For eleven years, from 1988 to 1999, a unique show beamed into living rooms all across the globe from a remote satellite in outer space. Trapped in space with no one but a pack of snarky robots as his companions, the host of Mystery Science Theater 3000 was forced by a mad, evil scientist intent on taking over the world, to endure endless hours of science fiction B-movies. The plan: to see how long it would take to drive mankind insane with really bad movies. The evil scientist failed miserably, however, as the host, originally portrayed by the show’s creator, Joel Hodgson, found that picking apart and making fun of the movies was actually quite entertaining.

We all do it. I’m relatively sure that everyone reading this has leaned over their shoulder at some point during a bad film to whisper snide remarks to their movie mate.

As if the show needed anything else to make it a hit, the quirky characters and resounding humor resonated with viewers and won the show a Peabody award, as well as two Emmy nominations. Mocking such movies as The Creeping Terror, Hamlet, Santa Claus Conquers the Martians and Horrors of Spider Island, over 198 B-films were torn apart by the comedic commentary of Mystery Science Theater.

While the show skipped through four different networks during its eleven years on the air, it quickly became a cult classic with movie fans from all genres. In 1996, the makers released a film version of the show called MST3K The Movie, which starred fellow writer and star of the show, Mike Nelson.

Despite the series end in 1999, you can still visit the official website and enjoy the series on DVD. Thanks to its popularity, it generated its own form of “fanfiction,” known as MSTing, in which film and TV makers insert similar commentary as tribute to the series. I know that I can’t watch a bad movie with friends, without MSTing as we watch. Sometimes, I even do it during good movies, and that’s nothing to be ashamed of.