'MST3K' creator coming to MN for viewing of the cult classic

Fans of "Mystery Science Theater 3000" wasted no time getting their hands on tickets to a free viewing party of the cult favorite.

Twin Cities Public Television began airing classic episodes the "MST3K" last month, and to celebrate the return of the show, its creator, Joel Hodgson, is coming to a viewing party in Minneapolis – where the show got its start, according to TPT's website.

Tickets to the 7 p.m. free screening at the Parkway Theater sold out quickly, so TPT added a second screening at 9:15 p.m., which also sold out. But viewers are able to vote for the episode they hope to watch at the viewing party; visit TPT's website here.

The award-winning show still has quite the following, but for those who didn't watch it: "MST3K" features a man and his robots who are forced to sit through some of the worst movies ever made. To cope with their situation, they make wisecracks about the terrible films.

Hodgson created the show and also starred in it during its first few years on air. He was born in Stevens Point, Wisconsin, and attended college at Bethel University in St. Paul, according to the Internet Movie Database. He then moved to Los Angeles where he got his start in show business, Wired.com reported, before moving back to Minneapolis.

Not long after moving back to the Twin Cities, he created "MST3K," which first aired on KTMA in the Twin Cities in the late 1980s, the Pioneer Press reported. It was then picked up by Comedy Central (formally the Comedy Channel) and then by Syfy (formally the Sci-Fi Channel), until it was canceled in 1999.