Update: Joel got interviewed on a St. Louis morning show and attempted humor on the part of the hosts ensued:

More here.

The press has started in advance of the Cinematic Titanic show this weekend.

There’s this from the Riverfront Times…

…and there’s a brief mention at the end of this piece.

…another on-demand title with the movie and the riffing in one. The movie is 1934’s…

Due Nov 25. More info here.

If anybody goes to this, please report back…

The night before their show at the Family Arena in St, Louis next weekend, the entire Cinematic Titanic team will be part of panel discussion as part of the St. Louis International Film Festival. Says their Web site:

Joel Hodgson, creator and host of “Mystery Science Theater 3000,” and the original cast of the cult-classic TV show - Trace Beaulieu (”Crow”), J. Elvis Weinstein (”Tom Servo”), Mary Jo Pehl (”Pearl Forrester”) and Frank Conniff (”TV’s Frank”) - discuss the development of “MST3K,” the art of “movie riffing” and their new movie-riffing project, “Cinematic Titanic Live”. Moderated by Dave (”Gruber”) Allen, the program will include video clips, an audience Q&A and a signing by the cast immediately following.

It’s at 9:30 p.m. Friday, Nov. 20, at the Tivoli Theatre, 6350 Delmar Blvd. Admission is $10.

BORN TODAY
1894: CHARLES ALTHOUSE, who did the sound for episode 417- CRASH OF THE MOONS, three episodes of TV’s “Rocky Jones, Space Ranger.”
1909: PIERO GHERARDI, who did the costumes for the movie in the episode 1013- DIABOLIK.
1929: JERRY HARDIN, who portrayed the desk sergeant in episode 512- MITCHELL.
1931: AARON HERNAN, who portrayed Nicias in episode 703- DEATHSTALKER AND THE WARRIORS FROM HELL.
1946: DUANE ALLMAN, member of the band The Birdwatchers which appeared in episode 207- WILD REBELS.

DIED TODAY
1959: SYLVIA LOPEZ (age 28), who portrayed Queen Omphale in episode 408- HERCULES UNCHAINED.
1972: GERARD HEINZ (age 68), who portrayed Dr. Lembach in episode 901- THE PROJECTED MAN.
1975: WILLIAM BAGDAD (age 54), who portrayed Marty in episode 1002- GIRL IN GOLD BOOTS.
1984: FREDERICK WEST (age 81), cinematographer for the movies in episodes 311- IT CONQUERED THE WORLD, 503- SWAMP DIAMONDS, 511– GUNSLINGER, and 808- THE SHE-CREATURE.
1987: WILLIAM L. COOPER JR. (age 65), editor of the American releases of the Japanese TV shows shown in episodes 306- TIME OF THE APES and 314- MIGHTY JACK.
2002: ARTHUR H. WOLF (age 85), producer of the shorts SPEECH: USING YOUR VOICE (shown in episode 313- EARTH VS. THE SPIDER), CHEATING (shown in episode 515- THE WILD, WILD WORLD OF BATWOMAN), WHAT ABOUT JUVENILE DELINQUENCY? (shown in episode 518- THE ATOMIC BRAIN), WHY STUDY INDUSTRIAL ARTS? (shown in episode 609- THE SKYDIVERS) and SPEECH: PLATFORM POSTURE AND APPEARANCE (shown in episode 619- RED ZONE CUBA).

EVENT
1937: JACKIE COOGAN, who portrayed Hank Johnson in episode 906- THE SPACE CHILDREN, married actress Betty Grable.

EPISODE PREMIERES
1993: episode 516- ALIEN FROM L.A. first shown.

Download it here. Free sample here.

In a piece pegged to the arrival of the new “Twilight” movie, Jeremiah Magan at the Cal State Fullerton Daily Titan discovers how RiffTrax takes the pain of “Twilight” away. Or lessens it, anyway.

First shown: 8/2/97
Opening: M&TB are into “extreme” things
Intro: Mike is put on trial for crimes against the universe!
Host segment 1: Pearl and Bobo give their opening statements
Host segment 2: The bots give their video depositions
Host segment 3: Observer takes the stand
End: Crow and Tom hold a candlelight vigil, and the judge gives his verdict and sentence
Stinger: Spaz chop!
(63 votes, average: 4.41 out of 5)
 Loading ...

