Post by The Curmudgeon on May 19, 2008 4:23:46 GMT 2
For a limited time only! Things The Curmudgeon actually LIKES - part three!
It's that time once again, faithful readers. Time to stop attacking the wretched dross available on this site and embrace the very best things that makes The Curmudgeon NOT wish hot, burning death on everyone on the planet. In short - its a time of celebration. And hey - YOU'RE invited.
It was a total fluke that I happened to see this show.
Back when MST3K was on the air, the only place to see it was in America. This was back in the time when the net wasn't invented, we ate what we killed ourselves and people used to have sex with monkeys. Probably. Dark days, my friends.
So it was only on a "vacation", as you space age yanks say, to America that I discovered the wonder, the sheer unadulterated joy that is Mystery Science Theater 3000. A show that does two pretty amazing things; it effortlessly glides past its shoe-string budget, creating lovable, fun characters from hunks of plastic but it also makes watching the worst movies imaginable into 90 of the best minutes of your day.
As is the case with, say, The Simpsons and such, I'm not actually reviewing this DVD itself, more the overall show (although both these episodes are hilarious, even if Manos had appeared on an earlier boxset). So while the very, very first episodes were quite hard to sit through, with some poor jokes, dodgy voices and loooong gaps in between talking, MST3K hit a stride fairly early on in its run and the quality didn't let up right till the end.
For those who don't know what this show is (and trust me, 99% of the UK seems to have never heard of it - certainly anyone I ever met), its premise is fiendishly simple; an average Joe (or Joel, and in later seasons Mike) is blasted into space by mad scientists to watch terrible B-movies while they scan his brain. Joel creates some robots to watch the movies with him and keep him company, and they, as indeed, do we, proceed to sit and watch the entire film, with only their wisecracks to keep us from gouging out our eyes instead of watching the film.
It sounds like a show that would quickly run out of steam. How many gags can you get out of watching old movies? Well, its down to the genius writing and perfect delivery of Joel, Mike (I always preferred Mike, to be honest), Tom Servo and Crow T. Robot that kept the show fresh, funny, endlessly quotable and even at over 90 minutes at a time, often without a dragging moment.
Yes, some episodes were better than others, but that was often down to the choice of film than the choice of gags. There are some truly side-splitting episodes that demand repeat viewing, with constant inspired, surreal riffs that just seem to flow from the crew. It never feels scripted or pre-determined. Every gag sounds off the cuff. Never before have bad movies turned into solid GOLD television.
MST3K suffered more than most TV shows. In fact, it bore the brunt of most things that either make a show "jump the shark" or kill it completely. Different writers, different voice actors for the robots, different mad scientists, change of station, different lead star - you name it, the MST3K crew faced it, dealt with it and kept on coming up with the goods. In today's age of shows being cancelled half way through a series for no real reason (hello, Bionic Woman) its nothing less than a triumph.
Sadly, a lot of these episodes (the show ran for 10 years) will probably never see the official light of day due to copyright issues, so its more reason to cherish the episodes that have made it through.
For those that actually LOVE old, corny films (like the MST3K crew do), its a treat. For those that just love hearing the most hilarious running commentary on bad movies, it's an absolute blast. MST3K really did offer something new from something old. To watch it is to love it.
And that, good reader, is Part Two in my list of the great and the good. But what could possibly be up next? Only one way to find out..
It's that time once again, faithful readers. Time to stop attacking the wretched dross available on this site and embrace the very best things that makes The Curmudgeon NOT wish hot, burning death on everyone on the planet. In short - its a time of celebration. And hey - YOU'RE invited.
It was a total fluke that I happened to see this show.
Back when MST3K was on the air, the only place to see it was in America. This was back in the time when the net wasn't invented, we ate what we killed ourselves and people used to have sex with monkeys. Probably. Dark days, my friends.
So it was only on a "vacation", as you space age yanks say, to America that I discovered the wonder, the sheer unadulterated joy that is Mystery Science Theater 3000. A show that does two pretty amazing things; it effortlessly glides past its shoe-string budget, creating lovable, fun characters from hunks of plastic but it also makes watching the worst movies imaginable into 90 of the best minutes of your day.
As is the case with, say, The Simpsons and such, I'm not actually reviewing this DVD itself, more the overall show (although both these episodes are hilarious, even if Manos had appeared on an earlier boxset). So while the very, very first episodes were quite hard to sit through, with some poor jokes, dodgy voices and loooong gaps in between talking, MST3K hit a stride fairly early on in its run and the quality didn't let up right till the end.
For those who don't know what this show is (and trust me, 99% of the UK seems to have never heard of it - certainly anyone I ever met), its premise is fiendishly simple; an average Joe (or Joel, and in later seasons Mike) is blasted into space by mad scientists to watch terrible B-movies while they scan his brain. Joel creates some robots to watch the movies with him and keep him company, and they, as indeed, do we, proceed to sit and watch the entire film, with only their wisecracks to keep us from gouging out our eyes instead of watching the film.
It sounds like a show that would quickly run out of steam. How many gags can you get out of watching old movies? Well, its down to the genius writing and perfect delivery of Joel, Mike (I always preferred Mike, to be honest), Tom Servo and Crow T. Robot that kept the show fresh, funny, endlessly quotable and even at over 90 minutes at a time, often without a dragging moment.
Yes, some episodes were better than others, but that was often down to the choice of film than the choice of gags. There are some truly side-splitting episodes that demand repeat viewing, with constant inspired, surreal riffs that just seem to flow from the crew. It never feels scripted or pre-determined. Every gag sounds off the cuff. Never before have bad movies turned into solid GOLD television.
MST3K suffered more than most TV shows. In fact, it bore the brunt of most things that either make a show "jump the shark" or kill it completely. Different writers, different voice actors for the robots, different mad scientists, change of station, different lead star - you name it, the MST3K crew faced it, dealt with it and kept on coming up with the goods. In today's age of shows being cancelled half way through a series for no real reason (hello, Bionic Woman) its nothing less than a triumph.
Sadly, a lot of these episodes (the show ran for 10 years) will probably never see the official light of day due to copyright issues, so its more reason to cherish the episodes that have made it through.
For those that actually LOVE old, corny films (like the MST3K crew do), its a treat. For those that just love hearing the most hilarious running commentary on bad movies, it's an absolute blast. MST3K really did offer something new from something old. To watch it is to love it.
And that, good reader, is Part Two in my list of the great and the good. But what could possibly be up next? Only one way to find out..
