It’s hard to mingle in cult circles and avoid any mentions or conversations about Mystery Science Theater 3000 (MST3K). It’s also hard to avoid “The Rash” that will be spread by merely being in close quarters with such folk.

To the uninitiated, it sounds like a scary converted opera house where unsuspecting friends are taken and brainwashed into loving the sorts of movies we crow (heh) about. But once you take two seconds to explain — “It’s pretty much a show where some guys make fun of bad movies while they watch them” — a light bulb goes on and there’s an instant connection. MST3K is something we all have been doing for years. It’s a coping mechanism. Despite what we think, however, we’re nowhere near as clever or funny as the crew of the Satellite of Love, and it’s really in our best interests to leave it to the professionals.

Over the decade that MRFH has been chugging along, we’ve repeatedly shown great MST3K love and pride. Was it coincidence that MST3K: The Movie came out about the time when MRFH got started? Of course it was.

But MST3K has impacted our site and many of our readers’ lives with the shared bad movie experiences that we’ve all had. “To MST3K” something is an accepted verb meaning to riff on a stinker of a movie — our Mutant Viewings are more or less our attempts to MST3K some of these offenders. MST3K entered our lexicon by bringing to our attention many notorious bad films that were previously on the fringe (such as Manos: The Hands of Fate), making pop culture icons out of robots Crow and Tom Servo, and infecting our vocabulary with nonsensical words and quotes like “HI-KEEBA!”.

It’s probably far past time that we offered up a tribute to this terrific show, from one cult geek to another. If you’re unfamiliar with the show, consider this the first free dose to get you addicted — the rest of your hits are gonna cost you.

MST3K: The Concept

Mystery Science Theater 3000 was a television show that ran for 10 seasons on various networks, including Comedy Central and the SciFi channel. It was basically a forum for a group of comedy writers to mock some of the worst, lamest and goofiest films ever made (like the movies we like). The basic premise is this: a human (first Joel, who was later replaced by Mike) was kidnapped and put on the Satellite of Love (SoL) orbiting earth. The SoL had three sections: a living section where the human would play and live, a connecting corridor, and a large movie theater at the other end. Joel and Mike found themselves at the mercy of the Mad Scientists (“The Mads”) to watch said atrocious films to see what would happen (which is why the shows are called “experiments”).

To keep his sanity, Joel built four robots to keep him company. Gypsy runs the ship, Cambot videotapes all the action, and Tom and Crow join the human in the screening room to riff on films. The parts he used for these ‘bots caused him to lose other functions of the Satellite of Love, such as controlling when the film would begin or end (they were at the mercy of large sirens that would send them scrambling back to the theater).

We, the audience, view the black silhouettes of Joel/Mike, Tom (the short, bulbous robot) and Crow (the bird-looking one) sitting in their movie seats, in front of a large screen where the movie plays. And that’s basically it. The crew makes around 700 jokes per movie, which have included everything from horror to scifi to PSA films (“shorts”).

The first time viewer might find the show’s production values — which were minimal and done on a stage in Minnesota — almost laughable. Once you “got it”, that the makers of MST3K were intentionally doing a hokey show with dumb acting and sets, the whole ball of cheese got to be far more enjoyable. Between the movie segments, the crew of the SoL would engage in inventions, games, contests, skits and songs relating to the film itself. Some of these were dumb and boring, some brilliant and part of the MST3K lore.

As the show progressed from a local cable channel to Comedy Central, a grassroots movement of MST3K fans called Misties spread the joy of Tom and Crow through word-of-mouth.

One of the unique challenges to the show growth was the movies it used. Since Comedy Central and SciFi would have to pay royalties for each movie shown, each time it broadcasted (since they never owned most of those films), the movies selected had to be more out-of-the-way oldies, and some of the more expensive movies caused certain episodes to be shown only once in a great while. As a counter to that, MST3K itself urged fans to videotape the show and share the tapes amongst friends. To this day, there are several DVDs of MST3K shows, but no complete seasons available.

It really was a tremendous show, and there’s a good reason fans are so, well, fanatical about it.

