Editing Crow T. Robot (section)

== Overview ==

According to the ''MST3K'' storyline, Crow{{snd}}like his fellow robots [[Tom Servo]], [[Gypsy (Mystery Science Theater 3000)|Gypsy]], and [[Cambot]]{{snd}}was built by [[Joel Robinson]] ([[Joel Hodgson]]), who created them to help him withstand the torment of watching bad movies on the [[Satellite of Love (Mystery Science Theater 3000)|''Satellite of Love'']] (SOL). On the ''Satellite'', Crow was forced with the rest of the crew to watch horrible [[retro]] movies sent by mad scientist [[Dr. Clayton Forrester (Mystery Science Theater 3000)|Dr. Clayton Forrester]] and his assistants. In episode 814, "[[Riding with Death]]", Crow describes himself as being made from [[molybdenum]], and in episode 908 Mike piles rocks atop Crow and comments on his "durable [[molybdenum]] frame."

Crow's middle initial stands for "The". In episode #K19: ''[[Hangar 18 (film)|Hangar 18]]'', Joel stated that "Crow" was an [[acronym]] for "'''Cybernetic Remotely Operated Woman'''", giving Crow a brief identity crisis until Joel revealed he built Crow specifically to play this joke on him. Crow is also sometimes called "Art", but it is primarily by late-series antagonist [[Pearl Forrester]]. This arose from a gag in episode 203 ''[[Jungle Goddess]]'' following a skit centered on the sitcom ''[[The Honeymooners]]'', where Joel referred to Crow as "Art Crow" (in reference to ''Honeymooners'' co-star [[Art Carney]]). After Best Brains received a letter from a child who had evidently missed the cultural reference and labeled a drawing of Crow as "Art" (episode 402, ''[[The Giant Gila Monster]]''), the show's writers turned the name into a recurring joke.<ref name="sn-subtle">{{cite web
  | url = http://www.mst3kinfo.com/mstfaq/subtle.html
  | title = Subtleties, Obscurities, Odds And Ends
  | work = Mystery Science Theater 3000: Frequently Asked Questions
  | publisher = Satellite News
  | access-date = 2007-09-15
}}</ref>

Crow was voiced by [[Trace Beaulieu]] from the beginning of the series through the end of season seven, and [[Bill Corbett]] from the eighth season until the tenth season. Corbett's Crow was noticeably more cynical, irritable, and impatient when viewing the bad movies than Beaulieu's Crow had been. Corbett's Crow  also occasionally appeared more unhinged than Beaulieu's incarnation. For example, in episode #902 ''[[The Phantom Planet]]'' Crow dresses as a Solarite (a monster from the movie played by [[Richard Kiel]]) and explains: "Have you guys ever noticed how I'll see a movie, snap, lose control of myself, and then decide I'm one of the characters in the movie, and then go out and dress myself up that way?" (Crow having done this before in episode #820 ''[[Space Mutiny]]'' as a "Bellerian"). He is voiced by [[Hampton Yount]] in the 2017 series revival.<ref name="sn-newcast">{{cite web
  | url = http://splitsider.com/2015/11/felicia-day-baron-vaughn-and-hampton-yount-join-the-mst3k-reboot/
  | title = Felicia Day, Baron Vaughn, and Hampton Yount Join the 'MST3K' Reboot
  | publisher = [[Splitsider]]
  | access-date = 2015-03-12
  | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151124200918/http://splitsider.com/2015/11/felicia-day-baron-vaughn-and-hampton-yount-join-the-mst3k-reboot/
  | archive-date = 2015-11-24
  | url-status = unfit
  }}</ref>

Crow's accomplishments during the show's run include:

* Writing several screenplays, including ''Earth vs. Soup'' (his seminal work) (seen in ''[[Earth vs the Spider]]''), ''[[Peter Graves (actor)|Peter Graves]] at the [[University of Minnesota]]'' (''[[Beginning of the End (film)|Beginning of the End]]''), ''The Spy Who Hugged Me'' (''[[Secret Agent Super Dragon]]''), ''Chocolate Jones and the Temple of Funk'' (''[[Angels Revenge]]''), and ''Crow T. Robot's World War Space'' (''[[Starcrash]]'').  He also wrote a rather poorly researched documentary titled ''Crow T. Robot's Bram Stoker's The Civil War'', and created another called ''Let's Talk Women!'', in which he denies the existence of women (also comparing women to [[Bigfoot]]).  He also wrote a [[one man show]] titled "Robot on the Run". In the revival series, Crow creates a sitcom with Tom called ''Mad Bots'', and later he creates a parody Space Opera title ''Crow T. Robot's World War Space''.
* Being an avid member of the [[Kim Cattrall]] and [[Estelle Winwood]] fan clubs.
* Co-writing a satirical musical called ''[[Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious|Supercalifragilisticexpiali]]-wacky!''
* During the Christmas episode #321, ''[[Santa Claus Conquers the Martians]]'', he wrote a Christmas carol titled "Let's Have a [[Patrick Swayze]] Christmas", inspired by his favorite movie, ''[[Road House (1989 film)|Road House]]''.
* Though everyone aboard the SOL would like to escape, the cause is almost always the desire for freedom, not a result of the slew of terrible B-movies. But, in episode #903, ''[[The Pumaman]]'', Crow actually succumbed to the Mads' experiment. He decided this film had finally pushed him over the edge and that he could no longer stand watching the movies. He attempted to run away, hoping to find a satellite where he would be forced to watch ''good'' movies, but gave up on his escape attempt after mere seconds.
* In between segments of the movie ''Werewolf'', he unintentionally turns Mike into a "Werecrow."

