Joel? Are You Watching Raccoons Again Joel?!ã¯â»â¿
Imagine this: a person stuck inside, all alone with nothing to do but scout movies (while occasionally receiving disruptive and misleading reports from the people who are ostensibly in charge). That might seem to depict nigh people in the world right at present, merely information technology'south really about the future. The not-too-distant hereafter, in fact…
Information technology is, of course, the premise of the cult Television set series Mystery Science Theater 3000, the prove in which robots Cambot, Gypsy, Tom Servo, and Crow T. Robot bring together a human host to brand fun of terrible movies. Inspired by the 1972 Douglass Trumbull film Silent Running, series creator and original host Joel Hodgson created a blithesome, scrappy celebration of humor and comedy in the face of loneliness and powerlessness. Even as the series changed channels, casts, and hosts over the years, that basic hopeful bulletin remained consistent: Even in the direst situations, you can try to continue your sanity with the help of your (constructed, if necessary) friends.
For that reason, MST3K is the ideal comfort spotter for times such as these, when nosotros're all scared, stuck, and lone, together.
With 217 episodes released over twelve seasons, it can be daunting to make up one's mind where to start. Every MSTie certainly has their personal favorites (The Giant Spider Invasion, for me) and personal least favorites (Village, just I don't dearest Manos: The Hands of Fate, either). Merely the vi episodes listed here are generally considered to rank among the best from each era of the series and each 1 offers a corking identify to jump in, if yous need some firsthand condolement viewing!
The Joel Years (1988-1993)
Screenshot: Shout! Manufactory
Playing original host Joel Robinson, Hodgson established the bones structure of the evidence. Mad scientists Dr. Clayton Forrester (Trace Beaulieu) and Dr. Laurence Erhardt (J. Elvis Weinstein) send Joel horrible movies, which he riffs on with the goofily pompous Tom Servo (Weinstein) and the sarcastic Crow (Beaulieu). Afterwards the first season, Weinstein stepped down and Kevin Murphy took over equally Servo, while Frank Conniff became Dr. Forrester's new assistant, Television receiver's Frank.
Even as Joel and the bots fabricated fun of the movies, his laconic presence and commitment revealed a genuine affection for the films he skewered. His gently paternal nature balanced Crow'due south snark and Servo's bloviating, none more than in these two classics:
Episode 303: Pod People
Indisputably one of the kickoff keen MST3K episodes, Pod People tries to be a monster movie and a family film simultaneously, and fails at both. The A-plot involves the titular creatures attacking teenagers who travel to a remote cabin to record an anthology. In the B-plot, a young male child finds a kindly pod person he dubs "Trumpy" and goofy hijinks ensue. While Trumpy's odd feats of telekinesis astonish the male child, Joel speaks for all of usa when he quips, "Trumpy, you can practice stupid things!"
The episode boasts some of the best host segments of Joel'south run, including the Mads creating a public domain karaoke machine that offers such hits every bit "Gregorian Dirge #5" instead of Foreigner'due south "I Desire to Know What Dear Is." But the real musical highlight of the episode is "Idiot Control At present," Joel and the bots' parody of the cheesy rock song performed in the movie.
Episode 512: Mitchell
Joel's run tended to focus on 1950s sci-fi movies featuring giant monsters, such as the aptly titled The Giant Gila Monster or the Godzilla knock-off Gamera, but Joel and the gang had just as much fun with more mundane flicks like Mitchell. Described by Dr. Forrester every bit a "super-hush-hush spy…who has a motorcycle…Marooned in Space… meets Hercules…or non" movie, Mitchell is a '70s thriller that seems too tired to thrill.
The plot of Mitchell doesn't affair, considering the movie's real draw is star Joe Don Bakery, a ii-time target of the MST3K crew who reportedly didn't care for the show's attention. And while Crow and Servo practice take more than a few shots at Baker's seeming disinterest in the fabric, the best joke is the gentle riff Joel makes as a car on-screen pulls up to an estate: "Mitchell, dear, put on your shoes, nosotros're at Grandma'south." That silly, kind-hearted ribbing perfectly encapsulates Joel'southward arroyo.
The Mike Years (1993-1999)
Screenshot: Shout! Manufacturing plant
Afterwards Hodgson retired from the show in 1994, head writer Michael J. Nelson took over as new host Mike Nelson. Mike shared Joel's Midwestern ease, albeit with a more sarcastic edge; the jokes became more pointed and the satire a bit sharper. During Mike'southward run, the host segments featured fewer props and more skits and songs lampooning the movies they watched.
Mike wasn't the only new face on the show, as Beaulieu and Conniff left soon after Joel. Mary Jo Pehl took the role of primary antagonist Pearl Forrester, with Potato condign her Planet of the Apes-inspired lackey Professor Bobo. They were joined by new cast member Beak Corbett in the role of Pearl's other henchman the Encephalon Guy and every bit the new voice of Crow. Despite these changes, Mike, Irish potato's Servo, and Corbett's Crow had immediate chemical science, giving us arguably the series' two all-time episodes.
