Most Gen Xers who spent any time channel surfing in the ’90s remember a cable staple that seemed to be on TV nearly 24 hours a day. The unmistakable image of a terrible low budget sci-fi or horror film, projected on an old-school Panavision screen with the silhouette of three figures in the lower right corner were the hallmarks of “Mystery Science Theater 3000.”
The show was developed in 1988 on the premise that a man is imprisoned on a spaceship where he is forced to watch the worst films ever made. Using spare parts from the ship, he creates robot puppets to watch these movies with him. The humor comes from their running commentary mocking the ridiculously low quality of these films, like a cheeseball air force flick from the 1950s.
The show ran for seven seasons on Comedy Central until it was canceled in 1996. Various versions of a live stage production toured for years, and the newest iteration is coming to the Valley.
The Time Bubble Tour will be in Mesa Dec. 29 at the Ikeda Theater. Roland Emmerich’s not-so-classic “Making Contact” is the feature film.
The Show spoke with MST3K actor and comedian Yvonne Freese about the live performance and the “MST3K” premise.
