MST3K Kickstarter Livestream

 For the last week or so Mystery Science Theater 3000 has been doing livestreams nearly every night. It's been amazingly consistent and has given me a sudden abundance of nightly entertainment. Most of the streams have featured the new(er) cast watching classic episodes, something that didn't sound like much at first but turned out to be way more hilarious and enjoyable than I had hoped. One stream was the cast playing Jackbox games like quiplash and so forth,which, again was fantastic. I decided not to post them all on ye olde blog because each is 2 hours and it was nightly so it just seemed like too much content.

But now this is the last day of the Kickstarter and there is one more livestream to close it out. The stream starts tonight at 6PM Eastern. The Kickstarter, by the way, has already reached every goal and so the new season will be a full 12 episodes. One interesting bit of news is that they will be renting out a theater to have a live "Grand Finale" showing of the last episode of the season. And the location of the live event just so happens to be in the Philadelphia area. 

So anyways, all goals have been met so tonight's livestream stream will be about piling on, maybe some additional goals or episodes, maybe some additional bonus rewards and probably some surprise guests. Check it out if you have a free night and you're into that sort of thing.

New MST3K Kickstarter

 

As you might recall, back in 2015 Mystery Science Theater 3000 did a record breaking kickstarter to bring back the show, which ultimately went to Netflix. Since then, Netflix "cancelled" it. Now there is a kickstarter to bring it back and cut out the middleman - shows will be released on a streaming service 100% dedicated to MST3K. Users will be able to stream live events, classic episodes as well as new seasons. And it will last as long as the money lasts.

It's a good idea, we'll see what happens.

The Link.

MST3K Social Distancing Special

The Mystery Science Theater 3000 Social Distancing Special took place today. I almost missed it for reasons I can't explain. It was a little dicey, the audio of the movie was too low and the audio of the cast was too high - I couldn't get in the zone. Is it possible that was just my computer? Still, it's my happening and it freaks me out.

There was one particular part that jumped out like a lightning bolt:

Tom Servo: [Reading the side of a moon rover] "Isn't that the new Preston and Steve catchphrase - 'Danger! Explosive door bolts?'"

How'd they make it in?! Amazing. As I noted long ago, the show is currently rife with Philadelphia jokes. But unlike back then, I now have a lead. Joel Hodgson is still in the area but I still don't think it's his style (not growing up here, I'd think he wouldn't care). But writer Matt McGinnis is also from the area and he's my best guess.

New MST3K Special May 3rd

Mystery Science Theater 3000 will return with a "social-distancing" special on May 3.

Read about it here because I'm confused and will probably get it wrong.

So, first off there's no reunion, it's the new people from the tour. Secondly, it's an online livestream and appears to be free. Thirdly, they're going to riff over an actual episode of MST3K from the first season. That's the strange bit and I'm curious how it turns out.

MST3K - The Band that played California Lady

First, the hit that shook the world:



And, of course, the Behind the Music of the Band That Played California Lady:

MST3K - Season 12 Trailer

The trailer for Mystery Science Theater 3000 Season 12 is out and it reveals all the movies that will be watched.


Mac and Me. So awesome.

MST3K Returns Thanksgiving Day

I made the title "MST3K Returns Thanksgiving Day" but if I had left it at "Thanksgiving" would people be confused? "Is it Thanksgiving Eve?" "I thought it was the Second Night of Thanksgiving!"

The new season of Mystery Science Theater 3000 will be released to Netflix on Thanksgiving and will consist of 6 episodes. You can read about it here.

MST3K Renewed For Second Season

In case you missed the Turkey Day marathon, it was announced that Mystery Science Theater will get a second season on Netflix (and 12th season over all). Dampening my excitement is the fact that it took them way too long to renew the show - delaying the new episodes by half a year or so. It's unknown how long production will take and when the new episodes will premier.

Next year will be the show's 30th anniversary.

MST3K - Turkey Day Marathon 2017

The Turkey Day Marathon 2017 is now Live. The stream starts at Noon EST and ends at ???.

[Live Stream Video Removed]

MST3K - Season 11 First Reaction

Now, I don't personally believe there is such a thing as "spoilers" for Mystery Science Theater, but if you do, stop reading now.

