MSTing
Encyclopedia
MSTing or MiSTing (ˈmɪstɪŋ) is a method of mocking a show in the style of the television series Mystery Science Theater 3000
(MST3K) and, in particular, is a form of fan fiction
in which writers mock other works by inserting humorous comments, called "riffs", into the flow of dialogue and events.
post, web page
, or some other source such as a rant, spam
or fan fiction
— and inserts mocking comments from fictional readers of the text, essentially writing a script as if the MSTing were a movie. While "standard" MSTings attribute these comments to the three main characters of the MST3K cast, others might use characters - usually (though not always) from the universe of the story being mocked. Often a prologue, epilogue, and intermissions are added in which the characters discuss a topic on the same theme as the original text, although intermission segments are usually dropped if the original work is short. Over time, the term MST has also been used to describe general fan fiction mockeries, without the use of the MST3K character-based joke format.
, Tom Servo
, Joel Robinson
, and later Mike Nelson
).
The MSTing Mine credits Eric Alfred Burns
as the writer of the first MSTings in February 1993, three short lambastings of Internet criticisms of MST3K itself. The "canonical" MSTing style mostly derives from these first three postings, including Usenet-style quoting of the original work and script-style lines for the riffers and characters outside the theater. Other authors followed suit with MSTings of other works. By the end of the year, at least 29 original MSTings had been posted.
As the phenomenon grew, it spread to other media and other forums. The newsgroup alt.tv.mst3k.mstings was established on Usenet for this fan writing.
A discussion category on Yahoo!, "Entertainment > Humor, Jokes, and Fun > Parody > Usenet Parodies > MiSTings" (no longer active in 2007), was created for discussions there.
MSTing for popular TV shows such as Star Trek: Voyager
,
other genres such as anime,
Usenet postings,
and the MSTiers' own original works
were fodder for this written mockery. Recently, technologies not present when MSTing was started, such as Wiki
s and YouTube
have been used.
Cheap Seats
, a show that ran on ESPN Classic
from 2004 to 2006, borrowed its format from Mystery Science Theater 3000. The cast of MST3K apparently were pleased with the show and afforded it a high honor - they appeared in the fourth season opener in their normal silhouette format, making fun of the Sklar's host show bits. So far it is the only time Michael J. Nelson
, Bill Corbett
and Kevin Murphy
have appeared as their MST3K characters Mike Nelson, Crow T. Robot
and Tom Servo
since MST3K was cancelled.
fanfiction, in which teenage character Marissa Picard became an ensign in Starfleet
shortly after her 14th birthday) became works that many "MSTers" seek to use as a basis for a "MSTing".
Additionally, some fiction sites such as Fanfiction.net
have banned the posting of MSTs, either because they do not allow "script format" works (i.e. formats that are not standard for short stories
, novella
s, or novel
s, including those in teleplay
or screenplay
format, or those meant to imitate chat room
conversations), or because they contain copyrighted material not written or owned by the MST's creator, or because the sites in question simply do not want to deal with upset authors getting angry about MSTings of their work.
Mystery Science Theater 3000
Mystery Science Theater 3000 is an American cult television comedy series created by Joel Hodgson and produced by Best Brains, Inc., that ran from 1988 to 1999....
(MST3K) and, in particular, is a form of fan fiction
Fan fiction
Fan fiction is a broadly-defined term for fan labor regarding stories about characters or settings written by fans of the original work, rather than by the original creator...
in which writers mock other works by inserting humorous comments, called "riffs", into the flow of dialogue and events.
Style
In MSTing, the author picks a badly written piece of text — usually a UsenetUsenet
Usenet is a worldwide distributed Internet discussion system. It developed from the general purpose UUCP architecture of the same name.Duke University graduate students Tom Truscott and Jim Ellis conceived the idea in 1979 and it was established in 1980...
post, web page
Web page
A web page or webpage is a document or information resource that is suitable for the World Wide Web and can be accessed through a web browser and displayed on a monitor or mobile device. This information is usually in HTML or XHTML format, and may provide navigation to other web pages via hypertext...
, or some other source such as a rant, spam
Spam (electronic)
Spam is the use of electronic messaging systems to send unsolicited bulk messages indiscriminately...
or fan fiction
Fan fiction
Fan fiction is a broadly-defined term for fan labor regarding stories about characters or settings written by fans of the original work, rather than by the original creator...
