|
 |
Weekend Discussion Thread: Return of the 10 EssentialsFirst of all, sorry I’m late. Rough week.
Back in 2012, we did a “top 10 essential episodes” — not necessarily your personal favorites, but ones every fan should see. Well, a certain alert regular who shall remain nameless :::COUGHYeti!COUGH::: thinks its timne we redo our lists, in light of season 11. So, heave to: Of the now-more-than-200 MST3K episodes, are any a MUST-see? And what ep, on your original top ten essentials, would it displace? The previous thread is here if you want to look yourself up. 42 Replies to “Weekend Discussion Thread: Return of the 10 Essentials”Commenting at Satellite News
We are determined to encourage thoughtful discussion, so please be respectful to others. We also provide an "Ignore" button ( Comments are closed. |
|
Satellite News is a fan site for the Mystery Science Theater 3000 television and Netflix series. It is an independent publication written and compiled by Chris Cornell (msampo@aol.com) and Brian Henry (erhardt4@aol.com). Satellite of Love, LLC does not maintain this web site, nor is it responsible for this site's content.
All content posted on Satellite News is copyright © 2024 by Chris Cornell and Brian Henry, except where otherwise noted. This Date in MSTory is written and compiled by Steve Finley, Chris Cornell and Brian Henry. Copyright © 2024 All rights reserved. Please do not reproduce This Date in MSTory items in any form without express written permission from the authors. Items of MST3K news may be duplicated or reposted, as long as Satellite News is cited as the source. The views and opinions expressed herein are not necessarily those of Satellite of Love, LLC. No warranty is expressed or implied that the information given herein is completely accurate, and in fact this information can and will change at any time. So there. Mystery Science Theater 3000, its characters and situations are copyrights and trademarks of Satellite of Love, LLC. Banner image created by Larry Lee Moniz. Powered by WordPress & Atahualpa |
|
) to help our users cope with "trolls" and other commenters whom they find annoying. Go to our
In no particular order:
Manos: The Hands of Fate (Canonical)
Space Mutiny (Highly quoted)
Red Zone Cuba (Quintessential Coleman Francis)
Mitchell (Joel-to-Mike transition)
Final Sacrifice (Canadian representative)
Legend of Boggy Creek II (Crenshaw)
Revenge of the Creature (First SciFi)
Prince of Space (Japanese representative)
Riding With Death (TV pilots)
I Accuse My Parents (pre-1950 “Lesson” movie)
this is not in order of favorites or best.
1. crawling eye- first episode season one.
2. monster a-go-go- because there was NO FIGGIN’ EPISODE! HAPPY?
3. Eegah- how many riffs came from this mess?
4. I accuse my parents- one of their best in my mind.
5. Manos- ’nuff said.
6. Mitchell- for so many reasons.
7. The brain that wouldn’t die- Mike’s debut
8. Laserblast- farewell to an ungrateful Comedy Channel
9. Soultaker- because Sampo said so.
10. Diabloik- for me the end of an era.
Wow, a virgin comment list (so far). I am somewhat new to this Mistie thing (caught the bug about a year ago) So I may not be very in tune with the rest of the community. I have noticed that my opinions about what makes a good episode varies pretty widely from others (and just let me say, I am the same age as Joel and live in Wisconsin, so the riffs are VERY often right up my alley.) I have tried to interest my son in the show, but he HATES it, so I haven’t been successful. With all that being said, here are ten of my go to episodes from all eras of the show (in chronological order, just because I need to cheat and look at the episode list as I do this…)
1. Moon Zero Two (Episode 111) I love the groovieness of the movie and felt the need for a first season entry, so I’ll go with this one.
2. Wild Rebels (Episode 207) Tell me you are not singing the Wild Rebels cereal theme song in your head right now!
3. Pod People (Episode 303) Trumpy, Nooooooo!
4. Castle of Fu Manchu (Episode 323) Not a big fave, I know, but the whimpering of Joel and especially the bots leaves me on the floor laughing every time. Consider this one a bonus.
5. The Beatniks (Episode 415) Could have named any 4th season (frankly, except Manos, I am just not a big fan of Manos) The “You are not a Beatnik” host segment kills me.
6. Mitchell (Episode 512) Duh.
7. San Francisco International (Episode 614) As a representative of the excellent riffing work by Mike and the bots after Joel left. Again, I know this is not a big fan favorite, but the riffs are pretty awesome: Crow: “Geez, I wish they had filmed this movie in color.”
