Mystery Science Theater 3000
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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 who are trapped on a satellite in space and forced to watch particularly bad movies. Series creator Hodgson originally played the stranded man, Joel Robinson. When he left in 1993, series head writer Michael J. Nelson replaced him as new B-movie victim Mike Nelson, and continued in the role for the rest of the show's run.
The format proved to be popular. During its eleven years and 198 episodes (including one feature film), MST3K attained a fiercely loyal fan base, and much critical acclaim. The series also garnered a Peabody Award in 1993.
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Premise
Two mad scientists, Dr. Clayton Forrester, played by Trace Beaulieu, and his sidekick Dr. Laurence Erhardt, played by Josh Weinstein, launch Joel Robinson (Hodgson), a janitor working for the Gizmonics Institute, into space and force him to watch truly horrible B-movies. They do this in order to measure how much bad movie-making it takes to drive a person crazy, and to pinpoint the perfect B-movie to use as a weapon in Dr. Forrester's scheme of world domination. (The sycophantic TV's Frank, played by Frank Conniff, replaced Dr. Erhardt in the second season premiere following Weinstein's departure from the series.)
Image:GypsyMST3K.JPG Trapped on board the Satellite of Love (S.O.L.) — a reference to a Lou Reed song — Joel builds the robots that populate the ship (ostensibly because he is lonely, and as a homage to the 1970s film Silent Running). The robots are Tom Servo (voiced first by Weinstein, then by Kevin Murphy) and Crow T. Robot (voiced first by Beaulieu, then by Bill Corbett), who accompany Joel in the screening room; Gypsy (voiced first by Weinstein, inhaling as he spoke, then by Jim Mallon and later by Patrick Brantseg, both using a falsetto voice), who does not appear in every episode but handles the "higher functions" of the S.O.L. (such as steering the ship); and Cambot, the recorder of the experiments who is visible only during the opening credits and occasionally interacts with the others. Also making intermittent "appearances" in the show's early years is Magic Voice, a disembodied female voice whose primary role is to announce the start of the first commercial break in each episode.
Joel has no control over when the movies start, for, as the theme song states, "he used those special parts to make his robot friends". He must enter the theater when "Movie Sign" flashes, though, as Dr. Forrester has numerous ways to punish Joel for non-compliance (including shutting off all oxygen to the rest of the ship and electric shocks). As the movies play, the silhouettes of Joel, Tom, and Crow are visible at the bottom of the screen, wisecracking and mocking the movie (a practice they often referred to as "riffing") to prevent themselves from being driven mad.
Just before or after commercial breaks, Joel (and later, Mike) and the bots sometimes perform skits, songs, or other short sketch pieces (called "host segments") that are often related to the movie they are watching. These segments sometimes even feature "visits" by prominent characters from the movie, such as Torgo from Manos: The Hands of Fate. But before too much frivolity can transpire, the "movie sign" lights flash, signaling the resumption of the movie.
Many episodes also include screenings of unintentionally hilarious short films or "shorts" — including propaganda-style films from the 1950s — such as a training film for Chevrolet sales managers, and films intended to teach children about posture or personal hygiene. These are less frequent in later episodes.
History
Mystery Science Theater 3000 first aired on local TV in the Twin Cities on KTMA-TV, a UHF station (not a cable access channel, as is sometimes reported, but an over-the-air station that continues to exist today as KMWB-TV) from November 24, 1988 to May 1989. The station's declining fortunes forced it to cancel MST3K, but just as its run was ending, the creators used a short "best-of" reel to pitch the concept to executives at the Comedy Channel, a national cable channel that was then being created. It became one of the first two shows picked up by it. After two seasons there, the Comedy Channel and rival comedy cable network HA! merged to become Comedy Central. It would run there for five 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, MST3K's 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, whom Nelson had impersonated on the series several times.) This effort led the Sci Fi Channel to pick up the series, where it resumed with some cast changes and ran for three more seasons. 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. Reruns continued on the Sci Fi Channel until January 31, 2004. In total there were 198 full episodes of MST3K.
