Questions for tonight's guest? Mystery Science Theatre 300's Bill Corbett

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Bill is a playwright and fantastic comic improviser I’m really excited to be able to talk with him about the experience of creating settings for social dynamics. MST3K really set off what is now our typical way of experiencing media: socially with commentary.

Do you have questions or ideas for tonight’s conversation? Games we can all play together? Put em in the comments.

Bill Corbett is a former writer for MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000 on the Sci-Fi Channel, and previously on Comedy Central. He was also a performer on the show, providing the voice of the robot Crow (version 2.0) and embarrassing himself by playing various other strange characters — including the all-powerful but clueless alien The Observer (a.k.a. “Brain Guy”).

Corbett is also a screenwriter and playwright. Corbett’s screenplay STARSHIP DAVE, co-written with Rob Greenberg, is currently in development with 20th Century Fox Studio.

His play THE BIG SLAM has been produced at numerous theaters across the U.S., including Woolly Mammoth in Washington, D.C.; ACT in Seattle; and actor Jeff Daniels’ Purple Rose Theater in Chelsea, Michigan.

He has been a contributing writer to National Public Radio’s PRAIRIE HOME COMPANION and ALL THINGS CONSIDERED, and is co-creator of the animated web series POKER NIGHT on Icebox.com.

Corbett has also been an actor in the resident acting companies at the Guthrie Theater and the Berkshire Theater Festival, and has taught playwriting and screenwriting at Kenyon College in Ohio, the Guthrie Theater in Minneapolis, and many other universities and schools.

He’s a graduate of the Yale School of Drama, where he earned an MFA in playwriting and screenwriting. Before that, he received a BA from Yale College.

A native of Brooklyn, N.Y., Corbett currently spends a lot of time in Los Angeles, partying into the wee hours with stars like Skeet Ulrich, Tony Danza, and Harry Hamlin. But he actually lives in Minneapolis, Minnesota with his wife Virginia, their daughter Molly, and a small Jack Russell Terrier who really runs the house. He hopes someday to raise alpacas.

  • http://panahasi.wordpress.com Panahasi

    1.) In working out commentary for the MST3K broadcasts, what was the primary goal?

    2.) What was his favorite Skit or Charactor?

    3.) What does he think of shows like MTV’s Popup Video, or these special showings of movies with popup video like comments?

    4.) How much did shows like Dialing for Dollars with their movie comments influence the MST3K writers, what did you learn both good and bad from previous commentary type shows?

    5.) Where does he see episodic series with commentary, going in the future?

  • dave

    Does your experience playing Crow T. Robot not make you an ideal candidate for the remake of The Crow? Are you pissed off that you won’t be starring in that movie?

    Why did you traumatize people on Twitter all December long with hellish cartoon profile pictures? And why aren’t you still doing that? I kind of miss them.

    What is your favorite word?

    You and the Rifftrax guys are consistently hilarious. Where do you turn when you’re looking for some good laughs?

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