With only two episodes to go in season three have you ever announced what is next. Since this trek began with season four several years back we will now have completed a complete circuit having a full weekly discussion of the full run of the show. I’m assuming you will not repeat the loop. I don’t know what else there will be to say after this run.
Would this be replaced by discussing Cinematic Titanic DVD’s? That could easily be done in a couple months. Perhaps tackle RiffTrax? That would be harder given the large volume of those out there. Perhaps there could be voting on which ones to tackle? Or do you have another plan in mind? I’d miss this weekly ritual if it goes away.
You’re reading my mind, Dan. This has been on mind quite a bit lately. As the saying goes: this is not a democracy, and I do have a tentative short-term plan, but I am interested in getting feedback from our readers/commenters on all of this.
After we finish season 3 in two weeks, I will have done every episode in the expanded format. That said, I’m not really happy with the episode guide entries starting in season 4 and continuing for several seasons after that. The format of the episode guide entries evolved over time, and I now need to go back through them and make them consistent (and, frankly, to clean them up a bit).
But doing what we have been doing up till now — one episode a week — will take 2 1/2 years. I don’t want to do that.
So, my plan for the cleanup of these entries is to do two a week, and to move them to the weekends (one on Saturday and one on Sunday). (By the way, I still plan to do a weekend discussion thread.) For each one, I’ll re-open comments for seven days allowing latecomers to weigh in and long-time commenters to revise and extend their earlier remarks. It should take about a year, maybe a bit more, to get through these and get the episode guide where I want it to be. I can live with that time frame.
And so, as the title of this thread suggests, the remaining question is: whither Thursdays? I too have grown fond of the ritual. I only have definite plan for the next few months. First, we will do the Best Brains video releases: “MST Poopie,” “MST Poopie II” (should we do both Poopies together?), “The MST Scrapbook” the “Play MiSTie for Me” DVD and “The Last Dance – Raw”?
(Should we also do all five volumes of “Tom Servo’s All Time Favorite Host Segments,” and if we do, should we do them as one entry or five? If we do them, it may require me to plug my VCR back in!)
Whatever we decide, from there I will first do the four “Film Crew” episodes.
After that I will do the Legend Films solo riffs that Mike did in 2004-2006. (Note: even though the Film Crew DVDs came out AFTER most of the Legend disks, they were made before, so I think that’s the order we should follow). That will take us well into 2012.
From there, I think it’s obvious: RiffTrax and Cinematic Titanic. The question becomes: how do we space them out, considering that RiffTrax put out 50 episodes (not even counting shorts) before the first Cinematic Titanic DVD came along, and there are currently a total of nine ten episodes of Cinematic Titanic available, while there have been 120 RiffTrax episodes (again, not counting more than 150 shorts). I don’t want to give Cinematic Titanic short shrift by any means, but the numbers are what they are.
I would really like to get your thoughts on the best and fairest way to approach this and on everything I’ve talked about here.
Some thoughts I’ve had: Maybe we should just separate the two streams completely and do Cinematic Titanic on, say, Tuesdays, and RiffTrax on Thursdays. Cinematic Titanic will end in a couple of months (until the next disk comes out), but at least they’ll get an uncluttered hearing. Or maybe we should just start with Cinematic Titanic on Thursdays and then move to on to RiffTrax.
One final crazy idea: Maybe we shouldn’t do the RiffTrax in chronological order but instead do them in groups, like do all the franchise movies together, i.e. all the Star Wars movies in a row, all the Harry Potter movies in a row, like that.
Thoughts? Suggestions?
) to help our users cope with "trolls" and other commenters whom they find annoying. Go to our
I like the “CT on Tuesday, RT on Thursday, and MST on the weekend” plan. That way there’s something to discuss every few days and we still get to do a Weekend Discussion. Sounds like we Msties have our work cut out for us!!
