The End of an Era         Like all of the other hardcore Mystery Science Theater 3000 fans in the cyber world, I am deeply saddened by the news of the end of the show. Or, as the VERY great Joel Hodgson would say, "I feel kinda empty inside." This is truly a sad moment in the history of television. This is truly, the end of an era.   To me, MST3K was something special. I first found it in 1992. I was a senior in high school at the time. When I first saw it (I can't remember my first episode), it made me laugh harder then I had ever laughed in my whole life. From that moment on, it was my favorite show. No matter how depressed I was about things, no matter how dark and dreary my life was at any given time, MST3K always made me laugh and cheered me up.   So now, as a final tribute to my all-time, #1 favorite show ever on TV, here is a brief history of the show!         KTMA MST3K was started in a small UHF television station in Minneapolis, Minnesota, KTMA. Jim Mallon and Kevin Murphy had a desire to start a new TV show. Something different then a typical TV show. At the same time, a young comedian from Minneapolis named Joel Hodgson had returned home from trying to make it big. Jim and Kevin asked Joel about their plans to start a new show and thus, Mystery Science Theater 3000 was born! To say the show was low budget is an understatement. Joel literally made $50 a week on the show and Trace Beaulieu and Josh Weinstien only made $25 each. The movie jokes back then were improvised on the spot. Obviously, the KTMA episodes aren't nearly as good as the episodes they later did, but there's a very homemade feel to them. Some of my favorites from the KTMA season are, "Phase IV", "SST Death Flight" and "Legend of the Dinosaur".         Season 1 MST3K was soon picked up by Comedy Central. Jim Mallon has been quoted as saying the 1st Comedy Central season was, "a work in progress" and, in some ways, he's right. But, the writers of the show were honing their skills nicely. They riffed on such sci-fi "classics" as "The Crawling Eye", "Robot Monster" and "The Crawling Hand". Also, throughout most of the first season, Joel and the bots were subjected to "Commando Cody and the Radar Men on the Moon" as shorts. At the end of the first season, Josh Weinstien, who played Dr. Larry Erhardt and was the voice of Tom Servo, left the show.     Season 2 After the first season, the future of MST3K was uncertain. But, mostly mostly because of MST3K's already loyal following, Comedy Central agreed to another season. During this time, they added Frank Connif to the cast as Dr. Forrester's second, TV's Frank. And Kevin Murphy moved into the role of Tom Servo. Many (including myself) feel that the second season was when MST3K moved into it's "Golden Era". As for the movies, MST3K moved away from just the sci-fi "classics" and branched out. They did two bikers movies ("The Sidehackers" and "The Hellcats"), a rebel movie ("The Wild Rebels") and two Godzilla movies ("Godzilla Vs. the Sea Monster" and "Godzilla Vs. Megalon")! The folks at MST3K were really hitting their stride!           Season 3 Season three stared in 1992. This was the same time I found the show. Season three is considered by many to one of the best seasons of the show. They sure started off with a bang with such classic episodes as "The Cave Dwellers" and "Pod People". These two episodes are considered by many (including myself) as two of the best episodes of MST3K! Also, they secured the rights to a whole bunch of Japanese films that were brought to America by Sandy Frank. These films were fan favorites from the KTMA season. The most memorable of these Japanese films were the five "Gamera" movies they did. Another personal favorite of the Japanese Sandy Frank films is one called "Time of the Apes". I'm not sure, but I think "Time of the Apes" was the first episode of MST3K I ever saw. I've always been a fan of "Planet of the Apes" and to see a guy and two robots make fun of a Japanese rip off was hilarious! Another personal favorite from season three is MST3K's first Christmas episode in which they watch a movie called "Santa Claus Conquers the Martians". There are so many memorable moments in season three. It would take me forever to list them all.   Season 4 Season 4 started off a lot like season 3. The first episode of this season was, in some ways, almost controversial. They did a movie called "Space Travelers" which was actually an edited version of a more famous movie called "Marooned". "Marooned" even stars the legendary Gregory Peck and it even won an Oscar for special effects. Needless to say, some people weren't too happy to see a guy and two puppets making fun of this movie, but it's a classic episode. Also in season 4, we were introduced to a series of "Hercules" movies and such other "classics" as "Monster A Go-Go", "Teenagers from Outer Space", "Attack of the Eye Creatures", and the Ed Wood "classic" "Bride of the Monster". But, it was to be the last episode of this season that will forever live in infamous, "'Manos'- the Hands of Fate". Since "Manos", they've done movies that are almost as bad, but at the time, "Manos" was the worst of the worst! It also introduced us to one of the all-time most memorable MST characters, Torgo!   