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Through the show's 10 seasons, only a few characters were there for an extended period of time: the host, the bots, the Mads, and their assistants Dr. Erdhardt, TV's Frank, Bobo, Brain Guy. But in many episodes, some kooky misfit wandered onto the Satellite of Love for a segment or two. Who are some of the best? These guys, that's who. WARNING: This article is me geeking out and Rob not stopping me, so you might not get all the character and location references. Just repeat to yourself it's just a TV show, you should really just relax.
12) John Banner
John Banner is an affable man. He even made a Nazi seem affable as Sgt. Schultz in Hogan's Heroes. And he was so affable as Bavarro, the ruler of some goofy planet in ep. 417 "Crash of the Moons," it was actually kind of threatening -- and which inspired Joel and the 'Bots to create the Banner-gram, which sent Banner to be nice to anyone. When Banner shows up in the Hexfield Viewscreen (played by Mike Nelson, at 2:40), Joel sends him down to visit Dr. Forrestor, who was not pleased.
11) Leonard Maltin
Given how much grief the MST3K guys gave Leonard Maltin over the years -- especially in the Comedy Central finale "Laserblast," where they derided him for giving the horrible movie two and a half stars -- Maltin was super cool to agree to appear later for the "Gorgo" episode in season 9 (at about 4:05). True to form, Maltin praised the British monster movie, which was also pretty horrible. Before you think Maltin was treated unfairly, please know that other movie he gave 2 1/2-stars -- so technically movies that are just as good as Laserblast -- Amadeus, Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, A Fish Called Wanda and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade. He deserved what he got.
10) Hugh Beaumont
Hugh Beaumont, whose claim to fame was playing the quintessential '50s sitcom dad in Leave It to Beaver, appeared in two MST movies, and stopped by the Satellite of Love both times: first in season 2's "Lost Continent," where he was an extremely caring Horseman of the Apocalypse (Mike Nelson, painted black and white in a black and white set), and season 4's "The Human Duplicators," where... where he basically snapped and screamed about his stupid sitcom kids and sexless sitcom marriage. It's gold.
9) Ortega
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8) Nummy Muffin Coocol Butter
Hello Kitty only wishes she were this cute. Nummy Muffin Coocol Butter was the little pink animal engineered by the Mads to be the world's most adorable pet in season 6's "Colossus and the Headhunters" (first appearing at 3:30). It was so cute that when the Mad shipped it up to the Satellite, TV's Frank got sick because he missed Nummy Muffin so much -- so much, in fact, that he wrote a song about it. By the end of the episode, even Dr. Forrester himself is under Nummy Muffin's adorable spell. God help us if science ever creates something as cute at Nummy Muffin Coocol Butter.
7) Winky
Oh, Winky. Rocky Jones' co-pilot in Manhunt in Space (and later Crash of the Moons), lover of ladies, and player of the ukelele, Winky is pretty much everything you'd expect a co-pilot named Winky in a cheap '50s space serial mushed into a movie to be. He stopped by the SoL to talk about how awesome he was; it didn't go particularly well (begins at 2:12).
Tags: Bad Movies, MST3K
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