<center>[[Season 3]]<br />1991-1992 |
||
| + | Crow92.png|<center>[[Season 5]]<br />1992-1993 |
||
| + | Crow93.png|<center>[[Season 6]]<br />1993-1995 |
||
| + | Moviecrow.jpg|<center>''[[Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie|MST3K: The Movie]]''<br />1996 |
||
| + | Crowsolo.jpg|<center>[[Season 8]]<br />1997-1999 |
||
| + | Crow17.jpg|<center>[[Season 11]]<br />2016-present |
||
| + | </gallery> |
||
== References == |
== References == |
||
Revision as of 22:58, 23 September 2020
Crow T. Robot is one of two robotic co-hosts built by Joel Robinson to help him stave off insanity while forced to watch terrible films by the Mads on Mystery Science Theater 3000. He is the most easy-going and naïve of Joel's robot companions, yet somehow, during the movies, he's always the one to deliver the most sarcastic remarks. Crow's middle initial stands for "The", making his full name "Crow The Robot."
Overview
According to the MST3K storyline, Crow, like his fellow robots Tom Servo, Gypsy, and Cambot, was built by Gizmonic Institute janitor Joel Robinson, who created them to help him withstand the torment of watching bad movies on the Satellite of Love, where Joel was trapped by mad scientist Dr. Clayton Forrester and his assistants. Crow's frame is made of advanced materials such as molybdenum[1] (which is used for armor and aircraft parts; something that would have been found on a ship made by Gizmonics), and high-density Kevlar. On occasions when he has to wear formal attire (such as Joel's attempt at having a family photo), Crow has been known to have his net on backwards and upside down, to give the impression of slicked-back hair; he also occasionally does this when donning some sort of head-gear, such as a helmet.
Originally, Crow was more adolescent than Tom Servo, although their relative maturity occasionally changed to suit the host segments; both robots regarded Joel as a father figure, while Mike was more of an older brother type. Crow was often depicted as an unathletic nerd, epitomized by his putting himself in a double jock lock. After Crow's original voice actor and puppeteer Trace Beaulieu left, the Crow voiced and manipulated by Bill Corbett underwent a personality change. Corbett's Crow was noticeably more irritable, bitter, and impatient with the movies than Beaulieu's Crow had been. This was explained in the show as a result of being left on the SOL for several hundred years while the rest of the crew became pure energy, although this was admittedly Crow's own fault for returning to the SOL so soon after getting bored at the edge of the universe.
Personality
Crow during the SciFi Era
Though masculine in programming, Crow was described in the KTMA episode Hanger 18 as being a "hermaphrobot" which was really an elaborate joke by Joel.[2]
Crow is easy-going, but snarky, quick-witted and opinionated. He often delivers the most sarcastic remarks and is the most frequent quipper on the show.
Crow describes himself as using cyber-based bubble memory, working off UNIX and could use a variety of operating systems, underwent a complex personal evolution wherein painful confusion had given way to what he liked to think of as some degree of wisdom culminating in his current Zarasthustrian sense of self, often panics when making sandwiches, smells conspiracy in everything and doesn't know what he means most of the time.[3]
At the end of Master Ninja II, Crow named Kafka's The Castle as his favorite movie, but it is unclear if he meant the 1964 Danish version or the 1968 West German version. This confuses Tom, who had thought that Crow's favorite movie was Zardoz. Crow also expressed fondness for the film Willow.
Crow's accomplishments during the show's run include writing several screenplays, including Earth vs. Soup (his seminal work), Peter Graves at the University of Minnesota, The Spy Who Hugged Me, Chocolate Jones and the Temple of Funk, and World War Space. He also wrote a teleplay inspired by Crash of Moons, and a satirical political stage musical revue called Supercalafragalisticexpiala-wacky!. During the Sci-Fi years, his interests turned towards making documentaries. Among his output on this front were Crow T. Robot's Bram Stoker's The Civil War (the bulk of which consisted of credits) and Let's Talk Women (which presented the gentler sex as akin to a mysterious and elusive cryptid).
Crow holds the distinction of being the only Bot who ever visited Deep 13 (although Tom Servo and Gypsy once visited the alternate-earth version). In Kitten with a Whip, he slid down the Umbilicus in an attempt to bring the SOL back to Earth, but he retreated back up to the satellite after being caught by Dr. Forrester, who then had Frank put a giant mousetrap beneath the Umbilicus—only to accidentally set off the trap on himself. In the "Turkey Day" version of Night of the Blood Beast, Crow also visited when attending the Forrester Thanksgiving dinner alongside such guests as Mr. B. Natural, Pitch the Devil, and others. A second Crow may still be living in Wisconsin working at a cheese factory, due to a time paradox created during the Time Chasers experiment.
During Fire Maidens of Outer Space, Crow acquired a double named "Timmy", whom the trio quickly took a liking to; however, the double began playing tricks on Tom Servo and Joel, who blamed Crow for the actions. He eventually joined them in the theater during the movie and attacked Tom, cocooning him in a matter identical to the xenomorph from Alien, forcing Joel and Crow to stuff him into an airlock and blast him out of the ship and into space. Timmy's appearance was a parody of the evil twin concept. In reality, Timmy is the black-painted Crow used for the Shadowrama during the Theater segments.
