Mystery Science Theater 3000
The Deadly Mantis
TV Flash files “The Deadly Mantis” as hour 132 of 209 in the TV Flash guide — Mystery Science Theater 3000 (1988–1999) on KTMA/Comedy Central/Sci-Fi, season 8, episode 4, aired 1997-02-22, 120 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S08E04: listed hour 132 of 209 in the Mystery Science Theater 3000 guide, hour 4 of 22 in season 8. It aired 1997-02-22 (120 min). The listed hour before it is “The Mole People” (S08E03). Next is “The Thing That Couldn't Die” (S08E05).
Viewer FAQ
Where does The Deadly Mantis sit in the Mystery Science Theater 3000 guide?
S08E04 is listed hour 132 of 209 — hour 4 of 22 in season 8, season 8 episode 4.
When did Mystery Science Theater 3000 S08E04 air?
The Deadly Mantis aired 1997-02-22 and is listed at 120 minutes.
Joel or Mike seasons?
Joel Hodgson created it and hosted early; Mike Nelson took over later. Both riff from the front row — pick a host, the robots stay the religion.
In the series
Why this series still plays
Silhouettes in the front row, heckling a bad movie until it becomes a friendship. The comedy grammar of riffing as love: robots, host segments, and thrift-store cinema treated like scripture. Patient, silly, and oddly tender about junk — the show recap culture still copies. If you have ever talked back at a screen, this is your church.
Flash: silhouettes in the front row, heckling a bad movie until it becomes a friendship, thrift-store cinema treated like scripture. Joel Hodgson created *MST3K* locally in 1988; national fame arrived in the 1990s on Comedy Central, later Sci-Fi Channel years. A human and two robots watch terrible films and joke over them from a theater's front row. **Heckling as love** — the comedy grammar recap culture still copies. If you have ever talked back at a screen, this is your church.
Open the Mystery Science Theater 3000 package · Season 8 hub
Filed against
- Joel Hodgson as Joel Robinson
Joel Hodgson invented the front-row silhouette as Joel Robinson on Mystery Science Theater 3000 — heckling a bad movie until it becomes a friendship. Robots, host segments, thrift-store cinema treated like scripture. Patient, silly, oddly…
- Mike Nelson as Mike Nelson
Mike Nelson heckled junk into friendship from Mystery Science Theater 3000’s front row — 1990s silhouettes, robots, host segments, thrift-store cinema treated like scripture. Riffing as love, patient and silly, oddly tender about bad…
- Trace Beaulieu as Crow T. Robot / Dr. Forrester
Trace Beaulieu heckled from both sides of Mystery Science Theater 3000 — Crow T. Robot in the front-row silhouette and Dr. Forrester in the host-segment madhouse. Riffing as love, thrift-store cinema treated like scripture, robots as…
- Kevin Murphy as Tom Servo
Kevin Murphy's Tom Servo heckled junk cinema into friendship on Mystery Science Theater 3000 — silhouettes in the front row, host segments, thrift-store features treated like scripture. Riffing as love. TV Flash files him as 1990s comedy…