Weiner Robert G. Weiner & Barba Shelley E. Barba 
In the Peanut Gallery with Mystery Science Theater 3000 
Essays on Film, Fandom, Technology and the Culture of Riffing

The award-winning television series Mystery Science Theater 3000 (1988-1999) has been described as "the smartest, funniest show in America, " and forever changed the way we watch movies. The series featured a human host and a pair of robotic puppets who, while being subjected to some of the worst films ever made, provided ongoing hilarious and insightful commentary in a style popularly known as "riffing." These essays represent the first full-length scholarly analysis of Mystery Science Theater 3000–MST3K–which blossomed from humble beginnings as a Minnesota public-access television show into a cultural phenomenon on two major cable networks. The book includes interviews with series creator Joel Hodgson and cast members Kevin Murphy and Trace Beaulieu.