Crow doesn't fall hard in love the same way that Tom Servo does, but he has developed crushes every now and then. In the Season 4 episode City Limits, he becomes attracted to Kim Cattrall. He later became infatuated with Estelle Winwood during the episode The Magic Sword. He was also enamored of the cigarette-smoking Mrs. Hargrove in The Deadly Bees. It has also been implied that Crow may to be attracted to Servo, having dreamed of a salacious Servo in a nurse's outfit in Bride of the Monster. In Racket Girls, Crow is inspired by the short Are You Ready for Marriage? to ask Mike for Tom Servo's hand in marriage. During the wedding ceremony, everyone starts wrestling, prompting them all to forget the whole affair.
Crow is somewhat prone to injury, as he gets blown up, attacked, set on fire, or falls from great heights quite often during the series' host segments. He has also suffered bouts of vertigo, as he experienced nausea and dizziness from the unusual layout of the credits for Warrior of the Lost World and Beginning of the End.
Running Gags
Crow's name also lent itself to a number of host segment punchlines. In the aforementioned Hangar 18, one of the early KTMA episodes, Joel performs maintenance on Crow's RAM chips, and shows what he claims is Crow's first memory. In this "flashback" scene, Joel explains that Crow's name is an acronym for "Cybernetic Remotely Operated Woman". Back in the present, Crow is shocked to discover that he's a woman, and instantly starts worrying about the dishes and watching Thirtysomething. Joel chuckles and explains, "Take it easy, Crow. It's all just a real elaborate joke... I basically invented you to put that memory in and pull that joke you." Crow calms down: "So my life has been one big setup for a punchline? Boy, I feel like Morey Amsterdam."
Crow is also sometimes called "Art," primarily by late-series antagonist Pearl Forrester. This arose from a gag in Jungle Goddess, in which Joel introduces the bots as Jackie Gleason did with his fellow cast members at the end of every episode of The Honeymooners, calling each one out individually to take a bow. During this, Joel refers to Crow as "Art Crow!", a reference to the enthusiastic way that Gleason would introduce his long-time partner Art Carney. Later, Best Brains received a letter from a child named Shanon who had evidently missed the cultural reference and labeled a drawing of Crow as "Art". The letter was read in The Giant Gila Monster, and the writers were so taken with it that it became a recurring joke.[4] In The Touch of Satan, "babysitter" Steffi calls him "Cow". And the joke has outlived MST3K itself: Trace Beaulieu was part of the Paul Feig-created comedy Other Space, which premiered in 2015, voicing a robot named Art opposite Joel Hodgson.
Crow is the most likely of the four movie-riffers to make off-color, cruel or lewd comments during the film, and receives frequent scoldings from Joel, Mike, and occasionally Tom because of this habit (see Crow Syndrome). In earlier seasons, Joel will sometimes get frustrated and tear off and fling away Crow's arms during the theater or one of the host segments, much to Crow's annoyance.
During the Sci-Fi Channel years, another running gag was established that involved Crow falling from great heights.
Behind the Scenes
Construction
Crow is a gold-colored puppet composed of, among other things, a split bowling pin mouth (an Empire Plastics Toy "e" style Bowling Pin), a hockey face guard "net" (Cooper XL7 FG),
A vacu-formed Soap dish for an eye-socket (Schwartz Bros), Ping-Pong ball eyes painted Krylon Fluorescent Yellow,
a Tuppercraft (Floralier) body with black 4-inch drainage tubing glued between the two trays, arms
made from two incredibly rare Wallace Leisure Products "Alpha" or "Genie" fluorescent swing-arm type desk lamps with foam pipe insulation around the outer-parts of the lamp arm, and Italian Fanny Pinchers for hands.
Crow during the KTMA era.
During the KTMA season, he only had one floralier tray, his arms were made from PVC pipe with pipe insulation tied to the tray, and his eyes were glued to an entire Schwartz Bros. soap dish, which didn't include a separate eye movement mechanism, leaving them with a bulgier appearance. He is painted with Testors Gold Metalflake paint, which looks basically gold, and highlighted with flat black spray paint. in the KTMA season he is painted with cheap gold paint. Another version of Crow is used for the theater segments. This version is painted flat black and instead of Italian fanny pinchers for hands, he has claw parts from a Toysmith Robot Claw toy. This flat black version was also used as his Doppelganger "Timmy" in the Fire Maidens of Outer Space episode.
His appearance slightly changed over the series. In between the Comedy Central and Sci-Fi Channel episodes, his beak was a shorter "crown" style Empire Bowling pin (As Joel observed in Soultaker "You changed your bowling pin"), he became noticeably smaller and his eyes went from light pastel yellow to a luminescent neon yellow. Crow also has seldom-seen legs made from swing-arm type desk lamps and Toysmith robot claws or 1/2 inch 45 degree and elbow 1/2" CPVC couplings.
