MST-volution
Fun MST3K goodness ahead. If you aren't a fan, go to hell. Or just don't read under the cut. Or both ;)
Long ago, in the days of yore, a great and wonderful show called Mystery Science Theater 3000 was on the airwaves (well, underground through cable wires...whatever). After premiering on KTMA, a local Minneapolis public access channel, it was eventually aired on the Comedy Channel (later named Comedy Central), before moving to the SciFi channel, where it aired for a number of years before finally being cancelled for good. There was also a feature film in the mix, but, well, even as a devoted fan, I have to admit it was kind of meh (though it's finally being released on DVD this spring; already pre-ordered it...w00t!).
This show was, in the parlance of yesteryear, da bomb. Possibly da bomb diggity. But I digress.
Lots of people knew of it (well, everyone that I knew...especially those who lived on the same dorm floor as me...man I always had tapes of it playing). But not as many have been following the brilliant new MST-esque projects coming from the cast and creators. So, to enlighten everyone, here's a rundown:
1) Mike Nelson's Legend Films releases (www.legendfilms.com). Legend Films colorized a number of classics, and the DVD releases contained supplemental audio tracks by Mike Nelson. He essentially did a one-man MSTing of them that you could turn on just like any other commentary track. Films included Reefer Madness, House on Huanted Hill, Plan 9 from Outer Space, Little Shop of Horrors, Carnival of Souls, and Night of the Living Dead (all the originals, none of the color remakes that most of you have probably seen). They are quite good, in my opinion. Quite clever and funny. But, alas, solo commentary just doesn't really have the same vibe as the group riffing from the original show. It has the funny but not the mojo.
2) Rifftrax (www.rifftrax.com). Also by Mike Nelson (along with guest riffers, often other castmembers from MST3K). Basically, you download these tracks in mp3 form and play them alongside the movie. The good part (besides the fact that they're cheap) is that, because they don't need to secure any movie rights, they can do any movie they choose. So they've done '90s/'00s big-budget titles like Batman & Robin, as well as commercially unavailable movies like the 1978 Star Wars Christmas Special (which I own, btw...Bea Arthur ftw). But, to be honest, I can't say I'm a fan. I prefer my riffing built in to the DVD. Trying to sync up the track to the movie...meh. I believe there might be some software or something that will do that for you (or possibly even allow you to take your DVD and the tracks and burn them together into a new, one-piece DVD), but I really haven't had the energy to mess with it. Maybe one day...
3) The Film Crew releases (www.filmcrewonline.com). The Film Crew (Mike Nelson, Keven Murphy, Bill Corbett; Mike, Tom, and Crow from SciFi era MST) riffs on crappy films. Shocker, huh? They've released 4 DVDs, all with built-in riffing (similar to Mike's Legend Films releases). No on-screen presence during the movie, but they do put on an intermission skit, so there's a bit of a framework around the whole process. It's sort of MST-lite. The releases have included Hollywood After Dark (a young Rue McClanahan as a stripper, 'nuff said), The Wild Women of Wongo, Giant of Marathon, and Killers From Space. I enjoyed all 4 of them quite a bit. The skits lacked the charm of the original show (Tom and Crow are comedy gold), but the actual riffing was superb.
4) Cinematic Titanic (www.cinematictitanic.com). This is the new project by the original cast members of MST3K (Joel, Josh, Trace [the original Joel, Tom, and Crow/Dr F] as well as Frank [TV's Frank] and Mary Jo [Pearl Forrester]). They do have an on-screen silhouette presence (aligned vertically up each side, rather than across the bottom). No sketches breaking things up, just the movie. But they do interesting things during the movie itself (pausing the film at various points for sort of mini-sketches, if you will). I have their first (and so far only) release, The Oozing Skull. I like it. It was funny. But...I hope they improve a bit with their future releases. It felt a bit random and all over the place at times.
In a lot of ways, it's a lot like early MST vs late MST. I always felt the Mike years were a bit snappier and polished with a wittier reparte, while the Joel years had a more laid-back mellow goofy vibe. Both good in their own way, of course. And that's sort of the difference between The Film Crew and Cinematic Titanic. TFC had a more cohesive feel, while CT had a lot of really funny material, but they didn't seem to gel together (possibly because CT does its writing independently and via teleconferencing, and the jokes feel that way, with a sort of every-riffer-for-him/herself vibe).
And on actual the MST3K front, Jim Mallon has started doing web animation skits with Tom, Crow, and Gypsy (new voices, of course) over at mst3k.com. The first couple have been...rough. Hopefully they'll improve, too. And Rhino has sold the DVD rights for MST3K to Shout Factory (who just did that brilliant My So Called Life release that everyone's been raving about). So with luck, episodes of the original show will be released more frequently *crossing fingers*
Nothing will ever quite replace MST3K. But with all the goings-on listed above, the true fans have their comedic versions of methadone to fall back on.
