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Mystery Science Theater 3000

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Mystery Science Theater 3000
Mst3k-logo.png
Premiere November 19, 1989
Creator Joel Hodgson
Network/Provider KTMA-TV (season 0)
Comedy Channel (seasons 1-2)
Comedy Central (seasons 3-7)
Sci Fi Channel (seasons 8-10)
Netflix (seasons 11-12)
The Gizmoplex (season 13)
Style 120-minute sci-fi comedy
Company Hair Brain Productions (season 0),
Best Brains Productions (seasons 1-10),
Alternaversal Productions (seasons 11-12),
Satellite of Love, LLC (seasons 11-12),
Abominable Pictures (seasons 11-12),
Shout! Factory (seasons 11-12)
Seasons 12 + 1 unofficial
Episodes 217 + 8 specials + 1 pilot
Status Renewed through season 13
Origin USA

Mystery Science Theater 3000, known to fans as MST3K, is a program based around ridiculing ("riffing on") bad movies set in the far away time of "next Sunday A.D.". The show follows Joel Robinson (Seasons one through five) and Mike Nelson (Seasons five through ten) as they are forced to view these movies. The movies are part of an evil experiment created by the evil Dr. Clayton Forrester. He believes that if he can discover the worst movie in the world, he can air it on television around the globe and use it to break the will of humans everywhere. Joel and Mike are two blue collar workers who become his unwitting test experiments and are shot into space to live aboard the Satellite of Love.

Once Joel arrived on the satellite, he constructed robot friends to keep him company. Gypsy, the female robot, was designed to pilot the ship. Cambot was constructed in order to tape the experiments and allow Joel to entertain the people of Earth. Joel then created Tom Servo and Crow T. Robot, two wisecracking robots to keep him company and help him retain his sanity while watching the bad movies. At some point Joel had control over when the movies started and stopped, but he used those parts of the machinery in the creation of his robot friends. The robots are the only cast members to remain throughout all ten seasons of the show.

Each episode begins with a cold opening and a short joke that has no relation to the movie about to be viewed. In the next segment, the evil villain in charge at the time introduces the bad movie that the robots will be forced to watch. In the seasons that Joel Robinson was the host, this segment was used as an invention exchange between him and Dr. Clayton Forrester.

When the villain activates the movie, an alarm goes off on the Satellite of Love and the crew members must hurry to the theater or be punished. The transition to the theater is accomplished by Cambot flying through numerous doors that open as he approaches. Once in the theater, the crew are represented by silhouettes at the bottom of the screen. The crew add one-liners and jokes to turn the bad movie they are watching into comedy. They leave the theater three times during each episode to host segments and skits.

Contents

Cast

Actor Character Duration
Main Cast 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11
Trace Beaulieu Crow T. Robot * * * * * * * *
Dr. Clayton Forrester * * * * * * * *
Joel Hodgson Joel Robinson * * * * * * o
Josh Weinstein Gypsy *
Tom Servo * *
Dr. Laurence Erhardt * *
Jim Mallon Gypsy * * * * * * * *
Kevin Murphy Tom Servo * * * * * * * * *
Professor Bobo * * * *
Frank Conniff TV's Frank * * * * * o
Michael J. Nelson Mike Nelson * * * * * *
Mary Jo Pehl Pearl Forrester o * * * * *
Bill Corbett Crow T. Robot * * *
Observer * * * *
Patrick Brantseg Gypsy * * *
Jonah Ray Jonah Heston *
Hampton Yount Crow T. Robot *
Baron Vaughn Tom Servo *
Rebecca Hanson Gypsy *
Felicia Day Kinga Forrester *
Patton Oswalt TV's Son of TV's Frank *
Orange/Red/o indicates a recurring or guest role during that season.
Dark Green indicates top billing during that season.

Seasons

Season  Premiere Finale #
KTMA-TV
Season Zero November 24, 1988 May 28, 1989 21 + 1
The Comedy Channel
Season One November 19, 1989 February 13, 1990 13
Season Two September 22, 1990 February 2, 1991 13
Comedy Central
Season Three June 1, 1991 January 25, 1992 24
Season Four June 6, 1992 January 30, 1993 24 + 1
Season Five July 17, 1993 February 5, 1994 24
Season Six July 16, 1994 March 25, 1995 24 + 2
Season Seven November 23, 1995 March 18, 1996 6
Sci Fi Channel
Season Eight February 1, 1997 December 6, 1997 22 + 3
Season Nine March 14, 1998 September 26, 1998 13 + 2
Season Ten April 11, 1999 September 12, 1999 13
Netflix
Season Eleven April 14, 2017 14
Season Twelve: The Gauntlet November 22, 2018 6
The Gizmoplex
Season Thirteen 13
Feature Films
Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie April 19, 1996  

In-Depth

DVD Releases

Title Release Discs
Episode Collections  (Region 1)
The Essentials August 31, 2004 purchase 2
Mystery Science Theater 3000 Collection Volume 1 November 12, 2002 purchase 4
Mystery Science Theater 3000 Collection Volume 2 February 11, 2003 purchase 4
Mystery Science Theater 3000 Collection Volume 3 April 8, 2003 purchase 4
Mystery Science Theater 3000 Collection Volume 4 November 18, 2003 purchase 4
Mystery Science Theater 3000 Collection Volume 5 March 9, 2004 purchase 4
Mystery Science Theater 3000 Collection Volume 6 October 26, 2004 purchase 4
Mystery Science Theater 3000 Collection Volume 7 April 19, 2005 purchase 4
Mystery Science Theater 3000 Collection Volume 8 November 8, 2005 purchase 4
Mystery Science Theater 3000 Collection Volume 9 May 16, 2006 purchase 4
Mystery Science Theater 3000 Collection Volume 10 August 29, 2006 purchase 4
Mystery Science Theater 3000 Collection Volume 10.2 February 5, 2008 purchase 4
Mystery Science Theater 3000 Collection Volume 11 June 26, 2007 purchase 4
Mystery Science Theater 3000 Collection Volume 12 October 30, 2007 purchase 4
20th Anniversary Edition October 28, 2008 purchase 4
Volume XIV February 3, 2009 purchase 4
Volume XV July 7, 2009 purchase 4
Volume XVI December 1, 2009 purchase 4
Volume XVII March 16, 2010 purchase 4
Volume XVIII July 13, 2010 purchase 4
Individual Episodes  (Region 1)
The Brain That Wouldn't Die April 25, 2000 purchase 1
Eegah! April 25, 2000 purchase 1
The Beginning of the End January 30, 2001 purchase 1
The Wild Wild World of Batwoman January 30, 2001 purchase 1
Manos, the Hands of Fate November 20, 2001 purchase 1
Mitchell November 20, 2001 purchase 1
I Accuse My Parents March 26, 2002 purchase 1
Red Zone Cuba March 26, 2002 purchase 1
The Crawling Hand June 11, 2002 purchase 1
The Hellcats June 11, 2002 purchase 1
The Giant Gila Monster
only available through Rhino.com
February 5, 2008 1
Feature Film  (Region 1)
Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie May 27, 1998 purchase 1
Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie May 6, 2008 purchase 1

External Sites