All episodes Season 10 S10E03 1999-09-12 120 min 1990s KTMA/Comedy Central/Sci-Fi

Mystery Science Theater 3000

Merlin's Shop of Mystical Wonders

TV Flash files “Merlin's Shop of Mystical Wonders” as hour 166 of 209 in the TV Flash guide — Mystery Science Theater 3000 (1988–1999) on KTMA/Comedy Central/Sci-Fi, season 10, episode 3, aired 1999-09-12, 120 min.

From the desk

How this hour is filed

This leaf is S10E03: listed hour 166 of 209 in the Mystery Science Theater 3000 guide, hour 3 of 13 in season 10. It aired 1999-09-12 (120 min). The listed hour before it is “The Girl in Gold Boots” (S10E02). Next is “Future War” (S10E04).

Mystery Science Theater 3000 still

Catalog log

Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.

In the 1996 movie, Ernest Borgnine plays a grandfather telling his grandson two tales of Merlin's shop of mystical wonders. Merlin has come from the past to open a shop in the present and teach people about the wonders of magic. When he loses his artifacts, two tales of so-called horror ensue, one of which is a reedit of the movie The Devil's Gift, which may have been a ripoff of Stephen King's short story "The Monkey".

Viewer FAQ

Where does Merlin's Shop of Mystical Wonders sit in the Mystery Science Theater 3000 guide?

S10E03 is listed hour 166 of 209 — hour 3 of 13 in season 10, season 10 episode 3.

When did Mystery Science Theater 3000 S10E03 air?

Merlin's Shop of Mystical Wonders aired 1999-09-12 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.

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Filed against

Also in season 10

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