My wife and I were catching up with an old Kevin Kline film (“Soapdish”) and it struck me how his mannerisms and energy was similar to Dr. F. It got me thinking: what if they were to cast MST3K with A-List comedic celebrities in the familiar roles? Okay, I guess it is debatable if Kevin Kline is A-List anymore…
Here’s my list:
Joel – James Franco – he already has the sleep eyed thing down pat
Mike – Seth Rogen – “a regular joe” like Mike, and of the same school as Franco, so the transition would be smooth
Crow – voiced by Patton Oswalt – already a good voice actor
Tom – voiced by Jonah Ray – great timing and vocal qualities (from the Nerdist Podcast)
Gypsy – voiced by Kristen Wiig – for the heck of it
Dr Forrester – Kevin Kline – he can do both big and subtle very well
Dr Erhardt – Jay Baruchel – a youngish actor to go well with Josh’s original age
TV’s Frank – Bobby Moynihan – the SNL actor can easily replicate Frank’s oddball sensibilities, while also bringing his own thing
Pearl – Melissa McCarthy – I mean, duh, right?
Bobo – Steve Carrel – Carrel can deliver dimwitted earnestness like no other!
Brain Guy – Jim Parsons – Had to have at least one bit of typecasting in here
Who would YOU choose? For the purpose of this, money is no object.
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Joel – H Jon Benjamin (voice actor Bob’s Burgers, Arche)
Mike – Paul Rudd
Dr. Forrester – Hugh Laurie
Dr. Erhardt – Simon Helberg (Big Bang Theory)
TV’s Frank – Zach Galifianakis
Crow – Chris Hardwick (Nerdist, At Midnight)
Servo – F. Paul Tompkins (comedian)
Magic Voice – Elizabeth Banks
Gypsy – Kristen Schaal (Bob’s Burgers, Gravity Falls, Flight of Conchords)
Pearl – Melissa McCarthy (maybye SNL’s Aidy Bryant)
Prof. Bobo – John Oliver
Brain Guy – Paul Scheer (The League, NSTF: SUVSD.)
Actually, I’d prefer they use all new faces.
Even when they’re not specifically typecast, well-known comedians and actors build up an aura of expectations based on their past work. One of the most refreshing things about the original series is that it was almost completely clear of that.
I agree, new/lesser known faces… I just imagine that it would become something for a well known cast to have for holiday, instead of working hard to prove themselves like the brains had to do first time around
Personally, I’d go with the original actors, bound to forever riff movies by some sort of fel power.
Barring dark magic, though, I would prefer to see it be a launching pad for fresh talent rather than established actors.
Host – Myself
Crow – Jon Wurster
Servo – John Goodperson
Gypsy – an actual woman (preferably one whose name starts with the letter J)
Mad Scientist – Abe Vigoda (wait what)
Mad Scientist’s hilarious sidekick – YOU the viewer (????)
Joel Robinson – Joel Hodgson
Mike Nelson – Michael J. Nelson
Dr. Forrester – Trace Beaulieu
Dr. Erhardt – J. Elvis Weinstein
TV’s Frank – Frank Conniff
Crow – Trace Beaulieu with the occasional bit of Bill Corbett
Servo – Kevin Murphy
Magic Voice – Beth “Beez” McKeever
Gypsy – Jim Mallon (if he’s up to it) or Patrick Bransteg
Pearl – Mary Jo Pehl
Prof. Bobo – Kevin Murphy
Brain Guy – Bill Corbett
Just as nature intended, thank you very much.
Great topic! And who doesn’t love the phrase “money is no object”? Can the phrase “dead or alive” also be considered? If so, here are my hodgepodge choices:
Joel – Buster Keaton
Mike – Ryan Gosling
Dr. Forrester – Jack Nicholson
Dr. Erhardt – Jonah Hill
TV’s Frank – Philip Seymour Hoffman
Gypsy — ME, ME! I wanna be Gypsy and be happy in my work!!
Crow – Peter Dinklage
Servo – Robert Downey, Jr.
Magic Voice – Aretha Franklin (give it some sass)
Pearl – Carol Burnett
Prof. Bobo – Red Skelton
Brain Guy – Bela Lugosi
Host: Tom Wilson (The actor, not the cartoonist. He sprang to my mind as being capable, so why not?)
