Mystery Science Theater 3000 2015 kickstarter

Red Zone Cuba is a rough one. Several of the Coleman Francis ones are bad, but that one's the worst.

Creeping Terror has some slow parts, but it's saved by how absurdly awful the monster is, like, in a funny way.

I'd say some of the Season 1 stuff is the worst, though. Season 1 is rough because the show was still very much finding its legs. So, the riffing was a lot slower, Joel was (purposely) a lot "sleepier," Crow was much more baby-Crow-like, and they had a different Tom Servo voice (J. Elvis Weinstein, who also played Dr. Erkhard or something). Especially if you're used to Kevin Murphy as Servo, going back to Season 1 is rough. Plus, they were a lot less focused on controlling the content. They just picked really bad movies, without regard to how they were bad. A bunch of that changed in Season 2, after they did (I think) the Sidehackers. Prior to that point, anyone in the crew could just suggest an episode, and they'd write the riffs and then film it like a week or two before. But that episode actually features a rape in the original film, and they had to cut around it, which made the movie even more awkward and weird (it's still entertaining as a film, albeit bleak). After that, they agreed to all watch a film before it made the list of what they'd riff that season.

Anyway, in Season 1, there are just some real stinkers. Robot Monster is one, The Slime People is another. I've only watched Season 1 episodes, like, once, so I don't remember them very clearly, but they're generally pretty tough to get through. The riffing is more sparse, and not as funny, and the films are, in many cases, a lot worse. They're sort of bizarre artifacts, if you're curious about bad films in general and some of the crazy crap people have tried to turn into films (seriously, just look up Robot Monster for what I'm talking about), but they're just really hard to watch.

I actually think Robot Monster is way, way worse than Manos, which at least has sort of a goofy charm to it once they stop driving and get to the weird-ass motel.

Cool, thanks.

Yeah, there were supposed to be opening film credits spread out over that long driving scene at the beginning of the film, but the guy who made the film forgot to put the credits in. Lmao!

The Wook
 
I dunno...A Day at the Circus is pretty amazing as shorts go...

Side note: J. Elvis Weinstein is actually really funny nowadays, and also does a mean Elvis Costello impression. He toured with Cinematic Titanic, and his riffs were almost always hysterical and fairly biting. I kinda get the sense that his style of humor wasn't quite developed or that they decided it wasn't appropriate when he was doing MST3K, although that was, admittedly, almost 30 years ago.
 
How about this. I'll break it down by era.
Very nice breakdown!
I'll pick one nit: While the Sci-Fi era is solely Mike, Mike is not solely Sci-Fi. He became host halfway through season 5, but it wasn't until season 8 that they moved to Sci-Fi. Also, Frank was already absent for the final CC season (7). A short season, granted.
 
Very nice breakdown!
I'll pick one nit: While the Sci-Fi era is solely Mike, Mike is not solely Sci-Fi. He became host halfway through season 5, but it wasn't until season 8 that they moved to Sci-Fi. Also, Frank was already absent for the final CC season (7). A short season, granted.

True. And that's worth noting. Although, while I didn't indicate when Mike took over, you'll note that I did break down my favorite Mike Comedy Central episodes, as opposed to my favorite Mike Sci-Fi episodes. :)
 
Side note: J. Elvis Weinstein is actually really funny nowadays, and also does a mean Elvis Costello impression. He toured with Cinematic Titanic, and his riffs were almost always hysterical and fairly biting. I kinda get the sense that his style of humor wasn't quite developed or that they decided it wasn't appropriate when he was doing MST3K, although that was, admittedly, almost 30 years ago.
Agreed, he's golden in Cinematic Titanic. He was way too green to be on camera during his MST time (perhaps not so in the writers room).
 
See, I find Manos...difficult to get through.

I tend to think that there are two general types of bad movies on MST3K:

Mike Kevin and Bill have said as much themselves, I think. they look for certain movies that are ripe for riffing, but good in their own way.

Santa Claus conquers the martians is just boring as hell. Yet, Santa Claus with Pitch, has a strange fun charm to it that I WOULD watch it on it's own...if only to poke fun at it.

oh, and I suggest everyone check out the Wizard. I think that's an A Game rifftrax job.
 
Yup, I had that for the longest time, back in the day. Heck, I named my dog Torgo, that's how much I liked that episode of MST3K.

LOL...I named my dog "Torgo", too! Nobody ever knew what it was from, but they thought it sounded cool. lmao
Can you post a photo of your dog?!

The Wook
 
I never saw the Danger: Death Ray episode before. that one was pretty great too (walking music...ba da...ba da da..)

