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Weekend Discussion Thread: The Grand Convergence

As I was going over the questions everybody submitted for Joel (and, by the way, good job everybody) one thing really leaped out at me: Probably the most frequently asked question was some version of “When is everybody going to get together in one project?”

So, this weekend’s question: If they WERE going to all get together and do something, what form would you like that to take?

My vision is an extra-long (meaning more than three internal host segments) direct-to-DVD episode in which, through some sort of time travel plot (I’ve always thought the starting point might be that extra Crow that got left behind at the cheese factory in TIME CHASERS, though I’m not quite sure where you go from there), all the characters would end up interacting.
My idea is that, with each theater segment, more and more characters would be in the theater until, in the final segment, both Crows, both Servos, both Gypsies (would Pat Brantseg hold out for the big bucks?), Joel, Mike, Dr. F., Erhardt, Frank, Pearl, Observer and Bobo would all be there together (man, the line-assign would be murder!). I’d want a short AND a movie, but right now I can’t think what they would be.

Too much? Not enough? Got a different idea completely? And what movie should they do? Let’s hear it.

71 Replies to “Weekend Discussion Thread: The Grand Convergence”

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  1. Joe Sixpack says:

    Pearl and Co. track down and capture Mike & the bots and lock them in a new theater in Castle Forrester’s dungeon. Various wacky rescue attempts by Joel and Gypsy.
    Meanwhile, the Castle is visited by Dr.F who returns from the void, but is pursued by the Soultakers Frank the White and Torgo.

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  2. John Seavey says:

    I don’t know what it would be, but I know there would need to be a swordfight between Mike and Joel at some point. Let’s settle that debate once and for all, dangit! :)

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  3. Ryan says:

    A while ago I had the idea that if Michael Bay was a decent human being and actually had a sense of humility and humor (he is none of those things), then he would have a feature on his movie DVDs where we could watch the movie itself (who would do that?) or watch it as a MST3K show, where it would have the extra audio of Mike and the bots riffing and stop and show host segments. The plot being that Michael Bay is the mad scientist and found Mike and the bots and shot them into space because they were the most resilient to bad movies, and he is trying to make the worst movie ever to crush the human spirit which he will unleash and TAKE OVER THE WORLD!
    This way, we will get a new MST3K “episode” once every two years or so. As for the inclusion of Dr. F, Joel and the others, not sure. Maybe Joel could be a rival millionaire (with the help of GypsyCo) trying to stop Michael Bay, and Dr. F (as a ghost or celestial being) is Bay’s mentor teaching him how to be a mad scientist and how to do the experiments (since Bay couldn’t come up with the idea himself).
    What do you think sirs?

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  4. Steve K says:

    #52 – I could see that done in shadowrama on CT. The only problem is that given the fanbase, they couldn’t really have a winner, and if there were a draw, the debate would not really be settled. So there’s only one possible conclusion. I can hear the riffers’ comments now:

    Kevin: “Well. That’s that.”
    Josh: “Great, now they’re both dead.”
    Trace: “Now who’s going to clean this up?”
    Bill: “Hey, is that a spleen?”
    Frank: “Oh, the horror! Damn you John Seavey!”
    Pearl: “Yes, John, see what you’ve done? You’re why we can’t have nice things.”

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  5. Pulatso says:

    My reunion idea is pretty close, I was just thinking two Crows, two Toms, and Joel and Mike in the theater, but instead of just a single episode, the collective Mads decide there is just too much chaos with six in there and each take a team. Cue each team getting a season, with crossover specials involving the whole cast or just guests. Of course, the entire crew is working on every episode, just switching out host duties.

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  6. I'm not a medium, I'm a petite says:

    CT already has too many voices as it is, IMHO. I would like to see Joel and Mike in the theater. period. 2 old buds that have grown apart getting back together after so many years. No competition, no recrimination, just riffing.

    I think you could leave it at that but it could serve as a core around which you could rotate in ‘bots and nots’ one at a time for a few scenes each.

    If we need some kind of battle royale featuring all the characters, it should be saved for a massive zany series of host segments.

    The film… Battlefield Earth ?

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  7. I'm not a medium, I'm a petite says:

    Oh and while I have this MST3K The SECOND Movie idea floating around my brain ( along with the paint chips ) let me opine that instead of adding more host segment back story to pad MST3K The Movie, I think they should have been forced to sit through and riff old TV commercials.. it’s commercial sign but they are back in theater watching cigarette and tampon adds NOOOOO.

