Line #54 Trivia/MysteryScienceTheater3000


1	* ActingForTwo: There was always at least one actor overlapping between the mad scientists and the 'bots. It got even worse in the Sci-Fi Channel era, when both Tom and Crow's actors were also playing Pearl's assistants.
2	** That was true in [[OlderThanTheyThink season one]], as well.
3	** Taken to absurd levels in ''Film/TheAtomicBrain'' when Trace Beaulieu's two characters imitate one another ([[BadImpressionists neither impression is all that accurate]] but Crow does a better Dr. Forrester than vice versa).
4	** The tradition is alive and well in Season 11, though this time it's Gypsy and Synthia. Likewise M. Waverly and Growler's puppeteers sub in for Crow and Tom whenever their main performers aren't available for filming (albeit with the dialogue looped over)
5	** Baron Vaughn (Jonah's Servo) appeared in Season 13 as Dr. Kabahl, ''the mysterious financier from the future''. The GPC/Synthia double-act continued, along with GPC 2.0/Mega-Synthia for Emily's episodes.
6	* ActingInTheDark:
7	** None of the revival actors were told who [[Creator/KimCattrall Kinga's mother]] was.
8	** In an interview with Matt [=McGuinness=] (the writer/producer who also plays the guy in the purple jumpsuit that randomly appears in ''Film/CarnivalMagic''), he sounded just as confused about what will happen with the man in the purple jumpsuit as everyone else.
9	* ActorLeavesCharacterDies: [[Recap/MysteryScienceTheater3000S06E24SamsonVsTheVampireWomen Season 6]] ends with [=TV's=] Frank ascending to Second Banana Heaven.
10	** Dr. Forrester was killed offscreen by his mother in between Seasons 7 and 8, due to Beaulieu leaving the show. A nod to this appears in Season 12 when Dr. Erdhardt passes by Moon 13 as he's fulfilling Frank and Dr. Forrester's final wishes to scatter their ashes to the tune of "Idiot Control Now!"
11	* AdoredByTheNetwork:
12	** Though it would wind up getting ScrewedByTheNetwork later, the old Comedy Channel considered ''[=MST3K=]'' its flagship show - when they merged with Ha! to become Creator/ComedyCentral, they threatened to cancel the merger if Ha! insisted on getting rid of [=MST=] in spite of the Comedy Channel's anonymity and Ha!'s comparative success. The show also scored an unprecedented three-year contract, which was a big factor in producing the stellar third, fourth and fifth seasons.
13	** The only reason the tenth season happened was because Barry Schulman was a huge fan and signed off on it before his departure from the Sci-Fi Channel.
14	** Very much the case with Netflix, which even went to the trouble of making several short videos with Crow and Tom for its [=YouTube=] channel, including one where they pitch show ideas to the company's real life CCO! Then they took it even further by allowing the episodes to be used in the Turkey Day Marathons, making this one of the extremely few Netflix shows to ever appear outside the website.
15	** ''KTMA'' - nowadays a [[Creator/TheCW CW]] affiliate since 2006 - loves [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EHsVCBzh-T0 reminding people that MST3K began on their network every chance they get]]. Mind you, there's some obvious self-promotion and RetroactiveRecognition going on, but still. They've also gone out of their way to interview series cast and crew and revive old characters and skits they were involved with, like bringing back Kevin Murphy as Bob Bagadonuts for their new year's eve celebration special, The Melon Drop.
16	* AllStarCast: ''The Return'' (comparatively speaking, at least). While Jonah and the bots are relative unknowns, we have Creator/WilWheaton and Erin Grey in the intro to the first episode as random Gizmonic employees, and Creator/FeliciaDay and Creator/PattonOswalt as the new Mads, and guest appearances by the likes of Creator/NeilPatrickHarris, Creator/MarkHamill and Creator/JerrySeinfeld.
17	* AscendedFanon: The fans dubbed the apes' lab from ''[[Recap/MysteryScienceTheater3000S08E01RevengeOfTheCreature Revenge of the Creature]]'' to ''[[Recap/MysteryScienceTheater3000S08E04TheDeadlyMantis The Deadly Mantis]]'' "Deep Ape" since it was the first Mads base after Deep 13. While its only on-screen name was "the lab", Best Brains refers to it as "Deep Ape" anyway.
18	* AuthorsSavingThrow: Season 12 attempted saving throws:
19	** First, the next season was set at just six episodes, as Joel admitted he'd forgotten just how much work it took to make the kind of quality product the show was at its best, and the shorter episode count would allow each one to receive the attention it needed.
20	** The season also features far less obsession with [[FillingTheSilence added riffing]] that many fans complained about in Season 11, with a return to the more natural pace of the original. And the three riffers are again all recorded together, allowing them to play off each other and even crack each other up more naturally. The lack of rapid-fire riffing helps with the issues of audiences having trouble telling who is doing the riffing as well.
21	** The poorly received overarching plot of Kinga and Jonah's wedding and Max's unrequited love for Kinga is brushed under the rug and promptly forgotten.
22	** While the response to the celebrity cameos was certainly mixed, but to the relief of many they've dialed down the more gratuitous cameos that many felt were less ''[=MST3k=]'' skits and more "let's stop the show to have a celebrity do a bit."
23	** However, none of it was able to get a Season 13 from Netflix. But that still wasn't the end, as a year of downtime during the COVID-19 pandemic gave Joel plenty of time to think over how to continue [=MST3K=], and he ended up deciding to launch his own streaming platform for the show. And this time, rather than follow the mixed results of the Netflix model, the series would once again simply release one episode at a time, with the hope that it would make each one feel like a unique event, complete with the platform offering live chatrooms for each debut. Season 13 also features the return of the much-beloved shorts after they were noticeably absent from the Netflix episodes, also having their own releases rather than having to wait for a short enough film to fit them into a regular episode.
24	* ChannelHop: Repeatedly.
25	** The series originally aired on KTMA for the first season, then moved to the Comedy Channel for season 2. The latter channel then merged with Ha! to become CTV: The Comedy Network. Due to a naming conflict with the Canadian channel CTV, it was renamed to Creator/ComedyCentral, with ''[=MST3K=]'' airing the first episode of its third season on the same day the name change took effect. It stayed there until the end of season 7, after which the Creator/SciFiChannel picked it up for seasons 8-10, ending in fall 1999. A Kickstarter campaign eventually led to Netflix picking up the series for seasons 11 and 12, airing in 2017 and 2018. A second successful crowdfunding effort then allowed the series to relaunch in 2022, with its thirteenth season (along with older episodes) being released through Joel Hodgson's then-newly-launched site The Gizmoplex.
26	%%** The DVD releases did this too. They were originally released through Creator/RhinoRecords' home video division from 2000 to 2007, after which the license was transferred to Rhino's SpiritualSuccessor Creator/ShoutFactory from 2008 on.%%Do DVD releases actually count for this trope?