Long ago, in the days of yore, a great and wonderful show called Mystery Science Theater 3000 was on the airwaves (well, underground through cable wires...whatever). After premiering on KTMA, a local Minneapolis public access channel, it was eventually aired on the Comedy Channel (later named Comedy Central), before moving to the SciFi channel, where it aired for a number of years before finally being cancelled for good. There was also a feature film in the mix, but, well, even as a devoted fan, I have to admit it was kind of meh (though it's finally being released on DVD this spring; already pre-ordered it...w00t!).
This show was, in the parlance of yesteryear, da bomb. Possibly da bomb diggity. But I digress.
Lots of people knew of it (well, everyone that I knew...especially those who lived on the same dorm floor as me...man I always had tapes of it playing). But not as many have been following the brilliant new MST-esque projects coming from the cast and creators. So, to enlighten everyone, here's a rundown:
1) Mike Nelson's Legend Films releases (www.legendfilms.com). Legend Films colorized a number of classics, and the DVD releases contained supplemental audio tracks by Mike Nelson. He essentially did a one-man MSTing of them that you could turn on just like any other commentary track. Films included Reefer Madness, House on Huanted Hill, Plan 9 from Outer Space, Little Shop of Horrors, Carnival of Souls, and Night of the Living Dead (all the originals, none of the color remakes that most of you have probably seen). They are quite good, in my opinion. Quite clever and funny. But, alas, solo commentary just doesn't really have the same vibe as the group riffing from the original show. It has the funny but not the mojo.
2) Rifftrax (www.rifftrax.com). Also by Mike Nelson (along with guest riffers, often other castmembers from MST3K). Basically, you download these tracks in mp3 form and play them alongside the movie. The good part (besides the fact that they're cheap) is that, because they don't need to secure any movie rights, they can do any movie they choose. So they've done '90s/'00s big-budget titles like Batman & Robin, as well as commercially unavailable movies like the 1978 Star Wars Christmas Special (which I own, btw...Bea Arthur ftw). But, to be honest, I can't say I'm a fan. I prefer my riffing built in to the DVD. Trying to sync up the track to the movie...meh. I believe there might be some software or something that will do that for you (or possibly even allow you to take your DVD and the tracks and burn them together into a new, one-piece DVD), but I really haven't had the energy to mess with it. Maybe one day...
3) The Film Crew releases (www.filmcrewonline.com). The Film Crew (Mike Nelson, Keven Murphy, Bill Corbett; Mike, Tom, and Crow from SciFi era MST) riffs on crappy films. Shocker, huh? They've released 4 DVDs, all with built-in riffing (similar to Mike's Legend Films releases). No on-screen presence during the movie, but they do put on an intermission skit, so there's a bit of a framework around the whole process. It's sort of MST-lite. The releases have included Hollywood After Dark (a young Rue McClanahan as a stripper, 'nuff said), The Wild Women of Wongo, Giant of Marathon, and Killers From Space. I enjoyed all 4 of them quite a bit. The skits lacked the charm of the original show (Tom and Crow are comedy gold), but the actual riffing was superb.
4) Cinematic Titanic (www.cinematictitanic.com). This is the new project by the original cast members of MST3K (Joel, Josh, Trace [the original Joel, Tom, and Crow/Dr F] as well as Frank [TV's Frank] and Mary Jo [Pearl Forrester]). They do have an on-screen silhouette presence (aligned vertically up each side, rather than across the bottom). No sketches breaking things up, just the movie. But they do interesting things during the movie itself (pausing the film at various points for sort of mini-sketches, if you will). I have their first (and so far only) release, The Oozing Skull. I like it. It was funny. But...I hope they improve a bit with their future releases. It felt a bit random and all over the place at times.
In a lot of ways, it's a lot like early MST vs late MST. I always felt the Mike years were a bit snappier and polished with a wittier reparte, while the Joel years had a more laid-back mellow goofy vibe. Both good in their own way, of course. And that's sort of the difference between The Film Crew and Cinematic Titanic. TFC had a more cohesive feel, while CT had a lot of really funny material, but they didn't seem to gel together (possibly because CT does its writing independently and via teleconferencing, and the jokes feel that way, with a sort of every-riffer-for-him/herself vibe).
And on actual the MST3K front, Jim Mallon has started doing web animation skits with Tom, Crow, and Gypsy (new voices, of course) over at mst3k.com. The first couple have been...rough. Hopefully they'll improve, too. And Rhino has sold the DVD rights for MST3K to Shout Factory (who just did that brilliant My So Called Life release that everyone's been raving about). So with luck, episodes of the original show will be released more frequently *crossing fingers*
Nothing will ever quite replace MST3K. But with all the goings-on listed above, the true fans have their comedic versions of methadone to fall back on.