8. The Giant Spider Invasion (Episode 810) The movie was filmed 20 miles north of where I live and my Significant Other is in contact with Bill Rebane on a project he is working on. Plus I find this episode freaking hilarious.
9. Pumaman and Werewolf (Episodes 903 and 904) OK, I am really cheating now. But these are two of the stupidest movies ever made with anything approaching a budget and Mike and the Bots really slaughter both of them in hilarious fashion. You will never pronounce “Puma” or “Werewolf” the same ever again.
10. The Final Sacrifice (Episode 910) “We will, we will Rowsdower!” “Tusk!” Wall to wall laughs.
Special note, I have to say that the riffing during the Mike years was especially sharp, in the Mike episodes I enjoy the movie parts of the show the best, especially during the SyFy years I want to fast forward through the host segments often. Joel was the king of the host segment in my estimation and more than once they were better than the movie part.
11. Avalanche (Episode 1104) Again, I know many fans disagree on this one, but there is something about all that 70’s decor (see a bit of pattern here?). I found the ripping apart of Rock and Mia to be quite funny and the avalanche scene (when it finally arrives) is a laugh riot.
Special mention for the monster rap in the first episode of Season 11, when I saw that, I was pretty sure things were going to be alright for the reboot.
Thanks for using COUGH! my idea COUGH!. Here are my suggestions, in no particular order:
Manos — such a classic, whether you like it or not
Mitchell — the transition
Avalanche — the best of the new season
The Violent Years — Ed Wood Jr. and a “Mamas, don’t let your babies grow up to be delinquents” lesson
Werewolf — because it is ebzolootly fessinating
Hobgoblins — in case anyone misses the ’80s
Riding with Death — in case anyone misses the ’70s, and the epitome of “made for TV”
Godzilla vs. Megalon — gotta have a Japanese one, and… Jet Jaguar!
Space Mutiny — Huge McQuotableFace
The Final Sacrifice — who else had a film school project become so (in)famous?
I’m largely sticking with my original list, replacing one with a Season 11 episode.
Robot Monster: You need a sample of Season 1, and this gives an old-school B-movie just when the Brains are hitting their stride.
Gamera vs. Guiron: Gamera is another crucial element. I pick this primarily because (as Jim Mallon noted) Guiron was Gamera’s most worthy opponent. Also Cornjob.
Bride of the Monster: Speaking of crucial, you’ve got to have some Ed Wood. This one has the corny mad science schlock that comes to mind when you bring up his name. Plus you get Bela Lugosi and Tor Johnson.
Manos: Because y’know, Manos.
Mitchell: Due to the change of host.
Laserblast: For Dr. F.’s farewell.
Revenge of the Creature: A strong restart for the series with a classic B-movie.
Jack Frost: The goofiest of the Russian/Finnish productions (no small feat).
Diabolik: The series finale which ends with a loop of sorts.
Starcrash: A particularly unsubtle Star Wars cash-in attempt. Also reintroduces Crow’s screenwriting ambitions.
==
Essential 5 Joel:
1 – Lost Continent – Rock Climbing
2 – Godzilla Vs. Megalon – Best of the Japanese
3 – Bride of the Monster – Ed Wood’s understated hilarious one
4 – I Accuse My Parents – Wall to wall funny
5 – Mitchell – The transition, part 1
Essential 5 Mike:
1 – The Brain That Wouldn’t Die – The transition, part 2
2 – Revenge of the Creature – Start of the Sci-Fi
3 – Hobgoblins – Mike and the Bots crack
4 – Soultaker – Mike and Joel together
5 – Diabolik – The end, part 1
oh jeez, where to start
Manos: The Hands of Fate (one of the best shows, period)
Mitchell (farewell to Joel, and just a hilarious show all-around)
Fire Maidens of Outer Space (a personal fave of mine. TIMMY!)
Pod People (classic, classic show. one of the first I saw)
Laserblast (the end of an era)
The Final Sacrifice (ROWSDOWER and Canada jokes abound)
Space Mutiny (needs bad 80s sci-fi)
Rocketship XM (needs a cheesy rocketship movie)
The Skydivers (the best of Coleman Francis, not quite as punishing as Cuba and Yucca Flats)
Earth vs. The Spider (needs at least one “giant bug” movie)
Honorable Mentions: Monster A Go-Go and Castle of Fu Manchu (two of the worst, most incompetent films they ever did)
haven’t finished S11 yet but of the ones I’ve seen I’d recommend Avalanche and Starcrash
all good lists so far, hard to keep it to just 10
I think another good discussion thread would be your Top 10 overlooked/underrated episodes
I enthusiastically started a list, not having participated in the last go-round. Then I realized that EVERY ONE I’d written down was there because of the female lead (and I’m looking at YOU, Dolores Faith and Sandra Giles).
