Mystery Science Theater 3000 and Rifftrax

[XYZpdq]

appx twenty two years ago has nostalgia for twenty two year ago
guest starring some cowtown puppet show

 

[Commander X]

One of the more recent Rifftraxes was "Copper Mountain", an early and shoddy "comedy" starring a very pre-In Living Color Jim Carrey and Alan Thicke in a thinly veiled advertisement for a resort franchise. Insufferable antics ensue.

Like so:

 

[XYZpdq]

Alien From LA is a pretty good one, not really bogged down by character continuity or anything, some callbacks to older eps but nothing heavy, movie is an enjoyable pile of dumb set pieces of Kathy Ireland wandering the cyberderp underfuturenow of the hollow earth

I don't know that this was any particularly specially rigged effect or just that over the years Trace learned what to not do when operating Crow because otherwise his eyes fly out from his face, and was like "welp, clearly this bit needs Crow's eyes to fly out from his face"

 

[XYZpdq]

similarly decent bad movie and fun riffing - Robot Holocaust
also what in the actual fuck is going on with this encode this is literally official people but it looks like "babbie learns what interlace is" shit

 

[An automatic clown]

First MST3K I ever saw was The Final Sacrifice.
"My name is Zap Rowsdower"
Riff "Rowsdower...is that a ...stupid name?"
Still one of the funniest things I've ever watched. Past couple years I've religiously gone to the RiffTrax live shows simulcast at a local movie theater. Always a good time.

 

[Flexo]

similarly decent bad movie and fun riffing - Robot Holocaust
also what in the actual fuck is going on with this encode this is literally official people but it looks like "babbie learns what interlace is"

Also a personal favorite.

@XYZpdq has excellent tastes too.

 

[XYZpdq]

rifftrax channel on cytube has on Lord Of The Rings
tuned in a quarter way into Fellowship
wasn't until it ended and they just signed off as Kevin and Mike that I even notice that Bill wasn't in it

 

[XYZpdq]

doubleposting for actual footage of Joel And The Bots calling their particular cow at that moment

 

[Flexo]

Rifftrax banned from twitch.

https://twitter.com/StreamerBans/status/1480437898075901953

 

[XYZpdq]

Rifftrax banned from twitch.

https://twitter.com/StreamerBans/status/1480437898075901953

View attachment 2878145

it's really funny how often official MST-ish showings online run into problems from copyrightbots who don't know they got the rights

 

[feral cat #6385]

Rifftrax banned from twitch.

https://twitter.com/StreamerBans/status/1480437898075901953

View attachment 2878145

The Jews have gone too far this time.

 

[Quijibo69]

There's a live MST3k tour right now but none of the original people are there, so why even bother?

 

[XYZpdq]

There's a live MST3k tour right now but none of the original people are there, so why even bother?

yeah just because Joel signs off on it doesn't change that it's just some randos yelling at the movie

 

[Flexo]

There's a live MST3k tour right now but none of the original people are there, so why even bother?

The movie is hilarious almost without riffing. The replacement for Joel is pretty cute and has good energy for the performance.

There's worse ways to spend an evening. I'd recommend it if you enjoy riffing on bad movies. Not if you are super into the personalities themselves.

 

[Commander X]

Any recent iteration of MST3K has at least an advantage over any that involved the somewhat eh Jonah Ray, the irritating Felicia Day and...you know that one. Of course you know him, a once decent absurdist comedian I refuse to name who has become a sad, frightened obese dwarf with awful opinions and no spine.

 

[bifftango]

Any recent iteration of MST3K has at least an advantage over any that involved the somewhat eh Jonah Ray, the irritating Felicia Day and...you know that one. Of course you know him, a once decent absurdist comedian I refuse to name who has become a sad, frightened obese dwarf with awful opinions and no spine.

I would say Jonah is more than just "eh" -- I found him to be borderline obnoxious. Not as obnoxious as Felicia and Patton, of course. And the guys who played the bots couldn't hack it. This new girl is cute and seems nice enough, but the rest of live crew appear to be (are) a bunch of insufferable theater geeks.

