MST3K
Register
Advertisement

Eeeuuuk-uueeel!
- That weird noise Frank sometimes made


TV's Frank is Dr. Clayton Forrester's former lab assistant. He began working for Dr. Forrester following the departure of Forrester's fellow scientist, Dr. Laurence Erhardt.[1] Frank typically wears a black uniform and his hairstyle includes a spit-curl. He is the father of Kinga Forrester's assistant Max, who likes to call himself "TV's Son of TV's Frank".[2]

History[]

Early Life[]

Little is known about Frank's background. Frank's permanent record states that he repeated both the 3rd and 4th grade twice, skipped school often, and was expelled from Harriet Tubman High School in 1974.[3]

His blood was of a previously-unknown blood type.[4]

Frank occasionally has access to a surprisingly large personal fortune, the source of which was never revealed. Despite this, he once became deeply in debt to the mafia.[5]

Gizmonic Institute[]

Dr. Forrester discovered Frank working at a nearby Arby's,[6] where he was nicknamed "Zeppo", due to his supposed lack of a sense of humor. He became Dr. Forrester's assistant, working along side him in Deep 13 beginning with Experiment #201 where, apparently still in his Arby's mindset, he took fast-food orders and (to Dr. Forrester's annoyance) almost brought the Satellite of Love down so Joel Robinson and the Bots could "dine in."

As an employee of Gizmonic Institute, Frank participated in the Invention Exchange, but his first invention was a rip-off of Joel's, the BGC-19 drum machine.

One of his duties was shutting down the feed at the end of each experiment, which led to Dr. Forrester's commonly-used phrase "Push the Button, Frank!".

Frank at least briefly became a vegetarian.[7]

Dr. Forrester and Frank once attempted to riff following taunts by Joel and the Bots, but failed.[8]

During Experiment #607, Dr. Forrester discovered that his mother Pearl has had a strong friendship with TV's Frank of which Dr. Forrester had been unaware. When she came to visit, she wound up spending all of her time with Frank and neglected her son.

Mike Nelson and the Bots met an alternate reality version of Frank and Clayton during an incident following an ion storm.

Death and Return[]

During Experiment #624, Frank read a fortune cookie that hinted at his imminent death. Soon after, Torgo the White appeared and took Frank to Second Banana Heaven. He briefly returned as a ghost following the experiment to visit Dr. Forrester and push the button one last time.

Later, Dr. Forrester learned that, before his demise, Frank had invited a large number of guests to Deep 13 for Thanksgiving dinner without telling him.[9]

While Frank was assumed into Second Banana Heaven as a whole being, he also left some physical remains behind. Pearl referred to having found one of Frank's spare heads when she and Clayton were preparing to leave Deep 13.[10]

Frank & Pearl

Frank's time in the afterlife proved short-lived, as he found Second Banana Heaven to be "too political" and that Pat Buttram "had it in" for him. He took on the job of "Soultaker" and visited Pearl at Castle Forrester as part of his plan to take Joel Robinson's soul. He ended up befriending Professor Bobo.[11]

After Kinga Forrester restarted the "Mystery Science Theater 3000" experiments, Dr. Erhardt raided the Gizmonic Institute to collect the remains of Dr. Forrester, where he also found Frank's remains. Deciding not to "break up the team", he took both in order to scatter them on the planet Mearth.[12]

His many deaths and injuries[]

Frank was frequently on the receiving end of many of Dr. Forrester's experiments or punishments. He was subjected to many painful deaths and/or maimings, but always returned alive and well shortly afterwards.

  1. Experiment #204: Gets his eye gouged out with a melon baller.
  2. Experiment #309: Gets stabbed by a giant needle.
  3. Experiment #317: Gets electrocuted to death by defibrilator paddles.
  4. Experiment #323: Gets his skull crushed by a vice.
  5. Experiment #324: Gets his skull crushed by an anvil.
  6. Experiment #402: Gets hit in the base of his skull with a mace.
  7. Experiment #405: Gets impaled through the skull with the Thighmaster.
  8. Experiment #406: Gets all of his blood sucked out of his body by Patches the Leech.
  9. Experiment #411: Gets reduced to a skeleton.
  10. Experiment #412: Gets shredded alive by a lawnmower, leaving only a lock of his hair behind.
  11. Experiment #414: Gets blown up by a grenade.
  12. Experiment #506: Gets his blood drained and replaced with radiator fluid
  13. Experiment #509: Gets a railroad spike nailed into his skull with a hammer.
  14. Experiment #510: Dies of cardiac arrest.
  15. Experiment #511: Gets his head blown up.
  16. Experiment #512: Was decapitated offscreen at some point before the episode.
  17. Experiment #513: Gets decapitated with a chainsaw.
  18. Experiment #516: Gets his liver removed and put into a body organ vending machine.
  19. Experiment #518: Suffocates after getting his head stuck in a fish bowl.
  20. Experiment #523: Gets killed by a drill.
  21. Experiment #602: Gets knocked out and then shot by a gun.
  22. Experiment #603: Gets impaled by numerous arrows.
  23. Experiment #606: Gets flattened by a handwringer.
  24. Experiment #613: Gets deep-fried.
  25. Experiment #615: Gets beaten to death with Louisville sluggers.
  26. Experiment #618: Gets his crotch mauled by a dinosaur.
  27. Experiment #619: Gets strangled to death.
  28. Experiment #624: Is assumed into Second Banana Heaven by Torgo.

Appearances[]

Behind-the-scenes[]

TV's Frank was played by Frank Conniff, who also served as a writer on Mystery Science Theater 3000. He stayed with the show from Season 2 through Season 6. Although he does not appear in the concurrently-produced Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie, a head with Frank's iconic hairstyle is seen as a door handle during the film's door sequence.

Early on, the character was simply called Frank. Later, he acquired the more ostentatious name, which is a reference to how a TV personality would sometimes be introduced as "TV's so-and-so" on talk shows and other programming.[13]

Conniff returned as Frank twice. First, for Episode #1001, then for the MST3K Volume 10 Upgrade to 10.2 seminar alongside Trace Beaulieu as Dr. Forrester and Crow and Joel Hodgson as Joel Robinson. For this sketch, Conniff also voiced Tom Servo.

Some time in the mid-2010s, Beaulieu and Conniff pitched a talk show, Live from Deep 13, to Shout! Factory. It would have featured Dr. Forrester and TV's Frank interviewing people, possibly with Dr. Erhardt as bandleader.

References[]



The Mads
edit
Principal Dr. Clayton ForresterDr. Laurence ErhardtTV's FrankPearl ForresterProfessor BoboBrain GuyKinga ForresterMax
Secondary Gerry and SylviaDr. PeanutThe ObserversSynthia ForresterArdySkeleton CrewDr. Donna St. PhibesBonesyMega-SynthiaDr. KabahlM. WaverlyGrowler
Mirror Universe Mike NelsonCrow T. RobotTom ServoGypsy
Locations Gizmonic InstituteDeep 13Deep ApeThe WidowmakerObserver homeworldCamping PlanetAncient RomeCastle ForresterMoon 13Moon 1Deep Hurting
Advertisement