Joel Hodgson and Josh Weinstein (in his first-ever convention appearance) were the surprise guests at Gallifrey 2008, a convention dedicated to “Doctor Who,” and to a lesser extent other sci-fi, in Los Angeles last weekend.
“We had hoped to make a big announcement but we were unable to confirm it by press time, so we had to make it a big surprise,” says Shaun Lyon, one of the organizers.
“The panel they both participated on was a ’20th anniversary MST3K panel’, which was packed to capacity. Both then signed autographs in the dealers room and sold copies of ‘Cinematic Titanic.’ They wanted to show it, too, but sadly we were so full on programming we just didn’t have the room for it!”
Was anybody at the panel? Share!
Update: Scott Armstrong, the moderator of the panel and the person responsible for bringing Joel and Josh to Gallifrey, gives us the following report:
They spoke for about 50 minutes. The entire panel was a Q&A with the standing room only crowd.
No real surprises at the panel.. They talked about how MST was started, Josh mentioned why he left (he said it was a conflict with Jim Mallon), Joel went on about Manos. They were really enthusiastic talking with the fans, even though Josh injured his ankle in Minnesota earlier in the week, and he was walking with a cane. They promoted Cinematic Titanic, and mentioned that they may do some shorts in future releases. They are going into the studio to record the next 2 episodes.
Scott also sent us the following pictures. Click on them for larger versions.
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So, Joel’s left-handed.
So Mallon drove out Joel AND Josh? What a guy. Real charmer.
I’m one of the people who enjoyed both Joel and Mike eras & think Murphy’s is the definitive Tom Servo (sorry Josh). So even when someone as big as Joel left, it carried on well. But the guy managed to drive away some of the creative lynch-pins of the show!
It would be great for the 3 current factions to do a MST3K project together in the future, hopefully his prescience isn’t cock-blocking it!
I love that pic of Josh with a cane. Reminds me of Hugh Laurie on “House”!
Jeez Joel, would it kill ya to smile every once in a while?
Yeah it sucks. Remember the “Million Dollar Sight Gag” article? Even though it kept them together for a while longer, not even business therapy could save the relationship. Though I’ve always been one to believe MST3K might not have survived so long were it not for Jim. And possibly not even existed in the first place. As we know it anyways. Not taking a side or anything because I wasnt there, but I always figured it was a mutual decision all around about Josh. Something about his maturity about the “situation”. But again. I wasnt there so…
Water under the bridge anyways. And for those who never read the article I was refering to…
http://mst3k.booyaka.com/articles/mst-joel/4_91.html
Hmm…where did they get the bots from? As far as I know you kinda have to make them yourself and they don’t make all the parts anymore…don’t you?
Dusty
Why cant there be a panel in San Francisco
Id love to meet them
All I get is the Sketchfest with Mike, Tom and Bill, and they appear at the worst time for me be it a worknight or a financial burden
Dusty,
Those are Scott Armstrong’s bots. You’re right that many of the parts are no longer being produced, but there are several places online where you can find replicas.
I don’t like it when people bring up the issue that if it weren’t for Jim Mallon, MST3K wouldn’t have existed. It’s still no excuse for the way he treated the cast (him putting Mike, and co’s personal items on EBay is a huge low).
It’s like when a parent is disrespectful to their children and claims, “I brought you into this world, and I can mistreat you if I want.” It just doesn’t work that way.
Actually, I was thinking that Joel looks like he’s about to hurl in that bottom left handed corner picture.
But as for Joel not smiling? Joel would say “It’s ‘my way’.”
Trust me, Joel smiled alot over the course of the visit to the show. Four photos from a 3 hour apperance is not a way to judge.
They handled the signing as seasoned pros, Joel made a point to shake every ones hand in the autograph line, find out their name, and spend time talking to all of them. And Josh was just as cordial. It was a pleasure to work with them, and I hope to do so again in the future (and giving more notice to fans).
As a convention promoter, I have worked with hundreds of celebrities, and I would rank Joel & Josh right at the top.
I thought Josh left because of his age of 18 years and Joel left because he was tired of the show. Interesting. There’s usually some personel issues with a show that ran this long.