I’m officially embarrassed. I’m going to spend the rest of the day contemplating the tragedy that is my life. Y’all have a good weekend.
If we have to affirmative-action one S11 on the 10 Essentials–I’d put the best ones in honorable-mention, m’self–I’m picking Carnival Magic in a narrow squeak over Cry Wilderness and Starcrash (and Avalanche loses points for the “Hurry up!” jokes and Gypsy segment).
Looking back at the ’12 list, it’s otherwise pretty much the same, except for interchangeably substituting Froze/Sinbad, adding Mitchell for “historical” value (ie. a cautionary warning of how and why the Change occurred), putting Gamera on for Japanese representation, and bumping Merlin for the Netflix title–And putting Monster a Go-Go on the list just out of favoritism, but apart from watching J&tB take on the challenge, it’s not Essential.
Bringing the list to, in chronological order:
1) Robot Holocaust (the first season finally has something strange enough for the local-station humor to gel)
2) Rocketship X-M (written riffs start making the difference, and the “Reporters” and “Things funny floating” segments redefines the host-segs)
3) Cave Dwellers (the perfect Conan-clone to define how to do 80’s B-cheese)
4) Pod People (Trumpy is the standard by which all host-segs are judged)
5) Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (silly enough for Joel, while Mike took the “foreign” and “cult-character” jokes on the Mexican one)
6) Manos: the Hands of Fate (like Rhino said, the Essential)
7) Gamera vs. Guiron (if they only had to do ONE Japanese episode)
8) Day the Earth Froze (yes, Sinbad should be on the list, but we’re keeping it representative, only one Russo-Finnish fairytale)
9) Wild World of Batwoman (the last time in the classic series a movie was just Silly Enough, with no “issues”)
10) Carnival Magic (even more of a Movie-From-Mars than Cry Wilderness ever was)
– Honorable mention: Robot Monster, Rocket Attack USA, Magic Voyage of Sinbad, Santa Claus, Hobgoblins, Merlin’s Shop of Magical Wonders
Look up “Essential” in Webster’s, and consider yourself lucky the Mike era got more than TWO on the lists.
Sorry for for rough week, Sampo. We can all sympathize. Rather than listing ten episodes I will show an exchange; Season 11 for a previous episode by category –
Fake Dinosaurs – Replace Future Wars with Journey To The Center of The Earth. You still get your quota of really fake dinosaurs plus the bonus of substituting really fake “cave men” for really fake “gangster thugs”.
Asian Giant Monsters – Replace the Gamera movie of your choice with Yongary. You still get your irritating boy in upsetting shorts plus a giant reptilian version of the Macarena dance.
Cheezy Chimps and Crackers – Replace Boggy Creek II (this one is a sacrifice for me) with Carnival Magic. You still get your hairy Little Creature plus a really good excuse to take some Prozac. This is starting to get painful.
Can’t See The Woods For The Fleas – Replace Final Sacrice with Cry Wilderness. Wait …
NO! NO! A THOUSAND TIMES NO!! I just can’t do this one. Rowsdower, save me!!
“First of all, sorry I’m late. Rough week.”
Sorry to hear that Sampo, All of us MST3K fans appreciate your work on this site. It’s by far the best site for devoted fans of this “little puppet” show that some people called it, although we know it’s a lot more than that to the rest of us.
10 Essentials? 10 Essentials:
1) Pod People: Incoherent Movie + Murderous Puppets + Epic Host Segments = Best episode of the early years.
2) Santa Claus Conquers the Martians: Everyone likes Santa and the mess of a movie isn’t too painful. Pull it out during December instead of Manheim Steamroller and be the hero of the party.
3) Manos The Hands of Fate: There are certain flaws with this film. At this point the movie is a pop culture punchline, so you may as well find out how it came to be one.
4) Eegah: A B-List actor with A-list talent in a Z-list movie. Everything wrong with the teen/beach movie genre is thrown in. As the prophets spoke: Watch out for snakes.
5) Mitchell: The end of an era with Joel leaving, but even that can’t overshadow this aggressively generic cop movie starting Joe Don Baker as a smirking, slovenly cop.
