Mystery Science Theater 3000 and Rifftrax

[Meriasek]

This wouldn't happen to be SchleFaz, which is spammed in many movies' IMDb trivia sections, would it? I always see it mentioned in the trivia and downvote it because it has nothing to do with the movie trivia.

Uh, no, it's just the German dub of Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie, dubbed by Oliver Welke and Oliver Kalkofe, marking one of the few times Oliver Welke was ever funny.
But Kalkofe went on to do SchleFaZ based on it.
MST fans shun the movie since it was a watered down version of the show, but it was all we ever got in Germany at least.

 

[bifftango]

Uh, no, it's just the German dub of Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie, dubbed by Oliver Welke and Oliver Kalkofe, marking one of the few times Oliver Welke was ever funny.
But Kalkofe went on to do SchleFaZ based on it.
MST fans shun the movie since it was a watered down version of the show, but it was all we ever got in Germany at least.

The humor is very Americana, so it would have been very difficult to export dubs in a way that is remotely true to the original. I actually don't mind the movie, but the fact that it's shorter than an actual episode of the show and they didn't really try to expand the world at all (at least for the movie) was disappointing.

 

[marvlouslie]

I loved MST3K as a kid, on Comedy Central (or whatever it was called then) and later on SciFy with Pearl. I thought Mike was a better host than Joel, just because Joel came off so stiff.

That said, I recently rewatched a couple episode and while they were funny, they didn't quite hit the funny bone like they did 25 years ago. I guess it was one of those things where "you had to be there" at that time and place, plus I grew up or matured or whatever you want to say. I got old and my sense of humor changed.

But it was a great show at the time and was like just ripping on bad movies with my friends just like Wayne's World was like hanging out in a basement with my long hair heavy metal friends back when I was in high school. The humor is bad at times, and definitely dated, but it was like going back in time to my youth and was still nice.

Joel only got mildly funny towards the end of Season 5. Mike DEFINITELY was the better host and seemed to give more of a shit about the quality of writing and comedic delivery. Most of the Mike episodes hold up really well today, but a lot of Joel's stuff is DATED. Joel sounds like he's tired all the time and sounds like he legitimately doesn't want to be there. It certainly felt that way towards the end of his run. Finding out that Joel's a Lefty makes a lot more sense looking back at it. Mike had a lot more energy and leaned into the bits a bit more. I don't even know why there was a fight over the hosts in the first place. Mike was clearly the winner.

 

[grapeshark77]

Almost a year since the failed Kickstarter, this is what Joel's doing now...



He lives in PA so - no live riffing though. Opening with Space Mutiny and following with an Emily episode is a bad idea. (Also the guy who originally voiced her Crow reappeared online last year - he left because he had just had a kid and couldn't commit to the schedule. The overdubbing with that woman never needed to happen).

 

[Meriasek]

The humor is very Americana, so it would have been very difficult to export dubs in a way that is remotely true to the original. I actually don't mind the movie, but the fact that it's shorter than an actual episode of the show and they didn't really try to expand the world at all (at least for the movie) was disappointing.

Yeah, I tried watching actually MST, and while I consider my English skills and grasp of Americana to be quite good, I still missed half the jokes according to the subtitles. I hope one day I can get into it.
The German movie dub germanises the jokes in a similar fashion, I doubt anyone but a native German would get half of them.

 

[King Dead]

Yeah, I tried watching actually MST, and while I consider my English skills and grasp of Americana to be quite good, I still missed half the jokes according to the subtitles. I hope one day I can get into it.
The German movie dub germanises the jokes in a similar fashion, I doubt anyone but a native German would get half of them.

Don't worry, more than a few jokes ended up flying over the head of the average American viewer too. The crew was not shy about writing jokes that referenced really obscure things and not really caring that much if everyone got them. Some of the jokes are certainly of their time referencing 80's or 90's events, so it's totally fair not to pick up on all of those too. And that's setting aside any time they'd reference an older episode, typically a running gag that they could make callbacks to.

On the flip side, there are so many jokes in every episode that some are bound to land with any viewer, and the movies themselves are cheesy fun. Don't fret about getting them all and just have a good time.

 

[Meriasek]

Don't worry, more than a few jokes ended up flying over the head of the average American viewer too. The crew was not shy about writing jokes that referenced really obscure things and not really caring that much if everyone got them. Some of the jokes are certainly of their time referencing 80's or 90's events, so it's totally fair not to pick up on all of those too. And that's setting aside any time they'd reference an older episode, typically a running gag that they could make callbacks to.

On the flip side, there are so many jokes in every episode that some are bound to land with any viewer, and the movies themselves are cheesy fun. Don't fret about getting them all and just have a good time.

I think it was that Youtube version that had a shitload of annotations and I couldn't follow it all.
Should try again and just ignore those/turn them off.

 

[Marc]

Even the American audience would have had to grow up in Minnesota in the 1970s to even have a chance at catching all the joking references (Hamdingers, anyone?). People who only became aware of the series after its original run should understand that, even when the show originally aired, much of the charm and novelty was to do with how many of the references were deliberately obscure or esoterically dated; because it suggested that the main goal of the show was for these guys to entertain themselves.

As someone who watched every episode of the original run, I am saddened to confirm that only the Mike seasons are worthy of revisiting - The Joel episodes are best retained as vague, fond memories.

