MST3K, Rifftrax, and the rest

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Re: MST3K, Rifftrax, & sundry

Postby Thad » Fri Nov 24, 2017 12:57 pm

Season 12 confirmed.


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Re: MST3K, Rifftrax, & sundry

Postby Thad » Tue Mar 06, 2018 12:48 am

I finished the new season. I feel like they were really clicking at the end there, like the growing pains were starting to resolve -- they weren't trying to cram quite so many riffs in, and I could tell Baron and Jonah's voices apart. I'm interested in seeing where they go from here.

Meanwhile, Rifftrax has its annual Kickstarter going; this year's live shows will be Space Mutiny and Krull.

Kick in at $1 and you get at least two shorts; they'll add another one every 200 backers, up to 10.

IF WE REACH... YOU'LL GET
3700 Backers - Get That Job (UNLOCKED)
3900 Backers - Overcoming Fear (UNLOCKED)
4100 Backers - Farm Family in Summer
4300 Backers - Batman Trapped!
4500 Backers - Jimmy of the Safety Patrol
4700 Backers - Courtesy: A Good Eggsample
4900 Backers - Busy Bodies
5100 Backers - The Maturing Woman
5300 Backers - Say No to Strangers
5500 Backers - At Your Fingertips: Play Clay


They're currently at 4,026, with 18 days left to go, so it's reasonable to assume they'll unlock a couple more on that list before this is over.

(And in case you've already bought any of those, you'll get a $1 credit for each one you already have.)

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Re: MST3K, Rifftrax, & sundry

Postby Thad » Fri Mar 16, 2018 12:19 am

Netflix just added a dozen episodes to its MST3K classics.

The episodes are still listed in a completely baffling and inexplicable order. It's not chronological, it's not based on popularity (Manos is in between Girl in Gold Boots and Catalina Caper), it doesn't alternate Joel-Mike-Joel-Mike, and it doesn't follow the order of the DVD releases, so my current working theory is that the episodes are sorted based on the "nobody gave a fuck" algorithm.

Regardless, there's some good shit in there. And given that there are nearly 200 episodes in the original series, there are still a lot of them I haven't seen. And of course thanks to the constant churn of movie rights, the list of legally-available episodes is constantly in flux, so watch 'em while you can.

(On the subject of not-legally-available episodes, has anyone ever managed to find a rip of the Godzilla vs. Megalon DVD? I've looked but I've only ever found crummy VHS rips. ...shit, I bet I've still got a VHS copy around here somewhere; I should see if mine's in any better shape than the digital copies I've seen up to this point.

Same with Fire Maidens from Outer Space and anything else I've got that's not commercially available. I should really go through these tapes before they deteriorate completely.)

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Re: MST3K, Rifftrax, & sundry

Postby Thad » Fri Mar 23, 2018 10:21 pm

The Rifftrax Kickstarter ends tomorrow. $1 will get you all ten of the shorts listed two posts up.

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Re: MST3K, Rifftrax, & sundry

Postby Thad » Wed Apr 04, 2018 12:07 am

372 Pages We'll Never Get Back is basically a Rifftrax Book Club podcast, wherein Conor Lastowka and Mike Nelson read and discuss a book. Season 1 is Ready Player One.

I've listened to the intro episode and Episode 1, and I think I'll stick with it even though I haven't read the book and have no intention of doing so. I think I'd probably get more out of it if I'd actually read it, but their summaries and excerpts are enough to follow along.

I have also learned that my dog does not give a fuck when people on the car stereo say her name.

(My dog's name is Artemis.)

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Re: MST3K, Rifftrax, & sundry

Postby Thad » Sun Jun 03, 2018 5:57 pm

New update on season 12.

The most important detail: they're tweaking the format somehow to be a better fit for Netflix and binge-watching; Joel hasn't shared the details except that it's only going to be 6 episodes this time around.