    Watching the show back when it was broadcast, I always felt it was a shame they had to stop riffing for the commercial breaks. As Sampo points out, many of the ads would have been good fodder.

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  8. itsspideyman says:

    How bout a grand Time Chasers episode, where the Joel and the Bots meet Mike and the Bots, brought on by the Crow in Milwaukee wanting to get back to his time and place, and Frank and Dr. Forrester meeting up with Pearl, Brain Guy and Professor Bobo? Then having to try to right the time frames by Pearl and Dr. Forrester, and Pearl and Clayton keep chasing them into the theatre while they try to figure how to return the time lines back to normal?

    Battlefield Earth is a GREAT idea!!!

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  9. jeanerj says:

    No movie riffing at all. No movie. Instead, a vast, soaring, big -budget, roaringly funny musical comedy about ‘bots and Mads chasing and escaping each other across the solar system, where they meet and interact with lots of funny characters along the way, like Mr. Joe Don, Brad Pitt, Estrella, whatever. Kinda ‘Airplane’ meets ‘Enterprise’. The title would be, ‘Mystery Science Theater 3000: Their Next Movie.’

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  10. The Bolem says:

    I’ll third “Battlefield Earth”, even though Travlota probably sealed the rights to it in that vault where all of L. Ron Hubbard’s writings are engraved on metal plates.

    Maybe MST3K:TM2 could actually be an original adventure movie about the ex-brains getting past angry Scientologists to secure the master print. It could end up more entertaining than “Kingdom of the Crystal Skull”…

    And I’m serious about the idea of “Shadowrama 360” format. In space, artificial gravity could be generated by centrifugal force, so if the theater were relocated to the center of mass for the SOL, it would kinda’ make sense for riffers to be able to sit on the walls and ceiling as well.

    Even if CT does have too many voices, a one-time special would be the perfect time for the ultimate riffing team-up: Hell, cram a few classic guest-stars in too!

    And maybe the twist could be that KTMA Cambot was secretly manipulating the reunion; that thing was friggin’ creepy.

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  11. FordPrefect says:

    #56 – Mike, Kevin, and Bill already riffed “Battlefield Earth” on Rifftrax. Unfortunately, I doubt they could get the rights to riff the film MST3K-style with shadowrama.

    #57 – I also wish they had been able to riff commercial breaks on MST3K. It was great to see them riff commercials during the Rifftrax for “The Star Wars Holiday Special.”

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  12. Scott P. says:

    Said it before, I’ll say it again. Mike, Joel, Trace as Crow and Kevin as Servo are the only ones in the theater.

    You don’t need a time travel dealio, Dr. F. grows up, comes back and shoots all four back into space.

    Dr. Earhardt is found, so Josh can write and do host segments. Frank is summoned back from second banana heaven so he can write and do host segments. Pearl and Observer are there so Mary Jo and Bill can write and do host segments.

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  13. Gary Bowden says:

    :mrgreen: If MST3K were ever to come back on the air(a big IF),it would start off from the last movie they did.Brain Guy would take over Pearl’s job and hold Mike and the bots in the apartment with his mind and send them bad movies.Pearl and Bobo get wind of this and try to take over,but Brain Guy won’t budge,since they didn’t want him around when they off to do their thing.Now,I don’t know what Joel,Frank,J.Elvis and Trace would do,but how about if they were all in Joel’s spaceship and they come to Mike’s to help out??? I don’t know if I like the sound of that.They could make cameos..On CT,Joel could announce that he’s bringing in a couch,in case some of them need to rest or take a nap and says that he has 3 guys are going to come to deliver it,which happen to be Mike,Kevin and Bill.As they bring in the couch(while the movie is going on,mind you)Mike and the other 2 make comments about it and asks either Joel or whoever,”You guys get paid to do this?”

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  14. Pumaman says:

    MST3K the movie 2.Joel,Mike,Tom,Crow,and Gypsy in the theater.Beeper,Timmy, and the extra Crow would guest star.Plus all of the Mads would take part.Not to mention Torgo,definitely Torgo.

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  15. Cornjob says:

    My fantasy idea about an MST3000 return would be thus…

    After landing on earth at the end of season 10 Mike, Crow, and Tom wind up running a movie theater that is part of the ConGypsCo Cinema Division. Given their time traveling/universe traversing year of season 8, and the fact that the original timeframe of MST3000 was never concrete, they have actually arrived on earth before Dr. Forrester became a Star Child, and TV’s Frank went off with Torgo the White to Second Banana Heaven. Dr. Erhardt turns up as well (perhaps he was in the Peace Corp trying to bring it down from the inside?). Mike and the Bots spend their free time sitting in the empty balcony riffing the terrible films that ConGypsCo shows. Joel occasionally shows up at the theater, as does Dr. F, Frank, Dr. Erhardt, Gypsy, Pearl, Bobo, Brainguy, Mr. B Natural, Satan, Crankor, and anyone else ever imaginable. And so the balcony section has a constantly rotating crew of wisecracking people mocking the films or hanging out in the lobby for “host segments”. They could also include trailers and commercials since it’s actually a movie theater they are in, and maybe they could even interact occasionally with other theater patrons. Sure nothing like this is ever going to happen, but it would be my dream scenario for a full blown MST3000 return.

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  16. Cornjob says:

    @ Gary Bowden #63 that is a great idea for a nice short little cameo of the Rifftrax guys on CT. To add a little riffing time for Mike Kevin and Bill perhaps they are bringing in the couch before the movie starts. Then they are asking Joel and the gang what they do there, the movie starts before they can leave, and so they get “sealed in” or something. So they have to sit there on the couch until the first “break” where they stop the film say to bring in a guest for Frank Conniff’s Hollywood Cavalcade when they sneak out the unsealed door. And so in the mean time they make comments about the movie along with the CT crew.

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  17. BigRiggBlues says:

    Personally, I’d like to see a DVD set featuring multiple takes on the same film from the RT/TFC, CT, and MST crews.

    As for a dream MST reunion episode, I have a few ideas. I like the idea in #17 from about the ultimate Forrester. I also liked the idea about bringing back the Crow time-duplicate from TIME CHASERS back.

    However, I’d change it a little. I’d start with Dr. F and Pearl living together in a small apartment, to the annoyance of each. They are contacted by ghost of the Grand-Forrester and ordered to resume their work. Both Pearl and Dr. F then contact their respective minions to capture their former SOL hostages. Frank and Erhardt capture Joel and the original Crow, Observer captures Mike, and Bobo follows his stomach to the cheese factory, where he finds a tasty wheel of cheddar, and a certain time-lost robot who just happens to also be named Crow. The captives are locked in the SOL, which is now grounded on Earth. They find that Servo has taken up residence in the SOL. (His entrance would be mostly Servo wandering into frame from off the screen to the surprise of everyone.) Hilarity ensues and the Forresters and Co. force the humans and bots to watch a film. (I don’t know which one I would choose, but it would have to be new and include a short.) Gypsy soon finds out about the plot and sets about trying to free the captives. However, she accidentally traps the Forresters and minions in the SOL with their captives. On her second attempt, she traps herself inside as well. The show ends with the entire cast trapped in the downed SOL, but it’s ok, because Dr. F had fitted the ship with a Star Trek-like food replicator system and nuclear power cells.

    That’s basically it. Mike, Joel, and the bots would take the theater seats, while the Forresters and minions would be placed either in a second row of seats or a CT-like scaffolding structure. I would also throw in a few references to past gags, Torgo’s Pizza and the like. Snide comments and small gags could explain away any continuity errors, like how Dr. F became a normal human again.

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  18. Apple says:

    Why not have them all riff on terrible music videos?

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  19. Sean says:

    I don’t know how they’ll orchestrate bringing all the characters together, but I trust the Brains to handle it in just the right way. As for which movie to riff, I’d love to see Ferigno’s version of “Hercules” or “Mazes & Monsters” starring Tom Hanks. The latter, of course, will also provide a public service, warning parents and young people about the dangers of role playing games like Dungeons & Dragons.

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  20. A “Grindhouse” style double-feature would be nice.

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  21. What I miss is the sense of them talking to each other, rather that joke, joke, joke. Little throw away gags, Joel putting his hand on Crow’s shoulder to let him know he’s gone too far, and Tom whispering thing like the Scott Hamilton joke from Master Ninja II.

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