Yeah, that's one of the less-well-known episodes, I think, but it's definitely a good one. Ba-ba-da-da-da-daaaaa--->ding!<---babababadadadadaaaaaaa....


is it wrong that I find MR.B Natural strangely attractive? :) wonder what she looked like in reality.

You mean, Bridget? Mike's wife? She's cute! Well, she was in the 90s. Haven't seen a recent picture, but I'm sure she still looks good. She was a great addition to the show, although I don't recall seeing her on it after Season 9.

Mike Kevin and Bill have said as much themselves, I think. they look for certain movies that are ripe for riffing, but good in their own way.

Santa Claus conquers the martians is just boring as hell. Yet, Santa Claus with Pitch, has a strange fun charm to it that I WOULD watch it on it's own...if only to poke fun at it.

oh, and I suggest everyone check out the Wizard. I think that's an A Game rifftrax job.

Exactly. Earlier in the show's run, I think they were a little more haphazard about selecting films. So, you'd end up with some really slow, bad films. It's like, sometimes a film is bad and FUN to riff. But others, it's just...bad, and you're only riffing because it's the only way to get through the film.

Yup, I had that for the longest time, back in the day. Heck, I named my dog Torgo, that's how much I liked that episode of MST3K.

LOL...I named my dog "Torgo", too! Nobody ever knew what it was from, but they thought it sounded cool. lmao
Can you post a photo of your dog?!

The Wook

My cat's name is Servo. :)
 
Y

You mean, Bridget? Mike's wife? She's cute! Well, she was in the 90s. Haven't seen a recent picture, but I'm sure she still looks good. She was a great addition to the show, although I don't recall seeing her on it after Season 9.


yep, there is no doubt mike married well. we should all be so lucky ;o)

I meant the original B Natural, Ms.Betty from the 50s ;o)

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Uh...is this real? The thing about Patton Oswalt being the new Son of TV's Frank?!

can someone mention something patton oswalt has been in? no idea who that is.

I don't like the fact that this reboot has all 'names' attached to it. it was easier to get used to changes when you didn't know who the people where going in. plus, you can't pre judge them based on past work. Hopefully if we get a network to pick it up, and this cast runs it's course, it'll go back to local non la MIN talent.
 
can someone mention something patton oswalt has been in? no idea who that is.

I don't like the fact that this reboot has all 'names' attached to it. it was easier to get used to changes when you didn't know who the people where going in. plus, you can't pre judge them based on past work. Hopefully if we get a network to pick it up, and this cast runs it's course, it'll go back to local non la MIN talent.

I don't think it's a problem to attach "names" to the new version.

Look, the old days are gone. To the extent you want to touch them again, you have ten seasons (11 if you count KTMA) worth of material, plus a movie. Alternatively, you can partake of the myriad Rifftrax episodes. Or buy DVDs of Cinematic Titanic riffing.

Once Joel explained his vision of the revived show, I think it became time to abandon any notion that this would somehow be the "old" MST3K. It won't be. It was never intended to be. This will be mads, a guy with two familiar-looking (but different sounding) bots, and movie riffing. That's it. Personally, I think the fact that there are "names" attached to the project is...cool, but otherwise not that important. The only real issue will be their availability for shooting.

But really, if you're hanging on to hope that this will somehow be "the old show," nope. Gotta let that one go.


The way I see it, fans managed to get used to:

- The departure of Dr. Erhard and a new Tom Servo voice.
- The departure of Joel and a new captive.
- The departure of TV's Frank and his replacement with Pearl.
- The departure of Dr. F, Pearl taking over, a new Crow voice, and another new Mad who sounded suspiciously like Tom Servo.
- The arrival of ANOTHER mad in the form of Brain Guy.
- The imposition (from Sci-Fi) of something approaching an ongoing plot for a few seasons.
- THREE channel changes across all of the above.

I'll admit, when the Sci-Fi era hit, I really, REALLY missed "old Crow" and Dr. F, and especially Frank. To me, the "Golden Years" are Seasons 2-7. But you know what? In looking back on the show recently, and considering which episodes were favs, I realized how much I really did enjoy the Sci-Fi years. There were some AWESOME episodes in that run, and the riffing is really, really funny. It's not with "my" crew, but the crew is still pretty amazing. And, for that matter, the various offshoots have been really funny, too. Cinematic Titanic, The Film Crew, Rifftrax. I expect MST3K: The Revival to be funny, too. It'll take some getting used to the changes, but as long as it's funny....who cares?
 
yeah, I know. I just really, really, worry about things like reboots these days. and to be honest, can you blame me? ;o).

so far though, I DO like what i've seen, so i'm hopeful it'll all come together, and they'll get enough episodes to really gel together. I guess I should start thinking of this like a CSI show. this is MST3K LA.
 
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