I have a rap I sometimes fall into when talking about the show, and especially why it was repeatedly cancelled: I may have fallen into it here once or twice, so if you’ve heard it before, bear with me. It’s based on my observation that MST3K is the most fondly remembered show nobody (statistically, anyway) actually watched.

Walk up to a random stranger (over 25) and ask him or her about the show. They may not get it at first, but start talking about the bad movies and the robots and silhouettes and for, I would estimate, 7 or 8 out 10 people, a smile will suddenly break over his or her face and they’ll say something like “Oh yeah! I LOVED that show!”

But, I always ask, did they REALLY? Now ask the stranger how many episodes they saw. Does he or she remember the names of any of the movies? What is his or her favorite character? For about 8 out 10 of the people who remembered the show, I find, what you will learn is that the person saw it once, and maybe not even a whole episode. Maybe they were at a friend’s house. Or they channel surfed to it and watched for a while, then surfed away. Oh, they LIKED it. In fact, their brief experience with it left them with a WONDERFUL sense of what a great show it was. But they never sought it out or watched it again.

If you’ve ever encountered someone like this, you have encountered that special animal, the “casual fan.” Another observation about them: most of them have committed to memory EXACTLY ONE riff that made them laugh during that one viewing. They very likely will recite it to you and then laugh riotously as if they’d heard it for the first time (while most of the time you sit there chuckling politely because, out of context, it makes no sense).

Most MSTies have had a similar experience. I’ve had it many times. One I fondly remember is the case of a father of a friend of my daughter’s. We got to talking about the show once and the one thing he remembered about the show was that there was a character in a space movie called “crank whore.” He thought that was hilarious. I didn’t have the heart to correct him.

Tell us about your encounters with that strange creature, the “casual fan.”