THE SCI-FI CHANNEL (and Sci*fi)


Q: When did the Sci-Fi Channel pick up the series?
A: On June 24, 1996, the Sci-Fi Channel officially released a statement that said, in part:

Sci-Fi Channel has rescued the award-winning comedy series "Mystery Science Theater 3000" from cancellation, and brought it safely to its original programming lineup where the series will flourish with exclusive, original episodes...

Episodes began airing on February 1st, 1997.

Q: Were any of the CC-era episodes shown on Sci-Fi?
A: No. The deal was for new episodes only.

Q: When the series first moved to Sci-Fi, it was reported that the channel would only let BBI select movies that fit the channel's definition of "sci-fi" -- which included horror and fantasy films as well. But later they were doing all sorts of films. What happened?
A: As the channel got more comfortable with Best Brains, they loosened the reins a bit; and by season ten, they lifted the restriction completely.

Q: I've heard a rumor that BBI was told not to criticize the movies too harshly, because Channel executives feared alienating its viewers. True?
A: Of course not. BBI had as much editorial freedom during the Sci-Fi Channel era as it had during the CC days.


Q: I live in the U.K. Wasn't MST3K running on TV over here for a while?
A: Yes, MST3K ran on the British sister network of the Sci-Fi Channel, known as Sci-Fi Channel Europe (it later became independent of America's Sci-Fi Channel and changed its name to Sci*fi) from January, 1998, to September, 2000.

Q: Sci*fi only showed episodes from season eight and a few season nine episodes! Why didn't they show the rest of the episodes?
A: The channel chose to purchase the rights to only those episodes.

Q: Weren't Sci*fi executives talking about getting the rights to the other episodes?
A: Back when Sci*fi was still a sister network with America's Sci-Fi Channel, officials there publicly declared that there would be no attempt to acquire any more episodes. Then the channel became an independent operation, and channel officials changed their tune, claiming that they were going to acquire more episodes. But it never happened, and many fans came to the conclusion that this was simply a lie designed to placate the fan base.

Q: Why did Sci*fi stop showing MST3K?
A: Late in 2000, an official from the channel posted the following message on the channel's website: "One of the major problems we have in the UK is clearing and licensing these films in the first place -- the people who own the rights to the original films are often not keen, as MSK3K does tend to take the p*ss out of their product...[Also] whenever we do schedule them, they rate incredibly badly. Obviously there are not as many MST3K fans out there as you think."

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