Tom Servo
Encyclopedia
Tom Servo is a fictional character
Fictional character
A character is the representation of a person in a narrative work of art . Derived from the ancient Greek word kharaktêr , the earliest use in English, in this sense, dates from the Restoration, although it became widely used after its appearance in Tom Jones in 1749. From this, the sense of...

 from the American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 science fiction
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...

 comedy
Comedy
Comedy , as a popular meaning, is any humorous discourse or work generally intended to amuse by creating laughter, especially in television, film, and stand-up comedy. This must be carefully distinguished from its academic definition, namely the comic theatre, whose Western origins are found in...

 television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...

 show Mystery Science Theater 3000
Mystery Science Theater 3000
Mystery Science Theater 3000 is an American cult television comedy series created by Joel Hodgson and produced by Best Brains, Inc., that ran from 1988 to 1999....

(MST3K). Tom is one of two wise-cracking, robot
Robot
A robot is a mechanical or virtual intelligent agent that can perform tasks automatically or with guidance, typically by remote control. In practice a robot is usually an electro-mechanical machine that is guided by computer and electronic programming. Robots can be autonomous, semi-autonomous or...

ic main characters of the show, built by Joel Robinson
Joel Robinson
Joel Robinson is a fictional character featured in the American science fiction comedy television series Mystery Science Theater 3000...

 to act as a companion and help stave off space madness as Joel was forced to watch low-quality film
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...

s. Servo, along with the other bots, is actually made of the parts that would have otherwise allowed Joel to control the film. At least during the Comedy Central
Comedy Central
Comedy Central is an American cable television and satellite television channel that carries comedy programming, both original and syndicated....

 era, he was somewhat more mature and cynical than his companion Crow T. Robot
Crow T. Robot
Crow T. Robot is a fictional character from the American science fiction comedy television series Mystery Science Theater 3000 . Crow is a robot, who, along with others, quips and riffs upon poor-quality B movies.- Overview :...

. Servo, more often than the others, signals the need to exit the theater to perform host segments, as he has to be carried in and out of the theater; an air grate near the entrance limits his ability to hover.
Initially performed by J. Elvis Weinstein
J. Elvis Weinstein
Josh "J. Elvis" Weinstein is an American writer and performer, best known for his roles as Dr. Laurence Erhardt and the original puppeteer and voice for Tom Servo on Mystery Science Theater 3000.-Mystery Science Theater 3000:...

, Kevin Murphy
Kevin Murphy (actor)
Kevin Wagner Murphy is an American actor and writer best known as the voice and puppeteer of Tom Servo on the Peabody Award-winning comedy series Mystery Science Theater 3000.- Early career :...

 took over puppetry and voice duties for Servo beginning with the second nationally-broadcast season. In the online cartoon series
Mystery Science Theater 3000 (Flash series)
Mystery Science Theater 3000, also referred to as "The 'Bots Are Back!" is an Internet cartoon created by Best Brains, Inc. It is inspired by BBI's original Mystery Science Theater 3000 TV series, and is directed by former Executive Producer Jim Mallon...

, the voice of Tom Servo was provided by James Moore.

Overview

Tom Servo is a red puppet
Puppet
A puppet is an inanimate object or representational figure animated or manipulated by an entertainer, who is called a puppeteer. It is used in puppetry, a play or a presentation that is a very ancient form of theatre....

 that has a gumball machine
Gumball machine
A gumball machine is a toy or commercial device, a type of bulk vending machine, which dispenses gumballs, usually for a small fee.Originally one penny, the standard cost of one gumball in the United States is now one quarter.-History:...

