In 1996, during the second MST3K convention, I had the great priveledge of attending my second and third tours of the Best Brains studios in Eden Prarie Minnesota. With so many people to process through these tours, they were somewhat less comprehensive and intimate than previously, but were still great opportunities visit and photograph the home of the greatest show in television history. I took my 35mm still camera on the first tour, and my 8mm camcorder on the second tour. These pages contain both scans of the 35mm shots and Snappy snaps from the 8mm video.

Added features of these tours included two spiffy video presentations. First, there was a monitor hanging over the SOL set with a video of Mike and Kevin talking about the technical process of shooting an episode. Then, in the writing room, and on the very same TV where the Brains view the movies while writing, MaryJo and Paul talked about, of course, the process of writing the show. These videos were created specially for the tour and do not appear in any other MST3K video documentary, as far as I know. The only disappointment was the omission of the workshop from the tour. Since they no longer do invention exchanges and the set construction is mostly performed under contract by Jef Maynard's own company, there may no longer be a workshop on-site at Best Brains.

My favorite parts of these tours were talking with Bradley J. Keely, editor and technical supervisor, photographing up-close the large S.O.L. model used in MST3K: The Movie, and getting my lost Basil Rathbone replaced with the kind help of a BBI associate who shall remain anonymous.

BBI Studios exterior shots

Editing Bay

The Peabody Shrine

The Bots!

Deep 13 control panel

more Deep 13

S.O.L. interior panorama

S.O.L. interior details

S.O.L. exterior

The Writing Room

Props

Kevin Murphy!