Mystery Science Theater 3000 and Rifftrax

[bifftango]

I just want to know who had the fascination with the "Kathy" comic strip. "Achhhh!"

I'm just going to go with Kevin because... why not? I know he wasn't (and still isn't) as much into the writing, but I could see him going deep on Cathy lore. As for Rifftrax, any weirdly shoe-horned in, unfunny video game joke is Conor Lastowka. Hearing any of the guys try to spit those out is cringe.

 

[Starscreams Cape]

I'm just going to go with Kevin because... why not? I know he wasn't (and still isn't) as much into the writing, but I could see him going deep on Cathy lore. As for Rifftrax, any weirdly shoe-horned in, unfunny video game joke is Conor Lastowka. Hearing any of the guys try to spit those out is cringe.

Yep, agree about Conor. He's also the guy that I distinctly remember saying was going to go back through early Rifftrax commentaries for Anti-Trans humor. It was in a Facebook comment section or maybe Twitter. Not sure if he ever did it, but faggot status confirmed regardless. He also went on Jeopardy as if to prove what a douche he is.

Good call on Kevin. I think he makes jokes about The Lockhorns, too, so him being source of Cathy references is probably correct.

 

[Commander X]

In recent Rifftraxing, the most recent release has been, from the producer of Rollergator, Baby Ghost. Also starring, you guessed it, Joe Estevez. Also starring, location filming that looks like it was done quickly before anyone realized the film crew had no permit for doing so.

 

[Kornula]

♫ It's the '80s!

Do a lot of coke and vote for Ronald Reagan! ♩

(also was it really "fish picker"?)

Yup..that's what we did in the 1980s! .. I know at least I did anyway.

 

[King Dead]

Yup..that's what we did in the 1980s! .. I know at least I did anyway.

And speaking of that movie, the first live Rifftrax show since 2019 is finally happening next Tuesday, a re-riff of Hobgoblins. Was supposed to happen last year, but then, y'know, the coof happened. Amityville Horror 4 is scheduled for October 26th.

Last year, they had a one-off of Jack-O around Halloween, but that wasn't a live show like they usually do. Of course, that's a movie that stands on its own for being entertainingly bad. This line read in particular is absolutely hilarious, a pathetic "noooo" at the climax of the movie (timestamp doesn't work for the embed since it's age-restricted, but the line is at 56:30):

 

[Starscreams Cape]

I throw on the MST3K twitch channel (same as the ShoutTV MST3K 24/7 channel) while I'm working from home. It's amazing how economical old MST3K, Film Crew, Cinematic Titanic and EARLY Rifftraxx was. The riffs were quick hitters and it worked.

One thing that bums me out about Rifftraxx of recent years is how "talky" the guys are. Often it takes way too long to set up jokes with idle banter. Gone are the tight riffs about what is going on in the movie. Rifftraxx of the last several years is meant to appeal squarely to millenials.

And let's be honest here, the aforementioned Conor Lastowka is a symbol of the fact that the humor is somewhat gutless now. I know they would say they've matured, and perhaps it's something that happens to all comedians. But it's kind of sad.

I don't hate everything they do now, more of a wistful disappointment and yearning for a day when they were more uninhibited in their humor.

 

[Tor Lugosi]

One thing that bums me out about Rifftraxx of recent years is how "talky" the guys are. Often it takes way too long to set up jokes with idle banter. Gone are the tight riffs about what is going on in the movie. Rifftraxx of the last several years is meant to appeal squarely to millenials.

I was just thinking about this recently. Way too often now they just feel like people talking over the movie and making jokes to each other that have little to nothing to do with the actual film.
"That building back there? That's where they wrote Rollergator!"
"That dumpster? That's where Nick Nolte slept last night!"

 

[Starscreams Cape]

I was just thinking about how this recently. Way too often now they just feel like people talking over the movie and making jokes to each other that have little to nothing to do with the actual film.
"That building back there? That's where they wrote Rollergator!"
"That dumpster? That's where Nick Nolte slept last night!"

Yep, good point. Full of lazy call-backs.

I wish I could get these guys to understand how important the "short form" joke is. Quick quips and comments, not an overworked, two sentence attempt that is DOA. Actually they could learn something from Mary Jo and Brigett, as the few things of theirs I've seen was much better than anything the boys have been doing lately.

 

[Flexo]

I was just thinking about how this recently. Way too often now they just feel like people talking over the movie and making jokes to each other that have little to nothing to do with the actual film.
"That building back there? That's where they wrote Rollergator!"
"That dumpster? That's where Nick Nolte slept last night!"

It will be very interesting to see how the hobgoblins riff stacks up against the original mst3k since they got pretty brutal at times.

Yep, good point. Full of lazy call-backs.

I wish I could get these guys to understand how important the "short form" joke is. Quick quips and comments, not an overworked, two sentence attempt that is DOA. Actually they could learn something from Mary Jo and Brigett, as the few things of theirs I've seen was much better than anything the boys have been doing lately.

Plus when you have a bunch of short & fast jokes, it then makes the longer bits stand out more.

 

[Starscreams Cape]

Just a reminder of who's steering the ship these days at Rifftraxx. From Vermont, thought competing on Jeopardy was the highlight of his life, wanted to remove early, "problematic" riffs...

