Q1 (MonsterX):  Kevin Murphy stated in an interview that the Film Crew is going to be doing a commentary track on a movie.  What movie will it be, and will it be in the same style of MST3K? And what can you tell us about the Film Crew book?

A1:  We’re still working out the details on that right now, but we have completed work on a Fox Video release of The Three Stooges.  No commentary, just wacky intros.
 

Q2 (Gemini Man):  Any plans of doing another novel?

A2:  Nothing right now.  The market for books is really dismal right now, and I have a family to feed.
 

Q3 (soundandvision):  At what age did you begin to formulate your right of center political opinions and why?

A3:  I’d call my politics center/right, and since politics intersects one’s whole philosophy of life, it’s hard to pin down a when.  Whatever the case, I try very hard to keep politics out of my work and not to be too public with my thoughts because it’s just not my area of expertise.  I write funny stuff.  [I’m] not so good with politics.  Maybe someday I’ll write on it, but as of now, the world is safe.
 

Q4 (ChibodeeCrocket):  If someone had to replace you as host of MST3K who would you pick to do the job?

A4:  Will Ferrell.
 

Q5 (MJM2005):  If you took control of Rhino, what four episodes would you choose for the next box set?

A5:  I’m afraid I don’t keep abreast of which episodes are out, so forgive me if I list one they’ve already released:  I’d like to see Horror of Party Beach, The Leech Woman (the old bashing is relentless), Space Mutiny (Calgon made us laugh), and The Girl in Gold Boots.
 

Q6 (phantomengineer):  So Mike, how about some dirt on Joel?

A6:  Okay. Joel was trying to eat healthy for a while and used to get the same vegetarian Chinese dish every day.  Then he’d bring it back to the writing room to eat.  Jim, or perhaps it was Frank.  Or maybe it was Kevin, thought it smelled like rubber and would ask without looking back at Joel (who was eating behind our writing couch), “Rubber food again?”  And it irritated Joel.

How’s that for dirt?
 

Q7 (Slick’s Ghost/Dr. Ted Nelson):  What were the “Salad Days” of MST3K in your experience, and why?  What is the earliest creative input you remember contributing on MST3k?

A7:  I think seasons 3-6 were very sweet as we had a long contract, but I enjoyed the final seasons far and away the most.  I was personally the happiest and I really enjoyed the mix of people and thought we were far and away the best at riffing on the movie.

The earliest joke I remember getting off was some sort of joke on the “beer goggles.”  The guys had never heard the term before and I think they rather mistakenly gave me credit for it.
 

Q8 (Kinggodzillak):  What was the last episode you saw?

A8:  I believe it was Diabolique on its first airing after we had stopped making the shows.
 

Q9 (Van Hagar):  In season two they had a “creative pit boss” every episode, what exactly was the creative pit boss?

A9:  That was a Joel thing.  He wanted everyone to have a turn being in charge of the creative tone of the show.  In reality, it didn’t mean much at all and we dropped it.
 

Q10 (Shep):  What are your Dream Projects?

A10:  I’d love to do a film version of MacBeth.  And to work again with my friends on some silly project.
 

Q11 (reform/Ro-matt):  Which movie was hardest to write for?  Which movie was easiest to write for?

A11:  All the Coleman Francis films were very difficult as were the Roger Corman’s.  Very boring on their own and the absurdities and stupidity didn’t come fast enough.  I remember Time of the Apes also being particularly brutal.

None of the films were easy to write for, but I enjoyed Horror at Party Beach.
 

Q12 (GizmonicInstitute):  Overall, as far as being on-screen, did you prefer playing characters like Torgo on the show, or hosting the show?

A12:  I liked them both, though there was something very special about playing Torgo ‘cause it just made everyone on set laugh so darn much.
 

Q13 (Bob3K):  Did you, Kevin, and Trace/Bill enjoy doing the theater segments, i.e. “watching” the movies, or did it feel more like a job, reciting lines at the appropriate timestamps?  Did you guys ever get caught up in the movie like you were watching it fresh and riffing off the cuff?