27	* ColbertBump: Honestly, would anyone have known '''''anything''''' about some of the riff targets? The biggest beneficiary is ''Film/ManosTheHandsOfFate'' (a documentary, two sequels, some video game adaptations), but ''Film/TimeChasers'', ''Film/TheFinalSacrifice'', ''Film/{{Hobgoblins}}'' and ''Film/TheGiantSpiderInvasion'' all benefited from being on ''[=MST3K=]''. It also led to new awareness of the oeuvre of Creator/ColemanFrancis, turning him into a serious challenger for Creator/EdWood's "Worst Director Ever" crown. Even bigger grantees are the featured shorts. ''Film/MrBNatural'', ''Film/{{Hired}}'' and ''Film/ACaseOfSpringFever'' would've faded into obscurity if it weren't for [=MST=].
28	* {{Corpsing}}
29	** Mike/Joel/Jonah and the 'bots frequently chuckle and crack up at each other's jokes and at particularly ridiculous parts of the movie.
30	** A lot of the ''Poopie'' outtake reels consist of corpsing, mainly coming from Frank, who was prone to getting the giggles at the drop of a hat.
31	* CowboyBeBopAtHisComputer: The Sci-Fi Channel era ''loved'' to rag on anime, which, granted, at the time wasn't as acknowledged as it is today, less leaning and more laying on top of the AllAnimeIsNaughtyTentacles trope. One instance was in ''Film/InvasionOfTheNeptuneMen'', where Crow's suggestion that Japan stop being represented by "big-eyed, gun-toting, pre-pubescent blondes" is added on by Mike as "like Franchise/SailorMoon there". The Netflix era, having came out nearly twenty years after the Sci-Fi era and with anime more mainstream, is a lot kinder.
32	* CreativeDifferences:
33	** Josh Weinstein left the show after Season 1 due to creative differences, specifically over whether riffs should be ad-libbed or scripted.
34	** Joel Hodgson famously left during Season 5 due to disagreements with Jim Mallon involving the show's future direction.
35	* CreatorBacklash:
36	** The creative team requested that Comedy Central cease airing Season 1 episodes shortly before Season 4's premiere, although they still recycled some of the better material. To quote the [=MST3K=] Colossal Episode Guide: "Q: Why have you requested Comedy Central not air the season 1 episodes? A: Because they weren't very good."
37	** As Hodgson explained in the "So Happy Together" retrospective (from Shout Factory's ''[=MST3K=]: Gamera'' DVD release) regarding the KTMA episodes:
38	--->'''Joel:''' We don't count any of the KTMA's as "real" shows. I mean, granted, if people really love ''Mystery Science Theater'' and they feel they must go back and watch them, I think it's fine just to kind of learn about like, what it was like when we were starting out. But none of us feel really great about them, because we just weren't writing them. It was just the beginning of it. But along the way, we figured it out.
39	*** However, The third Netflix episode (''The Time Travelers'') is recognised as the series' 200th episode — which ''does'' require counting the KTMA episodes toward the total.
40	** Weinstein has said in [[http://asitecalledfred.com/2010/03/09/j-elvis-weinstein-ken-plume-chat/ more recent interviews]] that, even though ''[=MST3K=]'' is the show that brings him the highest recognition in show business, he really did not enjoy his time on the show, nor has any particularly fond memories from it. Also, discussing why he left is a bit of a sore spot for him as it requires him to talk about bad experiences with Joel, Trace and Jim; two of those three he's remained friends with. [[https://web.archive.org/web/20080724121702/http://www.d1041111.dotsterhost.com/mst3k/special-events_interview_josh-weinstein-part1.html He once said]] that the two shows he's actually most proud to have been a part of are ''My Guide to Becoming a Rock Star'' and ''Series/FreaksAndGeeks''. [[spoiler:Though he did agree to a brief return in Season 12 and signed on as a writer and cast member for Season 13, as well as appearing more in live events and panels, so it seems he's softened a bit.]]
41	*** Which, when you think about it, puts a bit of a different slant on Dr. Erhardt's comment that he's [[spoiler: "less mad now"]].
42	** He reflected a bit more on a ''Cinematic Titanic'' featurette: He thought saying punchlines in a void was unnatural and unsatisfying; he thought the live shows were really the best format for riffing, as there was instant audience feedback.
43	** Trace Beaulieu was quite hurt at Joel saying he was "too old" to have a regular role on the relaunch.
44	* CreatorCouple:
45	** Michael J. Nelson is married to Bridget Jones (no, not ''[[Literature/BridgetJones that one]]''), who was also a series writer and occasional actress, most famously playing not only Film/MrBNatural but also Flavia during the Ancient Rome arc in season 8. Bonus points for when Mike had to, and could not, flirt with Flavia.
46	** Rebecca Hanson, who plays Gypsy and Synthia in addition to being a show writer, is married to fellow writer Tim Ryder (who plays Bone Head #1, and played Tom Servo on the ''Watch Out for Snakes'' tour in place of Barron Vaughan, who was on paternity leave).
47	** Jonah Ray is married to Deanna Rooney, who plays Dr. Donna St. Phibes and Bonehead #3.
48	* CrossDressingVoices:
49	** Gypsy was voiced by several men during the show's original run. It wasn't until the 2017 relaunch that she started being voiced full-time by a woman, though was still performed on set by a male (Tim Blaney).
50	** As of Season 13, Emily and Joel's Crow is performed by female performer Kelsey Ann Brady.
51	* CrowdfunderCameo: One of the high-tier rewards for the season 11 Kickstarter was to appear in an episode of the show, with the backers who pledged [[spoiler:appearing as Observers in Kinga's wedding in the season finale.]]
52	* TheDanza
53	** All four hosts share, at minimum, first names with their actors (Joel Hodgson plays Joel Robinson[[note]]Except in the pilot and KTMA episodes, in which his character was also named Joel Hodgson[[/note]], Michael J. Nelson plays Mike Nelson, Jonah Ray plays Jonah Heston, and Emily Marsh plays Emily Connor). The change in Joel's surname was due both to the creative team wanting a more recognizable last name for Joel and an intentional reference to ''Series/LostInSpace''; the same applies to Jonah's surname being changed to reference Creator/CharltonHeston and Emily's referencing [[Franchise/{{Terminator}} Sarah Connor]].
54	** Frank Conniff played TV's Frank.
55	* {{Defictionalization}}:
56	** An invention exchange (by the Mads no less!) became a reality in February 2014 when Crest announced it was going to bring out CHOCOLATE toothpaste! Hope Deep 13 gets a portion of the royalties.
57	** While the toy companies have not gotten so greedy as to sell an action figure in pieces like an arm, a leg, and so on like Johnny Long-Torso - yet - the practice of including arms, legs, heads and other parts with another figure (a move that might prompt purchases of figures in that wave that might not otherwise have had happened to complete the bonus figure) is very common these days.
