Here’s a brief review of “The Comic Galaxy of Mystery Science Theater 3000: Twelve Classic Episodes and the Movies They Lampoon” by Chris Morgan.
I need to start this by apologizing that I have waited this long to get to this. The book has been out about a month; I finished it about three weeks ago, and life has intervened since then.
In any case, I would like to recommend this book to anyone who enjoys MST3K, including casual fans. I would also recommend it to loved ones of MST3K fans, who don’t embrace the show and wonder why the person they love is so devoted to it. This book will help explain.
It’s hard for me to express how much I enjoyed reading this book, and how much that surprised me. I have no concrete reason to be surprised, of course, since I don’t think I’ve read Morgan’s writing before. It’s more that I approach all attempts to write about MST3K with a certain amount of (often well-justified) trepidation. Most attempts to explain what the show “means” leave me cold, and I feel like they miss the point.
I was feeling that trepidation when I started reading this, and in only a few paragraphs, that feeling evaporated. To fully explain this sensation, I need to recall a comment made at a “Museum of TV” panel back in – memory is failing but I’m going to say ’95. Somebody asked what they thought of the movie “Ed Wood.” They all gushed a bit and Trace said something I’ll always remember: “We felt like it was written specifically for us.”
Similarly, the more I read of Morgan’s book, the more I got the feeling that Morgan was speaking specifically to ME.
Morgan has adopted just the right tone, light and offbeat one minute and earnest the next. His observations about the show are often original and spot-on. Reading this, I was in that extremely pleasant situation of actually looking forward to what Morgan’s book would say next.
In his book, Morgan has selected 12 “experiments,” one from each season, plus the movie. In each chapter he examines the movie itself and discusses what was going on at BBI while that show was being shot, and also places that episode into the context of the season it was in. I’m not sure I would have selected the same 12 episodes if I was doing it, but these work.
My scant negative observation: Somebody used to sell a T-shirt that read: “MST3K: I get it (mostly)” and that quote is apt here. Very occasionally, Morgan expresses bafflement over a riff (or a series of riffs) and it’s fairly clear the point of the joke has just gone over his head. But that’s rare, and mostly Morgan impressed me with the depth of his understanding of the writing team’s creative process.
So if you are looking for a light quick read about the best TV show ever, this one’s got my thumbs-up.