A13:  It was fun doing the movies, though there was a certain discipline to it that required a great deal of concentration.  It tended to be a much looser experience doing the live action skits.

We tried occasionally to add our off-the-cuff comments to the films, but it ended up ruining everything because we had such a tight script.
 

Q14 (Crowjunkie):  I know the KTMA days were before your association with the show, but what is your opinion of the “lost” episodes [K-00 - K03]?  Also, do you know anyone who could “accidentally” leave them and or upload them in a convenient location for obsessed fans to find?

A14:  I don’t know if anyone has those tapes, but from what I’ve seen, it’s not a great loss.  Other than being interesting, I don’t think they’re artistic triumphs.  (I’m not being harsh here – any of the guys who participated in them would agree.  Though there are very funny moments, obviously.)
 

Q15 (MightyJack):  What can you tell us about the book, “Happy Kitty, Bunny, Pony: A Saccharine Mouthful of Super Cute”?  What’s it about, how you got involved with the project, etc?

A15:  HKBP is a collection of incredibly cute and colorful images to which I’ve added my commentary.  I don’t know if there’s anything out there quite like it, so I’m hard pressed to give you a better idea of what it is.  It might help to know that following it up will be “Goth-Icky”, a collection of Goth and monsters (with my commentary, obviously) and “Love, Sick and Twisted”, which is romantic images.
 

Q16 (siamesesin):  Do you still perform in any way besides on NPR (if one would count that)?  Stand-up or perhaps musical theater?

A16:  No, nothing live.  I’ve done a few stints in Bill Corbett’s plays, but just small theaters in the Twins Cities.
 

Q17 (DoctorZ):  Can you possibly recall what major influence caused you to become a critic of B-movie entertainment?  Were you sucked in by some local stations late night ’Shock Theater’ presentation of cheap monster movies when you were a kid?  What bent your path?

A17:  Though we had Creature Features in my suburb of Chicago growing up, and we had Svenghouli hosting another show, I never really thought, “That’s what I want to do – make fun of those movies.”  It was really something I never thought of till I tried it.  I just knew I would probably do comedy of some sort and that I would write.  The very first session I did with the guys at Best Brains (where as I recall we just practiced on a film we didn’t end up doing till much later) it was just fun and easy right from the start and I thought, “Yeah, I could get used to this.”
 

Q18 (sampo):  If GK Chesterton and George Bernard Shaw were dressed up in big rubber lizard suits, who would win?

A18:  I assume you mean “dressed up in big rubber lizard suits and squared off against each other in a fight?” ‘Cause if it was just a contest to see who could get into his big rubber lizard suit faster, I’d say Shaw, but in a fight, Chesteron would easily win.  6’4’, 300 pounds, he’d better win, the wuss.
 

Q19 (DefenseMechanism):  Who was the quickest one with a riff in the writing room?

A19:  It depended upon the time, the coffee intake and the donut consumption.
 

Q20: Can you please explain these riffs.  Sorry for the nerdy questions here but we haven’t been able to figure out what they’re referring to:

Q20a) Servo would say in an odd hesitant tone, “H-Hello?, H-Hello Mr. (so and so)?”  He did this in the movie, and in several episodes.  Do you have any idea where this riff comes from?

A:  This is probably just an amalgam of Bob Newhart/Inspector Clouseau, though I think it leans toward Clouseau.
 

Q20b) There was a reference to “The Bezerker” in Boggy Creek 2, was this a reference to the movie character in The Norsemen or was it a reference to the wrestler The Bezerker?

A:  I’m almost certain it was not the wrestler.
 

Q20c) We have an argument about what exactly the phrase “double bag it” comes from.  How did you guys define it? 

A:  It simply means that there are several heavy cans among your groceries and you need two bags so as to avoid breakage. (Would there be another meaning…?)

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