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 seasons 2, 3, and 4. Before season 5 started, lawyers alerted them that the phrase may constitute a support of piracy.
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), the second being a misspelled reference to the movie Breakin' 2: Electric Boogaloo). Some noted celebrity fans of MST3K are film director and producer Steven Spielberg, writer-director Paul Schrader, former Vice President Al Gore, Time film critic Richard Corliss, singer/songwriter "Weird Al" Yankovic, actor Emilio Estevez, and MSNBC anchor Keith Olbermann.
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 temp worker 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.
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 seasons 6 and 7 (which explains the absence of both TV's Frank and Pearl Forrester). Unfortunately, Universal Studios invested few resources into the resultant Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie. The film was never given wide release, instead playing for a limited time in different cities and then moving to another city. The result was that many fans did not even know it had been released.
Before the series moved to the Sci Fi Channel, Trace Beaulieu, who played Dr. Forrester and Crow, departed the series. Mary Jo Pehl took over the lead "Mad" role 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, supposedly 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.
At first, Sci-Fi Channel officials mandated that every movie featured on the revived series had to fit within the channel's broad definition of science-fiction (which included horror and fantasy), 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, and the Joe Don Baker film Final Justice. In any event, the network's vast library of science-fiction films provided an abundance of bad movies to "riff".
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!:
- " 11 - Mystery Science Theater 3000 (1989-1999)
- 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.
- 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)
Among the more notable movies dismembered on the series are the infamous Manos: The Hands of Fate (considered by many to be one of the worst movies ever made), Santa Claus Conquers the Martians, five Japanese Gamera monster movies, Red Zone Cuba starring John Carradine and Coleman Francis, Marooned starring Gregory Peck and Gene Hackman, Mitchell, Prince of Space, 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).
Eras of MST3K:
- 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)
Alternatively, some view the KTMA era and the first Comedy Central season as a separate era ("the Beginnings"), when the series was still experimenting with its form. The departure of Josh Weinstein, who portrayed both Dr. Erhardt and Tom Servo, marked the end of this early phase of the show's development. At the start of season 2, Frank Conniff replaced Weinstein as the new Mad sidekick, TV's Frank, a character which would remain until season 6. At this point, Kevin Murphy took over as the voice of Tom Servo, a role Murphy played for the rest of the series. Furthermore, by the start of season 2, the Deep 13 and Satellite of Love sets took on the form that they would have for the rest of the series' run on Comedy Central.
DVD
Since the show has been off the air since 2004 (and there have been no signs of it coming back), much of MST3K's loyal fanbase rely on DVD releases by Rhino. There have been 10 various releases of single movies (one episode, featuring the movie Beginning of the End, was recently discontinued due to rights issues), along with 8 "Collection" sets of the show. Collection sets consist of 4 movies and/or "shorts" DVDs each, and each set may contain movies from any era. There is also an Essentials collection, containing two movies (the previously released Manos: The Hands of Fate and fan favorite Santa Claus Conquers the Martians) and a shorts collection (only available when ordered directly from Rhino). The feature film Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie was released on VHS and DVD in 1998, but the DVD version offered no special features or deleted scenes and was withdrawn from the market in 2000. A fan-produced special edition was released in 2003 containing deleted scenes, trailers and other bonus features. Copies of the discontinued official release sometimes sell on eBay or Amazon.com for upwards of $100.
Recently, some fans have expressed anger and disappointment in Rhino Home Video, due to glitches on discs in Collection Volumes 7 and 8. In one of these cases, Rhino officially announced that the errors were from the original analog master tape and could not be fixed. Fans wonder why Rhino would release a DVD knowing it suffered highly noticeble audio and video errors without mentioning the problems earlier, and note that Rhino could have tried to obtain a broadcast copy without said problems or released another episode instead. Rhino responded to these complaints by stating that choosing another film would result in another lengthy process of rights negotiation, further delaying the set's release.
