Giving Thanks For 25 Years Of Mystery Science Theater 3000

By CNU Editor Kari Rogers

Mystery Science Theater 3000, or MST3K, premiered on November 24, 1988 (Thanksgiving Day) on local Minneapolis TV station KTMA. For those who aren't familiar, it was a long-running cult TV show about a guy and two robots riffing on horrible B-movies they watch aboard a satellite at the behest of mad scientists. You've literally had 25 years to get with this program. For those who ARE familiar, you oughta check out mst3kturkeyday.com because it seems us MSTies are partying all week.

What makes MST3K so appealing to so many people? Well, you got puppets for the kids and pop culture jokes for the adults. Plus all that Midwestern charm and UHF production value will automatically give you the warm-fuzzies over time. And need I mention the space robots again? Despite its extraordinary comedic content, comedy nerds have let the regular nerds take this one under the couch with them. Like Monty Python, they're positively batshit over it. What makes it so iconic? It's got a great look.

The "Shadowrama" theater seats are instantly recognizable. And people ironically connect with the awful movies that are the destroyed centerpieces of every episode. We rubberneck bad films all the time. Kitsch is a subculture unto itself. B-movies have a history of being ripe for cult potential. And things that celebrate cult tend to become cult themselves.

Me, personally, if you bring up Mystery Science Theater 3000, you're going to learn a lot about my life. I first saw it when I was six years old. It's my favorite show because it's always been a constant throughout my existence - a constant source of sentimentality with my family, a constant source of distraction and comfort when times are tough. I remember trying to save up for Rhino VHS tapes of it in 8th grade. I remember watching a shorts DVD late at night after a disappointing 14th birthday and reading The Amazing Colossal Episode Guide and Mike Nelson's Movie Megacheese alone at school during the isolating teen years that followed. It helped me out when my mom was dying and when my dog ran away. My step-dad and I spent some rare quality time together watching The Skydivers episode. And, coupled with my hip family's need to raise a precocious child, it designed the blueprint of my sense of humor, particularly my obsession with obscure references. I'm forever thankful.

It's just a show. I should really just relax.

But how can you relax with all the internet events Reddit and Shout Factory have planned for us?! Series creator Joel Hodgson is doing a Reddit AMA this Tuesday at 1pm PST/4pm EST until 3pm PST/6pm EST. AND he's participating in Reddit's Black Friday livestream event along with other comedians this Friday (duh) from 9am PST/Noon EST - 5pm PST/8pm EST. AND YOU GUYS: Joel and Shout Factory are bringing the TURKEY DAY MARATHON back! A Thanksgiving tradition from the show's tenure at Comedy Central that ended in 1997 will be revived on mst3kturkeyday.com on Thursday starting at 9am PST/Noon EST.

I encourage you to watch Mystery Science Theater 3000 today, remember when you discovered it, and think of what keeps bringing you back to it.

Kari Rogers's earliest memory is having the Doobie Brothers explained to her.

#Mystery Science Theater 3000 #MST3K #CNU Originals