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Ensign_Ricky
Jan 4, 2008

Daddy Warlord
of the
Children of the Corn


or something...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5ct0Z2bQndM

My friends, from 1988 until 1999, there was a little show that touched all of us in one way or another. A show that showed all of us just how fun bad movies could really be if you had some friends to watch them with you...or at least a pair of snarky robot sidekicks. And now, almost 17 years later, we stand here about to receive the greatest gift we could have ever asked for. But let's cut to the chase.

I've been living under a rock for the past 30 years, what is Mystery Science Theater 3000?

Well, I'm glad you asked. MST3k follows a relatively simple premise: A mad scientist decides that in order to rule the world he has to suck out everyone's will to oppose him by subjecting them to the worst movie ever made. But in order to find that movie, he first sets up a test subject in orbit around Earth. That test subject takes parts of the satellite he is held hostage within and builds robot companions to sit through the movies with. A series of misunderstandings occur which allow the original test subject to escape the satellite, forcing the scientist to replace him with a guy he got from a temp agency. Eventually, the scientist's mother takes over the experiment along with her sidekicks, a super-intelligent gorilla from the future and a omnipotent sort-of-all-knowing pasty guy with a brain in a bowl.

Bottom line, schlubs are sent into space to watch the best worst movies of all time. And some of the absolute worst films of all time, I'm looking at you, Monster-A-Go-Go. And it's been immensely influential, popping up in things as random as Futurama to Arrested Development....and what may be the most out of left field reference of all goddamned time.

Your premise interests me. Where is a good place to get started on this series?

Glad you asked. Really, you can start in just about any era, whether it be right at the beginning in Season 1, or when the series was sort-of-not-really-rebooted on the Sci-Fi channel in Season 8. Personally, I recommend starting earlier, and getting a feel for the show before you tackle some of the truly legendary terrible movies the series featured. No man should venture into the depths of Manos: The Hands of Fate unprepared. No matter what, you'll start to pick a favorite era for each of the hosts.

Ok, so what are some episodes you recommend from each of these eras?

Well, that's gonna differ from person to person, but I'll sum up my own personal picks of good entry-level episodes.


The Joel Era

Featuring: Joel Hodgson as Joel Robinson, Kevin Murphy/J. Elvis Weinstein as Tom Servo, Trace Beaulieu as Dr. Clayton Forrester/Crow T. Robot, Frank Conniff as TV's Frank

The Crawling Eye
Robot Monster
Godzilla Vs Megalon
Gamera (and all the sequels)
The Amazing Colossal Man & War of the Colossal Beast
It Conquered the World
Teenagers from Outer Space
Bride of the Monster
Eegah!


The Mike Era

Featuring: Michael J. Nelson as Mike Nelson, Kevin Murphy as Tom Servo/Professor Bobo, Trace Beaulieu as Dr. Clayton Forrester/Crow T. Robot, Bill Corbett as Brain Guy/Crow T. Robot, Frank Conniff as TV's Frank, Mary-Jo Pehl as Pearl Forrester.

The Brain That Wouldn't Die
Beginning of the End
Zombie Nightmare
Escape 2000
MST3K The Movie/This Island Earth
Revenge of the Creature
The Final Sacrifice
Space Mutiny
Werewolf

Joel's era as host does have more jumping-on points, but honestly, you can't go wrong with This Island Earth.

Hang on, does the thread title say something about a "return"? What's going on there?


DEBUTS APRIL 14th, 2017!

drat right there's a revival happening! With that, we begin the "Jonah Era" of the show. Show creator and original host Joel Hodgson announced a Kickstarter drive in November of 2015 to fund a new season of the show, with the hope that it might be picked up by one of the networks or streaming services. The drive raised over 6.3 Million Dollars, making the MST3k Revival the largest Film/Video Kickstarter of all time. Preproduction began January 4th, 2016 with a target of 14 New Episodes with the new cast...and who are these lovely people?


