Mystery Science Theater 3000 and Rifftrax

[Jason Wynn]

MST3K back in the Joel and Mike years was great. Introduced me to a lot of interesting movies, and the sense of humor and pacing of the show was so cozy.

I can't get into woke millennial MST. I can't frigging stand Felicia Day and the fag they got to replace Mike. It feels so fake and sterilized. The previous show felt like a group of buddies hanging out and entertaining each other by riffing. This crap feels like a pack of hipster assholes sneering at everything instead of trying to be funny.

Rifftrax can be hit or miss, but most of the ones I've listened to I enjoyed.

 

[TchPiKinmup]

I am happy the new MST3k is dead. The new cast was uniformly awful and never found a proper (or even tolerable) rhythm with their 'jokes.' For me, one of the most important aspects of the original show was the handmade feel of it all -- they clearly had no idea what to do with a larger budget. Was there really a need for all those skeleton guys in the band?

 

[ln18]

At least whoever out there hated the show because Gypsy didn't have a plain normal woman voice can be happy with their 2 season pound of flesh.

 

[Stab You in the Back]

been watching more rifftrax lately over on cytube
seems a pretty reliable thing that the more they're working with some random weird older movie the better they end up

I don't know, I think the Harry Potter riffs are hilarious. Their Richard Harris impression never fails to crack me up.

 

[Your Weird Fetish]

I don't know, I think the Harry Potter riffs are hilarious. Their Richard Harris impression never fails to crack me up.

"Ah yes, Larry, Don and ...uh the Mudblood."

 

[XYZpdq]

I don't know, I think the Harry Potter riffs are hilarious. Their Richard Harris impression never fails to crack me up.

Yeah, the HP ones are pretty good.
As for seasons 11 and 12 of MST3k yeah they weren't so hot. I didn't mind most of the individual cast members but they clearly didn't have the cohesiveness the previous casts had just because of the differences in how they taped. If you're not working with them week after week year after year you won't be able to get that same ability to work off each other.
I liked Jonah's energy, but him and the bots sounded too similar in range.
Felicia Day needed a lot more energy, more in line with late SciFi Pearl. Trace did play Dr F a lot more subdued at points like I think she was going for, but she ain't Trace and it didn't work.
Patton Oswald was okay as Max.
The band of Inframan's combat mooks was cool.

 

[Quantum Diabetes]

I did like Starcrash and Mac and me episodes, but it wasn't the riffing, they were fun on their own.

I fucking hate Fatton Oswalt. I hope if and when North Korea launches nukes at Hollywood the first one hits him in his dick. I hate-watched the Walden arc of Two and a half men (still mostly for the babes) and they get this tard on the show and then the human manifestation of soft puppy shit, Clark Duke.
Then I was done.

 

[Rice Is Ready]

This one was good.

 

[Dolphin Lundgren]

I don't watch Rifftrax as much as I used to or MST3K but recently I rewatched their Merlin's Shop Of Mystical Wonders one. I forgot how hilarious that episode is. There are a few great Rifftrax films that are my favorite. A Talking Cat and Santa's Summer House were the two best ones I've seen from them in a long time.

 

[Cyril Sneer]

I can't get into woke millennial MST. I can't frigging stand Felicia Day and the fag they got to replace Mike. It feels so fake and sterilized. The previous show felt like a group of buddies hanging out and entertaining each other by riffing. This crap feels like a pack of hipster assholes sneering at everything instead of trying to be funny.

The Chad Mike vs. The Virgin Jonah.

 

[Starscreams Cape]

Seeing as we are doing an autopsy of the new MST3K, I figure I will throw in my two cents. I think Joel underestimated his own value in front of the camera. Even though I am most certainly a "Mike guy", I could have gotten behind Joel as the new (old) host. Jonah Ray seems like an okay guy but he's just got that safe, millennial humor that is so cringy. Who knows though, comedy itself is so scared these days whose to say Joel would have been any different? I've even noticed Rifftraxx doesn't take many chances these days.

I can't wait until comedy feels comfortable enough again to make fun of ladies who look like dudes. (Dave Chappelle excepted of course)

 

[Dom Cruise]

I used to really be big into MST3K and watch classic episodes with some regularity but for some reason I've fallen out of the habit and it's been years since I've watched an episode (I think it was a rewatch of Pod People circa 2016 maybe)

There's still a lot of episodes I haven't seen, including one really big one, I need to pick it back up as I've been a fan of MST3K since I was a kid.

As for the Netflix one it just never caught my interest, I used to dream for so long about them bringing it back but I imagined it having at least some of the original cast, when it had a new cast I just didn't care.

I'm glad it's over with and hopefully they will try again and do better.

 

[Starscreams Cape]

As for the Netflix one it just never caught my interest, I used to dream for so long about them bringing it back but I imagined it having at least some of the original cast, when it had a new cast I just didn't care.

I'm glad it's over with and hopefully they will try again and do better.

I think Joel made the mistake of thinking he had to appeal to a new generation when the right play would have been to wring the old show for every drop. Considering Josh, Mary Jo, Trace and Frank would have done it (and of course Paul Chaplin) the only thing Joel would have had to do was create a new back story, don the jumpsuit again, and it probably would have been a hit. Hell they already had some chemistry from Cinematic Titanic.

