Mystery Science Theater 3000

Mystery Science Theater 3000 (1988?1999), usually abbreviated MST3K, is a cult television comedy series created by Joel Hodgson featuring a man and his robot sidekicks supposedly trapped on a satellite in space and forced to make fun of particularly bad movies. Series creator Hodgson originally played the stranded man, Joel Robinson. When he left in 1995, series head writer Michael J. Nelson replaced him as new B-movie victim Mike Nelson, giving the show a somewhat different approach.

History of the show's run

Mystery Science Theater 3000 started with a short run on Minnesota UHF station KTMA channel 23 from November 24, 1988 to 1989. Just as it was ending this local broadcast, it became one of the first two shows picked up by the new Comedy Channel. Subsequent original episodes aired on the Comedy Channel, Comedy Central, and the Sci Fi Channel from 1989 to 1999.

Related Topics:
UHF - KTMA - November 24 - 1988 - 1989 - Comedy Channel - Original episodes - Comedy Central - Sci Fi Channel - 1999

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The show's run coincided with the growth of the Internet, and numerous fans (MSTies) devoted websites to the series. The Internet also facilitated tape-trading of previous episodes among fans, a practice the show's creators encouraged by flashing the phrase "Keep circulating the tapes!" during the closing credits of episodes ? every episode during the first four seasons, and intermittently thereafter. There were two official fan conventions in Minneapolis, run by the series' production company itself (zanily called "ConventioCon ExpoFest-A-Rama" (1994) and "ConventioCon ExpoFest-A-Rama 2: Electric Bugaloo," (1996) respectively, the second being a misspelled reference to the movie '). Some noted celebrity fans of MST3K are film director and producer Steven Spielberg, former Vice President Al Gore, Time film critic Richard Corliss and MSNBC anchor Keith Olbermann.

Related Topics:
Internet - Minneapolis - 1994 - 1996 - Steven Spielberg - Vice President - Al Gore - Time - Richard Corliss - MSNBC - Keith Olbermann

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When Joel Hodgson decided to leave the series, halfway through season five, an episode was written in which his character escaped from the S.O.L. (after being forced to sit through the Joe Don Baker movie Mitchell). Joel escaped with the help of Gypsy and Mike Nelson (a hired by Doctor Forrester to help to prepare for an audit from the Fraternal Order of Mad Science), after they discovered an escape pod (named the Deus ex Machina) in a box marked "Hamdingers". To replace Joel, Dr. Forrester sent Mike up in his place. The series head writer Michael J. Nelson played Mike from 1993 until the end of the series. Debates (sometimes heated) raged in fan forums about who was the better host for quite some time, but in more recent years a consensus has developed among the fanbase that acknowledges that each performer had his merits.

Related Topics:
Joe Don Baker - Mitchell - Mike Nelson - Deus ex Machina - Hamdingers - Michael J. Nelson - 1993

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The series first aired on local TV in the Twin Cities on KTMA-TV, a UHF station (not a cable access channel, as is sometimes reported). The station's declining fortunes forced it to cancel MST3K, but the creators used a short "best-of" reel from the KTMA shows to sell the concept to The Comedy Channel, a national cable channel that was then being created. After one season there, The Comedy Channel and rival comedy cable network "HA!" merged to become Comedy Central. It would run there for six more seasons, reigning as its "signature series" for several years, before falling out of favor with the network's management. When Comedy Central dropped the show after a shorter-than-normal seventh season, MST3Ks Internet fan-base staged a precedent-setting write-in campaign to keep the show alive. This included taking contributions from MST3K fans worldwide for a full page ad in the television trade publication Daily Variety magazine. One notable contributor to the campaign was TV Personality and Biography host Jack Perkins, who had been parodied on the series several times. Eventually this effort led the Sci Fi Channel to pick up the series, where it resumed with some cast changes. Trace Beaulieu, who played Dr. Forrester and Crow, departed the series; in his place was Mary Jo Pehl as Dr. Forrester's mother, Pearl; her sidekicks were the idiotic, Planet of the Apes-inspired Professor Bobo (played by Murphy) and the highly evolved, omniscient, yet equally idiotic Observer (AKA "Brain Guy"), played by writer Bill Corbett. Corbett also competently took over Crow's voice and puppetry. In the middle of the first season on the Sci-Fi Channel (the eighth national season overall), Mallon handed over the voice and puppetry work for Gypsy to BBI staffer Patrick Brantseg.

Related Topics:
Twin Cities - KTMA - Comedy Central - Internet - Daily Variety - Jack Perkins - Sci Fi Channel - Mary Jo Pehl - Planet of the Apes - Observer

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At first, Sci-Fi Channel officials mandated that every movie featured on the revived series had to be of a science-fiction movie (instead of the varied genres present in past shows). But by the final season this restriction seemed to be loosened, allowing movies such as Girl in Gold Boots. In any event, the network's vast library of science-fiction films provided an abundance of bad movies to "riff".

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A feature film, in which Mike and the 'bots worked over This Island Earth, was released in 1996 during the gap in the show's run between its days on Comedy Central and the Sci-Fi Channel. Unfortunately, Universal Studios invested few resources into the resultant . About two dozen of the original Comedy Central episodes have been released on VHS and DVD.

Related Topics:
This Island Earth - 1996 - Universal Studios - VHS - DVD

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The series finale premiered on August 8, 1999, although an episode produced earlier in the season was the last new episode of MST3K broadcast on September 12, 1999. MST3K continued on the Sci Fi Channel as reruns until January 31, 2004.

Related Topics:
August 8 - 1999 - September 12 - January 31 - 2004

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In the May 30th-June 5th, 2004 issue of TV Guide, a feature article listed Mystery Science Theater 3000 among the 25 Top Cult Shows Ever!:

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:" 11 - Mystery Science Theater 3000 (1989-1999)

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:A space traveler and his smart-ass robots watch and crack-wise about bombs like The Brain That Wouldn't Die and The Killer Shrews.

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:Cult-ability: Mike Nelson, writer and star (replacing creator Joel Hodgson), recently addressed a college audience: "There was nobody over the age of 25. I had to ask, 'Where are you seeing this show?' I guess we have some sort of timeless quality." (Source: TV Guide May 30th-June 5th, 2004 issue, "25 Top Cult Shows Ever!" feature article, page 32)

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Among the movies dismembered on the series are Santa Claus Conquers the Martians, ' (some consider this one to be the best of the series), five Japanese Gamera monster movies, Marooned starring Gregory Peck and Gene Hackman, and the Ed Wood film Bride of the Monster. Most of the movies were edited to make room for commercials and the sketches surrounding them, a practice which some people suspect allowed the Best Brains writers to introduce discontinuities that would render the movies all-the-more ripe for ridicule (although many such discontinuities are clearly shown in the original films or in their commercially available prints). In total there are 198 full episodes of MST3K (including the motion picture).

Related Topics:
Santa Claus Conquers the Martians - Gamera - Marooned - Gregory Peck - Gene Hackman - Ed Wood - Bride of the Monster - 198 full episodes

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Eras of MST3K:

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• KTMA era
• Joel era (Comedy Central seasons 1-4, 5 through episode 512 Mitchell)
• Mike era (Comedy Central season 5 episode 513 The Brain that Wouldn't Die to end, seasons 6-7)
• Sci Fi era (seasons 8-10)