Season 5 Coming off two of the most wonderfully hilarious seasons of the show, Joel Hodgson decided it was time for a change in his life. Having never been comfortable  in front of the camera, he felt it was time to move on. He agreed to do half of season 5 though. During his last 12 episodes, Joel and the bots riffed on movies like, "Warrior of the Lost World", "The Painted Hills", "Eegah!" and one of my personal, unexpected favorites, "The Girl in Lover's Lane". Then came "Mitchell"! "Mitchell" was Joel's last episode. And he sure went out with a bang. "Michell" stars Joe Don Baker as a beer-drinkin', porn-lovin', slobbish cop (must have been a stretch for Mr. Baker!) Joe Don was later quoted as saying that if he ever found the people that made fun of "Mitchel", he would, "kick there asses!" Who'd have thought Joe Don doesn't have a sense of humor? Anyway, Joel escaped the Satalite of Love in an escape pod that was hidden in a box marked as "Hamdingers". Thus ending what is in my opinion, the "Golden Age" of MST3K. Joel was replaced by Michael J. Nelson who is the head writer on the show and played many of the characters on the show such as Torgo and Jack Perkins. Mike's first episode was "The Brain that Wouldn't Die". Some of my other early favorite Mike episodes include, "Teenage Strangler", "Village of the Giants" and one of my all-time favorites, "Santa Claus"       Season 6 Of all the "Mike Era" seasons of MST3K, season 6 is considered the best. Right off the bat, things got to a good start when they did a movie called "Girl's Town", starring Mamie Van Dorin. Mike was settling into the "human" role quite nicely. One of the little themes of season 6 was a trilogy of movies made by a man named Coleman Francis. The first of which was a movie called "The Skydivers" which was VERY low on action and story line. Towards the end of season 6, the did a movie called "The Beast of Yucca Flats" which starred one of Ed Wood's disciples, Tor Johnson. But, the most memorable movie of the Coleman Francis trilogy is "Red Zone Cuba". "Red Zone Cuba" was VERY loosely based on the Bay of Pigs Invasion. It's a strange film to say the least. The theme song is even sung by John Carradine. As Mike says, "Oh to be blessed with such an instrument". Other favorites from season 6 include two Ed Wood movies, "The Violent Years" and "The Sinister Urge", "Zombie Nightmare" (which stars Adam West, TV's Batman), "The Racket Girls" (a movie about women's wrestling that I'm sure Ed Wood had something to do with!) and a western called "Last of the Wild Horses", the classic "switch-a-roo" episode in which Dr. Forrester and TV's Frank sit in the theater for part of the movie! Season 6 ended on a sad note though. Frank "TV's Frank" Conniff announced he was leaving the show. His last episode was a movie called "Sampson Vs. the Vampire Women". In that episode, Frank was taken off to Heaven by Torgo and Dr. Forrester sang his touching "Who Shall I Kill?" song.     MST3K: the Movie After many years of rumors and negotiations, the folks at Best Brains where given the go-ahead to make a feature film version of MST3K. It was a great chance for fans of the show to get to see Mike, Crow, Servo, Gypsy and Dr. Forrester on the big screen. Believe it or not, this movie actually played here in Evansville for a couple of weeks and I got to see it on the big screen. I must admit that it's not as good as some of the best episodes of the show, but it's MST3K and it is great! The movie they used in the movie (isn't that confusing!) was a 1950's Sci-Fi classic "This Island Earth". One interesting note is if you look really close, you'll see that the delivery man that delivers the Anirositor (sp?) is none other then MST3K legend Coleman Francis! The sad side of the movie is the fact that the same weekend it opened, the same movie company released a movie called "Barbed Wire". Yes, the cinamatic piece of cow dung that stars Pam Anderson. The company decided to push that movie instead of MST3K: TM. Sad really! I guess if Gypsy had fake breasts, then MST3K: TM would have gotten the company backing that it deserved.   Season 7 The bad news that MST3K: TM movie wasn't going to get a push in favor of the Pam Anderson "jiggle fest" was only the beginning of the bad news for MST3K. For reasons that are still not that clear, Comedy Central decided to pull the plug of one of their best shows. Comedy Central generously allowed them to do six more episodes before the end. With Frank Conniff gone from the show, Mary Jo Pehl was brought in to play Pearl Forrester, Dr. Forrester's mother. Thought season seven is short, there are still some classic episodes. Including "The Incredible Melting Man" and "The Brute Man" which stars the wickedly handsome Rondo Hatton. The final episode featured a 1970's Sci-fi movie called "Laserblast". On a side note, Kim Medford that starred in "Lasterblast", was at one time, the lead singer of The Jeff Beck Group. The episode ends very strangely with Mike and the bots being cut loose from Earth and floating to the end of the Universe and Dr. Forrester turning into a star baby. The future of MST3K was up in the air. Would the show be gone forever? The fans of the show responded with a resounding, "HELL NO!!!!!"   