MST3K: The Cast

One of the things we most love about MST3K is that this is as far from a Hollywood production as you could get. Instead, it really was a show made by fairly normal people who were mostly friends, in a fairly ordinary place in Minnesota. As time went by, various cast and crew members left and joined the show, which resulted in an eventual 100% turnover by the show’s end (none of the original cast made it all 10+ years, although Kevin Murphy sure came close). This also meant that many people had double or triple duties: writing, acting and voicing the robots. So let’s meet the cast of the SoL and the Mads!

Joel (Joel Hodgson): The sleepy-faced original human thrown into space by the Mads. As an inventor, Joel created the ‘bots, gave them free will personalities (to his sometimes-chagrin), and would often kick off the show with an invention contest against the Mads. As a movie watcher, Joel was well-known for his dead-pan delivery. His tour of duty lasted from 1988 to 1993 (episode #513), when he escaped back to earth in a discovered escape capsule. He returned for one episode of the last season. ”Uh, genocide has a ‘C’ in it.”

Mike (Mike Nelson): Mike, a temp worker, was hastily cast into space as Joel’s replacement for the remainder of the series. Mike brought a different style (so much so that the show is often split into the “Joel era” and the “Mike era”), as an everyday kinda Joe who couldn’t act much, but was funny nonetheless. He’s more aggressive and enjoys a sparring relationship with the bots. Eventually, Mike and the bots made it back to earth. ”And the plot thinnens.”

Tom Servo (Josh Weinstein and Kevin Murphy): Tom Servo is the robot who looks like a bubblegum machine with a skirt. He was voiced by Weinstein through the first season, but got a “voice adjustment” and Murphy stepped into the role and made it his. Servo loves to sing, make grand speeches, and is quite the cynic. ”If you only see 10,000 movies this year, make sure this isn’t one of them.”

Crow T. Robot (Trace Beaulieu and Bill Corbett): The wisecracking mischief-maker, Crow was the golden ‘bot with a crown that looked a bit like a lacrosse stick. He treated the human’s safety as irrelevant, was a member of the Kim Cattrall fan club, and wrote many books and musicals. Crow attacked films mercilessly. ”She undercut the subtle nuance of my wiener joke.”

Gypsy (Josh Weinstein, Jim Mallon and Patrick Brantseg): Gypsy is the large vacuum cleaner-ish robot who operates the satellite. Because her brain is tied up in this task, she talks like a dim-witted child. She did join the other guys in the theater for one episode. Gypsy eventually becomes a media mogul back on earth. ”Remember, my gumball-headed young friend…”
Cambot: The fourth, and almost-never seen robot. Cambot is the lens through which we view the show, including external views of the SoL. The only time Cambot is really seen is during the opening credits, when Cambot films itself through a mirror for the roll call.

Magic Voice: The magical (sort of) voice that announces various things in the SoL, such as commercial time.

Doctor Clayton Forrester (Trace Beaulieu): The head mad scientist (“Mads”) who devised the whole SoL scheme as an evil experiment. Forrester dresses in green garb with wild hair, and gleefully lives to torment the crew of the SoL. He first operates out of the Gizmonic Institute, but later moves his schemes to “Deep 13”, located somewhere far underground. Forrester’s last appearance was during episode #706, when his funding was cut, and he disconnects the SoL from earth into space. Forrester is reborn as a star child (2001: A Space Odyssey) and utters the final (oft-repeated) phrase, “Oh, poopie.”

Dr. Laurence Erhardt (Josh Weinstein): Dr. Forrester’s first assistant, who went missing after season one. He was well-known for his ad-libbing.

TV’s Frank (Frank Conniff): The second assistant to Dr. F, TV’s Frank was a previous Arby’s crewmember who received the high calling of professional insanity. As Dr. F was crazy and power-mad, Frank was the dumb-witted butt of his jokes (while occasionally coming out ahead). He lasted from the second season until episode #624, where he was taken up into Second-Banana Heaven (yet reappeared for a season 10 episode along with Joel). ”What do you *want* from us? We’re *evil*. Evil!”

