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

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The Killer Shrews being the case in point.

Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 24 September 2013 15:53 (eleven years ago) link

That's Monster-A-Go-Go to a T.

midnight outdoor nude frolic up north goes south (Eric H.), Tuesday, 24 September 2013 15:54 (eleven years ago) link

I might have to watch that tonight. Been too long.

Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 24 September 2013 15:56 (eleven years ago) link

Killer Shrews!!!! They must have gotten hammered on that production.

Emperor Cos Dashit (Adam Bruneau), Tuesday, 24 September 2013 16:52 (eleven years ago) link

The B&W movies are mostly time-fillers of people walking through the outdoors or people standing around in a room and constantly drinking.

Haha, just before that Devil Doll clip I posted above, there's like a minute of a half of William Sylvester and a secretary, in tight two-shot, standing in an office talking. No cuts, no over-the-shoulders, no shot/reverse shot, just a locked down camera. (Also, Sylvester has his back to the other character.) To which Crow finally responds, "Exotic locations!"

Marlo Poco (Phil D.), Tuesday, 24 September 2013 16:56 (eleven years ago) link

yet I still resist any attempt to elevate them to the level of seasons 3-6.

No need to even resist, there is just something about Joel, Dr. Forrester, and TV's Frank that fits the whole concept of MST3K so much more naturally than Mike and the villains in the later seasons. It's even there in the theme song. Listen to the song in the Joel seasons, and the very last note, where he sings "Three thousand", he has a vocal inflection that is both kind of a micro-tribute to Elvis and a mockery of awesome rock n roll singers. The later seasons' themes are great, but played a bit too seriously and soullessly. I'm sure many fans that followed the transition noticed this.

Emperor Cos Dashit (Adam Bruneau), Tuesday, 24 September 2013 16:57 (eleven years ago) link

It went part and parcel with the shift from something that felt homemade (the original themes sound to my ear pretty much like Joel goofing around on a four-track) to something that probably was still largely "homemade" in the same way, but didn't feel it anymore. Also the skits weren't funny and the finely-balanced late-80s/early-90s camp (which has a LOT of "let's riff on those silly 1950s!" - it was that era!) of Forrester and Frank was lost to something much more "obvious" and "wacky" that just reminds me of freshmen Trying Too Hard. And the slightly slicker quality of the themes goes along with that for me.

Watched the Gamera playset host segment yesterday and just about fell out of my chair - how much deadpan humor and silliness Servo packs in to that voice-over!

Doctor Casino, Tuesday, 24 September 2013 17:01 (eleven years ago) link

Also, I probably revere their riffs on those industrial shorts more than the average MSTie, and that's another part of the format they more or less dropped after their move to Sci-Fi.

midnight outdoor nude frolic up north goes south (Eric H.), Tuesday, 24 September 2013 17:06 (eleven years ago) link

I hope you count Mr B Natural as industrial.

Miss Arlington twirls for the Coal Heavers (Dr Morbius), Tuesday, 24 September 2013 17:22 (eleven years ago) link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Hh4M4vipAo

Marlo Poco (Phil D.), Tuesday, 24 September 2013 17:23 (eleven years ago) link

The skits aren't not-funny across the board in the later era but I do usually skip the segments in the episodes with the new villains to get back to the movie riffing.

Evan, Tuesday, 24 September 2013 17:24 (eleven years ago) link

I was really talking about all of the shorts and serials.

midnight outdoor nude frolic up north goes south (Eric H.), Tuesday, 24 September 2013 17:26 (eleven years ago) link

did this get syndicated on something mpls station after it went to comedy central? because i swear to god i caught it on TV late at night a few times when i was younger and definitely did not have cable

well if it isn't old 11 cameras simon (gbx), Tuesday, 24 September 2013 17:56 (eleven years ago) link

I've never cared about the skits in any of the show's incarnations. Happy just to skip right ahead to the movies most of the time.

the vineyards where the grapes of corporate rock are stored (cryptosicko), Tuesday, 24 September 2013 18:02 (eleven years ago) link

xp they used to run what I think was called the MST3K Hour on Kare 11 on Saturday nights.

midnight outdoor nude frolic up north goes south (Eric H.), Tuesday, 24 September 2013 18:05 (eleven years ago) link

I always skip the skits now too. They're not unfunny, I suppose, but when I watch them, I get like Milhouse waiting for the fireworks factory.

