Over the years, there has been only one television show that I pledge permanent allegiance to: Mystery Science Theater 3000. No other show has proved to be as entertaining for me. No other show has provided me such laughter as does “MST3K,” as it is abbreviated. But even more than this...this show is even partly responsible for the fact that I am still alive today. When I first saw this show as a seventh grader, I was sacked with suicidal thoughts, despondent that I did not fit in at school. This show’s quirkiness gave me happiness, as well as a sense of hope. Somewhere out there, away from school and home, there are people like me.

To orient you as to the nature of this show, I’ll quickly describe its premise. Wacky to describe, I’ll own:

Created by comedy writer Joel Hodgson, Mystery Science Theater 3000 features Joel and his three robots, Crow T. Robot, Tom Servo and Gypsy, all stuck in outer space. On Earth, evil masterminds force Joel and two of the robots (Crow and Servo) to watch bad movies as torture. As they watch, they release a barrage of witty riffs in response to the movie as it unfolds. Perhaps the silhouettes are recognizable to you:

There are periodic breaks from the movie’s showing, where Joel and the bots do skits with the villains, Dr. Clayton Forrester and TV’s Frank. Especially with the Comedy Central seasons, it is all shoe-string budget, as if filmed in someone’s basement.

Filmed and produced in Minneapolis, Minnesota, the show was first aired in 1988 on a local channel called KTMA. After its first season, the show was sold to Comedy Central, where it aired for another seven seasons, from 1989 to 1996. At this point, Joel Hodgson and co-director Jim Mallon founded the production company “Best Brains, Inc.,” which was further staffed with comedy writers and a production crew beyond KTMA.

After seven seasons, Comedy Central cancelled MST3K, but thankfully it was picked up by the Sci-Fi Channel for an additional three seasons, from 1996 to 1999. Over the show’s lifetime, it underwent some changes as cast members and writers came and left. Halfway through the fifth season, Joel left the show and was replaced by Mike Nelson, one of the other comedy writers. Various characters (also writers) left and were replaced. For the Sci-Fi Channel seasons, the cast of “villains” had changed completely. But for me personally, the show has always had its charms from season to season.

But back to my story...

While I was in middle school, my father underwent back surgery, which forced him to stay home from work for several months. As usual, he was emotionally volatile, but this became inescapable now that he was not working. Home felt like prison, and my mother and I tread on eggshells around him. The slightest of irritations would throw him into a screaming frenzy, which frightened me to the core.

Late at night, when he was asleep, my mother would watch Mystery Science Theater 3000 on Comedy Central and have a barrel of precious laughs. (It was 1996 at this point.) Halfway through the school year, my mother called 911 on my dad and he left home. I was now free, yet resultant depression hit me. Watching MST3K with my mother provided me with happiness, not to mention a bonding activity with the person who loved me most.

With our VHS player, we recorded many episodes and watched them over and over. Cheesy movies such as Prince of Space and Manos: The Hands of Fate became beloved gems of episodes.

My mother and I joined MST3K’s fan club, and we purchased various merchandise through their catalog. This included two CDs of songs that were performed during the interstitial skits. I also got a couple of Crow T-Shirts, a set of three pins that show the bots, and some VHS tapes. One tape was a documentary that talked about the beginnings and evolution of the show. The end of it showed fans gathered at a MST3K convention, fondly calling themselves MSTies. Deep in my heart, I knew that I was a MSTie too. I felt connected to these other fans out there, these people I had never met. Sadly, this was right at the dawn of the Internet, so there was no way to branch out and find any of these people.

The show also provided me with a much-needed sense of confidence and individuality. At school, I felt aloof and distant from my classmates, so my fandom for MST3K became an identity. This identity empowered me to accept my isolated social condition more easily. My fandom also affirmed that I was different from the people around me. More intelligent, dare I say. My classmates are too stupid to like that show.

My depression worsened, and I became suicidal in seventh grade. Yet again, there was no happiness except for MST3K, which fulfilled me as much as my love for my own mother. I do not exaggerate here.

How can this show be so brilliant, that it has this a powerful effect on me? I suppose, part of it is due to its sense of mutuality. When you watch the “bad movies” with the characters, it is almost this kind of bonding experience that you go through with the guys. When you hear their riffs, it’s as if they’re sitting in the room with you, sharing your pain. When you finish the movie, you feel like you’ve escaped as much as the actors convey. Sometimes, the movies are hard to watch. Sometimes, you do feel like giving up on the movie. But you just have to stick it out...ha!

