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

Yeah, to be fair I may have oversold that slightly, the problems really might be more with content than form. but judge for yourself in this clip - the commercial breaks start at 3:00, 19:00, 33:00, 43:15, 55:40, 1:08:45, 1:20:30, 1:33:30, 1:44:30... maybe some others i missed.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QS4mCeJd7uM

like, the various product ads just feel cheesy and hokey, which is fine, they're 30 years old (though at the time i'm sure some of the advertisers involved thought they were doing quirky, fresh things). the "totally nuts about Payday" song has a kind of cool, hyper-clean sound on the vocal overdubs. but the ads for Comedy Central stuff are .......... not funny. i admit that most of them, i can tell what's supposed to be funny, but time has rendered their constructions awkward and labored-feeling. probably why i reached for the ILX-ism of the horribly formed "joke." just how clunky it feels, and this is a network ostensibly specializing in humor.

Whereas, say, the "jazz combo" host segment skit, while it kinda falls flat in its own way, has a kind of aggressively surreal "we don't care if most people don't get this" quality that would not feel out of place on Eric Andre or something. and the best riffs have this freshness of timing that, while all scripted, genuinely feels like a flash of improv insight, right there on the spot.

so either culturally, humor has moved closer to where MST was in 1993, or... my sense of humor was very much shaped by MST in 1993.

You can't escape your youth. If you will.

Anyway: Kickstarter passed $4.4 mil so we're getting at least nine episodes and one of them with Joel. Just under three days to go (wraps up Friday night at 8 pm Pacific Time) but given the expected but still good to see pretty active count it's looking like the final goal is on.

Meantime the first two movies they'll be doing have been announced:

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4219706/

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107979/

should hit the $5.5 million in the next hour or so, Telethon going to be a fun celebration stream

Yeah something'll be up -- the announced stretch goal was $5.8 million to top the amount last time and they'll blow by that even before the telethon starts, so Joel announced this:

Wow! I'm Stunned and Humbled that we just passed our goal of making 12 new MST3Ks and the Gizmoplex! Thank you Team MST3K -- New final goals are coming in the next backer update! Whew!https://t.co/K6eMtyHCD7

— Joel Hodgson (@JoelGHodgson) May 7, 2021

Meantime Bill's doing something pretty cool!

On June 1st I’ll be talking to my friend and musical hero @kristinhersh of Throwing Muses and 50FOOTWAVE about her new book. Can’t wait! Info below. https://t.co/QiODxg6Ssu

— Bill Corbett (@BillCorbett) May 7, 2021

And over in MadsWorld, this is happening, which...well, I'll defer to Eric. Last year, as you can see upthread, Frank specifically said he figured Mike can change his ways. Hm.

This coming Tuesday, May 11, 8pm, @TraceBeaulieu and I perform our next live streaming @MST3K-style show, a riff of T-BIRD GANG. And our special Q&A guest is very special indeed - Michael J. Nelson! $10, a portion benefits @FINfoodMN. https://t.co/WSsxWIJ4ht

— Frank Conniff (@FrankConniff) May 6, 2021

(The podcast that Mike was on there for a while did keep going and complained about cancel culture and the like, posting weekly until January 3 of this year. Ever so mysteriously, they've apparently only had two random episodes since. I wonder what happened shortly after the third.)

New last update from the Kickstarter

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mst3k/makemoremst3k/posts/3183050

Rest well Neil, you were a Kid Brother

http://www.mst3kinfo.com/?p=30558

Also last night's Mads are Back with Mike was, well, a treat? Which yeah, given everything, I almost hate to say it. But they -- probably unavoidably, really -- steered WAY clear of both any mention of the Kickstarter and Mike's not-so-good past achievements in favor of general memories and random discussions about various things like favorite Bond movies and the like. (If anything all the MST stories would have been great on the Kickstarter livestreams if everyone was on speaking terms, which, well, no -- and there was one part when Mike was talking about the auctioning off of everything at the end of the original series run which combined with Trace's comments makes it again clear that if there's one thing that unites all the veterans, it's that everybody probably has it out for Jim Mallon still.)

The film itself was a great piece of late 50s trash, T-Bird Gang, very Daddy-O/The Beatniks in feel, and Frank and Trace did a real number on it -- very entertaining, one of their best yet. Vic Tayback was in it briefly and a big supporting role was, of all people, Coleman Francis! Playing a gruff but actually sympathetic and personable cop? Plus a fuller head of hair? I was kinda amazed seeing he could actually act a bit. Next up is another random thing from the era, The Lost Missile, starring Robert Loggia!

