Frank Conniff shares 'Mystery Science Theater 3000' memories

When "Mystery Science Theater 3000" launched its fourth season in the summer of 1992, it was with a decided change of pace.

The cult classic series, centered on a host and his faithful robot companions cracking wise over some of the most entertainingly bad movies ever made, earned a following by typically skewering black and white public domain relics from the drive-in movie era.

But when it came time to launch season four, host Joel Hodgson and his puppet comrades Tom Servo (played by Kevin Murphy) and Crow T. Robot (played by Trace Beaulieu) faced off against a genuine Academy Award-winning picture: "Space Travelers."

Originally released as "Marooned" in 1969, the film won an Oscar for its special effects. Boasting a cast that included Gene Hackman, Gregory Peck and Richard Crenna, the film was directed by noted filmmaker John Sturges, the man behind "Bad Day at Black Rock" (1955), "The Magnificent Seven" (1960) and "The Great Escape" (1963).

"(Sturges) made some of the most entertaining movies ever, so I felt a little weird about doing that movie," recalled Frank Conniff, an "MST3K" writer who co-starred on the series for several seasons as the villainous sidekick TV's Frank. "It was really a case of just really, really talented people just doing a misfire, which happens to every talented person who does a lot of projects.

"But the movie was like an enjoyable experience on the other hand because we so rarely did films with big stars in them who were kind of iconic. Like, Gregory Peck is a very iconic star. So, we were able to riff off of that kind of thing. So, it was a good kind of change of pace, but I don't necessarily think it was the ideal film to be done on 'Mystery Science Theater.' "

The episode is one of four titles featured in the upcoming box set "Mystery Science Theater 3000: Volume XXXII," scheduled to be released on March 24 by Shout! Factory. Along with "Space Travelers," the collection includes "MST3K" riffs on "Hercules" (1958), "Radar Secret Service" (1950) and "San Francisco International" (1970).

As with previous "MST3K" sets, the latest collection from Shout! Factory comes packed with supplemental features that work to present the original films in their proper historical and cultural context. Highlights include the informative featurette "Marooned: A Forgotten Odyssey" and "Barnum of Baltimore: The Early Films of Joseph E. Levine," which chronicles the career of the man who worked on the U.S. release of "Hercules" before moving on to prestigious fare like "The Graduate" (1967) and "Carnal Knowledge" (1971).

"They're treating the films as real film history, which they are, and reacting to them in a certain historical context," Conniff said. "I think it's really cool that Shout! Factory does that."

That treatment reflects a little-discussed element of "Mystery Science Theater 3000," that of historical preservation. Without that series, it's safe to say that underground classics like "Manos: The Hands of Fate" (1966) and "Mitchell" (1975) wouldn't be nearly as well-remembered as they are today.

" 'Manos,' it's just about the most iconic episode we've done, and that's the film that we can really say that we made famous," Conniff said. "It was completely obscure, and it has a whole life now beyond 'Mystery Science Theater.' It's very much a cult favorite the way 'Plan 9 From Outer Space' has always been, and it's a part of popular culture beyond 'Mystery Science Theater,' and that's very cool to me."

And it turns out that cult movie fans, in a very big way, have Conniff to thank for those films now holding a special place in popular culture.

"You know, I'm the person who reached into a box and pulled out a 'Manos: The Hands of Fate' tape and put it into the VCR," he said. "So as the person whose job it was to screen all the films, I kind of was the one to find it, and it's very funny to me that it's now a part of American popular culture. Maybe some people would say we shouldn't be proud of that, but I am."

With post-"MST3K" work including writing for the TV series "Invader ZIM" and "Sabrina, The Teenage Witch," Conniff has spent the last few years working on and off on the podcast "Podhouse 90." Described as a scripted anthology series of original radio plays, the three episodes to date of "Podhouse 90" have been written and directed by Conniff and featured appearances by fellow "MST3K" alumns Trace Beaulieu and J. Elvis Weinstein.

Conniff, who is also involved in the weekly "Jimmy Dore Show" podcast, said he would like to produce another installment of "Podhouse 90" in the not-too-distant future.

"Podcasting itself in general is just one of the best things to happen to comedy because every comedian I know is involved with some sort of podcasting, and it's just a medium where we're all allowed complete creative freedom," he said. "So, no matter what you have going on in your career, no matter what you have to do to make a living that might not be as creatively fulfilling as you might like, you can always go and do your own thing. That's a really great thing.

"I've been saying for a while now, there's no excuse now not to make things. Anybody can go out with just a microphone or just an iPhone camera or whatever and create their own stuff. That's a really terrific thing."

'MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000: VOLUME XXXII'

WHAT: A four-disc DVD box set that includes 'MST3K' episodes spotlighting "Space Travelers" (a.k.a. "Marooned"), "Hercules," "Radar Secret Service" and "San Francisco International"

INFO: Set to be released Tuesday, March 24 by Shout! Factory

PRICE: $59.97

ON THE WEB:www.shoutfactory.com/film/film-comedy/mst3k-volume-xxxii