Jonah J. Heston is the most recent subject of the "Mystery Science Theater 3000" experiment. He was stranded on the Satellite of Love alongside Crow T. Robot, Cambot, Gypsy, and Tom Servo in the service of Kinga Forrester (who, in at least one instance, referred to him as a "big stack of flapjacks").
Gizmonic Institute[]
Jonah was employed by the Gizmonic Institute as a Backjack driver and researcher. Gizmonics supervisor Martha Masters spoke with admiration about Jonah, describing him as being "a natural born gizmo-crat" with an independent streak that "could get him into trouble". Her subordinate Drake agreed, adding that he had heard that Jonah "operates outside the system, but he's effective".
Mystery Science Theater 3000[]
While transporting the largest cache of precious meteors the world had ever known, Jonah responded to a fraudulent distress call that lured him to the dark side of the moon. There, he was captured by Kinga and her minions, who forced him into her experiment.
By the time of his first experiment, he was aware of previous Satellite of Love residents Joel Robinson and Mike Nelson and wears a set of three mission patches on his jumpsuit's left shoulder depicting Nelson, Robinson, and himself. Throughout the course of his first series of experiments, Kinga came to the decision that she wished to marry Jonah as a publicity stunt, culminating in their rather elaborate wedding. However, Max was enamored of Kinga and had become resentful of Jonah. He unleashed Reptilicus Metallicus, who swallowed Jonah.
Jonah had survived, however, and Kinga decided to subject him to "The Gauntlet", six experiments in rapid succession. She also required him to modify the unit in Moon 13 she was using to store the Kingachrome recordings of the experiments. Under cover of this project, Jonah and the Bots managed to build a replica of the Mystery Science Theater where he was able to trap Kinga and Max, leaving them there as he was forced to embark on a tour.
For a while, Jonah was quarantined in Los Angeles. He returned to the Satellite of Love some time after that when Kinga and Max resumed the Experiments from their new base on Moon 1. When Jonah learned that Emily Connor had become trapped in the Simulator of Love, he contacted her via the Jet Screen. Jonah, Emily and the time-displaced Joel Robinson eventually engineered an escape from Kinga using the Time Bag.
Skills and Personality[]
Jonah is shown to be a competent inventor and builder. His Backjack is powered by a percussion drive engine of his own design. He also did modifications to both Gypsy and Tom Servo and built two new robots, M. Waverly and Growler.
Jonah is generally good-natured and amiable. His relationship with the 'bots resembles that of an uncle or step-dad. He is resistant to the idea of being forcibly married to Kinga, but is willing to give their relationship a chance. When leaving Moon 13 to go on his second tour, he meets Dr. Donna St. Phibes. Jonah and Donna appear to be attracted to each other, and he later sends her an acknowledgement while broadcasting from quarantine.
Jonah was cordial to Emily Connor, encouraging her the call him by his first name. He pointed out that the hosts of the show had traditionally not stuck together (as previously depicted by his competition with Joel during the 30th Anniversary Tour).
Appearances[]
- Bring Back MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000
- Season 11
- Season 12
- Mystery Science Theater 3000 Live! - Watch Out for Snakes! Tour
- Mystery Science Theater 3000 Live - 30th Anniversary Tour
- Turkey Day '20
- Turkey Day '21
- Season 13
Behind the Scenes[]
- The name "Jonah Heston" is in keeping with the MST3K tradition of giving the human subject of the experiment the same first name as the actor portraying them, while the last name "Heston" would seem to be inspired by the famous actor Charlton Heston, who starred in several popular science-fiction/adventure films including the original Planet of the Apes, Soylent Green, and The Omega Man - all of which influenced the creation of MST3K.
- Jonah can be seen knitting a red space suit in nearly every episode of Season 11. During the end credits sequence of the season finale, a small figure in a red spacesuit can be seen walking along the Satellite of Love's exterior. This was presumably Jonah.
- The attraction between Jonah and Dr. Donna St. Phibes was apparently inspired by the fact that St. Phibes is played by Deanna Rooney, who is married to Jonah Ray.
- Copies of Jonah's "mission patches" were made available to Kickstarter backers of Season 11.
- When Jonah Ray appears during Turkey Day '20, he is apparently in character as Jonah Heston (though his character's full name was not said). He states that Emily Crenshaw had texted him during the Great Cheesy Movie Circus Tour asking for advice about how to deal with Tom Servo and Crow.