The Mystery Science Theater 3000 (MST3K) meme is rooted in the beloved cult television series that debuted in 1988, featuring a man and his robot companions trapped in space and forced to watch B-movies. The visual of their silhouettes sitting at the bottom of a theater screen has become an iconic internet shorthand for providing running commentary or 'riffing' on mediocre content. Users typically project screenshots of social media posts, news headlines, or movie scenes onto the 'screen' portion of the image to signify that the content is worthy of mockery. It celebrates the art of the witty comeback and the collective experience of finding humor in the absurdly bad.