 

[Commander X]

Ray was the least funny guy attached to The Nerdist and considering the competition that was saying something.

 

[King Dead]

I would say Jonah is more than just "eh" -- I found him to be borderline obnoxious. Not as obnoxious as Felicia and Patton, of course. And the guys who played the bots couldn't hack it. This new girl is cute and seems nice enough, but the rest of live crew appear to be (are) a bunch of insufferable theater geeks.

I hadn't watched any of the Netflix seasons prior to the Turkey Day marathon this year, and I tuned in during Avalanche. Three things really stuck out to me while I did, and they make me not want to seek out any more:

• The "Mads" suck so bad, I can't even call them that. Painfully unfunny, no chemistry, and terrible skits. And since that's basically half the cast right there, it's immediately on shaky ground.
• The bots in the theater are animated, not puppeteered. Sure, it means you can do more elaborate things with them, but it misses out on a lot of the charm that comes from the puppets. Host segments still have the puppets, but you need the whole package.
• The riffs never let up. One thing that classic MST3K understood (and Rifftrax as well, though they fall prey to this sometimes) is that sometimes you simply need to let the movie speak for itself. Not only does this give the audience a chance to follow the plot (which can lend context to other riffs), it also frees you from being bombarded with a deluge of low-effort jokes. Quality over quantity.

It's pretty clear to me that MST3K is more than just the concept, it was the right people coming together at the right time to produce something genuinely funny. Without those circumstances, it's just a hollow facsimile.

 

[XYZpdq]

I hadn't watched any of the Netflix seasons prior to the Turkey Day marathon this year, and I tuned in during Avalanche. Three things really stuck out to me while I did, and they make me not want to seek out any more:

• The "Mads" suck so bad, I can't even call them that. Painfully unfunny, no chemistry, and terrible skits. And since that's basically half the cast right there, it's immediately on shaky ground.
• The bots in the theater are animated, not puppeteered. Sure, it means you can do more elaborate things with them, but it misses out on a lot of the charm that comes from the puppets. Host segments still have the puppets, but you need the whole package.
• The riffs never let up. One thing that classic MST3K understood (and Rifftrax as well, though they fall prey to this sometimes) is that sometimes you simply need to let the movie speak for itself. Not only does this give the audience a chance to follow the plot (which can lend context to other riffs), it also frees you from being bombarded with a deluge of low-effort jokes. Quality over quantity.

It's pretty clear to me that MST3K is more than just the concept, it was the right people coming together at the right time to produce something genuinely funny. Without those circumstances, it's just a hollow facsimile.

iirc the "let the movie breathe" concept wasn't really on the Brains' radar until the closed beta test of the movie, when they live riffed This Island Earth at the first Conventio-Con-Expo-Fest-A-Rama (the official t-shirt took the joke of the long name so far that it went past the armpit)

most of my issue with S11/12 is that they sound way too samey in the theater
traditionally there was a very clear division of Crow being high range, Servo low range, Human in the middle
to me they sound like Josh trying to be everybody

I still think that if they had done a more gradual transition or given them a year or two to get their shit together like the old crew they could have been okay.

Also although I understand why I'm supposed to hate Felicia Day and Patton Oswald they didn't come off as that annoying to me in the context of the show
certainly no worse than SciFi "somewhere in time in space" when were supposed to give any fucks about a plot

 

[Flexo]

most of my issue with S11/12 is that they sound way too samey in the theater
traditionally there was a very clear division of Crow being high range, Servo low range, Human in the middle
to me they sound like Josh trying to be everybody

Yeah, without looking at the screen, if a joke is told at the movie I can tell you who said it in the old days. With the latest seasons, if I'm not looking at the screen to see who moves, I couldn't tell you whether it was Tom or Crow - and about 50% of the time I would miss Jonah.

I think the latest tour had more distinct voices for them again. It's certainly a change having a higher pitched woman as the human as it lets Tom & Crow go for the mid & low pitch.