Mystery Science Theater 3000 - General Discussion

[Lantern7]

Women of the Prehistoric Planet: Last Season 1 episode. Well, it wasn't the last one filmed, from what I heard. I'm finding myself more comfortable with the lower production values (I think I got hooked around S3-S4, so I was spoiled), Tom Servo's original voice, and Dr. Erhardt. I'll admit the running bit of him and Dr. Forrester thanking Joel when he deems their inventions evil was a good one. This movie? Mid-Sixties flick with time dilation and weird racism toward aliens (played by Asian actors). Really, really stupid movie.

The Christmas That Almost Wasn't: I can't remember seeing Santa Claus Conquers the Martians in one shot. How would you guys rate that, Santa Claus, and TCTAW? I think I got more of a kick watching a Santa having to deal with a feisty and flamboyant devil than some jerk trying to buy out Santa.

[Lantern7]

I finally completed Season 11 with At The Earth's Core, and Kinga's ratings-grab wedding to Jonah. Anyone else think that multiple cameras used in MST3K feels unnatural? Bad news for me: the S12 DVD isn't in my library's system. Maybe IFC will start airing "The Gauntlet" episodes? I know Jonah survived the robot Reptilicus, but I would like to see how things wrapped up, in case there's no second revival. Also curious about M. Waverly and/or Growler possibly returning. I read the MST3K comic before watching S11, and I figured they would be more than one-off characters.

ETA: And was it ever established what Gypsy was dropping off and picking up in each S11 episode?

Edited July 12, 2020 by Lantern7

[SVNBob]

59 minutes ago, Lantern7 said:

And was it ever established what Gypsy was dropping off and picking up in each S11 episode?

The Payload.

[Lantern7]

I saw Prince of Space, and I feel that I should share something with you guys. Something very personal, something that it has taken me a long, long, LONG time to come to grips. I hope you appreciate me sharing this here.

Are you ready?

*long and deep sigh, as if I want to pad out the stuff seen when you search your stream*

Okay.

YOUR WEAPONS HAVE NO EFFECT ON ME

Wow, that is a load off my mind! Carry on!

Edited July 15, 2020 by Lantern7

[Robert Lynch]

Space Mutiny....what a failure of a movie. Ho, ho, ho, ho...

[starri]

On 7/15/2020 at 3:26 PM, Robert Lynch said:

Space Mutiny....what a failure of a movie. Ho, ho, ho, ho...

MOVE MOVE MOVE!

[Lantern7]

Saw Space Mutiny. I'm understanding why this one is highly regarded as a MST3K episode. Wow, this was a stupid movie. You'd have to wonder why so many mediocre people got together to make something so stupid, and think that they were doing good. With a movie like that, you'd need nonstop riffing, nicknaming of Reb Brown's character, and the counting of Death by Railing. Also, I think those weird alluring dancing alien women might have been inspired by the "Brian of Morbius" episode of Doctor Who . . . only they were younger. And without shame. Maybe I should buy some hula hoops and bury them. If I have descendants, I'd want them to be prepared for the nightlife . . . OF THE FUTURE!

[SVNBob]

1 hour ago, Lantern7 said:

Saw Space Mutiny. I'm understanding why this one is highly regarded as a MST3K episode. Wow, this was a stupid movie.

If you ever can, try to watch the RiffTrax version too.  It's as good as the original riff.

[starri]

Sting, Debbie Reynolds, and God.

[BetterButter]

Get Joel and the bots back to Mystery Science Theater 3000—and help a good cause along the way

[Lantern7]

I'm taking my time getting to Time Chasers and Overdrawn at the Memory Bank. These episodes just popped up on the horizon of the IFC schedule:

August 5 (6:45 a.m.): Blood Waters of Dr. Z

August 6 (7:15 a.m.): Boggy Creek II, and the Legend Continues

August 13 (3 a.m.): Invasion of the Neptune Men (sillier space hero: Space Chief or Prince of Space?)

[VCRTracking]

On 7/14/2020 at 8:29 PM, Lantern7 said:

I saw Prince of Space, and I feel that I should share something with you guys. Something very personal, something that it has taken me a long, long, LONG time to come to grips. I hope you appreciate me sharing this here.

Are you ready?

*long and deep sigh, as if I want to pad out the stuff seen when you search your stream*

Okay.

YOUR WEAPONS HAVE NO EFFECT ON ME

Wow, that is a load off my mind! Carry on!

We like it very much.

[Lugal]

On 7/15/2020 at 12:26 PM, Robert Lynch said:

Space Mutiny....what a failure of a movie. Ho, ho, ho, ho...

