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Monday, October, 21 1996
Bird's EyeView
In the not so distant future; next February A.D.
A new Mystery Science Theater will be back on TV
razy beatniks, killer shrews and giant gila monsters are things that Mike Nelson deals with on a weekly basis. He is stranded in space with no humans and really bad movies.
This is the premise of the Peabody award-winning television show Mystery Science Theater 3000. Nelson has been launched into space by evil scientists who torture him by making him watch bad movies.
In the show, Nelson is joined by four robots on a space ship, which is nicknamed "The Satellite of Love."
The show was recently picked up by the Sci-Fi channel after being canceled by Comedy Central this year. It will debut Feb. 1 on the Sci-FI Channel.
Crow T. Robot is a wise-cracking robot that looks suspiciously like a gold spray-painted bowling pin and hockey mask. Tom Servo is a wise-cracking robot resembling a gumball machine.
Gypsy is a purple robot that takes care of the ship's daily functions, looks like an upside down baby car seat with a flash light for an eye and has a high-pitched voice. Cambot is the final robot. He rarely is seen on "The Satellite of Love" because he films the shows.
Tom Servo, Crow and Mike watch the bad movies and makes sarcastic comments about them.
The insane Dr. Forrester oversees the mayhem and takes delight in making Nelson suffer through movies with titles like Teenagers from Outer Space and Attack of the Eve Creatures.
Nelson, host and head writer, said the worst part of his job was watching bad movies again and again.
Mystery Science Theater 3000, or MST 3K for short, began in a small independent television station in Minnesota in 1988.
Joel Hodgeson, the creator, was the original host of the show. With a small group of people, the renegade show came to the attention of a new cable channel called HA! TV.
HA! turned into the Comedy channel and then morphed into its final incarnation, Comedy Central. In 1989, the show moved into the family of Comedy Central,
where it has stayed until it was canceled this year.
Nelson, who has been with the show for seven years, took control of hosting duties in the fifth season after Joel Robinson escaped "The Satellite of Love."
"The show started so small that it wasn't much of a jump to Comedy Central," Nelson said. "We still work on a small budget."
"We picked it up because it's an amazing, award-winning quality show, and it definitely deserved a home," said Sharon Levy, representative for the Sci-Fi channel.
And a home it will have. The Sci-Fi channel reaches 36 million homes.
The new restrictions aren't a big concern for the members of the show.
"There is going to be a change in genre in movies moving from Comedy Central to Sci-Fl." Nelson said. "But it's going to be sci-fi from all different times and styles. It's going to be broad-ranged."
Even though the show has enjoyed mild success in the past, the crew still resides and films in Eden Prairie, Minn., giving a Midwestern edge to its comedy.
"After years of watching TV shows that are based in LA, or New York that make references to things in that region, we make references to the Midwest because that's what we know," Nelson said.
Nelson also said he wanted to stay in Minnesota.
"I don't have any desire to be a big film star," he said. "L.A. is so brutal and competitive that you don't end up doing what you want. It's a weird andicky place."
The show has had its brushes with movie stardom. Last summer, a movie version of the TV show was released.
"I like doing the show more." Nelson said. "We get to do pretty much what we want. With a movie, there is a big studio involved, and you have creative input from someone else."
But it all comes down to the movies. And that is something Mike Nelson knows a lot about.
Although the show has many fans, there are those who don't get the show.
Nelson said his favorite episode of Mystery Science Theater was Fire Maidens from Outer Space.
"I really hated that movie," he said. "It was so bad, I was personally offended."
"It isn't for everyone, and it isn't intended to be," Nelson said. "We are just trying to be funny. If you look at the show a certain way, it's pretty dumb. But it does help to sit through an entire show."
With the new season falling into place, the show is dealing with the departure of Trace Beaulieu, who plays Dr. Forrester and is the voice of Crow the robot.
"Trace just decided he didn't want to do it anymore," Nelson said. "We are sorry to see him."
The loss of a main character presents unique problems for the cast. Nelson said the departure of Dr. Forrester would be a super secret surprise, but it would be entertaining.
Nelson, the master of bad movies, knows his stuff. When asked who would win in a fight between The Thing or The Blob, he said, "The Blob would win hands down. He would just consume him and make him part of his power. Besides, you can't punch a blob. He'd eat your arm."
Story written and produced by Ashlee Roll
Photos and props provided by Best Brains Inc.
Costume and page design by Matt Hood
No animals or journalists were hurt during the production of this story.
THE END