what the heck is this mst3k thing anyway?
short answer: mystery science theater 3000, a series airing on the sci-fi channel, starring a guy and two robots that heckle bad movies with wit and style.
long answer: well, once upon a time there were five guys, and they started something really big. no, it wasn't the beatles! these guys were from minnesota. they created a show called mystery science theater 3000 for a local tv station, and, boy, was it a hit! it featured a guy named joel (joel hodgson) and his robot friends crow (trace beaulieu) and servo (josh weinstein) silhouetted in front of a really awful movie hurling jokes at the screen. you know, what everyone does when they watch tv. they were forced to do this by two mad scientists, dr. clayton forrester (beaulieu again) and dr. lawrence erhardt (weinstein again). who knows why, but it sure made for a fun show!
after a season, they moved to evil, i mean comedy central, which was the comedy channel at that time. josh weinstein left after one season here to go to college and not be the guy who writes for the simpsons. kevin murphy took over the role of servo, who now had the first name tom, and frank conniff came on the show as tv's frank, forrester's new assistant.
the show went on merrily and hysterically for four more years, but then joel hodgson left to develop new ideas. his character was written out and replaced with mike nelson as mike nelson. people didn't like this a whole lot. joel was the man, and his leaving made fans...er...a wee bit disappointed. but over time, they realized that mike was pretty cool, darn funny, and (almost) as hot as joel. (except for some people who hate mike, but the heck with them.) frank left too, after the sixth season, and was replaced by forrester's mom pearl (mary jo pehl).
then came one of mst's most turbulent years. mst: the movie came out. yay! and commie central cancelled the show. boo! and so, fans went without new shows for the longest time since the hiatus before the show premiered on cable. it was a dangerous time...the msties were restless! but before the fans could get a hit out on doug herzog, or something equally drastic, the glorious, wonderful sci-fi channel picked mst up! the peasants rejoiced!
the premise of the show was reworked a bit for its new premiere, because of the departure of trace beaulieu. now, bill corbett would play crow, and forrester's mother would be showing mike and the 'bots the movies, along with her ape sidekick professor bobo (kevin murphy). from what i hear, it's pretty dang cool.
and that, my friends, is the story of mystery science theater 3000. go on now, and spread the gospel to everyone you know.