6) Angel’s Revenge: A ripoff of Charlie’s Angels and some painful cameos show everything that’s wrong with B movies from the 70s.
7) Laserblast: End of another era with an unlikable lead and bad 70s attire – but this time there’s claymation.
8) Space Mutiny: Just put this one on already and thank us later. Community theater productions of Battlestar Galactica couldn’t be this campy.
9) Werewolf: Did you know Martin Sheen has a brother? This movie forgot that part too after 15 minutes, and sadly you will too as Muppet rejects roam the screen with the weirdest accents since Tommy Wiseau.
10) Cry Wilderness: A Kids movie where actors actually strangle animals, animals actually bite actors, people laugh for no reason, and bigfoot costumes are bought at Goodwill. The new crew didn’t wait long to throw us some iconic moments.
Bonus: Mr. B Natural. Want MST3k distilled into 20 minutes? Here you go.
#ETTU, Brute?
Robot Holocaust
Catalina Caper
Daddy-O
The Giant Gila Monster
Mitchell
Alien From L.A.
Escape 2000
The Puma Man
The Deadly Bees
The Final Sacrifice
1. The Giant Spider Invasion
2. Zombie Nightmare
3. Manos the Hands of Fate
4. Gamera vs Guiron
5. Pod People
6. Jack Frost
7. Merlin’s Shop of Mystical Wonders
8. The Touch of Satan
9. Time Chasers
10. Soultaker
Picking essentials will be really hard for me, but let me try. I’m probably violating the rules for what constitutes an “essential” — but then again, if I like them, why shouldn’t every fan see them? Still, please to forgive. No particular order here:
1. 0424- “Manos” The Hands of Fate – probably the one most essential MST3K episode, not the least of which is its exhuming cultural icons like this unbelievable little film.
2. 0306- Time of the Apes – This may be my personal favorite. I can’t say exactly why.
3. 0816- Prince of Space – Krankor, and “Damn, I’m in space already”.
4. 1104- Avalanche – Probably just because I watched it last week and it struck me as much much funnier than the first time I watched it.
5. 0806- The Undead – ok, I admit freely and openly, a’la peteplumsdriverslicense, this one is all about Allison Hayes.
6. 0321- Santa Claus Conquers the Martians – Partly about the movie, partly about “A Patrick Swayze Christmas”.
7. 1107- The Land that Time Forgot – maybe the best of Season 11, and the Moon 14 Mesozoic Ranch Dinosaur BBQ bit was an instant classic (the movie and riffing give this a slight edge over Reptilicus and “Every Country Has a Monster”)
8. 0312- Gamera Vs. Guiron – necessary Japanese “guy in rubber suit” movie, plus (bonus) Mike as Michael Feinstein is one of the best and most classic MST3K moments.
9. 0303- Pod People – because “It Stinks!”
10. 0903- The PumaMan – just so goofy and fun.
If I redo the list next week — heck, even later this evening — they will be different.
BTW, Sampo, I hope & pray that this next week is better for you. WE APPRECIATE YOU! :)
Ok, Essentials. That leaves a lot of episodes out of the running.
Let’s start at the beginning:
110 – Robot Holocaust: early example of the show gelling, but essential to understanding a host segment of an even more essential episode, Rocketship XM.
104 – Women of the Prehistoric Planet: essential because of the origin of Hi-Keeba!
201 – Rocketship XM: One of the most important episodes of the entire series. Introduces Kevin as Servo and TVs Frank added to the mix. Not to mention the riff “and a good friend” that would be repeated forever. The origin of the Space Mutiny name riffs start here, too.
202 – Sidehackers: another one of the most important episodes of the whole series. Why? Because of the origin of “that’s pretty good!” and “chili peppers burn my gut,” which are repeatedly used later in the series.
203 – Jungle Goddess: another of the most important. Origin of “hamburger sandwich and fetch fried potatoes” riffs come from this one.
204 – Catalina Caper: along with 201-203, the first four of season two are the foundation on which the entire show rests upon. “Lawrence, would you put your hand down, please!” riff variations hail from this early episode.
And I’m going to stop right there.
To sum up, for me, these 6 represent the necessary origins of the show. Every episode beyond these, 205 and up, are just subjective favorites. Host switch overs and show changes are extra credit in a way, after you’ve learned your foundations. That’s all next level stuff.