 (Carousel Executive Snack Dispenser) for a head, a body composed of a toy "Money Lover Barrel" coin bank and a toy car engine block, and a bowl-shaped hovercraft skirt (a Halloween 'Boo Bowl') instead of legs. Except in Episodes 101 (The Crawling Eye) and 904 (Werewolf), he must be carried into the theater by Joel or Mike, ostensibly because there is a grate near the door that he cannot hover over (as explained in episode 513). As a purely practical problem, it's simply more convenient for the host to hand Servo to the puppeteer than it would be to have the puppet pulled in by a more complicated rig. Servo can enter the theater's left-side door unaided, as seen in "I Was a Teenage Werewolf."
His arms are a pair of small white ventriloquist's dummy hands on the ends of springs that are not really functional as arms, a point that is commented on occasionally throughout the series. Some episodes feature Tom with objects already in his hands, raising the unanswered question of how they got there; possibly Servo's arms are only functional on a sporadic basis. However, in the television series' official episode guide it is comically stated that the reason both his and companion Crow T. Robot's arms only work intermittently is because they are "run by lazy, shiftless puppeteers who just don't care." His shoulders are made from the front of an Eveready Floating Lantern. Because Servo's head is transparent, chromakeyed images appear projected through it, and thus a second puppet was built for use in the theater segments, entirely spray-painted black.
Servo's appearance has changed over time. In the pilot for MST3K, the robot who would become Servo was named "Beeper," who just spoke in beeps that only Crow could understand. He was an all-silver robot vaguely shaped like the ultimate Servo, with funnel-shaped shoulders, silver rubber tube arms, and a clear plastic candy container for a head. The puppet used for "Beeper" was built by series creator Joel Hodgson the night before the taping of the pilot. As early as K02: Revenge of the Mysterons from Mars, the character was renamed 'Servo' (after a vending machine called the Servotron) and Servo's head was replaced with the now-familiar gumball machine for most of the series. As of July 2009, it was confirmed that the name for Servo was first used in the 2nd KTMA episode (because the name "Beeper" was still used in K01), but it is still currently unknown if the gumball machine was first used in K01 or K02.
In Season 1 on the Comedy Channel, the puppets were redesigned by Hodgson and writer/cast member Trace Beaulieu. Servo was now given a dark red color, longer black tube arms, squared white shoulders, a different hoverskirt, and the Carousel Snack Dispenser gumball machine head with a white beak. Beginning with episode 104 and for the remainder of season 1, Servo's head was changed to a different model Dispenser head. The base or "neck" featured less contour and was slightly wider and taller which made his beak (now painted silver) appear smaller. For Season 2, the black tubing used for his arms was replaced with a pair of Mr. C. More Bunz arms with small white spray-painted springs attached (left bare silver from season 3 onward. Originally the bladder from the C More Bunz doll was used to make Servo's spring arms expand and contract. Another physical change was that Servo's original model of Carousel Dispenser head (KTMA era/ episode 101-103 version) returned. In episode 201 and as shown in the season 2-5.5 opening robot roll call, Servo's head could retract up and down (this was done with a black painted dryer cord). Tom Servo's season 2 physical form would pretty much remain the same throughout the remainder of the series, save for a brief flirtations and minor changes (during episodes #205: Rocket Attack USA and #206: Ring of Terror
Ring of Terror
Ring of Terror is a black-and-white 1962 film. It was featured in the second season of Mystery Science Theater 3000 , alongside an episode of the Bela Lugosi serial, The Phantom Creeps.- Plot summary :...

) Servo's head was replaced again this time with a cylindrical model Carousel Dispenser head. It was introduced as a "robot haircut" that Joel gave Servo, but was quickly abandoned as it was never intended to be a permanent change. In early season 3, the cap from Servo's season 2 "haircut" head was reused as a Fez hat worn by Servo in a couple of episodes and later used as a tee ball base. Another modification was the removal of the dryer cord below Servo's head (replaced with a swivel bearing platform to make his head turn 360 degrees) and the C-More Bunz bladders for his arms were removed. By the middle of season 3, Servo's head was modified one last time. An extra cap from another Carousel Dispenser was permanently affixed just below the "bubble" making Servo's head appear slightly taller and slimmer. Briefly in early season 4, Servo's white resin hands were left unpainted beige/flesh colored before returning to white after only a few episodes. During season 5 the black tyco train molds used on Servo's hover skirt were more widely spaced apart. By season 6, Servo's season 1-4 hover skirt turbo train configuration was restored.

Servo's voice and personality also changed during the show's early years. While Josh Weinstein
J. Elvis Weinstein
Josh "J. Elvis" Weinstein is an American writer and performer, best known for his roles as Dr. Laurence Erhardt and the original puppeteer and voice for Tom Servo on Mystery Science Theater 3000.-Mystery Science Theater 3000:...

 operated Servo during the KTMA season, Servo spoke rather slowly with a squeaky voice like that of Pee-wee Herman
Pee-wee Herman
Pee-wee Herman is a comic fictional character created and portrayed by American comedian Paul Reubens. He is best known for his two television series and film series during the 1980s. The childlike Pee-wee Herman character developed as a stage act that quickly led to an HBO special in 1981...