Crow: Jerry Seinfeld (Originally thought he’d be a good host, but his voice is in that range where I think he might be better used as Crow.)
Servo: Dave Gruber Allen (A realistic possibility, and he has that radio DJ voice down.)
Mad Scientist: Dave Gruber Allen (Continuing the trend of puppeteers also playing mads, I think he’d also make a good mad.)
Assistant Mad: Wayne Knight (Again, seems capable, so why not?)
Ok, I feel bad about not embracing the question as is, so here’s a few hypotheticals:
-Nice guy host: Tom Hanks
-Voicing our beautifully rendered, Weta CGI bots are:
Crow: Billy West
Servo: John DiMaggio
Magic Voice (AI bot?): Disembaudio
Gypsy: Rosanne Barr
-gonna get weird with the Mads:
2 henchmen, Weird Al Yankovic and Chris O’Dowd
Finally, master of the experiments, driven mad by bad movie trauma, Joel.
According to a tweet by the guy who wrote the Wired piece:
Brian Raftery ?@BrianRaftery 3h
Oops: The MST3K oral history I linked to earlier this week was NOT the extended edition. That version just went up! http://wrd.cm/1h0bTvQ
Anyone know what was added?
I KNEW that Wired piece was short.
Anyway, it’s got a few extra quotes from the gang. (ex: the KTMA section now has quotes from Jim, Josh and Trace) The original article was mainly Joel with one or two quotes from everyone else. I’m not even halfway through the revised piece, and it definitely reads better now.
a ton of really good ones already.
Joel – Simon Pegg
Bobo – Nick Frost
Dr. F. – Alan Rickman (Snape)
Since the show has a history of moving writers to onscreen talent, what about some of the Rifftrax writers, like Conor Lastowka or Sean Thomason? Or the earlier casts’ kids, like Mike’s sons if they were interested.
Joel – David Puddy
Mike – Jerry Seinfeld
Crow – Frank Costanza
Tom – J. Peterman or Krammer
Gypsy – Elaine
Dr Forrester – Soup Nazi
Dr Erhardt – Newman
TV’s Frank – George Costanza
Pearl – Estelle Costanza
Bobo – Uncle Leo
Brain Guy – Babu
Stephen Colbert—Doctor Forrester (he could also do Prescott
Pharmeceutical commercials)
Samantha Bee—Pearl
Jason Jones or Aasif Mandvi—Professor Bobo
Jon Stewart—Brain Guy
Steve Carrell—Joel Robinson
Larry Wilmore—Dr. Earhart
voice of Gypsy—Jessica Williams
The bots (themselves)—wait, you mean they’re only puppets with
people doing their voices! Well,go for unknowns, I’d say some
Midwestern comedy club types (for improv skills)
#6 has the best answers, really. I’d like to add in my ideas for the format for that cast. Joel AND Mike would be up in the brand new satellite, along with the bots. Castle Forrester has been expanded so Pearl and Clayton and their respective assistants can all work together…or try to, anyhow. Perhaps some movies Mike would riff, some Joel would riff, some they would riff together.
OR…it’s the Mads and their assistants up in the SOL and Joel, Mike & the Bots running the experiments! So Dr F, Dr E and Frank would riff one movie, while Pearl and her boys would riff another. Or all 6 of them in the theater at once for one big cluster*bleep* of a riffing. Just a thought, gang.
hmmm – I’m tempted to go with the gritty reboot that is so popular these days… Tarentino style (except, of course, that QT hates the MST3K format with a passion).
Still, here goes:
Joel/Mike – Denzel Washington
Crow – Antonio Banderas
Servo – Kevin Smith
Gypsy – Dame Edna
The Mads – Malcolm McDowell, Tim Roth, Gary Oldham, and/or Harvey Keitel
Pearl – Angelina Jolie (a la her Maleficent/Grendal’s Mother personas).
Well, they’d have to have Jet Jurgensmeyer…
This would be a fresh opportunity to introduce more women to the lineup. My cast would be:
Joel – Kate Upton
Tom Servo – Kate Upton
Crow – Kate Upton
Gypsy – Kate Upton
Dr. Forrester – Kate Upton
TV’s Frank – Kate Upton
All I can say is Melissa McCarthy is the worst. An awful excuse for a “comedienne”. I avoid anything with her in it like the plague.
