SAVE MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000: THE CRUSADE - Interviews by Dave Wolff - Music

Mystery Science Theater 3000 (MST3K for short) is a long running television program, having been exposed to its legion of steadfastly loyal and adoring fans through Comedy Central and the Sci-Fi Channel for a grand total of ten seasons. The show has a following similar in many respects to that of Star Trek in the sense that it has extremely dedicated supporters, known largely as "MSTies."

MST3K ran on Comedy Central for seven seasons from 1989 to 1996 and was adopted by the Sci-Fi Channel. A full-length movie based n the program's premise, Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie was released in the interim in 1996. SFC aired MST3K for another three seasons until it was cancelled in 1999 and the series finale was aired in the fall. Since the Sci-Fi Channel announced the show's tenth season would be its last on their station, presumably due to scheduling constraints, a tremendous, all-out fan campaign was born. This campaign, run by the fans for the fans, was fanatically dedicated to returning MST3K to the airwaves, through websites, Internet polls and a vigorous email and letter writing campaign.

I recently interviewed Thomas "Trumpy" Fugitt, Roberta Johnson and "Darkness Falls," huge fans of MST3K who had been doing their part to bring it back to the airwaves. They both had much to say about their own efforts and those of other MSTies expressed via their sites and the fan campaign as a whole. Fugitt is a senior and accounting major at Marshall University in West Virginia.

When did you first start up your website? How long has it been up?
Thomas Fugitt: I first started my website back around May 1998. It's been slowly growing ever since. It features scanned copies of letters I've received from other networks, a tape-trading page, and a few of my other hobbies. The address is: http://www.geocities.com/trumpy303.
Darkness Falls: I used to have a website, but I don't anymore. It lasted for about three months.

How many hits has the website gotten?
TF: The main index page has not really been visited very much, because I just added it recently. It only has 40 hits or so, but my Mystery Science Theater 3000 page has 634 hits. I guess those numbers are pretty good, since I've never promoted my website on any search engines.
DF: I had about 300 hits when I finally removed it. I was having problems with my server.

Is there anything on the site like a petition to send to TV stations that people can sign?
TF: Yes and no... I have a link to another MSTie's petition on my page. I have never taken the time to build a petition page of my own.
DF: No, there weren't.

Which TV stations have you written to try to get MST3K aired on it? Have there been any results? Which stations are most likely to adopt it?
TF: I have probably written to every cable channel: HBO, Cinemax, Comedy Central, FX, Encore, A&E, AMC, E!, TBS/ TNT/ TCM, etc. The only ones that have taken the time to write back were Comedy Central and A&E. They were both polite-rejection-type letters. I have a sneaky feeling that Comedy Central may take the show back for re-runs, once MST3K's contract with the Sci-Fi Channel is over. They brought back "Whose Line is it Anyway?" once it was cancelled on ABC. Plus, they still own the rights to the first seven seasons of MST3K. There were rumors that E! was interested in picking up the show whenever Comedy Central cancelled it back in '96. I believe that most networks are afraid to give MST3K a chance, because it lasts for two hours. They do not have enough free time in their schedules to squeeze it in.
DF: I've written to A&E, TNT, TBS, and even the Sci-Fi Channel. The only network the replied was A&E, and they said they "didn't have any plans to include it in their lineup" any time soon, but that they "appreciated my feedback." I didn't really expect Sci-Fi to respond, seeing as my letter was pretty scathing...
Roberta Johnson: I have written to: HBO, MTV, TBS, TNT, FOX, E! Entertainment Television, A&E, AMC, Encore and the B-Movie Channel. Most networks said something along the lines of, "Thank you for your interest." A&E and AMC said that they would forward my request to their Acquisitions Department. The B-Movie Channel stated that they were very interested, but there has been no news since then. The most encouraging response was from the B-Movie Channel. I would rather have MST3K on a more established network, but I would be happy with any of them.