Oh c'mon, you have to admit it was nice of them to give that dead girl another chance.

[Lantern7]

Just checked my cable schedule. Bad news: episodes I mentioned are off the schedule. Good news: first episode from The Gauntlet is On Demand. And in a great bit of timing, Honest Trailers covered E.T. this week, and a lot of comparisons were made to Mac and Me.

ETA: I made a mistake. Turns out Mac and Me will be airing on IFC on August 7 at 6 a.m.

Edited July 28, 2020 by Lantern7

[Lantern7]

Update: First five episodes of The Gauntlet are On Demand and available on the IFC website. Watching Mac and Me now. Pray for me. 🤓🤓🤓

[funky-rat]

1 hour ago, Lantern7 said:

Update: First five episodes of The Gauntlet are On Demand and available on the IFC website. Watching Mac and Me now. Pray for me. 🤓🤓🤓

My favorite was The Day That Time Ended.  Steakmilk, and Sal's Pizza.

[Lantern7]

Well, that was horrible. At least the material put out was fun, but I don't think any of it tops the one riff from the recent Honest Trailer with all of the dancing. "Your hero is in a wheelchair. Why would you do this?!?"

McDonald's parody was funny. When they brought up Grimace, I knew it would be Gypsy, but I didn't expect her to go full horror with everyone having fun.

[Lantern7]

I finished the last three episodes of Season 8. I'm guessing that was one of the peaks in MST3K history. Space Mutiny, Time Chasers, Overdrawn at the Memory Bank . . . that's one hell of a block. And I didn't think that last one was bad. I think you'd have to watch some early/mid-Eighties Doctor Who to "get" Raul Julia's bizarre adventure. Given the weird future setting and the dated SFX, you'd half-expect a TARDIS to pop up, see Peter Davison stick his head out of the door . . . then immediately flee the scene.

I also watched all of S12 save for the finale. Fun to see them push the envelope . . . up to and including a musical number in the middle of Killer Fish. And I thought they weren't going to cover intentionally crap movies like Sharnado and its ilk. So why did they cover Atlantic Rim?

Here's the current schedule from IFC. Times can and probably will be changed in the near future.

Friday, 6:00 a.m.: Mac and Me

August 12, 4:00 a.m.: The Day Time Ended (just a big load of WHAT THE FUCK)

August 13, 7: 15 a.m.: Space Mutiny

August 14, 3:30 a.m.: Space Mutiny (because why the fuck not?!?)

August 13, 7:00 a.m: Boggy Creek II, and the Legend Continues

August 16, 4:30 a.m.: Time Chasers

August 17, 6:45 a.m.: Overdrawn At The Memory Bank

August 21, 6:00 a.m.: Killer Fish

August 21, 8:15 a.m.: The Girl in Gold Boots

August 23, 5:30 a.m.: Cry Wilderness ("Happy Bigfoot, everyone!")

August 24, 6:30 a.m.: Merlin's Shop of Mystical Wonders

And there are a lot of Joel-era episodes on the website, including Manos, The Hands of Fate and I Accuse My Parents.

ETA: Actually, the stuff from the website is over the first four seasons. But I did see S5 stuff on my cable system.

Edited August 6, 2020 by Lantern7

[Lantern7]

I screwed up. Turns out that some of the episodes that are "On Demand" on my cable are from something called AMC Premiere, which I do not have. That locks me out of stuff from Seasons 4-6. Here's the show's site on AMC Premiere; you can check out what episodes through the "Seasons" tab. And here's the site on IFC.com. I think there is overlap between the two.

[Lantern7]

I DVRed and watched Merlin's Shop Of Mystical Wonders. It's like the makers wanted to go with whimsy and mystery, but they wound up with "hilariously disturbing" instead. A movie clearly made in the Eighties, but released in the mid-Nineties. Featuring Ernest Borgnine trying his best in the "Grandpa from The Princess Bride" role, but it's only enough to put him the MST3K Hall of Great Actors In Horrible Movies. Pets are harmed. A pompous critic gets comeuppance for succumbing to the black tar heroin that is magic. A man has to deal with a cymbals-playing monkey, and that's hilariously bad as well.

I'm still monitoring my cable and IFC.com. A few reboot episodes will be put out. Ator still isn't On Demand, but it's scheduled for September 9 at 7 a.m. The only one from the original run on the horizon: Final Justice, next Tuesday at 7 a.m. Because if you're going off the air, smacking Joe Don Baker is more satisfying.