The show has a delightfully low-budget, chintzy aesthetic to it as well. Sci-fi-looking props are obviously props, and it just seems like show is filmed out of a basement, the cast being their honest, quirky selves. The jokes they riff touch on practically all cultural aspects of life and beyond. Celebrities. Songs and TV shows, old and new. History. Politics and religion, presented impartially and unoffensively to anyone.

The show also has a very personal affect to it. During the earlier seasons on Comedy Central, Joel would read a fan’s letter at the end of each episode. The people who wrote ranged from adults to children, some sharing very tender moments...a woman at a military base, talking about how the show is beloved by the people there. Children, scrawling pictures of the robots, asking delightfully naïve questions, the cast answering them equally naïve-dly.

And also just...

Spontaneity. Wit. Impulsive blurts and sound effects. Going past the awkwardness that typically holds people back, and just being free and goofy, without fear of judgment. The cast members appeared to embrace their inner intelligence as a wellspring of inspiration and entertainment. None of this “trying to hide it” to “fit in.” These writers...I felt like they were my kind of people.

I was extremely sad when the show went off the air, after its tenth season. But life went on, and I coped. (I still had my mother!) When the show ended, the writers remained active, both on their own and in collaborations. Various projects of theirs include The Film Crew, Rifftrax and Cinematic Titanic. All of these include the riffing of B-Movies. In fact, Cinematic Titanic actually went on tour, and I was able to see the cast live at the Nokia Theater in New York City, as they riffed a movie called Danger on Tiki Island! Admittedly, I did not keep up with their post-MST3K activities over the years, mostly because I was too cheap to purchase their tracks and merchandise.

These days, I am revisiting the show now as an adult, watching episodes freely on YouTube. It’s been twenty years since I first saw the show, and my appreciation is now that much deeper. I understand the movies fully now by themselves, and can handle the “multitasking” of the riffs with greater ease.

“I wanna decide who lives and who dies!” That one’s from Santa Claus Conquers the Martians.

But there is a new layer now. Given that I can watch the show online, I can now Google the various things they reference! Songs, people and such that I don’t know, I can look up, instantly getting the jokes that I would have missed! Not only do I enhance my enjoyment of the show, but I also can brush up on cultural references from times before my own generation. Knowing past trends and popularities makes one a better writer. And anyway...am I not a writer myself? Hearing these guys do their thing can definitely make me a better writer, especially in the realm of humor!

The future of Mystery Science Theater 3000 now looks bright again. Last year, Joel Hodgson and friends launched a Kickstarter fundraiser to revive the show, and they raised enough to produce fourteen new episodes! They are slated to air on Netflix in late 2016 or early 2017. I guess it’s time for me to subscribe! The cast is completely new, but I have full faith that it will be enjoyable as always before.

I encourage you give the show a try yourself! Many full episodes are posted on YouTube. Generally, they are about 90 minutes long. Hopefully, you’ll like it. And if not, at least you’ll know how my brain works. There is something beyond sitcoms and reality shows. Beyond celebrities, and beyond the money-making machine that is Hollywood. There is genuine entertainment. No selfishness of self-promotion, but simply the sharing of laughs, bringing joy to people, bonding them together.

Mystery Science Theater 3000 goes beyond the television screen. In my bones, I truly believe that this show makes the world a happier, better place. Something about this show gives me a sense of hope, that there is actually intelligent life on earth. That there is an appreciation for having knowledge about the culture we live in. Might I say, that these concepts combine to form that of profound wisdom.

In any case, that is the effect that this show has had on me.

Neesa Suncheuri works as a mental health peer specialist at a housing agency in Queens, New York. She is a member of three committees with the NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. She is also the founder of a Facebook discussion group for peer specialists and other recovery enthusiasts, entitled “What is Wellness? A Mental Health Discussion Group,” which now boasts over 850 members. Much of her creative inspiration is rooted in her now-tamed schizophrenia. She is a singer/songwriter, and performs in various venues in the city. She writes poetry, maintains a blog and writes for various sites. Follow her on Twitter at @neesasuncheuri.