Best Brains

Background: Best Brains, Inc. (first known as Hair Brain Productions) is an entertainment company based in Eden Prairie, Minnesota. It is best known for its creation and production of the comedy/sci-fi television program Mystery Science Theater 3000, aka MST3K (1988-99; 2017-18). The company ceased producing the program in 1999 and closed its studio. Currently, its only functions are to sell MST3K-oriented merchandise and negotiate box-set releases through Shout! Factory. On November 5, 2007, Jim Mallon and Paul Chaplin of Best Brains revived the MST3K brand by launching a new series of Flash-based animated shorts featuring the robots of Mystery Science Theater 3000 on the official website. However, due to financial issues, the series only lasted several months.

Hair Brain Productions

(November 24, 1988-May 28, 1989)

Logo: Up against a starry background, we see "(C) (YEAR OF PRODUCTION) KTMA & HAIR BRAIN PRODUCTIONS" in white.

FX/SFX: None; its a still logo.

Music/Sounds: The end theme of the show.

Availability: Extinct; was only seen on Mystery Science Theater 3000 episodes from the KTMA era.

Best Brains Productions

1st Logo (November 28, 1989-October 13, 1990, November 17, 1990)

Logo: On a black background, the words “A BEST BRAINS PRODUCTION” are written in white.

Variants: Starting in the second season, the font was changed a few times.

FX/SFX: It’s a still logo.

Music/Sounds: Computer sounds from Mystery Science Theater 3000. Sometimes, the logo is silent.

Availability: Very rare; seen on Mystery Science Theater 3000 episodes from the era, few of which have been released onto DVD.

2nd Logo (October 27, 1990-August 8, 1999)

Nickname: "The Stinger"

Logo: A short clip from that episode’s movie is shown. The words “A Best Brains Production” are written at the bottom. Sometimes, a copyright logo is seen on the left side of the text.

Variants:
 * On the very first stinger, "A BEST BRAINS PRODUCTION" is written at the upper left corner, in a similar style to the first logo. The name disappears after a few seconds.
 * On "Mighty Jack," "A Best Brains Production" is on the top.
 * The font used for the name was replaced with a bolder one in season 4 starting with "Space Travelers".
 * On "Santa Claus Conquers the Martians" the copyright symbol appeared next to the name "A Best Brains Production".
 * "Village of the Giants" had the stinger replaced with a memorial card to Frank Zappa, who died a month before its airdate.
 * When the show moved to SciFi Channel, the font became different.
 * Between season 8 episodes 5 ("The Thing That Couldn't Be") to 7 ("Terror from the Year 5000"), the clip from the movie was replaced with a shot of the Observers (Mike Nelson, Bill Corbett, Paul Chaplin). On episode 8 ("The She Creature"), the stinger had a shot of Professor Bobo (Kevin Murphy) lying on the ground, moaning.

Trivia: The first episode that had a stinger was "Rocket Attack USA".

FX/SFX: Whatever “FX” the clip has.

Music/Sound: Whatever sounds the clip has.

Availability: Seen on many MST3K DVDs. For some reason, "The Wild Rebels" used the logo above. The Rhino Video release of "The Atomic Brain" strangely lacks the stinger, although it's retained on the Shout! Factory print.