[Lantern7]

*sigh* I couldn't find any "classic" episodes on my cable schedule, so I checked IFC's site. They're be running stuff in about 3-4 weeks, but it's the same stuff they've aired before. I'm thinking they only have a certain amount of episodes. They'll still be airing "Return" and "Gauntlet" episodes on a regular basis.

Got around to watching Final Justice. They went HARD into that. Joe Don Baker could have been replaced by an average actor, and it still would have been MST3K worthy. Basically, an ornery bull bucks around in the china shop that is Malta. JDB just makes things more cringe. And now I'm imagining him in Yu-Gi-Oh! "Awright, Kaiba. You got yer Blue Eyes White Dragon. I know it's Attack is greater than my Dark Magician Girl. But I just used Magical Hats, so you have to guess where she is. You think you can take me? Go 'head on. Its yer move."

[Annber03]

I watched "Manos" the other night-that one was up on YouTube. I'd actually not seen that one before, which is interesting, considering how popular that episode seems to be. 

And holy crap, what in God's name was with that movie? I could relate very much to Servo's increasing despair over having to watch that film. Jesus, that was bad. 

The scene with them riffing while all the women were fighting each other cracked me up, though, so there's that :D. And I must admit to kinda liking that black robe with the red handprints on it-in the right lighting it looked kinda cool. At the very least, it would make a funky Halloween costume.

[SVNBob]

8 minutes ago, Annber03 said:

And holy crap, what in God's name was with that movie?

Have you not heard the "Manos" story before?   You're one of today's lucky 10,000.

"Crap" is the accurate word, since Hal Warren; the writer, director, and hero of the story, was a fertilizer salesman by trade.  The movie itself was basically the result of a bet between Warren, and Stirling Silliphant, the screenwriter of In the Heat of the Night.  (This is not a joke.)  

Lots more here.  http://www.jophan.org/mimosa/m18/brandt.htm

[Annber03]

9 minutes ago, SVNBob said:

Have you not heard the "Manos" story before?   You're one of today's lucky 10,000.

"Crap" is the accurate word, since Hal Warren; the writer, director, and hero of the story, was a fertilizer salesman by trade.  The movie itself was basically the result of a bet between Warren, and Stirling Silliphant, the screenwriter of In the Heat of the Night.  (This is not a joke.)  

Lots more here.  http://www.jophan.org/mimosa/m18/brandt.htm

I had not! Thanks for the link, that was some fascinating reading...indeed, that all explains SO MUCH. Very cool that he was able to get in touch with some of the people who worked on that film and they were able to share their memories and stories. 

Quote

Bob also explained away a scene in which two cops hear a gunshot, get out of their cars, take about three steps, look around and wave their flashlights, then without a word turn around, get back in their car and drive off.

"That's as far as our lights would illuminate," Bob said.

LMAO, wow :D. I also love the story of its premiere night. To be among the first people ever to see that...:p.

Sad to hear about what happened to Reynolds, though. That's a shame. 

[funky-rat]

On 9/6/2020 at 3:39 AM, Annber03 said:

 And I must admit to kinda liking that black robe with the red handprints on it-in the right lighting it looked kinda cool. At the very least, it would make a funky Halloween costume.

I have a friend who had one made.  It is pretty cool. 

[Lantern7]

I forgot to mention that I got to see Ator: The Fighting Eagle, thus completing "The Gauntlet." Decent season, though this didn't make for a memorable last episode. Probably because the gang thought they'd have at least one more season. Kinga and Max getting trapped watching the horror that was Mr. B. Natural was cute, though.

Curious . . . what do you guys consider to be the best finale? There's Mitchell (Joel escapes), Samson Vs. The Vampire Women (TV's Frank ascends to Second Banana Heaven), Laserblast (last Comedy Central episode), Diabolik (last "classic" episode), and Ator: The Fighting Eagle.

I get that "Idiot Control Now" was a riff from Pod People, but what were those dorks (including the schmuck in the "I'M A VIRGIN" t-shirt) really singing? I couldn't make it out. I am aware that it stunk, though.

[Lantern7]

From 1900HotDog: Seanbaby goes over the cliffhangers of Radar Men From The Moon in two parts.

[Robert Lynch]

I am praying for a revival for this show. It seemed like a missed opportunity when it landed on Netflix. Any word if they move to another channel?

Edited October 11, 2020 by Robert Lynch

[Lantern7]

On 10/10/2020 at 9:12 PM, Robert Lynch said:

I am praying for a revival for this show. It seemed like a missed opportunity when it landed on Netflix. Any word if they move to another channel?

