In the not-too-distant past…
1932 - Bob Forrester, who founded Gizmonic Institute in 1923, founded the first cinema on the moon, the Gizmoplex.
(Make up your own fake Gizmoplex history tidbits with Bob, Neil, Tyler, Charles Nelson, Clay, Lars, Frank, Pearl, Kinga, and Max!)
Mine:
1934 - The Gizmoplex premieres Maniac, the first cheesy movie ever.
1935 - After a screening of The Bride of Frankenstein where many moviegoers talked during the movie, Bob Forrester introduces a new “No Talking” policy for some reason and makes the very first Gizmoplex “Don’t Talk” PSA on cue cards, where he presented them to the screen.
1936 - Very first celebrity appearance at the Gizmoplex. Josef Forte (in character as Dr. Alfred Carroll) presented a screening of the infamous Reefer Madness.
1937 - A then-unknown jazz band called The Skeleton Crew books the Gizmoplex, and they perform music to the silent movie Metropolis.
1938 - First movie feast. The Terror of Tiny Town plus waffles.
1939 - Bob Forrester gets his hands on a film reel of the French flop The Rules of the Game, and premieres it in the Gizmoplex. Everyone booed.
1940 - Bob Forrester is cleaning out a junk drawer when he finds some pipe cleaners, glue and tin foil. He adds a banana and a hat and claims he has come up with some sort of invention but gets the feeling he should be exchanging this invention to someone… somehow.
1941 - An 18-year-old clerk named Neil (later TV’s Neil starting in 1953) joins the Gizmoplex staff. Neil used to work at White Castle.
1942 - First Waffle Theater (then named Allergy Theater with Bob and Neil) show: The Terror of Tiny Town. Advertising said “Free admission if you wear a cowboy hat!”
1943 - One of the Gizmoplex’s biggest mistakes ever, the Cannibal Plex-estival (where moviegoers actually ate human flesh) is held for the first and only time. Bob was irate and fired the employee responsible for creating it.
1944 - As an apology for the Cannibal Plex-estival, the Gizmoplex launches Wacky Wednesdays with a screening of House of Frankenstein.
1945 - Neil accidentally leaves his microphone on and talks over Fog Island, leading to the creation of Micro-Vision, where movies are dubbed over with comedic dialogue.
1946 - Humphrey Bogart surprises moviegoers by coming to the Gizmoplex during a screening of The Big Sleep. Bob and Neil didn’t even know he was coming!
1947 - Neil hosts the Neil-Fest, a marathon of all of his least favorite movies at the time.
1948 - Due to a cease-and-desist from the radio show The Allergy Playhouse, Allergy Theater was renamed Waffle Theater.
1949 - Fried pickles are introduced on the Gizmoplex menu and instantly becomes a fan-favorite.
1950 - Neil accidentally destroys the ticket booth. Bob turns the former ticket booth into the Gizmo-Store, a merchandise shop that eventually developed into the GizMondo we know today.
1951 - Mozzarella-Fest is born. Bob always wanted to create a film festival for cheesy movies.
1952 - The Gizmonic Film Archive is founded.
1953 - Before he got banned, Ed Wood delivers a 15mm of Glen or Glenda for a surprise world premiere as the closing night film of Mozzarella-Fest.
1954 - TV’s Neil curates a double feature: Maniac and Robot Monster.
1955 - The Gizmoplex launches Terror Tuesdays (later Terror Thursdays): Revenge of the Creature
1956 - The Gizmoplex launches a movie magazine called GizMania.
1957 - Ed Wood banned from the Gizmoplex
1958 - Bob Forrester opens a lobby bar near the Gizmoplex.
1959 - A chef designed and baked 200 special cookies for a screening of Anatomy of a Murder.
1960 - Alfred Hitchcock surprised an audience with an unannounced appearance at a screening of Psycho.
1961 - Bob promises to show 101 Dalmations in the Gizmoplex for his Granddaughter Pearl’s first birthday, but he can only get the rights to show Davey and Goliath.
1962 - Neil debuts a new popcorn flavor in honor of Lawrence of Arabia winning 7 Academy Awards.
1963 - Sand flavored popcorn is discontinued in honor of settling the lawsuit against it for sand being inedible.
1964 - Droppo drops in for a surprise visit during the Gizmoplex X-Mass marathon screening of Santa Claus Conquers the Martians.
1965 - Bob Forrester passes away. His son Tyler takes over the Gizmoplex.
1966 - Manos: The Hands of Fate premieres at the Gizmoplex.
1967 - Thanks to the success of the Manos vinyl LP, Neil renames the Gizmo-Store to GizMondo, and starts making movie-related collectibles.
1968 - Tyler Forrester reenacts the Rules of the Game incident when the Gizmoplex shows the Italian flop A Place for Lovers.
1969 - The Gizmoplex launches their annual celebration of Neil’s birthday with a 24-hour “Neil-a-Thon”, showing his favorite and least favorite movies.
1970 - Terror Tuesdays is renamed to Terror Thursdays, thanks to Neil mishearing it as the latter.
1971 - Blood Waters of Dr. Z art prints suddenly become a bestseller for GizMondo.
1972 - Neil starts the Gizmoplex Kid’s Club and introduces the Gizmoplex Summer Movie Treehouse, where kids movies are shown throughout the summer.
1973 - The first annual GizMondoCon is held. It focuses on the art and artists behind GizMondo’s posters and other collectibles. It also offers exclusive items, panels and screenings with filmmakers and artists.
1974 - Neil creates the Gizmonic Mystery Movie, an infrequent event where the movie is unknown until it’s played. Admission usually includes a poster.
