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

Original MST3K was an unrepeatable coalition of talent, time, and place. I sincerely feel that the Minnesota-centeredness of the original, because from cast to writing to production it was all done in a small cow town (as they called it) and not farmed out across the continent, by a small team who all knew each other from the same small relatively supportive scene, made all the difference. They were writing all the jokers in the same room. Seeing in, for example Rifftrax, the camaraderie (not that there hasn’t been tension behind the scenes) among the cast and especially between Mary Jo Pehl and Bridget Nelson, is part of the fun. Everything we’ve learned about how nu-MST is made works against that.

And Joel’s heart is obviously in the right place and he had some good talent working with him on the revive. But maybe he needs to tweak the approach?

ugh hodgson yes xxposts

Can we as a culture please just let something be a pleasant memory instead of trying to make it exist forever.

― deep wubs and tribral rhythms (Boring, Maryland)

it doesn't have to exist forever, just, like. what's joel hodgson supposed to _do_ now?

this ^

Anyone remember TV Wheel? I liked that. Plus I’d see him do standup in a heartbeat.

Can we as a culture please just let something be a pleasant memory instead of trying to make it exist forever.

― deep wubs and tribral rhythms (Boring, Maryland), Sunday, November 26, 2023 1:53 PM (six hours ago) bookmarkflaglink

bingo

that said, I too would watch a Joel standup special

This is good a time as any to bring up Joel's early '80s prop comic guest shots on SNL

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8z7CKzk5o2U

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t5igaf4JKVI

i mean that's the truth of it, isn't it? mst3k isn't the thing hodgson is best at. the thing he's best at is _prop comedy_. in the '90s calling someone a prop comic was an insult. today it's like calling someone a rakugoka.

Yes, but he was seemingly respected by the "real" comedians in the 90s. Probably because he was clearly doing his own thing.

Which, in the form of the invention exchange, also included prop comedy

Nothing wrong with attempting to keep the concept alive, but it's just the recent execution doesn't seem to be made with the focus or taste required to capture the magic.

For me the performances FEEL like modernizations such as the seemingly conscious attempt to "emulate the sensibilities of youtube/tiktok personality-driven comedy to appeal to younger audiences", but it might also just be the style of the new cast members rather than some deliberate approach based on marketing goals or whatever. Paired up with the revived thematic framework, as I mentioned, it overall has happened to come out way more juvenile than it needs to be... Like all the ingredients are thrown in the pot but upon tasting the spoon it's clear that it's not coming out the same and also not to my taste. Maybe other people like it though!

Yes, but he was seemingly respected by the "real" comedians in the 90s. Probably because he was clearly doing his own thing.

― Beyond Goo and Evol (President Keyes)

i think it's more of a cultural thing, the way polka was derided by a generation even though there's nothing really wrong with polka per se. prop comedy: the polka of comedy.

I ask this with some trepidation, but is there a form of comedy that's currently going through its "prop comedy in the '90s" phase?

Jim Breuer-style comedy? Where you make a lot of silly noises instead of jokes.

cishet white dude edgelord comedy.

cishet white dude edgelord comedy

I mean, yes, and I hope that remains out of fashion forever

in a better world ricky gervais would be up on stage smashing pumpkins into small piles of putrid debris

the only thing that kept cishet edgelord white dude comics remotely relevant was dick jokes, and trans women have _way_ better dick jokes than any of them do

I've really tried with the reboot, but every time I sit down to watch it, I don't last five minutes.

Where have all the edgelords gone
long time passing
Where have all the edgelords gone
long time ago
Where have all the edgelords gone
gone to Netflix every one

i love the show but in the years since its return i've been kind of shocked at how much money and creative energy seems to go into the non-riffing elements. i get how that stuff is more in his creative wheelhouse than movie riffing itself, and that it was obviously an extremely fun part of making the show in the 1990s. but if the difference between doing it and not doing it is raising a big budget to pay for a cast of all these different side characters and a big workshop for robot designs and sets and all this other stuff, ffs get out of your own way dude. if someone asks me what mst3k is i dont start describing the story of a space janitor who got kidnapped from the gizmonic institute, i talk about movie riffing. he doesnt need to do it alone in his basement on twitch, but there certainly is a middle way where it doesnt have to cost half a mil per episode.

One of many reasons I'm not into the nu MST3K

It's with that stuff where the scope creep becomes a problem. Too many "oh! what if we..." ideas.

At least the guard rails are firmer with the riffing portion of the show.

I will say this: I've gone to all the nu-MST3K live shows in my area and enjoyed them. They also were kind of loose and fun and definitely less tryhard. The woman who plays Mega Synthia hosted one and she is genuinely funny.

yeah all that hamminess works much better in a live setting with an audience

the live show was fantastic, I went to one in....2021, i think?

Can we as a culture please just let something be a pleasant memory instead of trying to make it exist forever.

― deep wubs and tribral rhythms (Boring, Maryland), Sunday, November 26, 2023 6:53 PM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink

Yeah the last live go-round was end of 2021 and that was a damn treat, with the Emily-led crew and Megasynthia. (The just pre-COVID tour that was Joel's bowing-out from live touring also pretty sharp.)

I remember this show being a thing but had never actually seen it until I watched the dreary German Hamlet episode a couple of months ago and laughed my ass off.

The last time I felt that ol' mistie magic was the Cinematic Titanic live shows. Really felt like "a night out" and everyone was enthusiastic and present.

Cinematic Titanic was great, I even traveled to go to their shows. Now there’s apparently bad blood between Joel and Trace/Frank so that’s unrepeatable.

I'm glad they were still on speaking terms when I caught Cinematic Titanic roughly a decade ago

Thought there was rumor that issues between them had been resolved at some point within recent years

"I'd shoot Donald Regan to prove my love for Lisa Foster.”

Cave Dwellers is top notch still.