First, bravo to you for doing a phenomenal job so far. Now, on to new business. When you do the Best Brains video releases, will you be including “Mr. B’s Lost Shorts?” or “Assignment:Venezuela”? I’m sure you’ve probably done them already, but just felt they needed to be brought up.
As for the rest of the lineup, I like the idea of giving each its own day. I also think that it is a good idea to split the Rifftrax up into franchises, thereby making it easier to catalog. Further, I think maybe you could then split the franchises up by doing Shorts releases in between. For example, do Star Wars Episode 6, then a Shorts release, and start up with Harry Potter after that. It would make a nice change of pace’ I think.
There are ten Cinematic Titanic episodes, not nine!
Excellent ideas, all. And-wait…there were FIVE Toms Servos’s Favorite Shorts volumes?!
Anyway, I like the idea of doing the Cinematic Titanic on Tuesdays and Rifftrax on Thursdays. I do think that, especially with Rifftrax, they should be done in chronological order. That way we will see the evolution of the series, just like we did with MST3K.
Oh, and even though you don’t include announcements for iRiff releases (I understand why) it would make for a good weekend discussion on which iRiff groups are our favorites. They are all, in their own way, loving nods to MST and now that there are so many different groups, some with styles different that MST, it would make for an interesting discussion.
I like the outline you have up there, and honestly, I think we should start with Rifftrax(and I like the theme discussions idea) because once we get through all of those, hopefully CT will have some more material out there for us to discuss? As a latecomer, I didn’t realize you had started with season 4-I was looking forward to that, as some of my favorite episodes are there. Keep up the good work!!!!!
I say you keep the MST3K episode summaries on Thursdays and just repeat every 2.5 years. This is what all MSTies do now anyway for their favorite show. Watch repeats.
I still would want the new material summarized as you’re suggesting.
Including the weekly MST3K episode summaries, IMO, gives this site a little more focus as to why we’re all here. Just create a new comment section below your pre-existing thoughts when each repeat rolls around.
Having CT and RT posts on different days sounds good. And while doing RT episodes by franchise might be interesting, I think all in all it’d probably be best to go through them chronologically. As Ryan said, that way you can get a sense of how the series developed.
I will admit that CT and Rifftrax especially, which reaches a wider audience, probably each have a unique fan-base of their own irrespective of MST3K. Some of the fans, especially perhaps younger fans are likely even more interested in Rifftrax because it provides riffing on more current material, it’s cheap and easily accessible and there aren’t so many “ancient” and obscure references as in MST3K. That’s a good thing for their commercial success.
However, whatever you decide to do I think MST3K should clearly still remain the clear focus and basis. I’m a Rifftrax and CT fan and I even own the Film Crew DVDs, but let’s remember why most of us like those things, it’s because of MST3K. And not every MST3K fan has moved over to all of those spin-off projects and I suspect some fans have not moved over to any of them. Additionally, MST3K DVDs seem to sell better now than ever and I suspect draw some new fans that don’t watch Rifftrax or CT. In other words, MST3K is the reason for any and all of this including these discussions and removing that as the main focus of the site may diminish interest and participation. It’s MST3K long-time fans and many newer ones are still excited about. Having new material from Riffrax and CT has certainly helped keep interest alive here and all over the fan base of the show and it’s probably a good idea to incorporate more about them into the website, but I hope no one forgets why any of this exists in the process. But discussing the new and current projects a little more openly and regularly here may boost participation and help keep the site fresh, so in the end it’s probably a good idea.
I think you could do Cinematic Titanic first in its entirety, then do Rifftrax.
I really believe it would be easier if for Rifftrax you do it in chronological order. It would be less confusing that way, and we would get variety in what comes next. That would be more fun.
Why not do the four Film Crew’s. I’m watching Hollywood
After Dark now…and it is dark! Including remarkably
non-sexual stripping.
