MST3K: The Return
So I assume all of you are excited by next month’s rebirth of Futurama. One of the great (and abused) comic gems of recent television. However an even earlier classic is returning in various guises.
According to Slashdot Jim Mallon (who owns Mystery Theatre 3000 and the characters) and old MST3K writer Paul Chaplin are bringing the show back as a flash show. Yeah. I’m not sure how that’ll turn out. But I’m a bit intrigued…except that a lot of the creative force of the show are in their own projects. Joel Hodgson the show’s creator and most of the cast are doing something called Cinematic Titanic which sounds pretty similar to what the old MST3K was like. Mike Nelson, who was the lead “captive” in MST3K for the latter half of its run has his own series of shows call Rifftrax and then some at Film Crew. Rifftrax is actually a MP3 commentary you download and play with the movie.
Anyone listened to these? I listened to a bit of the Rifftrax demos off the website and they were funny but something was missing. (Of course some things, like Monty Python, seem to demand sleep deprivation or illness or lots of pain killers to enjoy) But then the old MSt3Ks had their problems. Some movies, like Manos the Hands of Fate were so filled with filler that the puppets had to do their own thing.
What were your favorite MST3Ks?
Even though it’s arguably one of the worst, simply because the film was so boring and so filled with filler, Manos the Hands of Fate holds a special place in my heart. If only because we had Tom Servo facing the “black” Tom Servo trying to take over. Sort of like Spiderman 3 – only with worse special effects if you can believe it.
But that is so bad that it’s almost painful to watch. I’d never suggest starting with Manos if you aren’t familiar with MST3K. Even back on a lonely and late Friday night with no date stuck doing physics homework late into the morning it was painful.
My favorite has to be Joe Don Baker in . . . Mitchell.
Posted on November 5, 2007, in Film. Bookmark the permalink. 17 Comments.
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I’m a Mike fan myself. In one of those last seasons I enjoyed “Girl in the Golden Boots” as well as “The Deadly Bees” and “Soultaker.”
There really are too many to name though really. They all have there great moments.
I just wish I could get all the shows on my shelf. The DVD releases seem to be thrown together and not in any real order (I know there are rights issues with some of the movies.) I saw the whole set on ebay once but they were on VHS. Wish I had done it, I could have always put them on DVD myself…
I always had a hard time making it through a whole MST3K episode, but I remember laughing a lot at Master Ninja 2.
Mitchell? I was pretty sure that it was Joe Don Baker in “Mittens!” That is a great one.
What was the one where they were on the hunt for the Sampo…it had something to do with Vikings
The Puma Man.
It’s been a while, but the two that remain in my memory are “Santa Claus Conquers the Martians:, and “Hercules versus the Moon men”. In both cases, I think it was the cheesiness of the movies that made the episode memorable. Particualrly in HvMM when Hercules catches the Moon as it is about to collide into earth. Good Times.
I was going to mention the Hercules movies too. Those were the best. “Pizza, pizza.”
Puma Man was great.
Also forgot “Werewolf”…just classic
My personal favorite, the one that got me hooked, is a season 3 gem entitled Cave Dwellers.
If I had sufficient funds, I would patronize all affiliated side projects today. But, I don’t.
Also, never forget that they tried to kill him with a forklift!
the MST3K movie was also pretty good: “This Island Earth.”
Cave Dwellers, This Island Earth and Eegah are my top three favorites. But there are still many I haven’t seen.
Wait a minute. What’s going on with Futurama? I thought they were making a dvd movie or something. Is that not it?
There’s a new Futurama movie, Bender’s Big Score, that is to be released on Nov. 27. Here’s the link to it on Amazon.
Our family listens to “Rifftrax” often. The ones we really like I’ll mix into the DVD audio and reburn it to have a Rifftrax DVD. I’d recommend them! On the upside they have a similar enough feel to MST3K to be nostalgic and are modern enough to have current jokes (like about Zunes, Myspace, and blogs). On the downside, though, there are no television censors to keep the riffers in line. Some of the Trax contain rather juvenile potty humor, but there is no swearing beyond MST3K levels.
If you want to give it a try I’d recommend watching either “Eragon” or “Willy Wonka”: best clean/funny ratio of the ones we have.
I’m not sure what to expect from this latest Flash venture, but I’ll be waiting hopefully…
NCN Tom, please gtalk with me and send me those post-haste.
Yes, I’ve been eagerly awaiting that date Steve ever since it was announced a month or so ago.
I’ve had it pre-ordered on Amazon for some time now.
Here’s the trailer
My favorite line: “Good news everyone. Those asinine morons who canceled us were themselves fired for incompetence. And not just fired. Beaten up too. And pretty badly.” “The new morons at Fox proudly present…Futurama in an all new feature length adventure.”
I don’t remember which one it was, but there was one with a flying turtle that would retract its head, tail, and feet, and then rocket nozzles would come out in their place, and then it would spin and fly like a UFO. I can’t remember what the MST3K guys said about it, but it made me laugh on and off for weeks.
Then there was one where a young boy hops on a bike and escapes a bunch of hooded goons chasing from him. They show the boy riding off down the street and they show one of the goons standing there all disappointed because the boy got away. At that moment Servo said “Damn, he’s on a 10 speed!” I still laugh to this day.
Gamera is really neat. Gamera is full of meat. We all love you, GA-MER-RA!!!