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

Anyway I'm never entirely sure how much the MST3K gang hated the films they watched. I was particularly surprised after seeing that Raul Julia movie that they kept going on was one of the worst Sci-Fi era movies they watched -- the visuals in that movie are completely eye-popping and wonderful, although yes the plot is weak and the acting is fairly awful (except for Julia). I found something to like in the film. And I think MST3K helped me to realize, as a young'un (I started watching the show during Season One, neener neener, Ned) that there were things to value in even the most riduclously awful films. Torgo touches our lives.

The process they used to develop riffs from movies -- watching movies and stopping them when they could think of something funny which somebody would then write down, then start the film again -- strikes me as really not conducive to wonderful aesthetic experiences. I doubt even my favorite films would still charm me after that kind of punishing microscopic analysis, and since we're talking about stuff, like Monster A-Go-Go or The Wild, Wild World of Batwomen, that sometimes really defies sense and reason, I think rage might a perfectly rational response.

But I bet they all eventually got somewhat desensitized to the process, and that most of the vitriol they poured onto most of their movies was merely exaggerated for comic effect.

IIRC, I think Mary Jo was eventually put in charge of screening films to see if they were MSTable, so she'd MSTed films even more times than the other BB people, and she said that they finished creating an episode out of a film, she would have already seen it a really mindbending number of times. (20? 50?!?)

Thus Tom's legendary cry at the end of Wild World of Batwomen -- "END!!! ENNNNNDDD!!!"

Not only did Mary Jo see things a few times over first, she also had to screen those many movies which were considered and rejected for screening. Frank did that duty before her. They are perhaps the true stalwarts of the whole thing.

Oh, and hear the engines roll now.

The REAL weird thing about the commentary, though, is Mike's voice -- it's him and all, but he's got this strange, prominent lisp that shows up. Either I've never noticed it before (which I find hard to doubt), he's gained one over time for reason (hadn't noticed it in the recent DVD interview snippets) or maybe they recorded him a day after some dental or mouth work.

Me: "So I picked up that Reefer Madness with Mike Nelson on it..."

Chaki: *takes out wallet to show that he's put the sticker from the DVD cover with Mike's face on it on top of his driver's license photo*)

Do you feel the spirit of music inside you now?

"Just wait until he finds out how hard it really is!"

"Yes, very clever, MOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM..."

Recent Mike and Mary Jo interviews.

! FAINT PRAISE, sir.

"I'M BACK!"

xpost I know but since I stopped watching the show in, what, 1995? I always kinda forget that these last episodes are from 1998.

This is true, especially since there is no "Mike and the bots" dynamic to speak of. Mostly, I think, because Mike and Crow spend all their time ACTING! whereas Bobo and Brain Guy are a bit more natural.