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. 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: The scrolling of the credits.

Music/Sounds: The end theme of the show.

Availability: Extinct. It was only seen on Mystery Science Theater 3000 episodes from the KTMA era, which have never been rereleased (save for "Invaders from the Deep" and "Revenge of the Mysterions from Mars" being released to Kickstarter backers of season 11) but are mostly preserved by fans.

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, namely ambient noises for host segments in Mystery Science Theater 3000 that take place on the Satellite of Love's bridge. Sometimes, the logo is silent.

Availability: Rare; seen on Mystery Science Theater 3000 episodes from the era, most of which have been released onto DVD by Shout! Factory and are available on streaming services like Tubi.

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

• Season Two
• Season Three
• Season Four
• Season Five
• Season Six
• Season Seven
• Season Eight
• Season Nine
• Season Ten

"Rocket Attack USA"

"Ring of Terror"

"Lost Continent"

"The Hellcats"

"King Dinosaur"

"First Spaceship on Venus"

"Godzilla vs. Megalon"

"Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster"

"Cave Dwellers"

"Gamera"

"Pod People"

"Gamera vs. Barugon"

"Stranded in Space"

"Time of the Apes"

"Daddy-O"

"Gamera vs. Gaos"

"The Amazing Colossal Man"

"Fugitive Alien"

"It Conquered the World"

"Gamera vs. Guiron"

"Earth vs. the Spider"

"Mighty Jack"

"Teenage Caveman"

"Gamera vs. Zigra"

"Viking Women and the Sea Serpent"

"Star Force: Fugitive Alien II"

"War of the Colossal Beast"

"The Unearthly"

"Santa Claus Conquers the Martians"

"Master Ninja I"

"The Castle of Fu Manchu"

"Master Ninja II"

"Space Travelers"

"The Giant Gila Monster"

"City Limits"

"Teenagers from Outer Space"

"Being from Another Planet"

"Attack of the Giant Leeches"

"The Killer Shrews"

"Hercules Unchained"

"Indestructible Man"

"Hercules Against the Moon Men"

"The Magic Sword"

"Hercules and the Captive Women"

"Manhunt in Space"

"Tormented"

"The Beatniks"

"Fire Maidens of Outer Space"

"Crash of Moons"

"Attack of the The Eye Creatures"

"The Rebel Set"

"The Human Duplicators"

"Monster A-Go Go"

"The Day the Earth Froze"

"Bride of the Monster"

"Manos: The Hands of Fate"

"Warrior of the Lost World"

"Hercules"

"Swamp Diamonds"

"Secret Agent Super Dragon"

"The Magic Voyage of Sinbad"

"Eegah!"

"I Accuse My Parents"

"Operation Double 007"

"The Girl in Lovers Lane"

"The Painted Hills"

"Gunslinger"

"Mitchell"

"The Brain That Wouldn't Die"

"Teen-Age Strangler"

"The Wild World of Batwoman"

"Alien from L.A."

"Beginning of the End"

"The Atomic Brain"

"Outlaw"

"Radar Secret Service"

"Santa Claus"

"Teen-Age Crime Wave"

"Village of the Giants"

"12 to the Moon"

"Girls Town"

"Invasion U.S.A."

"The Dead Talk Back"

"Zombie Nightmare"

"Colossus and the Headhunters"

"The Creeping Terror"

"Bloodlust"

"Code Name: Diamond Head"

"The Skydivers"

"The Violent Years"

"Last of the Wild Horses"

"The Starfighters"

"The Sinister Urge"

"San Francisco International"

"Kitten with a Whip"

"Racket Girls"

"The Sword and the Dragon"

"High School Big Shot"

"Red Zone Cuba"

"Danger!! Death Ray"

"The Beast of Yucca Flats"

"Angels Revenge"

"The Amazing Transparent Man"

"Samson vs. the Vampire Women"

"Night of the Blood Beast"

"The Brute Man"

"Deathstalker and the Warriors from Hell"

"The Incredible Melting Man"

"Escape 2000"

"Laserblast"

"Revenge of the Creature"

"The Leech Woman"

"The Mole People"

"The Deadly Mantis"

"The She-Creature"

"I Was a Teenage Werewolf"

"The Giant Spider Invasion"

"Parts: The Clonus Horror"

"The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies"

"Jack Frost"

"Riding with Death"

"Agent for H.A.R.M."

"Prince of Space"

"The Horror of Party Beach"

"Devil Doll"

"Invasion of the Neptune Men"

"Space Mutiny"

"Time Chasers"

"Overdrawn at the Memory Bank"

"The Projected Man"

"The Phantom Planet"

"The Pumaman"

"Werewolf"

"The Deadly Bees"

"The Space Children"

"Hobgoblins"

"The Touch of Satan"

"Gorgo"

"The Final Sacrifice"

"Devil Fish"

"The Screaming Skull"

"Quest of the Delta Knights"

"Soultaker"

"Girl in Gold Boots"

"Merlin's Shop of Mystical Wonders"

"Future War"

"Blood Waters of Dr. Z"

"Boggy Creek II"

"Track of the Moon Beast"

"Final Justice"

"Hamlet"

"It Lives by Night"

"Horrors of Spider Island"

"Squirm"

"Diabolik"

Nickname: "The Stinger"

Logo: A short clip from the featured movie is shown, with “A Best Brains Production” at the bottom.

Variants:

• On the very first stinger, for "Rocket Attack USA," "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 "Ring of Terror," the name is in its usual position, but also disappears before the stinger ends.
• On "Mighty Jack", the name "A Best Brains Production" is on the top of the screen, and the drop shadow is missing.
• On some episodes, the stinger fades in and cuts out.
• On "Stranded in Space" and "Time of the Apes," the text was all-lowercase.
• On "Santa Claus Conquers the Martians" and "City Limits," a copyright symbol appeared next to the text.
• The font used for the name was replaced with a bolder one starting with "Space Travelers."
• "Village of the Giants" had the stinger replaced with a memorial card to Frank Zappa, who died on December 4, 1993, shortly before the episode aired.
• On some episodes, the clip freeze-frames a second or two before the logo fades out.
• When the show moved to SciFi Channel, the font became different.
• During the Observer planet arc in season 8, the clip from the movie was replaced with:
  • "The Thing That Couldn't Die" and "The Undead:" A shot of the Observers (Mike Nelson, Bill Corbett, Paul Chaplin) staring ominously at the viewer while holding their brains.
  • "Terror from the Year 5000:" The same clip as above, but the Observers smile.
  • "The She-Creature:" A shot of Professor Bobo (Kevin Murphy) lying on the ground, moaning.

FX/SFX: Live-action footage, plus a fade-in and fade-out.

Music/Sound: Whatever sounds the clip has.

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

Editor's Note: This logo is highly beloved among Mystery Science Theater 3000 fans, to the point that the logo for Alternaversal Productions in the show's revival also functions as a "stinger". The clips shown tend to be some of the funniest parts of the movie beforehand. The variant with the Observers is quite notorious for being a bit creepy though (although the actual characters are quite silly). The Village of the Giants variant will sadden many people, especially fans of Frank Zappa.