I just finished watching the new season of MST3K. I wasn't specifically trying to get through it fast, it just sort of happened that way. The only thing nerdier than binge-watching MST3K would be to post a full, detailed review of it on my blog and my self-image couldn't take that right now. So instead, I just wanted to get a few observations out of my system.

First off, they did a great job. This is a reboot in the vein of Star Wars (oh no, I've mentioned Star Wars, this is spiraling out of control fast) in that they made something new, made something their own but were lovingly loyal to the original, and therefore didn't "piss off the fans". The jokes are funny, they throw in a fan-service in-joke every once in a while, some of the original writers are involved, the movies are terrible, they got some celebrity cameos but made sure their presence made sense in the context of the show and the jokes are funny. They continue the tradition of musical numbers excellently and there's even a Christmas episode.

So overall, I loved it.

There's also lots of "world building" in the show - not something I need but it adds some nice color.

Going into the season, I was pretty curious about the celebrity cameos. Previously, the biggest guest star they had gotten was Leonard Maltin. But, as I said, they turned out to be a nice surprise. For those of you interested, here are some I remember:

• 11.01 - Erin Gray and HWil HWheaton
• 11.04 - Neil Patrick Harris
• 11.06 - Jerry Seinfeld
• 11.12 - Mark Hamill
• 11.14 - Joel McHale
• And also Joel Hodgson, Mary Jo Pehl, Bill Corbitt and Paul Chaplin appear throughout.

One thing I started picking up (and subsequently made notes on) was that it became evident that one of the writers is a native of Philadelphia, though I don't know who - imdb hasn't been updated and it would take more googling than I cared to do. I know Joel has lived in the area for a little while but I don't think it's coming from him. Here are some of the references someone threw in:

• 11.02 - Cry Wilderness - A reference to the Phillie Phanatic.
• 11.08 - The Loves of Hercules - A reference to the Mummers.
• 11.09 - Yongary - A "traffic" joke about the Schuylkill.
• 11.10 - Wizards of the Lost Kingdom - A reference to Citizen's Bank Park.
• 11.13 - The Christmas that Almost Wasn’t - A reference to Bryn Mawr.
• 11.14 - At the Earth's Core - A reference to the Human Heart exhibit at the Franklin Institute. [Deep cut].

And just for good measure here are my favorite episodes so far:

1. 11.01 - Reptilicus.
2. 11.03 - The Time Travelers
3. 11.10 - Wizards of the Lost Kingdom
4. 11.02 - Cry Wilderness
5. 11.06 - Starcrash

You'll note that the list is heavily weighted towards the earlier episodes. The season doesn't really fall apart as it goes along, that's probably just my subjective mood at the time. These are all first impressions, after all.

One final note. There's been a lot of hype and hoopla about adding a new bot to the crew: Mr. Waverly. It's a big risk introducing a new character into the mix. I consider what they do with that character to be one of the masterstrokes of the new season.

MST3K - Season 11

The new 11th season of Mystery Science Theater 3000 "drops" on Netflix this week. Friday April 14th, to be exact, and I can tell you it's going to be good.

If you're like me and you watch the hype and hoopla concerning the new season you'll see a lot being made of the special effects, the sets, the guest stars, the new bots, the new actors... All that is fine, and I'm a little curious about the special guest stars as well (Jerry Seinfeld), but as I said in a previous post, it's all about getting in the movie theater and making jokes and very little else about the show matters.

As a Kickstarter backer I was able to see the first episode before it gets officially released on Friday. And it's pretty great. They watch a terrible movie that I've never heard of in my life and the jokes are fast and furious. If I have any complaint, it's that the jokes were so fast it's hard to keep up at some points. It demands your full attention or you're going to miss a lot.

So, as a hardcore fan, I approve... I really enjoyed it... And I'm officially as excited about a "tv" show as I have been about any tv show in recent memory. It's back, somehow it really is back.

MST3K New Season Trailer

It just so happens that April 13th Rifftrax's viewing of "Samurai Cop" comes to theaters and then the new season of Mystery Science Theater 3000 is released on Netflix on April 14th. Not just the first episode, the entire season. And then Red Letter Media has a screening of "Samurai Cop" on April 16th but in 2011. Still a weird coincidence, if you ask me.