Brandon, nobody hardly ever brings up anything good about Jim Mallon at all. He’s usually brought up to bag on. Which is understandable in many cases but it’s easy for some people to forget all the cool things he’s done for us over the years. Like sure, on the one hand it sucks that Mike and other Brains had their stuff sold on Ebay. But on the other hand, I got the Diabolik Film Cannister prop out of it. ;)
I dont think anyone has ever said that his hand in the show’s creation gives him a pass to be an ass, and I certainly didnt. I just dont think he deserves to be considered the mortal enemy of MSTies as some have deemed him lately.
I’ve always wondered if Jim sold all the stuff on e-bay because he needed the money. I remember hearing that his wife passed away while the show was still in production and that he became a single Dad. A thing like that can change a person for the worse personality wise, too.
I wasn’t trying to torpedo the guy, as I don’t even know him. Plus, I have respect for ANYONE that had something to do with the show. As, after all, I am a MSTie.
I kind of posted that because I don’t know any of the “dirt” that other people do and it seems to be a re-occurring theme I keep hearing since the show went flat-line.
Thanks for the link to the article. This makes me think that there needs to be (another) book written.
I’m just holding out for a “We’re getting the band back together” moment and hope the he wouldn’t disrupt that.
{I’m just holding out for a “We’re getting the band back together” moment and hope the he wouldn’t disrupt that.}
Somehow I think it’s way too late for that..
Nooooo, please tell me Joel isn’t getting gray! It must be the lighting!!
Shoot! I could have gone to this con had I known they were going to be there!
…but what do they think of Doctor Who??
Joel mentioned that he watched Tom Baker, and they based the filming qualities of MST on Doctor Who, not bad, not great.. right in the middle..
When he got there, he did ask who was there and asked me where they fell in with Tom Baker.
Also, he was asked how the idea came up for the door countdown before the movie, he said it was based on the “Mickey Mouse Club.” They used to open a safe and get the cartoon for the episode.. Saying that the artoons were out, just had to be found. Hence the last door looking like a safe door.
“So Mallon drove out Joel AND Josh? What a guy. Real charmer.”
I continue to read this as Jim Mallon actually driving Joel and Josh to the convention.
I always wondered if the Robot Roll Call was also a spoof of Mickey Mouse Show.
No surprise about Mallon. It does seem though that in the 9 years since the show’s end some of the crew have gradually opened up about it more. First big example I can think of is the Onion interview where Joel revealed his main reason for leaving wasn’t because he wanted to stretch his legs creatively as he originally said, but because “I was fighting with my producer” and he wanted the show to keep going if that conflict would have hindered it. It’s a shame Jim apparently blocked Joel from his apparent original intention for CT (basing this off something a fan from another forum said they heard right from Frank after one of his shows some months ago) which was an MST3K revival. And who knows if they would have just used the silhouettes? It still would’ve been great for the fans and better than the flash site (gies without saying of course). I feel for Joel, not being able to use his own characters anymore. I am currently working on a story of my own and I’d go nuts if someone else got the rights to my characters. Makes me wonder why he couldn’t have retained the trademarks somehow even though he was leaving.
Great news about them being open to shorts (they could get Josh Way to help them, ha ha, seriously though his youtube his “Fun With Shorts, he is an excellent riffer) and hope those 2 new eps are released sooner than later.
There was one moment in the panel when Joel got a cut on his hand. He asked if anyone had a band-aid. A young woman stood up and said she did. She walked up to the table with the band aid and said “I’ll put it on you.” Joel chuckled and said “No, no. I can do it.” He took the band aid and took a deep breath and said (more or less) “You Doctor Who fans are wild.” After a bit of a pause, he said, calmly, “Doctor Who fans love to party.” The group cheered.
God bless ’em. I’ve been a Doctor Who fan longer than I can remember and I had no idea we thought of ourselves as party-folk. I sure don’t. We are getting better looking with each passing year, though.
It was funny.. he came in with the cut on his hand.. I gave him 2 band aids, and he happened to lose the second one.. that girl was so sweet to give it to him..
How much would a bloody band aid worn by Joel go for on ebay? Just wondering….
*giggles in cupped hands*