BORN TODAY
1889: MIKHAIL TROYANOVSKY, who portrayed the soothsayer in the movie “Sampo” shown in episode 422- THE DAY THE EARTH FROZE and Trifon in the movie “Sadko” shown in episode 505- THE MAGIC VOYAGE OF SINBAD.
1890: FRED MORGAN, still photographer for the movie WORLD WITHOUT END, riffed in MST3K’s first live show.
1903: DEAN JAGGER, who portrayed Carl Webster in episode 305- STRANDED IN SPACE.
1903: GEORGI MILLYAR, who portrayed the sorceress in the movie “Sampo” shown in episode 422- THE DAY THE EARTH FROZE. She also was the witch in the movie “Morozko” shown in episode 813- JACK FROST.
1907: THOMAS BROWNE HENRY, who portrayed Col. Tom Sturgeon in episode 517- BEGINNING OF THE END and Capt. Fletcher in episode 805- THE THING THAT COULDN’T DIE.
1908: THEODORE LYDECKER, who did the special effects for the season one serial RADAR MEN FROM THE MOON and the season four serial UNDERSEA KINGDOM.
1919: ALINE TOWNE, who portrayed Joan Gilbert in the season one serial RADAR MEN FROM THE MOON.
1925: JOHN STRATTON, who portrayed Victor in episode 807- TERROR FROM THE YEAR 5000.
1929: RICHARD VIKTOROV, director/screenwriter of the movie “Cherez Ternii K Zvyozdam” shown in episode K11- HUMANOID WOMAN.
1933: MORT FALLICK, editor for the short LAST CLEAR CHANCE shown in episode 520- RADAR SECRET SERVICE.
1938: BARRY NEWMAN, who portrayed Frank Whitman in episode K16- CITY ON FIRE.

DIED TODAY
1970: EDWARD CURTISS (age 72), editor of the movie in episode 805- THE THING THAT COULDN’T DIE.
1976: CLARENCE EURIST (age 70), production supervisor for the movie in episode 107- ROBOT MONSTER.
1984: GEORGE MATHEWS (age 73), who portrayed the guardian angel in the short X MARKS THE SPOT shown in episode 210- KING DINOSAUR.

EPISODES PREMIERE
1993: episode 514- TEEN-AGE STRANGLER (with the short IS THIS LOVE?) first shown.
1997: episode 820- SPACE MUTINY first shown.

EVENT
1951: AVA GARDNER, who portrayed Maggie Grayson in episode K16- CITY ON FIRE, married Frank Sinatra.

RiffTrax has officially announced its next live event Wednesday, Dec. 16 (with an encore the following night), riffing Christmas-themed shorts.

The evening will feature a collection of brand new and old favorite shorts including the bizarre animated “Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” classic commercials and a musical short extolling the virtues of pork.

Even more exciting: special guest “Weird Al” Yankovic!

Tickets officially go on sale Friday, Nov. 13, but, JUST FOR YOU, you can buy them now if you follow the link above.

BORN TODAY
TRACE BEAULIEU
1892: OLE OLSEN, who appeared in the JOHNNY AT THE FAIR short in episode 419- THE REBEL SET.
1904: SELENA ROYLE, who portrayed Martha in episode 107- ROBOT MONSTER.
1914: JONATHAN HARRIS, whose character Dr. Zachary Smith from TV’s “Lost in Space” was imitated by Crow in several host segments including episodes 210- KING DINOSAUR and 821- TIME CHASERS.
1917: HARLAN WARDE, who portrayed a police dispatcher in episode 409- THE INDESTRUCTIBLE MAN.
1920: QUENTIN LAWRENCE, director of the movie in episode 101- THE CRAWLING EYE.
1920: KENNETH KESSLER, assistant director for the movie in episode 419- THE REBEL SET.
1943: MIKE CLIFFORD, who was a singer in the movie for episode 523- VILLAGE OF THE GIANTS.
1969: KELLY NATHE, intern for five episodes of MST3000, the television series.

DIED TODAY
1956: PAUL KELLY (age 57), who portrayed Jonathan Harvey in episode 510- THE PAINTED HILLS.
1980: NEWTON P. JACOBS (age 78), American dubbing producer for the movie in episode 211- FIRST SPACESHIP ON VENUS.
1995: ANITA CORSAUT (age 62), who portrayed an audience member in the short SPEECH: PLATFORM POSTURE AND APPEARANCE shown in episode 619- RED ZONE CUBA.
2005: FRANCESCO DE MASI (age 75), musical score composer for the movie in episode 705- ESCAPE 2000.

EVENT
1946: MARGARET FIELD, who appeared in the TV-movie “The Stranger” shown in episode 305- STRANDED IN SPACE, gives birth to a daughter, future actress Sally Field.

Happy birthday, Trace!