Joel riffed along with Jonah and the bots at a live show I went to. He can still do it.

 

[Tor Lugosi]

I don't really mind Felicia Day or Patton Oswalt but their segments did fall incredibly short of the original Mads stuff. In the old show the Mads / Idiot Trio would have a fairly large set that they'd move around in and interact with, plus props, and doing weird shit in general. The segments with Day and Oswalt, though, would usually just be them standing still in front of a camera reciting their lines.

I think the bigger budget and modern production style fucked with the feel of the show. Netflix seasons felt like everything was written and designed by a committee rather than a small group of passionate friends. The original 10 seasons had the same 6 - 9 writers throughout the entirety of it, who also did a lot of other stuff on the show -- Trace Beaulieu, for example, wrote, directed, voiced Crow, did puppeteering, played Forrester, worked on set design and art direction, and I think even worked on some of the music. The Netflix seasons, on the other hand, had like 20 writers.

 

[Dom Cruise]

I think Joel made the mistake of thinking he had to appeal to a new generation when the right play would have been to wring the old show for every drop. Considering Josh, Mary Jo, Trace and Frank would have done it (and of course Paul Chaplin) the only thing Joel would have had to do was create a new back story, donned the jumpsuit again, and it probably would have been a hit. Hell they already had some chemistry from Cinematic Titanic.

Joel riffed along with Jonah and the bots at a live show I went to. He can still do it.

I don't know what the situation is and if it could happen, but I'd be perfectly happy with them bringing Mike back as a host.

 

[Someone in a Tree]

I have attended the three tours they have done following the Netflix launch and the two most recent ones (The Brain, No Retreat No Surrender) are among the hardest times I have laughed at MST3K.

 

[Starscreams Cape]

I don't know what the situation is and if it could happen, but I'd be perfectly happy with them bringing Mike back as a host.

As much as I'd love that it's not going to happen. Mike owns Rifftraxx, with MST he'd be an employee of Joel and Shout. He was pretty clear when the new MST3K was being kickstarted and there was some confusion about who was involved that, while he wished the venture nothing but the best, he (as well as Bill and Kevin) had no interest in participating.

With Rifftraxx they show up in a recording studio, lay down a track that they may or may not have even written, and then are probably home in a few hours. Easy money for them. No host segments or studio execs.

 

[Flaming Carrot]

I don't know what the situation is and if it could happen, but I'd be perfectly happy with them bringing Mike back as a host.

Mike issued a statement saying that he wished the new show well, but that he was always kind of a hired gun on Mystery Science Theater 3000, and he never got any royalties from the DVD sales. I'm not entirely clear on how, but Jim Mallon pretty much screwed everyone over, so that he and Joel were the only ones who ever got any royalties from the sales of the DVDs. I believe this changed recently due to Shout Factory getting the rights from Mallon. Long story short, Mike Nelson is probably doing OK with Rifftrax and doesn't want to ditch that in favor of doing someone else's thing that he probably won't make as much money from.

 

[Starscreams Cape]

Mike issued a statement saying that he wished the new show well, but that he was always kind of a hired gun on Mystery Science Theater 3000, and he never got any royalties from the DVD sales. I'm not entirely clear on how, but Jim Mallon pretty much screwed everyone over, so that he and Joel were the only ones who ever got any royalties from the sales of the DVDs. I believe this changed recently due to Shout Factory getting the rights from Mallon. Long story short, Mike Nelson is probably doing OK with Rifftrax and doesn't want to ditch that in favor of doing someone else's thing that he probably won't make as much money from.

Yes, exactly. And Jim did sort of screw things over for everyone for a long time. I'd have some mercy though, I believe he lost his daughter in an accident and is a grief counselor now. He did sell mst back to Joel so he could pick it back up again.

I also think that Rifftraxx is allowed to sell downloads of old mst3k as a way to make amends for the royalty issue.

 

[Dom Cruise]

As much as I'd love that it's not going to happen. Mike owns Rifftraxx, with MST he'd be an employee of Joel and Shout. He was pretty clear when the new MST3K was being kickstarted and there was some confusion about who was involved that, while he wished the venture nothing but the best, he (as well as Bill and Kevin) had no interest in participating.

With Rifftraxx they show up in a recording studio, lay down a track that they may or may not have even written, and then are probably home in a few hours. Easy money for them. No host segments or studio execs.

Mike issued a statement saying that he wished the new show well, but that he was always kind of a hired gun on Mystery Science Theater 3000, and he never got any royalties from the DVD sales. I'm not entirely clear on how, but Jim Mallon pretty much screwed everyone over, so that he and Joel were the only ones who ever got any royalties from the sales of the DVDs. I believe this changed recently due to Shout Factory getting the rights from Mallon. Long story short, Mike Nelson is probably doing OK with Rifftrax and doesn't want to ditch that in favor of doing someone else's thing that he probably won't make as much money from.

It's too bad because to be honest Mike era episodes were the only ones I saw as a kid and for all I knew at the time he was the only one to ever host it.

While I've since learned to appreciate Joel I still heavily associate Mike with MST3K.