, and was somewhat immobile during host segments but oddly very active in the theater. In episode K06, Weinstein switched to a lower voice that Servo repeatedly proclaimed as his new "MIGHTY VOICE!" which in reality is Weinstein's actual speaking voice. He used a higher pitched voice for Dr. Erhardt. Weinstein's Servo had a more sarcastic and acerbic personality with a hint of a superiority complex
Superiority complex
Superiority complex refers to an exaggerated feeling of being superior to others. The term was coined by Alfred Adler , as part of his School of Individual psychology...

. When Weinstein left at the end of Season 1, Kevin Murphy
Kevin Murphy (actor)
Kevin Wagner Murphy is an American actor and writer best known as the voice and puppeteer of Tom Servo on the Peabody Award-winning comedy series Mystery Science Theater 3000.- Early career :...

 took over Servo's operation and tried to match Weinstein's Servo voice and personality very early on, but quickly developed his own signature Servo sound and character (though Murphy has a fairly deep voice himself). By season 5 Kevin Murphy had "relaxed" his Servo voice to sound much like his own speaking voice (As Trace Beaulieu had done with Crow T. Robot
Crow T. Robot
Crow T. Robot is a fictional character from the American science fiction comedy television series Mystery Science Theater 3000 . Crow is a robot, who, along with others, quips and riffs upon poor-quality B movies.- Overview :...

) The change from Weinstein to Murphy was explained as tinkering by Joel in episode 201. (One fan was famously displeased with Murphy's voice and sent a large banner on computer paper: "I HATE TOM SERVO'S NEW VOICE!", which was quickly dismissed and laughed off.) During Murphy's tenure, Servo took many opportunities to showcase his excellent Irish tenor-voiced singing. He also has an extensive underwear collection (as seen in Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie
Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie
Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie is a 1996 theatrical adaptation of the television series Mystery Science Theater 3000, produced and set between seasons 6 and 7 of the show. It was released by Gramercy Pictures and Best Brains with distribution held by Universal Pictures...

and enumerated in episode #810, The Giant Spider Invasion
The Giant Spider Invasion
The Giant Spider Invasion is a low-budget 1975 film produced by Transcentury Pictures, a partnership owned by the film's director Bill Rebane. The film is about giant spiders that terrorize the town of Merrill, Wisconsin and the surrounding area. The Giant Spider Invasion was given a U.S. release...

), as well as a large number of duplicates of himself that he made in episode #420: The Human Duplicators
The Human Duplicators
The Human Duplicators is an American science fiction film released in 1965 by independent company Woolner Brothers Pictures Inc.-Plot:The plot involves a giant alien named Dr. Kolos who is dispatched to Earth from a faraway galaxy on orders to create android doppelgängers by employing the...

(also seen in episode #1004: Future War
Future War
Future War is a 1997 direct-to-video American science fiction film about an escaped human slave fleeing his cyborg masters and seeking refuge on Earth. It was lampooned in a 1999 episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000.- Plot :...

, and episode #1013: Diabolik
Danger: Diabolik
Danger: Diabolik is a 1968 feature film from Italian filmmaker Mario Bava based on the Italian comic character Diabolik.- About the film :...

). In the new Internet-only series of animated shorts, Servo is voiced by James Moore.
Whenever a member of the cast is required to dress in drag
Drag (clothing)
Drag is used for any clothing carrying symbolic significance but usually referring to the clothing associated with one gender role when worn by a person of another gender. The origin of the term "drag" is unknown, but it may have originated in Polari, a gay street argot in England in the early...

 for a sketch, Servo usually does the honors. This is both because of the dichotomy of women's clothes amusingly contrasted with puppeteer Murphy's strong baritone
Baritone
Baritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or...

 voice and because, in Murphy's words, "Servo looks better in a dress than Crow." Also, Servo is the only robot whose entire body can be seen on the show, since Crow's legs are behind the desk and Gypsy's body is several yards long.
Servo normally has a condescending personality and at times can make literary and technical references that are above his companions' heads. Just as Trace Beaulieu gives Crow regular Monty Python
Monty Python
Monty Python was a British surreal comedy group who created their influential Monty Python's Flying Circus, a British television comedy sketch show that first aired on the BBC on 5 October 1969. Forty-five episodes were made over four series...