201-204 are the most represented episodes in terms of call backs throughout the series. If you haven’t seen them, you aren’t getting the full joke. 110 and 104 are essential to understanding 201 completely and what Hi-Keeba means.
You could also go so far as to say 305 – Stranded In Space is essential, because it reveals the setup that Dr. F is selling the results of the experiments to cable tv.
My 2012 list:
Robot Monster
Cave Dwellers
Gamera vs Gaos
Hercules against the Moon Men
The Day the Earth Froze
Bride of the Monster
Manos the Hands of Fate
Mitchell
Revenge of the Creature
Boggy Creek II
My new list:
Robot Monster
Pod People
Santa Claus Conquers the Martians
Bride of the Monster
Manos the Hands of Fate
Mitchell
The Brain That Wouldn’t Die
Revenge of the Creature
Jack Frost
Space Mutiny
Sampo:
I’m sorry to hear you have had a rough week. You don’t owe us an apology. What you and Erhardt have created and maintain on this website is invaluable and much appreciated.
I hope next week will go better for you.
Sending you luck, love, and respect.
Eric J.:
I was actually surprised that you have four Mike episodes on your essentials list.
For someone who constantly pounds people here how much you hate Mike, you just have admitted you love some of his work.
Let’s remember that Mike was head writer for all but two episodes on your list, too.
For those millenials on this board, Webster’s is like Siri in book form. ;-)
These aren’t my personal favorites; if you look closely, you’ll notice that these are episodes that introduce or send off a cast member (except that I ran out of “essentials” and just put in my two personal favorites at the end).
The Crawling Eye
Rocketship XM
Mitchell
The Brain That Wouldn’t Die
Samson and the Vampire Women
Revenge of the Creature
Danger Diabolik
Whatever the first episode of season 11 is
Prince of Space
The Killer Shrews
Looked over and considered my post from 2012, along with selected posts from other fanatics. Read all of today’s entries. Then went over the whole list of MST3K episodes, including reading from the “Amazing Colossal etc.” book to remind myself of details that often escape my memory, with special emphasis on showing a newbie how good the show can be.
1. “Women of the Prehistoric Planet”: With this episode, they really start to hit their stride. The self-contained Doomsday device host segments, “Hi-Keeba!”, and riffs like the monkey having “to go spank myself”, and the semi-naughty references for Tang…Great stuff!
2. “Catalina Caper”: I know this probably is not a popular choice, but I think it is a very funny and entertaining episode. The host segment where Joel describes the 1960s for the bots (devolving into a diatribe about being a child during that era, which I can personally relate to). Then the movie riffing is top notch (“The youth of today, lying like so many spent shell casings on the battlefield of love…”) and “They sent the wrong people to ‘Nam”; Little Richard “high on goofballs”; and the actress who played Katrina Corelli is…well, very sexy, even though “cuckoo for cocoa puffs”. I would also choose this movie for the thread that asks for films that represent their decade- this movie encapsulates many aspects of the 60s (well, as seen through the eyes of Hollywood).
3. “Cave Dwellers”: This movie is so silly and stupid, and J&tB deliver consistently high quality commentary: “Zee Wango Zee Tango!”; “Come on, Girls…!” Very good host segments, especially the fancy names for common items and a demonstration of foley. (Have any of the MST3K alumni ever tackled “Red Sonja”? I think it has all the hallmarks to be a great vehicle for riffing).
4. “Teenagers From Outer Space”: A really goofy, low budget movie with a Keanu Reeves prototype lead actor, the new zoo revue Grandpa, a villain named Thor, a giant lobster that goes “Waaauuuggh”- it is “Torcha!” of a glorious nature. Host segments are very good- I especially like the “Reel/Real Life” and the duct-tape fashions inspired by the “alien” uniforms.
5. “The Wild, Wild World of Batwoman”: Featuring one the best shorts, “Cheating” (in my humble opinion, one of the top five shorts), which then lends itself to an inter-connected series of host segments that is very funny), and great riffing on one of the most ridiculous movies ever made.
6. “Angels’ Revenge”: I have seen “Riding With Death” and “Mitchell” as representing that 1970s feeling, but I would choose this one for fulfilling that purpose on my essentials list. Not the greatest set of host segments, but that doesn’t matter. Aging stars of the era apparently needed work and took on this turkey (they are the “stars” of the movie; the actresses playing the Angels are “featured” characters- really captures the still-very-present chauvinism of our society). I love when they start humming the theme to “Charlie’s Angels”, and when Crow gives in and is “just gonna look at the breasts”.