Vinnie, Tuesday, 24 September 2013 18:47 (eleven years ago) link

If I feel antsy at all I'll skip them. Long enough episodes as they are, so unless I'm really hanging out I usually pass them up.

Evan, Tuesday, 24 September 2013 19:05 (eleven years ago) link

I don't hate the skits, but I look at it this way: the length of an MST3K episode is the length of a movie, so watching one is substituting for me watching an actual film. Since the riffs on the films are all I really care about, this (admittedly trifling) time saved makes me feel less guilty about not having spent that ninety-whatever minutes watching one of the thousand or so (probably) not-awful movies that I still want to see.

the vineyards where the grapes of corporate rock are stored (cryptosicko), Tuesday, 24 September 2013 19:12 (eleven years ago) link

Most movies are secretly awful and should be given the MST treatment.

Emperor Cos Dashit (Adam Bruneau), Tuesday, 24 September 2013 19:43 (eleven years ago) link

It's that kind of mentality that's fueled Rifftrax. And that's not necessarily a good thing.

midnight outdoor nude frolic up north goes south (Eric H.), Tuesday, 24 September 2013 19:46 (eleven years ago) link

Even many "good" movies deserve the treatment.

Evan, Tuesday, 24 September 2013 20:04 (eleven years ago) link

xp syndication, on FOX in the NYC area they used to play hour long chunks of movies (split up into two parts) late night Sundays. this had to have been around the mid 90s or so

Spectrum, Tuesday, 24 September 2013 20:15 (eleven years ago) link

My all-time favorite host segment:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=atM9ZQK7OSo

CAROUSEL! CAROUSEL! (Telephone thing), Tuesday, 24 September 2013 21:43 (eleven years ago) link

Just that perfect moment where everything falls out of sync and Joel hits them to set it right again -- brought back SO many elementary school memories.

Ned Raggett, Tuesday, 24 September 2013 21:50 (eleven years ago) link

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-18A4qcKSiA

watched this last night, diiiiied during Servo's segment of the medley, don't mind the lousy camcorder YouTube

Doctor Casino, Wednesday, 25 September 2013 15:08 (eleven years ago) link

This may be my favorite, followed by Crow's extremely profane video deposition for Mike's "blowing up a planet" trial.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=56NRz0u2ieU

My question is primarily riparian (Phil D.), Wednesday, 25 September 2013 15:11 (eleven years ago) link

As spotted and shared out by the Facebook account

https://fbcdn-sphotos-g-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-prn2/1380812_10151724404762153_1971638886_n.jpg

Ned Raggett, Sunday, 6 October 2013 17:42 (eleven years ago) link

Awesome

Evan, Sunday, 6 October 2013 22:14 (eleven years ago) link

! that is so great

set the controls for the heart of the sun (VegemiteGrrl), Sunday, 6 October 2013 22:15 (eleven years ago) link

one month passes...

that is pretty great! and those sentiments are 100% otm.

set the controls for the heart of the sun (VegemiteGrrl), Wednesday, 6 November 2013 17:13 (ten years ago) link

btw I forgot to ask, did anyone else make it out to the Rifftrax Night of the Living Dead? It was a lot of fun -- I've seen that movie at home on my own tv SO many times, and I realized I've NEVER seen it on a big screen. My biggest takeaway from Mike & Kevin & Bill is that the first half of Night of the Living Dead is pretty much 'guy hammering pieces of wood'

set the controls for the heart of the sun (VegemiteGrrl), Wednesday, 6 November 2013 17:16 (ten years ago) link

?!

Fuck Rifftrax.

midnight outdoor nude frolic up north goes south (Eric H.), Wednesday, 6 November 2013 17:22 (ten years ago) link

:(

set the controls for the heart of the sun (VegemiteGrrl), Wednesday, 6 November 2013 17:23 (ten years ago) link

Didn't see it so I can't speak to it but...I mean, Night of the Living Dead is a cool movie!

Doctor Casino, Wednesday, 6 November 2013 17:35 (ten years ago) link

But maybe the spirit of these things changed at some point away from "bad" movies as such, in favor of free-riffing whatever can be riffed? Wouldn't be my thing but that would make more sense.

