By Frank Tantillo
NEW YORK (Reuter) - It is an odd crusade -- a campaign to keep bad movies on television.
Fans who want to ensure that really bad films such as ``The Amazing Colossal Man'', ``Santa Claus Conquers the Martians'' and ``Teenagers from Outer Space'' stay on TV took out a $4,500 full page ad in Variety to denounce the Comedy Central cable channel's decision to cancel Mystery Science Theater 3000.
MST3K, as its small but intensely loyal cult of fans call the program, is a cult show that uses a backdrop of bad B-movies to showcase the talents of wise-cracking hecklers.
More than 110 fans rallied in cyberspace to collect money for the ad, run Monday, which characterizes the cancellation as a ``crime against humanity,'' in the hopes another network will pick up the show. Comedy Central said outraged fans have been calling regularly to protest and some of the attacks have been vicious.
Mike Harney, a computer programmer from Weston, Mass. who organized the effort to buy the ad, said contributors ranged from a 12-year-old boy who sent in $20 with a letter saying he ''wanted to send in what little money he had'' to Jack Perkins, host of ``Biography'' on the Arts and Entertainment network, who is regularly lampooned on MST3K.
The funds were sent in response to a call for donations posted by Harney on the Internet and major online services.
The cancellation came just as Mystery Science Theater was branching into new markets. A book based on the series is due in stores this week and ``Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie'' is set for release by April 19th.
The premise of MST3K is simple, yet ridiculous. In the not-too-distant future, an unsuspecting human, played by the show's head writer Mike Nelson, has been rocketed into space by a mad scientist bent on forcing him to watch awful movies while monitoring his reactions.
In order to stay sane, Mike -- along with two acerbic robot pals -- spend their time cracking smart-aleck remarks about the movies that are thrust upon them. TV viewers see the trio silhouetted at the bottom of the television screen.
Harney describes the show's fans as ``people who tend to be on the sarcastic side -- funny, witty and intelligent,'' but adds: ``Some people find us annoying because we can't keep our mouth shut. When we see something silly we say something.''
The fans certainly had something to say about Comedy Central's decision last December to discontinue production of the series. Within days of the announcement, ``Save MST3K'' sites sprang up on the Internet urging the faithful to contact the comedy network to ask them to change their minds.
The call to arms among wired MST supporters sparked an ''online assault'' that Tony Fox, a spokesman for Comedy Central, described as ``vicious.''
``We would get late night phone messages, faxes and tons of letters,'' Fox said. ``Our president has received many late night phone calls from people calling him 'dickweed''' -- a term often used on the show to describe particularly disliked characters.
Despite some negotiations with Best Brains regarding a new format for MST, Comedy Central has ultimately stood by its decision not to order new episodes of the low-rated series.
``It's wonderful to see the devotion of these fans,'' said Fox, ``but the fact of the matter is that even though they are wildly devoted to the show, there aren't a lot of them.''
Although no new episodes are being created, Comedy Central continues to air reruns of MST and will continue to do so until the end of 1996. After that, Best Brains hopes to sign with a new network.
``The Sci-Fi channel has indicated a possible interest,'' said Jim Mallon, president of Best Brains Inc., the show's production company.
Reuters/Variety
