Mystery Science Theatre 3000

MST3K. Yes, the show with the sarcastic puppets. The fact is it's one of the funniest, and smartest, shows in the history of the universe, and while you only remember the silhouettes at the bottom of the screen mocking movies, the whole story is SciFi. A janitor is shot into space, and mad scientists monitor his brain while he watches terrible movies as they try to break his spirit. Of course, with all that time in space, he could make those robots to keep himself company. The movies they showed were almost always science fiction films, like Pod People or Alien from LA, but even when they were watching a cop flick like Mitchell, the 'bot were always cracking wise in a science fictional way! The Satellite of Love is a fine setting for a science fiction story, but it's really about the three of 'em watching movies and having a good time... just like every high school kid with MST3K when it was on the air! Why it's on the list: Funny! Zany! Hyper-referential!