Netflix just released the trailer for the new season. Nothing very exciting, in my eyes. It's all about the movies and the jokes for me.

MST3K New Season

The release date of the next season of MST3K has just been announced. The new season of "Mystery Science Theater 3000" will premiere on Netflix April 14th, 2017. That is all.

New Episodes of MST3K Will Be on Netflix

There's still some time left before we see any new episodes of Mystery Science Theater 3000 but the makers have announced where the episodes will be released. The show is coming to Netflix.

The new season is slated to begin in the Fall.

MST3K - Kickstarter Telethon

Buoyed by a star-studded "telethon", the MST3K kickstarter has ended with great financial success even if the event was hampered my major technical problems. Here's the rundown for anyone interested:

First, the goal was to reach $5.5 Million to make a full season of twelve episodes. They got that.

Then, the goal was to reach $5.9 Million to add a Christmas episode to the season of twelve. They reached that.

Then, the goal was to pass $5.7 Million on the kickstarter alone to have the record for the highest total in the history of kickstarter. They reached that.

Finally, they said if they get to $6.3 Million, they'll make a 14th episode and they just barely made it.

This was the highlight for me. This is the Game Grumps interviewed and then playing a video game MST3K style with Crow. The game they play? "Manos: The Hands of Fate: the video game". Appropriate.



Here's Patton Oswalt stealing the show in a segment that kind of encapsulates the whole night.

MST3K is Back... Sort Of

Original show creator Joel Hodgson is bringing back MST3K, using crowdfunding to raise the necessary funding.


Someone did a good job at making the crowdfunding page entertaining for the fans. Some names of the rewards: "Hello. Thank You!", "Shirty the Shirt Sprite", "Big McLargehuge" and "She stole Mike's keyboard!". It also states "Finally, if we raise $1 BILLION – stay with me on this one – we’re going to adopt a real live teenage boy and “Truman Show” him into believing he is the Pumaman!"

A couple of the rewards are owning a Servo/Crow used in the show, having your own obscure joke used in the show and being listed as a producer.

Exciting news but there are a number of reasons to be... less excited. The host will not be Joel or Mike for sure and the robot puppeteers will likely be new as well. More importantly, what about the writers? The only person we know to be involved at all is Joel. That leads to the question, if the show comes back with an all new cast and all new writers, is it the same show?

I would argue "not at all" but, fortunately for me, I have money to spare on nonsense speculation like this.

Link.

Terms of Service Endearment

For the first time since its cancellation the stars of Mystery Science Theater 3000 returned to Comedy Central. Now the makers of Rifftrax, they appeared as guests on "At Midnight".

I haven't been watching "At Midnight", although I am a fan of host Chris Hardwick. But somewhere along the line, it changed format from a late night talk show to a sort of faux-comedy-game-show. I don't understand that plus I very much doubt that these jokes are "off the cuff" and not prepared beforehand. Still, the bottom line is: it's funny.

This is the one clip available on youtube:



The whole show is very funny, you can watch the full episode here.

TV - Other Space

A foreign intelligence has invaded the ship and suddenly every crew member is experiencing their wildest dreams as very real hallucinations. Zalian Fletcher suddenly finds a tuna fish sandwich on the ground and begins to eat it. Later, crew members discuss this occurrence:

"So your #1 fantasy is to find a tuna fish sandwich on the ground?"
"It... doesn't have to be on the ground."

"Other Space" is a science-fiction comedy (more comedy than science fiction) whose first season is available on "Yahoo! Screen". Like the classic "Red Dwarf", each episode finds them encountering some outer space phenomenon with hilarious consequences.

I was first attracted to the show because the cast features none other than Joel Hodgson, of MST3K fame. But a second big surprise is that he's also joined in space by a robot pal played by Trace Beaulieu who played Crow, his space robot pal in that show as well. A third big surprise is that one of the female leads, Tina Shukshin, is played by Milana Vayntrub (of Let's Talk About Something More Interesting though more people will recognize her as "the AT&T girl"). Actually seeing these three people interacting in the same show makes me scared that the producers have actually tapped into my dreams somehow and are putting it on screen. What am I, the Lathe of Heaven? [Obscure PBS referencessss. No one ever gets them.] In the second season, watch them to be flying in the A-Team van and add a Philadelphia Eagles sub-plot.