Is there bad blood between the Nu-MST3k crew and the others? All I know is that Frank said once (on Twitter?) that he and Trace weren't asked to participate in nu-MST3k and left it at that (I know Mary Jo and Bill Corbett made cameos).

It's a long story discussed upthread from the time of the 2015 revival. Basically while everyone's pretty much anti-Mallon as noted (though now that he's sold the show some years back it's probably more of a residual grudge), for a long time there seemed to be two 'camps' for lack of a better word, the Rifftrax and the Cinematic Titanic crew. But while the latter probably came together precisely because they saw how well the former group was doing, they got along well enough doing their own things, appeared at the Comic-Con panel years back that's on one of the DVDs, various groups of people met up at other conventions etc. However, there's been enough said at this point that it was clear that Joel initially tried to envision nu-MST3K as a return for original folks like Trace, Frank etc. from Cinematic Titanic -- Rifftrax was happy being themselves I gather -- but then it turned into Joel doing his Next Generation thing, shortly after the collapse of Cinematic Titanic, and I'm sure it's all related. And THAT is what really caused a split. J. Elvis was a bit grumpy about it for a while, but as you noted Mary Jo and Bill (and Kevin!) did their cameos. And J. Elvis and Bill and Joel reunited for the benefit shorts last year, and there's a bit of a guess that they could be the crew for the new Joel episodes coming up. But Trace and Frank have been VERY clear that they had major problems with Joel as a result, and various comments on the old Movie Sign With the Mads podcast as well as Twitter, not to mention last month's Mads are Back livestream, just reinforce that. They did do the MInneapolis MST3K reunion hosted by Rifftrax but you could sense the off vibes a bit.

It's notable, in turn, that if you remove Joel from the equation, everyone else gets along. So for instance Rifftrax had done various events with Trace/Frank, Bridget/Mary Jo, etc. at times, including Sketchfest a couple of years ago. Meantime, at Sketchfest last year, they literally had just about everybody from the old crews together for a massive riff-off, plus Jonah! Meanwhile, Joel was doing the live tour with the new Emily crew in turn. And this time around it's notable that Bill was happily part of the Kickstarter via a livestream turn, as was Mary Jo, while Kevin and Mike did their Frank and Trace appearances. In conclusion -- tangled as fuck. And this is all just the surface level stuff that's public, who knows what else is going on.

If you have a bunch of people who feel like they have sweat equity but one guy who has the actual equity then these things happen

Andy Kindler said that J. Elvis is going to be in one episodrr Ed of the next season

One-Episode Ed, the new superhero

Speaking of Jonah, in 2019 I saw him on the Washington stop of a live tour that included a movie riff of an early 90s vanity production called “Get Even” (or as the title card called it “Geteven”). It was fantastic, he’s a born riffer.

Meantime, the actress who played two roles (as twin sisters) in Deathstalker and the Warriors from Hell, has taken an odd path in life. (She’s been a GOP sort for at least a couple of decades now.)

.⁦@JonathanTamari⁩ on the Toomey seat >

The next person who seems likely to enter the race is Carla Sands, Trump’s former amb to Denmark, who, according to Republicans who have met with her, has privately touted her ability to win his endorsement. https://t.co/YPvrvrxG1P

— Jonathan Martin (@jmartNYT) May 15, 2021

warriors from hell indeed

Imagining an Alt-Timeline wherein Torgo lived and became governor of Texas.

Torgo theme blaring from lifted pickup trucks

“We have nothing to fear... because the master likes you. Nothing will happen to you. He likes you.”

So here’s an artifact. Lately a YouTube user has been putting up MST3K ‘broadcast’ episodes, with the now-thoroughly ancient commercials of their time included. Amusing enough but what I hadn’t realized is that this person has included episodes from the original local TV run on KTMA 23 from Minneapolis in 1988-89. Meaning it’s all *local* ads. Some of them are standard enough promos for other programming or legal firm commercials, but some of them are very very of their time and place specifically. The sound in this episode is choppy and as with most of the earliest ones the riffs are much less plentiful and polished but if you scroll for the ads alone you’ll be amazed. (Amusingly, this was a repeat episode -- they talk about Christmas and New Year's but this tape was done on a March rebroadcast.)

