Mystery Science Theater 3000



I have to admit that on the nerd-dom scoring for just how geeky I am, I’m not on the upper tier of those who speak Klingon, I’m not dressing up and LARP’ing in a park, but I am absolutely addicted to Mystery Science Theater 3000 (aka MST3K). When I want a guaranteed laugh, my sense of humor takes me to a few staples; any George Carlin standup, “Big Bang Theory,” “MST3K,” and because not all my humor is intellectually based, I also adore “America’s Funniest Videos” to see stupid saps dancing on tables while drunk.

This cult favorite TV series ran from 1988 to 1999. Eventually, they got in trouble for showing a movie and putting themselves on top of it and reselling it with the movie content in it, so now they do “RiffTrax” that can be downloaded from online and played on your IPOD along with the movie. The one for “Twilight” is to die for! This has given them the opportunity to not just do B-movies any longer, but to ridicule pop movies, as well. It’s sometimes hard to line up the RiffTrax, but it’s worth the effort.

If you’ve never seen it, however, you’ll want to see the loads of episodes they made during their 11-year run. The premise is a guy and two robots trapped in a space station by a mad scientist who forces them to watch horrible B-movies. While stuck watching them in the theater, the three make fun of and mock the movie throughout. If it doesn’t have you laughing until you’re crying, I’d be really surprised.

Some of my favorites are:
“Time Chasers”
“Werewolf”
“Tormented”
“The Touch of Satan”
“Legend of Boggy Creek II”

In fact, my son and I are such MST3K freaks that we call each other “Rowsdower” (an insider line from one of the episodes, “The Final Sacrifice” above--a movie that repeated that name over and over and over again). We sometimes put on awful movies and do our own MST3K dialogue.

Bad movies happen, but when they do, I think of them as happy blessings. They give us lots of material for future satirical practice!

Comments

  1. MST3K is my favorite DVD collection, and a must-do every halloween. Wooooo!!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. On that note, I want to see them do a reunion show for Snakes on a Plane.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I love the Gamera episodes. Especially the Turtle Meat song in the episode: Gamera vs Guir.

    ReplyDelete
  4. MST3K was a hoot to watch. And I consider you a mid-level nerd for knowing what LARP means, even if you don't actually do it.

    ReplyDelete
  5. i am sad, i have only seen one episode, but i am still one of your nerds...right?

    ReplyDelete
  6. Jeremy; I know that you will adore them and you must see more of them. You are a nerd waiting for his MST3000 fix.

    Jeez, sis--we gotta get you caught up!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Those are all good, but nothing will surpass "Attack of The The Eye Creatures" (not a typo) :D!

    ReplyDelete
  8. Thanks for reminding me about MST3K! It influenced me in so many ways (good and bad) when I was in school. I still sing "Creepy Girl" to myself sometimes.

    I thought I was the only one that watched AFV.... glad to know I am not alone.

    ReplyDelete
  9. What was the original guy's name? Joel?? I LOVED that show!!!!

    ~shoes~

    ReplyDelete
  10. MST3K was awesome. In our house we have what we call "Good Bad Movie Night". We pick out a bad movie that we all love but was hated by the critics - stoopid asses - and sit back to enjoy our evening. Evolution. Kung Pow Enter the Fist. Young Frankenstien. Teen Wolf (okay that last one was just bad, but it was fun to laugh at).

    ReplyDelete
  11. I've been thinking about playing a scene from a crappy horror movie and spoofing it on my sofa with Dale beside me making comments on video. I should probably get around to that one.

    ReplyDelete
  12. Hey now, there is no shame is being geeky! lol.

    ReplyDelete
  13. I adore the geeks and nerds and consider myself at home amongst my tribe :-)

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment