CONVENTIONS


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