I was watching the show this weekend and remembering a time about four years ago when my 18 month-old son developed a penicillin-resistant staph infection which put him in the hospital for over a week. It’s a potentially deadly infection and it was a unbelievably frightening and depressing time.
I stayed with him in the hospital during that time and at night when he fell asleep, I would turn on a mini-dvd player I had with me and watch MST3K episodes until I couldn’t keep my eyes open — it was the only thing that kept me from complete implosion while he was sick. I had always wanted to thank the cast for getting me through that time (and many other harsh moments) and I wondered if there were other people who had similar situations where the show helped them to heal from a tragedy or maybe just give them a 90-minute reprieve from some of life’s more nightmarish moments.
MST3K has cheered me up on any number of occasions, but the one that comes to mind is a while back when (it’s a long story) I found myself rather suddenly unemployed. I eventually landed on my feet, but MST3K definitely helped me keep a positive attitude.
Do you have a story to tell?
) to help our users cope with "trolls" and other commenters whom they find annoying. Go to our
I was laid up for months after surgery, often in great pain, and being able to watch episodes of MST – Angels Revenge, Skydivers, I Accuse My Parents, Eegah, Catalina Caper, etc, along with the first volume of Rifftrax shorts – helped me to get through it without going totally bugnuts. It was better than Vicodin.
Corey, I’m glad your son is all right; I can only imagine how frightening that must have been. You could email Kevin Murphy through his blog, and let him know how much MST helped you. I’m sure he’d pass that on to the other Brains!
A long time ago, in a galaxy just like this one…I lived in a small apartment and during a rather large snowstorm, the city pretty much was shut down. So being cooped up I started watching a Full House marathon. After an hour or so my brain started becoming Jell-O and I quickly turned the channel to 54. That was Comedy Channel at the time and they were showing an MST marathon. This show intrigued me and caught my eye right away. That marathon got me through some tough cabin fever.
When I got fired(!) unexpectedly by a supervisor with the mental equivalent of a jar of expired mayo, it put me in a slump for a few weeks. One day I popped in “Eegah,” and learned to laugh again.
Okay! Good to be serious every now and then, but it’s best to settle for Ben Murphey “mellow.”
After college I moved thousands of miles away to a very remote part of the US where I knew no one, and the town was 600 people. I brought a few VHS tapes of MST along, knowing that I would probably need the pick-me-up. Fortunately the show was hit with some of the younger guys in town and church, so it was a good way to break the ice with some people.
And after that, a long time of being barely-employed meant that I had time to sit at home. I polished up many resumes and filled out applications to quite a few episodes for a year or so.
I suffer from chronic illness that requires several medications on a daily basis. Both the illness and medications cause chronic depression. In nearly exact fashion of Corey, I end my day falling asleep to MST3K. Its almost like a lullaby to me.
Just my whole life, ha ha. Friends come and go, even the ones that you meet because you have the show in common, but MST has been there for me since about the time I graduated high school to the present.
Another surgery story: Back in 1991, I went in for an illeostomy. There were complications and I was in the hospital for a month. I was not in the best of spirits when I got home, but MST3K really helped cheer me up, especially since I hadn’t been able to watch it in the hospital. (This was before hospital TVs had cable or satellite.)
I particularly remember the first show I watched after getting home: “The Unearthly”. The shorts really helped lift my spirits, except that all the chuckles caused pulling on my incision. Yep, it only hurt when I laughed.
Yeah. It did. I discovered the show when it was on the Comedy Channel. Since then, I saw my parents seperate and career opportunities implode. I graduated with a BA degree, went through a difficult Master’s program and had had other difficulties (I imagine as do everybody else.) It takes a lot get through things. This show (repeatedly) has given an iota of laughter and levity in life. That is why I asked for one thing this Christmas – two volumes of MST3K.