Well, we have stand-up Jonah Ray as Jonah Heston, Hampton Yount as Crow, Baron Vaughn as Tom, Felicia Day as Kinga Forrester (daughter of Clayton), and Patton Goddamned Oswalt as TV's Son of TV's Frank! In addition, many celebrity fans of the show have expressed interest in appearing during host segments such as Jack Black, Neil Patrick Harris, Bill Hader, and - no joke - Mark Hamill! In addition, several original cast members (notably Mary Jo Pehl, Kevin Murphy and Bill Corbett) will be reprising their roles.

Finally, at San Diego ComicCon 2016, Joel officially announced the series will return via Netflix and will first appear on the US, Canada, UK, Australia, and New Zealand versions of the streaming platform! An official start date is yet to be announced.

How can I get caught up on the old episodes?

Well the good people at Shout! Factory regularly issue boxsets of at least 4 episodes a few times a year (generally you get 2 Joel and 2 Mike episodes per), and are now re-releasing the older sets originally published by Rhino Video. In addition, you can buy episodes from iTunes...but then they only work on your iOS device. For more flexibility, I personally recommend either the DVD's, or the good people and former cast members/writers of MST3k at RiffTrax release a new digital episode of classic MST nearly every Monday for about $10 USD. Finally, you can go to The Official YouTube Channel to stream select episodes for free. (My advice is to turn annotations off because holy poo poo do they get inane and annoying.) Also, there are people hosting various episodes on their personal YouTube channels...but whether this is :filez: or not is kind of up in the air as the original series usually had a message to "KEEP SHARING THE TAPES", meaning tape the episodes and share them around with friends. Basically, there are ways to view the episodes without owning them, but best not to overly advertise them.

So please, sit back, grab some friends, catch up on one of the greatest shows of all time. Around here we mostly just quote it endlessly, with occasional interludes, but with work on the new episodes starting soon, we all have something to look forward to.



Wait, if they're on a satellite, where do the air and food come from?

Buddy, it's a television show, you should really just relax.

Ensign_Ricky fucked around with this message at 02:04 on Mar 23, 2017

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Sanzuo
May 7, 2007

So now that Netflix has picked it up, what are the chances we'll see more seasons beyond the 14 new episodes?

Burkion
May 10, 2012

by Fluffdaddy
All in, ground floor, let the riffing begin.

I really hope we get a good giant monster movie this season. Nothing's quite as good as MST3K roasting a giant monster film.

TL
Jan 16, 2006

Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world

Fallen Rib
I was already really hyped about this, but getting Kevin, Bill, and Mary Jo involved just pumped my excitement level to the stratosphere. I pooped mah drawers I'm so excited!

Ensign_Ricky
Jan 4, 2008

Daddy Warlord
of the
Children of the Corn


or something...

Sanzuo posted:

So now that Netflix has picked it up, what are the chances we'll see more seasons beyond the 14 new episodes?

I would say very very good. Netflix knows how to promote a show, plus as long as the riffing is on point it should be a slam dunk.

Upsidads
Jan 11, 2007
Now and then we had a hope that if we lived and were good, God would permit us to be pirates


With netflix they can ignore the nightmare of google and amazon are angry at each other for streaming.

Sanzuo
May 7, 2007

Ensign_Ricky posted:

I would say very very good. Netflix knows how to promote a show, plus as long as the riffing is on point it should be a slam dunk.

Yea I should probably reserve my excitement until we hear some jokes, but with a cast and crew like this I'm cautiously optimistic!

Command Ant
Aug 9, 2010

I can make you
worth your weight
in gold!
If you're worried about the future of MST3k, just keep these words of wisdom in mind; don't crap in your hand, crap in your poopy suit.

Hogama
Sep 3, 2011
I'm really excited for this and have been rewatching the whole series with some friends and having good times.
Even picking up a few episodes I've held off on for too long:

The Hellcats - I'm flummoxed. Presumably something happened but I'm not sure what or why or who was involved. Mass confusion.
Pod People - Easier to follow, still a mess. Little furry potatoes.