58	** The [[http://www.bikeforest.com/tread/index.php Treadmill Bike]] (available now for over a decade) is hilariously similar to [[http://mst3k.wikia.com/wiki/File:FrankExercise.PNG Frank's mobile treadmill]] from Season 2.
59	* DescendedCreator: A good deal of the cast in the original run.
60	** Creator Joel Hodgson as Joel Robinson.
61	** Producer Jim Mallon as Gypsy, latter replaced by art director Patrick Branseg.
62	** From season 2, Servo was voiced by associate producer/director Kevin Murphy.
63	** Head writer Michael J. Nelson taking over the role of host from mid-Season 5 on (though he had previously appeared in small bit parts in several episodes by that point).
64	** Pearl was portrayed by writing staff member Mary Jo Pehl.
65	* DirectedByCastMember: Most episodes, though this likely has to do with the show being produced in Minnesota, away from major show business cities, and the fact Jim Mallon was the voice of Gypsy for a large portion of the run. Even if you discount him; Kevin, Trace, Mike and Joel all directed numerous episodes as well.
66	** This tradition has continued into Season 13 with Jonah directing most of the episodes that he didn't host.
67	* EnforcedMethodActing: Joel Robinson's sleepy demeanor comes from when Hodgson went without sleep for four nights leading up to the shoot of the KTMA pilot to ensure that it went smoothly. Hodgson was indeed very sleepy by that point. The characterization stuck.
68	* ExecutiveMeddling:
69	** Despite signing a show renewal contract saying that they would not re-air Season 1 episodes, Comedy Central eventually decided they were going to re-air them after all (what they still had the rights to, at least), leading to a compromise. They also twice reran the "special edition" version of [[Recap/MysteryScienceTheater3000S07E01NightOfTheBloodBeast episode 701]] (''Film/NightOfTheBloodBeast''), intended to be shown one time only during the 1995 "Turkey Day" marathon, prior to Season 7's official start.
70	** Comedy Central's shoddy treatment of the show was one of the reasons [[Creator/PennAndTeller Penn Jillette]] quit as their spokesman.
71	** Joel, during his 2014 AMA said that black and white riffs during the early years were tinted blue as Comedy Central thought that people would not see the difference between the Shadowrama and the film. There was also a brief experiment with tinting the theater sillhouettes green.
72	** Gramercy Pictures' handling of ''Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie'' was so botched that the cast ended up having to vent their anger in a seventh season episode where they had Crow's idea for a film be butchered in similar fashion.
73	** When the show moved to Sci-Fi, the network demanded that there be "story arcs". Kevin tried to explain that "there is no story arc in a puppet show!", but they didn't listen. The result is the stories of Bobo, Brain Guy, the camping planet and the Rome arc. Unfortunately, since Sci-Fi haphazardly would air 3-4 episodes then rerun them (often out of order none the less), this forced them to have to include recaps at the start of each episode to fill fans in. And then, to add injury to insult, Sci-Fi ordered them to cut the number of host segments in half!
74	** During Seasons 8-9, Sci-Fi Channel demanded that the show could only feature sci-fi, horror or fantasy films, though the staff tended to find rather loose definitions of the concept in order to create variety. It wasn't until Season 10 that they were allowed to do drama again (''Film/GirlInGoldBoots'', ''Film/FinalJustice'')... though in this case it was because the show was essentially going to get cancelled anyway and nobody at the network cared anymore.
75	** Netflix is mostly hands off with production, but they did push for a “marquee movie” that people might have heard of to be in the mix for Season 12 (which ended up being ''Film/MacAndMe''). Also while possibly not directly their suggestion, ''The Gauntlet'''s concept came about in part because of Netflix’s quirky internal ratings system (the ability to finish a show quickly is weighted more than the number of people watching it).
76	** However, while putting the Gizmoplex together, Joel took time to refute the long-held assumption by the fans that Netflix had refused to let them do any black and white movies. He’d made the decision himself to only do color films for the first couple seasons (which ended up being the only ones on Netflix) to make the show more enticing to new, younger viewers before throwing in movies they might not have as much interest in.
77	** The episode "The Crawling Hand" had green silhouettes in the theater segments instead of the standard black ones, at the insistence of the Comedy Channel who thought this would make them stand out more. Thankfully, this was abandoned after this episode.
78	* FanCommunityNicknames: The show's viewers are known as "[=MSTies=]"[[note]](pronounced "Misties")[[/note]].
79	* HeAlsoDid: Grant Baciocco, the performer for M. Waverly and one of the current puppeteers for Crow T. Robot, is also the host of the podcast ''Under The Puppet''. Which would feature two other performers (Trace Beaulieu and Tim Blaney) in different episodes.
80	* HideYourPregnancy: Kinga's wardrobe was supposed to be a lot more varied and extravagant, but Felicia Day's pregnancy meant she was stuck in her shapeless overcoat all season.
81	* HostilityOnTheSet:
82	** It's incredibly minor, but it's rumored Joel and Mike have a ''very'' mild dislike for each other. The two have played it up to annoy fanboys before, and [[WhatCouldHaveBeen almost made a mock rivalry]] leading up to the first big reunion, but one declined to focus on their riff spin-off.
83	** Josh Weinstein (who originally voiced Servo), left the show after the first Comedy Central season due to there being a very ageist attitude amongst the writing team. Since Josh was still a teenager at the time he was routinely treated as "just a kid" who shouldn't be taken seriously, despite being one of the writers, performed two characters (the other being Dr. Erhardt), and wrote some of the show's music.
84	** Tension between Joel Hodgson and Jim Mallon was one reason for the former's departure from the show.
85	* InMemoriam: Season 5's ''Village of the Giants'' was a tribute to then recently-deceased Music/FrankZappa, who was a vocal fan of the show. In a bit of genius writing, they disguised it in the episode as a tribute to TV's Frank, revealing the real meaning in TheStinger.
86	* InspirationForTheWork: Hodgson said that part of the idea for the series came from the illustration for the song "I've Seen That Movie Too" (drawn by Mike Ross) in the liner notes from Music/EltonJohn's ''Music/GoodbyeYellowBrickRoad'' album, showing silhouettes of two people in a theater watching a movie. An early draft of the concept was inspired by ''The Omega Man'', with its scenes of Charlton Heston's character watching and riffing on movies. He also likened the show's setting to the idea of a pirate radio station broadcasting from space. He credits ''Film/SilentRunning'' as being perhaps the biggest direct influence on the show's concept. He wanted the feel of the show to appear homemade, and cited the example of a crude mountain prop used during the ''Series/SaturdayNightLive'' sketch "Night on Freak Mountain" that received a humorous reaction from the studio audience as the type of aesthetic he wanted for the show.
