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Six Degrees of Best Brains Dateline: 02/22/00 The Kevin Bacon game, or six degrees of Kevin Bacon, became popular on the Internet a few years ago. It's based on the premise of the play turned movie Six Degrees of Separation (1993), which theorizes that we're all connected to each other in six steps, through our friends, family, and acquaintances. The concept lead to a Web site, a book, a board game, and a Web community called SixDegrees. These are the rules of the game: connect actors in movies or TV shows to Kevin Bacon; some directly or indirectly "relate" to him. Each link or connection is assigned a "Bacon number." The average bacon number is 3, and the higher the number, the better, however, high numbers are rare. ------------------------------------------ So, how do MST3K's writers and performers (aka Best Brains) link to Kevin Bacon? Jim Mallon, Mike Nelson, Trace Beaulieu, and Kevin Murphy were in Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie (1996) with John Brady John Brady was in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze (1991) with David Pressman David Pressman was in Pyrates (1991) with Kevin Bacon. Joel Hodgson was in Jerry Seinfeld: Stand-Up Confidential (1987) with Bo Sharon Bo Sharon was in Pyrates (1991) with Kevin Bacon. Frank Conniff was in Statical Planets (1997) with Paul Feig Paul Feig was in Naked Gun 33 1/3: The Final Insult (1994) with Fred Ward Fred Ward was in Tremors (1990) with Kevin Bacon. Joel's connection has a Bacon number of 2; the rest have Bacon numbers of 3. Mary Jo Pehl and Paul Chaplin were in MST3K with Joel Hodgson Joel Hodgson was in The TV Wheel with Paul Feig Paul Feig was in Sabrina, the Teenage Witch with Robby Benson Robby Benson was in Search for Tomorrow with Kevin Bacon. Robby Benson was in a MiSTed movie, [403] City Limits, during Mary Jo Pehl's first season as an MST3K writer, Season 4 -- their link together has a Bacon number of 4. Coincidence? John Brady played Benkitnorf in MST3K: The Movie. Through the Brains' association with him and his role in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II, they also link to former rap star Vanilla Ice, among others. ------------------------------------------------------------ Non-Bacon links: Michael J. Nelson to Jack Perkins Mike first parodied A&E Biography host Jack Perkins in [310] Fugitive Alien. He later returned as Perkins in the 1995 Turkey Day bumpers and in the syndicated Mystery Science Theater Hour. MJN was in Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie (1996) with John Brady John Brady was in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze (1991) with Frank Welker Frank Welker was in Spider-Man and His Amazing Friends (1982) with William Woodson William Woodson was in The Winds of War (1983) with Peter Graves Peter Graves was in Biography with Jack Perkins. A stunning Bacon number of 5! The Brains can also be linked to some of their most famous fans and supposed nemeses, like Joe Don Baker: Jim Mallon, Mike Nelson, Trace Beaulieu, and Kevin Murphy were in Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie (1996) with John Brady John Brady was in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze (1991) with Frank Welker Frank Welker was in Mars Attacks! (1996) with Joe Don Baker. Trace Beaulieu to Kim Cattrall Trace Beaulieu, who portrayed Dr. Forrester and was the voice and puppetry of Crow T. Robot from the KTMA season through Season 7, once received flowers from Kim Cattrall for Crow's "Ode to Kim Cattrall" in [403] City Limits. Trace Beaulieu was in Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie (1996) with John Brady John Brady was in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze (1991) with David Warner David Warner was in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country (1991) with Kim Cattrall. David Warner was also in an MST3K movie, [913] Quest of the Delta Knights. Trace Beaulieu to Estelle Winwood Trace (as Crow) later sang "Ode on Estelle" to late actress Estelle Winwood, for her role as a witch in [411] The Magic Sword. Trace Beaulieu was in Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie (1996) with John Brady John Brady was in Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze (1991) with Frank Welker Frank Welker was in Now You See Him, Now You Don't (1972) with Joe Flynn Joe Flynn was in This Happy Feeling (1958) with Estelle Winwood. And finally, Leonard Maltin made a guest appearance in episode [909] Gorgo. He appeared as himself in Gremlins 2: The New Batch. Through his association with the Brains, they link to Phoebe Cates, Christopher Lee ([423] Castle of Fu Manchu), and many more.
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