Mystery Science Theater 3000: Oral History (2014)
wired.comi wonder how many here know/like MST3K. It was big two decades ago, went dark, and now seems it's coming back.
i would think that the HN crowd is as close to the perfect audience segment for MST3K as one can find.
the idea is simple: an MST3K episode is a replay of some horrible D-grade science-fuction movie, usually 25 or so years old. The perspective of the viewer is someone sitting in the back of a movie theatre watching this movie. Sitting a few rows in front of you, the viewer, are three guys (technically one guy and two robots, "Crow" and "Tom Servo" in case you're curious) who frequently interject hilarious riffs while the movie is in progress.
an example:
in one episode, the trio are watching "Radar Men From the Moon", in the film, the hero says to the evil leader of the Moon people "why are you carrying out this campaign of destruction of planet Earth?" Before the evil leader can answer, one of the trio jumps in with "It's an election year"
the OP sums it up nicely: > Watching MST3K was like hanging out with a trio of underachieving-genius best friends
I used to watch it on the Sci-Fi channel back when I had cable. That was in the good old days before they renamed it to Syfy and started airing wrestling matches.
Might want to give SyFy another chance. They've really turned it around in the past few years.
Honestly, having seen maybe three or four episodes, I've never liked it. The jokes just aren't good enough to make a bad movie worth two hours of my life. There are so many other things I'd rather be doing. I try an episode every few years, because everyone talks so highly of it, but I always regret the decision or just quit halfway through.
I certainly can appreciate that their brand of humor isn't for everyone, but if you do get a chance (and care to give it a second chance), here's a small list of the episodes that are, in my opinion, worth the time to watch:
1) Space Mutiny 2) Time Travelers 3) I Was a Teenage Werewolf 4) The Mole People 5) Prince of Space 6) The Skydivers 7) Angels Revenge
I think most of these are on YouTube in some form.
It definitely helps if you would otherwise watch a bad movie. The Gamera episode is my all-time favorite; and when these shows were first airing I was watching every Japanese monster movie I could on my own (they're so bad they're often hilarious even without the MST3K crew).
The appeal for me is also that I'm from Minnesota like those guys; some of the jokes are inside jokes. It was also on late night during the 90s when not much else was on; some of the appeal now is nostalgic.
I find MST3K (and RiffTrax) to be some of the best background noise while I'm working or relaxing.
That's sometimes true for the old ones. On the plus side, I've found that I can watch some newer movies that I would never otherwise be able to see. Never know when having seen Twilight might come in handy...
I would love to see a more serious approach of this. Having a few industry people watch and comment on movies. But also in a light conversation way, not just analyzing the movie non-stop.
There are only a handful of episodes I enjoy--but I really do enjoy them. Try from the top-ten list they have out there.
Lots of good times watching MST back in the late 90s
Apparently we have Elton John (and/or his art team) to thank for the show's signature look.
> On Elton John’s Goodbye Yellow Brick Road album, there are illustrations in the liner notes. And for the song “I’ve Seen That Movie Too,” it’s got little silhouettes watching a movie. I remember going, “Someone should do a show like that. Run a movie and have these people in silhouettes say stuff.”
I think I've spent more money on Rifftrax and MST3K than anything else in the last 9 years.
Just saw my first Rifftrax last week: Samurai Cop! I can't recommend it enough - I was crying.
I think it's great that MST3k can find new life in the next century. But it's certainly a disappointing reminder that so much funding these days goes towards nostalgia/reboots/sequels and not new, original content.
The new season is now on Netflix, yay!
Episodes 2, Wild Wilderness is my favorite new episode so far.
I think as far as running times go, this is the longest netflix original release with 14 episodes around 1.5 hrs each.
Watched it yesterday with my eldest son, and I was laughing so hard I was crying towards the end. When they started rapping Run-DMC's "Tricky" because of the kid with the large medallion...just pure comedy gold.
Maybe the first time I've ever agreed with valuearb.
Disappointing that it's a typical NF dump. This is one of those shows that will do better with a weekly release.
You know you don't have to binge it, right?
But you can't discuss these shows with people because they're all at different points. The real nuts binge it the day it comes out and very few people have seen through to the end. I hate most things about the traditional TV experience, but controlled releases are not one of those things.
That's like saying. I don't enjoy getting drunk so it's disappointing that gas stations keep selling beer in 24 pack cases. It says more about someone's lack of willpower than it says about Netflix or gas stations.