This is a very appropriate topic to me right now. 11 years ago tomorrow I fell off a ladder and snapped my upper right arm bone in half and needed major surgery to repair it (it’s ok now). I was essentially bedridden for about a month and I watched my MST videos that I taped off the SciFi Channel constantly to pass the time. I fell in love with Invasion of the Neptune Men at that time. The continual references to Lord of the Flies, the strangeness of Japanese pop culture and, of course the Hitler Building kept me giggling as my body healed.
On another happier note 5 years ago tomorrow is also Gotcha Day, the day we recieved our adoptive son. MST3K has helped me a lot with the stresses of parenthood over the years.
“That is why I asked for one thing this Christmas – two volumes of MST3K.”
Your story is heartwarming, but isn’t that two things?
While in Afghanistan I would put in MST to help me turn it all off after a long days. MST always helped me sleep not because of the riffing I think mostly it was the movies either I’d seen them too many times or they were filled with so much talking it put me to sleep. The Hamlet episode was one of the best at doing this.
Yeah, Hamlet wasn’t exactly Maximilian Schell’s best.
But he’s done some excellent work, as a fanatic nazi
in The Odessa File (although he did have a good case for
shooting John Voight’s father (he did strike a superior officer),
and as Larry London in The Freshman.
In November of 1995, my oldest son (21 mqonths old at the time) was hit by a car while he was helping me shovel our driveway. I didn’t see it happen, but I heard the thud and when I turned around he was lying face down in the snow. I ran up to him, turned him over (I know, you’re not supposed to do that, but I was panicking at the time). He screamed and I picked him up and carried him into the house (again, I know I wasn’t supposed to do that). We called 911 and the first responders showed up and we rushed him to the hospital. Once his broken leg was set in a cast and things were settling down in the hospital room, we turned on the television and I found out that “Operation Double 007” was on. It was the first time I’d seen MST3K since we’d moved to Appleton a couple of months before this. (I was a fan from the first season, but we moved to the country when we moved and we didn’t have cable at the time.) Just seeing J&TB quippin’ away let me know that all was right with the world.
On an unrelated note. I just saw the sample restored footage of Manos. It looks wonderful. It would be a dream to see Rifftrax and Cinematic Titanic get together to do a new version of this movie once the whole project is done.
Great topic! No real nightmares here, *knocks on desk* but MST3K has gotten me through many sick days over the years. Its one of the first things I reach for when I have a stomach bug or a bad cold. Try watching it on Nyquil!
MST3K helped me keep my sanity after my son was born.
The Offspring came along the weekend it came on our cable, Saturday, March 30, 1991. I had known of the series before it’s debut so I knew to pop a tape in to record it. I had never been a night person so sitting up with a baby at 3am was completely off my grid and I got a little crazy. I would get an episode going and explain it to the baby so that’s why I have a particular affection for “My White Goddess”.
Oh, and instead of nursery rhymes, my son got rocked to “Only Love Can Pad the Film”.
I (with the help of my 13 year old son) discovered MST in 1997 on Sci-Fi. The show has helped me through my life since then. I’ve endured death, divorce, unemployment- and “like a rock” MST is there. This year, GF and I breezed through the Gamera sets, now she sings the Gamera theme to me while we prepare dinner. Last weekend, we watched Manos and laughed our collective asses off.
MST, and cousins Cinematic Titanic and Rifftrax have made life on earth, what with uncertainty, suffering, loss, seperation, even hunger- a bit better.
Today, I plan on watching The Violent Years and The Space Children. No worries.
I developed a chest infection, which along with asthma, put me in the emergency room and then bed ridden for a week. MST3K was how I coped. Watching those made me feel I was still part of life and not just a lump lying on the recliner (since I needed my head elevated to breathe).
No stories, but MST3K has proven useful during hardships.
Being a huge football fan I was on an emotional high for almost a year because the Packers were World Champions. Last week they sadly lost to the Giants and I was depressed, so what’s the cure? An episode of Time Chasers. I’m better now.