In our household we watch MST in order, with the only episodes being out of order being SCCTM and Santa Claus (for obvious reasons). After that we watch the Film Crew, Cinematic Titanic and then the episodes that RiffTrax released on DVD. For RiffTrax this gives us a whole episode with no set up required. Anything outside of the DVD releases we have not seen, and therefore care less about. But any sequence seems good, and maybe reading the descriptions of other RiffTrax work will spur us to try something new.
Perhaps do 3 riiftrax a month to one CT? That will space them out a bit so they’re not burned through all at once, and will give them some time to release more.
I agree with pablum. I would like to see the MST episodes continue. I started watching all the episodes starting with season 3 and am having a blast. It is so much fun to read all the comments when the episode is fresh in my mind.
Whoa! Big can of worms you’re opening up here, Sampo.
Like many others, I’m here mostly for MST3K. Yes, I’ve bought many RiffTrax riffs, but I’m here for MST3K. The weekly episode (watched in chronological order) helps me focus my watching and gets me to watch a lot of episodes that I wouldn’t normally be putting in the DVD player. The weekly discussion threads also gets me to pay attention more closely to the episode because I want something insightful to say to the MSTie community (although that doesn’t always happen). Keeping the MST3K episode discussion to once per week and on a weekday is very manageable for me. My schedule is too busy to watch more than one episode per week (for most weeks), and I think that keeping it on a weekday keeps the main focus of the site on the puppet show we all know and love.
Having 5-6 discussions per week would be overload to me. I wouldn’t be able to participate in even half of them. I feel like I would lose some of the camaraderie that I’ve developed with the community since I discovered it about 2 years ago.
To sum up, here is my suggestion: Keep one MST3K episode per week on Thursdays (or some other weekday) and the weekend discussion thread. Do 1-2 supplemental discussions per week (CT, RT, Film Crew, etc)., preferably on other weekdays. For the MST3K episodes, I like the idea of cleaning up and expanding the guides. For those, I also suggest that Sampo include insightful/funny/favorite reader quotes from previous discussions.
Open threads.
With Shout Factory seeming to ramp up releasing box sets as well as re-releasing individual MST3K episodes you might consider re-opening the episode guide entries whenever a new release came out.
The conundrum of having a very old and successful website.
It’s still a good chunk of time away, and there are plenty of places online for people to talk about the show. But, just so I understand what you’re saying, just to be explicit, this next run-through of the series is the *final* time the “Episode Guide” posts will be open for comment at mst3kinfo.com?
I just want to draw attention to that, because that will be the end of an era. But then all good things come to end, as did the show itself now over a decade ago.
If that is that case, and just in case you haven’t thought of this already, once the “Episode Guide” posts are done, how about a brand-new, much more informal “Watching Again” series where, if people want to, they can watch the episodes again at the same time as everyone else and re-comment on them that time around? You won’t need to re-post all the Guide stuff, just say ‘this week we’re watching Manos’ and let people comment on that. And you can do this once a week, once every two weeks or once a month for as many years and as many times through the series as you need or want to.
That’s assuming that this website will exist forever and that people will watch MST3K forever, both of which will of course be true.
P.S., I gotta say, though, I’m fairly new to MST3K so I’m going to miss getting to talk over the episodes with other fans.
I’m not a Rifftrax person. I wish them well, I’ve seen clips, I think they do a pretty good job but their format which works well for them is just not in my wheelhouse for the most part. Which means I’ll only be able to join in on the CT stuff.
I have only been visiting this site for a little under a year now and personally I love the MST episode guide. I reference it every time I watch an episode for the first time (Yes there are some I haven’t seen! Slowly making my way through those…). While I enjoy CT and RT I probably wouldn’t seek out more info on it other than just watching it on dvd and going to the live events. MST is different, and I love discussing it and reading other peoples insights.
That being said, people who have been on here a lot longer than I might be ready for something new I suppose.
Thanks very much for the guide, love it!
How about doing a review of the Playstation riffs they did. It’s only ten minutes long, but it was actually pretty funny.
“A right jolly old elf’s life ended today in a Modish Sherman Oaks home.”