87	* KeepCirculatingTheTapes: They were the trope namers, after all. When the show debuted on cable, not all areas carried it. The creators have always had a permissive attitude towards fan trading of episodes that has continued into the file-sharing era. This is helpful as official copies of the episodes cycle in and out of print due to issues with rights to the films being riffed.
88	** ''Poopie II'' is INCREDIBLY hard to find, so much some fans don't even know there ''was'' a second tape. It was only sold on VHS by mail order via the Info Club. Half of it is available on the Volume 10 set, but the rest is unavailable. However, those who ''have'' seen it [[{{Sequelitis}} don't think it's as good as the first]]. It was finally found unlisted on [=YouTube=] after much searching, but is now privated.
89	** Creator/ShoutFactory has announced that 12 episodes of the classic series may never be licensed, and unless that changes, Volume [=XXXIX=] is the final release of the classic series (barring re-releases of the out-of-print Rhino [=DVDs=]). Those episodes include ''Film/RocketshipXM'', ''Film/GodzillaVsMegalon''[[note]]This episode was accidentally released on original prints of Volume X, but Toho put a very fast stop on production. A new Volume X was then printed with ''The Giant Gila Monster'' replacing the Godzilla film.[[/note]], ''Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster'', ''Film/TheAmazingColossalMan''[[note]]This episode was released on VHS.[[/note]], ''Film/ItConqueredTheWorld''[[note]]The short featured in this episode, ''Snow Thrills'', is a bonus feature on the disc for ''The Sword and the Dragon'' on the Volume XXIV DVD set.[[/note]], ''Film/FireMaidensOfOuterSpace'', ''[[Film/TheEyeCreatures Attack of the The Eye Creatures]]'', ''Film/TerrorFromTheYear5000'', ''Film/IWasATeenageWerewolf'', ''Film/TheDeadlyBees'', ''Film/TheSpaceChildren'',[[note]] The short featured in this episode, ''Century 21 Calling'', is a bonus feature on the disc for ''The Killer Shrews'' on the Volume 7 DVD set.[[/note]] and ''Film/QuestOfTheDeltaKnights''.[[note]]This episode has an official release on Shout Factory's streaming site.[[/note]]
90	** Due to rights expiring, [[ScrewedByTheLawyers certain episodes are no longer legally allowed to be released]], such as ''Film/TheFinalSacrifice'' and ''Film/{{Soultaker}}'', thus making those sets out of print. So this trope can be cyclical as well.
91	** ''The Final Sacrifice'' has gone in and out of licensing depending on the moods of its director. At first, Shout suggested it was unable to be licensed as Tjardus Greidanus was not a fan of the mockery the movie received. Eventually this hurdle was cleared by just [[MoneyDearBoy offering him more money for the rights.]] The episode received a DVD release and due to its meme status was featured on basically every streaming service that had access to [=MST3K=]. Unfortunately Tjardus would change his mind again and refused to renew the license, letting the episode once more disappear from circulation and streaming. At the moment its also harder to find online as he aggressively tracks down unauthorized uploads of the episode to have them removed.
92	* MagnumOpusDissonance:
93	** Most fans will rank ''Film/ManosTheHandsOfFate'' as one of the all time funniest episodes of the series. However, Hodgson admitted in an interview that he honestly didn't think that episode was their best work. He recalled that in the writing room they were all too caught off-guard by the oddness of the film, distracting them from writing really good riffs. He has said a few times that ''Film/IAccuseMyParents'' is his personal favorite, which most fans probably don't even have in their Top 10 (though the fans who ''have'' seen it consider it very good).
94	** [[CreatorBacklash None of the cast seem to like the Manos episode much]] if their comments in this [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IjHXXX288zQ reunion video]] are any indication. This caused a bit of an awkward moment when upcoming new host Jonah Ray piped up with, "Well, as a fan, I loved it!" Also, interesting that Mike Nelson seems to have his own MagnumOpusDissonance. His favorite episode is Season 10's ''Girl in Gold Boots'', which isn't really a fan favorite either. Even the episode review section of the "Satellite News" website, describes the episode as [[http://www.mst3kinfo.com/?p=5703 "good, not great."]]
95	** The entire crew of the revival were caught quite off guard when ''Film/CryWilderness'' became the most popular episode of the inaugural season among fans, having figured it would be ''Film/CarnivalMagic''. Joel noted during the 2018 Turkey Day marathon that they've ''always'' been wrong in predicting the fan favorite episodes.
96	* MarathonRunning: On UsefulNotes/ThanksgivingDay, during the Comedy Central era; they called each one the "Turkey Day" marathon. Best Brains would produce special host segments and bumpers to tie the episodes together. One year, they had Creator/AdamWest hosting. The show premiered Thanksgiving 1988.
97	** They were less than thrilled when it came around on them, and previously planned episode air dates were [[ScrewedByTheNetwork abruptly preempted by marathons of other Comedy Central shows]]. So much so that they cut a promo for their next episode where they talked openly about the possibility of being preempted yet again. (As an additional TakeThat, the promo featured an appearance by CC's then-opaque and very intrusive network bug.)
98	* MilestoneCelebration: The Turkey Day marathons held for much of the Comedy Central years were, in essence, this, since the show premiered on Thanksgiving. Shout! Factory, the show's home-video distributor, revived the tradition with the help of Website/{{Reddit}}, Website/{{YouTube}} and Hodgson himself to promote the 25th anniversary DVD set. Season 11, episode 3, ''The Time Travellers'', was the 200th episode. 2018 tripled down with this as Turkey Day 2018 marked the release of Season 12 and the start of the 30th Anniversary.
99	* MissingEpisode: There are two types.
100	** The first is the kind where they can't clear the film rights for home video release, and are therefore ''[[KeepCirculatingTheTapes legally]]'' missing. At any given time, about half the series falls under that header, but Website/{{YouTube}} and file-sharing make it a non-issue.
101	** The second is the kind that are really, legitimately missing, as in nobody has access to them even through more underhanded means. There are only three of these; the third KTMA (local broadcast) episode--understandably so, as the series had yet to find a fanbase (and thus no one recorded the episodes) and aired only in one market (driving down the number of potential tape holders). Executive producer Jim Mallon recently revealed he had copies of said episodes, which he had converted to digital media and put up clips on [[http://mst3k.com the show's official site]]. However, the rights for those three episodes' targets remain uncleared, and ([[CreatorBacklash due to the crew's low opinion of their KTMA work]]) are unlikely to see release any time soon, and are therefore still not accessible and therefore still missing.
102	** In November 2016, the first two KTMA episodes were found and released to Kickstarter backers for the then-upcoming release of Season 11 (the first revival season), leaving the third KTMA episode (Star Force: Fugitive Alien II, which was later redone for the Comedy Central run) as the only remaining episode unaccounted for.