Every vacation I take, I go home to my folks for the week. While there, I usually bring various movies or tv show sets home for my mom to watch with me. Last October, my grandmother passed away just before my vacation, so I had two weeks off. Knowing how close my mom was to her, I didn’t really bring anything back since she wouldn’t be able to watch anything anyway. I did bring home my MST DVDs so at least during times when no one was around I could watch something. My mom did watch some episodes with me, mostly to distract herself from the past weeks. I also think it was to take a break from all the work that goes into funeral arrangements. Granted, it was only a small part of a difficult time, but it was there.
MST3K has definitely helped me through my first couple of years at college. I discovered the show at age fourteen and fell in love with the premise immediately. I’d always had a sarcastic streak, but five years of watching the show faithfully helped me refine my techniques. Things didn’t really work out for me when it came down to choosing a school, and I’m currently stuck at a university I never planned to attend. Being able to see the humor in situations and look at things analytically has been one of the only things keeping me sane.
I have been an avid watcher of MST since I was about 5 (during season 7) but those nuts helped me get through a difficult time, when in June 2009, just after I graduated from high school, my brother Chris committed suicide. Along with my niece and my nephews, we used this show to help in the healing process. MST is great because when you watch it, whatever your life’s burden is, you just have to give it up for an hour-and-a-half.
Wow, this is a tough one. I might go so far as to say that MST3K saved my life, but I know at least it saved my sanity. In the summer of 1995, the girl I loved was driving to visit me, and was hit head-on by a drunk driver. I basically just shut down. I was so consumed with pain and loss and guilt that I was just overwhelmed for months. The following spring, I caught part of the MST3K Hour with War of the Colossal Beast. It was the first time in months that I was able to just get lost in a show or a movie or anything, and actually just have a good time without feeling bad about it. Soon after that, I had stopped by the local Media Play store and saw the first Rhino video tapes in their new release section. I watchad and rewatched those tapes (to the point I wore out and had to replace Mitchell and Cave Dwellers). They just gave me something that I could enjoy at a time that really nothing else was reaching me. I’m forever grateful. All right, now I can really just relax. :-)
Yep.
Mst3k always cheers me up when times are tough. I visit this site daily and have an episode ready at all times. Msty helped me keep my sanity through a divorce, two family deaths and just being there at the end of a confusing and depressing day;) prince of space, overdrawn at memory bank, space mutiny, manos, wow, thanks to joel, mike n the bots for always bein there!
Lord forgive me that I can’t recall the exact episode it was, but MST3K was the first thing I was able to laugh at after 9-11. I was a journalist who spent two weeks at the crash site of Flight 93 and boy did it help me recover.
When I was a kid I had a bad stomach ache and when I watched an episode of MST3K I felt better it made the pain go away, it was not serious but when your a kid it feels like the end of the word, a couple of Rommel you maginficent S.O.B. jokes by Crow T Robot and I felt better. :yes:
About ten or eleven years ago, I developed viral encephalitis. I was in a coma for four days and the doctors literally told my family I was going to die. I didn’t, of course. Before I had gotten sick, I ordered the complete set of Tom Servo’s Favorite Host Segments and they arrived while I was in the hospital. My roommate at the time snuck a vcr into the hospital and hooked it to the tv in my room and I watched the video tapes for HOURS while I recuperated. It really got me through the boredom and tedium of essentially not being able to move for a week.
A lot of these stories are great and I wish I had a good one, but as far as my life goes, the show has mainly helped me through the dissolving of friendships (though it also helped re-kindle one of them, go figure), a time spent with my face busted open via bass drum, and the enduring pains of long nights spent on art projects due for critique the next day. I watch an episode every week with a group of friends and it helps us relax and gives us something to look forward to each week. It’s nice to have a show that is enduring and funny and keeps you going.
Yes, the last two decades.
Lets just say that 15 years ago I was in a dark, suicidal place. I’d fall asleep to MST at first unintentionally as it was the only thing that would make me laugh.
I have (more or less) fallen asleep to an episode every night since then, 15 years on.