I’d like to echo hellokittee’s and Stressfactor’s sentiments. I’m a newcomer to this site, and love having the guide when I watch episodes. While I don’t put a lot of store by my own comments or think that others who have been MST3k fans a lot longer than I have will necessarily give a tinker’s damn what I say, occasionally I pick up on references that haven’t been mentioned or have questions that only the people who comment here can answer. I’d really hate for this to be the final go-round for these episodes. I really like WeatherServo9’s suggestion that the forum be open from time to time and that everyone collectively watches an episode and comments. That way, those of us who want to put in our two cents’ worth can still find ways to contribute.
I also have to say, in passing, that the comments and commenters on this site are the most intelligent, literate, thoughtful and pleasant I have yet encountered in this kind of forum. Everyone here seems helpful, respectful, and always has something good and useful to say. Even disagreements are handled with taste and grace. I’m sure everyone here has been in other public discussion forums, and knows how easily these things degenerate into pointless flaming and vituperative, ad hominem nastiness. I don’t find that here–and such a rarity it is. I hope everyone realises what a welcome breath of fresh air this place is–for that reason alone, the discussion should keep going in whatever form Sampo sees fit to continue it.
Sampo
Glad to hear that you’re going to reopen the comments to Season 4 (and beyond) as I’ve been meaning to email you about that. I’ve been coming to this website for years and years now, been reading the episode guide since about late Season 6 and commenting since late Season 8. I had never watched MST3k in chronological order before, but I am having a blast doing so now. I will continue till the end. I like having the episode guide entries here as a place to log my thoughts and opinions on each episode, and also to read the comments of others.
Sooo,
2 MST episodes a week? Okay, I’m down. I work nights so that works for me and my insomnia. Lets do them on Sat/Sun.
As for Thursdays, lets do a catch up on all the odds-n-sods of MST, The MST Scrapbook, the Poopie tapes, The TV Wheel, etc, etc. As for the other stuff, well, I’ve only seen 3 of the LIVE Rifftrax events, seen a couple of the Legend DVDs with Mike, one or two of the Film Crew DVDs, and I have never seen Cinematic Titanic. As a mostly uninformed viewer on those, lets do them in Legend-Film Crew-Rifftrax-Cinematic Titanic order. Seems good to me.
–
@21 Blast Hardcheese – – your second paragraph. . right on brother! My sentiments exactly. :highfive:
I don’t have any CT, I haven’t found them on sale at stores and I
don’t buy online, and Rifftrax is just too complicated to set up to
bother with, so when they’re discussed I’ll just take a bye.
@21: You’re right. This is one of two web sites on the entire internet where I read the comments. The other MSTies are the reason I keep coming back here. To lose out on commenting on the episodes together would be disappointing.
I’ll be up for commenting on any and all MST3K and MST related projects. I think new comments from fans starting with Season 4 is a also a good idea. I’ve seen all the RIFFTRAX shorts and about 80% of the features. The CT DVDs are great, but few, and it would give me a good reason to rewatch the Last Dance – RAW! (I’ve only watched it once).
I’m open to any topics SAMPO chooses. I’ll join in when I can. I’ll be able to write some great comments for RIFFTRAX’s The Room. I’ve seen it at least 15 times now. My favorite RT by far.
I love reading about all the episodes and I can keep reading about them for years. Perhaps we can review one episode once a month. I always thought we could use a little more trivia on the movie and actors. As for doing rifftrax and CT tha’s fine. I own all the released dvds for CT and all the dvds for rifftrax. But for the other rifftrax titles that are downloaded files – it just leaves me cold, so I’ll be kinda left out for those reviews.
My take on it is this: If you only do the Rifftrax episodes that are on DVD, that cuts it down drastically. Maybe you Rif should do this:
1) All four Film Crew dvd’s
2) All Rifftrax dvd’s and Cinematic Titanic dvd’s interspersed by date of release.