7. “The Deadly Mantis”: My representative for the 1950s giant bug movies. Mike blows up his first planet, and “the endless chase” begins. I think the riffing is sharp and consistently funny throughout (Marge puts on a Cowardly Lion-like expression and I think Tom says, “Courage…”; “Yeah, more like the don’t line…”; “I hate you, you smug bastard…”; and many others).
8. “Quest of the Delta Knights”: The theater is malfunctioning and Pearl spends some time in said theater. And you bet, she is funny…Also a brilliant cameo from Leonardo Da Vinci. I feel the riffing is very strong throughout (“Ahhh…Joe Walsh!”; “Do you want me to oscillate, ma’am?”; “Her dough has risen!”; “I’m cominnnnggg!”.
9. “Godzilla Vs. Megalon”: My representative for the Japanese-produced category; gotta go with Godzilla over Gamera for the essentials list. Rex Dart, Eskimo Spy and the Orville Redenbacher sketch lead a strong set of host segments, and it’s hard to beat Jet Jaguar. The climactic fight has a lot of hilarious moments, especially the stuff about Godzilla using a tree as a foreign object etc. Yeah, 10.2 my ass…
10. “Carnival Magic”: I’m not sure that I like the whole Kinga and Jonah getting married arc, but this movie…for me, like having horseflies divebomb your ears and scalp while trying to enjoy a walk through the woods. The riffing isn’t as frenetic as many previous episodes in Season 11, and I think would appeal to a broad range of viewers.
Yeah, I know…No “Mitchell”, “Manos”, Coleman Francis, Roger Corman, or even Ed Wood. I really had to fight with myself for not including any of them in this list, but I had to consider, that for the essential nature of the assignment, these episodes would be highly effective for viewers who never saw the show, occasional or acquainted viewers, and for us hardcore lovers of the best TV show…EVER!
I’ve watched all of the Season 11 eps at least twice now, and they are growing on me. Still, I don’t feel that any of them are quite up to “top ten list” status. So here’s my list of essentials, in no particular order and subject to change without notice.
The Day the Earth Froze — Goofiest of the Russo-Finnish films, with the riffing that is in peak form.
Santa Claus – Again, a very, very goofy movie with tremendous riffing.
Zombie Nightmare – Ditto!
Space Mutiny – Ditto! Really silly, goofy movies make some of the best riffing subjects.
Final Sacrifice – Yet another goofy movie plus hilarious Canada-based riffs.
Boggy Creek II – And the goofy trend continues!
The Starfighters – Kind of goofy, mostly stupid, with less story payoff than Monster A Go-Go. But the riffing is great, and of course there’s the whole Poopie Suit thing.
Mitchell – Not at all silly or goofy, just incredibly dumb and oh so Seventies, with a “hero” who is supposed to be just an average Joe but comes across as just a loathsome slob.
I Accuse My Parents – An earnest, lying dimwit for a lead, a couple of big band musical numbers, Central Casting gangsters, and the adorable Mary Beth Hughes. Plus loads of great riffs. What’s not to like?
Soultaker – Back to goofy!
Honorable Mention:
Red Zone Cuba and Hamlet – Two very different, very dark, very dreary movies made fun by a lot of great riffing.
Wow. This is challenging, because you can define “essential eps” as the most significant historically or as the best/funniest examples of what the show is all about.
Most Significant for the History of MST3K:
The Crawling Eye (first show; probably any Season 1 ep would work; I’m not really into Season 1)
Rocketship X-M (Frank and Kevin join the cast and the show takes off)
Cave Dwellers (arguably the first truly classic ep)
Gamera (or any of the Japanese monster movies)
The Day the Earth Froze (a taste of the Russo-Finnish epic)
Mitchell
The Brain That Wouldn’t Die (Mike’s first, also a very funny ep in its own right)
Red Zone Cuba (this is what a Coleman Francis movie is . . . )
Sampson/Vampire Women (Frank’s farewell)
Laserblast
Space Mutiny (best of the Sci-Fi years)
Reptilicus (the Return!)
“Best of”
Cave Dwellers
Gamera vs. Guiron (the many versions of the Gamera song; one of the best of the Japanese monster movies)
Eegah
Hercules & the Captive Women (best sword/sandal epic [well, my favorite sword/sandal epic]; “This day is dedicated to Uranus!”)