I’m a school teacher in a small town in the Pacific Northwest. Several years ago, I was dealing – almost daily – with a “boss” that I couldn’t stand. He hated the contract; he hated me. I made it through most days thinking: “It’s alright: Just get to 4:00pm, and you can have a drink, and pop-in one of your favorite MST3K’s!”.
I served in the Army Infantry and MST3K has helped me get through a lot of stuff after fighting in Iraq and such. I went to see Cinematic Titanic in Green Bay recently and it was a wonderful experience. I really can’t image a world without MST3K!
#19
Why not The Giant Spider Inasion?
http://youtu.be/0iqLhdInGrk
My heart goes out to all of you who’ve suffered unspeakable tragedies – and depression and unhappiness – in your lives. It moved me to read your stories and then to see how MST helped you to get through what life has thrown at you. My daughter Natalie introduced me to MST in the early 90’s and I’ve been a fan ever since. Natalie died suddenly in 2008 and watching a bit of an episode, as I do most evenings, helped keep me going, as it always will. Sometimes I remember those first Joel episodes I watched with her. I think “Robot Holocaust” was the very first one.
On one of the worst nights of my life, MST was there. After a particularly horrendous fight with my wife, I left the house and spent the better part of two hours, wandering around wondering whether I was ever going to go home again, or even see the next day. I ended up, of all places, in my office, where I spent a mostly-sleepless night on the floor. At some point, I switched on YouTube on my computer and clicked on “Day the Earth Froze”–maybe because I hadn’t seen it before. By the time “Here Comes the Circus” had finished, and I found myself unable to keep from laughing, everything seemed a little better, and I had found at least one thing to live for. “Day the Earth Froze” always has a special place for me among episodes. I did go home the next day, and managed to patch things up–but I really believe only MST could have helped me through that night.
I had already typed it up, so here it is. It’s called “How I Kept My Sanity”: Picture this: 6th grade. New school, new books, new teachers, new schedule. You’d expect teachers to realize this year is shell-shockingly terrifying, right? Not my math teacher. First week of school, all of us were nearly in tears of pain. We thought it would never end. Especially me, considering she didn’t get my NAME RIGHT the ENTIRE YEAR, but that’s another post.
Anyway, in a what-should-have-been totally unrelated story, Thursday, November 25 of 2010, (Thanksgiving), my parents finally purchased a Netflix account. They claimed they wanted to show me some amazing show with a really long name. Great. I was “thrilled”. Two episodes later, I was hooked. The show was beautifully crafted, with a UHF station sort of feel. Mystery Science Theater 3000, it was called.
The following Monday, in the “torture pit”, as we came to call it, I zoned out as she screamed at a student. My mind was on That Show. That Show. . I barely noticed as my homework packet thunked onto my desk, all 200 problems of it, due the next day. I groaned out of my lovely thoughts, and back into the rapid-fire pace of her class.
As I got back home, I wanted to cry. 200 problems due tomorrow? That should be considered child abuse! I sat down to my homework at four, and with a half-hour break for dinner, finished at six; I had already missed Taekwon-Do. I didn’t care about accuracy. After all, she didn’t either. I stalked rebelliously to the couch, and plopped myself down, nose in the air the whole time. I acted devilish, but I was just holding back the tears. She didn’t care. That’s all I could think about. She didn’t care. I was shocked to find that, angrily pushing buttons, I had turned on Netflix, searched for MST3k, and selected “Girl In Gold Boots.” My subconscious was headed in the right direction.
Two minutes in, I had forgotten the hard day. I had forgotten Her. I had forgotten the world. I was curled up, my head on my my mom’s chest, laughing until I couldn’t breathe. I was happy.
Ok, I’m going to wear my heart on my sleeve…
The times MST3K has gotten me over the rough spots are almost too numerous to mention.
