Character played by Joel Hodgson in the first 4 and a half (Doesn't sound right... but they finished season 4 and were halfway through season 5 (episode 512), so I guess it's right...) seasons of MST3K. He worked at Gizmonics Institute, just another face in a red jumpsuit. Joel created the robots Tom Servo, Crow T. Robot, and Gypsy to keep him sane after he got blasted into space. Generally considered a better host than Mike Nelson.

Joel was shot into space by Dr. Forrester for use in the bad movie watching experiment for being a better inventor than him at Gizmonics Institute, and because no one would really notice his departure. Joel used vital parts of the Satellite of Love (naimly the parts controling the display of the movie) to create his greatest inventions....Gypsy, Tom Servo, and Crow T. Robot. Joel finally escaped the Satellite of Love in experiment 512 "Mitchell", when Deep 13 was being audited and Dr. Forrester and TV's Frank hired a temp by the name of Mike Nelson to help with the audit. Mike helped Gypsy gain control of the escape pod in dock 14 (hidden in a box marked Hamdingers), which Joel rode to safety in the Austrialian outback. Joel toured with the band Man or Astroman for a while doing pyrotechniques before opening up a hot fish shop in Aussio. Joel learned of and came to the aid of a failing Satellite of Love in experiment 1001 Soultaker, where he fixed most of the major systems, and made necessary repairs to his robots. Joel also met Mike for the first time and only time. On a personal note, let me say that I (along with several of my friends) always believed Joel was stoned. Look at his eyes and his acting in several episodes, and tell me he wasn't smoking a little something something. ;)