Danger! Death Ray!! (best of the Bond rip-offs)
Santa Claus
Space Mutiny
Night of the Blood Beast
Final Sacrifice
The Land That Time Forgot
Making a top-10 list is impossible for me–it constantly changes! I picked ones that I especially like and that are the best representative of a particular genre. For me, the movie/riffing is the heart of the show: I love a lot of the host segments, but they are not going to make or break an episode for me. Also, I think the shorts have to be listed separately: many of the best are connected to so-so movies. Sooo, in the interest of completeness: Mr B-Natural, Last Clear Chance, Once Upon a Honeymoon, Hired 1 & 2, Out of This World, The Undersea Kingdom ch. 2.
I’m already starting to change my mind on all of this. So I will stop here . . .
PS: I like a lot of Season 11, but I don’t have the same feel for those eps yet; so it’s hard to incorporate them into these lists. We post no whine before its time!
Err, I left out too many, from both my lists. Have to somehow fit in Manos, Werewolf, Yongary, Teenage Strangler, Racket Girls, Gunslinger, The Creeping Terror, and . . . Aw, forget it . . . I’m a horrible Most Essential MST list maker . . .
Everyone’s been treating “Rough week” like he’s just successfully recovered from cancer therapy–
I always thought the Saturday WDT always did come after noon, I didn’t think there was anything “late” about it to apologize for…Just good work like usual. :)
If you thought that any MST3K fan Must, And Should love all Mike episodes for being MST3K, and for being Mike, and don’t know why someone wouldn’t pick all or nothing (yeah, I was that age too, once), then, yes, I guess you would be surprised. And we emphasize: SOME.
Namely, some of S5-6, where they hadn’t really nailed the “Mean Mike” handle on the main host’s personality yet, just substituted Joike in for the new position of host (remember when Mike had to be forced to still do invention exchanges?), Trace and Frank were still writing riffs, and the Brains still picked perfectly weird and silly Joel-esque movies for the experiments.
Which is why Wild World of Batwoman was brought in right after Mitchell/Brain that Wouldn’t Die, a movie that had not one single 70’s, Canadian or fat-beer-swilling-guy joke in it. And since Joike would be the nice, chuckleheaded New Guy, he would innocently munch popcorn at the movie, not knowing what he was in for. Like I said, the LAST.
Santa Lupita get mentions just for being the other big iconic holiday favorite, even if the Mike-era style deviates from the silliness of Santa/Martians to do suggestive-lips jokes and the painfully self-conscious “We’re equal-opportunity offenders!” world-trolling jokes in the workshop scene. (Oh, but they picked on the US too, so it’s okay, they’re good, nice people!)
Hobgoblins and Merlin were standouts in that Merlin was just so wrong, it overshadowed any attempts to find “theme” riffing in it, and was one of the only two representative SciFi-era standout episodes of actually heckling the MOVIE–There are a few halfhearted pokes at the 70’s decor in the second half, but they’re quickly crushed by everything else we get.
And Hobgoblins also gives us an alternate look at, what if the show had stayed with Hodgson’s premise that the movies’ sheer badness were driving the Bots’ sanity to the edge, and not simply causing them to hip-snicker and giggle at wastes of their precious time? So, guys, you thought you’d seen it all by now, huh?
Yes, the episodes DID turn into impatient, off-topic, resentfully snarky crap after the other writers left. Well, guess we know whose jokes were whose, then. ;)
(Oh, great, now where am I going to buy my death-sticks?…)
But…wasn’t Bo Svenson & the kid in Wizards of the Lost Kingdom 1 supposed to be the strategically designated official replacement Neo-Rowsdower in all but name?
You know, one of my favorite repeating MST3K riffs is when Joel/Mike/Jonah and the ‘bots all shout in unison, “SHUUUT UUUP!!” Don’t know why that occurred to me just now . . .
Eric J.:
What we are expressing toward Sampo is compassion.
Look it up in your Webster’s dictionary.
Bears repeating
Top 12 (one per season)
1)Phase 4
2)Robot Monster
3)Lost Continent (Rock Climbing)
4)Gamera vs Guiron
5)Manos: The Hands of Fate
6)Mitchel
7)Samson vs The Vampire Women (Red Zone Cuba a close 2nd)
8)Laserblast
9)Giant Spider Invasion
10)Werewilf
11)Soultaker
12)Avalanche
My choices are a combination of “best of season”, milestones, iconic moments/movies, and personal favorites. MST:The Movie (This Island Earth) could constitute a thirteenth essential. I know this is more than 10 but this is how my mind sorted the topic, and besides; top 10 lists are arbitrarily weighted in favor of round numbers. Why not a top 9 list or top 11 list?