RandomPauI
Nov 24, 2006


Grimey Drawer
I hope they do "Death Bed, the Bed that Eats".

BaronVanAwesome
Sep 11, 2001

I will never learn the secrets of "Increased fake female boar sp..."

Never say never, buddy.
Now you know.
Now we all know.
Was the original episodes ever available on Netflix streaming? I swear I saw them there once but couldn't find them last time I looked. I may be insane.

Verisimillipede
Jul 17, 2006

Now that Netflix is on board I am pretty sure we will see multiple seasons. This is the best news.

Ms Boods
Mar 19, 2009

Did you ever wonder where the Romans got bread from? It wasn't from Waitrose!
Is this going to be available only in the US? No idea how US Netflix works (if at all) in the UK -- will be gutting if there's no way to see the new series in the UK (and I'm not into dodgy streaming and that...)

Diabolik900
Mar 28, 2007

Ms Boods posted:

Is this going to be available only in the US? No idea how US Netflix works (if at all) in the UK -- will be gutting if there's no way to see the new series in the UK (and I'm not into dodgy streaming and that...)

According to the Hollywood Reporter article about the deal, it'll be on Netflix in the U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the U.K.

Ensign_Ricky
Jan 4, 2008

Daddy Warlord
of the
Children of the Corn


or something...

BaronVanAwesome posted:

Was the original episodes ever available on Netflix streaming? I swear I saw them there once but couldn't find them last time I looked. I may be insane.

Some select episodes were once. Then Hulu got them, but with this news it's safe to say they'll be back.

RandomPauI posted:

I hope they do "Death Bed, the Bed that Eats".

I would've been on board with this until I found out that DB:TBtE is actually a pretentious art film, and not a horror per se.

A pretentious art film about a cannibalistic bed, but my point remains. Despite the awesomeness of the title, DB:TBtE is loving boring with one or two moments of "Wait, what?"

RandomPauI
Nov 24, 2006


Grimey Drawer

Ensign_Ricky posted:

Some select episodes were once. Then Hulu got them, but with this news it's safe to say they'll be back.


I would've been on board with this until I found out that DB:TBtE is actually a pretentious art film, and not a horror per se.

A pretentious art film about a cannibalistic bed, but my point remains. Despite the awesomeness of the title, DB:TBtE is loving boring with one or two moments of "Wait, what?"

I know that you can make a pretentious art film about anything, but how do you make one about a bed that eats people?

grahf987
May 11, 2009
drat, good news. Never thought they would all realize that now is their chance to make it happen in the prime of making fun of things for a living, except with a little class and setup compared to the others.

Wonder if it will be season 12 or whatever it would be officially, or if it will be season 1 "new" MSt3k. If they had the old seasons as well it would justify Netflix a little more which is increasingly becoming a only sometime subscription.

Nobody Interesting
Mar 29, 2013

One way, dead end... Street signs are such fitting metaphors for the human condition.


What are Kevin and Bill doing?

egon_beeblebrox
Mar 1, 2008

WILL AMOUNT TO NOTHING IN LIFE.



Nobody Interesting posted:

What are Kevin and Bill doing?

Playing Bobo and Brain Guy

NowonSA
Jul 19, 2013

I am the sexiest poster in the world!

Nobody Interesting posted:

What are Kevin and Bill doing?

Bill and Mary Jo Pehl and joining the writing team. Biill, Kevin and Mary will all be back to make a cameo in at least one episode. I would assume they pop in for the first episode to pass the torch and away you go, but they could go another way with it.

Oh, and if you haven't heard the head writer for the show is a former head writer for the Daily Show, I think they're gonna be just fine. Glad they ended up with the most natural pairing ever, put the movie riffing show on the streaming service that primarily hosts movies and does licensing deals constantly. Hopefully they're able to use that Netflix connection to get some extra legit movies to riff in future seasons, I'm sure there are fairly modern films that still have the proper amount of MST3K style cheese to them.

egon_beeblebrox
Mar 1, 2008

WILL AMOUNT TO NOTHING IN LIFE.



