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.
Tom Servo is a fictional character from the American science fiction comedy television show Mystery Science Theater 3000 (MST3K). Tom is one of two wise-cracking, robotic main characters of the show, built by Joel Robinson to act as a companion and help stave off madness as he was forced to watch low-quality films. At least during the Comedy Central era, he was somewhat more mature than his theatre companion, Crow T. Robot. Tom, more often than the others, signals the need to exit the theater to perform host segments.
Richard Joseph "Dick" Contino was an American accordionist and singer.
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.
Overdrawn at the Memory Bank is a 1984 science fiction television film, starring Raul Julia and Linda Griffiths. Based on the 1976 John Varley short story by the same name, the film takes place in a dystopian future where an employee for a conglomerate gets trapped inside the company's computer and ends up affecting the real world. It was co-produced by Canada's RSL Productions in Toronto and New York television station WNET. Because of its limited budget, the motion picture was shot on videotape instead of film and was pre-sold to small American cable companies.
Angels Revenge, or Angels Brigade, is a 1979 American action comedy film. It was directed by Greydon Clark and distributed by Arista Films. It is also known as Angels' Brigade and Seven from Heaven.
Attack of the Giant Leeches is an independently made, 1959 black-and-white science fiction-horror film, produced by Gene Corman and directed by Bernard L. Kowalski. It stars Ken Clark, Yvette Vickers, Bruno VeSota and Jan Shepard. The screenplay was written by Leo Gordon. The film was released by American International Pictures on a double bill with A Bucket of Blood. Later, in some areas in 1960, Leeches played on a double bill with the Roger Corman film House of Usher.
The Brain That Wouldn't Die is a 1962 American science fiction horror film directed by Joseph Green and written by Green and Rex Carlton. The film was completed in 1959 under the working title The Black Door but was not theatrically released until May 3, 1962, under its new title as a double feature with Invasion of the Star Creatures.
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.
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.
Mr. B Natural is a short sponsored film produced in 1956 by Kling Film Productions for the C.G. Conn Company, directed by Phil Patton. It is also the name of the film's main character, played by Betty Luster.
Invasion of the Neptune Men is a 1961 superhero film produced by Toei Company Ltd. The film stars Sonny Chiba as Iron Sharp.
Time Walker is a 1982 science fiction horror film directed by Tom Kennedy.
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).
The Wild World of Batwoman is a 1966 American science fiction comedy superhero film produced, written, directed and edited by Jerry Warren. The film stars Katherine Victor as Batwoman, George Andre as Professor G. Octavius Neon, and Steve Brodie as Jim Flanagan. The film is considered to be one of the worst movies ever made.
Superdome is a 1978 American made-for-television drama film produced by ABC Circle Films. It premiered on ABC as part of The ABC Monday Night Movie series and was used to promote Super Bowl XII. It featured a cast of stars. It was directed by Jerry Jameson and written by Barry Oringer from a story by Oringer and Bill Svanoe.
Code Name: Diamond Head is a 1977 American television spy film starring Roy Thinnes as an undercover counterintelligence officer known as Diamond Head whose mission is to stop a rogue double agent from stealing the formula for a new chemical weapon. Originally filmed as a pilot for a new television drama, it was eventually used for The NBC Monday Movie on U.S. broadcast network NBC.
Teen-Age Crime Wave is a 1955 American juvenile delinquency film noir crime film directed by Fred F. Sears and starring Tommy Cook and Molly McCart. It was released by Columbia Pictures. The plot concerns a pair of delinquent teens who go on a statewide shooting spree after escaping from reform school.
Sandra Giles, born Lelia Bernice Giles, was an American actress and model. She was best known for her film debut role in Daddy-O in 1958.
