Mystery Science Theater 3000 is an American science fiction comedy film review television series created by Joel Hodgson. The show premiered on KTMA-TV in Minneapolis, Minnesota, on November 24, 1988. It then moved to nationwide broadcast, first on The Comedy Channel/Comedy Central for seven seasons until its cancellation in 1996. Thereafter, it was picked up by The Sci-Fi Channel and aired for three more seasons until another cancellation in August 1999. A 60-episode syndication package titled The Mystery Science Theater Hour was produced in 1993 and broadcast on Comedy Central and syndicated to TV stations in 1995. In 2015, Hodgson led a crowdfunded revival of the series with 14 episodes in its eleventh season, first released on Netflix on April 14, 2017, with another six-episode season following on November 22, 2018. A second successful crowdfunding effort in 2021 produced 13 additional episodes shown on the Gizmoplex, an online platform that Hodgson developed which launched in March 2022. As of 2023, 230 episodes and a feature film have been produced as well as three live tours.
Michael John Nelson is an American comedian and writer, most known for his work on the television series Mystery Science Theater 3000 (MST3K). Nelson was the head writer of the series for most of the show's original eleven-year run, and spent half of that time as the on-air host, also named Mike Nelson. In addition to writing books, Nelson is currently part of the online movie riffing site RiffTrax, and was previously part of the straight-to-DVD Film Crew with fellow MST3K alumni, Bill Corbett and Kevin Murphy.
Joel Hodgson is an American writer, comedian and television actor. He is best known for creating Mystery Science Theater 3000 (MST3K) and starring in it as the character Joel Robinson. In 2007, MST3K was listed as "one of the top 100 television shows of all time" by Time.
Joshua Stuart "Josh" Weinstein, known professionally as J. Elvis Weinstein, is an American writer and performer, best known for his roles as Dr. Laurence Erhardt and the original puppeteer and voice for Tom Servo and Gypsy on Mystery Science Theater 3000.
Project Moonbase is a 1953 independently made black-and-white science fiction film, produced by Jack Seaman, directed by Richard Talmadge, and starring Ross Ford, Donna Martell, Hayden Rorke. It co-stars Larry Johns, Herb Jacobs, Barbara Morrison, and Ernestine Barrier. The film was distributed by Lippert Pictures and is based on a story by Robert A. Heinlein, who shares the screenwriting credit with producer Jack Seaman.
Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie is a 1996 American science fiction comedy film and a film adaptation of the television series Mystery Science Theater 3000, produced and set between the series' sixth and seventh seasons. It was distributed by Universal Pictures and Gramercy Pictures and produced by Best Brains.
Kevin Wagner Murphy is an American actor and writer best known as the voice and puppeteer of Tom Servo on the Peabody Award-winning comedy series Mystery Science Theater 3000. Murphy also records audio commentary tracks with Michael J. Nelson and Bill Corbett for Nelson's RiffTrax website.
GPC, formerly Gypsy, is one of the fictional robot characters on the television series Mystery Science Theater 3000. She is larger and less talkative than the other robots. GPC normally only appears during the show's host segments and introduction, but briefly took a seat in the theater to watch the movie in episode #412. She only delivered a couple of "riffs" – partially because she took the movie and what the 'boys' were saying too literally, and left after realizing how bad the movie was. Along with the other robots, GPC was designed and built by series creator Joel Hodgson. She was named Gypsy after a pet turtle his brother once owned, as the robot's size and ponderousness reminded him of the turtle.
Trace Beaulieu is an American comedian, puppeteer, writer, and actor. He played roles on Mystery Science Theater 3000 (MST3K) as well as his work with MST3K's successor Cinematic Titanic with the original creators and cast of MST3K.
Mary Jo Pehl is an American writer, actress, and comedian. She is best known for her various roles on the television series Mystery Science Theater 3000.
Frank Conniff Jr. is an American writer, actor, comedian and producer, who is best known for his portrayal of TV's Frank on Mystery Science Theater 3000 (MST3K). He is the son of journalist and editor Frank Conniff.
Mitchell is a 1975 American action film directed by Andrew V. McLaglen, written by Ian Kennedy Martin, and starring Joe Don Baker as an abrasive police detective. The film was released in the United States on September 10, 1975 by Allied Artists Pictures Corporation.
RiffTrax is an American company that produces scripted humorous commentary tracks which are synced to feature films, education shorts, and television episodes. With the talents of former Mystery Science Theater 3000 (MST3K) cast members and writers, RiffTrax also produces several live shows each year which are broadcast to movie theaters. The style of commentating originated from MST3K, their earlier television series, in which they would similarly mock films aloud while watching them. As of September 2023, RiffTrax has riffed 522 feature films, 462 short films, and 16 TV episodes.
Juan Piquer Simón was a Spanish film director best known for directing two cult classic horror exploitation films, Pieces (1982) and Slugs: The Movie (1988).
Soultaker is a 1990 American fantasy horror film written by Vivian Schilling and directed by Michael Rissi. It stars Joe Estevez in the title role, alongside Vivian Schilling, Gregg Thomsen, Chuck Williams, Robert Z'Dar, and David "Shark" Fralick. The film follows a group of young adults who try to flee from the titular "Soultaker" when their souls are ejected from their bodies after a car accident. Inspired by discussions with Action International Pictures producer Eric Parkinson, the script was based on a real-life car accident which Schilling was involved in.
Revenge of the Mysterons from Mars is a 1981 television film based on the 1960s British puppet TV series Captain Scarlet and the Mysterons created by Gerry and Sylvia Anderson. Produced by the New York office of the series' distributor, ITC Entertainment, the film is a compilation of the Captain Scarlet episodes "Shadow of Fear", "Lunarville 7", "Crater 101" and "Dangerous Rendezvous".
The Canned Film Festival is a comedy-based motion picture television series that was nationally syndicated during the late night hours in the United States for a single season in the summer of 1986. With only a one-letter difference in the spelling, the name is an intentional play on the name for the Cannes Film Festival, the annual world-renowned film-screening celebration in Cannes, France. Not to be confused with the latter, the Canned Film Festival featured B movies as the centerpiece for each television episode, and was composed of short vignettes interwoven throughout the films. Boasting the tagline "late night with the best of the worst", the series was promoted and sponsored by the Dr. Pepper Company, whose then-tagline "out-of-the-ordinary" echoed the show's collection of odd and strange movies. The series was created by Young & Rubicam, developed for television by Chelsea Communications, and distributed by LBS Communications.
Cinematic Titanic was a project by Mystery Science Theater 3000 (MST3K) creator and original host, Joel Hodgson. The project involved "riffing" B-movies, in a manner similar to that of MST3K. Joining Hodgson were some of the original MST3K cast, as well as some cast members who joined later in the show's run. These included Trace Beaulieu, J. Elvis Weinstein, Frank Conniff and Mary Jo Pehl. It was first performed live on December 7, 2007 and first aired on December 22, 2007.
Mystery Science Theater 3000, also referred to as "The 'Bots Are Back!" is an Internet cartoon created by Best Brains, Inc. It was inspired by BBI's original Mystery Science Theater 3000 TV series, and was directed by former Executive Producer Jim Mallon. The series featured the robot characters from the original series in a variety of brief sketches taking place at an undetermined point during the original show's fictional timeline. However, no human character is present.