 references, Kevin Murphy, a self-confessed Tolkien
J. R. R. Tolkien
John Ronald Reuel Tolkien, CBE was an English writer, poet, philologist, and university professor, best known as the author of the classic high fantasy works The Hobbit, The Lord of the Rings, and The Silmarillion.Tolkien was Rawlinson and Bosworth Professor of Anglo-Saxon at Pembroke College,...

 fanboy, gives Servo occasional Lord Of The Rings references. Servo frequently attempts to seem physically imposing to others, once acquiring "lifts" for his hover skirt to increase his size (accused by Mike of suffering "short man's disease
Napoleon complex
Napoleon complex is an informal term describing an alleged type of inferiority complex which is said to affect some people, especially men, who are short in stature. The term is also used more generally to describe people who are driven by a perceived handicap to overcompensate in other aspects of...

") and on another occasion showing off a small arsenal he had acquired while drifting through space. Almost invariably, however, any attempts at confronting danger or displaying his intellectual skill cause him such frustration that he ends up crying.

At Dragon Con
Dragon Con
Dragon*Con is a North America multigenre convention, founded in 1987, which takes place once each year in Atlanta, Georgia...

 in 2010, Weinstein and Murphy made a joint appearance for a "Servo vs. Servo" panel discussion, in which they discussed their respective work with the character. The discussion appears as a bonus feature on the Mystery Science Theater 3000: Vol. XX DVD set from Shout! Factory
Shout! Factory
Shout! Factory is an entertainment company founded in 2003 that was started by Richard Foos , Bob Emmer and Garson Foos initially as a specialty music label...

.

Tom Servo appeared in the COPS
COPS (TV series)
Cops is an American documentary/reality television series that follows police officers, constables, and sheriff's deputies during patrols and other police activities...

-style Star Wars
Star Wars
Star Wars is an American epic space opera film series created by George Lucas. The first film in the series was originally released on May 25, 1977, under the title Star Wars, by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, followed by two sequels, released at three-year...

spoof Troops
Troops (fan film)
Troops is a mockumentary film by Kevin Rubio, which made its debut on the Internet in 1997. The film is a parody of COPS, set in the Star Wars universe...

as a droid purloined by Jawas. He, along with Crow and Gypsy, make an appearance in the Star Wars
Star Wars
Star Wars is an American epic space opera film series created by George Lucas. The first film in the series was originally released on May 25, 1977, under the title Star Wars, by 20th Century Fox, and became a worldwide pop culture phenomenon, followed by two sequels, released at three-year...

parody comic Tag and Bink: Revenge of the Clone Menace
Tag and Bink: Revenge of the Clone Menace
Tag and Bink: Revenge of the Clone Menace is a comic book published on 26 April 2006 by Dark Horse Comics. The story is set in the Star Wars galaxy, and tells the origins of Tag Greenly and Bink Atauna. The entire story takes place during the storylines of The Phantom Menace and Attack of the...

. In the webcomic Commander Kitty Nin Wah gets a Tom Servo arm when her real prosthetic is confiscated by the jail staff. A ROM hack of Mega Man 3
Mega Man 3
Mega Man 3, known as in Japan, is a video game developed and published by Capcom for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It is the third game of the original Mega Man series and was originally released in Japan on September 28, 1990. The game localized in North America later in 1990 and in European...

 has Tom Servo taking the place of the main character.

In October 2011, the season 10 premiere of the TV horror hosted show Cinema Insomnia
Cinema Insomnia
Cinema Insomnia is a nationally syndicated American television series presented by horror host Mr. Lobo.- Format :Typically, Mr. Lobo opens each episode by promising to screen a well-known horror or science fiction classic ; however budgetary limitations, acts of God or other circumstances...

 has "Larry Servo", Tom Servo's twin brother, help Mr. Lobo
Mr. Lobo
Erik Lobo better known by his stage name Mr. Lobo is an American artist and comedic actor best known as the horror host of the nationally syndicated American television series Cinema Insomnia.-Career :...

 try to get through a lost Ed Wood film "Venus Fly Trap". In this MST3K parody episode, Larry Servo refused to riff on the movie, leaving Mr. Lobo to try to riff on his own in the theater (unsuccessfully).

External links

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