Personally, I think if you’re going to tackle Rifftrax’s download-only content then you really need to also review all of CT’s live shows and then it starts to become a huge cluster-f.
Don’t understand how the above sentence became, “Maybe you Rif should do this” but obviously the word “Rif” shouldn’t be there.
To be honest, I didn’t know you WERE doing them to update the Episode Guide:
I’d just thought, well, every blog has a Monday-Friday “gimmick” to keep content regular, and since there were no new episodes to talk about, discussions on old episodes were still fresh for new discussion, and new fans coming in off the RT and disks. Even back in the RATMM days, don’t think anyone had yet delved into the roots of the last remaining obscure riffs (like “All over the world!” for SCCtM), so there seemed like some last territory to mine.
There’s not much to discuss in depth about RiffTrax once you get past “Oh look, they think Harry Potter fans are geeks!”, or “Oh, those fat guy jokes!–We love their cruelty!” (Devil Doll callback) and let’s face it, the RT movie choices just aren’t as………DIVERSE as the episode seasons could be. CT, maybe, since they don’t normally do Transformers or LOTR, or movies we’ve already have heard of and written our own (better) jokes to.
I wasn’t a blog regular when you’d started on the S4 episodes, if that’s where you’d started–Wouldn’t mind one more go-round, but that depends how many new members we have trafficking in and out on a regular basis.
I gotta say I’m bummed. I look forward to Thursday’s discussion and as a new comer to the site was thrilled to participate. 2 entries a week isn’t as appealing as the current Thursday format. And honestly finding this site has really rekindled my interest in mst and I’ve enjoyed watching the episodes in order for the first time in years and years. My vote would be to keep going for the next 2 years take a break and let’s do it all again!
I love the idea of threads for Poopie or The Last Dance, etc.
Maybe discuss the Volume Sets starting with Rhino and ending with the Shout! sets.
Also, Erhardt’s take on the episodes (along with Sampo’s) wouldn’t hurt either when you archive them.
I didn’t start following these untill around season 7. So please continue, but I wouldn’t mind doing the CT releases, or the occasional rifftrack.
Thanks for finally doing this; i was hoping you’d go in this direction after “looping around.” Things i agree with that others have already suggested:
-probably two discussions a week would be maximal (@Creepingterror)
-one should still be MST3K, perhaps ordered by VHS/DVD release date (@thedumpster), or perhaps a top 100 countdown?
Rifftrax’s numerical superiority is difficult to work with.
-Include VOD/DVD Rifftrax releases trading-off with CT (@Steve Vil)
-or a 3:1 ratio (@Majorjoe23)
-grouping Rifftrax by associated films sounds pretty reasonable.
Looking forward to this, however you do it! I just think CT especially needs more dedicated support than it’s been getting here, and both the old MST3K crews need to get current projects running at full speed.
I echo many of the sentiments here:
There is a danger of overload: too many episodes per week (1 RT, one CT, 2 MSTs on the weekend) starts to get busy.
There is still lots of interest in revisiting season 4 and beyond again and some kind of revolving MST is good, the weekend plan could work.
I have seen almost every MST3K episode; RT and CT I’ve just seen a small smattering of; It seems a little quantity vs quality comparison. Maybe as suggested, one CT a month would help space out the material to give them proper attention. And I like the idea of grouping the themes for examining the RT opus: Blockbusters, Classics, guest riffers, short collections, and outright Cheeze.
Personally, I am not too familiar with what’s out there (I DO have a life…i think) I didn’t know there was only four Film Crew eps; no wonder I never found more. I would benefit from an overview or editing/critique/introduction to what CT does, or how RT works, and what is available on what formats, and even what has been considered the ‘must-see’ from the RT folks. After introducing my nephews to MST3k, they naturally migrated over to Rifftrax and started telling me about “Classic” RT that I had to see. Is any RT Classic yet, or am I just getting old?
I’m fine with talking CT and Rifftrax on Tuesdays & Thursdays, but what about diving into the MST DVD releases in order.
