Editing Mystery Science Theater 3000 (section)

===Comedy Channel (1989-1991) and Comedy Central (1991-1996) eras===
[[File:The Brain That Wouldn't Die (1962) by Joseph Green.webm|thumb|thumbtime=16|''[[The Brain That Wouldn't Die]]'', a 1962 film mocked in season five]]

The Comedy Channel offered Best Brains $35,000 per episode but allowed Best Brains to retain the show's rights.<ref name="nytimes 2008"/> Best Brains was also able to keep production local to Minnesota instead of the network's desire to film in New York City or Los Angeles, as it would have cost four times more per episode, according to Hodgson.<ref name="wapost finetv"/> Best Brains established an office and warehouse space in [[Eden Prairie, Minnesota|Eden Prairie]] for filming.<ref name="wired history"/><ref name="OC weekly"/> With an expanded but still limited budget, they were able to hire more writers, including Mike Nelson, Mary Jo Pehl, and Frank Conniff, and build more expansive sets and robot puppets.<ref name="wired history"/> They retained the characters of Dr. Forrester (Beaulieu) and Dr. Erhardt (Weinstein) from the KTMA era and crafted the larger narrative of each episode being an "experiment" they test on Joel.<ref name="time madness"/> The show began its national run shortly after The Comedy Channel went on the air in November 1989.

''MST3K'' was considered The Comedy Channel's signature program, generating positive press about the show despite the limited availability of the cable channel nationwide.<ref name="wired history"/> After the second season, The Comedy Channel and rival comedy cable network [[Ha! (TV channel)|HA!]] merged to become CTV: The Comedy Network (later changed to [[Comedy Central]]). During this period, ''MST3K'' became the newly merged cable channel's signature series, expanding from 13 to 24 episodes a year. To take advantage of the show's status, Comedy Central ran "Turkey Day", a 30-hour marathon of ''MST3K'' episodes during Thanksgiving 1991. The name of the event was not only inspired by the traditional turkey meal served on Thanksgiving, but also by use of "Turkey" from ''The Golden Turkey Awards'' to represent bad movies.<ref name="avclub turkey day"/> This tradition would be continued through the rest of the Comedy Central era. Though the show did not draw large audience numbers compared to other programming on Comedy Central, such as reruns of ''Saturday Night Live'', the dedicated fans and attention kept the show on the network.<ref name="nytimes 2008"/>

''[[Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie]]'' was produced during the later half of the Comedy Central era and had a very limited theatrical release in 1996 through [[Universal Pictures]] and [[Gramercy Pictures]]. It featured Mike and the bots subjected to the film ''[[This Island Earth]]'' by Dr. Forrester. Though well received by critics and fans, the film was a financial disappointment due to its limited distribution.<ref name="wapost ct"/>

====Writing and taping====
The cable network was able to provide a wider library of films for Best Brains to riff from.<ref name="wired history"/> To ensure that they would be able to produce a funny episode, at least one member of the staff would watch the suggested films completely, generally assuring that the movie would be prime for jokes throughout. Conniff stated that he often would have to watch around twenty films in their entirety before selecting one to use for the show.<ref name="io9 sidehackers"/> In one specific case, the second-season episode with the 1969 film ''[[The Sidehackers]]'', they had only skimmed the first part of the movie before making the decision to use it, and only later discovered that it contained a scene where a female character is brutally [[rape]]d and [[murder]]ed. They decided to stay committed to the film, but cut out the offending scene and had to explain the sudden absence of the affected character to the audience.<ref name="io9 sidehackers">{{cite web | url = https://gizmodo.com/how-did-mst3k-pick-those-terrible-terrible-movies-5956924 | title = How did MST3K pick those terrible, terrible movies? | first = Lauren | last = Davis | date = November 4, 2012 | access-date = November 27, 2021 | website = [[Gizmodo]] | archive-date = November 27, 2021 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20211127045253/https://gizmodo.com/how-did-mst3k-pick-those-terrible-terrible-movies-5956924 | url-status = live }}</ref> After this, they carefully scrutinized entire films for other such offensive content, and once one was selected and assured the rights, committed to completing the episode with that film.<ref name="wired history"/> Obtaining the rights was handled by the cable networks. Some licensing required buying film rights in packages, with the selected bad movies included in a catalog of otherwise good films, making the negotiations odd since the network was only interested in the bad film. Other times, the rights to the film were poorly documented, and the network would follow the chain of custody to locate the copyright owner so as to secure broadcast rights.<ref name="wired history"/>