Joel: Paul Scheer (How Did This Get Made podcast, NTSF:SD:SUV) Great snarky attitude, funny guy who is very pop-culture savvy.
Crow: Rob Paulsen (Pinky from Pinky and the Brain and Yakko from Animaniacs) Hilarious on his podcast, can do imitations like Trace did.
Servo: John Di Maggio (Bender from Futurama, Jake from Adventuretime) John is a force of nature, and also knows how play a robot!
Gypsy: June Diane Raphael (How Did This Get Made podcast, Ass Backwards) So funny and sweet, has a quirky way of looking at things that reminds me of Gypsy’s innocent nature.
Dr. Forrester: Tress MacNeille (Dot from Animaniacs) Slight change here, making Dr. Forrester a female, but Tress is funny in everything she does. Think ‘Mom’ from Futurama, now that’s a mad scientist character.
TVs Frank: Ty Burrel (Modern Family) Plays a good natured, slightly doofus guy as well as anyone.
Magic Voice: Maurice La Marche (Futurama) Just want to get one of the great voice actors in the show.
Call me old-fashioned, but I don’t want ANYONE to “play” the original MST3K crew – I either want the original crew doing the stuff, or the new people can work at creating their own, NEW, characters.
Anything else is sacrilege.
#21
“Magic Voice: Maurice La Marche (Futurama) Just want to get one of the great voice actors in the show.”
===================================================================
Btw, Futurama voices range from Calculon to Clamps to Luciano Pavarotti’s Head.
Makes you think, don’t it? Now if only Pavarotti would deign to be a guest
singer for the United Servo Academy Men’s Chorus.
This would be a dark comedy version, perhaps.
Joel: Jack Nicholson
Mike: Christopher Walken
Crow: David Strathairn
Tom Servo: Tom Hanks
Gypsy: Oprah Winfrey
Dr. Forrester: Anthony Hopkins
TV’s Frank: Brad Dourif
Pearl Forrester: Louise Fletcher
Brain Guy: Alan Rickman
Bobo: Michael Chiklis
Magic Voice: Morgan Freeman
Cambot: Steven Spielberg
The other thought experiment I did was to cast famous non-actors in the same roles.
Joel: David Letterman
Mike: John McEnroe
Crow: Yo-Yo Ma
Tom Servo: Neil Degrasse Tyson
Gypsy: J.K. Rowling
Dr. Forrester: Vladimir Putin
TV’s Frank: George W. Bush
Pearl Forrester: Hillary Clinton
Brain Guy: Dr. Phil
Bobo: Chris Christie
Magic Voice: Siri
Cambot: Unnamed NSA operative
Going to go for the non-mainstream stand-up comics:
Joel – Donald Glover or Brendon Small (both do comedy and music)
Mike – Brian Posehn
Crow – Patton Oswalt
Servo – H. Jon Benjamin
Gypsy – Maria Bamford
Dr. Forrester – David Cross
TV’s Frank – Zach Galifinakis
Magic Voice – Todd Barry or Steven Wright
I’d also love to see one episode (and only one) done by Tim and Eric. I know, I have very strange taste.
can anybody come up with non jewish people?
Neil Patrick Harris as Mike Nelson.
In Order of Appearance…
Joel Robinson – Will Ferrell
Dr Forrester – Daniel Day Lewis
Dr Erhardt – Robert Downey Jr
Magic Voice – Tilda Swinton
Gypsy – Johnny Depp
Crow – Will Forte
Tom Servo – John C Riley
Brain Guy – Sir Christopher Lee
Michael J Nelson – Michael Fassbender
Mr. B. Natural – Natalie Portman
young Tom Servo – Tom Cruise
Pearl Forrester– Amy Adams
Dr. Bobo – Alfred Molina
Peanut – Christian Bale
Torgo the White – Max Von Sydow
Ortega – Tom Waits
Giant Leech – Sam Worthington
Jack Perkins – Viggo Mortensen
TV’s Frank – John Goodman
@26 Yeah, that Donald Glover. Really, really Jewish.
Go away.