Meet Conor Lastowka

 

[Flexo]

Just a reminder of who's steering the ship these days at Rifftraxx. From Vermont, thought competing on Jeopardy was the highlight of his life, wanted to remove early, "problematic" riffs...

Meet Conor Lastowka

View attachment 2438504

I keep wanting to read his name as "lowtax." Anyone else?

 

[XYZpdq]

one time in the irls I saw Peter Graves and I was all "zomg ur that dude from Beginning of the End and It Conquored The World" and he was like "oh, you're one of _those_ people, hahaha. . . ."
dude still gave me an autograph, though
this was before MST did Parts and weren't quite so rough on Peter
I assume he was less cheerful after that

 

[ditto]

one time in the irls I saw Peter Graves and I was all "zomg ur that dude from Beginning of the End and It Conquored The World" and he was like "oh, you're one of _those_ people, hahaha. . . ."
dude still gave me an autograph, though
this was before MST did Parts and weren't quite so rough on Peter
I assume he was less cheerful after that

Just saw the KTMA episode S.S.T Deathflight with none other than Peter Graves wearing an amazing toupee, hitting on the fiance of a very young Q.

 

[XYZpdq]

Just saw the KTMA episode S.S.T Deathflight with none other than Peter Graves wearing an amazing toupee, hitting on the fiance of a very young Q.

the funniest part of that ep for me is how it was just in time that even KTMA MST could get in a "lol it's Q from Star Trek" joke

 

[Dark Emporer Dood]

I liked some of the original MST3K episodes, but not enough to really follow the actors later endeavors and definitely not enough to even bother watching the reboot. That show worked 80% because of its short budget and having the perfect crew, and now with LPs and bad movie commentaries galore it doesn't really have a place anymore..

Unpopular opinion but Rifftrax has always been too money grubby to me. They only get away with selling exclusive commentary AND having an exclusive patreon/kickstarters is exclusively because of star power. Also their exclusive patreon page loves the word exclusive.

 

[eternal dog mongler]

That show worked 80% because of its short budget and having the perfect crew, and now with LPs and bad movie commentaries galore it doesn't really have a place anymore..

The modern equivalents (including RiffTrax) suck. Can't capture lightning in a bottle again.

What really made MST3K work was a genuine love for shitty movies combined with actually being funny.

 

[Starscreams Cape]

The modern equivalents (including RiffTrax) suck. Can't capture lightning in a bottle again.

What really made MST3K work was a genuine love for shitty movies combined with actually being funny.

Very early Rifftrax and Film Crew were good. In fact you could almost view "Film Crew" as "lost episodes" of MST. If just listen to them they are for all intents and purposes Sci-fi era MST3K, the highpoint of the show.

Unfortunately RiffTrax is safe and unfunny now. As I said previously, they rely on overly long "bits" instead of quick, rhythmic riffs. I suppose some of it is to be expected. Name any comedian that gets funny as they get older. If there are any it's a short list indeed. Modesty (i.e. 'What will my kids think?!) becomes more prevalent. Even Richard Pryor succumbed to it. They also have a Vermont faggot as their head guy while the old men just read what's written for them and occasionally chip in with a 45 second Nick Nolte or Kevin vs Bill zinger.

 

[BootlegPopeye]

With Rifftrax - and particularly after he had Kevin and Bill along - it was nice to see them do new, big 'mainstream' movies that they'd never in hell get the rights to before. Them shitting on M. Night Shyamalan movies was a particular favorite target of mine. But at some point, they 'matured' and got unfunny, like others have said. I don't have an exact date on this and am happy to be corrected, but it seemed like they started taking on water about the same time as Joel's MST3k revival happened.

 

[Flexo]

Unfortunately RiffTrax is safe and unfunny now. As I said previously, they rely on overly long "bits" instead of quick, rhythmic riffs. I suppose some of it is to be expected. Name any comedian that gets funny as they get older. If there are any it's a short list indeed. Modesty (i.e. 'What will my kids think?!) becomes more prevalent. Even Richard Pryor succumbed to it. They also have a Vermont faggot as their head guy while the old men just read what's written for them and occasionally chip in with a 45 second Nick Nolte or Kevin vs Bill zinger.

Old guys I can think of...
Rodney Dangerfield.
Don Rickels.
Peter Boyle.

Yeah it's a short list of those who can keep their edge into the gray years. Norm McDonald seems to be doing a good job of it so far.

 

[Sexual Chocolate]

The modern equivalents (including RiffTrax) suck. Can't capture lightning in a bottle again.

What really made MST3K work was a genuine love for shitty movies combined with actually being funny.

Also it ran in a pre-internet era and before multi-billion-dollar corporations started selling a soy-drenched, mass market version of "nerd culture" to retards. Idk exactly why, but those things seem significant somehow in explaining why MST3K worked circa the early 90's but trying to replicate it in 2021 fails.

MST3K was genuine, just a bunch of slightly dorky guys cracking jokes and having fun watching shitty movies on VHS in their basement. Nostalgia goggles are a powerful thing tho. When MST3K was good, it was great, but a lot of it was filler. I thought most of the heavily scripted "bits" fell flat - invention exchange usually wasn't funny and anything involving Pearl was terrible - but nobody watched the show for those parts. Usually the jokes came thick and fast enough to make the movie parts entertaining.

Closest thing to it now might be watching the RedLetterMedia guys getting drunk watching Best of the Worst, but that's not much of a substitute and pretty hit and miss itself.