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Re: MST3K, Rifftrax, & sundry

Postby Thad » Wed Jun 06, 2018 10:33 am

New MST3K tour starts in October. Joel will be riffing alongside Jonah and the Bots. They're doing Deathstalker (the first one; M&tB did the third one back in season 7) and The Brain.

Joel also adds this in a recent public Kickstarter update, to mollify fans who were worried about that 6-episode order and the comments about making the show more "binge-friendly":

For those of you who are concerned about our decision to shoot a shorter season, or to make the episodes more "binge-friendly," I hope you'll keep an open mind. We're not changing the style of the show, or dumbing it down, or making concessions. We’re just having some fun with the format, and this new season, and the way it’s structured. We love this season’s lineup of movies. In fact, I honestly think that this could be our best season yet. Also, I suspect that season 12 is going to be the best opportunity yet for you to invite your friends and family to get into the show, if they haven’t already!

And you know, if you don't want to binge, you don't have to – the show will be just as good if you watch one episode at a time. I guess all I was trying to say in the last update is, the world of television has changed a lot in the last 30 years, and we think there are some neat ways for Mystery Science Theater 3000 to have fun with that. You’ll see.

But yeah, for those of you worried because we're "only" making six new episodes, I promise, there's nothing to panic about, so repeat to yourself: "I should really just relax." Shorter seasons don't mean we're going to make fewer episodes, they just mean we're going to make fewer at a time! And like I said last week, that also means we should be able to get them out sooner, and not make you wait so long in between seasons. It’s also, we feel, the best way to help grow the MST3K community – and obviously, that's a really important goal so that the show can keep on having a long and productive life.

I've also seen some of the theories that have popped up since our last update, but you don't need to worry: we're not planning to end the show again after this season. As you know, we’re so happy to have the show back and we’re looking forward to continuing for as long as we can! I also want you to know that Netflix hasn’t forced us to change anything about MST3K, or make creative concessions. They’re actually really enthused about the show.

Also, if anything, my feeling is that being able to shoot shorter seasons is way better for the creative life of the show, and I hope you’ll agree when you see the new season.


I can see why fans were worried about the "6 episodes" comment. In addition to panic being the natural state of Internet fandom, there's also the precedent that the last time MST3K got a 6-episode order, it was followed by cancellation and then resumption on another network with major casting changes. Plus, Joel's "Gee, I guess the kids are into this binge-watching thing now?" comments feel a little "How do you do, fellow kids?"

But there are a lot of potential positives here, too. Last week's update made a pretty good point that, while the show should of course not base itself entirely around whatever the fandom is saying at the moment, there's been some good feedback on season 11 that should lead to improvements in season 12, and shorter seasons with quicker turnaround mean more time for people to watch the show and give feedback about what works and what doesn't.

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Re: MST3K, Rifftrax, & sundry

Postby IGNORE ME » Wed Jun 06, 2018 12:39 pm

Thad wrote:Joel will be riffing alongside Jonah and the Bots.


wait what

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Re: MST3K, Rifftrax, & sundry

Postby Thad » Thu Jun 07, 2018 9:44 pm

Joel wrote:That's right, y’all: for this very special anniversary tour, I'm pleased to tell you that Joel Robinson will be returning to the Satellite of Love. I'm back in the red jumpsuit, and this time around, I'll be riffing live on stage, shoulder-to-shoulder with Jonah, Crow, Tom Servo and Gypsy. We had such a wonderful time last summer, meeting so many of you in person, that we wanted to do it again as soon as we could. And having Joel Robinson return to riff after 25 years seemed like the perfect way to celebrate MST3K’s anniversary with you!

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Re: MST3K, Rifftrax, & sundry

Postby IGNORE ME » Fri Jun 08, 2018 1:36 am

I can't believe Jonah is back!