I don't know if this helps, but Joel and the bots will be doing two original shorts that will premiere on Friday.

[azshadowwalker]

On 9/8/2020 at 7:54 PM, Lantern7 said:

Curious . . . what do you guys consider to be the best finale? There's Mitchell (Joel escapes), Samson Vs. The Vampire Women (TV's Frank ascends to Second Banana Heaven), Laserblast (last Comedy Central episode), Diabolik (last "classic" episode), and Ator: The Fighting Eagle.

I think Mitchell, Laserblast and Diabolik were all pretty great. The other two I can take a or leave. 

[BetterButter]

‘Mystery Science Theater 3000’ Thanksgiving Marathon Will Have New Host Segments

[mmecorday]

Over the weekend I think that "The Screaming Skull" cracked my Top Ten best loved episodes. I have seen it many, many times but I laughed as hard this time as I probably did the first time.

[Lantern7]

MST3K Turkey Day is going on. I Accuse My Parents is wrapping up now.

Edited November 26, 2020 by Lantern7

[Lantern7]

For anyone keeping track: I Accuse My Parents, Hobgoblins, Pod People, Carnival Magic. The movies and order was determined by poll, and I’m a bit flabbergasted that last one made the marathon.

Next up: Final Justice. You think there’s a better episode? Go ‘head on, it’s yer move.

[Lantern7]

Here's the marathon, with the movies mentioned above, as well as The Day The Earth Froze, They also showed Night of the Blood Beast and Cry Wilderness, but I think those got cut out after the "live" edition. Also: two new shorts!

And while I'm at it, here's a "Death Battle" featuring two of MST3K's most beloved targets: Godzilla and Gamera. And like Joel and the Bots, co-host Boomstick offers up his own lyrics to Gamera's theme song.

 

Edited November 30, 2020 by Lantern7

[VCRTracking]

 

 

[starri]

The fact that she did that convention has won her massive Cool Points for the rest of her life.

[Robert Lynch]

I was shocked to know that the majority as to where this show was filmed is none other than Minnesota. I was always wondering that old Hopkins PO Box address was until it dawn on me. The things you don't know...

[Annber03]

I live in Iowa, so I remember seeing that PO Box as a kid and being like, "Oh, cool, they aren't too far from us!" :D. 

[Lebanna]

Oh. My. Crow. You. Guys.

Let’s bring this thing back from the dead more times than Buffy.

[starri]

It's been up for maybe an hour and they're already almost halfway to their goal.  I didn't realize Kickstarter did a live ticker now.  It's fun watching it go up.

[AnimeMania]

I don't know how I feel about this, the fans pay for new episodes and some streaming network gets rich showing those episodes. It doesn't seem fair.

[starri]

8 hours ago, AnimeMania said:

I don't know how I feel about this, the fans pay for new episodes and some streaming network gets rich showing those episodes. It doesn't seem fair.

It's not for a third party.  They're releasing it themselves.  They're just funding an initial batch of episodes and a platform.  The long term plan is to use the platform to continually fund new episodes.

Plus, as Joel points out, having their own distribution means they can release episodes as they finish them, instead of having to finish an entire season to either air on a network or release for binge-watching.

They hit their initial goal in about 24 hours.  It took a week last time.  It makes me hopeful they'll hit the final stretch goal for twelve episodes plus twelve shorts.

[BetterButter]

Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie: The oral history

[starri]

They're almost to their first stretch goal and over halfway to their ultimate goal.

They dropped an update.  Right now, the plan is for them to have Jonah and Emily (from the most recent tour) split hosting duties.  And if they get funding for at least nine episodes, Joel will also host one, and if they go all the way, he'll host two.

[AnimeMania]

Mystery Science Theater 3000: Joel Hodgson on Crowdfunding Gizmoplex

[starri]

They've gotten to the 9-episode goal, and are really pushing in the last 48 hours to get over the finish line.  RiffTrax also kicked in some new rewards, so that was nice.

They also announced the first two movies.

Robot Wars, a typical low-budget 90s cyberpunk dystopia.

Demon Squad, a low-rent Dresden Files knock-off that doesn't even have a Wikipedia page.

[starri]

They're getting tantalizingly close.  If they're not to the finish line closer in, I'm going to up my pledge.

[starri]

Finish line achieved.  12 episodes, 12 shorts, two Joels.

Now they're pushing to a secret bonus.

[Lebanna]

Just a reminder that there are 6 hours left if anyone else was going to pledge and forgot. 

I mean, they’ve already got past the total, but it’s just nice to be a tiny part of bringing more weird happiness to the world.