The Future of MST3K Begins Tomorrow...?!

[Miss Martian]

"Look at what The Mads are doing for essentially no budget" "$666,666 budget per episode, why?" "Just make some damn eps and release them for sale"
^^ My thoughts exactly.
And just imagine what others could do with this $.
If I could get a grant for 20k a year, do you have any idea the insane plethra of art I would make???

[airenman]

I'm not getting sucked in again.  Jonah is as exciting and funny as a bowl of oatmeal, and if I want riffing that comes straight from the early '90's I'll watch the real MST3K episodes.

[WalnutRancher]

Man, I'm glad to see a few other dissenting views here.  I've been on a few MST3K sites and their mostly blubbering all over this.  I mean, I'm all for some more MST3K eps.  I thought Season 11 was okay and 12 was crap, but I'll give some more a chance.  But a whole streaming platform for one show?  That's EFing stoopid.  And, after all the bloat in the first kickstarter, I really can't get past this feeling like Joel just milking the sh|t out of his core audience.  

Just make some damn eps and release them for sale.  It's what RiffTrax has been doing for what, 15 years?  Or look at what The Mads are doing for essentially no budget.

I am a huge fan of the original MST3K. I started watching it in college, and thought it was cool that I often had to look up the references.  I was also actively circulating the tapes I made.  You could just tell the MST3K actors/writers had read a book or two.  There was also a midwestern sweetness and charm to the show.  They were respectful of the movies they were riffing, respectful of the people they were skewering, and kept the show clean.  But above all was the high quality of the riffs.  I had read somewhere that at the industrial park in Eden Prairie (which I’ve actually visited BTW), they would watch the movies together in the writers room and feed off each other to produce a joke synergy during writing.

And when the revival was announced, I eagerly donated hoping they would recreate that same charm and sweetness as the original show. But I was wrong.  The actors/writers they hired are all coarse, vulgar comics, and filmed the show in L.A., which gave the show a completely different vibe. I also read that since they were all off doing multiple projects, they watched the movies and wrote riffs by themselves then compared notes later.  They seemed to be more interested in the quantity of jokes, not necessarily the quality. 

I understand that the audience has changed over the past 25 years or so, and they probably feel a responsibility to update their material, maybe even dumb it down, but in doing so lost all the ingredients that made the original show great: well written riffs, charm, good-natured, and respect. 

I will not be donating to the new show. I’m content watching the originals.

[sarlacc222]

I am a huge fan of the original MST3K. I started watching it in college, and thought it was cool that I often had to look up the references.  I was also actively circulating the tapes I made.  You could just tell the MST3K actors/writers had read a book or two.  There was also a midwestern sweetness and charm to the show.  They were respectful of the movies they were riffing, respectful of the people they were skewering, and kept the show clean.  But above all was the high quality of the riffs.  I had read somewhere that at the industrial park in Eden Prairie (which I’ve actually visited BTW), they would watch the movies together in the writers room and feed off each other to produce a joke synergy during writing.

Man, you nailed it. I remember the first time I saw an ad for MST3K back on Comedy Central, Penn Gillette describing the show as "like watching bad movies with your best friends!" The new series just didn't have that feel. I'd say it's difficult to catch lightning in a bottle and make new performers come across as tight-knit pals, but I've never had a problem accepting the RiffTrax Presents, WeHateMovies, or ICWXP crews. 

At this point, I'm just happy that RiffTrax is still going strong. The riffs might be less obscure than MST3K (although they do pop in some great references occasionally), but they still have that vibe of being three friends doing what they love and enjoying one another's company.

[hazzychan]

Folks, I'm excited that they are doing something like this and hope they'll succeed.

I don't care what some critics say. I thought they did a bang-up job on the Netflix seasons and hope to see what they got in store for their Gizmoplex thing. 

