The future of Mystery Science Theater 3000 looked fairly precarious in the spring of 1996. The beloved (if cult) show's home network, Comedy Central, had just decided that seven seasons and 149 episodes of riffing on long-forgotten, terrible movies were more than enough. (The Sci-Fi Network would eventually save the day.) On top of that, some fans still seemed unconvinced that Michael J. Nelson was fit to lick the spaceship floor original host Joel Hodgson walked on, resulting in the biggest sci-fi flame war since Kirk vs. Picard. Perhaps not the most ideal time, then, to make that giant leap from the small to the big screen.