The cast
"The guys"
- Joel Robinson — Joel Hodgson (1988–1993)
- Mike Nelson — Michael J. Nelson (1993–1999)
- Crow T. Robot — voice and puppetry by Trace Beaulieu (1988–1996), Bill Corbett (1997–1999)
- Tom Servo — voice and puppetry by Josh Weinstein (1988–1990), Kevin Murphy (1990–1999)
- Gypsy — voice and puppetry by Josh Weinstein (1988–1989), Jim Mallon (1989–1997), Patrick Brantseg (1997–1999)
- Cambot — Apparently voiced one time only by Kevin Murphy
- Magic Voice — variously voiced; but as of Season 4 was consistently (more or less) voiced by Mary Jo Pehl. Prop Mistress Beth "Beez" McKeever provided the voice for its two Sci Fi era "appearances".
"The Mads"
- Dr. Clayton Forrester — Trace Beaulieu (1988–1996)
- Dr. Laurence Erhardt — Josh Weinstein (1988–1990)
- TV's Frank — Frank Conniff (1990–1995)
- Mrs. Pearl Forrester — Mary Jo Pehl (1995–1999)
- Professor Bobo — Kevin Murphy (1997–1999)
- Observer ("Brain Guy") — Bill Corbett (1997–1999)
Recurring guest characters
- Jack Perkins (Michael J. Nelson) — in real life the host of the A&E Network's Biography program, Perkins first appeared in MST3K simply to annoy the Mads by describing the movie with glowing praise. When MST3K appeared in syndication as The Mystery Science Hour, Nelson's fake "Jack Perkins" hosted the show.
- Jan-in-the-Pan (Mary Jo Pehl) — a woman's severed head from the movie The Brain That Wouldn't Die.
- Jerry and Sylvia (various actors) — two "mole people" from the movie The Mole People (featured much later as a Season 8 episode) who occasionally assisted the Mads and stopped by for social events. Presumably named after Sylvia and Gerry Anderson, the creative team behind Space: 1999 and Supermarionation shows like Thunderbirds and Stingray, some of which were featured as KTMA-season episodes.
- "Krankor" (Bill Corbett) — a pudgy, vain, would-be conqueror with an unfortunately chicken-like appearance and a drawn-out, braying laugh, "Krankor" (technically, "The Phantom", dictator of the planet "Krankor" in the movie Prince of Space) appeared in a host segment when MST3K riffed Prince of Space, and returned three episodes later in a host segment for Invasion of the Neptune Men, a movie with a similar plot.
- The Nanites — Self replicating, bio-engineered organisms that work on the ship. They are microscopic creatures that reside in the S.O.L.'s computer systems. The Nanites made their first appearance in season 8. Based on the concept of nanotechnology, their comical deus ex machina activities included such diverse tasks as instant repair and construction, hairstyling, performing a Nanite variation of a flea circus, conducting a microscopic war, and even destroying the Observers' planet after a dangerously vague request from Mike to "take care of [a] little problem".
- Ortega (Paul Chaplin) — an unintelligible, decrepit, cigar-smoking henchman from the movie The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies, Ortega recurred probably more frequently in the three Sci Fi seasons than any other "guest character", perhaps because of his similarities to Torgo.
- Pitch (Paul Chaplin) — a devil from the Mexican movie Santa Claus, Pitch was one of the only characters from the Comedy Central seasons to return in the Sci Fi Channel seasons.
- Torgo (Michael J. Nelson) — a rebellious monster henchman (bad knees) in Manos: The Hands of Fate, Torgo was among the most frequently returning "guest characters" of MST3K. He got his knees fixed and accompanied TV's Frank to sidekick heaven and was never seen again (episode 624 Samson vs. the Vampire Women).
