After losing control during the Santa Claus episode on the Mystery Science Theater 3000: Volume XVI DVD set, Managing Editor Steve Schardein had a chance to sit down with one of the masterminds of the whole series: Kevin Murphy.
You might know Kevin as the voice (and puppeteer) of the beloved Tom Servo. Now, get to know him a bit better via our full interview!
DC (Steve Schardein): Hey, how you doing, Kevin?
KM (Kevin Murphy): I’m doing fine, how are you, Steve?
DC: Well, I’m actually a little bit nervous to be honest with you. You’re sort of like a, uh, hero of my youth in some ways.
KM: Well, believe me, I’m a very boringly normal person, so no need to be nervous.
DC: That’s great to know; I’m so glad you’re boring.
KM: [laughs]
DC: I’ve got a laundry list of random questions for you, a lot of which were submitted to me by the fan base in preparation for the interview.
KM: All right, cool!
DC: Okay then! First off, are you still feeling the effects of carpal tunnel from the whole twenty-five pound Servo gig?
KM: [laughs] He was a challenge sometimes, especially on long shoot days… to hold that sucker. And when he had elaborate headdresses on—like, you throw a Carmen Miranda headdress on Tom Servo and suddenly he’s a lot heavier than he was.
DC: Yeah, I’d have to imagine it’s a little tricky. Kevin, you said before that making a joke on a joke sort of just doesn’t work. However, you’ve also said that you find Rifftrax easier than the Mystery Science Theater days. I wanted to know, do you attribute that to your seasoned expertise as a riffer or to the more entertaining nature of many of the films you’re doing these days?
KM: Well, you know, it’s funny, because it’s actually more challenging to make fun of newer films, because, first of all, they’re so stupid. And they’re stupid in the wrong ways. They’re overedited and they’re overwritten. And scenes last about—well, if you’re talking about a Michael Bay film, you can measure scenes in frame numbers rather than in seconds. So that makes it a challenge.
But then you get a film like Twilight, and suddenly you realize why you love your job so much. It’s just so delightful to tear into something like that because it’s earnestly stupid—sort of like Old School earnestly stupid. It’s just delightful how silly it is. And that was the great thing about Mystery Science Theater; those films were such juicy, easy targets to get to. They were always playing our Margaret Dumont to our Marx Brothers.
DC: How did Mike first approach you about coming on board Rifftrax?
KM: Well, we had been working on this thing called The Film Crew; we realized that there was still a demand for people to be out there riffing on movies. Mike and Bill and I in particular had been trying to get something going that would be fun ‘cause we really, really liked working together. And so we did a pilot for a National Public Radio show, we pitched a couple of books, and then we talked to some folks at Rhino and they said “Yeah, if you want to start riffing movies again, we’ll figure out a way to market it.” And so we started riffing movies again and realized how much fun we were having doing it.
Well, the Rhino deal didn’t go the way we planned for it to, and so here we were, we had the team selected and in training, and ready to go, and we didn’t have a venue. And Mike went out to San Diego and started working for Legend Films, and he got the bones of Rifftrax going. The whole nut of the thing was to have an online service that would offer downloadable commentaries so that we could make fun of any film that we wanted—and this was like a dream of mine to do this. I think Mike had always had it in his mind that he’d call us up and we’d go out there and start hanging and riffing together. And that’s exactly how it happened. It was really no longer than a month after he had gotten Rifftrax up that I got the call and he said “let’s start doing this.” And I said “YEAH”, and then we went on from there.
DC: Sort of building on that, everything you guys do now is in the form of digital download or DVD release. Do you think that if you had to do it all over again, starting today, do you think that the freedom that is provided by that would have better served Mystery Science Theater as a series?
KM: That’s hard to say. You know, in Mystery Science Theater, one of the reasons we were able to get away with what we did was that we had puppets. The puppets could get away with murder, and people would still like them as puppets. And so I think we sort of introduced the world to movie riffing through puppets, and that was very helpful. I think if we didn’t have the reputations we did as riffers, I don’t know if it would be as popular. I think Mystery Science Theater really paved the way for what we did.
So we do have a little bit more freedom now. We’re not constrained to being behind a desk and having characters going; but we have to be really funny, otherwise people aren’t going to hang with us. So we’re taking the scripts a lot more seriously than I think we ever did before.
DC: Just to shift gears a little bit, I was watching the Santa Claus episode, which I had actually not seen in its entirety until this DVD set—it’s hilarious. You mentioned on one of the extras (or somebody did) that you guys actually viewed the entire film before doing it. And I found myself wondering, what was going through your mind when you were first exposed to that terrifying excuse for a kids’ film?
