| “ | I just wanted to say how really sorry I am about Manos: the Hands of Fate. I mean, I know it's our job to send you really bad movies, but this time, even I have to admit, we really went too far. I'm really sorry. | „ |
| ~ Frank apologizing for Manos: The Hands of Fate. |
TV's Frank, played by Frank Conniff, is mad scientist Dr. Clayton Forrester's second lab assistant (after Dr. Laurence Erhardt) in the television comedy series Mystery Science Theater 3000. TV's Frank serves as the show's secondary antagonist of seasons 2 through 6.
Early Life and Traits[]
According to The Mystery Science Theater 3000 Amazing Colossal Episode Guide, Dr. Forrester discovered Frank working at a nearby Arby's. Early on, he 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.
Frank wears a black chauffeur's uniform and his hairstyle includes a spit-curl. He has an unusual habit of calling Dr. Forrester "Steve". He is listed in Deep 13's employee records as "Frank comma TV's," indicating "Frank" is actually his surname and "TV's" his given name.
Little is known about Frank's past save that he attended Harriet Tubman High School, where he was held back at least twice. While working at Arby's, Frank was allegedly nicknamed "Zeppo" due to his supposed sense of humor. Frank had a surprisingly large personal fortune which surfaced whenever a large amount of money was required for a particular skit.
At some point Frank fathered a son named TV's Son of TV's Frank. More commonly known as Max, this son would grow up to work with Forrester's daughter Kinga as she resurrected MST3K.
Tenure[]
TV's Frank's first MST3K episode was episode #201 Rocketship X-M, where, apparently still in his Arby's mindset, he took fast-food orders and, rather to Dr. Forrester's annoyance, almost brought the Satellite of Love down so the crew could "dine in." His last regular appearance was episode #624 Samson vs. the Vampire Women, during which he was assumed into "Second-Banana Heaven", where sidekicks and henchmen could live in a peaceful paradise without fear of reprisal from their cruel masters, by the angel Torgo the White. Dr. Forrester was actually very saddened when Frank left him for Second Banana Heaven, even lamenting his loss in a song entitled "Who Will I Kill?". Frank later appeared to the despondent Forrester as an otherworldly entity and "reconciled" with him, even agreeing to "push the button" one last time. After his departure, he was immortalized in the following year's Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie as a door handle on the way to the theater.
Frank also made a guest appearance in the Season 10 opener Soultaker, having gotten a job in the afterlife as a Soultaker after complaining that Second-Banana Heaven was "too political" and that Pat Buttram "had it in" for him. In this appearance, he took the soul of Professor Bobo and played ring toss with it in Castle Forrester. He is also mentioned in episode #822: Overdrawn at the Memory Bank; as the Novacorp chairman, who bears a resemblance to a grossly overweight Frank, appears during the opening credits, Mike says, "Wow! TV's Frank! Hi, Frank!" Servo adding, "He's come up in the world!"
During TV's Frank's tenure, the catchphrase "Push the button, Frank!" was a staple of most shows and the last thing heard before the credits would roll.
Role[]
Frank usually serves as a foil to his evil boss, Dr. Forrester, and is frequently on the receiving end of many of Forrester's experiments or punishments. He is subjected to many painful deaths but always returns alive and well shortly afterwards; whether this rapid recovery is a quality bestowed upon him by Dr. Forrester or a talent that Frank always possessed (making him uniquely qualified as a mad scientist's guinea pig) was never explained, since it was, after all, "just a show." In the episode "Laserblast", Perl finds his spare head in a box, Dr. Forrester having made Frank's head explode years earlier in "Gunslinger." Occasionally, however, Frank gets revenge on his taskmaster by directly or indirectly causing Forrester harm. One significant example of sidekick payback occurs in episode #619 Red Zone Cuba, when Frank, supposedly owing the mob "50 large", passes Forrester off as himself, earning the evil scientist two severe beatings and an episode-long stint in full-body bandages.
Frank participates in the weekly invention exchanges that are primarily a feature of the Joel Robinson years. His first invention was a rip-off of Joel's invention, the BGC-1.9 drum machine. He repeated his thievery by introducing the "Cheese Phone", which Joel had supposedly recorded in his notes from the '70s. Unlike Forrester (who rarely even remembered Crow and Servo's names), Frank took a liking to Joel (and later Mike) and the 'Bots, who reciprocated his friendship.
Torgo the White preparing to escort Frank to Second Banana Heaven.
In Season 6, Dr. Forrester discovers that his mother, Pearl Forrester, has had a strong friendship with TV's Frank that he'd been unaware of. When she comes to visit, she winds up spending all her time with Frank and neglecting her son, suggesting some of the formative influences that made Dr. Forrester an evil scientist.
His final death occurred when Torgo the White took him to Second Banana Heaven. He briefly returned as a ghost to visit Dr. Forrester and push the button one last time.
In Season 10, he returned as a soultaker to visit Pearl Forrester, explaining that he left Second Banana Heaven because things were too political there. Frank explained that he needed to collect a soul to justify his trip. Pearl offered to let him have hers as she "wasn't using it", but he refused as he couldn't do that to a friend. Since Observer's kind apparently don't have souls, Frank took Bobo's soul instead, and then played ring toss with him using the ring with his own soul in it.
In Season 11, his son, Max, serves as assistant to Kinga Forrester.
In Season 12, Laurence Erhardt obtains his ashes from Gizmonic Institute, along with Dr. Forrester's ashes, which were in the same drawer. He scattered both to the song "Idiot Control Now", obligated to do this for Forrester in exchange for leaving him his ship, but including Frank to avoid breaking up the team.
Trivia[]
- Despite surviving being killed multiple times, he is one of two characters to die in the series, other being Dr. Forrester.
- As his true death was being taken into Second Banana Heaven, leaving no body behind, it is unclear as to how he had any final remains to be cremated. It is conceivable, however, that Forrester may have temporarily cut off some of his limbs at some point.
- According to the rules of the Soultaker film, TV's Frank becoming a soultaker suggests that he killed someone during his life.
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