In the earlier seasons of the show, he often announced "Ladies and gentlemen, ''[[Topo Gigio]]''!" in the voice of [[Ed Sullivan]].

During episode 416, ''[[Fire Maidens of Outer Space]]'', Crow acquired a double named "Timmy", to whom the trio quickly took a liking. (Timmy was actually portrayed by the black-painted Crow used for the Shadowrama in the theater.) However, the double began playing tricks on Tom Servo and Joel, who blamed Crow for the actions. He eventually joined them in the theater during the movie and attacked Tom, cocooning him in a material identical to the [[Xenomorph (Alien)|xenomorph in ''Alien'']], forcing Joel (who referenced ''[[Aliens (film)|Aliens]]'' by growling, "Let go of him, you '''''bitch'''''!") and Crow to stuff him into an airlock and blast him out of the ship and into space. Timmy's appearance was a parody of the [[evil twin]] concept.

Crow holds the distinction of being the only SOL robot to ever visit Deep 13 (although Tom Servo and Gypsy once visited the alternate-earth version and Cambot is directly connected to the Mads' camera): In episode 615, ''[[Kitten with a Whip]]'', he slid down the Umbilicus in an attempt to bring the SOL back to Earth, only to be frightened back up by Dr. Forrester (who then had Frank put a giant mousetrap beneath the Umbilicus).  In the "Turkey Day" version of episode 701, ''[[Night of the Blood Beast]]'', Crow attended the Forrester Thanksgiving dinner alongside such guests as [[Mr. B Natural]], Pitch the Devil, and others.  During this episode, Crow seems to have a friendship with [[Pearl Forrester]], who seems to enjoy his company and the fact he would listen to her complain about her inept son, Dr. Forrester.

In the theatrical film based on the series, Crow distinguishes himself early on by attempting to tunnel back to [[Earth]] using a pickaxe. Even he admits the faulty logic employed in this scheme when he examines his calculations:  "Well, look at that! 'Breach hull, all die'{{snd}}I even had it underlined!" / "Well, believe me, Mike, I calculated the odds of this succeeding versus the odds I was doing something incredibly stupid, and... I went ahead anyway."

A running joke of Crow's character throughout the series, particularly in the last few seasons of the Sci-Fi channel's running of the show, is his frequent costume changes into film characters during the host segments. Often Crow has been known to take on the appearance and sometimes the personality of one of the characters in the movie that is currently being shown, usually ending with Mike, Tom Servo, or Joel using Crow's role-playing as a plot device or setup to a joke that mocks the film even more. As previously mentioned,  this continuing effect finally was recognized by Crow himself during Episode 902, ''[[The Phantom Planet]]''.

Another recurring joke that was more prominent during the earlier seasons of the series{{snd}}dating, in fact, from the KTMA days{{snd}}was Crow's apparent inability to distinguish between different types of animal; he would joyfully cry "Kitty!" when an animal appeared on screen, regardless of whether it was at all feline, and regardless of whether it was even cute enough to elicit such a positive response.

In ''Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Comic'', Crow along with the other Bots and Jonah Heston were sent into the comics thanks to Kinga's new invention the Bubbulat-R. While Tom Servo was sent into Johnny Jason, Teen Reporter and Jonah was sent into Black Cat, Crow was sent into Horrific but then the effects of the comic started to make Crow succumb a comic disease called four-color fever and turns into a monster called "the Crow-Keeper" which eventually starts to threaten his relationship with Jonah and the other Bots and Kinga's plan in conquering comic media.

In the season 13 premiere ''[[Santo in the Treasure of Dracula]]'', Crow is given the ability to blink by Jonah.

Crow spoke the final line of dialogue when the original series ended in 1999. ("This movie looks kind of familiar doesn't it?"; Season 10 episode 13: "Diabolik")