First shown: 7/12/97
Opening: Mike Nelson IS Lord of the Dance!
Intro: Mike mediates a squabble between Bobo and Brain Guy
Host segment 1: Crow hires a Russian expert: Yakov Smirnoff
Host segment 2: Crow’s a bear, while Bobo and Brain Guy find common ground
Host segment 3: Crow hires another Russian expert–or someone like him
End: Tom fails in his attempt to be cute; Bobo and Brain Guy discuss ape movies, but Pearl returns to settle the matter
Stinger: “Bring on my fiancee!”
(98 votes, average: 4.53 out of 5)
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• For the longest time, there was the “Russo-Finnish troika” of “Day the Earth Froze,” “Sinbad” and “Sword and the Dragon.” The Sci-Fi era needed one too, I guess, so now it’s a quartet, and wow, is this one ever out there. It’s not directed by Aleksandr Ptushko, as they other ones were, but it definitely has that weird Russo-Finnish vibe that gives them plenty of riffing fodder, and they do a great job with it. Some of the host segments are great, others don’t do much for me.
• Check out Mary Jo’s take on this episode here.
• To start things off, it’s one of host segment highlights of the season as Mike parodyies human peacock Michael Flatley, especially his deeply self-satisfied, nose-breathing smirk.
• Mike almost pulls one over on Brian Guy, who is almost sucked into the theater, but not quite.
• On my copy, which I’m pretty sure of the first showing, Sci-Fi Channel is again using the door sequence as a background for a commercial logo–in this case, for Corona beer.
• Speaking of annoying commercials: my tape also has two “Magic the Gathering” commercials. No offense meant to Magic players, but did they really think TV commercials were going to lure more players to the game?
• The other thing my tape contains is an actual promo for the episode! Ah, the halcyon days when Sci-Fi actually promoted the show…
• Obscure reference: Hildegard von Bingen. Even I needed to look that one up. The next time somebody tries to tell you all MST3K does is fart jokes, remind them of this.
• The segment where Crow becomes a bear is another gem, a great example of Bill’s slightly demented Crow, very different from Trace’s Crow but very funny. Grr!
• Crow is still a bear when he returns to the theater.
• That’s Patrick as Yakov Smirnoff; and that’s Paul as Earl Torgeson. Both the “Crow hires an expert” segments didn’t do much for me. Yakov’s standup act wasn’t quite as lame as they make it out to be, and the second bit just sort of wanders off without a real payoff.
• In the comments, a number of readers have noted that by about eight episodes in, Bobo’s character had totally, well, devolved. When we first met him at the beginning of the season, he was a sophisticated gentleman and scientist. Slowly but surely the writers changed him into the happy-go-lucky, termite-eating dimwit who so exasperates Brain Guy and Pearl. Not really a criticism. Just an observation.
• Dalesim: As thug smells his hand, Mike: “Hm. I thought I was Dale!”
• Fave line: “Apparently there’s no Finnish word for ’subtle.’ ” Honorable mention: “I thought Jerry Garcia was Father Mushroom.”

The folks over at Siliconera recently spotted a patent filed by Sony Computer Entertainment America for a program that will allow Playstation 3 users to overlay avatars on top of “media presentations” like movies and TV shows. The patent even mentions MST3K as inspiration for the invention. You can read more about it here.

Thanks to Justin for sending this in to us!

A screenwriter’s pompous lecture spins out of control when he creates a new character live onstage! It’s Frankenstein meets Mamet with fewer swear words in this comic exploration of the Hollywood machine!

That’s the description for the new play “My Monster” written by Bill Corbett and Joseph Scrimshaw. The duo will perform the play on Oct. 27 and Nov. 3 at the Bryant Lake Bowl, 810 West Lake Street in Minneapolis. You can find ticketing information over on the BLB’s Web site.

Note: The site also says that the play will be performed at the next SF Sketchfest. We’ll post more information about this when we receive it.

Thanks to Mark for the head’s up!

We’re a bit late on this, but RiffTrax has released DVDs for “Planet of the Dinosaurs” and “Voodoo Man.” Each DVD contains a song by the RiffTones. Buy both at the same time and receive a free button.

My old buddy Bill Stiteler writes:

Looks like someone’s a little bitter:

They’d later go on to have a second life on Mystery Science Theater 3000. Are you familiar with that show?
Yeah, right. I’ve caught some of those.

You have?
Yeah. With the idiots sitting in the front row and commenting on what they see on the screen.

You weren’t too pleased with those?
No, I wasn’t too pleased with those.

So, is he justified in his displeasure or should he lighten up? And whether or not he’s justified, do you think any other actor (or director or whatever) would be justified in not being too pleased with MST3K?

Me, I always thought they were a little mean to Kathy Ireland…

Every year, Web sites post hundreds of carved pumpkin pictures. This is three of them.

And check out the first pumpkin posted on Kim Carpenter’s blog.

A showing of the RiffTrax version of “House on Haunted Hill” is part of an event this weekend, Fangoria’s Trinity of Terrors at the Palm Casiono Resort in Las Vegas. The show is at 10:30 p.m. Friday night in Brenden Theaters #3. More info here.