103	** And then there's the "lost short". There were, at one point, plans for an [=MST3K=] CD-ROM. As part of the bonuses on the disc, riffs of two shorts were filmed, ''Assignment Venezuela'' and ''What's It to You'', the latter being a promotional piece for Mylar. When the CD-ROM was canceled, the shorts vanished. A work print of ''Assignment Venezuela'' was found and released on DVD alongside ''Film/TheKillerShrews'', but ''What's It to You'' has vanished entirely; not even the script is believed to exist.
104	* MoneyDearBoy: Wade Williams, who owns the rights to a number of 1950s and 1960s sci-fi films featured on the show, admits that he never really liked ''[=MST3K=]'' because he doesn't get the humor. However, he appreciates the show for increasing the value of his library and continues to clear the rights to most of the episodes implementing this library. The notable exception, however, is ''Film/RocketshipXM'', which is a beloved film of Williams and the sci-fi fandom, and they were incensed when it was riffed by Joel and the Bots. (Williams maintains that he licensed ''X-M'' to another company and ''they'' were the ones responsible for clearing the rights for inclusion on ''[=MST3K=]''.)
105	* NetworkToTheRescue:
106	** When the Comedy Channel picked up ''[=MST3K=]'', it was a little-known, low-rating cable network which was losing viewers to the more popular HA! Network. HA! offered Comedy Channel a merger to boost profits for all involved, but saw the Channel's lineup as being of little value and wanted to scrap the lot of it. Comedy Channel, however, saw [=MST3K=] as their flagship series and ''refused to go through with the merger if it the show wasn't kept around.'' HA! relented, and not only picked the show up again but signed it for three, 26-episode seasons on the initial contract, and increased its per-episode budget so it wouldn't have to rely on public-domain films. A few years later, Comedy Central, the network formed out of the merger, suddenly had no love for the show that basically put it on the map and canceled it.
107	** This is when [[Creator/{{Syfy}} Sci Fi Channel]] stepped in--fans ran a full-page ad in ''Variety'' begging someone to pick up the show, and so they did. Unfortunately, after two years of no ratings increase, the show was put on the chopping block once again. However, Sci-Fi's departing vice president of programming, Barry Schulman, was a huge fan and signed for a tenth and final season [[DyingMomentOfAwesome as one of his final acts]].
108	** Season 11 came mostly pre-funded via the first Kickstarter campaign. With the renewal of the ''The Return'', Netflix stepped in to pay for season 12.
109	** Beginning with Season 13, ''[=MST3K=]'' was moved to Joel Hodgson's Gizmoplex website.
110	* NoBudget:
111	** The Comedy Channel/Central episodes generally featured 5-6 actors (The Mads, Joel/Mike, Tom, Crow and sometimes Gypsy), three sets (The Mads' lab, the Satellite of Love and the theater) and a 20+ year old bomb of a movie that they got the license for cheap, assuming it wasn't public domain and acquired for free.
112	** The KTMA episodes were even ''more'' apparent with this. The 5-6 actors sometimes had to work around their outside schedules, resulting in some cases of absent actors (even Joel missed [[Recap/MysteryScienceTheater3000S03E06TimeOfTheApes one episode]]), every one of the theatre segments were improvised, the Mads' set was ''blatantly'' the studio's editing room, and they only ever used one puppet for every character. This last one may not seem like a big deal, but it resulted in the film being visible through Servo's dome.
113	* NoExportForYou: Technically this applies to the whole series (aside TheMovie in some regions) due its nature, but due the KeepCirculatingTheTapes mentality this isn't such big of a problem when it comes to the first 10 seasons of the show. Where it gets very unfortunate is with the season 11, since the series is only released on Netflix in English speaking regions. Due the fact that Netflix has been very aggressive against use of proxies and VPN's since 2016, this is very unfortunate, especially to those Kickstarter backers on lower donation tiers. However, Shout! Factory made sure to secure worldwide distribution rights for all season 11 episodes, so the season may still be made available to other countries.
114	* TheOtherDarrin: Tom's, Crow's and Gypsy's voice actors were all eventually replaced.
115	** [[LampshadeHanging Lampshaded]] when Mike turns briefly into a "werecrow" and Crow tells him, "Your voice will change about every seven years."
116	*** Beginning in the season where his voice changes, Crow's line in the opening song changes to "I'm different!" in his new voice (the only thing different about him).
117	** Also lampshaded in the first episode of the Sci-Fi era where Mike actually realizes that Crow's voice has changed and keeps on calling him up on that fact.
118	*** And again in ''Film/{{Soultaker}}'', when Joel comes back and immediately notices that Crow sounds different: "Oh, you changed your bowling pin!"
119	** When Murphy replaced Weinstein as Servo's voice actor, it was explicitly explained as Joel tweaking Servo's voice box and personality.
120	*** Apparently, an irate fan sent them a large banner that read "I HATE TOM SERVO'S NEW VOICE!", which Kevin proudly hung in the Best Brains offices. Years later, Bill received a nearly identical note, which he interpreted as good-natured hazing from the fans.
121	*** Weinstein, at ''WebVideo/CinematicTitanic'' live shows, will frequently introduce himself as "the Tom Servo you don't like as much".
122	** Weinstein voiced Crow in the very first KTMA episode, ''Invaders from the Deep'', one of the episodes released in late 2016 as a bonus episode for Kickstarter supporters. Tom doesn't appear at all, other than an offhand reference to "Beeper".
123	** Magic Voice has changed performers more often than any of the others; in the first four seasons she was voiced by various female performers, most often Jahn Johnson and Alexandra Carr, before being played by Mary Jo Pehl in seasons 5 through 7, and then Beth "Beez" [=McKeever=] in the Sci-Fi seasons.
124	** All three bots get new voice actors yet again in the revival (seasons 11–present). Gypsy (now GPC) is handwaved as having been tweaked by Jonah, but the changes to Crow's and Servo's voices are left unexplained.
125	** Nate Begle had been confirmed to join the show as Crow, joining his fellow roadshow castmates (Emily, Connor, and Yvonne), for the Emily-centric episodes of the first Gizmoplex season, but was replaced at the last minute by Kelsey Ann Brady, without explanation; this came as a surprise to fans, since Begle had been heavily involved in promotional events for the Gizmoplex episodes. Nate eventually confirmed [[https://youtu.be/Gp96TxjZ-yQ in a podcast interview]] that he left purely for scheduling reasons, having just become a father, and had personally vouched for Kelsey as a friend and fellow performer to be the one to replace him.
126	* OutOfHolidayEpisode: Since the show moved to {{Creator/Netflix}} for season 11, all the episodes of that season went live on April 14, 2017--including ''[[Recap/MysteryScienceTheater3000S11E13TheChristmasthatAlmostWasnt The Christmas That Almost Wasn't]]''. Kinga even [[LampshadeHanging lampshades]] that Netflix programs are made for [[ArchiveBinge binge-watching]], so hardly anyone is going to watch this episode near Christmas.