Several years ago, I was laid off from my job of 12 years. That very day, I was also informed that my wife was diagnosed with stage 0 breast cancer. Quite a week…
During that time, both of being unemployed, and also seeing my wife through her treatment, I leaned heavily on MST3K; in fact, we both did. There were slight setbacks with the cancer treatment, and watching MST3K was one of the few things that brought us pure, unadulterated pleasure. I was able to laugh, and escape, for those 90+/- minutes.
Fast forward to today…
My wife is fully cured, and I’ve found a new job. However, what was supposed to be a wonderful opportunity in a new company has turned into something of a nightmare. I won’t go into it, but suffice to say that without MST3K in the background (I often work remotely), I could not get through the trials and frustration that my average day brings.
I know I can never thank the cast and crew enough for what they have given me over these trying times, and that they continue to give me. I look forward to every new DVD release as yet another opportunity to add much needed levity to my otherwise grim days.
So, between the steadfast support of my wonderful wife, and the constant humor given to us by MST3K (and their newer incarnations), I can still count myself among the sane and happy of this planet. My heartfelt thanks to all of them – and also to Satellite News, since you are included in the “cast”!!!
(see #30, 31)
MST3K came to me in a time when I needed it most. I was almost 12 years old in the summer of 1997, and I definitely had some growing pains – bullying in school, emotionally abusive stepmother, mother and stepfather getting a divorce, older sister involved in drugs and partying, and dealing with my own emerging anxiety and depression. It was a tough time for me.
One day, in July 1997, I was sitting in my mom’s room trying to figure out what to watch on TV. I was looking at the TV Guide Channel when a promo of MST3K: The Movie popped up. The only thing I can remember is following it along just as Dr. Forrester started smacking his butt with the clipboard and shouting “I’m a naughty boy! Naughty, naughty, naughty!” It was so spontaneous and random (my type of humor!) that it had me rolling on the floor laughing for the first time in my life. I quickly looked up the show, which was on SciFi Channel at that point, and my first episode was “Riding with Death.” I was hooked – I bought the Comedy Central-era VHS tapes, became a member of the fan club, has a poster of the show on my wall, and read up on the show’s history. My mother says she remembers me sitting every Saturday evening to watch the show while she cooked dinner, and it always brought a smile on her face to see me laughing so hard. I looked forward to watching it every weekend.
MST3K has carried me through a lot of difficult times, and I’m eternally grateful for having it in my life. It’s not just another show to me – it’s a part of my life in many ways. When I was absolutely at my worst, fighting off depression and suicidal thoughts, I would pop in a DVD of the show and immediately feel my spirits lift. I carry around the motto of “When life gives you lemons, you make lemonade” and that no matter what happens in life, you can still make a joke and a good laugh out of it. Without MST3K, the world would be a darker place for sure.
I have no doubt that MST3K has kept me alive and thriving. My dream is to meet the Brains and tell them all of this in person….and give them a big ol’ THANK YOU!!!! Oh, and to see the look on Trace’s face when I tell him my first visual of the show was of him smacking his butt!
Thank you all for your wonderful stories.
My youngest son has Autism (he’s actually the little guy with the infection that started the thread).
Although I would never want to live a life without him in it, Autism has created a swath of destruction throughout nearly every aspect of mine and my family’s lives that seems to become more apparent and frightening as the years go by. Throughout these years of struggle and sometimes unbearable feelings of guilt, isolation and helplessness, MST3K has been a source of comfort to me. At the risk of sounding maudlin, it’s been a home for me at times when my own is just too painful to be in.
I really don’t know why I’ve connected with this show or these performers in this way, but it’s comforting to know I’m not alone.
I was just released from the hospital after having a laparoscopic colectomy. MST3K is going to be watched for the next several days until I can go back to work.
I trained as a classical dancer and performed professionally with various dance companies from age 18 until 24, when eating disorders and a crippling clinical depression finally drove me to quit (to add insult to injury, I broke up with my long-time boyfriend around that same time). It was during that time that I got into MST3K; and I can honestly say that the show helped me feel better. No matter how stressful or sad my day was, I would turn on an MST episode at the end of the day and laugh until I felt better.