Doctor Casino, Wednesday, 6 November 2013 17:36 (ten years ago) link

I think their spirit of having some level of respect and even love for movies changed over to them (meaning the Rifftrax crew, not the Cinematic Titanic one) having respect only for their erudition and wit.

midnight outdoor nude frolic up north goes south (Eric H.), Wednesday, 6 November 2013 17:52 (ten years ago) link

I got my tickets for the final ever Cinematic Titanic performance

I got the glares, the mutterings, the snarls (President Keyes), Wednesday, 6 November 2013 18:34 (ten years ago) link

so sad... Rifftrax has gotten really stale the past couple of years and now no more CT...

Viceroy, Wednesday, 6 November 2013 19:57 (ten years ago) link

"MST3K was like a code, a secret language of cultural references I desperately wanted to unravel, and to this day when I recognize a long-obscured joke I feel a little thrill of satisfaction. (Like just this week, when I was driving a rental car and listening to the radio for the first time since I last drove a rental car, probably, and the song "Brandy (You're A Fine Girl)" came on, and I recognized the words and realized OH, THAT'S WHAT THIS IS.)"

Cracking the cultural code of MST3K takes a little longer for some folks, haha. Guess there weren't a lot of Looking Glass fan forums to stumble onto on Prodigy in the day? Seriously, though, I and many of us can relate to her.

andrew m., Wednesday, 6 November 2013 21:08 (ten years ago) link

Actually I remember being very glad I'd picked up Rhino's first fifteen of the Have a Nice Day series just before I got into MST3K by a couple of years, because they referenced a LOT of songs from that on there (including "Brandy") -- not because of the comps, I'm sure, but just because that's what they all grew up with and knew.

Ned Raggett, Wednesday, 6 November 2013 21:23 (ten years ago) link

This is almost the only thing I enjoyed about ''Tormented,'' all the ''...and many more!'' gags about artists whose songs might be linked up with footage of surf dully striking a beach.

Doctor Casino, Wednesday, 6 November 2013 22:07 (ten years ago) link

IT'S ALL HAPPENING

A long lost Thanksgiving tradition is resurrecting from the grave. The annual Mystery Science Theater 3000 marathon will return this year. It's a holiday miracle!

Taking in hours of MST3K after gorging yourself on turkey and family hostility is tradition, but unfortunately the long day of laugh/napping was cancelled when Comedy Central pulled the plug on the marathon back in 1997.

But now it's back as MST3K creator Joel Hodgson and Shout! Factory celebrate the show's 25th anniversary. Beginning at noon (EST) on Thanksgiving Day you can log onto MST3KTurkeyDay.com for six glorious full (and free) episodes of MST3K.

Hodgson is taking episode suggestions via his Twitter, so get on there and DEMAND a Mitchell screening. So glad to have this tradition back!

Ian from Etobicoke (Phil D.), Tuesday, 19 November 2013 19:25 (ten years ago) link

We gather together to watch cheesy movies...

I got the glares, the mutterings, the snarls (President Keyes), Tuesday, 19 November 2013 19:44 (ten years ago) link

Do you have a question you’ve always wanted to ask about MST3K? Huzzah! Joel Hodgson will be participating in a Reddit AMA starting at 1 pm
PT / 4 pm ET on Tuesday, Nov. 26th. Submit
your questions and join in the conversation with
Joel and your fellow MST-ies by visiting http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/. The AMA will run until 3 pm PT / 6 pm ET.

Evan, Tuesday, 19 November 2013 19:53 (ten years ago) link

I know what to be thankful for this Thanksgiving!

midnight outdoor nude frolic up north goes south (Eric H.), Tuesday, 19 November 2013 20:01 (ten years ago) link

Annnnnd happy 25th anniversary to the show. In combination with the Who 50th it all seems auspicious.

Ned Raggett, Sunday, 24 November 2013 17:17 (ten years ago) link

the what?

eclectic husbandry (Dr Morbius), Sunday, 24 November 2013 18:42 (ten years ago) link

Livestream Turkey Day marathon kicks in here in ten minutes:

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

Ned Raggett, Thursday, 28 November 2013 16:50 (ten years ago) link


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