1975 - Richard Kiel shows up for a surprise visit during a screening of Jaws.
1976 - The Gizmoplex starts their annual showing of The Rocky Horror Picture Show during the Halloween season.
1977 - GizMondo’s Star Wars art prints quickly sell out. After Elvis died, the Gizmoplex played a marathon of all of his movies.
1978 - The Gizmoplex introduces Video Vault, a VHS (and later Laserdisc, DVD and Blu-Ray) store next to GizMondo.
That was in 1963.
They have been known to be wrong, but…
Anyway, back to the topic at hand:
1979 - Tyler Forrester wanders down the wrong hallway, and tragically mistakes an airlock for the Men’s Room. His brother Charles Nelson Forrester takes his place.
1980 - Terror Thursdays is moved to Mondays, but the name is not changed to avoid confusing regular attendees.
1981 - Relatively unknown actor Bruce Campbell is ejected from the Gizmoplex during a showing of The Evil Dead for selling black market Sam Rami autographs.
1982 - Charles Nelson Forrester is featured in LIFE Magazine as the shrewd and powerful owner of the highest grossing theater on the Moon.
1983 - Neil orders GizMondo to bury hundreds of thousands of ET Snowglobes on the dark side of the Moon during the Great Snowglobe Crash of 1983.
1984 - GizMondo is sold off by the Gizmonic Institute after a disastrous financial year.
1985 - Neil is demoted to fry cook, and then fired by Charles Nelson Forrester for failing to keep the fryers clean.
1986 - Neil dies alone and penniless in a shack just outside of Minneapolis after losing multiple lawsuits.
1987 - New 18 year-old Gizmoplex clerk, Steve, claims to be the son of TVs Neil and demands that he be allowed to show his least favorite movies.
1988 - Blood tests prove that Steve is not Neil’s son, but actually his third cousin twice removed. They start calling him TVs Steve anyway.
1989 - Charles Nelson Forrester and TV’s Steve pass ownership of the Gizmoplex and Gizmonic Institute to Clayton Forrester and Laurence Erhardt.
All I can think of when I hear Bob Forrester is Bob Forrest the guy from Thelonious Monster…
But, yeah, sure, I could see him as a Mad…
And Lord knows you don’t mess around with CNF. I heard he can unhinge his jaw and swallow a Volkswagen whole!
Totally looks like a mad to me.
Anyway, back to the topic.
It was originally owned by a group of six small children who regularly participated in orgies only amongst themselves. They gained their movie knowledge by ingesting the liquid movies
In 1972, a crack commando unit was sent to prison by a military court for a crime they didn’t commit. These people promptly escaped from a maximum security stockade to the Lunar underground. Today, still wanted by the government they survive as soldiers of fortune. If you have a problem, if no one else can help, and if you can find them…maybe you can hire The Boneheads.
The Masked Ridiculousness was the first person to demonocle anyone’s mind. He was later Clayton Forrester’s Film Science professor
Wrong! You have to make history based on my history! With Bob, Neil, Tyler, Charles Nelson, Clay, Lars, Frank, Pearl, Kinga, and Max!
The former GizMondo was renamed as G/M Collectibles, but was sold back to the Gizmonic Institute after moviegoers complained, and was renamed back to GizMondo.
My way:
1979 - Tyler Forrester is fired from the Gizmoplex after an incident during a Waffle Theater show. Charles Nelson Forrester takes his place. Alien action figures become a hit for GizMondo.
1980 - The Gizmoplex premieres Can’t Stop The Music followed by a Village People concert (featuring Neil for some reason on kazoo)
1981 - Miles O‘Keeffe makes an unannounced appearance at a screening of Tarzan, The Ape Man. Bruce Campbell is accidentally banned from the Gizmoplex during a showing of The Evil Dead because a Bruce Campbell impersonator who made inappropriate comments was mistaken for the real Bruce. The real Bruce is unbanned two days later.
1982 - Neil introduces the cult classic menu item Spicy Fried Pickles. GizMondo’s E.T. collectibles suddenly become one of 1982’s biggest fads. The Gizmoplex Kids Club introduces their mascot Peter Popcorn.
1983 - Charles Nelson Forrester introduces the Time Bubble, a sound system involving plastic spherical bubbles (that moviegoers would get into) that “will make you feel like you’re watching a movie underwater!” The first movie to be presented with this technology was WarGames. Neil orders GizMondo to bury hundreds of thousands of E.T. Snowglobes on the dark side of the Moon during the Great Snowglobe Crash of 1983.
1984 - Gizmonic Institute plans to sell off GizMondo after a disastrous financial year, but after Dune art prints, statues and vinyl records from GizMondo become huge sellers, they keep GizMondo.
1985 - GizMondo’s second biggest hit, Back to the Future collectibles. 6-year-old Kinga Forrester curates a marathon of her favorite movies.
1986 - To capitalize on the success of Garbage Pail Kids cards and Madballs, GizMondo introduces the second biggest fad of 1986, the GizMondoids, which were aliens trying to imitate popular characters. Neil dies alone and penniless in a shack just outside of Minneapolis after losing multiple lawsuits.
1987 - A second wave of GizMondoids. GizMondo releases their biggest failure yet, The Garbage Pail Kids Movie collectibles. GPK merchandise and sticker trading cards are also sold by GizMondo, even though they didn’t make them.
1988 - A third wave of GizMondoids. McDonald’s collaborates with the Gizmoplex to serve McDonald’s food during showings of Mac and Me. Ronald McDonald would also come to entertain kids at Gizmoplex birthday parties.