Mrs. Pearl Forrester (Mary Jo Pehl): Once Dr. F left the show, only his mother could assume the position of the lead antagonist of the SoL. She moved in during season 7, and by season 8 was the head honcho of the Mads. Her saga involved a lot of time traveling, Planet of the Apes revivals, and Castle Forrester. Her two assistants were Professor Bobo (Kevin Murphy) and Brain Guy (Bill Corbett). ”Is it ME? Am I a MAGNET for these idiots?”

MST3K original timeline

1988

In August, Jim Mallon met with Joel Hodgson to discuss an idea for a TV show to fill up a 2-hour time slot on Sunday evenings. Thus, on November 24, Mystery Science Theater 3000 premiered as a local program on KTMA-TV in the Twin Cities. The episode was “Invaders of the Deep”, and kicked off a 21-episode season (plus an unaired pilot), that would become known as the KTMA season. Generally, it’s agreed by the cast and any viewers that this season was “rough”, to put it kindly, and no official effort’s been made to rebroadcast any of these episodes. The look of the show was far more crude, only a handful of the main cast and crew were present for its run, and most of these shows aren’t considered “canon”. It would be cancelled the following May.

1989

Using a “best of” tape compiled from the KTMA shows, MST3K’s creators pitched this to Comedy Channel (which would become Comedy Central) and was picked up by the station for its official first season. MST3K would go on to become Comedy Central’s biggest show for many years, before a nasty fallout with the station.

Season 1 (1989-90) began with the experiment “The Crawling Eye” (#101), and produced 13 episodes. It had MST3K staples Trace Beaulieu (Crow and Dr. Forrester), Joel Hodgson, and Jim Mallon (Gypsy). Josh Weinstein, who did Dr. Erhardt and Tom Servo, left after the first season due to being upset that the show was becoming more scripted and less ad-libbed.

1990

On the struggling Comedy Channel, MST3K’s future was in doubt, but with the help of a write-in campaign and fairly positive reviews, it was renewed. As MST3K barreled into its second 13-episode season (1990-91), Kevin Murphy came on the show as Tom Servo’s “new voice”, along with a new Mad, TV’s Frank (Frank Conniff).

On labor day (9/1/90), Comedy Channel did a 24-hour marathon of MST3K, showing many of the first season episodes back to back (to back to back to you get the idea). Although the staff situation was shaky in the first couple years, it started to smooth out at this point. It helped that critics and audiences had started to discover — and praise — the show in increasing numbers. The show itself ended with a command instructing viewers to “Keep Circulating The Tapes”, founding a grassroots movement to draw in new Misties.

The sets received more budget love and detail, most notably being the hexfield viewscreen (where guest stars, such as Mike Nelson, could show up to chat with the SOL crew).

HBO (who owned The Comedy Channel) gave MST3K a three-year contract at this point.

1991

MST3K began its third season (1991-92), with its largest run yet: 24 episodes. The Comedy Channel merged with HA! channel to become Comedy Central as of April Fool’s Day that year. There were also talks about a possible MST3K movie.

The rate of jokes on the show had increased from a couple hundred per episode to around 750. Nine movies used in the KTMA days were reused to form new episodes. A 30-hour MST3K marathon ran around Thanksgiving with special promos and new bits.

1992
Season 4 (1992-93) concluded with MST3K’s most infamous experiment, “Manos: The Hands of Fate”. The MST3K crew came to an understanding with Comedy Central not to air any season one episodes any longer (due to the vast changes in the show since then).

On July 10, one of the boldest MST3K experiments occurred: “Mystery Science Theater Alive!”, a live theater show at the Uptown Theatre in Minneapolis, in which a movie would be shown and the cast would perform their roles riffing on the film.

1993

As season 5 (1993-94) aired, Comedy Central decided to repackage several MST3K episodes in a “Mystery Science Theater Hour” format, splitting one episode into two one-hour shows hosted by a very disguised Mike Nelson.

During this season, Joel leaves the show (“It’s time for me to hang up my red jumpsuit and move behind the camera,” he said) and was replaced by Mike. This sparked a great internet flame war between Misties, over who was better: Joel or Mike. We now know the answer: shut up.