Let me start by just saying: panties, panties, panties, panties…
• This is another one of those episodes where the segments kind of overwhelm the movie and the movie riffing. I hadn’t seen this episode in a while, and my memory of it was that the movie just kind of laid there and didn’t give them a lot to work with. I liked the movie segments more on this viewing, but still I think the segments are the real standout element. Kevin and Mary Jo are both terrific.
• Bill’s take is here.
• As Bill notes, that’s Bill as judge, except when Paul fills in at one point.
• References.
• This was the episode in which Patrick took over as Gypsy—and with his arrival every single actor who had been an on-camera regular when the show began had been replaced with other performers. Has that ever happened on any other show?
• I believe the opening segment features the first mention of Mike’s love of rice.
• As somebody noted in the comments, Mike is really not responsible for the first two planets being destroyed. The monkeys destroyed the first one and the nanites destroyed the second one. Camping Planet is on him, however.
• The one henchman looks vaguely like Prince, and that’s enough for an avalanche of Prince references. Mike tries to put an end to it, but then HE does one a little while later!
• The preppy looking henchman also prompts a lot of funny preppy voiced riffs.
• The last time we saw Brad “Little Amish Boy” Keeley on camera was in episode 507- I ACCUSE MY PARENTS when he played Rodney the exotic cake dancer.
• Annoying commercial: A spot for Frutopia that bafflingly chooses as its catchphrase the line every frat boy has ever used on every drunken freshman girl: “We just want to make you feel good.” Bleah.
• Also amusing: a Dell commercial for a computer with a 3.2 gig hard drive. Wow!
• Oh, and: my copy has a commerical for Sci-Fi Channel’s “extra-sensory summer” that includes a mention of the “Making of MST3K” documentary.
• My copy also has a commercial for a repeat of episode 803- THE MOLE PEOPLE.
• Daleism: As Dr. Stefanik dies, he holds his hand up: Crow: He thought he was Dale! Note: This may in fact be the final Daleism. It’s the last one I have a notation for.
• The whole intergalactic trial thing is a great idea, and yields a great bunch of segments.
• Fave line: “They’re out of fumar! Now what do we do?”

Alert reader David Finn writes:

Last weekends topic of the Russo-Finnish films generated a universally loved idea for a DVD box set of the 4 films. This got me thinking about other ideal groupings of MST episodes. Granted this is mere wishful thinking as neither Shout nor Rhino have used common themes to organize previous sets. But we can fantasize…
A few to start us off… juvenile delinquents, hypnotism, made-for-TV, Corman, Lippert, kaiju…

All good ideas! Let hear some more!

We’ve gotten a lot of emails informing us that Roger Corman is going to receive his honorary Oscar this weekend. Apparently these folks missed the weekend discussion thread we had about it a couple of months ago. So we’ve moved it up to the top of the page today. If you didn’t comment then, you can comment now.
————————–
The movie we discussed in this week’s episode guide was Roger Corman’s “The Undead.”

As Bill says in his write up: “Next time you have the notion to defend Roger Corman as a good director, watch this movie and repent.”

But there is one group that has not repented: The Motion Picture Academy’s Board of Directors, which recently voted to give ol’ Rog an honorary Oscar.

What do YOU think?

To help you discuss this topic, I could have gone to “Daddy-O’s Drive-In Dirt” and put together a list of the Corman movies done by MST3K but alert reader Dave (aka Finnias Jones) kindly did it for me. (Thanks Dave!)

Producer/Director:
• 311 - IT CONQUERED THE WORLD
• 315 - TEENAGE CAVEMAN
• 317 - VIKING WOMEN AND THE SEA SERPENT
• H01 - THE DAY THE WORLD ENDED (which I consider “canon” though purists might not. I wasn’t there at the time, but both extant versions are good, even if the riffing is inaudible and not the product of Best Brains, just the fans)
• 503-Swamp Diamonds
• 511-Gunslinger
• 806 The Undead
Exec. Producer:
• 406-Attack of the Giant Leeches
• 618-High School Big Shot
• 701 - Night of the Blood Beast
Of course Roger is responsible for many more movies, some better, some worse (CT’s “Wasp Woman” is his, and as producer: “Rock ‘n’ Roll High School,” the original “Death Race 2000,” etc.)