I found "Other Space" to be pretty funny and would recommend giving it a watch. The show's creator is Paul Feig who was one of the minds behind "Freaks and Geeks". The sci-fi is well done and there's lots of solid comedy despite the somewhat cheap budget. The main strength of the show is the character acting - there are some great, offbeat deliveries and one suspects there's some improv going on. The pace/editing of the show is very quick, which I find troubling, but that may just mean that it rewards repeated viewings and would be great for quoting with friends.

MST3K Trivia Tidbits:

 - Joel's sporting long hair which is something that he did in the very, very early days of MST3K. His character, as well as some aspects of the show (and therefore the hair), were originally inspired by Bruce Dern's 60s hippie spaceman character in the movie "Silent Running".

- Trace Beaulieu's robot character is named "A.R.T." In the early days of MST3K they would read fan letters. One day, a child sent in a drawing of the show's characters with each of them neatly labeled. The picture of Crow was labeled as "Art" for reasons that no one of the show could understand. For the rest of the series, Crow would periodically be called Art as an inside joke.

I Never Went to Castleton

It's pretty amazing... just a few days ago I mentioned that David Letterman's autograph was the only autograph I own. I said it confidently because there hadn't been much activity in that area for about a decade. Little did I know that, at that very moment, another one was headed straight to me via the United States Postal Service...

The Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode "Time Chasers" is a classic and one of the best episodes in my opinion. It begins with a title card that Mike Nelson reads out loud as "A David Giancola Film.... is not something you'd want to see."

The hero of the film is Nick Miller, a 10-speed riding academic who has figured out the secret to time travel .... and yet his ventures into the future don't allow him to see the datedness of hockey hair (AKA the mullet). The movie was independently made and entirely filmed in the Vermont area. And so it's not surprising that Nick wears a Castleton t-shirt throughout MOST of the film (there's a brief shirtless scene). It looks like this (the shirt, not the shirtless scene)...

The ever-present shirt is often referenced by Mike and the Bots - Crow: "Remember when everybody got the 'Nick Miller' haircut and went around wearing Castleton t-shirts?" - and has therefore become an iconic image of the show.

When I saw that Edgewood Studios (the makers of the film "Time Chasers") were selling an official Castleton t-shirt, I bought one. And it came today. It also came wrapped around a piece of cardboard. "Probably to keep it from crumpling up", I thought. No, the cardboard was this...

That, my friends, is a flattened VHS cover of the film "Time Chasers" with a personalized autograph from the Director of the film, David Giancola.

So now I own two celebrity autographs (not counting Disney characters, which probably should count)... David Letterman and David Giancola. And if you were only going to get autographs from two celebrities named "David" it probably would be those two.

MST3K to Return to TV (In a Way, Maybe)

As you probably already know, after "Mystery Science Theater 3000" was cancelled, Mike Nelson took the essence of the show online in the form of Rifftrax. As the online "show" has become more popular, a TV version felt somewhat inevitable. And so it isn't too surprising that a three episode Rifftrax TV show will begin airing April 1st. What is surprising, however, is that according to Zap2it, the robots Crow and Tom Servo will be returning. The article doesn't say whether Mike Nelson will be reprising his role as Mike Nelson.

Little else is know about the show except the word is that it's going to be mocking TV programming rather than movies.

First off, the prospect of the robots returning is huge. That's the part that would really make it feel like a MST3K comeback. The main reason that's so exciting is because it's so surprising. A word of warning: I have a feeling that the article is simply getting that part wrong, unfortunately. That's a copyright issue.

Only 3 episodes? According to Charlie Bucket, it's not enough. But the main thing is, if it goes well, it opens the door for the possibility of a real series.

Watch for all three 1-hour episodes of the show "Total Riff Off" on the National Geographic Channel (I have to check to see if I get that) starting at 8PM on April 1st.