Mystery Science Theater 3000

Mystery Science Theater 3000 (often abbreviated as MST3K) is a television show which ran from 1988 until 1999. The show first aired locally on Minneapolis television station KTMA before going national in 1989, when it was picked up by the Comedy Channel (succeeded by Comedy Central in 1991). After seven seasons, the show moved to Sci Fi for another three seasons.

Hosted by creator Joel Hodgson (and later by Mike Nelson), the science-fiction flavored series featured the sarcastic host and his two robot sidekicks, Tom Servo and Crow T. Robot, making fun of "cheesy movies" -- mainly B-movie science fiction and horror films, with the occasional barbarian epic, cop drama, or biker flick.

The show is known for its diverse pop-culture references, riffing on everything from philosophers and politicians to cartoons and old commercials. The rapid-fire quips included frequent references to the Muppets and Sesame Street.

Muppet Mentions
Season "Zero" Season 1 Season 2 Season 3

Season 4 Season 5 Season 6 Season 7 Season 8 Season 9 Season 10

RiffTrax
Following the conclusion of the Mystery Science Theater 3000 show in 1999, the various performers and writers from the show have taken on new projects that involve the basic idea of "riffing" over movies. The projects have taken different forms over the years. Given the people involved, it is not surprising that these projects continue the MST3K tradition of Muppet references.

In 2006, Nelson teamed up with Legend Films in a new enterprise called "RiffTrax", a website which offers downloadable audio commentaries in the MST3K style. The user listens to the commentary track in sync with a DVD. Nelson has recorded RiffTrax with many of his MST colleagues, including Kevin Murphy (Tom Servo), Bill Corbett (Crow), Mary Jo Pehl (Pearl Forrester), and his wife Bridget Nelson (writer), as well as occasional celebrity guests such as Neil Patrick Harris and "Weird Al" Yankovic.

Due to its nature, Rifftrax is able to provide humorous commentary without the permission of the filmmakers, expanding the field of available material to current films and significant blockbusters.

Cinematic Titanic
In late 2007, Joel Hodgson teamed up with MST3K alums Trace Beaulieu, Josh Wenstein, Frank Coniff and Mary Jo Pehl to create a new line of "riffed" films under the banner Cinematic Titanic. The episodes are available either on DVD or through digital download. The premise is that Hodgson and co. have been brought in to archive films for posterity. Much like on MST3K, the cast is visible in silhouette while watching the film, but this time they are on platforms in the lower left and right-hand corners. While there is usually an opening explanatory segment and the cast will pause the film for small sketches, there are no "host segments" per se.

Other spin-off productions
Legend Films DVDs

In 2003, colorization company Legend Films began re-releasing classic public domain films in restored black & white and new colorized versions. Starting in 2004, many of these releases featured Michael J. Nelson providing a humorous, MST3K-like commentary track.

The Film Crew

In 2005, Mike Nelson, Kevin Murphy and Bill Corbett began work on an MST3K-like project called "The Film Crew"; a line of direct-to-DVD releases for distribution through Rhino Home Video. Various legal wrangling put the project into limbo after four episodes had been produced. Following the creation of Rifftrax, the "Film Crew" DVDs finally saw release through Shout! Factory in 2007. In this series, Mike, Kevin and Bill work for a friendly but lunatic boss, Bob Honcho (originally "Bob Rhino"), who wants to provide a commentary track for every movie ever made. The trio work as Honcho's "film crew", quipping over the movie. The series is, essentially, a direct-to-DVD Mystery Science Theater, but without silhouettes.

Connections

 * After leaving MST3K, Joel Hodgson and his brother Jim worked with the Jim Henson Company to produce a show for broadcast on Noggin. The show was never produced.

In addition, a few cast and crew members for films showcased on Mystery Science Theater 3000 also worked in Muppet/Henson productions.
 * Werner Abrolat played Melnik in The Castle of Fu Manchu, episode #323
 * Francis Ford Coppola wrote the English-language screenplay for the US dub of The Magic Voyage of Sinbad, episode #505
 * Billy Crystal played David in SST - Death Flight, episode #K13
 * Eddie Deezen played Froggy in Laserblast, episode #706
 * Clint Eastwood played Jennings the lab tech in Revenge of the Creature, episode #801
 * Henry Fonda played Fire Chief Albert Risley in City on Fire, episode #K16
 * George Gaynes played the mission director in Space Travelers, episode #401
 * Arthur Godfrey appeared as himself in Angels' Revenge, episode #622
 * Joyce Gordon played a data supervisor in Overdrawn at the Memory Bank, episode 3822
 * Lorne Greene played Cole in SST - Death Flight, episode #K13, and narrated the short film Johnny at the Fair, episode #419
 * Ron Howard played Genius in Village of the Giants, episode #523
 * Kathy Ireland played Wanda Saknussemm in Alien from L.A., episode #516
 * James Earl Jones played Albert in City Limits, episode #403
 * Raul Julia played Aram Fingal and Rick Blaine in Overdrawn at the Memory Bank, episode 822
 * Richard Kind played Wamthool in in Quest of the Delta Knights, episode #913
 * Martin Landau played Commander Koenig in Cosmic Princess, episode #K10
 * Michael Landon played Tony Rivers in I Was a Teenage Werewolf, episode #809
 * Hal Linden dubbed the lead actor in Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster, episode #213
 * Chris Makepeace played Ring in The Last Chase, episode #K20
 * Bill McCutcheon played Dropo the Martian in Santa Claus Conquers the Martians, episode # 321
 * Leslie Nielsen played Mayor William Dudley in City on Fire, episode #K16
 * Regis Philbin played Harry Carter in SST - Death Flight, episode #K13
 * Little Richard appeared as himself in Catalina Caper, episode #204
 * Tom Selleck played quarterback Jim McCauley in Superdome, episode #K15
 * William Schallert played Professor Mills in Hanger 18, episode #K19
 * David Warner played Lord Vultare and Raydoor in Quest of the Delta Knights, episode #913
 * John Williams composed the score for Daddy-O, episode #307