Mystery Science Theatre 3000

Here’s to the greatest thing to happen to b-movies since Ed Wood: Mystery Science Theatre 3000. Let’s face it; if it weren’t for this series, Bottom of the Barrel would cease to exist. Mystery Science Theatre 3000 opened many eyes to the joy of watching b-movies with their amusing sketches even funnier commentary. Many felt the show prematurely ended, and although we would welcome more episodes, you have to admit that eleven seasons and nearly 200 episodes is pretty satisfying for any b-movie aficionado (and not many shows can say they lasted eleven season, let alone a cult show like MST3k).

We’ve seen the show, we know the premise, we laughed on countless occasions. We all have our favourite episodes, we all have our favourite ‘stingers’, and we even have our favourite characters. It helped us discover some b-movies titles once unknown to us, and still manages to provide the suitable attention to the classics we all know and love (or loathe). Hell, they even made half of those films watchable, even ‘Manos: The Hands of Fate.’ It taught us to appreciate those old propaganda-style short films from yesteryear. They even made a movie; they didn’t need to make a movie, but they did, and we watched it, and we laughed! We had all wished we could have our own Tom Servo and Crow T. Robot at home. We found a home in ‘ward E’. And you have to admit; you giggle like a schoolgirl every time you see three lone heads in silhouette at the front row of a theatre. Yes, MST3k has touched all of our lives in one-way or another.

Like many other series it did have its fair share of controversy. But it didn’t deserve it; it doesn’t matter if Joel Hodgson was a better host than Mike Nelson, or vice versa (and that was a silly argument for anyone that participated in it by the way); it was still a funny show no matter who was hosting it. It shouldn’t matter that the set design was cheap and sub-par; that’s what made the show better! And to the filmmakers that complained about their film being ‘riffed’ on the show, they clearly did not realize the honour they had of being on that show in the first place. Instead, they should have been happy that anyone was watching their film at all. In brief, any backlash against the show was completely unjustified.

Though I am over the fact that the series had ended, it is a travesty that it doesn’t continue to play in syndication. This show is now under the threat of being forgotten, thanks to no current syndication play. Without syndication MST3k may not find a new audience and may not stand the test of time. Sure, there are the DVD releases, but that won’t be enough to find a new audience. Does this mean we’ll have to resort to circulating the tapes (or DVDs) once again? Not if you ask your local television station or your favourite sci-fi or comedy-themed station to continue playing the episodes, even if it is late at night. That way, MST3k can live on and possibly resurge in popularity, and what’s wrong with that?

One time Mike Nelson asked an audience at a convention “Is any one here over the age of 25? Where are you seeing this show?” This occurrence clearly shows that the show was popular to all age groups, not just one. It has a timeless quality, and if you’re local television station knew that they would tap into it and play MST3k wherever possible. But until that happens, us fans have to keep the hype alive. Mystery Science Theatre 3000 is a true classic! It is a great show that truly appreciated the art of the b-movie and greatly helped in putting many notable titles on the b-movie map. Without Mystery Science Theatre 3000, our lives would be a little less witty, and b-movies would be a lot more monotonous. But we do have a show like Mystery Science Theatre 3000, and because of that we have something to be thankful for. Long live Mystery Science Theatre 3000! And if there is a mad scientist out there looking to take over the world by making people watch b-movies to turn them into mindless zombie slaves, I am more than happy to be your guinea pig! I’m sure many of you reading this would love to be one too.

Keep circulating the tapes!

Buy MST3k DVDs here: http://www.rhino.com/mst3k/