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Re: MST3K, Rifftrax, & sundry

Postby Thad » Mon Jun 11, 2018 10:56 am

We still don't have much on the upcoming Dark Horse MST3K comic, but now we've got two covers, a release date (September 9), and the length of the series (6 issues).

As expected, they will be riffing public domain comics.

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Re: MST3K, Rifftrax, & sundry

Postby Thad » Thu Sep 20, 2018 10:22 am

MST3K: The Comic is out, and it's high concept as fuck.

It feels very much like a Joel project, in that it throws a lot of stuff at the wall and a lot of it comes out feeling like it's unnecessary and doesn't quite work but it's nonetheless really fascinating.

I haven't decided how I feel about it overall yet. Some of the riffs are pretty good, the writers (Harold Buchholz, Joel, Matt McGinnis, Seth Robinson, Sharyl Volpe, and Mary Robinson) do a solid job of capturing the characters' voices (to the point that I can tell just from dialogue that I'm reading Baron Vaughn Servo, not Kevin Murphy Servo), and it's damned interesting. I'm not quite sure it all comes together, but I'm glad I picked it up.

I can probably get a blog post out of this, but it might require some effort taking pages from the comic (and probably the original PD comic it riffs). Might write more later.

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Re: MST3K, Rifftrax, & sundry

Postby Thad » Sat Nov 10, 2018 12:25 pm

The Turkey Day Marathon will start four days early this year, on Sunday the 18th, so as not to overlap with the release of the new season on Thanksgiving Day.

(And apparently they're going to be running MST3K on that page all month, but that's not the same thing as the Turkey Day Marathon. Not sure if they'll be running the TDM through multiple times or not.)

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Re: MST3K, Rifftrax, & sundry

Postby Thad » Sun Nov 18, 2018 2:50 pm

Oh man, I've never seen Moon Zero Two (largely because the season one eps I've seen before have been less than spectacular) and I love it. It starts out like a Pink Panther movie, then it turns into 2001, and then it becomes a western with a Bond villain, and the whole thing's got an early-'70s big band jazz soundtrack.

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Re: MST3K, Rifftrax, & sundry

Postby Thad » Wed Jun 05, 2019 10:46 pm

MST3K tour starts in September. From the Kickstarter it sounds like Joel will be hosting and Jonah isn't coming along this time. Joel says it'll be his last national tour as host (I note there are a couple of qualifiers in that sentence).

Movies are No Retreat, No Surrender and Circus of Horrors.

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Re: MST3K, Rifftrax, & sundry

Postby Thad » Tue Jul 09, 2019 11:04 pm

Got to chatting with Brent about 372 Pages We'll Never Get Back, which inspired me to finish listening to the first season on my way back from California. They close out season 1 with this fan song:



According to Wikipedia, they just wrapped season 6 (The Mister, by EL James), so I guess I've got some catching up to do.

BTW, Brent, I was mistaken when I said season 2 was Eye of Argon. That's season 3. Season 2 is Armada (Ernest Cline's followup to Ready Player One).

...oh man, remember when we were talking about doing a radio adaptation of David Gonterman's CC-licensed Peter Pan fanfic? I'm just throwing that idea back out into the world.

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Re: MST3K, Rifftrax, & sundry

Postby Thad » Fri Aug 23, 2019 12:01 pm

Bill Corbett has a podcast.

So far I've only listened to Ep. 7: Funhouse Fam Focus MARY JO PEHL, which, among other reasons it may be of interest to MiSTies, has the two of them talk a bit about how they feel about the new MST3K. They've got mixed feelings. They were happy to be involved in season 11 but also it's very much not the same show it used to be; they appreciate Joel asking them to guest star but are disappointed he didn't ask them to be main cast. Bill notes, several times, "I don't even know if I would have accepted," but still wishes he'd been asked; he acknowledges that the show has a history of recasting characters (including him taking over for Trace), but also that in the past that was the result of cast members choosing to leave, not the show being cancelled and then brought back some 20 years later with a whole new cast. Mary Jo indicates she's a little bothered by Joel introducing Synthia, Pearl's clone; I've gathered that Frank has similar mixed feelings about TV's Son of TV's Frank -- he's flattered that his name is attached to somebody like Patton Oswalt, but it's still somebody else copying his name and appearance without asking him.