— and inserts mocking comments from fictional readers of the text, essentially writing a script as if the MSTing were a movie. While "standard" MSTings attribute these comments to the three main characters of the MST3K cast, others might use characters - usually (though not always) from the universe of the story being mocked. Often a prologue, epilogue, and intermissions are added in which the characters discuss a topic on the same theme as the original text, although intermission segments are usually dropped if the original work is short. Over time, the term MST has also been used to describe general fan fiction mockeries, without the use of the MST3K character-based joke format.
History
MSTing began in the early 1990s, as fans of the show, many of whom were involved in Usenet discussions in groups such as popular MST3K newsgroup rec.arts.tv.mst3k.misc, began adding amusing or critical remarks to others' posts, attributing them to the show's characters (typically, Crow T. RobotCrow T. Robot
Crow T. Robot is a fictional character from the American science fiction comedy television series Mystery Science Theater 3000 . Crow is a robot, who, along with others, quips and riffs upon poor-quality B movies.- Overview :...
, Tom Servo
Tom Servo
Tom Servo is a fictional character from the American science fiction comedy television show Mystery Science Theater 3000 . Tom is one of two wise-cracking, robotic main characters of the show, built by Joel Robinson to act as a companion and help stave off space madness as Joel was forced to watch...
, Joel Robinson
Joel Robinson
Joel Robinson is a fictional character featured in the American science fiction comedy television series Mystery Science Theater 3000...
, and later Mike Nelson
Mike Nelson (character)
Mike Nelson is a fictional character in the comedy science fiction television series Mystery Science Theater 3000. Portrayed by actor/head writer Michael J. Nelson, Mike is a likable, sometimes dim temp worker from Wisconsin who comes to work for the mad scientists Dr...
).
The MSTing Mine credits Eric Alfred Burns
Eric Burns (blogger)
Eric Alfred Burns is an American critic, writer, poet, columnist and Role Playing Game developer who lived in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire...
as the writer of the first MSTings in February 1993, three short lambastings of Internet criticisms of MST3K itself. The "canonical" MSTing style mostly derives from these first three postings, including Usenet-style quoting of the original work and script-style lines for the riffers and characters outside the theater. Other authors followed suit with MSTings of other works. By the end of the year, at least 29 original MSTings had been posted.
As the phenomenon grew, it spread to other media and other forums. The newsgroup alt.tv.mst3k.mstings was established on Usenet for this fan writing.
A discussion category on Yahoo!, "Entertainment > Humor, Jokes, and Fun > Parody > Usenet Parodies > MiSTings" (no longer active in 2007), was created for discussions there.
MSTing for popular TV shows such as Star Trek: Voyager
Star Trek: Voyager
Star Trek: Voyager is a science fiction television series set in the Star Trek universe. Set in the 24th century from the year 2371 through 2378, the series follows the adventures of the Starfleet vessel USS Voyager, which becomes stranded in the Delta Quadrant 70,000 light-years from Earth while...
,
other genres such as anime,
Usenet postings,
and the MSTiers' own original works
were fodder for this written mockery. Recently, technologies not present when MSTing was started, such as Wiki
Wiki
A wiki is a website that allows the creation and editing of any number of interlinked web pages via a web browser using a simplified markup language or a WYSIWYG text editor. Wikis are typically powered by wiki software and are often used collaboratively by multiple users. Examples include...
s and YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
have been used.
Cheap Seats
Cheap Seats
Cheap Seats without Ron Parker, commonly shortened to Cheap Seats, is a television program broadcast on ESPN Classic hosted by brothers Randy and Jason Sklar...
, a show that ran on ESPN Classic
ESPN Classic
ESPN Classic is a sports channel that features reruns of famous sporting events, sports documentaries, and sports themed movies. Such programs includes biographies of famous sports figures or a rerun of a famous World Series or Super Bowl, often with added commentary on the event...
from 2004 to 2006, borrowed its format from Mystery Science Theater 3000. The cast of MST3K apparently were pleased with the show and afforded it a high honor - they appeared in the fourth season opener in their normal silhouette format, making fun of the Sklar's host show bits. So far it is the only time Michael J. Nelson
Michael J. Nelson
Michael John Nelson is a U.S. comedian and writer, most famous for his work on the cult television series Mystery Science Theater 3000 . Nelson was the head writer of the series for most of the show's 11-year run, and spent half of that time playing the on-air host, also named Mike Nelson...