Jim Carrey – Crow
Adam West – Tom Servo
Craig Ferguson – Gypsy
George Clooney – Mike
Jim Gaffigan – Joel
Stephen Hawking – Cambot (w/speech chip upgrade.)
Carrey and West – The Mads
Pearl – Christina Hendricks (Joan from Mad Men)
#26 needs to be removed.
Joel – David Tennant
Mike – Eddie Murphy
Crow – Billy Crystal
Servo – Bill Cosby
?Gypsy – Julia Child
Dr. Forrester – John Goodman
Frank – John Candy
Magic Voice – James Earl Jones
#26’s racism made me wonder, who would make for a funny, more racially-diverse “MST3k?”
Sadly, the only non-white comics I can think of offhand are Donald Glover, Sarah Silverman and the girls from “Broad City,” and they’re already pretty busy. I guess looking for unknown talent would be the best way to go…
I think Doug Benson would be a great new host. He’s very ‘Joel’ like.(easy going, soft spoken, sleepy/stoned persona, etc.)
I agree that James Franco would be a great choice as well. Makes me wonder if the reboot really does happen, if they would go for an actor/comedian, or an unknown.
I’d prefer the original cast, but here’s a fantasy alternative:
Joel — John Fugelsang
Mike — Johnny Depp
Dr. Earhardt — Jason Jones
Dr. Forrester — Stephen Colbert
TV’s Frank — Jon Stewart
(Those last 2 not only work so well together, they could also pull off the characters!)
Crow — Weird Al Yankovik
Servo — Val Kilmer
Gypsy — Niecy Nash
Magic Voice — Rachel Maddow
Pearl — Samantha Bee
Bobo — Thomas Lennon
Brain Guy — James Earl Jones
I got really stuck trying to think of a Servo cuz I’m in a hurry. I’ll probably think of someone better suited as soon as I leave. At least Val is versatile and can sing.
>I got really stuck trying to think of a Servo cuz I’m in a hurry.
Brian Blessed.
Don C.
Thanks ctc, good choice! That made me think of some others, too — Peter Schickele or John Cleese.
How about an all Doctor Who cast?
Joel: David Tennant
Crow: Matt Smith
Servo: Tom Baker
Gypsy: Christopher Eccleston
Dr. F: Sylvester McCoy
Frank: Peter Davison
And introducing Peter Capaldi as Pearl.
# 34 – Doug Benson as Joel is so good I am mad I didn’t think of it! He does have that sleepy, laid back vibe that Joel had.
Or what if the MST reboot had a different guest star each episode? The guest star interacts with the crew, and goes into the theater to riff along with them. That would be a great way to get some funny people involved. Maybe a Lost in Space / Star Trek situation, where the SOL visits a new planet every week, and someone gets beamed up into the ship.
#6 = perfection
@daltysmith (#38)
I have to disagree with one choice. I think Colin Baker would be a better fit for Servo. Tom Baker could fill Mike’s previous role as the week’s Hexfield visitor.
And I guess that leaves Paul McGann as Larry Erhardt. It figures.
Joel – Aaron Paul (Breaking Bad)
Mike – Josh Stewart (The Collector)
Crow – Adam Buckley (A Dose Of Buckley)
Tom Servo – Steven Blum (Voice Actor from Cowboy Bebop)
Dr. Forrester – Kyle MacLachlan (Twin Peaks)
TV’s Frank – Danny DeVito (It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia)
Pearl Forrester – Laura Harring (Mulholland Drive)
Bobo – Dean Norris (Also from Breaking Bad)
Brain Guy – Sean Bean (Lord Of The Rings, already has the English accent)
One of the contests on forrestcrow’s discussion board was to re-cast a reboot. I’ll put what I put for that – very similar to #25’s.
Joel – Demetri Martin
Crow – Brendan Small
Servo – H. Jon Benjamin (watch “Home Movies” everyone! :) )
Gypsy – Maria Bamford
Magic Voice – Ellen DeGeneres
The Mads – Ryan Stiles and Colin Mochrie
MST3K meets Green Acres.
Joel – Oliver Wendell Douglass
Servo – Arnold Ziffel
Crow – Mr. Ziffel
Mike – Eb
Gypsy – Lisa Douglass
Dr. Forrester – Mr. Haney
TV’s Frank – Mr. Kimble
Pearl Forrester – Mrs. Ziffel
Bobo – Alf
Brain Guy – Ralph
Magic Voice – Lisa Douglass (Just the best)
#38 daltysmith
“How about an all Doctor Who cast?”
