A Mystery Science Theater 3000 Fan's Guide to Getting Their Fix |
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Everything You Need to KnowMST3K is a Peabody Award-winning comedy series that ran from 1988-1999. Unfortunately, due to the nature of the show, reruns are neigh impossible. (Networks would have to obtain the rights to a separate movie each episode.) Luckily, we MSTies have a variety of ways we can get our fix, from DVDs to cast reunions. Below is a brief summary of all your options.
Cast ReunionsCinematic Titanic
 
Joel Hodgson is back! Joining him at the helm of the Cinematic Titanic are Trace Beaulieu (Dr. Forrester, original Crow), J. Elvis Weinstein (Dr. Erhardt, original Tom-Servo), Mary Jo Pehl (Lawgiver!), "TV's" Frank Conniff, and -- not to overshadow the rest -- they brought back the shadows! That means you actually get to see Joel and crew casually stroll onscreen and mock cheesy movies (complete with mad scientists, car chases and horribly scarred monsters). Instead of leaving the theater for host segments, they pause the movie and act out full sketches in silhouette. If MST3K was inspired by "Silent Running's" hexogonal set design and robot buddies, Cinematic Titanic may well have been inspired by the swanky sounds and shadowy credit sequences of James Bond! What everyone wants to know: "Is it like MST3K"? The answer is a resounding YES! The second Joel's twisted rendition of the Slinkey theme begins as an onscreen midget struggles to drag a body downstairs, you'll know you're at home. The first episode of Cinematic Titanic easily ranks up there with MST3K classics such as Pod People and Cave Dwellers. Buy it!
Price: $15.94 + $2.99 S&H.
Rifftrax
Mike Nelson's downloadable MP3 commentaries specialize in big dumb blockbusters and mega-franchises like Star Wars and Harry Potter. (Cheesy movies sold separately.)
Mike braves it alone or calls in reenforcements, ranging from MST3K castmates Kevin Murphy (Prof. Bobo, Tom-Servo) and Bill Corbette (Observer, Crow) to celebrity guest stars like Due to legal reasons, Rifftrax commentaries aren't bundled with the movies -- you have to listen to them on an MP3 player. Keeping the audio synchronized can be a problem, so the helpful DisembAudio robot occasionally speaks lines over the dialog to make sure there's not too much drift. If you like watching movies on your PC, the Rifftrax Player (Windows only) handles it all for you. But is it worth all the trouble? Well, if the sound of Mike, Kevin and Bill poking fun at "ID4" isn't music to your ears, then you probably shouldn't be reading this.
Price: $2 for Mike Nelson, $1 each add'tl host.
MST3K.com: The Bots Are Back!
Of all the MST3k spinoffs, only these short online cartoons bare the official name, door sequence and trademark robots -- Crow, Tom-Servo and Gypsy. Rather than riff on cheesy movies, the bots explore the Satellite of Love in a series of adventures directed by BBI Bigwig Jim Mallon (returning as the voice of Gypsy), written by MST3K's Paul Chaplin (The latest voice of Crow -- has it been seven years already?), and starring Minneapolis comedian James Moore as Tom-Servo. Unfortunately, reaction to The Bots Are Back! has been lukewarm. Even Mike Nelson got in on the act, telling MSNBC it was just "cute." Still, I have to wonder, what's wrong with cute? Isn't your girlfriend cute? Aren't kittens cute? And puppies, how about them? Not to toot my own horn, but I was a pretty cute kid -- you got a problem with that? There's room on this planet for all kinds of humor, and if you're the type who can crack open a Simpsons comic book and enjoy yourself despite the change in format, this is the webtoon for you.
Price: Free!
The Film CrewBefore Rifftrax, Mike Nelson, Kevin Murphy and Bill Corbette reunited in this series of four MST3K-esque DVDs. Note: More information coming soon. (I'm ordering 'em in February!)
