The 25th Frame
Mystery Science Theater 3000: The only humans and robots I would ever welcome to talk during the movie.
90's T.V. kind of rocked. There was a huge selection for kids to sink their teeth into; I still want my old Nickelodeon back. Give me “Rocko's Modern Life” over any of the crap kids are watching on T.V. these days. Regardless of the variety, every individual raised in the 90s typically can name one show they were completely addicted to growing up. Some of my friends say “Boy Meets World” (don't get me started), “Home Improvement” (eh...) and “Friends” (you can guess the gender of those friends).
My show...was and is still “Mystery Science Theater 3000”, referred to as MST3K by fans such as myself.
*crickets*
Perhaps this will help...it's that show you know you've seen where the lone human and his two robot buddies sit in the bottom right hand corner and talk through the whole movie. There you go! That's the look of recognition I expect. Though chances are you don't remember much of the show, despite having a 10 year run under it's belt. Still, the silhouette is legend.
MST3K was a show that started in the late 80s on public access in the Twin Cities, working it's way to the Comedy Channel and finally ending it's 11 year run on the Sci Fi channel; the premise focusing on a man (series creator Joel Hodgson and later head writer Mike Nelson) stranded in space and forced to watch the worst movies ever made.
I'm not talking “Catwoman” bad. I'm talking...”children were starving in Arkansas and this movie got made for some form of money” bad. Really...really...bad movies. Why watch? Joel/Mike, along with their custom built robot sidekicks (Tom Servo and Crow T. Robot, the best supporting characters ever) talk through the whole movie; making fun in any way they can.
The humor takes many forms, from puns, situational observations, sketches to simply laughing at how bad the movie is (sometimes, it's all you can really do). As the series went on, jokes from other episodes would sneak in from time to time, rewarding the loyal viewer (like me!). Oftentimes, they rip on science fiction films made between the 50s and 80s; typically because it was easier to secure the rights to each film and format them for the show. However, they're equal opportunity roasters; this educational short on a “Cheating” being a favorite example of mine.
Seriously...I think they used to show this to kids...shame that Mike and the bots were not around then.
It's a different kind of humor compared to what is on T.V. these days; predominately due to it's huge focus on comedic timing rather than shock jokes. Aside from Jane Lynch and Betty White, I cannot think of many comedic actors these days who possess perfect timing; but the crew of the Satellite of Love sure as hell did. Not every joke hit one out of the park, but there's no need to. In the long run, the combination of crappy images and sounds coming from the screen with the crew's running commentary is like watching a horrible movie with your funniest and wittiest friends.
Since the show's run ended, the cast and crew have moved on to other projects; but much to this fan's happiness, we now have running commentary for the 21st century! Mike Nelson, along with Kevin Murphy (voice of Tom Servo) and Bill Corbett (voice of Crow in the later seasons) have opened a site called Rifftrax; where they create audio commentaries to sync up with modern movies. In essence, it's MST3K for a new generation and without the lawsuits for copyrights!
Now you can watch and listen as “Matrix Reloaded”, “Transformers”, “Daredevil”, “Titanic” and (my personal favorite rip) “Twilight” all get torn a new ones by the original masters.
That's what these guys are: comedy masters. You should know their work and even if you don't enjoy it, you should at least pay homage. The MST3K days had a sharp influence on T.V. comedy and will continue to do so for years to come.
Posted by Max Alborn on Jul 27, 2010 @ 11:11 am