In contrast to the ad-libbing of riffs from KTMA, the riffs were scripted ahead of time by the writers.<ref name="wired history"/><ref name="time madness"/> An average episode (approximately 90 minutes running time) would contain more than 600 such riffs,<ref name="time madness">{{cite magazine | url = https://entertainment.time.com/2010/08/28/mystery-science-theater-2010-riffer-madness/ | title = Mystery Science Theater 2010: Riffer Madness! | first = Richard | last = Corlis | date = August 28, 2010 | access-date = December 2, 2015 | magazine = [[Time (magazine)|Time]] | archive-date = December 8, 2015 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151208103218/http://entertainment.time.com/2010/08/28/mystery-science-theater-2010-riffer-madness/ | url-status = live }}</ref> and some with upwards of 800 riffs.<ref name="usatoday 25th"/> Riffs were developed with the entire writing staff watching the film together several times through, giving off-the-cuff quips and jokes as the film went along, or identifying where additional material would be helpful for the comedy. The best jokes were polished into the script for the show.<ref name="wired history"/> Riffs were developed to keep in line with the characterization of Joel, Mike, and the 'bots.<ref name="wired history"/> Further, the writers tried to maintain respect for the films and avoided making negative riffs about them, taking into consideration that Joel, Mike, and the 'bots were companions to the audience while watching the movie, and they did not want to come off sounding like jerks even if the negative riff would be funny.<ref name="wired history"/><ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.npr.org/sections/monkeysee/2012/08/16/158922001/you-cant-just-be-the-voice-of-generic-sarcasm-the-art-of-movie-riffing | title = 'You Can't Just Be The Voice Of Generic Sarcasm': The Art Of Movie Riffing | first = Will | last = Sloan | date = August 16, 2012 | access-date = December 2, 2015 | publisher = [[NPR]] | archive-date = December 8, 2015 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151208164247/http://www.npr.org/sections/monkeysee/2012/08/16/158922001/you-cant-just-be-the-voice-of-generic-sarcasm-the-art-of-movie-riffing | url-status = live }}</ref> Hodgson stated that their goal in writing riffs is not to ridicule films as some have often mistaken, but to rather instead consider what they are doing as "a variety show built on the back of a movie".<ref>{{cite news | url = http://www.laweekly.com/film/joel-hodgson-mst3k-isnt-about-ridicule-its-a-variety-show-built-on-the-back-of-a-movie-6363219 | title = Joel Hodgson: MST3K Isn't About Ridicule-It's a "Variety Show Built on the Back of a Movie" | website = [[LA Weekly]] | date = December 10, 2015 | access-date = December 14, 2015 | first = Simon | last = Abrams | archive-date = December 14, 2015 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151214161525/http://www.laweekly.com/film/joel-hodgson-mst3k-isnt-about-ridicule-its-a-variety-show-built-on-the-back-of-a-movie-6363219 | url-status = live }}</ref>

[[File:MST3kBots.jpg|thumb|right|The 'bots of ''MST3k'' as they appeared through the majority of its run: Gypsy (left), Crow T. Robot, and Tom Servo. The 'bots were created by Hodgson and fashioned out of common household objects.]] 
Production of an average episode of ''MST3K'' during the Comedy Central period took about five to nine days once the movie was selected and its rights secured.<ref name="usatoday 25th">{{cite web | url = https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/movies/2013/11/24/joel-hodgson-sunday-conversation/3675845/ | title = Sunday Geekersation: 25 years of Joel Hodgson's 'MST3K' | website = [[USA Today]] | date = November 23, 2013 | access-date = December 3, 2015 | first = Brian | last = Truitt | archive-date = September 24, 2015 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20150924003506/http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/movies/2013/11/24/joel-hodgson-sunday-conversation/3675845/ | url-status = live }}</ref><ref name="guide app1">{{cite book|author=Trace Beaulieu|display-authors=etal|title=The Mystery Science Theater 3000 Amazing Colossal Episode Guide|date=1996|publisher=Bantam Books|location=New York|isbn=9780553377835|pages=153–159|edition=1st}}</ref> The first few days were generally used for watching the movie and scripting out the riffs and live action segments. The subsequent days were then generally used to start construction of any props or sets that would be needed for the live action segments while the writers honed the script. A full dress rehearsal would then be held, making sure the segments and props worked and fine tuning the script. The host segments would then be taped on one day, and the theater segments on the next. A final day was used to review the completed work and correct any major flaws they caught before considering the episode complete.<ref name="guide app1"/> Live scenes used only [[practical special effects]], and there was minimal post-editing once taping was completed.<ref name="rollingstone ks"/>

====Cast changes====
Weinstein left the show after the first Comedy Channel season, reportedly in disagreement with Hodgson about moving toward using scripted rather than ad-libbed jokes.<ref name="paste 25eps"/> Murphy replaced him as the voice of Tom Servo, portraying the 'bot as a cultured individual, while Dr. Erhardt was replaced with TV's Frank (Conniff).<ref name="wired history"/>