Quite a few have “new” material or fun extras, whether it’s new intros by some of the cast, un-riffed movies (I for one would love to hear Sampo’s take on watching the unriffed versions of some of the earliest releases). Tackling the individual releases up through the latest box sets would be pretty fun, and a cool place to discuss found “easter eggs”, artwork, extras, documentaries, Rhino vs. Shout.
What do you think sirs?
Personally, if you’re going to do Rifftrax, my idea is to stick with just the VOD movies, the DVD’s, and the live shows at the moment. The reasoning for it:
1. While the riffs on the more famous movies are usually among the more popular riffs on the site, the VOD’s of feature length films are usually for those types of films that would probably aired on MST3K if it was still airing today, not to mention they are easier to access and view.
2. By including the DVD’s, we can also handle the shorts in batches (rather than one short at a time).
3. Those that focus on the live shows could include mentions to differences betwen the VOD version and live riffing version of the films/shorts featured in these shows and comments on some of the facial expressions/body language that Mike, Kevin, and Bill showcase during these riffs (i.e. their reactions to the “I need you tonight” line in the Rudolph short).
I am a relative newcomer here like pablum and jason3k and this site inspired me to go back and finally watch seasons 8-10 that I had boycotted the first time around. I had finally caught up with the weekly discussions here around Untamed Youth and would miss them since season 4 has some of my favorite episodes. I propose taking a vote on the 5 best CT and Rifftrax episodes, have weekly discussions for those and then go back to MST season 4 since I think a lot of newcomers like myself haven’t had the chance to weigh in on those. Another problem is I and perhaps others don’t have time to watch more than one episode of MST/CT/Rifftrax a week, which is why I propose the above.
Yeah I really like the idea of doing Rifftrax and CT. It’s just an organizational issue…one I can’t wrap my head around this week.
As regards Rifftrax: while I can understand the completionists’ desire to review/comment on every single Rifftrax release, it seems somehow…wrong…to be discussing a film the likes of, say, Transformers on this website. For me, at least half of the enjoyment of Rifftrax, Cinematic Titanic, and MST is the movie itself, apart from any commentary. I can say with no trace of irony that I love movies like Planet of the Dinosaurs, Rattlers, and Rocketship X-M. I would probably watch those movies unriffed (and indeed do when there are convenient commercial releases that I can pick up – thanks, Wade Davis collection!). I give MST full credit for my lifetime love affair with the cinema of the weird, the forgotten, and the fringe, and it’s fun to discuss these crazy old (well, not all are old) movies and learn interesting things about them (e.g., Spalanzani’s insightful comments on the Japanese MSTed movies). What I’m getting to is that there is no joy to be had in discussing Transformers. It’s the cinematic equivalent of fast frankenfood, churned out on a formula with minimal personality, art, effort, or idiom. Why talk about it?
Compared to most people who comment here, I’m a Casual fan. Yet, I own every episode of MST3K except 2 KTMA eps and own all the Cinematic Titanics eps except one and have made 3 trips to see Riff Trax performed LIVE in Nashville. But, most of the discussions are ones I can’t even comment on, they are so specific. Uh, what was the question?
Sorry.
I think you should exhaust all MST3K before going on to anything else (if ever). This isnt MST3KFCRTCTinfo.com. As much as I like some of the offshoot material, it’s not why I come here. So, after Poopie, Poopie II, the awards shows, PlayStation, The Home Game, Clowns in the Sky, etc., etc. *then* you should think about expanding, and then I’d stick to materially released stuff. (i.e. DVDs and *maybe* streaming)
But, if you’re going to cover every .mp3 that Rifftrax puts out, then you should hit *all* of the “MST3K Expanded Universe”: The X Box/TV Wheel, Edward the Less, Star Wait, etc., etc. etc.
