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Q: I've heard and read about the
MST3K Conventio-Con and
ExpoFest-a-Rama that was
held Friday, September 16th through Sunday, September 18,
1994. What happened?
A: It was great fun. About 2,000 MSTies from
around the country gathered at the Radisson South hotel in Bloomington, MN.
- The line to get into the
merchandise
room was endless but
its inhabitants cheerful. Another room at the hotel featured
a "museum" of memorable props and costumes from the
series.
- Episodes were run in three
different rooms 24 hours a day; showings of episode
424- "MANOS": THE HANDS OF FATE were
standing-room-only. The Friday night keynote event
included the entire current cast and writing staff (Joel
did not attend) discussing the early days of the show,
showing slides and answering questions from the
audience.
- It was the first time fans has a
chance to see the now-familiar "Poopie" and "Scrapbook" tapes, which
not only were shown to fans waiting in line during the autograph
session, but were also shown on the hotel TV.
- On Saturday morning, an
autograph session scheduled for two hours stretched to more than four. That was followed by a celebrity Q&A session
featuring Beverly Garland (star of three MSTed movies),
David Worth (director of Warrior of the Lost
World -- seen in episode
501) and John Humphries (who played Mikey in
Teenage Strangler -- seen in episode
514). Kim Catrall (who starred in City Limits -- seen in episode 403) was also
scheduled to attend but canceled at the last minute.
Studio tours went on all day Saturday.
- On Saturday night, the entire
convention was bused to a theater in downtown Minneapolis
for a live performance of the show, featuring the movie
"This Island
Earth." There were
standing ovations beyond count and deafening cheers
rattled the hall. Following the show, conventioneers
returned to the hotel for a gala costume ball that extended well into the wee hours
and where MSTies and cast members mingled freely.
Q: I was unable to attend the convention. Did
BBI videotape any of it? Are those videotapes available?
A: BBI did tape some parts of the con, and
some of that footage was included in a tape the Info Club
offered called The MST3K
Scrapbook.
Q: How about the live show? Is BBI selling
tapes of that?
A: Some footage of the live show is included
in the Scrapbook
tape. None of the very funny riffing of the movie was
included, but you can get some idea of what you missed by
watching Mystery Science
Theater 3000 - The Movie.
Many of the riffs are the same as performed that
night.
Q: I couldn't make it to the second
convention, which ran from Friday, August 30th to Monday,
September 2nd, 1996. What happened?
A: Dubbed Conventio-con II: Electric
Bugaloo, it was held at
the Minneapolis Convention Center. Some 2,300 MSTies
attended (short of the 4,000 BBI was hoping to attract.
WorldCon, a major science fiction convention, was held the
same weekend and siphoned off some potential attendees;
also, some attendees canceled their reservations when a
planned live show was canceled due to the resignation, only
a few weeks earlier, of Trace Beaulieu).
- The keynote session featured the entire cast and writing
staff (including Trace) and which featured a few cheerful
but confusing comments from Sci-Fi Channel head honcho Barry Schulman and a wonderful farewell video of
classic Trace moments. Also seated at the table was a guy
(introduced as a new writer) named Bill Corbett. Rumors swirled at the con that Bill
had been chosen to take over Crow, but BBI refused to
confirm them at the time.
- The celebrity panel featured
(at last!) Kim
Catrall (featured in
episode 403- City
Limits),
Russell
Johnson (The Professor
from "Gilligan's Island" and co-star of "This Island Earth") and Rex Reason (star of
"This Island
Earth").
- At one session, scenes that had been cut from MST3K - The Movie
were shown. It may be the only time the Dave Alvin version of the MST3K
theme song, including lyrics, was ever heard in its entirety in a
public setting. Also shown was a rough cut
of a short, "Assignment:
Venezuela," that was to
be included on the then-planned CD-ROM.
- At another session, Mike
Nelson demolished a number of lucky MSTies in the video
game "Doom,"
while Mary Jo Pehl and Bridget Jones took another lucky
group shopping at the Mall of America.
The marvelous facility was also a
star -- a vast improvement over the cramped quarters of the
Radisson Hotel, where the 1994 Convention was held.
Q: Will any footage of the second con be
available to purchase?
A: Despite the frequent appearance of a BBI
camera crew at the con, no footage was ever made available
for sale. However, several fans have compilations of
fan-shot footage available for trade. Post a note in the
forums and someone will probably help you.
Q: Will there be another convention?
A: There will be no other official,
BBI-sponsored conventions.
ABOUT THIS
FAQ | THE
BASICS | LYRICS | COMEDY
CENTRAL | THE
SCI-FI
CHANNEL | CANCELLATION | SYNDICATION | BEHIND THE SCENES | OTHER MEDIA | MST3K -
THE
MOVIE | MSTIE
CYBERSPACE |
CONVENTIONS | MSTIES | JOEL VS. MIKE
DISCUSSIONS
| LEGALITIES | PARTS: THE BOT BUILDING HORROR
| SUBTLETIES | WHERE ARE THEY NOW? | AWARD
NOMINATIONS
| BRIEF EPISODE
GUIDE | GUEST
STARRING
ROLES
|