Episode 820: Space Mutiny
On newspaper, Infinite Mutiny doesn't sound that different from a Star Expedition episode, in which a young soldier must cease duplicitous officials from overtaking a mammoth starship. Also, space ladies with Stevie Nicks' hair show up, for some reason. Simply the filmmakers execute that premise with utter ineptitude, to the glee of Mike and the bots.
Infinite Wildcat provides plenty of fodder for jokes, from the performances by B-movie greats Reb Brownish and Cameron Mitchell to its setting in an empty warehouse insufficiently passing for a star cruiser. Simply the best riff could not accept been predictable by the filmmakers: a running gag in which Mike and the bots give Brown increasingly ridiculous Action Hero names, including Blast Hardcheese, Punch Sideiron, and, uh, Bob Johnson.
Episode 910: The Final Cede
The Final Sacrifice features a young boy beingness chased through the Canadian wilderness by a mysterious cult. His one promise is a grizzled, hard-drinking Canuck with a mysterious past. No, not Wolverine. I'm talking nearly Zap Rowsdower, the man who asks deep questions like, "I wonder if there's beer on the sun,"
The Final Cede might be the perfect episode of MST3K. Non merely is the pic properly light-headed, featuring a decidedly unheroic hero in Zap Rowsdower and a dopey villain with an incongruously booming voice, just Mike and the bots are besides on the top of their game every pace of the way. Jokes almost Larry Csonka and the 1972 Miami Dolphins may not country with modernistic audiences, but everyone can savor Servo'south increasingly hostile Canada song. (Well, peradventure not Canadians.)
The Jonah Years (2017-2018)
Screenshot: Netflix
After a hiatus of nearly 20 years, Mystery Science Theater 3000 returned in 2017. Bolstered by an immensely successful Kickstarter entrada and a distribution deal with Netflix, Hodgson and a new team put together twenty new episodes of the series.
In addition to college production values and special guest stars like Wil Wheaton and Marker Hamill, seasons 11 and 12 of MST3K featured an all-new bandage. Hampton Yount and Baron Vaughn came on to voice Crow and Servo, while Rebecca Hanson voiced Gypsy. Jonah Ray took over hosting duties as Jonah Heston, and Felicia Day and Patton Oswalt became the new Mads, Kinga Forrester and Max (aka Television's Son of TV's Frank).
MST3K three.0 featured a more than rapid-fire riffing manner that overwhelmed some longtime viewers, while also bringing in a new generation of fans. Just no matter how long they've been watching, MSTies of every type concord that Jonah's run featured at least 2 acme-tier episodes.
Episode 1102: Cry Wilderness
Because they tend to be variations on '50s beast features or knock-offs of more popular films, MST3K movies usually have relatively uncomplicated plots. That cannot be said of Cry Wilderness, which involves Bigfoot's ghost, native American stereotypes, a young boy in a boarding school, and a guy who looks similar a bargain basement Frank Stallone. Also raccoons. Lots of rampaging raccoons.
Those raccoons inspire my favorite Jonah host segment, in which he chuckles boisterously as Crow and Servo, dressed as raccoons, ravage cereal boxes for 30 seconds. It's latter-day MST3K absurdity at its finest.
Episode 1201: Mac and Me
No movie is suited for modern MST3K quite like Mac and Me. A glorified commercial for Coke and McDonald'southward masquerading as an ET-manner family film, the 1988 moving-picture show has been an cyberspace punching bag for years (thank you in part to Paul Rudd bringing the same clip from the film to his every Conan O'Brien appearance). But no one has celebrated the movie'southward absurdity like Jonah and the bots.
Whether they're turning a corny line into an unlikely take hold of-phrase ("pretty nice!") or reacting with genuine horror to the gratuitously tearing climax, Jonah, Crow, and Servo brand Mac & Me's familiar ridiculousness feel fresh again. The episode serves to remind everyone why, even after the advent of YouTube and Twitch, Mystery Science Theater remains the premier movie riffing show, connecting generations of fans.
Bonus: The RiffTrax MST3K Reunion
Perhaps the most comforting bit of MST3K viewing isn't an MST3K episode at all. Rather, it'southward a special hosted past RiffTrax, the spin-off visitor created past Michael Nelson, Kevin White potato, and Bill Corbett. For their 2016 live spectacular, they brought together every key player from the show, salve Weinstein and original producer Jim Mallon, for a night of bad film greatness. It'due south the just place you'll see Joel, Mike, and Jonah all sharing the phase.
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Those are my picks, but please share your own favorite episodes and moments in the comments—nosotros're all in this together, so permit us know what makes you laugh and brings you joy, whether it's the amazing MST shorts, Manos, Miles O'Keeffe, or Mystery Scientific discipline Theater 3000: The Film…
Originally published in April 2020.
Joe George's writing has appeared at Call up Christian, FilmInquiry, and is collected at joewriteswords.com. He hosts the spider web series Renewed Mind Flick Talk and tweets nonsense from @jageorgeii.
citation
Source: https://www.tor.com/2020/11/25/6-perfect-episodes-of-mst3k-to-help-you-really-just-relax/
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