I think that I would be good with discussions of CT and RT. The world of MST3K encompasses what the creators are doing and have done, so looking at their projects seem to me to stay within the framework of what this site is. For instance, I didn’t see a big negative reaction when Sampo told us that one weekend discussion was going to be about Mike Nelson’s “Death Rat” novel. But I do agree that doing every Rifftrax release would be overkill. I say either just stick to VOD/DVD etc. as some have said, or doing the big collections of movies (like Potter, LOTR) as others have said). I do have choice words about RT’s handling of the pilot to the TV show Lost (no I don’t).
The episode guide stuff and the weekend discussions are the main reason I come here, along with the MST3K DVD sets and the news about them of course, so I do want those to continue. I’m fine with having a reason to visit here multiple times a week (not that I don’t visit that often anyways, but having a steadfast reason like Thursday’s episode discussion helps in that).
Mr. B(ob) said:
“…perhaps younger fans are likely even more interested in Rifftrax because it provides riffing on more current material, it’s cheap and easily accessible and there aren’t so many “ancient” and obscure references as in MST3K.”
That’s true, and how Sampo & Erhardt handle this transition depends on how they see the mission of this site.
I’m a fan of the entire MST3K series. I loved the Comedy Central years, and agreed with the obervations on “This is MST3K” by people like Tom Shales, that the show’s chief appeal was the way it tickled your memory when they would make clever pop culture references.
Over the years, that was de-emphasized, and the Sci-Fi episodes, which I still like, are the only episodes enjoyed by many of the younger fans, because they don’t have as many obscure references. You can look up the history of comments by some of the users here, and see that some folks are only familiar with, and only comment on, the later episodes.
That’s fine – to each his own. However, if you build in a Rifftrax element to the site, the comments will become even more focused on RT and the later years of MST3K, because the late-coming fans will have more opportunity to dominate the site.
If Sampo wants to have the site be a reflection of the current level of fan interest in MST3K and its offshoots, and cater to the fans who came along later, he’ll add RT and CT elements to the site. CT has much less output to discuss, of course, so most of the added material will be RT.
If he wants to preserve some memory of what made the show special in the first place, he’ll keep the site focused on MST3K. This will surely be the less popular choice.
As Tom Servo would say, “Choose wisely.”
I have been coming to this website for years. I have mostly been a lurker – I love reading the intelligent and thoughtful comments, and I live in fear of looking like a silly schmuck should I post a comment that is less than stellar. It’s wonderful to be a part of a community of smart, funny, respectful folks who are as anal about spelling as I am, even if I am mostly just an observer.
That said, I come here to feed my MST3K craving. I visit at least two or three times a day. I love the weekend discussion threads, but even more, I LOVE the Episode Guides. I will keep coming here no matter how Sampo and Erhardt decide to continue, but MST3K is my reason for being here. I like Rifftrax and Cinematic Titanic a lot and will happily read the ep guides for them, but my heart will always lie with the ‘bots. I love the thought of doing all the Poopies etc., but as far as I am concerned, you could do any form of MST3K in a continuous loop for eternity.
I have the utmost respect for Mssrs. Sampo and Erhardt, and I thank you for all your years of toil. You have made my life much more pleasant by providing this wonderful place for us all to gather. And I too echo Blast Hardcheese’s sentiment – I have never encountered a more erudite, comical, and respectful group of people on any website – or in person, for that matter. Helluva lot more respect here than in any church I have ever been to…..=)
We could move on to Rifftrax but then again, we’d be giving EricJ even more of a reason to endlessly clutter this website with his unchanging and banal rhetoric. We get it man. You don’t like Rifftrax. You don’t have to remind us EVERY THREAD.