 

[bifftango]

Even the American audience would have had to grow up in Minnesota in the 1970s to even have a chance at catching all the joking references (Hamdingers, anyone?). People who only became aware of the series after its original run should understand that, even when the show originally aired, much of the charm and novelty was to do with how many of the references were deliberately obscure or esoterically dated; because it suggested that the main goal of the show was for these guys to entertain themselves.

As someone who watched every episode of the original run, I am saddened to confirm that only the Mike seasons are worthy of revisiting - The Joel episodes are best retained as vague, fond memories.

While I'm firmly on Team Mike, there are a good clutch of Joel-era episodes that are very funny, but it's definitely not because of his presence -- it's all about the movies and Trace and Kevin picking up the slack. Also, Mike made a lot of guest appearances during the Joel era that were pretty good.

 

[Marc]

While I'm firmly in Team Mike, there are a good clutch of Joel-era episodes that are very funny, but it's definitely not because of his presence -- it's all about the movies and Trace and Kevin picking up the slack. Also, Mike made a lot of guest appearances during the Joel era that were pretty good.

100%. They're worth revisiting for such moments - I just find I can't sit through entire episodes with Joel weighing them down as though he won a raffle to sit in and riff.

 

[Commander X]

Recent riff, starring Marc "Beastmaster" Singer himself, Lancelot: Guardian of Time, one of those certain sort of "time travelling fish out of water" films that cropped up in the 1990s. Like, for instance Beastmaster 2: Through the Portal of Time.

 

[XYZpdq Jr.]

I find that Joel was better at being a weird guy who was shot into space and forced to watch bad movies against his will, but Mike was better at hosting a science fiction comedy puppet show.

 

[BootlegPopeye]

Joel only got mildly funny towards the end of Season 5. Mike DEFINITELY was the better host and seemed to give more of a shit about the quality of writing and comedic delivery. Most of the Mike episodes hold up really well today, but a lot of Joel's stuff is DATED. Joel sounds like he's tired all the time and sounds like he legitimately doesn't want to be there. It certainly felt that way towards the end of his run. Finding out that Joel's a Lefty makes a lot more sense looking back at it. Mike had a lot more energy and leaned into the bits a bit more. I don't even know why there was a fight over the hosts in the first place. Mike was clearly the winner.

I think even most former Team Joel types realized, due to the revival, that the show's funny was almost all Mike. If he isn't involved, the product is absolutely confused and rough and very hit and miss, be it KTMA episodes or Joel's revival. Team Joel is not nearly as vocal as they used to be. The only funny Joel episodes are the really late ones, season 4 a little but the first half of season 5 too.

And I can still watch a Rifftrax and Mike absolutely still has it, like the show never ended. He's like 60 now and I hope he does it for a long time to come.

I have wondered if there is a bit of a political angle on the Mike/Joel preference - that right wingers are going to appreciate the normiecon Mike's style more than Joel's? Yet I liked Mike even before I really had any politics to speak of.

 

[XYZpdq Jr.]

And I can still watch a Rifftrax and Mike absolutely still has it, like the show never ended.

they've picked up over time but there's a shitload of RTs that are very phoned in, like most of their 200x-201x output of big name movies that aren't from a major franchise, and really the Twilight stuff was pretty hacky at points "oh hey they said 'line' like that actor forgot the line, it's even funnier the three hundredth time in this movie alone!"

 

[From The Uncanny Valley]

they've picked up over time but there's a shitload of RTs that are very phoned in, like most of their 200x-201x output of big name movies that aren't from a major franchise, and really the Twilight stuff was pretty hacky at points "oh hey they said 'line' like that actor forgot the line, it's even funnier the three hundredth time in this movie alone!"

plus the noname e-celeb guest stars

 

[BootlegPopeye]

they've picked up over time but there's a shitload of RTs that are very phoned in, like most of their 200x-201x output of big name movies that aren't from a major franchise, and really the Twilight stuff was pretty hacky at points "oh hey they said 'line' like that actor forgot the line, it's even funnier the three hundredth time in this movie alone!"

I think there was a big demand they do 'big' movies that MST3k would never dreamed of being able to do before and that era was satisfying the pent up demand for them. Some of those era's riffs were great, like Independence Day, a few others. I especially like them doing any retarded pretentious movies like The Happening.

plus the noname e-celeb guest stars

Yeah I admit that was bad. lowtax? Fuck.

 

[XYZpdq Jr.]

I think there was a big demand they do 'big' movies that MST3k would never dreamed of being able to do before and that era was satisfying the pent up demand for them.

I mean more the disposable seasonal tentpoles like the Clash Of The Titans remake

 

[marvlouslie]

Don't worry, more than a few jokes ended up flying over the head of the average American viewer too. The crew was not shy about writing jokes that referenced really obscure things and not really caring that much if everyone got them. Some of the jokes are certainly of their time referencing 80's or 90's events, so it's totally fair not to pick up on all of those too. And that's setting aside any time they'd reference an older episode, typically a running gag that they could make callbacks to.

On the flip side, there are so many jokes in every episode that some are bound to land with any viewer, and the movies themselves are cheesy fun. Don't fret about getting them all and just have a good time.

A lot of the Joel jokes were references to things / inside jokes around the area he grew up in. That's likely why a lot of it flew over people's heads.

 

[Commander X]

And references like to Mary Jo Pehl's hometown, like that one in Eegah: "Circle Pines...after dark."

 

[BootlegPopeye]

And references like to Mary Jo Pehl's hometown, like that one in Eegah: "Circle Pines...after dark."

Mary Jo was a shockingly good riffer in her few appearance in the theater on MST3k. I actually liked her as the head Mad better than her 'son'.