I know my story isn’t nearly as stressful or sad as others, but I wanted to say that MST’s humor genuinely helped my morale during a bad time.
(I’m also happy to say that now I am recovered, healthy, happy, married, and beginning a new career…but I still love MST3k, and it will always be mental comfort food for me)
I’ll be honest. I’m a 14 year old boy. My likes and interests are vastly different from those of my peers. They’re watching Jersey Shore and Transformers and I’m watching Mystery Science Theater 3000 and David Lynch movies. So, obviously, I have a hard time relating with people my own age. I often feel isolated, like a creature from another world almost. Sometimes a superior creature, lightyears ahead of everyone else. Other times an inferior, more repulsive creature. This feeling of isolation, helplessness, and shame threw me into a very deep depression last April. Without MST3K I probably wouldn’t even be here to talk about it. It lifted my spirits and made everything more tolerable.
@Runciter, exactly. I’m a thirteen year old girl, and most kids our age are into crap. I’ve dealt with that stuff too. The depression, the confusion, and MST3k has helped me a lot with that too. But you know what? It just shows we posses a superior intellect, and are tougher than those others. It’s awesome to learn there’s someone else out there my age dealing with that sort of stuff too.
LLAP, Aggie.
Much along the same lines as others, but here’s the quick version. My high school years 1999-2003 (MSTie since ’95!), were four of the most awkward, and confusing years of my life. During my sophomore year, I slumped into a pretty deep depression, began having thoughts of suicide too. MST kept me from going too far into the deep end. It made me realize that there are others out there who think the way that I do, and it made it laugh–hard–when I didn’t feel like anything.
Last year was also a difficult year–our family business–of 50 years–closed down. MST is pretty much all I watched during the final months. Things are turning around this year, and MST3K has always been there for me in the good and bad times. I don’t want to sound dour–despite what I wrote about–but if there’s one thing I’d love to tell The Brains–it’s that MST has always made me feel good about myself, and laugh, when I was ready to give up. I love the world of MST3K, and I don’t think life would be as sunny without it.
Thank you MST3K, for letting me laugh about love–again.
Reading over these wonderful entries got me to thinking how long MST has been part of life and how it has been there for me through much of the same things – death, adolescence, unemployment, and even a ridiculous experience with a guy who also happens to be a MSTie fan (painfully ironic).
It also helped my mom and I bond. We always looked forward to taping it in the early morning and watching it the next evening and laughing hysterically.
Now, while she does not keep up with the DVD releases (she is only familiar with the Sci-Fi era) I know I can make her laugh with a reference to our favorite show.
After all these years, MST (especially Sci-Fi era) is a nice warm blanket that I can snuggle in and feel totally safe and happy. Watching Diabolik right now and it just makes me feel good all under.
I love that so many people find MST to be a source for pure comfort and escape. I don’t always realize that I’m not the only one!
I’m one of the many who fall asleep to MST episodes. Nothing else is right. Nothing else works; not Speed Racer, not Thunderbirds, not Buffy, nothing else.
MST is my comfort zone. If I’m having a “freak out” or other sort of depressive episode, MST is where I turn and I am never disappointed by it. Music used to be where I’d turn, but since I rediscovered MST at 24 in ’04, nothing else helps me know I’m okay like it does.
I got to shake hands with the CT cast a couple years ago and it felt great to say a thank you to each of them. I didn’t use so many words as this, so I hope that the MST gang knows that they’ve put something truly great and important into the world.
Not really, but it does work like a drug for me. MST3K can help me forget my troubles, or simply relieve me of ordinary stress.
Two years ago my beloved dog Betsy passed away, and some time afterwards I was watching “Colossus and the Headhunters”. When Frank started singing the Nummymuffincocolbutter song, it was like he’s singing about Betsy and that helped.
Mst3k is such a great defalt show for when you want to watch SOMETHING, but you don’t feel up to something that would require you to pay a lot of attention.