They did. The show absolutely captured the spirit of the original but with a modern feel. Thing is, a lot of chuds online are, well, chuds. They're not capable of liking or appreciating change, so they lash out when things don't feel exactly the same as they always did. You'll also notice these are the exact same people bitching that Rifftrax is putting out the same old shit over and over.

---

I am a huge fan of the original MST3K. I started watching it in college, and thought it was cool that I often had to look up the references.  I was also actively circulating the tapes I made.  You could just tell the MST3K actors/writers had read a book or two.  There was also a midwestern sweetness and charm to the show.  They were respectful of the movies they were riffing, respectful of the people they were skewering, and kept the show clean.  But above all was the high quality of the riffs.  I had read somewhere that at the industrial park in Eden Prairie (which I’ve actually visited BTW), they would watch the movies together in the writers room and feed off each other to produce a joke synergy during writing.

And when the revival was announced, I eagerly donated hoping they would recreate that same charm and sweetness as the original show. But I was wrong.  The actors/writers they hired are all coarse, vulgar comics, and filmed the show in L.A., which gave the show a completely different vibe.  I also read that since they were all off doing multiple projects, they watched the movies and wrote riffs by themselves then compared notes later.  They seemed to be more interested in the quantity of jokes, not necessarily the quality. 

I understand that the audience has changed over the past 25 years or so, and they probably feel a responsibility to update their material, maybe even dumb it down, but in doing so lost all the ingredients that made the original show great: well written riffs, charm, good-natured, and respect. 

I will not be donating to the new show. I’m content watching the originals.

It was filmed in LA... THE HORROR!

Holy shit man, you are a fucking parody of a human.

[JeepBanshee]

They were respectful of the movies they were riffing, respectful of the people they were skewering, and kept the show clean.

Hold up there pardner. There were many cum jokes and worse - I suspect that your rosy view of the world meant that they passed by unnoticed.

One joke from Mike era :

in Squirm... The mother says, "I just don't want you to be disappointed if he doesn't come." Crow T Robot - "Mother, that's private!"

and one from Joel era :

in the Hired short part 2

Movie: One of the first things Harry drilled into me...

Crow: Was Harry!


I'm looking forward to the next generation of MST3K. If only because the longevity makes me think it surely can't go on any longer. And then I tend to be delightfully surprised.

[mst3k4ever]

I am a huge fan of the original MST3K. I started watching it in college, and thought it was cool that I often had to look up the references....  You could just tell the MST3K actors/writers had read a book or two.  There was also a midwestern sweetness and charm to the show.  They were respectful of the movies they were riffing, respectful of the people they were skewering, and kept the show clean.  But above all was the high quality of the riffs.  I had read somewhere that at the industrial park in Eden Prairie (which I’ve actually visited BTW), they would watch the movies together in the writers room and feed off each other to produce a joke synergy during writing.

Man, you nailed it. I remember the first time I saw an ad for MST3K back on Comedy Central, Penn Gillette describing the show as "like watching bad movies with your best friends!" The new series just didn't have that feel. I'd say it's difficult to catch lightning in a bottle and make new performers come across as tight-knit pals, but I've never had a problem accepting the RiffTrax Presents, WeHateMovies, or ICWXP crews. 

Yes, and yes.

[THEGabe]

Some stretch goals have been added, including a digital release of Quest of the Delta Knights if the campaign gets about 2,000 new backers by Wednesday, and add one for the 10 and 18 classic episode collections (both include the first two KTMA episodes) for $10/$15, and digital copies of seasons 11-12 as add ons.

[JusSonic]

If they succeed, getting a digital download of the Delta Knights episode would be awesome.

Though I am not sure if I should raise my pledge or not.

[knowMATTER]

I'm sorry but this is asinine. $666,666 budget per episode, why? Remove the CG, identify what's making the show expensive and remove it and focus purely on public domain content.

I have to wonder what the Rifftrax budget is per episode. Sure they don't do puppetting but come on, a streaming platform, fail on entry

Drop. The. Mic!