127	* OutOfOrder: A common practice in the Sci-Fi era was to air a season's episodes seemingly at random, which wouldn't have made much impact in the old days -- if not for the fact that they also kept demanding the show contain story arcs. The crew at Best Brains was eventually left so frustrated that they had to tag "Previously On..." bumpers on the broadcast versions just to keep things coherent.
128	** Season 12 provides a rare {{Meta}} example, as it was produced with the intention of it being released before the [=MST3K=] Live 30th Anniversary Tour, which is why [[Recap/MysteryScienceTheater3000S12E06AtorTheFightingEagle the last episode]] ended with Jonah and the Bots being loaded onto a spaceship, they were headed for Earth for the tour that had already happened.
129	* PayingTheirDues: Hodgson revealed an interesting bit of his first acting in [[http://www.salon.com/2012/08/15/mystery_science_theater_host_yelling_at_the_screen_makes_us_smarter/ this interview]], which has a dose of HilariousInHindsight.
130	-->"I was really naive and as far outside of show business as you could get. I grew up in the Midwest. The first time I ever knew of a guy making movies anywhere near me was Bill Rebane. He did ‘Giant Spider Invasion’ not too far from where I lived. I remember him being on TV in Green Bay doing P.R. They were in the process of shooting, and he was trying to recruit people to be in this movie. That was my first experience, and it made me feel glamorous that it was even happening in my state.”
131	* ThePeteBest: Josh Weinstein. He was only 17 years old when the Comedy Channel picked up the show. The age gap between him and the other performers, as well as his objection to the less improvisational and more scripted new nature of the show after its transfer to cable, caused friction which led to his leaving the cast just as the show was beginning to take off nationally. Weinstein described his time on the show as being barely a step above being an unpaid intern as he felt his ideas for the show's direction were not being respected and dismissed out-of-hand because of his age. Even Hodgson, when asked why Weinstein left, dryly stated "He's 18 years old.".
132	* PopularityRedo: When the show made the jump from local low-budget KTMA to the cable station Comedy Channel, they reused some host sketches in their first season and revisited movies from the KTMA era in their third.
133	* PostScriptSeason: The show ended its seventh season by resolving its entire premise, so the eighth season (on a [[Creator/{{Syfy}} new network]]) had to begin with a ResetButton, the shifting of the setting five hundred years into the future, and the introduction of a new antagonist. It survived for three more seasons, mostly because the plot of the series was never much more than a FramingDevice for the slapstick and snark.
134	* PromotedFanboy:
135	** From the original series, Bill Corbett.
136	** Essentially ''everyone'' for season 11, especially Jonah Ray (as the new host) and Creator/PattonOswalt (as TV's Son of TV's Frank).
137	*** Ray was a lifelong fan and has previously cosplayed [[Film/ManosTheHandsOfFate Torgo]], complete with pizza box. He often cites ''[=MST3K=]'' as his inspiration for wanting to get into comedy in the first place, and has repeatedly said it's his dream job, and that they're taking the host role from his cold, dead hands.
138	*** Creator/FeliciaDay was cast because she approached Hodgson at a convention once to get a selfie with him to make her brother (also a lifelong [=MSTie=]) jealous that she met Joel and he didn't. She once said that when she was 10, watching ''[=MST3K=]'' was the highlight of her week.
139	*** Creator/PattonOswalt had been hosting promotional spots for MST during its original run, opened for ''WebVideo/CinematicTitanic'' and hosted a few reunion show panels prior to being cast in the revival.
140	*** Rebecca Hanson, who plays Gypsy and Pearl's clone Synthia, used watch mass amounts of ''[=MST3K=]'' on [[KeepCirculatingTheTapes recorded tapes]], and her comedy was influenced by the show's. She first got on Hodgson's radar when she approached him, Beaulieu and Conniff at an autograph booth, and Hodgson told her he recognized her and the other performers with her from their work with Creator/TheSecondCity.
141	** The WebVideo/GameGrumps are [=MSTies=] and were interviewed by Joel during the Bring Back [=MST3K=] telethon, and they even played the [[VideoGame/ManosTheHandsOfFate video game version]] of ''Film/ManosTheHandsOfFate'' [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hI3gVtOFRRg with Crow!]]
142	* RealLifeRelative:
143	** At the end of the Comedy Central finale, Beaulieu's father Jack made a brief cameo as an extremely-aged Dr. Forrester in a parody of ''Film/TwoThousandOneASpaceOdyssey''.
144	** Additionally, Nelson's real-life wife, Bridget Jones (no, not ''that'' Literature/BridgetJones) appeared several times, including as Film/MrBNatural, Lisa Loeb, Nuveena, Flavia and Slicer the Nanite. She was also one of the actresses who portrayed Magic Voice before Mary Jo Pehl took over permanently. Bridget was also one of the show's writers, including a stint as a full-time member of the writing staff from season 4 onward.
145	** Murphy's late cocker spaniel, Humphrey, played the "wolf" Pearl attempts to use in her experiment to create a werewolf. Humphrey also appeared as the dog everyone holds in their "About the Author" pictures in the ''Amazing Colossal Episode Guide''.
146	** Day's brother is an extra in ''The Return''. Fittingly, she got cast in the first place because she went out of her way to get a selfie with Joel at a convention to make her brother jealous.
147	** Rebecca Hanson, the voice of Gypsy since the eleventh season, is married to Tim Ryder, who plays one of the boneheads.
148	* RecycledScript: Some gags and concepts have been repeated during the show's history (albeit with differences)...
149	** This [[https://youtu.be/jMWO1PotmAA?t=5603 skit]], this [[https://youtu.be/awZX5Y6jqyc?t=663 skit]] and this [[https://youtu.be/fbi2wwVB7i4 skit]] have the concept of "Joel & The Bots give a critique of a film and highlight it's flaws to the Mads (which may or may not involve screen shots).
150	** This [[https://youtu.be/o-CRcmjUa_Q Mike Era skit]] appears to be a spoof of this [[https://youtu.be/dCSFM5-emyY?t=5250 Joel Era skit]] (Both have the concept of 'SOL Guy and the Bots are traumatized by a movie and sing a fun tune to cheer themselves up').
151	* RoleReprise: During the revival's Kickstarter fundraising phase, [[WordOfGod Joel]] made it clear that, despite his wanting to [[TheOtherDarrin recast]] the protagonists, any surviving members of the original series who wished to play their Mads for the new season would be welcomed with open arms. [[spoiler:Mary Jo Pehl, Kevin Murphy and Bill Corbett took up his offer, reprising Pearl, Bobo and Observer respectively in several episodes. Josh Weinstein made a surprise appearance as Dr. Erhardt in Season 12.]]