You know what it struck me as? It's like they're talking about an ex and his new girlfriend. "I'm glad Joel's happy, I really am, and I guess this is what he always wanted..."

I haven't listened to any other episodes yet, but there are episodes featuring Trace, Mike, Frank, and Josh that I'm interested in checking out.

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Re: MST3K, Rifftrax, & sundry

Postby Thad » Fri Sep 13, 2019 12:38 am

More episodes of Bill Corbett's Funhouse:

The Trace episode is a fun chat. They cover a range of topics, and they do get into MST3K a bit at the end; they talk about Crow, how he evolved from the rough early days both in terms of the puppet and their depictions of him. Trace talks about how when he started out, he played Dr. F as a Gregory Peck impression and Crow had what fans call the "baby Crow voice" but eventually moved both of them closer to his real voice. Bill mentions that when he took over as Crow, he started off trying to do an impression of Trace's voice but Mike convinced him to use his regular voice instead.

The Mike episode...I'm not sure they even mention MST3K or Rifftrax. Maybe a little. But it's more of a long, meandering conversation. At its best, it's damned funny; these are a couple of guys who've been writing comedy together for 25 years, and they know how to "yes, and" each other. I'd say listen at least as far as when Mike starts talking about tennis; you'll know by then whether you want to listen to the rest of the episode.

The Josh episode is definitely one you'll want to listen to if you're interested in behind-the-scenes drama, as Josh discusses being more-or-less pushed out of MST3K after the move from KTMA to the Comedy Channel. Josh and Bill both have some less-than-complimentary things to say about Jim Mallon. But it's not just griping about the old boss; Josh talks about his years writing for America's Funniest Home Videos and Freaks and Geeks, surviving cancer and returning to standup, his lead role in the upcoming indie film The Fiddling Horse, and his own podcast, Thought Spiral.

The Greg Sestero episode is good; Greg's always a fun interview. They talk about Tommy Wiseau and The Room, of course, and other eccentric filmmakers who Greg has worked with and Bill has riffed, like David DeCoteau. And Greg does one hell of an impression of Tommy -- not just the accent, but the weird thought processes.

Frank is always a good interview. He talks about obscure films, his career, and politics, including the story of how he got fired by Sirius XM for publicly criticizing them for giving a platform to "fucking piece of shit" Chris Christie. Frank and Bill don't talk MST3K in the main episode, though apparently there's a Patreon-only segment where they discuss the new series; I haven't heard it but maybe I'll sign up for the Patreon once I'm caught up.

Best Old Brains has both Trace and Mary Jo on, and it's enjoyable if a bit slight. They mostly talk about aging -- and the consensus is the not-terribly-original sentiment that it kinda sucks how their bodies don't work as well as they used to but it's nice having a better sense of perspective than they did when they were younger.

The episode where co-host Brandi Brown interviews Bill is enlightening. It's a little light on MST3K, but Bill talks about growing up, studying playwriting at Yale, the years he spent in LA where his most visible success was writing the script for the Eddie Murphy flop Meet Dave (which he notes was changed pretty significantly by the final draft), and the start of Rifftrax. He also frankly discusses being a recovering alcoholic.

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Re: MST3K, Rifftrax, & sundry

Postby Thad » Sat Sep 28, 2019 11:35 pm

Gail Simone wrote for Rifftrax's latest riff, Karate Cop.

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Re: MST3K, Rifftrax, & sundry

Postby Thad » Tue Oct 01, 2019 3:32 pm

Shout Factory TV will be running a horror movie at 7 eastern and an MST3K at 9 eastern every night this month.

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