The rise of social media has allowed everyone to be a critic. Nowadays, sites like Letterboxd offer movie fans a chance to review and talk the films they love — and in some cases, snark the movies they hate. Indeed, laughing at bad movies has almost become a genre in itself, especially on the internet. Not only is it just plain fun, it has the strange ability to bring people together. If anything proves this, it’s the popularity of a show like Mystery Science Theater 3000 and even its popularity is particularly special, as it came back years after it ended and is going strong decades later, thanks to fans.
Videos by ComicBook.com
Airing on-and-off across multiple different channels, and continuing on through several cancellations and revivals, Mystery Science Theater 3000 (or MST3K) would run for 197 episodes. Though the cast would rotate, the premise remained the same: a human (Joel for a large chunk of the series, and later, Mike) trapped aboard the Satellite of Love and forced by “The Mads” to watch bad movies. Along with robot companions like Tom Servo and Crow T. Robot, they would “riff” the movies they watched; largely sci-fi and horror B-movies. This was the meat of MST3K, and through its distinct humor, the series would spawn a cult following. The final episode of its original run would air on August 8th, 1999, but years later, fans would bring the show back for a glorious return.
Mystery Science Theater 3000 Spread Through Word of Mouth
Mystery Science Theater 3000 has a complicated TV history. First airing on what is now WUCW in 1988, the series would be picked up by The Comedy Channel for two seasons from 1990-1991 before moving to Comedy Central for an additional five. MST3K would then find a home at the Sci-Fi channel, where it would run for three more seasons until its final episode in 1999. Throughout its entire run, the series never achieved high viewership, but it gained a large cult following nevertheless. This was in large part due to its distinct style of comedy, known as riffing. The way Joel and his robot companions would snark the movies they watched was unlike anything audiences had seen.
Takes cues from late-night TV hosts, the characters of MST3K acted as commentators to some of the most infamous B movies in cinema history; films like Manos: The Hands of Fate, Hobgoblins, and basically every film in director Ed Wood’s catalog. The way the show was presented, with the characters as silhouettes against the movie of the week, helped audiences to laugh along with them. It was as if you were watching the movie with old friends. It helped that their riffs weren’t just mindless bashing either, the jokes were always witty and clever.
Through this, the show gained enough loyal viewers to keep it alive throughout the years. 27 years ago, however, the final episode of its original run would air on August 8th, 1999. The film they showed was Diabolik, a crime thriller by famed Giallo director Mario Bava. As for the narrative outside the movies, MTST3K’s final episode wraps things up with the Satellite of Love crashing back to Earth. After that, the series would air in syndication. As it would turn out, this was far from the end for MST3K.
Fans Brought MST3K Back From The Dead
If syndication helped to expose more new viewers to MST3K, then the internet would help a great deal too. The humor of MST3K would inspire several prominent online movie critics, like The Nostalgia Critic and Red Letter Media, whose approach to reviewing movies follows that same riff style which MST3K defined. In turn, the show has managed to thrive long after it’s final episode, its cult fanbase only growing.
In 2015, show creator Joel Hodgson took to Kickstarter and was able to successfully crowdfund a revival for MST3K, the campaign reaching its goal in only six days. The new season would find its home on Netflix in 2017, before returning for a second in 2018, including amongst its cast comedians Patton Oswalt (a self-admitted fan of the original series) and Felicia Day. Following this, another successful Kickstarter was run, leading to 13 more episodes in 2021 with more planned for release this year. Today, the show stands at 230 episodes. If this proves anything, it’s that the ending of Mystery Science Theater 3000 was only the beginning. Thanks to its cult following, it’s found new life 27 years later.