152	* ScrewedByTheNetwork: ''Three times''. With its long running and need to license movies, the show is vulnerable to TV channel politics.
153	** In the case of Sci-Fi, Nelson maintains that Bonnie Hammer, after taking charge at the network, said one of her priorities was, "I'm going to kill that #$%&@*! puppet show."
154	** With Comedy Central it was a new president (Doug Herzog) cutting the show loose as part of a YoungerAndHipper makeover for the network. Which would've been understandable except Herzog's handling of the cancellation was extremely tone deaf and he angered the Brains and the [=MSTies=] alike.
155	** Netflix announced they were cancelling the show on November 27, 2019, the day before Thanksgiving (the show's traditional marathon day). This instance led to Joel doing a second Kickstarter not only to bring ''[=MST3K=]'' back, but also to create a new streaming platform for the show.
156	* ScullyBox: Emily Marsh requires these for her scenes, both host and in theater; a bunch of them were taped together to provide her with an exit route whenever "movie sign" happens.
157	* SeparatedAtBirthCasting: Synthia came about because Rebecca Hanson looks a ''lot'' like a young Mary Jo Pehl. In fact, at least one online outlet reviewing the revival trailer (in which Synthia makes a split-second appearance) assumed it ''was'' Mary Jo Pehl.
158	* TechnologyMarchesOn:
159	** Jokes about the world wide web in the host segments for ''[[Recap/MysteryScienceTheater3000S06E12TheStarfighters The Starfighters]]''. Yes, kids, there was a time when the internet was known as "the information superhighway" and connecting your computer to it was a laborious, multi-step process that could fail if not done properly. These days most computers either have no internet connection whatsoever, or are just always connected all the time.
160	** Crow's computer from the above episode is also an example. 90Mhz Pentium PC, with 32 MB RAM, and a 28.8k baud modem. It ''was'' state-of-the-art at the time. Today, processor speeds and RAM chips are measured in Giga- sizes, not Mega-, and the internet is over a thousand times faster than it was back then.
161	* ThrowItIn: The crew frequently left in the less serious bloopers -- robots falling apart, [[{{Corpsing}} the actors cracking up at each other's lines]], et cetera -- because they felt it added a certain something to the show.
162	** One particular example would be a skit they did when Crow got fried by Servo's DeathRay. Crow's little fire on his head after being shot wasn't supposed to spread to his eyeballs, so his head burst into flame and he started screaming, giving a literal spin of the [[EyeScream appropriate trope]].
163	-->'''Crow''': ... Oh, my ''God''. Well, I'll be in my trailer.
164	** Ever wonder why Joel always sounds kind of dazed and lethargic? It's because the first episode was filmed after Hodgson had gone four days without sleep, having been running about making sure that filming would go off without a hitch. The result was basically his spaced-out persona from his stage act turned up to eleven.
165	** During the short before ''Film/RobotMonster'', Servo's puppeteer [[http://youtu.be/MDIudeaZYis?t=5m11s sneezes loudly while in the theater]] and (inadvertently or intentionally) jerks the puppet. The cast treat it as though it was ''Servo'' who sneezed and keep going, with Crow telling him 'gesundheit' and Joel patting him on the shoulder and giving a confused [[LampshadeHanging "You're not supposed to do that."]]
166	** ''Any'' time a bot gets damaged - even in takes that ''aren't'' used, Beaulieu and Murphy always remained in character. For example, when Crow and Servo are dressed as ninjas and horse playing with "Snacktion" action snacks, at the end of the skit, Crow knocks Servo's head off accidentally, to which Servo freezes and Crow sheepishly states, "Uh... I broke him."
167	** In the first segment from ''Zombie Nightmare'', Servo and Crow are tackling Mike as Secret Service Agents "for his protection", constantly thinking there's a gun somewhere ready to shoot Mike. When his foot is exposed, they yell, "Foot!" and pound it back down. Servo's head inevitably pops off - to which Crow screams, "HEAD!" and both bots scream in panic, before a cut to the bumper.
168	** In the KTMA days, Gypsy was portrayed as a {{Cloudcuckoolander}} prone to bizarre non-sequitors rather than the wise TeamMom she became soon afterward. But one aspect of this portrayal ended up sticking: Upon her being asked "What's two plus two?" she responded "Richard Basehart," which evolved into her being a huge fan of the obscure actor.
169	** Jonah's "Kaiju Rap (Every Country Has a Monster)" was all one take. Jonah didn't plan on having the wood figures haphazardly fall everywhere, but when it happened, Hodgson told the team to leave it in as it added a bit of the homemade charm from the original series (seeing as how that number was the defining moment of season 11 for many, it seems to have worked). You can actually see him give a brief OhCrap expression directly to the camera before deciding to just keep going. And it almost never happened. The take before this they got through the song perfectly, but on the zoom in for Movie Sign the camera became misaligned and it couldn't be fixed in post.
170	** [[https://twitter.com/jonahray/status/1070177617922285568?s=21 According to a tweet from Jonah]], the Hand Dryer Air Hockey invention exchange was scripted as ending with Servo presenting the urinal cake puck to a grossed-out Jonah. Instead, Servo takes offense to Jonah’s rejection and chases him offscreen to force him to take it out of his hands. The screams are priceless.
171	** Partway through ''Master Ninja I'', the back piece of Crow's head suddenly falls off in the middle of the film. Joel touches his head in surprise, and Crow mumbles "ouch...", but it's otherwise not acknowledged as the film then continues for twelve more minutes.
172	* TrollingCreator:
173	** When Hodgson was replaced by Nelson as the show's main character, online communities were abound with flame wars between [[BrokenBase two halves of the fandom arguing over which of them was better]]. Hodgson confessed in an interview he once intentionally added fuel to the fire by anonymously commenting in these forums that he thought Mike was better than his own character just to see people bitch about it.
174	** It's widely suspected that the decision to renew the show after the initial revival season was made quite a while before the official announcement during the Turkey Day marathon, given the time involved in not only writing and shooting but the intensive process of selecting what films to feature, and they held off on announcing it just to do it during the annual tradition.
175	* UnderageCasting: Mary Jo Pehl, who played Dr. Forrester's mother, Pearl. Pehl is two years younger than Trace Beaulieu, who played Pearl's son, Dr. Forrester. Additionally, both villains look about the same age.
176	* UrbanLegends: It's speculated that there's at least one reference to ''Franchise/StarTrek'' in every episode. Though, no one's really checked the legitimacy of this statement.
177	* WhatCouldHaveBeen:
178	** Before Comedy Central canceled the show, they offered the crew a deal: reformat the show so that it would run in a thirty minute time slot and have Mike and the 'bots make fun of TV shows, not films.