, Bill Corbett
Bill Corbett
Bill Corbett is an American writer and performer for television, film and theatre. He was a writer and performer on the cult television show Mystery Science Theater 3000 , for which he voiced the robot Crow T. Robot during the show's later seasons on the Sci Fi Channel and played the character...
and Kevin Murphy
Kevin Murphy (actor)
Kevin Wagner Murphy is an American actor and writer best known as the voice and puppeteer of Tom Servo on the Peabody Award-winning comedy series Mystery Science Theater 3000.- Early career :...
have appeared as their MST3K characters Mike Nelson, Crow T. Robot
Crow T. Robot
Crow T. Robot is a fictional character from the American science fiction comedy television series Mystery Science Theater 3000 . Crow is a robot, who, along with others, quips and riffs upon poor-quality B movies.- Overview :...
and Tom Servo
Tom Servo
Tom Servo is a fictional character from the American science fiction comedy television show Mystery Science Theater 3000 . Tom is one of two wise-cracking, robotic main characters of the show, built by Joel Robinson to act as a companion and help stave off space madness as Joel was forced to watch...
since MST3K was cancelled.
Issues and ethics
Generally for copyright and ethical reasons, "MSTers" attempt to gain the permission of the original story's writer before writing an MST treatment of the work in question. While it is not clear that this is legally or ethically necessary--the Fair Use doctrine technically permits reproduction for the purpose of parody--such permission is usually sought out of courtesy. As with the television version, some authors of works that have been made in into "MSTings" have been rather negative about the treatment of their works and have requested the "MSTing" to be removed (which is generally done when requested), while others appreciate the humor and light criticism the collective result brings. Works of some of these latter authors (notably Stephen Ratliff for his Star Trek: The Next GenerationStar Trek: The Next Generation
Star Trek: The Next Generation is an American science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry as part of the Star Trek franchise. Roddenberry, Rick Berman, and Michael Piller served as executive producers at different times throughout the production...
fanfiction, in which teenage character Marissa Picard became an ensign in Starfleet
Starfleet
In the fictional universe of Star Trek, Starfleet or the Federation Starfleet is the deep-space exploratory, peacekeeping and military service maintained by the United Federation of Planets . It is the principal means by which the Federation conducts its exploration, defense, diplomacy and research...
shortly after her 14th birthday) became works that many "MSTers" seek to use as a basis for a "MSTing".
Additionally, some fiction sites such as Fanfiction.net
FanFiction.Net
FanFiction.Net is an automated fan fiction archive site. It was founded in late 1998 by Los Angeles computer programmer Xing Li, who also runs the site. The first fics to be posted were a few stories about Buffy the Vampire Slayer...
have banned the posting of MSTs, either because they do not allow "script format" works (i.e. formats that are not standard for short stories
Short story
A short story is a work of fiction that is usually written in prose, often in narrative format. This format tends to be more pointed than longer works of fiction, such as novellas and novels. Short story definitions based on length differ somewhat, even among professional writers, in part because...
, novella
Novella
A novella is a written, fictional, prose narrative usually longer than a novelette but shorter than a novel. The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America Nebula Awards for science fiction define the novella as having a word count between 17,500 and 40,000...
s, or novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
s, including those in teleplay
Teleplay
A teleplay is a television play, a comedy or drama written or adapted for television. The term surfaced during the 1950s with wide usage to distinguish a television plays from stage plays for the theater and screenplays written for films...
or screenplay
Screenplay
A screenplay or script is a written work that is made especially for a film or television program. Screenplays can be original works or adaptations from existing pieces of writing. In them, the movement, actions, expression, and dialogues of the characters are also narrated...
format, or those meant to imitate chat room
Chat room
The term chat room, or chatroom, is primarily used by mass media to describe any form of synchronous conferencing, occasionally even asynchronous conferencing...
conversations), or because they contain copyrighted material not written or owned by the MST's creator, or because the sites in question simply do not want to deal with upset authors getting angry about MSTings of their work.
External links
- The MSTing Mine - An archive of MSTings originally posted to the MST3K Usenet newsgroups.
- The MSTers' Reference Centre
- EWIC MSTing FAQ Sheet
- How to Write MiSTings
- The Mystery Science Theater 3000 Fanvid and Live-performance Database
- A MSTing For All Seasons
- Atomic Monsters.com - Reviews of the cheesiest monster movies of the 1950s
- Project A.F.T.E.R. - Features fan fiction mockeries that do not use traditional character-based jokes.