Mystery Science Theater 3000

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Trace Beaulieu wears the same oversized horned rim glasses as Gene Barry in The War of the Worlds
Jim Mallon cites one of his inspirations for the show as being "Fractured Flickers", a show produced by the creators of "Rocky and Bullwinkle"
The original name suggested by Joel Hodgson was Mystery Science Theater 2000. It was changed to 3000 to sound more futuristic.
In the first year, when it was a local show on KTMA-TV, producers never got the rights to use the films shown. For that reason, many early episodes can't be rebroadcast or released on video.
SPOILER: At the end of the final episode (after screening Diabolik (1968)), Mike, Crow, and Tom Servo are living in an apartment, and begin watching The Trollenberg Terror (1958) on television. That movie was screened in the show's very first episode on Comedy Central.
Kevin Murphy was the longest-lasting member of the crew. He started as a writer during the KTMA days, and worked until the final episode,"Mystery Science Theater 3000" (1988) {Diabolik (#11.13)}_.
Shortly before his death in 1993, Frank Zappa planned to make a film with the members of MST3K.
Mike/Joel and the bots' spaceship is called the Satellite of Love, after the song by Lou Reed.
The Satellite of Love set was made entirely of toys that the show's creators bought at Goodwill. All of the robots were made from common household items. Items on the interior walls include: a toy Millennium Falcon from Star Wars: Episode IV: A New Hope, a Darth Vader action figure holder, a plastic reindeer cut in half and glued over the theater door, plastic toy trumpets, silverware trays, bundt cake pans, and extra bowling pins that would've served as Crow's beak.
An early eighth season episode, The Mole People, featured a cameo by Robert Smith, who was Running Back for the Minnesota Vikings at the time. Playing a mute caveman hunk, he was the show's first celebrity guest. Film critic Leonard Maltin, the show's only other celebrity guest, appeared in the ninth season episode Gorgo as himself.
Nearly every minor character was played by either a central cast member in another role or various members of the production crew.
Crow T. Robot's middle initial stands for "The".
When the show ended production after its 10th season, the set and props were auctioned on eBay.
Joel's sleepy-eyed appearance was a holdover from the pilot, which he recorded after not sleeping for four days.
The last episode produced was "Mystery Science Theater 3000" (1988) {Diabolik (#11.13)}_, which aired on August 8, 1999. The last new episode to air was "Mystery Science Theater 3000" (1988) {Merlin's Shop of Mystical Wonders (#11.3)}_, which was originally scheduled to run early in the 10th season, but was pulled from the schedule due to problems securing the rights to the film. It aired on September 12, 1999, as a "lost episode". The Sci-Fi Channel opted not to renew the show's contract in January 2004, canceling the series for good. The network aired "Mystery Science Theater 3000" (1988) {The Screaming Skull (#10.12)}_ on January 31, 2004, as the last episode to air on TV.
According to Barb Tebben (the second Info Club Poobah), the "classic" Satellite of Love set, used until the end of Season 7, was built for $200. Many of the same pieces were used when the set was remodeled for Season 8.
In the first season, the Hexfield Viewscreen's iris mechanism ranged from nothing to a window shade to a slightly more advanced window shade. Shortly into production of season 2, Jim Mallon saw a magazine ad for a person who manufactures large irises. The builder was located near Best Brains' offices. He turned out to be a fan of the show, and built the Hexfield for the cost of materials.
Joel and Dr. Forrester were originally employees of Gizmonic Institute. When Joel Hodgson (who had trademarked "gizmonic") left the show, he wanted to use the word for his own projects, so it was never mentioned again. However, Gizmonic Institute was rarely mentioned before that. The first episode on Comedy Central began with the revelation that Forrester and Erhart were conducting the experiment without their employers' knowledge.
Many of the "inventions" offered in the Invention Exchanges were created by Joel Hodgson for his stand-up act years before.
Until his departure in Season 6, Frank Conniff, who played "T.V.'s Frank", was the one mainly responsible for choosing the movies to be watched. When he left, this duty was given to writers Paul Chaplin and Mary Jo Pehl.
After the end credits, a five-second clip from the movie is shown, highlighting a particularly stupid moment in the movie. The cast and crew called them "stingers." The first, aired with "Mystery Science Theater 3000" (1988){Rocket Attack U.S.A.(#3.5)}_, featured a blind man saying, "Help me." The stingers remained a permanent fixture of the series until season 8. Three episodes replaced the stingers with a repeating clip of the Observers holding their brains up to the camera. "Mystery Science Theater 3000" (1988) {The She-Creature (#9.8)}_ shows a clip of Professor Bobo lying on an asteroid in pain after falling out of Pearl Forrester's space-traveling van. The four "stingers" followed Sci-Fi's strict new story arc guidelines for the show.
Pearl calls Crow "Art" because in an earlier season Joel introduced the bots the same way Jackie Gleason would introduce the cast of "The Jackie Gleason Show" (1966), with Art Crow instead of Art Carney. A fan then sent a picture calling Crow "Art".
Ranked #11 in TV Guide's list of the "25 Top Cult Shows Ever!" (30 May 2004 issue).
The MST3K Crew was ranked #13 in TV Guide's list of the "25 Greatest Sci-Fi Legends" (1 August 2004 issue).
The show gained popularity after fans taped episodes and gave them to their friends. In seasons 2-4, a line at the end of the end credits says "Keep circulating the tapes". That ended after Best Brain's lawyers questioned the show's support of piracy.
The escape pod Joel uses is called the Deus ex Machina.
The mole people Gerry and Sylvia are named after Sylvia Anderson and Gerry Anderson, the creators of _"Thunderbirds" (1964)_. The show featured several of their films during the KTMA years.
Conceived as a a parody of Silent Running. Joel was a captive on a satellite going nowhere, wearing a blue jumpsuit with patches all over it. The robots were companions to help him keep sane. The first episode was more of a direct parody.
Episodes frequently featured characters from the films parodied, such as Torgo from Manos: The Hands of Fate.
Trace Beaulieu based Dr. Forrester on some "jerk" club owners he had encountered on the stand up circuit.