Mystery Science Theater 3000: An Introduction

Gypsy, Crow T. Robot, Joel Robinson, and Tom Servo

Mystery Science Theater 3000 (MST3K) was the brainchild of stand up prop-comedian Joel Hodgson.  It started on KTMA-TV23 in Minneapolis, MN in 1988.  Joel teamed up employees at KTMA (Trace Beaulieu, Jim Mallon, Kevin Murphy, and others) to begin a rather ambitious TV experiment -- Joel would host a sci-fi movie show, but instead of just showing the movie, he would add his own sarcastic commentary (aka "riffing").  Throw in prop-comedy, some puppets, and a lot of pulp culture reference, and Mystery Science Theater 3000 was born.

In 1989, Joel and Jim were able to get a contract with The Comedy Channel (later Comedy Central) and began producing MST3K for cable.  After one season, J. Elvis Weinstein, who played Dr. Larry Erhardt and voice Tom Servo left the show.  Dr. Erhardt was replaced with TV's Frank and Kevin Murphy took over the voice duties for Tom Servo.

The first KTMA and Comedy Channel seasons were rocky as the team was finalizing their vision for the show, but by the start of the second season MST3K was running on all cylinders.  During the fifth season, Joel Hodgson decided to leave the show, and was replaced as host by head writer Mike Nelson, who continued as host for another four and a half years.  After the seventh season, Comedy Central decided to drop MST3K from its lineup, but the show was able to move to SciFi for three more seasons.

The premise is simple, if not silly:  Mad scientists launch a man into space and force him to watch bad movies while monitoring his reactions.  That man is Joel Robinson, a former janitor at the Gizmonic Institute.  Joel has enough technical know-how to keep the Satellite of Love running while building four robots to keep him company -- the child-like Crow T. Robot, the intellectual (to the point of occasional pomposity) Tom Servo, the  sweet but sassy Gypsy, and Cambot, the camera.

The show itself doesn't have much of a back-story, and that is on purpose.  As the theme song  says, "If you wonder how he eats and breathes, and other science facts, just repeat to yourself it's just a show, you should really just relax."  What's important is the interaction between Joel and the Bots and their ability to make light of any bad situation.

I stumbled across MST3K at the age of 14 in the fall of 1990.  I don't remember my first episode, but I do remember that the first episode I recorded was the first episode of the second season, Rocketship X-M.  I watched the series religiously, taping each episode, until I entered college in the fall of 1994.  Unfortunately, time commitments had me miss most of the episodes of the last three seasons, which is one of the reasons why I am rewatching the show now.

Joel, Trace, and some of the other original members went on to found Cinematic Titanic, a live movie riffing experience. Mike Nelson, Kevin Murphy, and Bill Corbett went on to form the direct-to-consumer via MP3 riffing company RiffTrax.

I hope you will join me (Join Us!) as I watch ten seasons of one of the best TV shows of the 1990's.  Learn when it's appropriate to yell "hi-keeba!", why Gypsy loves Richard Basehart, why chili peppers burn Crow's gut, and who Sandy Frank is, and why is he someone to be cursed to the highest heaven.