So what do you think of Roger? Does he deserve the Oscar or should he be, as one poster wrote in the episode guide thread, “indicted for crimes against cinema”?
(Me: Although I know he has been a mentor to several guys who went on to be good, and while I am grateful for him for providing some great MSTing fodder, I agree with Bill.)

First shown: 7/19/97
Opening: Mike, who once spent two weeks as a teppanyaki chef, has a relapse
Intro: Pearl and company are under fire! She begs Mike for air support … and gets it–with world shattering results!?
Host segment 1: Tom sings about the 70s (and the 50s, too)
Host segment 2: Tom acquires a buttless truck driver body
Host segment 3: Crow is Turkey Volume Guessing Man!
End: Mike, Crow and Tom spoof the end of the film, while Pearl is weighed down with medals
Stinger: Jim Stafford is really happy!
(109 votes, average: 4.7 out of 5)
 Loading ...

Let me just adjust my patent papers here … there. Let’s begin.
• I like this one. The movie–two poorly spliced together episodes of a forgotten 70s TV series (a la “Master Ninja”) is not painful to watch but gives them plenty to work with. The riffing is great and the segments are mostly pretty good. So rock it, you turkeys!
• Kevin offers his take here.
• The opening, with Mike as the mindless teppanyaki chef, is hilarious. “There’s about a 1 in 4 chance were gonna get out of this alive!”
• Oops: I thought Gypsy was in the opening bit. I was wrong. That means I screwed up by not mentioning in the entry for the previous episode that its “Lord of the Dance” host segment was actually the last one in which Jim Mallon played Gypsy.
• The door sequence is again used as background for a sponsor’s logo. This time it’s parenttime.com.
• Daleism: During the bar fight, the big guy tries to punch Buffalo Bill, but his fist is held back by invisible Sam. He looks at his fist. Crow: “Thought I was Dale.” Big guy tries again, and is again held back. He again looks at his fist. “Again, I thought I was Dale”
• I love the way Mike answers the phone in this episode. His cheery little “Helloo?” is great.
• Mike destroys his third planet so far this season. This sets up the premise for the segments in the next episode.
• Crow and Mike reenact a memorable moment from “It’s a Wonderful Life.”
• Particularly memorable from this episode are the numerous riffs as Ben Murphy’s boss spends a long scene compulsively wiping his (apparently filthy!) glasses.
• Tom’s songs about the 70s and the 50s are a lot of fun. “The apostle Paul travelled to Greece…”
• I think the “Tom’s trucker body” segment seemed funnier on paper. Nice job on the body creation, however.
• Tom still has his trucker body in the theater. Mike and Crow are already there.
• The Turkey Volume Guessing Man segment is another gem, another hilarious example of Bill’s slightly deranged Crow.
• The “Pearl gets medals” bit at the end is cute, but doesn’t really go anywhere.
• This movie has two completely baffling elements, which probably only made sense in the context of the series, context which is completely lost in the movie. First there’s this Elliot guy, whose job seems to be to angrily defend Robert Denby and berate his boss. Is he working for Denby? Is he just naive? As the movie plays out, it becomes clear that Denby is exactly the elusive crime boss Driscoll thinks he is. But we never see Elliot admit he was wrong, get his comeuppance or whatever.
Then there are the shots of Abby in the lab, watching some sort of super duper camera feed (it can pan and change angles and do closeups). Apparently the makers felt the need to include Abby, but why?
• On a related subject, you’re not seeing things: two different actors appear as Driscoll: Richard Dysart portrayed Driscoll in the pilot (and is seen briefly in the flashback sequence, which was taken from the pilot), while William Sylvester played Driscoll in the series.
• Then current reference: Lt. Kelly Flynn.
• Callback: “Look, a couple of VAAAAAANS!” (”Giant Spider Invasion”)
• Fave line: “Dear, sweet, homicidal Murray.”