It hasn't been an easy year for fans of Mystery Science Theater 3000, the Peabody Award-winning series on which grade-Z movies are lampooned by host Mike Nelson (right) and his robot pals. First came the news that Comedy Central was dumping the show, then the long-awaited MST3K feature film was shunted into only a few theaters.
But now MSTies (as fans are known) are rejoicing: The Sci-Fi Channel has picked up the show. Thirteen new episodes are scheduled to start in February with "the same delightful cheesiness and the same paltry budget," Nelson promises. The only difference is that Mike and the 'bots will now set their sights exclusively on science-fiction movies from Sci-Fi's library.
"One that we like a lot is 'The Day of the Triffids,'" says Nelson, referring to a 1963 opus about man-eating vegetables. "It's goofy, the meat-eating plants look really stupid - but it's lit fairly well and you can hear the actors, so I guess it's a step up for us."
Nelson looks forward to a new time
slot in Saturday-night prime time -- and doesn't hide his
feelings about Comedy Central. "It was hard to build a
loyal audience when one week the show would be on at
2 A.M., and the next at 5 P.M.," he says. "They said the
channel was switching focus to more up-to-the-minute
comedy, 'fresh as today's headlines.' That seems to mean
more Benny Hill reruns."
-- Ileane Rudolph
