Mystery Science Theater 3000

From TeeVeePedia, the Internet TV Encyclopedia.

Mystery Science Theater 3000, which aired first on Comedy Central and later on The SciFi Channel, was the first television program to be broadcast from Earth orbit, and also the first television program to originate in Minnesota. It consisted of a combination of classified government footage of a secret astronaut test program, accidentally beamed to a Minneapolis public-access TV station from a satellite in geosynchronous orbit over the Twin Cities, and crudely assembled framing segments from the station's staff, to make the content more accessible to local viewers.

MST3K is now hailed as many viewers' first exposure to some of the most acclaimed and little-seen classics of modern cinema. It has brought new and well-deserved recognition to the obscure films screened for its anonymous orbiting test subject, including the poignant Cold War fable Eegah!, the surrealist epic Santa Claus Conquers the Martians, and the undisputed masterpiece of 20th century film, Manos: The Hands of Fate.

After a beloved 10-year run, the series ended in 2000, when the satellite from which parts of the broadcast originated was destroyed re-entering the Earth's atmosphere. A chunk of the spacecraft broke off and smashed to Earth, utterly obliterating the television station below.