Mystery Science Theater 3000

Mystery Science Theater 3000 (MST3K), American television comedy show and cult classic that aired on several cable channels (1988–99) and Netflix (2017–18) before finding a home on its own streaming platform in 2022. The show focuses on the zany exploits of a human and several sentient robots who are trapped aboard the spacecraft Satellite of Love and forced to watch cheesy B-movies. Appearing in silhouette in the foreground of the films, the human host and the robots comment and joke, or “riff,” on the movies as they watch them, mixing witty barbs with obscure references and whimsicality as a survival tactic to keep from losing their minds. The quirky chemistry between the host and the robots has been central to the show’s success. MST3K won a Peabody Award in 1993 for outstanding quality programming and was nominated in 1994 and 1995 for an Emmy Award for outstanding individual achievement in writing in a variety or music program. MST3K’s devoted fans, known as “MSTies,” enthusiastically discuss the show on online forums, attend periodic MST3K conventions and live shows, and have several times advocated to save the show from cancellation and donated money in crowdfunding campaigns to revive it after a hiatus.

Show creator Joel Hodgson, a prop comedian, writer, and actor, worked with producer Jim Mallon and several other writers and actors to create the earliest episodes of MST3K. Endearingly lo-fi, with cobbled-together sets and puppets, the show premiered on Thanksgiving Day (November 24, 1988) on Minneapolis UHF station KTMA-TV (now WUCW), where Mallon worked as production manager. Hodgson, Mallon, and others formed the production company Best Brains, Inc. (BBI), and struck a deal to move MST3K to the Comedy Channel (now Comedy Central), where it debuted in November 1989.

Hodgson played the show’s main character and host, Joel Robinson, who is accompanied by several robots, including Tom Servo and Crow T. Robot. Each episode consists of mad scientists—originally, Dr. Clayton Forrester (Trace Beaulieu, also the voice and operator of Crow T. Robot) and Dr. Laurence Erhardt (Josh Weinstein, also the voice and operator of Tom Servo)—sending Joel a cheesy B-movie to watch as an experiment to monitor his mind. Joel, Tom Servo, and Crow T. Robot provide commentary for the film, with brief breaks in which they go to the bridge of the spacecraft to present wacky “inventions” and perform skits, prop comedy, and original musical numbers that poke fun at the film of the day. In 1990 actor Kevin Murphy began voicing Tom Servo, and the character of Erhardt was replaced by Frank (played by Frank Conniff), Dr. Clayton Forrester’s long-suffering assistant. Conniff departed the show in 1995 and was replaced by show writer and actor Mary Jo Pehl, who played Dr. Forrester’s mother, Pearl Forrester. In 1996 Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie was released.

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Halfway through the 1993 season, Hodgson left to work on other projects, and show writer Michael J. Nelson became MST3K’s new host, Mike. Nelson remained host through the rest of the show’s run on Comedy Central (CC). In 1996 CC canceled MST3K, and the Sci-Fi Channel (now Syfy) picked it up. In 1997 the characters Professor Bobo (Kevin Murphy) and the Observer (Bill Corbett, also the new voice of Crow T. Robot), were added to the show. MST3K ran on the Sci-Fi Channel through 1999, when it was again canceled.

In 2015 Hodgson launched a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter to raise money for a new season of MST3K. The campaign was successful, and the 14-episode season 11 (“The Return”) premiered on Netflix in 2017. Actor and writer Jonah Ray played new host Jonah Heston and was joined by a new mad scientist, Kinga Forrester (played by Felicia Day), and her hapless assistant, Max (played by Patton Oswalt). In late 2018 the 6-episode season 12 (“The Gauntlet”) aired on Netflix. Despite the show’s popularity with fans and critics, Netflix announced in late 2019 that it had canceled MST3K.

Another successful Kickstarter campaign in 2021 allowed the creation of MST3K’s season 13, in which character Emily Connor (played by Emily Marsh) joins Jonah Ray to host. In addition, Hodgson rejoined the show in his original role of Joel Robinson. In order to avoid any further threat of cancellation, the Kickstarter campaign also funded the creation of a dedicated streaming platform—the Gizmoplex—for the show. Season 13 debuted on the new platform in May 2022.