Rover_Wow's MST3K Obsession

MST3K - "Whatcha talking 'bout, Willis?"
If you've ever heard of this show called "Mystery Science Theater 3000", or MST3K, you're probably aware of the hundreds of fan sites on this cult cable show, some of which even feature some fans' MSTings. For those of you going "huh?", here's a brief history of the show:
The show premiered on local Minnesota TV station KTMA back in 1989, and went nationwide on Comedy Central a couple of years later. It featured Joel Hodgson and a couple of "robots" (played by puppets) named Tom Servo, Crow T Robot and Gypsy, who were trapped on the "Satellite of Love" (an earth orbiting vessel shaped like a bone) making fun the low quality scifi of the 50's and 60's (although once the show featured the 70's turd "Laserblast") by making funny (yet sometimes obscure) references related to what's going on. These references, alongside with the little jokes they sometimes make, are called "riffs". Many cast changes occured during the show's run. Examples: In 1997, the show moved networks from Comedy Central to Sci-Fi Channel. They also made a theatrical film during their little hiatus. In 1999, MST3K ended (production-wise) with the SoL crashing down onto Earth and Mike and the 'bots taking up an apartment. The series might be over, but the show still airs in reruns on Sci-Fi for the time being.


How I got involved
I'm probably the LAST guy you'd expect to be someone who's obsessed with MST3K. For one, I live in Thailand of all places. So, how on Earth did I know of this show, you might ask? Well, it started sometime in 1997 when "Road Rovers" aired over here. I saw the show and got addicted. So I went on to the Internet for RR sites and eventually found Krankor's site to be a good one. One day, I noticed one of the links: "Unofficial Road Rovers MST3K". Out of curiosity, I clicked on it... and saw some fans' riffs (and MSTings) from scenes of the show. I was similarly addicted. (You know, I seem to latch on to shows I've never seen... I've also latched on to Hey Arnold! and As Told By Ginger, I latched on to Buzz Lightyear's show a couple months before I actually saw it, and I've also latched on to Rugrats, which I haven't seen in years. But enough about that.) I also clicked onto a link to Krankor's now defunct MST3K page, which featured many MST3K paraphernalia, including sounds, which I downloaded like crazy. In 1998, local cable aired the MST3K movie, giving me my only ever glimpse at MST3K and making me even more obsessed. I also went onto websites to look for various MSTings. Anyways, I decided to put some of it up, and the result is what you see here.


My MST3K Paraphernalia
Sounds - I have various sounds, all downloaded from Krankor's now defunct MST3K page.
Movie MSTings - My first obsession with fan MSTings involved MSTings of Hollywood movies. Previously, I could easily find such MSTings through the "Pro" category at Website No. 9. Later WSN9 removed the category (and the MSTings themselves... copyright trouble, I presume) making them harder (if not impossible) to find.
Rugrats - I started a couple of pages to collect riffs of the Rugrats. I separated them into 3 pages: "The Rugrats Movie", the series and "Rugrats in Paris: The Movie" (though the last one is still empty). I also offer a page for other Nicktoons' riffs here.
Other MSTings - I later started reading some fanfic MSTings, some from WSN9 and Shinji's Vault of Anime MSTings. I liked 3 particular MSTings and read them often and now I'm offering them here: Later, I received this MSTing in my email, and I decided to put it up. "Schlock Treatment" is a Darkwing Duck story which includes Ducktales' Gizmoduck (anyone remember him?). Otherwise, there's nothing to write home about, especially the bad spelling, grammar and the fact it's in script format.
Also, I've found a MSTing of the Road Rovers ep "Dawn of the Groomer". It's highly visual (meaning if you've seen the ep before reading this MSTing, you'll understand the riffs), and it's really hilarious.
I also found a handful of stuff and had other people do MSTings of them: My own MSTings - Most recently, I started writing my own MSTings. Here's what I've written so far: Links
MST3K Official Site
Scifi.com's Caption This - where you can make fun of screengrabs from the Sci-Fi channel, live.
Web Site #9 - You can find a whole lot of MSTings here. It can also be reached here, as part of the mistings.org network.
Shinji's Vault of Anime MSTings - Same as above... except that the emphasis is on Japanese anime, although there are some from video games and US animation.
Science Fiction Theater 1,000,000,000 - Jim Whaley's now-concluded fan MSTing series.
Mystery School Theater 4000 - Darth Kirby's fan MSTing series. I usually hate non-standard MSTings... but I make an exception for this series. Why? I dunno, probably because its main character is named Joel? Then again, I don't like Joel MSTings.


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