- Pearl Forrester (Mary Jo Pehl) — Dr. Forrester's horrible mother appeared once in season six (episode 607 Bloodlust). The character returned in season seven as a replacement for TV's Frank (Frank Conniff), and then became the main villain in the Sci Fi era. This is the only time a guest star was made into a regular character. (Professor Bobo and Observer were added as regulars from their initial appearances.)
- MST3K has only had two non-staffers make guest appearances on the show: Minnesota Viking Robert Smith (as "Howard" in episode 803 The Mole People) and film critic Leonard Maltin (as himself in episode 909 Gorgo). All other guest appearances were filled by a Best Brains crew member or a regular cast member in disguise.
Quotes
Most of the humor in MST3K episodes comes from quotable quips that the S.O.L. crew insert into the dialog and scenes of the movies they mock, as well as clever riffing during the "host segments". A large sample of notable MST3K quotes is available on Wikiquote.
The episodes
A complete list of the 198 full episodes (and one unaired promo) of Mystery Science Theater 3000, including details and brief synopses of the movies and notes on the episodes, can be found at List of Mystery Science Theater 3000 episodes.
Several of the movies used in the MST3K series have consistently made the Internet Movie Database list of the Bottom 100 movies over time, including Hobgoblins (1987) (episode 907), Manos: The Hands of Fate (1966) (episode 424), Merlin's Shop of Mystical Wonders (1995) (episode 1003), and Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (1964) (episode 321).
Trivia
- One piece of the Satellite of Love set was a painted Hungry Hungry Hippos game. Other pieces included portions of a toy Millennium Falcon, a toy Proton Pack from Kenner's Real Ghostbusters line, some sports water bottles, and two children's training potty seats. The potty seats are the only known set decoration to survive from KTMA to the Sci Fi Channel. [1]
- There is a miniature doll of Dr. Forrester hidden on the right side of the screen during one of the doors in the Mike-era door sequence.
- Matt Groening was a fan of the show. Homages to MST3K can be seen in episodes of Groening shows The Simpsons and Futurama.
- In the "Potty Emergency" episode of the cartoon series Animaniacs, Wakko, Yakko and Dot go to a bad sci-fi movie. The rocket on the screen is called the MST3K.
- When the series finale (1013: Diabolik) aired, the Sci Fi Channel had an official IRC chat with Mike Nelson, Bill Corbett, and Kevin Murphy. When asked by fans if they should stop watching the Sci Fi Channel after MST3K's cancellation, Kevin Murphy responded "Yes!" before the moderators could respond.
- The original cut of one movie, the biker flick The Sidehackers, reportedly included a graphic rape/murder scene which was removed, leaving an obvious gap in the storyline. The BBI staff explained that they had not thoroughly reviewed the film before deciding to use it, but changed this practice afterward.
- One of the only elements included in every known episode of MST3K is creator Joel Hodgson's voice during the "Robot Roll Call" portion of the opening theme song.
- The cast performed several live shows during the program's history. Two of the movies watched during these live events were Roger Corman's World Without End and This Island Earth. The latter was further developed into Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie.
- The videogame magazine PlayStation Underground (Volume 2 Number 1) included a Best Brains-produced MST3K short on one of their promotional discs. The video opened with a host segment of Mike and the Bots playing some PlayStation games, only to go into the theater to riff on some videos from the magazine's past. The feature is about seven minutes long. An Easter egg on the disc has some behind-the-scenes footage of Best Brains filming the sequences.
- MST3K is actually the password for the final level in the computer game Mac Attack.
- During a tour of the Best Brains studio, Info Club "Poobah" Barb Tebben mentioned that, according to the writers and performers, the "classic" Satellite of Love set used from Season 2 until the end of Season 7 cost $200 to construct.