Hodgson decided to leave the series halfway through Season Five due to his dislike of being on camera and his disagreements with producer Mallon over creative control of the program.<ref name="mst3kinfo">{{cite web|last=Henry|first=Brian|url=http://mst3k.com/mstfaq/wbrains.html|title=MST3K FAQ – West Brains: Aliens in L.A|publisher=MST3K Info Club|access-date=2007-05-24|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070414091957/http://www.mst3k.com/mstfaq/wbrains.html<!--Bot retrieved archive-->|archive-date=2007-04-14}}</ref><ref name="onion">{{cite news|last=Phipps |first=Keith |title=Joel Hodgson |newspaper=The A.V. Club |date=1999-04-21 |url= https://www.avclub.com/joel-hodgson-1798207993/amp|access-date=2021-11-26|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071010033221/http://www.avclub.com/content/node/23008 |archive-date=October 10, 2007 }}</ref> Hodgson also stated that Mallon's insistence on producing a feature film version of the show led to his departure, giving up his rights on the ''MST3K'' property to Mallon.<ref name="wapost ct">{{cite news | url = https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/29/AR2008122902492.html | title = Web TV Review: Classic 'Mystery Science Theater 3000' Cast Returns for 'Cinematic Titanic' | first = Tom | last = Shales | date = December 29, 2008 | access-date = December 1, 2015 | newspaper = [[The Washington Post]] | archive-date = December 11, 2015 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151211000246/http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/29/AR2008122902492.html | url-status = live }}</ref> Hodgson later told an interviewer: "If I had the presence of mind to try and work it out, I would rather have stayed. 'Cause I didn't want to go, it just seemed like I needed to."<ref name="avclub 2008">{{cite web | url = https://www.avclub.com/the-mystery-science-theater-3000-reunion-interview-joe-1798215131 | title = The Mystery Science Theater 3000 reunion interview: Joel Hodgson, Trace Beaulieu, and Jim Mallon | first = Keith | last = Philps | date = November 3, 2008 | access-date = November 26, 2021 | website = [[The A.V. Club]] | archive-date = November 26, 2021 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20211126150321/https://www.avclub.com/the-mystery-science-theater-3000-reunion-interview-joe-1798215131 | url-status = live }}</ref> Though they held casting calls for a replacement for Hodgson on camera, the crew found that none of the potential actors really fit the role; instead, having reviewed a test run that Nelson had done with the 'bots, the crew agreed that having Nelson (who had already appeared in several guest roles on the show) replace Hodgson would be the least jarring approach.<ref name="wired history"/>  The replacement of Joel by Mike would lead to an oft-jokingly "Joel vs. Mike [[Flaming (Internet)|flame war]]" among fans, similar to the "Kirk vs. Picard" discussions in the ''[[Star Trek]]'' fandom.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.avclub.com/after-a-couple-of-years-no-one-will-even-remember-16-1798242088 |title="After a couple of years no one will even remember": 16 pop-culture windows into the world of 1993 |date=November 4, 2013 |access-date=November 26, 2021 |website=[[The A.V. Club]] |author=''The A.V. Club'' Staff |archive-date=November 26, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211126150323/https://www.avclub.com/after-a-couple-of-years-no-one-will-even-remember-16-1798242088 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Conniff left the show after Season Six, looking to get into writing TV [[sitcom]]s in Hollywood.<ref name="wired history"/><ref name="OC weekly">{{cite web | url = http://www.ocweekly.com/film/mst3ks-legacy-will-live-on-6394752 | title = MST3K's Legacy Will Live On | first = Wyn | last = Hilty | date = August 5, 1999 | access-date = December 3, 2015 | website = [[OC Weekly]] | archive-date = December 8, 2015 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151208141232/http://www.ocweekly.com/film/mst3ks-legacy-will-live-on-6394752 | url-status = live }}</ref> TV's Frank was soon replaced on the show by Dr. Forrester's mother, [[Pearl Forrester|Pearl]] (Pehl).

====Cancellation====
By 1996, Comedy Central had started creating an identity for its network under the new leadership of [[Doug Herzog]], which would lead to successful shows like ''[[The Daily Show]]'', ''[[Win Ben Stein's Money]]'', ''[[South Park]]'' and ''[[Dr. Katz, Professional Therapist]].'' This left ''MST3K'' as an oddity on the network taking up limited program space. Herzog, though stating that ''MST3K'' "helped put the network on the map" and that its fans were "passionate", believed it was necessary to change things around due to the show's declining and lackluster ratings.<ref>{{cite magazine | url = https://www.ew.com/article/1995/12/15/rip-mystery-science-theater-3000 | title = R.I.P. 'Mystery Science Theater 3000' | magazine = [[Entertainment Weekly]] | date = December 15, 1995 | access-date = January 15, 2016 | first = Benjamin | last = Svetkey | archive-date = November 19, 2015 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151119051805/http://www.ew.com/article/1995/12/15/rip-mystery-science-theater-3000 | url-status = live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web | url = https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/viacom-president-mtvs-amy-schumers-854812 | title = Viacom's Doug Herzog on MTV's Future, Keeping Amy Schumer on Comedy Central | website = [[The Hollywood Reporter]] | first = Michael | last = O'Connell | date = January 13, 2016 | access-date = January 15, 2015 | archive-date = January 16, 2016 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20160116043300/http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/viacom-president-mtvs-amy-schumers-854812 | url-status = live }}</ref>  The network cancelled ''MST3K'' after a six-episode seventh season.<ref name="wired history"/>