This is an extended Q&A version of my recent phone interview with Trace Beaulieu, one of the original cast members of the cult TV show “Mystery Science Theater 3000.” Joel Hodgson created MST3K back in 1988, so the show is marking its 20th anniversary. The “Mystery Science Theater 3000 20th Anniversary Edition” box set was released this week to commemorate the milestone.
From 1988-96, Beaulieu played the evil scientist Dr. Clayton Forrester, who scheme of world domination involves shooting a hapless guy (first creator Joel Hodgson, later head writer Michael J. Nelson) up into space and forcing him to watch horrible B movies until his spirit is shattered. Beaulieu also operated the puppet and provided the voice for the sardonic robot character Crow T. Robot.
In the interview, Beaulieu not only reminisced about MST3K, he talked about the new riffing project “Cinematic Titanic,” which involves Beaulieu, Hodgson and fellow former MST3K cast members J. Elvis “Josh” Weinstein, Mary Jo Pehl and Frank Conniff.
For those of you who read my expanded Q&A with Hodgson, which was posted Thursday, you might note that Beaulieu seemed more open to the prospect of a “Cinematic Titanic” crossover with RiffTrax, the movie-mocking audio commentaries created by Nelson and former MST3K cast members Kevin Murphy and Bill Corbett.
Q: Where am I calling you at?
A: I am in Minnesota. I am on the Wisconsin-Minnesota border, as a matter of fact.
Q: Is this like your house?
A: This is like my house, yeah. (with amusement in his voice)
Q: It’s like your house or it is your house?
A: It is my house.
Q: Just making sure you weren’t standing on the border with your cell phone on a dare.
A: No. It’s an exact replica of my house in cardboard. So it’s like my house. And you’re in Oklahoma, I’m assuming.
Q: I’m in Oklahoma City, yeah. I’m in a building that’s very much like my office. And I just wanted to talk to you about the 20th anniversary of MST3K, which sounds funny to me. When you started this did you ever imagine that it would become the kind of phenomenon that would warrant a 20th anniversary celebration?
A: You know, really I was surprised we’d make it through the first week. We were doing it in this little crummy TV station, and nobody was getting paid much. It was just fun to do. It was such a lark at the time that (I) never thought that we’d be talking about it now.
Q: So it was just fun to do?
A: Yeah, exactly. You know, it was guys hanging around that liked each other and having fun. It was such a great idea that everybody just kept saying yes to it. And that’s a huge factor in its success, I think, because there’s so many people in the world that are ready to say no. “Oh, you can’t do that.” And had we pitched the idea rather than just made it, I don’t think it would have taken off because it’s a fairly hard concept to explain it to somebody.
Q: I remember the first time somebody had to explain the concept to me, and I believe my comment was like “Why is there a reindeer and a gumball machine watching this weird movie at 2 a.m.?” It was one of those conversations with my friend who became my boyfriend who became my fiancé who is now my husband. He was like, “Oh, that’s “Mystery Science Theater 3000,” and I was like “I have no idea what you just said.”
A: Yeah, exactly. Yeah. (laughing)
Q: What is it about the show, is it the idea that caused it to touch a chord with so many people? Because I thought I was going to have to fist-fight some people over the box set when it arrived in my office. [Yeah, I mean you, my sister and my colleague Matt Price.]
A: Oh, really? You know, at first I said it was a bunch of people having fun together and making a fun thing, and I think that really carried through out into the world, and into your TV set, and out into your living room. Or wherever your TV set might be. I think that spirit of having fun carried through.
And it’s something that everybody has done; everyone has talked back to the television set. We just, we put it on TV.
Q: So you talked back to the TV while on TV?
A: Yeah, but you know, everybody’s done that. You know, the TV common room in a dorm or in the student hall on campus, that’s what people did: They’d watch soap operas and make snarky comments back to ‘em. Except for people who were there just to watch the soap opera, then it was really annoying for them.
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