I want them to riff Foodfight.

BlackJosh
Sep 25, 2007
I'm not one to complain about best of lists, but how can you make a list of the best Mike era movies and not include Final Sacrifice!?

I can't believe this show is actually coming back. I can't wait.

drunkill
Sep 25, 2007

me @ ur posting
Fallen Rib

Sanzuo posted:

So now that Netflix has picked it up, what are the chances we'll see more seasons beyond the 14 new episodes?

Watch Netflix pick up all the movies mst3k spoof and include them in their libraries with a button to turn on the mst3k 'overlay' if you want to watch it like that.

Gameko
Feb 23, 2006

The friend of all children!

I wanted to chime in and say that the OP is great, and the recommended watch list is good. I'm an original MST3K fan from way back when Comedy Central was Mork and Mindy re-runs and MST3k, and I approve.

There are a lot of great episodes as the OP states, so if someone has interest in a particular genre or flavor they can post and maybe some of us can make a recommendation.

muscles like this!
Jan 17, 2005


grahf987 posted:

drat, good news. Never thought they would all realize that now is their chance to make it happen in the prime of making fun of things for a living, except with a little class and setup compared to the others.

Wonder if it will be season 12 or whatever it would be officially, or if it will be season 1 "new" MSt3k. If they had the old seasons as well it would justify Netflix a little more which is increasingly becoming a only sometime subscription.

While doing the Kickstarter reward thing they had an option to buy a box set of the new season and they listed it as Season 11.


Sanzuo posted:

Yea I should probably reserve my excitement until we hear some jokes, but with a cast and crew like this I'm cautiously optimistic!

Joel and Jonah did a short at the Rifftrax MST3K reunion show and it was really funny.

Rollersnake
May 9, 2005

Please, please don't let me end up in a threesome with the lunch lady and a gay pirate. That would hit a little too close to home.
Unlockable Ben
I still wonder why not have new bots instead of recasting Crow and Tom again, but I trust Joel knows what he's doing, and excitement is winning out over doubt.

Davros1
Jul 19, 2007

You've got to admit, you are kind of implausible



Rollersnake posted:

I still wonder why not have new bots instead of recasting Crow and Tom again, but I trust Joel knows what he's doing, and excitement is winning out over doubt.

Branding. Crow and Tom are the mascots of MST3K. They're the most recognizable characters.

happyhippy
Feb 21, 2005

Playing games, watching movies, owning goons. 'sup
Pillbug

Rollersnake posted:

I still wonder why not have new bots instead of recasting Crow and Tom again, but I trust Joel knows what he's doing, and excitement is winning out over doubt.

The nerd rage would cause a tear in space time, and the Prince of Space would jump out and prance about the place.

hhhat
Apr 29, 2008
This is the best place to put MST3k. And the writers they got and the old crew coming back are all great.

Yay! :woop:

Solaris Knight
Apr 26, 2010

ASK ME ABOUT POWER RANGERS MYSTIC FORCE
Joel also said it's possible that Crow and Servo might accidentally reboot with the Bill and Kevin personalities during host segments, so they can play Crow and Servo as well as Bobo and the Observer.

Ms Boods
Mar 19, 2009

Did you ever wonder where the Romans got bread from? It wasn't from Waitrose!

Diabolik900 posted:

According to the Hollywood Reporter article about the deal, it'll be on Netflix in the U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the U.K.

Thanks for the info!

To coin a phrase: 'Huzzah!'

or, 'ATCHKA!'

NowonSA
Jul 19, 2013

I am the sexiest poster in the world!

egon_beeblebrox posted:

I want them to riff Foodfight.

Foodfight is so bad it legit traumatized me, I don't want them to do it. I also couldn't get through the rifftrax of the last airbender because the movie was just too drat bad to tolerate even with a riff going.

Apoplexy
Mar 9, 2003

by Shine

Ms Boods posted:

Thanks for the info!