- The only appearance to date of the cast in character since the final episode was an episode of ESPN ESPN Classic's Cheap Seats, where they briefly appeared in a cameo to make fun of the hosts' own skits. The show is largely looked upon as the closest thing to MST3K on television as of January 2006.
- In the Marvel Comics issue Quasar #57, the character Paragon goes undercover as Advanced Idea Mechanics Agent MST-3K.
- In the Archie Comics series Sonic the Hedgehog, issue #52, Sonic the Hedgehog is sent into a 1920s variation of Mobius. In searching for the handheld computer Nicole, Sonic does battle with a number of robots, two of them resembling Crow T. Robot and Tom Servo.
- The DC Comics series Young Justice and Teen Titans Go! had various MST3K references. References include a box of "MiSTe-Os" with Tom Servo on it in Young Justice: "Sins of Youth" (#1), the remains of the Satellite of Love in a spaceship graveyard in the Young Justice installment of "Our Worlds at War", and Starfire going to Torgo's Pizza in Teen Titans Go! issue #2.
- In one of the show's skits from 1993, the cast decided to poke fun at Minneapolis, Minnesota radio station WBOB, which had adopted the identity "Bob 100" and the slogan "Turn your knob to BOB". In their parody, Dr. Forrester was naming a radio station after TV's Frank with the slogan "Turn your crank to Frank". In 2006, Nassau Broadcasting actually started a variety-hits "Frank FM" format, similar to the "Jack FM" format, so in areas of the Northeastern United States, people can now actually turn their "crank" to Frank!
- The Homestar Runner cartoon "A Jorb Well Done" features a theater scene (which in itself is parodying A Clockwork Orange's conditioning scene) in which Tom Servo is visible.
- MST3K has infiltrated realms of fiction completely unrelated to the series. It has become an acceptable form of critical commentary in various fanfiction genres to MST or MiST a story that is perceived as flawed. In the MSTing, it is common for characters of the story to examine it through the voice of the MSTier, usually in a biting or sarcastically funny manner.
- A comedy group in Austin, Texas put on "Mister Sinus Theater" versions of cult movies in which live MST3K-style comedy takes place in the theater (The Alamo Drafthouse).
See also
References
- Beaulieu, Trace, et al. The Mystery Science Theater 3000 Amazing Colossal Episode Guide (1996). ISBN 0553377833.
- The Official MST3K FAQ
External links
- {{{2|{{{title|Mystery Science Theater 3000}}}}}} at The Internet Movie Database
- {{{2|{{{title|Mystery Science Theater 3000}}}}}} at The Internet Movie Database
- Template:Tvtome show
- Satellite News: The Official MST3K Web Site
- MST3K: The Discussion Board — The Satellite News endorsed and largest, most active MST3K Message Board. Includes a trading section for episodes not available commercially.
- Old-Timer Billy Tape Tradin' Post — A place to trade and obtain episodes not available commercially.
- Usenet newsgroup: rec.arts.tv.mst3k.misc
- MST3K - Digital Archive Project — Fan group which encodes and distributes episodes of MST3K that have not been commercially released; also has a large database of quotes
- The MST3K Fanvid and Live-performance Database — Fans doing their own episodes of the show.
- Botspeak Lexicon — A guide to MST3K terminology (does not include KTMA references).
- The MST3K Song Index — lyrics and lists of all the songs from MST3K
- MST3K Reference Guide — Link page for all things MST3K.
- MSTieGate.com — A fansite run by the creator and a few crew members of another fansite
- Too Much Information — A guide to the references on the show.
- MSTIES Domain — A fansite with information on botbuilding, various conventions, 3D animations of the bots, and how-tos for the special effects behind the show.
- Rhino Records — The makers of the official MST3K DVDs.
- MST3K Temple - Fansite
- MST3K Review — Reviews of episodes along with interviews.
- "We'll rule all humanity." — LiveJournal community.
- MST 3000 Fan Club — MySpace Fan Club.de:Mystery Science Theater 3000