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

There's a number of others up as well.

woah, the "broadcast version" treasures keep on coming! i just watched City on Fire in non-MSTed form (which, yeccccchhh), maybe i'll throw that one soon!

Mr. Corbett on what it's like working with Mike given certain...differences.

https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/nqnu5n/i_am_bill_corbett_best_known_as_a_writer_and/h0bluj8/?utm_source=reddit&utm_medium=web2x&context=3

Separately, he was great being the host of a chat with Kristin Hersh last night for her virtual book tour!

Hey fun news, the latest live tour is happening and it's the Emily crew! They were great on that last one and now she'll be the host properly.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hkDGPF--4qs

Got this as a recommended story today: https://www.yesmagazine.org/opinion/2021/08/05/native-spirituality-mystery-science-theater-3000-prison

And it's a wonderful read, that's for sure.

And now I got this as a recommended story...

https://www.cincinnati.com/story/entertainment/2021/10/29/mystery-science-theater-cincinnati-show-homecoming-emily-marsh/8558124002/

...and also this:

https://www.tor.com/2021/11/24/a-love-letter-to-mystery-science-theater-3000-thirty-third-anniversary/

Is there a turkey day stream this year?

its up on twitch, youtube stream seems to be borked for the moment
https://www.twitch.tv/mst3k

Ty

youtube stream is working

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

Won’t be able to catch it this year, someone post the list of new episodes when announced

i’ll keep track & put up the list later, stay tuned!

to think of all things, this used to be the oldest tradition in my family growing up.

dad forced us to watch it at first, but the Neanderthal boys grew to love it fast. my mother never understood it.

hoping I can watch some.

S13 films announced so far (I may have missed one)

Santo and Dracula's Treasure (1969) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0208504/
Robot Wars (1993) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107979/
Beyond Atlantis (1973) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0069783/
Munchie (1992) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104938
Doctor Mordrid (1992) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0104115/
Demon Squad (2019) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4219706/
Gamera vs Jiger (1970) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0065755
The Batwoman (1968) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0235608
The Million Eyes of Sumuru (1967) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0061976

Nice mix!

also
The Shape of Things to Come (1979) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0079894
The Mask (1961) https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0055151

you can see all the teaser clips here https://kickstarter.mst3k.com/season13

full list:

mst3k

Santo in the Treasure of Dracula (1969)
Robot Wars (1993)
Beyond Atlantis (1973)
Munchie (1992)
Dr Mordrid (1992)
Demon Squad (2019)
Gamera Vs Jiger (1970)
The Batwoman (1968)
The Million Eyes of Su Muru (1967)
HG Wells The Shape of Things To Come (1979)
The Mask 3D (1961)
The Bubble (1966)
The Christmas Dragon (2014)

Munchie is the first time a movie has ever broken me. I have visceral disgust and anger towards this movie now. I would gladly watch 500 Days of Salò over this again. The Mads @feliciaday and @pattonoswalt are unrepentant monsters https://t.co/VLcfGPx1DV

— Hampton Yount (@Hamptonyount) November 25, 2021

similar sentiments from Matt oswalt re munchie

I wrote for MST3K this season but the film that truly broke me was Munchie. I exorcized the demons with a Munchie birthday party, though I'm still triggered by Dom Deluise's voice.@feliciaday @Hamptonyount @jonahray @phunkybeck @rossbryant all suffered with me#MST3KTurkeyDay pic.twitter.com/wIsGyC4YGv

— Matt Oswalt (@MattOswaltVA) November 25, 2021

S13 starts March 4th, not that far away now

it feels like eons :(

taken to watching old episodes on youtube occasionally with my boyfriend when we need a laugh. i only ever watched a few so i'm sure this is old news to everyone else, but 'catalina caper' is a good one.

also, little richard!

I'm ashamed at how attractive I find Michael Blodgett in that one...

i'm partial to peter duryea but yes lots of crush of shame potential therein

Fantastic episode, easily top five of the early years.

New episodes this year so far — pretty good. Joel’s return with Demon Squad the other week was a delight.

I kind of like the other song in Catalina Caper, too - wasn't it written by Ray Davies or did I make that up?

Yup! Unreleased (maybe even unrecorded) by the Kinks, it might have just been a song he farmed out.