======================================
Why not all non-Doctor Doctor Who personnel?
Joel: Arthur Darvill (Rory Williams)
Crow: Jenna Coleman (Clara Oswald) (fastest talker around, as for additional reasons…)
Servo: Nicolas Courtney (Brigadier Alistair Gordon Lethbridge-Stewart)
Gypsy: River Song (Alex Kingston, need brains to keep all SoL functions going)
Pearl: Janet Fielding (Teigan Jovanka, for Aussie attitude)
Dr. F: The Black Guardian
Frank: Drax (dropout from the Prydonian Academy with the Doctor, class of ’92)
Brain Guy: John Barrowman (Jack Harkness)
Bobo: Ian Marter (Harry Sullivan)
This is a tough one, but this is how it might shake out…
Since Mike, Kevin, and Bill are still going strong with Rifftrax, I would imagine their participation in a new MST3k would be nonexistent.
That’s why I think the obvious choice for the Bots would be:
Crow: Trace Beaulieu
Servo: Josh Elvis Weinstein
If they both can do it, this would make the most sense and would be a great way to stoke fan interest and confidence in the reboot.
As for the human host to go with our robot pals, well I would agree that a (mostly) unknown actor/comedian would be the best way to go. There have been some good suggestions so far, like Dimitri Martin, Doug Benson, or Paul F. Thompkins, and I could see those guys all working (or not working, actually) in one way or another, but let me throw a couple others out there:
Host:
Todd Barry – his dry, straightforward but slightly skewed sense of humor would play nicely against the more manic Bots
OR
Ron Lynch – of Home Movies and other stuff fame (I agree with #43, watch Home Movies!). Also a little dry, but much more wacky. Would make a good “kids show” host. (Seriously, he’d be great!!)
OR
Kristen Schaal – she would be hilarious riffing movies with the Bots, plus exposing them (the Bots) to a female “roommate” would be interesting and it would get some gender diversity on the show (plus, she’s really really funny).
As for the Mads, well the obvious choice is:
THE RETURN OF DR. CLAYTON FORRESTER AND TV’s FRANK!!
But let’s say we go in a different direction:
Patton Oswalt – Could be a good, crazed, bureaucratic mad scientist type. Dr. Cobblepot, or something like that?
Eugene Mirman – the henchman, in the mold of TV’s Frank, goofy and lighthearted, kinda dumb but a real go-getter.
Dana Gould – Would be a nervous, high-strung sidekick, one that would be capable of going into fits of rage caused by frustration.
Josh Elvis Weinstein – the return of Dr. Earnhardt! He would be the one who oversees the entire project, making sure Oswalt and Co. are performing their experiments correctly (or not) and that [the host] and the Bots are as uncomfortable as possible.
–
-What do you think, sirs?
would be fun to see a version (won’t happen but would be interesting to see) with adult film actors/actresses (with no sex involved). they would watch old adult films and make fun of them (never seen one but i hear there are some bad ones).
I keep seeing Marilyn Manson in a special appearance as Pitch.
It’s freaking me out, man.
@ #43: I love Ryan and Colin as The Mads! That would be some great stuff. You wouldn’t even need a script for them; just let them go and they’ll bring the funny.
@ #47: I’ve had the same idea for about a decade. I’d call it Classic Porn Theater and it would be just the “story” portions of old pornos from the 70s and 80s. You know, just the parts with the pizza guy showing up and batting innuendos back and forth with the lonely housewife. Instead of porn stars, though, my host would be a Jack Perkins type of film historian, discussing the cultural impact and innovations of the films. With all the sex edited out you could probably show two movies in a half-hour episode. Come on, Comedy Central, let’s make it happen!
I’d love to see Mr. Tee take over the Joel/Mike role.
I mean, he’s a perfect fit. They always play themselves, so does he.
And for the robots, I would like to see them voiced by Jim Norton and Gavin McInnes
And then for the Mad Scientists, I think you’d have to go with Dwight Schultz (from the A-Team and Star Trek TNG) and either Dirk Benedict or Carl Weathers.