It was truly lightning caught in a bottle.
Who would have ever thought a magic-mix of an off-the-wall plot, a handful of comedians and puppeteers, slapstick peanut gallery commentary, and low-budget films would rocket way past greatness into a cult-following on par with the Kiss Army?
Maybe it was the nineties.
Mystery Science Theatre 3000 began as a local television series in Minneapolis that launched into nationwide syndication and spawned seasons of laughter, wit, and memorable quips that countless MST3K O.Gs (fans known as MSTies, pronounced “misties”) still love and quote with great nostalgia today.
The plot?
Are you ready for this?
Get your popcorn.
Joel (a custodian who works at a science institute) is shot into space against his will by a mad scientist and his assistant (Dr. Clayton Forrester and TV’s Frank). Why? He is the guinea pig in an experiment to measure the effects of very low-quality, cheesy films on a person’s mental health. To stave off his isolation, he builds four robots with giant personalities – Tom Servo, Crow, Gypsy, and Cambot (voiced by local comedians and writers). How do they spend their time? Sitting front row in the satellite’s movie theatre making witty, biting, and funny commentary by roasting the films Don Rickles-style (affectionally called “riffing”). Later seasons welcomed another custodian named Mike when Joel escaped.
Episodes opened with a five minute “invention exchange” between the mad scientist and the stranded Joel and the Bots…something akin to a prop comic’s fatigued hallucination and a sarcastic cousin’s stories from college. But we were patient. Immediately after, the fun began when the movie sign sounded. Joel (or Mike) and the Bots took their seats and we, the audience, watched their silhouettes in front of a movie screen as more failed-films became joke fodder.
It sounds ridiculous – and it was.
What made MST3K so special was the rich (and dry) humour as the actors, character voices, and writers were local and regional comedians that were masters of their crafts. Many still are. There was a small-town feel to the production and a charm still unmatched by even the most creative, notable, or notorious today.
If you think early Metallica cassette-traders were fanatical, many MSTies spent our childhoods and teen-years trading, dubbing, and borrowing VHS-taped episodes with staticky tracking lines and a Comedy Central logo in one corner.
It was charmingly subversive as a kid, like reading Mad Magazine with a cheek-full of grape Big-League Chew.
It was bitingly unique, as if Bill Nye the Science Guy, 2001: A Space Odyssey, Jeff Dunham’s lucid dreams, and some weird night at Toronto improv were all jammed into a ninja-blender with equal parts Jolt Cola, Bazooka Joe comics, and half-spent nuclear fuel rods.
Some of us would wait until our parents were asleep to go on low-volume marathons as if the tapes were contraband – stolen candy melting in the pocket of a cheater.
We didn’t expect Industrial Light & Magic. It retained low-budget charm. What it lacked in CGI, it made up for in writing, humour, and wit from writers and actors such as comedians Joel Hodgson, Mike Nelson, Kevin Murphy, Trace Beaulieu, and others. In recent years, former writers have produced “Rifftrax,” capturing the old magic and recipe with new, successful films like Harry Potter, Star Wars, and the Running Man.
After being cancelled in 1999, there were attempts to revive MST3K’s heartbeat via crowdfunding and Netflix in 2017. Although I am a huge fan of Patton Oswalt and Jonah Ray, the magic still rests with the original ten seasons. Notably, MST3K’s platinum-age fell between seasons 3 and 7 where sparks and confetti still can be struck anywhere.
On websites and various streaming services, episodes continue to be available today for both OGs, New-Gs, and the uninitiated.
My friends, laughter tends to bring us together, as well as to soothe. Our home sees division in our current election season and recent months have indeed been challenging for many.
If you need a smile or a laugh, open up Youtube (or The Gizmoplex), search “MST3K” followed by these titles of episode gems:
- Teenage Crimewave
- Here Comes the Circus
- Uncle Jim’s Dairy Farm
- Mitchell
- This Island Earth (MST3K: The Movie)
- Manos: The Hands of Fate
Pop some popcorn, grab a beverage, and watch with a friend, a love, family, or a neighbour…and prepare to laugh. Trust me.
Turn down your lights (where applicable).
Before Family Guy or South Park could crawl, MST3K stomped around with heavy boots in every funhouse and house of mirrors.
Long before there were Beliebers or Swifties, there were MSTies.
And we’re still here.
We got movie sign.
Join us in the front row.