While the show was doing well, fans and the MST3K crew were upset that Comedy Central kept fiddling with the show, such as adding unnecessary voice-overs by Penn Jillette, that detracted from the quality. By the end of 1993, CC agreed to stop the voice-overs. However, there were still problems with CC showing their logo over Crow, and adding an advertising scroll across the bottom of the show.

1994

Season 6 (1994-95). This season sees the only time that Dr. Forrester and TV’s Frank would go into the theater and riff on a movie (episode #611). Sadly, TV’s Frank leaves the show after this season. It also looked like the show might end, as season six closed without a continuing contract.

MST3K received its first major award this year: the 1993 George Foster Peabody award for Outstanding Individual Achievement in Writing for a Variety or Music Program. Later that year, they held the 1994 ConventioCon ExpoFest-A-Rama to the joy of thousands of fans.

1995

Tradewinds Television options MST3K for syndication. That March, the SOL crew hosted “The MST3K Little Gold Statue Preview Special”, their sarcastic and witty way to bookend the Academy Awards. While there were no new episodes for the rest of the year, MST3K continued to pop up in various specials with new material (such as the Thanksgiving Day marathon). Fears grew that Comedy Central was not going to renew the show for the 7th season. However, CC did relent to some intense fan pressure and negotiations, and agreed to let MST3K shoot a partial 7th season.

Following the sixth season, Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie was shot during March and April for a budget under $2 million.

1996

Season 7 (1996) aired only 6 episodes (instead of the 24 standard eps that were done per seasons 3-5). After a series of disputes, Comedy Central dropped the show like a dead crow, and MST3K fans launched a large-scale campaign to keep the show going (it was one of the first such internet campaigns).

The Amazing Colossal Episode Guide, covering seasons 1-6, was released (and is well worth a read). Trace Beaulieu (Crow and Dr. Forrester) left the show after this season and the movie.

Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie arrives in theaters with the tagline “Every year Hollywood makes hundreds of movies. This is one of them.” It received fairly positive reviews (USA Today said, “From the opening spoof of 2001: A Space Odyssey to the end-credit yuks, MST3K:TM seizes your funny bone like a rabid mongoose and never lets go.”), but failed to do anything major in box office grosses.

Happily, in June, the SciFi channel signed a contract to pick up MST3K for 13 episodes starting the next year. The only downside to this was the lost of Trace Beaulieu and the fact that no CC-era shows could be shown on SciFi.

1997

Season 8 (1997) premieres on SciFi, with vast changes to the show’s cast, look and story. Crow is played by Bill Corbett, and Jim Mallon gives up the role of Gypsy. At this point, the entire original cast had been entirely replaced. SciFi extends the run of the season for a total of 22 episodes.

MST3K lost their final Cable ACE award (they had been nominated, and lost, every year from 1992-97).

1998

Season 9 (1998) kicked off with 13 episodes, but does not pick up the option for the other 9. The MST3K crew once again does an Academy Awards special, this time called “MST3K’s Academy of Robots’ Choice Awards Special”. Later that summer, they would broadcast “The Second Annual Mystery Science Theater 3000 Summer Blockbuster Review”, riffing on, well, you’re not stupid. Figure it out.

MST3K celebrated its 10-year anniversary, counting the debut on KTMA. Toward the end of 1998, SciFi appeared to neglect the show’s promotion and casting doubts on its future.

1999

Early in 1999, news came that SciFi would be letting MST3K die after its 10th season run. Fans began yet another campaign to save the show, but this time it was in vain. Oh, the humanity! The filming wrapped up early in the year, and the MST3K studio closed.

Season 10 (1999), MST3K’s final season, airs with just 13 episodes. In episode #1001, Joel returned, along with TV’s Frank. On August 8, episode #1013 airs as the series finale. The final show sees Mike and the ‘bots returning to earth… to sit in front of a TV and watch a movie called “The Crawling Eye”.

Total shows, including the KTMA season, stand at 199.