This day in 1996 marked
Mystery Science Theater 3000's final outing on Comedy Central. The cult series revolved around a man (and his robot friends) who were trapped on a space station and forced to watch bad sci-fi movies. Throughout the presentation of the featured film, the motley crew could be seen in silhouette, providing a colorful commentary about what was happening on the screen.
Series creator Joel Hodgson starred in the show for the first five and a half seasons. He was replaced on-screen by the show's head writer, Michael J. Nelson (left), who remained with the show until its final cancellation.
MST3K began as a locally-produced show on Minneapolis/St. Paul's KTMA-TV. The show was then picked up by the then new Comedy Channel, which became Comedy Central. Following its cancellation, the show found yet another home on the Sci Fi Channel, where it continued until 1999. The show was awarded a Peabody Award in 1993. The series continued to find new fans, and prove its enduring popularity, with a lengthy, still-ongoing series of DVD releases -- and the wisdom and humor in casting robot sidekicks was established, years later, when Craig Ferguson made room for Geoff Peterson on
The Late Late Show on CBS.