Crow's revealed knees
Crow's revealed waist
Crow's revealed feet
For Season 11, Crow's limbs and hands were changed. The arms and legs are now made from two desk lamps per limb while the hands are scaled up versions of the old ones. With the arms now utilizing control rods, Crow's arms are now articulated at the shoulders, elbow, and hands.
During shots of Crow where the legs are seen, they now use two desk lamps per leg, with the feet being filled in and scaled up versions of the hands. Crow now has a larger waist, being made from a cut floralier piece with tubing on top of it, attaching to the bottom of the lower floralier. The legs now also have knee caps cut from bowling pins.
For the Cheesy Movie Circus Tour, Crow's lower body was altered further. He could now freely move around the stage (which he did via unicycle and pogo stick) due to the bunraku style of puppetry. He was shown to have three prominent toes. During a scene in which Crow performed as a weight-lifter, his lower legs were a string of balls. A new ball-spring joint mechanism was built into his neck to allow him to look up and down.
Performers
Bots' voice chart as seen during Turkey Day '14
Trace Beaulieu operated Crow in the initial KTMA pilot and throughout most of the KTMA season. He continued in the role during the entirety of the Comedy Channel/Comedy Central years as well as in Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie. During KTMA and season 1, Trace slowly refined Crow's voice. Originally, it was somewhat babyish, but by season two, Crow's voice had become more sharp.
Josh Weinstein was called upon to voice Crow in several KTMA episodes, usually due to Trace's unavailability. These include the premiere episode and K05, Gamera.
Upon Trace's departure, Bill Corbett took over Crow's operation and thus his voice became rougher, though Corbett's voice began to settle in and became more natural in episode 804, The Deadly Mantis. The in-story explanation for Crow's voice change is that it developed during his 500+ years of solitude on the Satellite of Love while Mike and the other SOL inhabitants played at the edge of the universe as pure essences. Joel wryly noted when he dropped in during Soultaker that Crow had "changed his bowling pin," thus altering his voice. The show's writers later made a joke of the change in episode 904, Werewolf, by suggesting that Crow's inherent characteristics included a change of voice every seven years.
Another noticeable difference between the two performances is that Trace's Crow is more animated, often "interacting" with the film (such as listening to train tracks in Last Clear Chance or eating chicken feed in The Chicken of Tomorrow), and almost always leaning forward to look at something, moving his mouth or eyes slightly, and turning his head slightly. Corbett attributes this to Trace being a more skilled puppeteer, and on some occasions has jokingly justified the change by claiming Crow had a stroke some time during his isolation.
Beaulieu returned to voice Crow in a special feature on the DVD for The Giant Gila Monster and in a cameo along with Joel on Season 4 of Netflix's Arrested Development.
For the web cartoon series "The 'Bots Are Back", Crow is voiced by MST3K writer Paul Chaplin.
Crow made a brief cameo (along with Tom Servo) at the end of the online Turkey Day '13 Marathon, joining Joel at the dinner table. Neither of them were shown speaking and the puppeteers are unknown.
During the Turkey Day '14 online show, Trace returned once again as the voice of Crow alongside Josh Weinstein as the voice of Tom Servo. Crow commented on the change, claiming to "miss my other voice...". During these segments, the Crow puppet was operated by puppeteer Grant Baciocco. Trace and Baciocco also performed Crow for the concurrently released Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Turkey Day Collection DVD set.
The new voice of Crow for the MST3K revival was Hampton Yount, who first provided Crow's voice for the Bring Back MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000 Kickstarter campaign. Baciocco continued to serve as Crow's puppeteer, and Yount operated Crow's mouth with additional/back-up operation by Carla Rudy. Yount voiced and operated Crow during the Watch Out for Snakes live tour.
For the 2018 Anniversary tour, Crow was performed entirely by Grant Baciocco. [5]
After the announcement that no new episodes would be produced for Netflix, it was not clear what involvement Yount and/or Baciocco would have in any future projects.
It was originally announced that Nate Begle would perform Crow for the first half of the Mystery Science Theater 3000 Live - The Great Cheesy Movie Circus Tour with Baciocco taking over for the second half, but it was later announced that Begle would stay on throughout the length of the tour. Begle also performed Crow in segments recorded during the tour for Turkey Day '19.
Begle continued to perform as Crow in promos for Pluto TV, and it was announced that he would operate and voice Crow for the 2020 Live Riff-Along streaming event.
Optical Illusion
Many first-time viewers of the series are confused by Crow's appearance during the movie segments. Only the outline of his head can be seen, and (due to multistable perception) it can appear as if Crow is facing toward the viewer. Best Brains have compared this to a Necker Cube.
Popular Culture
- A silhouette of a robot resembling Crow also appeared in the Futurama episode "Raging Bender" . The robot was in the audience of a movie theater alongside a robot that resembled Tom, shushing Fry and ironically telling him that it's not polite to talk while a movie is playing.
Gallery
The evolution of the Crow T. Robot puppet.
1988
1989-1990
1991-1992
1992-1993
1993-1995
1996
1997-1999
2016-present
References
- MST3K FAQ: What is this MST3K Thing, Anyway?
- MST3K FAQ: "This is my Bot! There Are Many Others Like It..."