Mystery Spatula Theater 11

Mystery Spatula Theater 11 Frequently Spatched Questions

Got a nagging question? Need it to be answered? Can't sleep without the wisdom in your head? Well, tough. The only questions we're answering here are the questions we've already answered and written down, so we hope that one or some of these are ones you're looking for. Read on, prithee, and welcome to MST11. If you have a question that you're dying to ask us (no, really, you have to be dying) about the show, you can e-mail us at mst11faq@ilikesheep.com.

Where does the name Mystery Spatula Theater 11 come from?

We wanted to come up with a title for the show that was similar to, but distinct from, Mystery Science Theater 3000. The two original creators of this venture were Rob "Spatula" Noyes and Matthew "Fringe" Duhan. Since Fringe loves to cook and Spatch was working at a small cable TV station at the time and we both watched way too much FoodTV, we decided to make the set based around a cooking show at a small cable TV station. The "Spatula" fit nicely into the theme as well.

OK, but why 11?

Because these go to eleven! Seriously, folks, if you can't even get one This is Spinal Tap reference, then you'll probably miss half the jokes from a typical episode. Plus, it has the right number of syllables.

What does the Q in Spork Q Robot stand for?

Quentin, but don't ever let Spork hear you call him that. He hates the name, even though he thinks Quentin Tarintino is leet.

What does it say on Max's chef coat?

M. J. Duhan. In typical Quality Control fashion, they misspelled Max's last name. His full name is Maxwell James Dunham III.

What's the deal with the poster in the Test Kitchen? What does that mean, "Beef makes the crust"?

Believe it or not, this is a real ad and recipe that was used by Hunt's tomato sauce in the 60's for a pie in which ground beef is the crust and tomato sauce is the filling. It came from the Gallery of Regrettable Food. We thought it was so amusing, so disgusting, and yet so horribly wrong at the same time that we had to use it as a poster in the Test Kitchen. By the way, buy the book, it's worth it.

What's the deal with the Magical Trevor skit in episode 201 - Fantastic Four?

Everyone loves Magical Trevor! Magical Trevor is an addictive little flash meme that circulated the 'net in 1994 by the same folks that did "Badger badger". While not quite as popular as All Your Base Are Belong To Us, it was nevertheless quite catchy, and many of the cast like the song. One day over dinner we were reciting the song as if it were dialog and found it hysterically funny (the two bottles of wine may have helped), so we decided to make it a skit. We figured that in true MST fashion those that got it would find it funny, and those that didn't know what Magical Trevor was would just go 'huh?' We still laugh at it though.

Did CNN really call Mission to Mars "doo-doo", as mentioned in episode 203 - Mission to Mars?

Yes. The bit about the NASA Space Act Agreement is also true.

What's the plot?

The whole thing begins with Dr. Heronymous Mushmeyer and Dr. Frank Taunheiser, recently promoted to Programming Directors (B-Grade) of CCTV. In our twisted reality, CCTV plays broadcast movies, and it is now their job to screen each incoming film (B-Grade) and decide whether or not it is fit to air. Needless to say, this does not fit in with either their plans for world domination or their plans for retaining what they call their sanity.

Then in walks Max Dunham, a regular technician guy at the station and sous chef for the cooking show "Cooking With The Cooking Guy." Max appears to solve all of the Mad doctors' plans - of course, Max solves them rather indirectly, because as he's cleaning up the set of the kitchen, Dr. Mushmeyer beams both him and the set up into a conveniently-placed orbiting satellite.

Now, operating from "Quality Control," Dr. M and Dr. T force Max to watch the movies and send reports and recipes the like as broadcast filler. To pass the time, Max builds robots out of the materials aboard the satellite and they become his partners in movie-watching.

What's the point?

You mean other than being an homage to the actual show that did it better, Mystery Science Theater 3000? Well, a lotta folks are deprived of a good MST3K source, especially now that it's off the air. Back when it looked like Comedy Central would not renew the MST3K contract past season 7, we felt it'd be fun to make our own and give 'em to friends as a "Maybe Just As Good" thing. And also, it's terribly fun.

This sounds awesome and leet. How can I help?

If you live in or near the Chicagoland area, we would love to have you help us produce the show. If you don't live in or near the Chicagoland area, we would still love to have you help, but it would be for script and skit writing only. We have a format to be followed, and all you would need to do is get a group of friends together regularly to help riff the movie. For more details, and information on our forum and mailing list, e-mail mst11faq@ilikesheep.com.