2017 has been a big revival year for Mystery Science Theater 3000. The show got its start in the late 1980s, moved to Comedy Central for half the 1990s, and closed out the decade on the Sci Fi Channel before its 1999 cancellation. But this year, it returned with a new series on Netflix. And for fans who miss the retro spin of the show — an odd tale of a janitor held hostage by mad scientists and forced to watch bad movies — Twitch is airing a marathon of “classic” episodes.
The 38-episode run kicks off on June 26th at 11AM PT on Shout! Factory TV’s channel, and wraps on July 3rd. Twitch hasn’t said which episodes it will air, though it’ll draw from the Comedy Central and Sci Fi era spanning 1989 to 1997.
Lately, Twitch has been experimenting with unusual programming. Earlier this year, the platform streamed an 18-day marathon of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood. It’s also streamed other PBS programs, including Bob Ross’ The Joy of Painting and Julia Child’s The French Chef.
There’s a strong nostalgic appeal to this oddball programming, the return of childhood figures viewers may have grown up with. And it’s hard to resist the allure of a marathon. One episode bleeding into the next is a perfect security blanket, especially if you’re the kind of person who winds up unable to sleep at 3AM.