Crow T. Robot
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Crow T. Robot is one of the two wise-cracking robots from the Peabody Award-winning series Mystery Science Theater 3000 (MST3K). Crow is somewhat more adolescent than Tom Servo. The T. in Crow T. Robot stands for "The".
Crow is a gold colored puppet composed of, among other things, a split bowling pin mouth, a hockey mask head, and a Tupperware body. During the KTMA season, he only had one tupperware tray, and his eyes were a bit bulgier. During Fire Maidens of Outer Space (episode 419), he also acquired a theater double named "Timmy" who menaced the SOL crew during the host segments.
His accomplishments during the show's run include:
- Writing several screenplays, including his seminal work, "Earth vs. Soup"
- Being an avid member of the Kim Cattrall fan club
- Wrote a musical called "Supercalifragilisticexpiali-wacky!"
Trace Beaulieu operated Crow in the initial KTMA season and throughout the Comedy Channel/Comedy Central years of Seasons 1-7, as well as in Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie. During KTMA and Season 1, Crow had a slightly different voice, it was more baybyish, but Trace slowly abandoned this and Crow's voice became more sharp. Upon Trace's departure, Bill Corbett took over Crow's operation. Crow's consequent voice change, though never explicitly explained within the storyline, presumably developed during his 500+ years of solitude on the Satellite of Love while Mike Nelson and the other SOL inhabitants played at the edge of the universe as pure essences. The show's writers later made a joke of the change in Werewolf (episode 904) by suggesting that Crow's inherent characteristics included a change of voice every seven years. When Joel Robinson (Joel Hodgson) returned for a guest spot in Soultaker (episode 1001) he quickly dismisses Crow's new voice change: "Oh, you changed your bowling pin, smart."
Crow Syndrome
Crow Syndrome, as it's called by MSTing authors, refers to the cliché wherein one of the robots (usually Crow) chimes in with an off-topic and/or excessively lewd comment and the other two reprimand him, as in the following excerpt from Riding with Death (episode 814):
- [Truckers Sam and "Buffalo Bill" attempt a dangerous tandem braking maneuver.]
- Sam: Alrighty, I'm coming up on your mudflaps at 67.
- Crow: "Coming up on your mudflaps." People have such cute names for sex.
- Mike [as Sam]: Ma' well-oiled chassis is comin' up on yer backside, now.
- Servo [as Sam]: My rigid grill structure is bearin' down on yer unprotected cargo door.
- Crow [as Sam]: My oft-complimented Peterbilt is rhythmically nudging that sweet honey pot of yours—
- Mike, Servo: Crow!
Crow Syndrome can also be applied to MSTings without Joel/Mike and the 'bots.