The Mystery Science Theater Hour: Host Segment
The Mystery Science Theater Hour is, as the name indicates, an hour-long version of Mystery Science Theater 3000. The program consisted of previously produced episodes split in half to fit within the allotted hour run time.
History
The Mystery Science Theater Hour came about in November 1993 because Comedy Central had reservations about keeping a two hour long show and felt an hour time slot was easier to fill.
In 1995, when Tradewinds Television began syndicating MST reruns to local broadcast stations, the "MST Hour" versions were aired on stations that were unwilling to broadcast the two-hour version of the show.
Format
Jack Perkins rocks out at the conclusion of The Beatniks
Episodes of The Mystery Science Theater Hour featured no elaborate title sequence, and instead began with a wide shot of "Your Host"—never named, but quite obviously Jack Perkins (Michael J. Nelson)—from inside a studio over a piano rendition of Mighty Science Theater. Following this, Perkins would introduce the show, then give a brief description of the film, typically in front of a set of three portraits of characters from the movie, leading directly into the film itself. For episodes consisting of the second half of a film, Perkins' intro would include a brief recap of the first half of the film with accompanying video clips.
At the conclusion of the hour, Perkins would return for the show's final segment before the credits. The credits were shown over a wide shot of the studio as the lights dimmed, leaving Perkins in silhouette, usually doing something related to the final segment.
MST3K Hour Promos
Episodes
30 episodes of Mystery Science Theater 3000 were prepared for airing on The Mystery Science Theater Hour, making for 60 episodes total of the latter show.
- 301 - Cave Dwellers
- 302 - Gamera
- 303 - Pod People
- 306 - Time of the Apes
- 307 - Daddy-O
- 309 - The Amazing Colossal Man
- 310 - Fugitive Alien
- 311 - It Conquered the World
- 312 - Gamera vs Guiron
- 313 - Earth vs the Spider
- 317 - The Saga of the Viking Women...
- 319 - War of the Colossal Beast
- 320 - The Unearthly
- 321 - Santa Claus Conquers the Martians
- 401 - Space Travelers
- 402 - The Giant Gila Monster
- 404 - Teenagers from Outer Space
- 408 - Hercules Unchained
- 410 - Hercules Against the Moon Men
- 411 - The Magic Sword
- 414 - Tormented
- 415 - The Beatniks
- 417 - Crash of Moons
- 418 - Attack of the the Eye Creatures
- 420 - The Human Duplicators
- 422 - The Day the Earth Froze
- 424 - Manos: The Hands of Fate
- 504 - Secret Agent Super Dragon
- 505 - The Magic Voyage of Sinbad
- 507 - I Accuse My Parents
Release
As the show was largely produced for the purposes of syndication, no episodes of The Mystery Science Theater Hour have been released on home video as they were originally presented. However, some DVD Releases include a compilation of the associated Theater Hour host segments as a special feature, including Tormented, The Beatniks, and Secret Agent Super Dragon.