179	** Gramercy Pictures had a choice between ''Film/BarbWire'' and ''[=MST3K: The Movie=]'' to back with a full ad campaign and theater spread. They chose the former. ("[[http://www.agonybooth.com/recaps/Barb_Wire_1996.aspx Even still]], [[http://www.boxofficemojo.com/weekend/chart/?view=main&yr=1996&wknd=16&sort=avg&order=DESC&p=.htm in its first weekend, it had a higher per-theater average than even the number one film in the country.]] So, just imagine the business it could have done [[InvisibleAdvertising if people had actually known it was out.]]")
180	** Once in a while, you can catch a glimpse of someone's mouth moving in the theater (this is most prominent with Crow) but no one says anything.[[note]]This is occasionally because the audio has been shifted in order to have better syncing; see the credits to ''Werewolf''.[[/note]] It's likely that they're saying jokes that were cut, flubbed or perhaps censored. One such example can be found in their riff of ''[[Recap/MysteryScienceTheater3000S04E24ManosTheHandsOfFate Manos: The Hands of Fate]]'':
181	---> '''Bride:''' The woman is all we want!
182	---> '''Crow:''' ''[Mouth moves, but nothing comes out]''
183	*** A confirmed example of this can be found by watching the rough cut of ''Film/ItLivesByNight'', where about three-fourths of the way through the film, just before an ad break, Corbett (as Crow) says "[[PrecisionFStrike Fucking]] squeak." After they stop recording, it's remarked that they'll have to mute that one, but he still got a laugh out of the others.
184	** During the 20th anniversary Comic-Con reunion panel, the cast was asked if they ever found a film that was ''too'' bad to use for the show. They mentioned that a few they reviewed for use were great for their concept until certain scenes popped up - like, for instance, a rape scene - but out of all these they said that ''Film/ChildBride'' was the worst, with Murphy calling it "Appalachian kiddie porn".
185	** [[http://smellslikeinfinitesadness.com/an-interview-with-joel-hodgson-of-mystery-science-theater-3000/#sthash.TjngMXVL.dpuf Hodgson mentions in this interview]] that, early on, he considered pitching the show to his friend Creator/JerrySeinfeld for him to host. Seinfeld had to turn the offer down as he was in the midst of [[Series/{{Seinfeld}} working on his own show for NBC]]. Seinfeld would later do a cameo in Season 11's ''Starcrash''.
186	** Mike and the crew attempted to secure the rights to the infamous Creator/JohnTravolta and Creator/LilyTomlin 1978 "romance" ''Film/MomentByMoment'' but had said rights "[[http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/discussion/2007/08/22/DI2007082201850.html yanked from [them] at the last minute]]". Other films that had their rights pulled at the last minute included the Music/ElvisPresley western ''Charro!'' and the Creator/LeonardNimoy PilotMovie ''Baffled!'', about a race car driver who turns psychic OccultDetective after a car crash.
187	** After Joel announced he was leaving, they actually auditioned outside talent to replace him, but, after he did well in a screen test, they decided that having Mike take over would make for a smoother transition.
188	** Apparently, they considered doing the legendary ''Film/Plan9FromOuterSpace'', but decided not to because A) Criswell's narration would interrupt the riffing, and B) making fun of it was considered too easy and cliche, even back then. It later got the Podcast/{{RiffTrax}} treatment.
189	** ''Film/NightOfTheLepus'' was considered for a while (seeing as the jokes pretty much write themselves when giant killer bunny rabbits are involved) but its being from a major studio made the rights too troublesome to get. Though they still made a few references to it over the show's run, and it wound up on [=RiffTrax=].
190	** On the "Movie Sign With the Mads" podcast, Conniff revealed that, sometime between season 2 and 6, the crew had considered doing an episode on the failed 1978 ''Film/{{Doctor Strange\|1978}}'' PilotMovie, and apparently got well into the writing process for it before they were told that they couldn't use it due to licensing rights issues.
191	** They tried to get the rights to ''Film/ACaseOfSpringFever'' for years before finally getting to riff it in the second-to-last episode. They even went so far as to make a host segment in ''Film/BrideOfTheMonster'' directly based on it, knowing full well the audience would have no idea what they were referencing.
192	** Other films that they screened but never ended up using, according to the ACEG: ''The Curse of the Doll People'', ''Wild Guitar'', ''Trog'', ''The Terror of Tiny Town'', ''Mesa of Lost Women'', ''From Hell it Came'', ''Over-sexed Rugsuckers from Mars'' and ''Film/StarshipInvasions'' (which later got the [=RiffTrax=] treatment).
193	*** In the move to Sci-Fi, they managed to acquire the rights to almost all of Rick Sloane's films, since he licensed them all out to several TV networks. They considered doing ''Film/ViceAcademy'', ''Blood Theatre'' or ''The Visitants'', but for various reasons decided not to do either three. After contacting Sloane himself to ask what he'd recommend, he brought up another little-known film he did: ''Film/{{Hobgoblins}}''.
194	** In the '''Mike, By Joel''' DVD featurette, Hodgson revealed that his top pick for his replacement was actually ''Bridget'' Nelson, with the switch happening when Joel gets hit [[GenderBender by a random beam from outer space that turns him into a woman]]. Understandably, no one else went for it.
195	** Beaulieu and Conniff at first agreed to appear in Season 12, but were unsatisfied with the script after not being able to be part of the writing process. Hence the somewhat awkward "Idiot Control Now" extended CallBack which was clearly rerecorded without them.
196	** Joel's initial idea for the show was something he called ''You Are Here''. It would have been about a man and his robot friend riffing movies in a post-apocalyptic setting inspired by ''Film/TheOmegaMan''. He later retooled the premise after deciding it was too grim a scenario for a comedy.
197	** Joel very much wanted to do ''Film/GameraVsJiger'' while the crew was getting their hands on several other Gamera films, describing it as the most insane and perfect for the show of them all, but the rights proved to be especially thorny. He finally got his hands on it for Season 13.
198	** A crowdfund fundraiser was set up in October 2023 for a possible Season 14 for 2024, in time for the series' 35th anniversary. The first six movies chosen would have been ''Film/BattleBeyondTheStars'', ''Deathsport'', ''Film/Plan9FromOuterSpace'', ''Ballistica'', ''Film/AbraxasGuardianOfTheUniverse'', and ''Film/{{Battletruck}}'', plus more digitally-upscaled versions of classic episodes. However, the fundraiser fell short due to a number of problems, including starting it during the 2023 WGA/SAG-AFTRA Strikes.
199	* YouLookFamiliar:
200	** Nelson played several small roles in the host segments (and most notably played the recurring role of [[Film/ManosTheHandsOfFate Torgo]]) before taking over as host.
201	** Overlapping some with CreatorCameo in ''The Return'' Hodgson plays Ardy (the maintenance guy in the hazmat suit who sends the experiments up), Larry from ''The Time Travelers'', and Santa Claus.

Context Trivia / MysteryScienceTheater3000