To coin a phrase: 'Huzzah!'

or, 'ATCHKA!'

AADJKAH! remains my favorite exclamation of pain ever.

Baka-nin
Jan 25, 2015

Diabolik900 posted:

According to the Hollywood Reporter article about the deal, it'll be on Netflix in the U.S., Canada, Australia, New Zealand, the U.K.

Yessssssssssssss! I was worried since the show aired on the Sci Fi channel back when cable and satellite were available for a small percent of the population.

Ensign_Ricky
Jan 4, 2008

Daddy Warlord
of the
Children of the Corn


or something...

RandomPauI posted:

I know that you can make a pretentious art film about anything, but how do you make one about a bed that eats people?

To be honest, poorly.

NowonSA posted:

Foodfight is so bad it legit traumatized me, I don't want them to do it. I also couldn't get through the rifftrax of the last airbender because the movie was just too drat bad to tolerate even with a riff going.

I'd like to see Foodfight as a Rifftrax Live event personally. If only because then they can give it the R-rated teardown that loving piece of poo poo deserves.

RoyKeen
Jul 24, 2007

Grimey Drawer

Ensign_Ricky posted:

To be honest, poorly.


I'd like to see Foodfight as a Rifftrax Live event personally. If only because then they can give it the R-rated teardown that loving piece of poo poo deserves.

I wonder how "blue" the new MST3k will go. I'm guessing not at all (which is fine) but maybe to the level of the MST3k movie with the occasional 'poo poo' thrown in.

Davros1
Jul 19, 2007

You've got to admit, you are kind of implausible



The Ape of Naples posted:

I wonder how "blue" the new MST3k will go. I'm guessing not at all (which is fine) but maybe to the level of the MST3k movie with the occasional 'poo poo' thrown in.

I think the beeping they do on Rifftrax is funnier than actually hearing the swears.

Watched the Kingdom of the Spiders Rifftrax on Hulu, and hearing Mike give out a long, angry "You're BEEPing kidding me" after Shatner explained the origins of his character's name of "Rack" is one of the funniest things I've heard.

egon_beeblebrox
Mar 1, 2008

WILL AMOUNT TO NOTHING IN LIFE.



I wonder if each episode will be the same length, or if they won't edit the movies and just let them flow for however long they are.

DivisionPost
Jun 28, 2006

Nobody likes you.
Everybody hates you.
You're gonna lose.

Smile, you fuck.

The Ape of Naples posted:

I wonder how "blue" the new MST3k will go. I'm guessing not at all (which is fine) but maybe to the level of the MST3k movie with the occasional 'poo poo' thrown in.

I remember Joel saying that he wants kids to be able to watch this with their parents, which meant he didn't want to litter it with R-rated riffs. He felt more comfortable in a zone where it was mostly family-friendly with a little subtle edge that would safely go over the heads of younger viewers.

I think this riff from...I wanna say Agent for H.A.R.M.?...represents how far they'll go:

Beautiful woman: "Are you coming? Or do I sleep alone?"
Crow: "Yes, and yes!"

Ensign_Ricky posted:

I'd like to see Foodfight as a Rifftrax Live event personally. If only because then they can give it the R-rated teardown that loving piece of poo poo deserves.

I don't think that's gonna happen; Mike doesn't necessarily like to work blue either. He and the guys will crank it up for Sketchfest because it's an older crowd of comedy nerds, but I suspect they like to keep things clean at RT Live-branded events for the sake of the families who might be watching.

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RoyKeen
Jul 24, 2007

Grimey Drawer

Davros1 posted:

I think the beeping they do on Rifftrax is funnier than actually hearing the swears.

Watched the Kingdom of the Spiders Rifftrax on Hulu, and hearing Mike give out a long, angry "You're BEEPing kidding me" after Shatner explained the origins of his character's name of "Rack" is one of the funniest things I've heard.

That's true though they do curse sometimes. I know Kevin dropped the F-bomb in that one Christopher Walken movie.

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