KM: Uh, well, exactly what you say. “What the hell is going on? Was this filmed on another planet? Was this somebody’s psychotic dream?” And, you know, it was usual in these things; there was a film producer who would sort of mash together things from a number of other places, and a director who didn’t even speak the same language as the producer… and that’s what you come up with. You know, the scenes were they show every single ethnic slur you can think of, in the beginning with the children all over the world thrown in there. And I think “my God, people were actually like this.” It’s really shocking to see. Even a guy like Howard Stern isn’t that tasteless; South Park isn’t quite that tasteless.
Left to right: Kevin Murphy, Tom Servo, Large planet inexplicably bearing the logo of our favorite show
DC: While we’re on the subject of tasteless, other than Manos: Hands of Fate, what was the most disturbing film that you personally recall doing for the show?
KM: Red Zone Cuba. The stuff we cut out of Red Zone Cuba would still, I think, depress and anger most of the normal, decent American movie-going audience.
DC: Really? I didn’t even know it was cut that much!
KM: Oh man. Well, we had to cut the rape out of it first of all. He rapes and murders a woman and then sort of goes on his merry way.
DC: [laughs] Oh my God.
KM: That was Coleman Francis. You know, we had to cut that; we didn’t do that kind of stuff. We didn’t do any of the, you know, “boobie movies”, and we never did anything with a lot of gross violence and a lot of overt sexual content, because, frankly, that stuff was sort of boring. Once you’ve made a joke about killing and maiming somebody, or made a joke about boobs, there’s sort of not any place to go after that. So we stuck with things like Santa Claus, which, for us, was a lot more material than your basic slasher film. Because they’re weirder than your slasher films.
DC: Yeah, [Santa Claus] was perfect for the show. So, all things considered, what would you say were the best years for Mystery Science Theater… if you had to say?
KM: Wow… I really can’t, because they had different qualities. You know, the first three years we were first really getting our chops going, and getting really giddy about the fact that the show was taking off and we were getting recognized by cool people… people we admired and respect. We’d start getting fans like Neil Patrick Harris; he was like our first outspoken fan, and he actually sent mail to us telling us he was a fan.
And then the middle years there where we had a long contract… I mean, that was comfortable. I don’t know if it was always our best work, but it was comfortable. And we really—I don’t know, it evolved and it changed as we got new people in, and I certainly enjoyed the last few years when, as a writing team, I think we really had it down. We had become the experts at what we were doing, and we were really having a ball doing it.
DC: I think I’d agree with that. The last few seasons had some of my favorite episodes, and I think I could name very many of them. And, you know—and this is something a lot of readers sent in as a question—when the final word came from Sci-Fi in 1999, did everyone just kind of know it was the end of the line?
KM: You know, it sort of had to be. We had switched networks and we’d gotten pretty far with that, and we, of course, realized that when they ordered a shorter season for the last season that it wasn’t looking very good. And they really—to their credit—they told us at the very beginning of the season that this was probably going to be our last. And that’s why we made the first episode of that one a reunion show (and brought Joel back on board, and Frank, and had fun with it).
DC: So you would have wanted to continue, I guess, if you could have?
KM: You know, it seemed to be… it was the right time. I think it was the right time. I mean, we could have continued, but… it’s always better to go out on your best game rather than wait until things start getting a little sad.
DC: Yeah, I mean, that’s what Jerry Seinfeld always said, right? Go out on a high note!
KM: Yeah. It was time. We could have figured out a way to keep the show going, but once we got the word from the Sci-Fi Channel that it was probably going to be our last, I think everybody sort of took that to heart and started looking beyond it.
DC: Yeah, I see. Well, I’ve got some community questions here now, and they’re sort of random, so forgive me if they go a little haywire at times.
KM: No problem!
DC: dph asks, “I see that Rifftrax just recently riffed on Titanic. I know you’ve been wanting to sink your teeth into this one for a long time. Was it as satisfying as you thought it would be?”
KM: YES. It absolutely was. Titanic was the Twilight of its time, remember… the only thing is, it was twice as long. But as far as, you know, emo douchebag movies go, Titanic was truly the emo douchebag movie of its time.
DC: [laughs] Okay, Mirkwood Lodge asks, “Kevin, I don’t recall ever seeing you clean shaven. When was the last time you were completely beardless?”
KM: Uh, I have to say it was about 1993. I shaved my beard off for about a day or two, and my beloved spouse, Jane, looked at me and said, “you’ve gotta grow it back.” It was the moustache actually, because without my moustache, uh, I have this congenital smirk, and it always looks like I’m making fun of someone. So I’d look at Jane and she’d get angry, and she’d say, “quit smirking at me!” And I’d say, “it’s not me, it’s my face!” So I had to grow the moustache back, or maybe face painful divorce.