Must See: the Joel episodes.
Skip: the Others.
Trust me! Mike is a marble mouth, and Jonah is an unshaved, millenial dope aka, the Uncouth.
Comedy is great until Joel leaves!
I think we’ve found EricJ’s soul mate. :P
Nah, the guy doesn’t like Jonah…Why waste “Starcrash” on a philistine like him?
(Also has a bad habit of confusing Mike with Timothy Van Patten–That’s just weird.)
Y’know, some of the discussions here can often leave a person somewhat perplexed…
Going with the instruction to do “essentials” rather than favorites. (There are no “best” for something like MST3K; it is the ultimate eye-of-the-beholder phenomenon. Remember there are people who liked a lot of these movies straight up and all of of us probably enjoyed a few.)
1) Manos
2) Santa Claus (My preferred Xmas ep)
3) Pod People (musically important and really funny)
4) Outlaw (Peabody and really funny)
5) Day Earth Froze (the log ride alone hooked me on the show)
6) Laserblast
7) Diabolik
8) Mitchell
9) Riding with Death (one that I think just about anyone would like if they were going to like the show at all)
10) Guiron (there has to be a Kaiju/Japanese/giant lizard entry and this is the best)
11) Dead Talk Back/Cave Dwellers/ISCWSLaBM-uZ (they are all good; they all move and they all embody the show’s essential flavor(s))
Eric J.:
I did NOT write that second paragraph for which you have quoted me!
If you were to try that move outside of the Internet, you would be sued for defamation.
By the way, I don’t find Mike Nelson the funniest human being.
Furthermore, nobody here wants to pants you.
Your foul stench would drive people away in droves.
1. Robot Holocaust (Season 1 rep)
2. Pod People (the show starts to grow the beard)
3. Gamera vs. Guiron (easily one of the best Gamera episodes of the series)
4. Manos: The Hands of Fate (’nuff said)
5. Mitchell (the end of the Joel era)
6. The Brain That Wouldn’t Die (the beginning of the Mike era)
7. Laserblast (end of the CC era and the “Clayton and Pearl Era” rep)
8. Space Mutiny (a fun representative of the “endless chase” period)
9. Hobgoblins (what else should represent that “Castle Forrester era” than one of the worst films to appear on the show)
10. Either Reptilicus or Carnival Magic (Netflix Era rep)
A lot of that first sort of blast of Rhino VHS tapes are still what I think of as the essentials: Pod People, Mitchell, Manos, I Accuse My Parents, and The Brain That Wouldn’t Die. I need five more so Laserblast, Space Mutiny, Werewolf, Final Sacrifice and Reptilicus I guess. That’s ten.
POD PEOPLE – There’s probably no more representative episode of the show than this.
MANOS: THE HANDS OF FATE – The most infamous film they ever did, if not necessarily the worst. Legendary episode.
GAMERA VS GUIRON – There needs to be a Gamera, and in addition to being amazing, this one introduces his theme song and Cornjob.
I ACCUSE MY PARENTS – The riffs, skits, and music make this one of the most endearing episodes to me and (I think) many MSTies.
MITCHELL – Just flat out hilarious and Joel’s big goodbye. MITCHELL!
RED ZONE CUBA – MST rarely got uglier and crazier than Coleman Francis, and this is the ugliest and craziest.
PRINCE OF SPACE – Amazingly fun and funny, and Krankor is easily one of the weirdest, most memorable villains in any MSTed movie.
SPACE MUTINY – Needs no introduction. Bar none, probably the most laughs of any episode.
WEREWOLF – Such a stupid, incompetent film and one of the funniest episodes ever. “You is a warwilf!”
CRY WILDERNESS – This is mostly to help encompass the series as a whole. Not as strong as a number of Joel or Mike episodes that didn’t make my list, but easily the standout of the new Jonah era. AVALANCHE was probably the best overall episode, but CW was the biggest WTF film (next to CARNIVAL MAGIC) and the most fun.
Dark horses: Final Sacrifice, Merlin, Pumaman, Giant Spider Invasion, Monster-a-Go-Go, Wild World of Batwoman, Laserblast, The Creeping Terror, Time Chasers, Eegah, Amazing Colossal Man, and many more!!!