To do in LA this weekend: MST3K's Joel Hodgson at Cinefamily (plus: new 4-DVD MST3K box set)

If you're in Los Angeles this weekend, don't miss this special event at Cinefamily: Joel Hodgson, creator of Mystery Science Theater 3000 and Cinematic Titanic, giving "what basically amounts to our dream version of a TED talk," according to Cinefamily's Hadrian Belove.

" It's going to be an incredible evening of stories and surprises: Joel will wax poetic about his forays into the depths of B-movie insanity, his search for the ultimate ventriloquist dummy (and how that dummy became the inspiration for both "Tom Servo" and "Crow"), the origin story of MST3K and the crazy array of TV pilots he's been involved in over the years," Hadrian says.

"Plus, he's capping it all off with a screening of the MST3K version of Santa Claus Conquers The Martians! It's going to be a very weird, very special night."

2 nights only: Friday and Saturday, Dec. 7-8.

And whether or not you're able to go to the event, check out the new Mystery Science Theater 3000: XXV, a four-DVD set just released on Dec. 4 2012, "featuring a quartet of previously unreleased experiments from the critically acclaimed cult comedy series' lengthy small-screen run."