Jack Morton Perkins (1933-2019) was an American reporter and television host. From 1994 to 1999, he served as the alternate host of Biography alongside Peter Graves.
MST3K[]
At the start of Experiment #310, Dr. Clayton Forrester and TV's Frank brought Perkins to Deep 13 so he could introduce the experiment's film, Fugitive Alien. They quickly grew tired of his lengthy monologues and took great pleasure in torturing him. Joel Robinson and his robots puzzled, "Who's Jack Perkins?"
Later, Perkins was invited back for Thanksgiving dinner, where he again bored his fellow guests with his long-winded stories. He also participated in Dr. Forrester's live show experiment.
Shortly before TV's Frank's death, he invited Perkins and several other guests to Deep 13 for another Thanksgiving dinner. During one of the experiments, Perkins became intoxicated and professed his affection for Mr. B Natural. Later, Pearl poisoned Pitch, the Kitten with a Whip and Mr. B Natural, leaving Perkins, Dr. Forrester and Pearl to say their goodbyes. Pearl then told her son that she'd let him have the honor of killing Perkins.
Behind-the-scenes[]
The real Jack Perkins.
- The real Jack Perkins was dubbed "America's most literate correspondent" by the Associated Press. He served as a war correspondent, anchorman for KNBC in Los Angeles and host of A Gulf Coast Journal, a weekly magazine show which aired on Tampa, Florida PBS affiliate WEDU. He passed away on August 19th, 2019 on Casey Key, Florida at the age of 85.
- The fictional Perkins was portrayed by Michael J. Nelson. Nelson also portrayed "The Host" for The Mystery Science Theater Hour, who was unnamed but was clearly Perkins.
- Perkins and Nelson met in real life, but Perkins had not watched the show, claiming he didn't have cable.
- Perkins was similarly spoofed as a sarcastic alcoholic by Darrell Hammond on Saturday Night Live.
- Perkins' son Eric Perkins has followed his father into journalism as a sports anchor in Minneapolis, MN at the NBC affiliate KARE 11.