Mystery science reincarnation: a TV cult classic is reborn and multiplied online.

• Author: Stooksbury, Clark
• Position: Mystery Science Theater 3000

WHEN war Sci Fi Channel canceled Mystery Science Theater 3000 in 1999, a strange yet wonderful era came to a close. The long-running series had built a cult audience by applying a fresh twist on a time-honored TV convention: Instead of having a quirky host merely introduce various B movies, Mystery Science Theater had its host--along with two puppet robots--mock the movies while they ran.

The trio worked best with solidly bad material, from the Godzilla and Gamera pictures to films, such as Monster A-Go Go, that could only aspire to the production values of cheesy 1950s Japanese science fiction. Besides rifling on the inept writing, directing, and acting, the host and his puppet friends liberally sprinkled non sequiturs and cultural references ranging from the high (Robert Frost's "The Road Not Taken") to the not-so-high (the Starland Vocal Band's "Afternoon Delight").

The series was born on a Minneapolis UHF channel in 1988, then enjoyed a seven-year run on Comedy Central (or, as it was initially known, the Comedy Channel) before moving to Sci Fi. A dedicated fan base soon spread the word, first by forwarding VHS tapes of the episodes--a practice encouraged in the closing credits--and then through the nascent World Wide Web.

After the program was canceled, its fans had to content themselves with reruns and DVDs. But that has all changed, thanks to the Internet. No, no one's making new episodes of Mystery Science Theater 3000 itself. But Joel Hodgson, the creator and original host of the show, hooked up with four other writer/performers from the old series in December 2007 to launch Cinematic Titanic. For fans of the original program, Cinematic Titanic has a familiar look and feel: silhouetted figures making wisecracks while watching bad movies. The movies are occasionally interrupted by a brief comedic skit, which is also performed in silhouette.

But no TV network carries Cinematic Titanic. The episodes--seven so far--are available in DVD form at cinematictitanic.com and as digital downloads from eztakes.com. Instead of the usual FBI warning at the beginning of a commercially released DVD, each episode begins with this message: "CINEMATIC TITANIC is an artist-owned and operated venture. While we want you to share the experience with your friends and family, we sincerely ask that you don't engage in unauthorized copying or uploading of this content. With your help, we can continue to make CINEMATIC TITANIC an ongoing adventure for us all."

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