Mystery Science Theater 3000 and Rifftrax

What is your opinion on MST3k/Rifftrax

  • 1. Love it more than life itself and will sacrifice my first born child to glorify it's name

    Votes: 84 21.8%

  • 2. Love it

    Votes: 224 58.2%

  • 3. Meh

    Votes: 50 13.0%

  • 4. Hate it

    Votes: 9 2.3%

  • 5. What the fuck is a MST3K?!

    Votes: 18 4.7%
  • Total voters
    385
I think he started as a cameraman during the KTMA days and then just kept helping out more and more on different aspects until he became a pillar of the entire series.
 
Tor Lugosi said:
I think he started as a cameraman during the KTMA days and then just kept helping out more and more on different aspects until he became a pillar of the entire series.
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I think he did some miscellaneous tech stuff and maybe some writing too. While KTMA wasnt tightly scripted there was some prewritten material.
He also was in an ad for a travel company that ran during MST, it's included in an ep or two like the ad with The Mads shilling for a local pizza joint
 
Sir Wesley Tailpipe said:
I’d be surprised if Joel turned out to be talented, the guy has no charisma or energy.
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I definitely understand the sentiment of him seeming lacking in energy; I always feel like he’s falling asleep!

of course, I still argue for his wit as a creator of the series! I remember an excerpt from a talk he did a while back (I’ll have to search for it again) in which he stressed the importance of timing every joke for maximum keks for the audience...However he also said it was important to not be too much of an asshole, something I don’t quite agree with (and so appreciate Mike sometimes more for his more scathing remarks), haha.
 
I appreciate what Joel did for the series and getting the ball rolling, but I was more a fan of Mike as a riffer.

It felt like more songs and music were brought in when Mike took Joel's place, and I'm definitely okay with that.
 
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Medical Hawaii said:
I definitely understand the sentiment of him seeming lacking in energy; I always feel like he’s falling asleep!

of course, I still argue for his wit as a creator of the series! I remember an excerpt from a talk he did a while back (I’ll have to search for it again) in which he stressed the importance of timing every joke for maximum keks for the audience...However he also said it was important to not be too much of an asshole, something I don’t quite agree with (and so appreciate Mike sometimes more for his more scathing remarks), haha.
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Invention Exchange was also Joel’s idea, as half of his stand-up act was shitty prop comedy. That segment had a 50% hit rate, at best, yet it was forced into every single episode for years.
 
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Autumnal Equinox said:
I like both, but Mike definitely had more charisma and timing. Joel wasn't bad, but he always seemed like he was stoned off his ass on the show, and his riffs kinda suffered as a result.
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Trace and Frank carried the Joel episodes. Most of the funniest jokes came from Trace, with Frank throwing in good add-ons and Joel being the baked dude who occasionally says something, which may or may not be a joke to anyone else.
 
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Losing Trace definitely hurt. He was Dr. Forrester and nobody could replace him.

Pearl was just...weird. Like she started off as his mother and then took over as the main mad, and it was just odd and never really fit. No knock on Mary Jo. It was just an adjustment that I never quite got used to. And Felicia Day was just awful (Pearl coming back and interacting with her actually saved some of those segments).

The good thing about the later seasons though is that the movie selection was terrific and the riffing was as good as ever, and that was always the main draw for me.
 
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What's everyone's favorite Joel and Mike episode?

I seem to remember more Mike ones, haha.
It'd be between The Horrors of Spider Island, Santa Claus, Werewolf, Final Sacrifice...

Joel episodes: I Accuse my Parents, Manos: Hands of Fate, ...
 
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I'm a bit biased because I was introduced to the show through Joel and I kinda dug his weird stilted performance. It felt like a contrast with the goofy, over the top personalities the robots had and I liked his episodes for that. Plus Joel's episodes tend to be my favorites, like Pod People, I Accuse My Parents, and The Unearthly.

Mike's more charismatic to be sure, I just kinda prefer Joel's almost annoyed demeanor, as if he's sick of Crow and Tom's shit sometimes.
 
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Medical Hawaii said:
What's everyone's favorite Joel and Mike episode?
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Top Five for each! (no particular order)

Joel:
1) Manos the Hands of Fate (That's a given, right? I mean...its like THE MST3K episode)
2) Alien Fugitive I and II (He tried to kill me with a forklift! Also "Rocky" "Again?" was a running gag that tickled me for some reason)
3) I Accuse My Parents (LIAR LIAR!)
4) The Gamera Movies (Because I love kaiju flicks and mixing MST3K with Gamera the Super Turtle was pure gold. Gamera Vs. Guiron, my favorite of the Showa Gamera films for its wild absurdity was also my favorite MST3K Gamera outing).
5) Cave Dwellers (The hang glider scene fucking killed me, lol)

Mike:
1) Space Mutiny (This movie was made for MST3K. Plain and simple. It was a perfect marriage)
2) Soultaker (We get to see Joel and Mike on screen together, and the movie itself is riffed to near perfection)
3) Werewolf (I saw this one at a bachelor party and we were losing it the whole time. It was fantastic. Getting drunk, eating pizza, and laughing our asses off. It was beautiful and the way they pick on the lead actress his hysterical).
4) The Final Sacrifice (Zap Rowsdower is right up there with Torgo as one of the greatest characters in MST3K history)
5) Hobgoblins (Its raunchy and terrible and the guys riff it perfectly, including one of my all time favorites: "Is it possible to get a venereal disease from watching a movie?)
 
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Medical Hawaii said:
What's everyone's favorite Joel and Mike episode?

I seem to remember more Mike ones, haha.
It'd be between The Horrors of Spider Island, Santa Claus, Werewolf, Final Sacrifice...

Joel episodes: I Accuse my Parents, Manos: Hands of Fate, ...
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RumblyTumbly said:
Top Five for each! (no particular order)

Joel:
1) Manos the Hands of Fate (That's a given, right? I mean...its like THE MST3K episode)
2) Alien Fugitive I and II (He tried to kill me with a forklift! Also "Rocky" "Again?" was a running gag that tickled me for some reason)
3) I Accuse My Parents (LIAR LIAR!)
4) The Gamera Movies (Because of I love kaiju flicks and mixing MST3K with Gamera the Super Turtle was pure gold. Gamera Vs. Guiron, my favorite of the Showa Gamera films for its wild absurdity was also my favorite MST3K Gamera outing).
5) Cave Dwellers (The hang glider scene fucking killed me, lol)

Mike:
1) Space Mutiny (This movie was made for MST3K. Plain and simple. It was a perfect marriage)
2) Soultaker (We get to see Joel and Mike on screen together, and the movie itself is riffed to near perfection)
3) Werewolf (I saw this one at a bachelor party and we were losing it the whole time. It was fantastic. Getting drunk, eating pizza, and laughing our asses off. It was beautiful and the way they pick on the lead actress his hysterical).
4) The Final Sacrifice (Zap Rowsdower is right up there with Torgo as one of the greatest characters in MST3K history)
5) Hobgoblins (Its raunchy and terrible and the guys riff it perfectly, including one of my all time favorites: "Is it possible to get a venereal disease from watching a movie?)
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OMG I FORGOT SPACE MUTINY, that is possibly one of my all-time favorites!

"But what of all the little children and their toys?"
"Did you sign Sherry's card?" x1000
"Too slow...I'll have to drop the waxing compound!"
all the superhero names for the buff guy

that Enforcer chase scene had me laughing so hard, I could hardly breathe
 
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