Do you frequently keep in touch with other "Save MST3K" webmasters? Which other sites besides yours would you recommend?
TF: I was keeping in touch with several other save MST3K webmasters whenever the Sci-Fi Channel first cancelled it. I have not heard from any of them lately. Maybe they've lost hope in ever getting the show picked up again. There are a lot of good fan-based sites out there. I like all of the ones listed on the Satellite News "Save MST3K" page.
DF: I'd have to say that http://www.mst3kinfo.com/satnews/saveshow.html is the most informative site... It's not very flashy or anything, but it gets the job done.
RJ: I don't have my own website. I would recommend The Satellite News website (www. mst3kinfo.com). It's the best site to keep up with the latest news on the show. Another good one is the about.com. site. They have links to just about anything MST3K related

Is "Save MST3K" a centralized fan campaign or is it generally a group effort
TF: I think the "Save MST3K" campaign is being totally controlled by fans of the show this time around. Whenever it was cancelled by Comedy Central, Best Brains Inc. was urging the fans to help save the show. Maybe BBI wants the show to come to an end this time... or maybe they just think we know the routine by now, and think the fans can save the show without their help.
DF: Oh, a group effort. I hope...
RJ: I would say that it's a group effort. When the fans heard that the show had been canceled last year, many of us went on the newsgroup rec.arts.tv.mst3k.misc and asked each other, "What can we do?" We exchanged letter-writing tips, petitions, websites, network contact information and we commiserated a lot. The Satellite News took donations for an ad in Daily Variety, to which I contributed, to get the show noticed. Although the fan community helped each other a lot, we pretty much did what we could as individuals or small groups.

Where did the fan campaign first originate?
TF: The older fans of the show remembered how we saved the show before, and thought we could save it again with the help of new MSTies. The idea was orchestrated almost entirely on the Internet.
DF: Back when we fans found out that MST3K's 10th season would be its last.
RJ: The Satellite News alerted us to the fact that the show was canceled, but the fans got things going on the newsgroup rec.arts.tv.mst3k.misc.

What are your thoughts on the Sci-Fi channel canceling the show?
TF: I think that most television networks don't really give their shows a chance. This is especially true for The Sci-Fi Channel. They spend a lot of money purchasing the rights to air certain shows, and then once they've acquired the show they cancel it soon afterward. I'm somewhat pleased with the way they treated Mystery Science Theater 3000, though. They kept it going for three years. They cancel most of their other shows after just one year. All they're really concerned with are ratings numbers. I can't see what they expect their numbers to be, because most cable companies don't even carry The Sci-Fi Channel.
DF: Personally, I think the people who work at the Sci-Fi Channel are a bunch of raving idiots. They have so much old, boring, and unoriginal programming that to dump something as fresh and funny as MST3K is just insane. And since MST3K was, for a lot of fans, the only thing worth watching on Sci-Fi, there's no doubt in my mind that they're going to lose a lot of viewers.

What does MST3K mean to you? What do you like most about it?
TF: MST3K is a huge part of my life. There's rarely a day that goes by that I do not watch an episode on tape. The thing I like most about MST3K is that they just didn't care what other people thought about them or their show. They loved to slap the movie industry around, by making fun of its worse movies.
DF: I think what I like most about MST3K is how intelligent it is... While that may be a turn-off to some potential viewers, the incredible amount of witty comments, ranging from totally obscure references to simple observations on the films shoddiness, are just wonderful. Plus, nearly everybody loves to sit in front of a TV or a movie Theater and make fun of bad movies, and MST3K takes that love a step further by doing all the riffing for you, with professional comedy writers, no less. I also enjoy the knowledge that I'm part of a huge, devoted fan base, one that's actually kinda cool. MSTies are usually very funny and intelligent people, and fun to have around. One has to just go and take a quick look on the Internet to discover the incredible amount of loyalty and passion for the show that these people possess.
RJ: MST3K is unique, hilarious, campy and just great fun to watch, and it was never afraid to poke fun at itself. Making fun of bad movies is something that I've always done with my friends and family. When I watch MST3K it feels like I'm getting together with old friends. I can watch the show when I feel sad or depressed and forget about my troubles for a while. I love the writing the most. The group of writers on MST3K have to be the best on television. Every episode of the show has several laugh out loud moments.

What do you think MST3K could offer the channels you'd like to see it on?
TF: If MST3K gets picked up by another channel, they could increase that channel's number of viewers. MST3K is the only show on television worth watching, so channels that will not air MST3K are missing out on an opportunity to gain hundreds of thousands of new viewers.
DF: Originality... Humor... Something new, inventive, and funny as hell. That's what MST3K is really all about.
RJ: Any channel that picked up the show would get a big boost to their viewership. And fans like myself would do everything possible to promote and support the channel. They would also be getting an original and daring show. I think that most networks would be pleased to have a reputation of putting on that kind of programming.

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Page Updated Thu Jul 22, 2004 8:40pm EDT