Price: $15.99 + S&H
Cartoon Dump
Brainchild of Jerry Beck and "TV's" Frank Conniff, Cartoon Dump is sort like Pee-wee's Playhouse, only with Moodsy the Clinically Depressed Owl (played by Conniff) guest starring instead of Laurence Fishburne. Good deal! Hostess Compost Bright (love the name) introduces bizarre cartoons played without riffing. In The Big World of Little Adam, a weapons-obsesed adolescent teaches his illiterate buddy about the "problems solved" by atomic weapons (as missiles are shown blowing up London!) Then there's the Bucky and Pepito cartoon, in which our intrepid young stereotypes are cunningly manipulated by a rabbit who's not so much wacky as Machiavellian.
Episodes are free to watch on Cartoon Brew Films, with high quality downloads available for $2. There's also a monthly live comedy show in Los Angles and New York, which (as I type this) is the only way to catch Joel Hodgson dropping by as Dumpster Diver Dan.
Price: Free to watch; $2 to download.
Classic EpisodesRhino Home Video
The Rhino is the deadliest animal in Africa. Rhino Home Video has the highest quality MST3K episodes on DVD. Forget that old SLP tape with half of "Devil Fish" and "Blood Waters of Dr. Z" on mute because you forgot to unmute the TV before you recorded it -- Rhino is the definitive source of MST3K. No, I'm not getting a cut. But when you buy a Rhino DVD, rest easy knowing that everyone at Best Brains gets their share of the pie. It's sort of like saying, "Thanks for the memories," only you're sayin' it with your hard earned cash. What's that? The Hippo is the deadliest animal? Well, that doesn't help me any. There's no Hippo Home Video. Go buy some episodes from Rhino and leave me alone! (Note: In January 08, Shout! Factory secured the rights to MST3K. These are the guys who originally founded Rhino and went on to distribute The Film Crew, so I good things in our future.)
Price: $50 for a four-episode collection; $10 for a single ep.
Digital Archive ProjectFaced with the extinction of their favorite show, the brave volunteers at Digital Archive Project donated their time and bandwidth to help preserve a classic. This members-only P2P network keeps circulating the DivX files long after MST3K dropped off the air. Commercially available episodes are banned on DAP. From what I've seen, these guys are vigilant, going so far as to ban any episode even announced by Rhino Home Video. So if you're looking for Pod People or Overdrawn at the Memory Bank.... Buy 'em from Rhino! But if you're looking for episodes unlikely to get an official release (I'm looking at you, Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster) and don't mind going through an insanely complex setup process (BitTorrent this aint), your only options are DAP or some sort of mail-order time machine that allows you to warp back to 1995 and tape episodes off Comedy Central.
Price: Free.
Fan RiffingMystery Fandom Theater 3000
When I first heard of this non-profit, fan-made tribute to MST3K, I imagined bad acting and long spans of awkward silence. Imagine my relief when the jokes were a laugh-a-minute and the only bad acting to be found was in the cheesy movies! There's Starcrash, an Italian Star Wars knockoff starring David Hasselhoff, a nervous robot, and space cavemen. Or Little Red Riding Hood, a Mexican production of the French fairy tale dubbed over in English. Unlike the crew of the Sattelite of Love, these fans don't try to hide the fact that they've already seen the movie a million times. (During Little Red Riding Hood, they yell out "Plop plop fizz fizz!" seconds before the Wolf says, "Ahh, what a relief!" Psychic riffing... why didn't I think of that?) Mystery Fandom Theater even went the extra mile and included some truly bizarre vintage commercials, like a Flintstones cartoon advertising cigarettes. And while it can be hard to accept these new guys as Mike, Crow and Tom-Servo, keep in mind that by season eight, the entire cast of MST3K had changed.
Price: The cost of shipping & a blank tape.
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All content on this website is copyright © 2008 Zeus, except where otherwise noted. All rights reserved. Life After MST3K (hereafter referred to as LAM) is not endorsed by Best Brains, Inc., Rifftrax or Cinematic Titanic. I'm just a fan with a lot of free time on his hands and a penchant for dropping arrogant lingo into copyright statments. Cinematic Titanic, Rifftrax, MST3K, Mystery Science Theater, all their logos leggos and pancakes are copyright & trademarked by their owners.
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