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.
Girls Town is a 1959 American drama film directed by Charles F. Haas and starring Mamie Van Doren, Mel Tormé, and Ray Anthony. Paul Anka also appears in his first acting role. Van Doren stars as a juvenile delinquent who is sent to a girls' school run by nuns, where she finds herself unable to help her sister. The film capitalizes on the 1950s rebellious-teen exploitation films, with catfights, car races, music from Anka and The Platters, and sexy outfits.
Eegah is a 1962 American horror film directed by Arch Hall Sr. and starring Arch Hall Jr., Marilyn Manning and Richard Kiel.
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.
Drop Zone is a 1994 American action thriller film directed by John Badham, starring Wesley Snipes, Gary Busey, Yancy Butler, Michael Jeter, Sam Hennings, Luca Bercovici and Kyle Secor. When a U.S. Marshal has to break up a drug smuggling gang, he has to take to the skies. Drop Zone was released by Paramount Pictures in the United States on December 9, 1994.
Red Zone Cuba, also known as Night Train to Mundo Fine, is a 1966 American neo-noir art drama film directed by Coleman Francis, who also wrote and co-produced the film, and played the starring role. It follows the meandering adventures of an escaped convict and two ex-convicts he recruits along the way as they become involved in the 1961 Bay of Pigs Invasion, and a quest to find a hidden treasure in a tungsten mine.
Bill Booth is an American engineer, inventor, and entrepreneur in the skydiving equipment manufacturing industry. His invention of the 3-ring release safety device has enhanced skydiving safety. He founded the companies United Parachute Technologies and Complete Parachute Solutions, which had 150 employees as of 2015.
Terminal Velocity is a 1994 American action film directed by Deran Sarafian, written by David Twohy, and starring Charlie Sheen, Nastassja Kinski, James Gandolfini, and Christopher McDonald. It follows a daredevil skydiver (Sheen) who is caught up in a criminal plot by Russian mobsters, forcing him to team up with a freelance secret agent (Kinski) in order to survive. It was one of two skydiving-themed action films released in the fourth quarter of 1994, and received mostly negative reviews from critics.
Tormented is a 1960 American horror film directed and produced by Bert I. Gordon for Allied Artists Pictures Corporation, and starring Richard Carlson. The film was featured in the fourth season of the television series Mystery Science Theater 3000.
Crash of Moons is a 75-minute 1954 American science fiction film, consisting of three consecutive episodes of the television series Rocky Jones, Space Ranger, edited into a complete story.
In the United States, skydiving is a self-regulated sport, which means skydivers, in the US, voluntarily follow a set of basic safety requirements established by the U.S. Parachute Association. Federal requirements can be found in the Federal Aviation Regulations. Most of the regulations concern the aircraft, pilot and rules of flight. However, 14 CFR Part 105, "Parachute Operations" regulates when and where jumps may be made and designates the requirements for parachute equipment and packing. For example, 14 CFR Part 105 requires the person packing either the main chute or the reserve parachute to be a certificated rigger, which means he or she has taken an FAA-approved training course and has passed rigorous FAA testing.
Ripcord was an American syndicated television series starring Larry Pennell, with Ken Curtis, which ran for a total of 76 episodes from 1961 to 1963 about the exploits of a skydiving operation of its namesake.
High School Big Shot is a 1959 film starring Tom Pittman, in his final film role, as Marv Grant, a smart high school student whose plans for getting a college scholarship are threatened by his alcoholic father played by Malcolm Atterbury, and his relationship with the most popular girl in school. Filmed in 1958 under the title Blood Money, it was released by executive producer Roger Corman as a double feature with T-Bird Gang in his first Filmgroup release.
Ripe is a 1996 American independent drama film. It was the first film written and directed by Mo Ogrodnik and starred Monica Keena and Daisy Eagan.
Grand Haven Memorial Airpark is a public airport owned and operated by the City of Grand Haven located 2 miles (3.2 km) southeast of Grand Haven, Michigan. The airport is uncontrolled, and is used for general aviation purposes. It is included in the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2017–2021, in which it is categorized as a local general aviation facility.
Parachuting and skydiving are methods of descending from a high point in an atmosphere to the ground or ocean surface with the aid of gravity, involving the control of speed during the descent using a parachute or multiple parachutes.
Roberta Mancino is an Italian skydiver, BASE jumper, wingsuit flyer and international model. She has participated in more than 12,500 skydives and won several awards and world records. She has gone on four skydives while completely naked, and on five occasions her parachute did not open in mid-jump. In 2010, Mancino was named the World's Sexiest Female Athlete by the magazine Men's Fitness.
Flight 7500 is a 2014 American supernatural horror film directed by Takashi Shimizu and starring Leslie Bibb, Jerry Ferrara, Ryan Kwanten, and Amy Smart. It revolves around a supernatural force on a plane. The film is loosely based on the Helios Airways Flight 522 incident that took place in 2005. The film was released in the United States on April 12, 2016, by CBS Films and Lionsgate, after being released theatrically in Asia.
Luke Aikins is an American professional skydiver, BASE jumper, pilot, and aerial photographer. He is the first person to intentionally dive from mid-tropospheric altitude and land safely without a parachute or a wingsuit and the second skydiver to intentionally jump and safely land without using a parachute.
On August 27, 1967, eighteen skydivers mistakenly parachuted into Lake Erie, four or five nautical miles (7.5–9.3 km) from Huron, Ohio, United States, after jumping from a civilian North American B-25 Mitchell. Sixteen drowned. The plane's pilot, unable to see the surface through heavy cloud cover, had relied on guidance from the Cleveland Air Route Traffic Control Center, which had incorrectly advised him that he was over Ortner Airport—actually twelve to thirteen miles (19–21 km) away. Jumping through cloud cover in violation of Federal Aviation Administration rules, the skydivers were unaware that they were over water until they punched through the clouds at 4,000 feet (1,200 m). Despite efforts by many to shed heavy gear, only two were able to stay above water for long enough to be rescued.
