Mystery Science Theater 3000: C/D, S/D.

man i'm excited to see the beatniks again

"one word to anyone and I'M GONNA MOON YOU!"
"you're gonna what?!?"
"MOOOOOOOOOOON YOU!!!!!!!!!!!"

(from the movie, not a riff)

anyway, i caught onto the show during the Joel era. i stopped watching just after Mike replaced Joel (for reasons that had nothing to do w/ whether or not i liked Mike more than Joel). over the years, i've caught up w/ the Mike-era episodes which have been quite revelatory & enjoyable when i finally get around to seeing them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=38MVSgCtF0k

Based solely on in-theater riffing, I'm almost positive I could make a list of my top 5 episodes from Mike's episodes in season 5 and season 6 alone.

One of the many classics.

Haha the whole end of season 5 is one hit after another. Even the completely ridiculous Radar Secret Service.

"The director's mistress, ladies and gentlemen."

At least Santa Claus finally got the official nod but there's Radar Secret Service as mentioned, Alien from LA, Village of the Giants, Teenage Crimewave, 12 to the Moon...

Ugh, Kathy Ireland's voice!

Man, every. single. joke in Village of the Giants's Whiskey-a-Go-Go scene is killer!

"Whuh-whuh-where DID THEY COME FROM?!!?"

"OBVIOUSLY the TURTLE GAMERA can't BE FAR BEHIND!"

There were never enough Willow jokes for me.

i still know all the lyrics to the sidehackers song, by heart XD

there is/was a hilarious torgo screensaver created like 12 years ago that plays the theme as he walks around sweeping up your screen, it's really cheesy and great.. still out there on the internets, says google, but afaik not in any updated version i can use

"Hi, I'm the adult child of an alcoholic and I've got great big thighs."

sidehackin is the thing to do, and it doesn't hurt to have a low IQ..

from season 6:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h2f0nfrgaK4

All the skits on the Pod People episode make me so happy.

otm, greatest skit ratio of any episode probably. Adam Bruneau was talking earlier about the "You are magic, aren't you Trumpy?" sequence which is just so dead-on perfect, in and out of the theater. "What, did he come from the Planet Goofball? Did he come here in a little clown car?! Criminy."

Also, of course, HIDEOUS CONTROL NOW.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3CDX3Q5UxY

Speaking of MST3K Bergman parodies, is their "Death and Taxes" Turkey Day ad online somewhere?

back when i first saw pod people, i seriously considered making my own "im a virgin" tshirt. didn't go through with it. for better or worse.

Idiot control, yes!!! Sooooo much fun.

Mike's episodes were generally better written with faster riffs inside the theater, but almost too slick.

You and comedy! Not everything can be as shabby and uneven as Hellzapoppin!

Wow I hadn't seen one of Mike's episodes in a long long time. Joel kills Mike in everything but the riffs. From villains to theme music to skits to the way he interacts w the robots.

You're talking about Village of the Giants? Much as I love the end of the fifth season I do see it as essentially transitional -- I think he came into his own with the sixth season.

I sort of thought Mike was one of the main guys behind all the songs, not Joel.

The original theme song was a Joel/Josh/Charlie Erickson cowrite. But Mike ended up doing most of the songs once he joined.

The credits of the Joel episodes always attributed the theme song to Joel & the Joels. I never bnothered to see if Mike & the Mikes took over.

The 'Joel and the Joels' thing was the first season or two, I think -- a performance credit!

just watched Racket Girls again on Netflix -- boy o boy, Peaches Page was one VERY strange looking woman w/ an IQ of a rock. as for the other wrestling women, Tom Servo said it best: "i guess if you were a gay guy who liked truckers, you might find these women attractive."

http://www.clipser.com/vimages/cba0a4ee5ccd02fda0fe3f9a3e7b89fe/d645920e395fedad7bbbed0eca3fe2e0/af837733dde0e91d8b47c6f97db21f71f51.jpg

You know, Peaches has a fresh, natural stupidness that isn't forced or contrived.

(My favorite episode, btw.)

"Sorry, Peaches is kinda clingy."

All those Michael Stipe jokes -- but they were so OTM.

Every joke in every wrestling scene, but mostly the endless final match between Rita and Iggy Pop.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xgrfryOy0sI

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z3eXkziBODk

"Strut, pout, put it out, that's what you want from Grandma!"

Actually here's a question (based on a quick Starfighters rewatch) -- who is the classical music radio/TV guy they endlessly parody throughout the series? The tag line always seems to be a smooth, vaguely Euro-accented delivery along these lines: "...and they're escaping to Barber's "Adagio for Strings," fantastic."

who is the classical music radio/TV guy they endlessly parody throughout the series? The tag line always seems to be a smooth, vaguely Euro-accented delivery along these lines: "...and they're escaping to Barber's "Adagio for Strings," fantastic."

maybe it's someone who's famous in Minnesota (and no-where else)?!? there's no Rosetta Hotdish Stone here AFAIK.

I almost get the impression it's supposed to be some Chicago guy.

I think I'm 10 years too young to get most of the jokes. Lots of riffs deal with Gen X humor, 70s/60s sitcoms and late night TV hosts.

I think I'm 10 years too young to get most of the jokes. Lots of riffs deal with Gen X humor, 70s/60s sitcoms and late night TV hosts.

this thought actually crossed my mind, esp. wr2 the Joel episodes. e.g., Tom Servo's "Session Presents!" throughout Tormented, which had me in stitches back in the day and upon rewatching this episode but probably means nothing to young 'uns.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tpISdQw8wDM

it's become a trip down memory lane rewatching them, but then again i am a gen x'er.

plus tormented is like a really, really bad episode of mad men. i mean, a LOT of the movies MST3K clowned were like bad episodes of man men (if for no other reason than a lot of them were from the late 50s/early 60s), but in my mind anyway tormented takes the cake in that regard.

thought for the day: Mitchell was the Jimmy McNulty of his era. and people in the 1970s were too thick to understand the greatness of a Mitchell/McNulty-type character.

never seen this pilot before

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ScxEgHUPOaQ#t=4m10s

Yeah that started to circulate after the first convention -- had to start somewhere!

The only true 'missing' episodes now are the first three KTMA ones -- everything else is out there.

another favorite moment from the Joel era ... "hey, even the band is vomiting. bleh bleh bleh!"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjCA7FENmtg

"I can sympathize with your feelings..."
"...but you're contractually obligated to finish this film."

"Traffic? It's after the apocalypse!"

Also love the way they look around perplexedly as the "bleh! bleh! bleh!" starts up.

the whole plot (such as it is) is downright retarded. they're fighting against an "evil corporation" that's in cahoots w/ the government -- to restore electricity, running water and other utilities after the apocalypse. i could almost imagine a teenaged Timothy McVeigh watching the original movie to get his ideas (such as those were).

it's one of those wonderful moments when even the MST3Kers are momentarily perplexed by whatever cinematic atrocity they are watching -- like the sudden, unexpected outburst from the "Chinese" spirit at the seance in wild world of batwoman (where mike's initial reaction was just, "what the HELL?!?")

I love those moments, especially knowing that they've had to watch the films over and over in order to compose the riffs, so still conveying that sense of immediate confusion and/or amusement is really beautiful...see again Servo's "Criminy!" in Pod People. Really lovely.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bE9Hd2dksTc&feature=related

"Oh no, they're roasting Bullwinkle!"

Hahaha I *adore* all the Soviet fantasy films they did. Crazy big budgets, crazy acting.

"kids come runnin' for the rich taste of Sampo!"