The History of MST 3K

The History of Mystery Science Theater 3000

It all started in 1988 when a obscure little UHF station in Minneapolis, KTMA, needed to fill two hours of time. Production Manager Jim Mallone and Photographer Kevin Murphy worked at the station. Jim Mallone turned to the Stand-up Comedy scene for ideas and Joel Hodgeson (Who used to be a Prop Comic) approached him with the idea for Mystery Science Theater 3000. They decided to go with it and together with Trace Beaulieu, Josh Weinstein they made the very first episodes of MST 3K. They riffed on the movies, often without even having seen them beforehand.

Even in this early stage MST 3K gained a very loyal following. The show was about to be cancelled by the station manager but a sack of letters from the loyal viewers of the show convinced him to keep it. It's really interesting how this show generates such loyalty from it's viewers. The theme song lyrics at this stage of the show went as follows:

"Love Theme from Mystery Science Theater 3000"

Lyrics: Joel Hodgson and Josh Weinstein
Music: Charles Erickson and Joel Hodgson
Sung by: Joel and the Joels [Joel Hodgson]

In the not-too-distant future--
Next Sunday, A.D.--
There was a guy named Joel,
Not too different than you or me.
He worked in a satellite loading bay,
Just polishing switches to pay his way;
He did his job well with a cheerful face,
But his bosses didn't like him
So they shot him into space.

We'll send him cheesy movies,
The worst ever made.
Joel says when you got lemons,
You make lemonade.
Now keep in mind he can't control
When the movies begin or end,
Because he used the extra parts
To make his robot friends.

Robot roll-call--
Cambot
Servo
Gypsy
Crow!

If you're wondering how he eats and breathes
And other science facts,
Just repeat to yourself "It's just a show,
I should really just relax
For Mystery Science Theater 3000."

Through some connections and acquiantances in Showbiz, Best Brains was able to get a top notch agent, who put them in touch with the Comedy Channel, which then became CTV, which then became Comedy Central. They made 13 shows for this network through their identity crisis. The Lyrics were a bit different at this point:

Lyrics: Joel Hodgson and Josh Weinstein
Music: Charles Erickson and Joel Hodgson
Sung by: Joel and the Joels [Joel Hodgson]

In the not-too-distant future--
Next Sunday A.D.--
There was a guy named Joel,
Not too different from you or me.
He worked at Gizmonic Institute,
Just another face in a red jumpsuit.
He did a good job cleaning up the place,
But his bosses didn't like him
So they shot him into space.

We'll send him cheesy movies,
The worst we can find (la-la-la).
He'll have to sit and watch them all,
And we'll monitor his mind (la-la-la).
Now keep in mind Joel can't control
Where the movies begin or end (la-la-la)
Because he used those special parts
To make his robot friends.

Robot Roll Call: (Let's go!)
Cambot! (Pan left!)
Gypsy! (Hi, girl!)
Tom Servo! (What a cool guy!)
Croooow! (What a wisecracker!)

If you're wondering how he eats and breathes
and other science facts (la la la),
Then repeat to yourself, "It's just a show,
I should really just relax
For Mystery Science Theater 3000!"

At this point Josh Weinstein, one of the original crew, was playing Dr. Larry Eardheart, Dr. Clayton Forrester's colleague...

However, Josh left the show after season one to pursue a writing career.

Season 2

Season 2 introduced us to Dr. Forrester's new Sidekick:

TV's Frank (Frank Connif)

Seasons 1 and 2 both consisted of 13 Episodes.

Season 3

Season 3 had 24 episodes and there were no cast changes.. that is until...

The Middle of Season 5

Joel Escapes

Joel leaves the show in an escape pod

When Joel Hodgeson leaves the show and Mike Nelson takes over as the subject of Dr. Forrester's experiment. The lyrics to the theme song also change:

Music: Charles Erickson and Joel Hodgson
Lyrics: The Brains

In the not-too-distant future
Way down in Deep 13,
Dr. Forrester and TV's Frank
Were hatching an Evil Scheme.
They hired a temp by the name of Mike,
Just a regular joe they didn't like.
Their experiment needed a good test case,
So they conked him on the noggin
And they shot him into space. (Get me down!)

We'll send him cheesy movies,
The worst we can find (la-la-la).
He'll have to sit and watch them all,
And we'll monitor his mind (la-la-la).
Now keep in mind Mike can't control
Where the movies begin or end (la-la-la)
He'll try to keep his sanity
With the help of his robot friends.

Robot Roll Call:
Cambot! (Show yourself!)
Gypsy! (I'm not ready!)
Tom Servo! (Hello there!)
Croooow! (That's one "o"!)

If you're wondering how he eats and breathes
and other science facts (la la la),
Then repeat to yourself, "It's just a show,
I should really just relax
For Mystery Science Theater 3000!"

The show is still funny at this point but many felt it had lost something special with Joel's departure. It was no longer about a guy raising these two robots and teaching them about life, it was about three wiseguys sitting around cracking jokes about movies.

Season 6

Frank Conniff leaves the show at the end of the season to pursue a career in writing.

Season 7

To fill the void left by Frank's departure, Mary Jo Pehl as Dr. F's mom moves into Deep 13 to keep him company, a move most consider suicidal on Best Brain's part since no one really cared for Mrs. Forrester's character. Comedy Central decides to cancel Mystery Science Theater 3000 and orders only 6 more episodes for Season 7.

With a massive e-mail, fax, phone and letter campaign co-ordinated over the internet, MST 3K's huge fanbase attempts to convince Comedy Central to keep the show going, we manage to convince CC to reenter negotiations with Best Brains but instead of ordering more episodes, they give Best Brains an early release from their Exclusivity contract with Comedy Central, freeing up Best Brains to go to other stations. Info Club poobah Julie Walker posted the address of the people who might be interested in buying MST 3K, and MSTies (myself included) from all over the world sent in letters asking that they pick up the show. The Sci-Fi channel responded and picked up the show for 13 Episodes to begin airing Feruary 1st, 1997

Season 8

Sadly, Trace Beaulieu (Crow and Dr. Forrester) has decided to leave the cast. He will be replaced as Crow's voice by Bill Corbet, a fresh new talent hired by Best Brains. Mrs. Forrester is now the bad guy, er gal and the format of the show has completely changed! The changes are VERY exciting as they allow for so much more to happen. Season 7 ended with Deep 13 getting it's funding cut and Dr. F. sending the SOL off into space, then hit the end of the universe and leave their bodies. Season 8 puts Mike and the bots 500 years into the future where man have evolved into apes.

More later...

There is also a new theme song:

In the not too distant future
somewhere in time and space
Mike Nelson and his Robot pals
Are caught in an endless chase
Pursued by a woman, who's name is Pearl
An evil gal who wants to rule the world
She threw a few things in her purse
and in her rocket ship she hunts them
All across the universe!
(I'll get you!)

I'll send him cheesy movies
The worst I can find (La la la)
He'll have to sit and watch them all
and I'll monitor his mind (La la la)

Now keep in mind Mike can't control
where the movies begin or end (La la la)
He'll try to keep his sanity
with the help of his robot friends

Robot Roll Call
Cambot (You're on!)
Gypsy (Oh my stars!)
Tom Servo (Check me out!)
Crooooow (I'm different!)

If you're wondering how he eats and breathes,
and other science facts (La la la)
Just repeat to yourself "It's just a show"
I should really just relax
For the Mystery Science Theater 3000

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