On the cult TV show “Mystery Science Theater 3000,” Trace Beaulieu and Frank Conniff played mad scientists tasked with feeding low-budget sci-fi flicks to a hapless man and his robot sidekicks aboard a space station called the Satellite of Love.

The experiment: see how long these prisoners could endure the schlocky onslaught before losing their minds.

As it turns out, TV viewers were the real subjects. The Emmy-nominated series, which ran on Comedy Central for nearly 200 episodes in the 1990s, popularized the fine but underappreciated art of movie riffing. Each episode consisted of a classic (or not-so-classic) B-movie with running, overlapping, wildly sarcastic commentary from the crew.

At first largely improvised, then later carefully scripted, the show was always packed tight with pop-culture references. In recent years, its serialized takedowns have found new life through Netflix, DVD reissues and comic conventions, expanding the considerable influence “Mystery Science Theater 3000” has enjoyed among writers and comedians.

“Just about everybody is a social critic, a social mocker, and it’s not all great,” said Beaulieu, who will perform a pair of live movie-riff shows with Conniff at Denver’s Voodoo Comedy Playhouse June 19-20. “I don’t know if it can really be taught.”

Nonetheless, Beaulieu (who played Dr. Clayton Forrester and voiced/operated Crow T. Robot on the show) and Conniff (who played TV’s Frank) will also teach a writing class with an emphasis on riffing as part of their Voodoo run.

“You’re either prone to use these skills — like a class clown in school — or not, so we’ll show people what our method is and maybe they’ll realize whether they have them too,” said Beaulieu, who has since worked on “America’s Funniest Home Videos” and, most recently, Yahoo! TV’s new series “Other Space.” The latter features an episode from the Denver-bred Nix Bros. directing team and also stars “Mystery Science Theater” creator Joel Hodgson.

“So many people just do it because it’s easy,” said Beaulieu, citing the glut of podcasts as an example of ubiquitous riffing. “One of the least impressive things you can say these days is, ‘Hey, I’m going on a podcast!’ Of course, I don’t want to brag, but I’m going to be doing a podcast later today.”

Jokes aside, the act of dissecting or otherwise glancing off real-time events is part of social media’s appeal. And whether or not “Mystery Science Theater’s” version of it has played a direct role in the fortunes of Twitter and Facebook, our shared obsession with instantly judging (and, usually, mocking) cultural artifacts places the show’s “not too distant future” significantly ahead of its time.

“Frank and I will forever be connected with ‘Mystery Science Theater,’ and we’re really proud of the work we did there and the freedom we had. But this is going to be a different chemical mix,” Beaulieu said of the Denver movie-riff shows. “Maybe a little bit more adult — if that’s possible.”

John Wenzel: 303-954-1642, jwenzel@denverpost.com or twitter.com/johnwenzel

TRACE BEAULIEU & FRANK CONNIFF OF “MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000.” Live movie-riff shows and writing workshop. Shows: 8 p.m. June 19-20. Class: 1 p.m. June 20. $30-$79. Voodoo Comedy Playhouse, 1260 22nd St. 303-578-0079 or voodoocomedy. com.