Mystery Science Theater 3000 (often abbreviated MST3K, sometimes MST 3000 or MST 3K or just MST) is an American cult television comedy series created by Joel Hodgson and produced by Best Brains, Inc. that ran from 1988 to 1999.

The series features a man and his robot sidekicks who are trapped on a satellite in space and forced to watch a selection of terrible movies, especially (but not initially limited to) science fiction B-movies. The man and his robots make a running commentary on the film, making fun of its flaws and wisecracking their way through the film in the style of a movie theater peanut gallery. Series creator Hodgson originally played the stranded man, Joel Robinson. When he left in 1993, series head writer Michael J. Nelson replaced him as new B-movie victim Mike Nelson, and continued in the role for the rest of the show's run.

The format proved to be popular. During its eleven years and 198 episodes (including one feature film), MST3K attained a loyal fan base and critical acclaim. The series won a Peabody Award in 1993, and was nominated for writing Emmys in 1994 and 1995.

When zany mad scientist Dr. Clayton Forrester (Trace Beaulieu) and his loopy assistant Frank (Frank Conniff) get bored with their work at the Deep Thirteen research center, they kidnap Joel the janitor (Joel Hodgson) and shoot him into orbit on the Satellite of Love. While in space Joel builds wacky robot sidekicks Tom Servo (Kevin Murphy) and Crow T. Robot (also Trace Beaulieu) to help him withstand an onslaught of grade 'Z' movies that the mad scientists force him to watch. Written by Jeremy Lunt

Basically it's about a guy (Mike Nelson) and his two robot buddies (Tom Servo and Crow T. Robot) forced to watch bad movies. The story line during the host segments has changed over the seasons, but it is essentially the same. Written by Mike Bird

In the not too distant future (next Sunday, A.D.) Joel Robinson was under the employ of one Dr. Clayton Forrester. By trapping Joel in space and sending him bad movies, Dr. Forrester and his assistants (such as TV's Frank) attempted to determine the movie that, when inflicted on the masses, would cause insanity and he could control the world. To combat this, Joel invented several robots to keep him company and to heckle the movies mercilessly to ensure his sanity. After several years, Joel escaped to be replaced by Mike Neslon, a temp worker without a clue. After Mike and the bots were turned into omniscient energy beings, they returned to the Satellite of Love (their ship) in the future and were confronted with new adversaries including Pearl Forrester (Dr. Forrester's cryo-frozen mother), Professor Bobo (an ape), and Observer (a super-intelligent alien that carries his brain in a bowl). Written by Joe Pranevich