Season 8 The fans of MST3K heard the call to arms and they answered. The Sci-Fi Channel came to the rescue and saved MST3K and picked up the show. The most notable change was the departure of Trace Beaulieu. Mary Jo Pehl was now left in the role of the main bad guy but the big question was who was going to take over as Crow. Bill Corbett was the unlucky man to fill the huge void left by Trace. But, to most hardcore MSTies' surprise, Bill's done a wonderful job. For the story of the show, when Mike, Servo, Gypsy, Cambot and Magic Voice got back on the SOL from playing on the edge of the Universe, they find that it's now 500 years later and Crow has a different voice. Apes have now taken over Earth and Peral Forrester has been frozen, and is now known as "The Lawgiver". After Mike blows up the Ape's planet, Pearl and Bobo start chasing Mike and the bots across the Universe. The next planet they stop on is a planet with highly intelligent beings called the Observers who carry their brains in pans. When Mike blows up that planet, Peral, Bobo and one of the Observers (AKA "Brain Guy") escape and the chase is on again. To say the very least, whole concept was kinda goofy, but the movies were every bit as bad as ever. The first episode of the 8th season featured the movie, "Revenge of the Creature" which was a sequel to "Creature from the Black Lagoon" and even featured a very young Clint Eastwood in a small role, his first ever in a movie! Other favorites include, "The Mole People", "Space Mutiny", "Overdrawn at the Memory Bank" (which stars the late Raul Julia), "Jack Frost" and my personal favorite of the 8th season, "The Incredible Strange Creatures that Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies". The other change in the show happened half-way through this season when Jim Mallon stepped down as the voice of Gypsy. The role was taken over by long time MST3K intern Patrick Brantseg.   Season 9 The whole concept of Pearl chasing Mike and the bots around the Universe was rather goofy and for season nine, they took them back to present-day Earth where Pearl found that her family once owned a castle that now belongs to her. So, from there, she sent Mike the bots their movies. Other then that, Season nine didn't have all that many changes from season eight. Some of the classic episodes from this episode include "The Puma Man", "Werewolf", "Hobgoblins" (which in some ways is almost as bad a "Manos"!) and the surprise hit of the season, "The Final Sacrifice". "The Final Sacrifice" was one of those movies that caught everyone by surprise. No one thought it was going to be that bad and that funny. Two words best sum up "The Final Sacrifice", Zap Rowsdower. In the true spirit of such classic MST3K characters as Torgo, Ortega and Mitchell, Rowsdower is one of those people you can't help but laugh at. There's just nothing funnier then an alcoholic Canadian with hockey hair! Season nine ended with a really bad Renaissance movie called "Quest of the Delta Knights" and for the first movie segment, Pearl was forced to take her own medicine and watch the movie!         Season 10 After the ninth season of MST3K, things didn't seem right. The Sci-Fi Channel had moved MST3K's time slot to early Saturday morning and Sunday night. This wasn't a good sign and it reminded many of us of when Comedy Central moved the show around. The general feeling among fans of the show was that the end was near. However, I don't think any of us were quite ready for it when our worst fears became reality. The Sci-Fi Channel had canceled the show. Why they did this is still a mystery to me, but the fact remanded that MST3K was over. They had ordered 13 more episodes and that was it. The final 13 episodes look to be good and once they are over, I will update this section of this page. But some of the highlights include the return of Joel Hodgson and Frank Conniff for the first episode! Also, they are going to do another Joe Don Baker movie and even a German version the Shakespeare classic, "Hamlet".     So, there you have it. A brief history of the greatest TV show EVER!!! All I can say is thank you. Thank you to Joel Hodgson, Kevin Murphy, Jim Mallon, Trace Beaulieu, Mike Nelson, Frank Conniff, Josh Weinstien, Mary Jo Pehl, Paul Chaplin, Bill Corbett, Bridget Jones, Patrick Brantseg and everyone else that has worked on MST3K. Thank you for putting so much joy, laughter and happiness into my life! They say that if a person's work can touch just one person's life, then that person's work is worthwhile. Well, I can honestly say that your work has touched my life greatly.   THANKS FOR THE LAUGHS!!!!!!!       Click on Crow to go back to my MST3K page!