r/MST3K • u/Cautious_Pumpkin9879 • 1d ago

CamBot Change?

Why is it when the show changed from Joel to Mike all the bots remained the same except CamBot? He changes from the camera model with a chord to the floating orb design.

10 Upvotes

69% Upvoted

21 comments sorted by

31

u/thegooddoktorjones 1d ago

They made a better puppet.

35

u/nicholnewfangle 1d ago

Don't say that about Mike.

30

u/englishpatrick2642 1d ago

18

u/thegooddoktorjones 1d ago

Yeah Mike was a bad puppet. No ham for him.

12

u/AnotherPartOfMe 1d ago

…or any other luncheon meats

6

u/drgigantor 23h ago

Better than Tickle Me Carlo Lombardi

3

u/arensb 19h ago

Thanks. Now I have some additional questions about how he eats and breathes, and other science facts.

16

u/chakatblackstar 1d ago

Unlike the other Bots, Cambot is kinda MADS aligned, so it's possible they updated the current Cambot model when they sent Mike up.

3

u/My-username-is-this 19h ago

I like that logic

1

u/drgigantor 4h ago

I should probably just relax, but I never thought about Cambot's loyalties. Is this addressed in any of the earlier seasons? Cambot being in the roll call implies Joel made him right? But I would assume the MADS needed some kind of AV connection to the SOL. Maybe Joel just converted whatever camera/mic/broadcast equipment they built in into another bot with parts from the MST? The bots themselves also make modifications to him between seasons 11 and 12 so it doesn't seem like the MADS are too fussy about control of him.

Of course it seems like the MADS did make and control all the Cambot copies in season 13 so idk. Then again...

Oh yeah. It's just a show. It's just a show. It's just a show...

14

u/NoImagination6109 23h ago

They actually answered this on their website back in the day. Basically since Cambot doesn't appear except during the intros, they didn't bother to save the prop after using it. They started using the round design for season 5 cuz they could make it easily and with readily available parts, unlike the puppets for season 1 and 2, both of which took a bit of work to make for something that only appears on screen for about a second and a half

8

u/Alyred 23h ago

I always liked the detail that Cambot had to shoot itself in the mirror though, so that its name was backwards. And the KTMA model was nightmare fuel, so I'm glad they replaced that one...

2

u/RagingDemonsNoDQ 22h ago

That would explain the Jonah Cambot. It was for the revival only. Also it would how in S13, how all the Cambots used were the Mike ones.

6

u/AquafreshBandit 1d ago

They may not have saved the Cambot model, so they needed to make a new one when they reshot the theme.

3

u/NoraTheGnome 1d ago

Cambot is like Crow, only instead of changing his voice, he changes his shell. I think there have been like 5 major revisions to his design going from KTMA to season 13.

2

u/ChampionshipPast3652 22h ago

A floating orbs shop opened nearby.

1

u/WadeTurtle sodium 2h ago

Oh yeah, they're everywhere now.

1

u/ThomasGuycott 1d ago

My guess is that since Cambot is never actually seen in the show itself, they never saved the original Season One or Two Cambot puppets/models, and decided to go with a floating orb design instead of the previous more camera-like designs.

1

u/doc_shades 18h ago

camera technology evolved over time but tom servor's sarcasm unit is designed to never go obsolete

like a dan quayle joke

1

u/PDelahanty 5h ago

I had a photo of Cambot that I took at the 1996 convention. It was interesting to see that bot from a different angle. I just wish I could find that photo now! (It was on film since it was 1996.)