24 January 2011

Joel Hodgson/Joel Robinson

Comedian Joel Hodgson, who created  Mystery Science Theater 3000 and played experimental subject Joel Robinson, is left handed. So Joel Robinson is also left handed.

photo of Joel in his red jumpsuit
Just a regular (left handed) Joe
photo of Joel fixing Crow
Joel repairs Crow

On the Satellite of Love, Joel creates four robot pals. Crow, shown above, is the only one with articulated arms. Gypsy and Cambot have no apparent arms or hands. And Tom Servo has only little springy arms and non-functional ornamental white hands. Crow T. Robot has more prominent arms, but can make little use of them.

According to the series' official episode guide, Crow and Tom have hands that work only intermittently because they are "run by lazy, shiftless puppeteers who just don't care." [Source: Wikipedia.] Whether these puppeteers are right or left handed does not appear.

[Trace Beaulieu, who operated Crow in the early years, is right handed. Later Bill Corbett took over, and was either left or right handed. Tom Servo was mainly operated over the years by Kevin Murphy, right handed I think. Gypsy has no hands.]