I’ve had a knot in my stomach since I read this weekend topic title early Saturday morning. I guess the more and more I’ve thought about it, I’d just like to keep going through the MST3k episodes. I have really enjoyed many of the things that Cinematic Titanic and Rifftrax have been doing lately, and I thought the Film Crew series and the early Mike Nelson commentaries, Reefer Madness in particular, are a lot of fun too. I always appreciate that I can get news about what former cast members are doing by checking in on this site too. That said, I’m in it here for the MST3k. It’s one of my few true passions. Like many others, I haven’t seen every episode, and I tend to wait until Shout Factory releases new episodes to check out ones I haven’t watched. I always get a lot out of reading what folks have to say about the episodes, but I think that there is still a lot unsaid. New observations and changing times bring fresh relevance (or irrelevance) to many of the riffs. I’d imagine that going through the episodes a second, third, or fourth time would still allow for fresh discussion. Anywho…
Seriously, I was looking forward to going through the KTMAs again. Since we covered them a few months ago, I rewatched some of them again, and am finding new found affection for them. I’m curious to see what the others think when we get to that point.
Okay, am I crazy, but I thought there were 5 Film Crew DVDs, the fifth being the Three Stooges In Color disc they did.
I like the idea of keeping the practice of one MST3K episode a week discussions. For me, it’s like this is the episode that would be on tv this week, and we’re all going to watch it. I’m also in favor of keeping it in chronological order. As far as new episode guide entries each time, instead Mr. Cornell could perhaps add a new section, a “Sampo’s observations this time around”-type column.
I would like to see all 5 Tom Servo’s Host segments, and any other odds and ends covered (or re-covered), ranging from DVD extras to Joel’s standup to Mike, Kevin and Bill on CBS Saturday Morning. One of my all time favorite things is Crow and Señor Sock on Talk Soup. After rediscovering MST3K about four years ago, I’ve become quite the completist. I’ve seen every episode multiple times, and have almost every related show/clip/program. Which leads me too…
I’ve seen every CT and near every RT. There’s about ten RT movies I haven’t seen, and about twenty RT shorts I haven’t seen. I would welcome discussions on these “expanded universe” projects. I think there is room for all.
Anyway, I’m interested in whatever experiment Sampo subjects us to. :)
#42, 47
Actually, the Film Crew’s are quite close to MST3000.
They have bits at the beginnning, middle, and end, and
with Mike, Bill Corbett, and Kevin it’s not that much
removed from Mike and the bots (no silhouettes, though :) ).
This comment sums up my feeling pretty well:
I like the idea of keeping the practice of one MST3K episode a week discussions. For me, it’s like this is the episode that would be on tv this week, and we’re all going to watch it.
Two reasons: the first is what was stated just above. I love the old time feel of one episode a week as if you are watching a current show. In a way it makes it feel “new.” Also as a couple others have stated above, one a week lets me really disect and make thorough notes and observations. Any more than that and I simply won’t have to the time to do it the way I want to do it. I’m one of those busy people you here about. So I beg, whatever we choose: one a week and if that takes years so be it. Sometimes patience is a virtue.
Now the what question: I’m sure there are many late comers to the weekly episode thread. So for some that would mean revisiting old territory and others it is a first on disecting and commenting. There will be a point where there is nothing left to say and these threads will stagmate if we strictly do MST only. But that said a second lap probably wouldn’t run that risk to strongly. That is why I’m in favor of moving onto the alumni projects at some point. That will keep these threads fresh. But here again because of the time concerns I mentioned above I’d like to keep one per week and only on Thursdays whether it is CT, RT, a second lap of MST or whatever. I also have one addtional reason for one a week and that is buying this stuff. Yes it is all available for free somewhere on the web (Youtube, etc…). But expect for something like a commercially unreleased episode of MST I really do prefer to buy a legal copy. CT is wholely artist owned and my impression Mike has some sort of stake in RT. So if we don’t buy this stuff then it no longer becomes worth their time to produce this stuff. I want to encourage its production in any way I can. So even though this stuff is by and large reasonably priced, if I had to buy multiple stuff for Thursday, Saturday, Sunday etc. discussions (no I don’t currently own it all) it adds to the expense.
So to sum up: I vote only Thursday/one a week slowly working through everything no matter how many years it takes.