Mystery Science Theater 3000: One of the Funniest TV Shows in the Past 20 Years

Mystery Science Theater 3000 was a hilarious show that ran for over ten years. It aired on both Comedy Central and The Sci-fi Channel. Unfortunately, I didn't discover it until its final season in 1999. It has grown to be a cult phenomenon amongst sci-fi/horror nerds. What's it about? Why are the fans so avid and sometimes creepy? How could it have run for a decade without becoming immensely popular? These answers and more on this week's episode of "I Haven't Seen Daylight in Months."

MST3K (that's the nerd abbreviation) was birthed in 1988. Experts speculate that it was a natural birth. The basic premise involved Joel, a guy who was stuck in outer space with a concourse of robots. Our protagonists are forced to watch unspeakably bad b-movies by the evil Dr. Forrester. How did everyone get into space and why do Joel and the bots have to watch movies? I don't know. As the theme song says, "It's just a show. You should really just relax." This wasn't a 30-minute series of goofy skits. Each episode was two hours long with commercial breaks. The viewer watches the characters watch a movie. It may sound tedious, but it's not.

Joel and the two main robots (Crow and Tom Servo) heckle whatever slipshod schlock is on the docket that week. They butcher the film with no remorse. The quips didn't become consistently funny until the third season or so. Halfway through Season 5, Joel was replaced by head writer Mike Nelson. Mike would host the show until its final bow. Fans of the show (dubbed "MSTies") have argued for years over which host was better suited for MST3K. It's a touchy subject. So touchy, in fact, that it caused The Canadian War of 1997, one of the bloodiest wars in North American history.