MST3k first aired on the Minneapolis KTMA-TV channel 23 in 1988. In 1990 the show was picked up by a fledgling cable channel creatively named The Comedy Channel (renamed Comedy Central in 1991). MST3k moved to The Sci-Fi Channel in 1996 after CC cancelled it for not drawing crowds during several ridiculous time slots.
Sci-Fi stopped funding new episodes of MST3k in 1999 presumably in order to fuel the creation of more empty-headed T&A shows posing as science fiction. The channel continued to re-run a small selection of episodes from MST3k's years there until January 31, 2004 when one last viewing of "The Screaming Skull" marked the end of the show's official run. Unfortunately the vast majority of MST3k episodes cannot be easily syndicated as the rights to many of the films used were acquired under very limited terms (sometimes only allowing them a single broadcast).
Currently Best Brains (the company that created MST3k) is just a shell with its former employees (nearly all of whom appeared on the show) mostly scattered. While it is unlikely that MST3k will ever be revived, Rhino Home Video has created official VHS and DVD releases of certain episodes that everyone should purchase. Unfortunately the Rhino releases are a very small portion of the entire run. Thanks to the Digital Archive Project's MST3k DAP most of the episodes that cannot be purchased have been encoded into MS MPEG4 v2 format and are available for download.
The cast of MST3k and their characters:
Trace Beaulieu - Dr. Clayton Forrester and voice/puppetry for Crow T. Robot (Seasons Zero through Seven) Patrick Brantseg - voice/puppetry for Gypsy ("Agent for H.A.R.M." through Season Ten) Frank Conniff - TV's Frank Bill Corbett - Observer (aka Brain Guy) and voice/puppetry for Crow T. Robot (Seasons Eight through Ten) Joel Hodgson - Joel Robinson Jim Mallon - voice/puppetry for Gypsy ("The Crawling Eye" through "Riding with Death") Kevin Murphy - Professor Bobo and voice/puppetry for Tom Servo (Seasons Two through Ten) Michael J. Nelson - Mike Nelson Mary Jo Pehl - Pearl Forrester Josh Weinstein - Dr. Laurence Erhardt, voice/puppetry for Tom Servo (Seasons Zero through One) and puppetry for Gypsy (Season Zero)
Here's a simplified list of MST3k episodes (a detailed list including info on the shorts can be found in the official episode guide at www.mst3kinfo.com). Links to write-ups about the films themselves and/or the episodes specifically appear in bold type. As you can see, E2 has a long way to go. Please /msg me if you node any of these so I can update this.
Season Zero (1988-1989)
Season One (1989-1990)
Season Two (1990-1991)
Season Three (1991-1992)
Season Four (1992-1993)
Season Five (1993-1994)
Season Six (1994-1995)
Season Seven (1995-1996)
Season Eight (1997)
Season Nine (1998)
Season Ten (1999)