"Mystery Science Theater 3000" (1988) TV series 1988-1999

Creator:

Joel Hodgson

Seasons:

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11

Release Date:

24 November 1988 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Sci-Fi

Tagline:

We've got movie signs!

Plot:

In the not too distant future, a man and his robots are trapped on the Satellite of love, where evil scientists force them to sit through the worst movies ever made.

Plot Keywords:

Robot | Mad Scientist | Epic | Puppet | Cult Comedy

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Primetime Emmys. Another 1 win & 10 nominations

Cast

Kevin Murphy	...	Tom Servo / ... (182 episodes, 1988-1999)
Jim Mallon	...	Gypsy / ... (143 episodes, 1989-1998)
Trace Beaulieu	...	Crow T. Robot / ... (139 episodes, 1988-1996)
Michael J. Nelson	...	Mike Nelson / ... (121 episodes, 1990-1999)
Mary Jo Pehl	...	Magic Voice / ... (120 episodes, 1992-1999)
Frank Conniff	...	TV's Frank / ... (107 episodes, 1990-1999)
Joel Hodgson	...	Joel Robinson / ... (99 episodes, 1988-1999)

Also Known As:

MST 3000 (USA) (short title)
MST3K (USA) (short title)
Mystery Science Theater 2000 (USA) (working title)
Mystery Science Theater Hour (USA) (rerun title)
Mystery Science Theatre 3000 (UK)
The Mystery Science Theater Hour (USA) (syndication title)

Runtime:

97 min (199 episodes)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White | Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Australia:M | USA:TV-14 | USA:TV-PG

Filming Locations:

Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA

Company:

Best Brains

Trivia:

The Hexfield Viewscreen's iris mechanism was originally thought of by Best Brains, but they were unable to built it. As such the first few incarnations of the Hexfield ranged from nothing at all to a window shade to a slightly more advanced window shade. However, shortly into season 2's production Jim Mallon found an add in a magazine for a person who manufactures large iris. The builder was located not too far from BBI's office and being a fan of the show he agreed to build the Hexfield for cost of materials.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: In many episodes you can hear the sound of the bots and the host turning the pages as go through their manuscripts.

Quotes:

Tom Servo: Is he a turnip that grew a face?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "The Simpsons: Who Shot Mr. Burns?: Part 1 (#6.25)" (1995)

Soundtrack:

A Patrick Swayze Christmas

Excellent! Ranks right up there with "The Simpsons" and "The Daily Show" !

For those unfortunate few who have never seen an episode of Joel Hodgson's MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000 (referred to by fans as 'MST3K'), here is a brief rundown on all the fun you've missed out on. Dr. Forrester is your typical mad scientist. He sports big glasses, an oversized lab coat, crazy hair, and an insatiable urge to take over the world. In an effort to kick off his latest foolproof world-domination scheme, Dr. Forrester abducts a dry-witted janitor named Joel Robinson from the research center they both work at. Joel is blasted into space in an apparently escape-proof ship called the Satellite of Love, forever doomed to orbit the planet Earth. Forrester keeps contact with Joel via satellite transmission, and each week sends hims an unbearably awful b-movie which he is forced to watch. The mad doctor's idea is to keep sending movies that are so mind-numbingly terrible that it will eventually drive Joel and his viewers to insanity, thus giving him an easy outlet for conquering the world. To help preserve his sanity, Joel uses parts from the ship to build four wise-cracking robot friends that keep him company and help us to avoid cinema-induced lunacy by mercilessly heckling the films.

The show aired weekly, and re-introduced old 1950s-70s era drive-in swill to a world that has long forgotten about it. The movies they chose--The Brain That Wouldn't Die, Time of the Apes, and (most notorious) Manos: The Hands of Fate, for example--were truly some of the most awful abominations in cinema history, and how they were able to find clear, working prints of these (mostly) obscure films is beyond me. Not only was it great to be able to witness some of these "masterpieces" first-hand, but the non-stop commentary by Joel, Tom, and Crow was absolutely hysterical. There was never a dull moment when those boys hit the SOL's onboard movie theater. On occasion, there would be a break from the movie to show a humorous sketch that would further the basic plot of the show. While many of these segments were admittedly not all that funny, they didn't last long, and Forrester would call for "MOVIE SIGN!" again in no time. Come to think of it, it may not even be that these primitive skits weren't funny, but that they simply paled in comparison to the sheer hilarity that took place in the ship's movie theater.

MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000 is one of the few television programs that seems to be loved by virtually everybody. Seriously--I know of not a single person who didn't like this show, nor have I ever read a single negative comment or review of it. That being said, why on Earth was such a brilliant show like MST3K canceled? It couldn't have been because of poor ratings, since the show had a huge cult following and a substantial amount of regular viewers. If anyone has any information regarding why this series was taken off the air, please contact me!