DC: So it’s kind of like a façade. It hides the face; I understand. Trumpy’s Magic Snout says, “You have the best facial hair in the business. Any tips on facial grooming?”
KM: Um… keep the food out of it. I mean that’s number one.
DC: [laughs] Okay—I like this question a lot—you’ve provided plenty of beautiful songs via Tom Servo; where did you develop those pipes? (Thanks Mod City)
KM: My brothers and I used to sing barber shop quartet together when we were kids. And we all played one instrument or another, and we’d sing a lot together; did a lot of harmonies together. So I credit my family for my pipes.
DC: I did not know that. Okay, notundercovercop32 wants to know the full story behind the interactions with some of the less-appreciative Mystery Science Theater targets, such as, you know, Joe Don Baker for instance.
KM: Yeah, you know, we always heard about Joe Don Baker. He talked the big game, but he never really came down. So, I still say “come on down, show us what you got.”
DC: A bunch of hot air, huh? [laughs]
KM: That’s right, yeah.
DC: Okay, to close here, I’m gonna go generic here; I’ve got a whole rapid succession questioning thing going on. I’ve got ten phrases, and I was just hoping you could fire back with the first thing that crosses your mind. It can be as short or as long as you want, and you will not be graded on this portion of the exam.
KM: Ok-ay. [laughs]
DC: All right, here we go. First one is: WORST SUMMER BLOCKBUSTER EVER.
KM: Um, I just saw it: Transformers 2.
DC: Okay. NUMBER OF MOVIES YOU’VE SEEN WHERE DUDE ROASTS CAT WITH FIRE BREATH.
KM: [pauses, then laughs] Um… none that I can remember at this moment. [laughs]
DC: Oh, you don’t remember Merlin’s Shop of Mystical Wonders?
KM: Oh, thank you. Now that you’ve said that, you know, we did a hundred fifty of them, so I’m gonna forget some scenes sometimes.
DC: Okay, MITCHELL.
KM: Yes.
DC: Okay.
KM: That’s the question?
DC: Yeah, that’s the whole thing. [laughs]
KM: All right.
DC: Okay, good deal. DECEMBER 31, 2012.
KM: [laughs] Uh… let’s move on to the next year. We’re all alive. We’re all here.
DC: Okay, MELON DROP.
KM: Oh, 2012 you said?
DC: Oh, well, maybe, maybe not.
KM: [laughs]
DC: Maybe you won’t do a melon drop.
KM: I don’t think we’ll be doing a melon drop in two thousand twel—well, you know, we could, I suppose. In other words, life goes on. The Mayans were wrong.
DC: I think so too. I’m in agreement with you. Okay, I’ve got five more. MIKEY FROM TEENAGE STRANGLER.
KM: He didn’t steal no bike neither, did he?
DC: [laughs] All right! BETTER WILLY WONKA: GENE WILDER OR JOHNNY DEPP?
KM: Oh, God, Gene Wilder.
DC: Oh, I totally agree. Okay, REALITY TV.
KM: A hearty NO.
DC: All right, EVERYBODY LOVES IT, BUT YOU HATE IT.
KM: Oh, man, that’d be a long list. Okay, I don’t know where to start on that one. Well, Transformers 2, once again! But every twelve-year-old boy liked it, I’ll tell you that much!
DC: Yeah, you’re right about that; my cousins definitely loved it. Uh, last one, ALIENS LAND; WHICH MST3K EPISODE DO YOU SHOW THEM?
KM: Uh, the one with Trumpy in it. I don’t remember the name of it! It had Trumpy in it; he could do magic things. With the pointy head.
DC: Yeah, he definitely moved that stuff around in that room pretty efficiently.
KM: That’s right, absolutely.
DC: All right, Kevin, well hey, I really appreciate you sitting down with us. We’re all big fans here at DigitalChumps.com.
KM: All right, thank you, Steve!
DC: You are truly a man outstanding in your field. Have a great day!
KM: I appreciate it. Take care!
DigitalChumps.com would like to thank the Shout! Factory and Kevin Murphy for taking the time to grant us this cherished privilege. Check out Kevin’s latest projects at Rifftrax.com!
Also, we’d like to give a great big thanks to all of the members of the MST3K community who submitted questions for our interview! We’re sorry we couldn’t include them all—we tried! Thanks especially to Bix Dugan, dph, jlh, Ghost of Websites Past, Jack Burton, skyroniter, sirhamhat, Mirkwood Lodge, brandonakaxerxes, Blue Raja, Mod City, killershrew, notundercovercop32, callipygias, mrtia, Trumpy’s Magic Snout, Doctor Z, and the entire community at Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Discussion Board. You guys rock!