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MST3K is Back, Sort Of

Posted by ScuttleMonkey on Wed Jul 25, 2007 12:57 PM
from the that's-no-asteroid-that's-a-battlestation dept.
It's funny. Laugh. Sci-Fi
Polar Star writes "Retrocrush reports that Mike Nelson, Kevin Murphy, and Bill Corbett are back making fun of crappy movies again in a new incarnation called The Film Crew. In the first of many new DVDs to be released, they take on a 1969 abomination called Hollywood After Dark which features a still-not-very-young Rue McClanahan as a down-on-her-luck actress who becomes a stripper. Needless to say, it's one of the scariest movies you'll ever see. There's plenty of funny jokes throughout, and they definitely prove themselves worthy of carrying on the MST3K tradition." Update 1925 GMT by SM: Corrected a few oversights and pointed to The Film Crew's actual website.
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  • There's also RiffTrax (Score:5, Informative)

    by AugstWest (79042) on Wednesday July 25 2007, @01:00PM (#19986089)
    http://www.rifftrax.com/ [rifftrax.com]

    Download mp3s, and start them up at the same time as your DVD....

      • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

        by smclean (521851)

        Are there any players that will let you sync the audio to the video and let it work for fastfoward and pausing? That's the only problem I can see with it, be a real pain in the ass if you had to just let the damn thing run, no pausing. If I'm in an audience of a size greater than one, there will be pauses, rewinds, etc.

        The do try and make it easier to sync mid-movie by occasionally having a robot-voiced character read a line that should be synchronized with a line in the movie. This way, you *can* still start in the middle of a movie, but it is a PITA.

  • Prior work? (Score:3, Funny)

    by ArcadeX (866171) on Wednesday July 25 2007, @01:00PM (#19986095)
    Anyone have any links to prior work they've done, to know what to expect?

  • Rifftrax (Score:3, Informative)

    by WrongMonkey (1027334) on Wednesday July 25 2007, @01:00PM (#19986097)
    It's not the whole MST3K crew, but RiffTrax [rifftrax.com] have been around for a while and are extra awesome because they finally give the treatment to mainstream movies.

    • I was thinking the exact same thing, then I thought, "Wait! This is a doup [slashdot.org]!" But a little checking around [dapcentral.org] would seem to show that they indeed are, all three, united in a new project. They've been The Film Crew for a while, but they seem to be jumping in on actual DVD releases now as we can see on The Film Crew's website [filmcrewonline.com] the link for which seems to be missing in the article. Still, though, this is pretty old news. I remember voting for my 'first release' several months, if not a year, back. That could've bee

      • Re:Rifftrax (Score:5, Funny)

        by jollyreaper (513215) on Wednesday July 25 2007, @02:14PM (#19987057)

        Whatever happened to Joel??

        Didn't he really come up with the MST3K idea, even the theme music? Why did he just disappear?
        He got in an escape pod and made it back to Earth at the end of Mitchell. He's been keeping a low profile since then because he doesn't want the Mads to send him back.

      • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

        by smclean (521851)

        When he left MST3K he filmed a pilot for HBO, a sketch comedy show called 'The TV Wheel'. My buddy and I were big enough fans that we went to the filming of the pilot, after being tipped off from Usenet that you could get free tickets. The show was never picked up.

        Wikipedia lists some other projects of his post-mst3k..

  • Favorite MST3K Line? (Score:4, Funny)

    by InvisblePinkUnicorn (1126837) on Wednesday July 25 2007, @01:01PM (#19986105)
    What's everyone's favorite line from MST3K?

    Mine: "We will be approaching speeds of... 3!"

    • Re:Favorite MST3K Line? (Score:4, Funny)

      by Psmylie (169236) * on Wednesday July 25 2007, @01:03PM (#19986147) Homepage
      Anything that mentions Zap Rowsdower.
      • "Gettin' water for Rowsdower... bippity boppity bowsdower!"

        Or the car trying to start... "RRR RRR RRR RRR ROWSDOWER!"

        • Re:Favorite MST3K Line? (Score:5, Funny)

          by Psmylie (169236) * on Wednesday July 25 2007, @02:16PM (#19987091) Homepage
          I posted this a while back, but here it is again: Zap Rowsdower, Chuck Norris style!

          When Zap Rowsdower talks, people become intoxicated by the alcohol fumes from his breath
          There are no endagered animals, only animals that Zap Rowsdower hasn't eaten... yet.
          Zap Rowsdower once killed an entire cult with a single roundhouse kick. They died laughing.
          Bullets are deflected by Zap Rowsdower's hockey hair
          There is no forehead under Zap's mullet... there's another beer gut
          In the unlikely event that Canada ever runs out of beer, they can drink Zap Rowsdower's blood, which is 120 proof.
          You are what you eat, and Zap Rowsdower is 200 pounds of bacon fat
          The only force known to withstand the force of a Chuck Norris Roundhouse Kick (tm) is Zap Rowsdower's doughy gut

          That's all I have for now... Rowsdowermobile, awaaay!!

            • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

              by Flarg! (265195)
              Zap? Is that you? It must be! Why else would you give such a vitriolic response to a fairly harmless set of jokes, which, yes, I found mildly amusing. It reminds me of the Penny Arcade "Greater Internet Fuckwad" theory: Normal Person + Anonymity + Audience = Total Fuckwad. You, sir (or ma'am?), prove the formula correct.
      • Don't forget:

        Big McLargehuge
        Gristle McThornbody
        Buff Hardback
        and
        Thick McRunfast
        • Dirk Hardpeck
          Butch Deadlift
          Blast Thickneck
          Lump Beefrock

          (that's one of the greatest episodes - not just because the movie re-uses old BSG props, but because it's the best "wrong name" gag implementation in all of entertainment, ever)

    • "We will be approaching speeds of... 3!"
      Ah, yes, a Space Mutiny quote, a very good one. I have so many favorites, perhaps I'll keep the trend going with another one from that show: "Look alive everyone ... oh, I'm sorry, not you, Susan." (in reference to a character who had died earlier in the movie but, for some reason, showed back up on the control room alive and well, working in another scene)
      • "in reference to a character who had died earlier in the movie but, for some reason, showed back up on the control room alive and well, working in another scene"

        The funniest part is that it was just "in another scene", it was in the very next scene after her death. If you watch the credits, they make fun of the person responsible for Continuity.
        • *Beef McHardSlab (hero) shoots a ray gun to ignite flammable gas into a channel that a cripple man (traitor) has taken refuge in*

          Mike: "And our brave hero roasts the disabled man!"
      • Great line, that one, but the best part of that episode had to be the names...

        Big McLargehuge!
        Pack Blowfist!
        Slab Bulkhead!
        Stump Chunkman!

        (Are the first few I remember off the top of my head)

        Never have I seen the "wrong name" gag taken to such dizzying heights of hilarity.

        OTOH, if we're just going all-time great lines:

        "Gamera's never seen a mohel" (from one of the Gamera movies, obviously, though I regret to admit I don't recall which)

        or

        Actor: "Why are you so worried about this box?"
        Mike: "Because it doesn't
    • Way too many. Here's one of my favorites, though.

      From: Pod People

      "Oh, man, this guy's got renaissance faire written all over him."

      (Man pulls out a crossbow from the front seat of the car)

      "Huzzah!"

      Swi
    • In Pod People

      Members of a really crappy rock band try to contact the outside world (from memory):

      Singer 1: "The TV's not working!"
      Singer 2: "The radio's making a funny noise, too."
      Bots: "It's called MUSIC!"

      Also, in The Atomic Brain (again, from memory):

      Housekeeper 1 (with a really bad fake European accent): "Oh, leave without me, I won't make it!"
      Housekeeper 2: "Don't talk like that!"
      Bots: "We've been saying that the WHOLE MOVIE!"
    • (After seeing asteroids floating around in space) "Honey bunches of DEATH!"
    • "You're full of skit."
    • "Feel some malaise, suckas!"
    • Mine was from Jack Frost:

      Ivan: This is the first time I've sat on a shovel.
      Mike: Well, at least the flat end.

      It was simply the best.
    • From Master Ninja I: "I know he's around here somewhere. I can hear his theme song!" Also, from Gamera vs Megalon: "Gamera is really neat, Gamera is full of meat, we all love Gamera!"
    • Sample my fist you community theater reject!
    • Who is this gentle stranger with pecs like melons and knees of fringe?

    • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

      by jollyreaper (513215)

      What's everyone's favorite line from MST3K?

      There are so many good ones, I don't know where to start. Some of the best lines just aren't anything without seeing the visuals that inspired them. Here are the ones I can think of off the top of my head:

      Thug: I got a guy, he knows all the angles!
      Crow: Name's Euclid.

      Some weird wicker coffin used by paramedics to move a body
      Crow: Oh, look, it's a picnic casket!

      From Clash of the Moons
      Winky: [after leave is cancelled for a mission] So much for that gay nightlife. Looks like I'm going to have to go ride the r

  • Satellite News (Score:5, Informative)

    by Psmylie (169236) * on Wednesday July 25 2007, @01:01PM (#19986107) Homepage
    Satellite News is still up and running for anyone who liked MST3K. They have news on the Film Crew and Rifftrax (which is Mike Nelson and guests recording downloadable commentary tracks for various movies), as well as other things that the old Best Brains crew are up to. http://www.mst3kinfo.com/ [mst3kinfo.com]
  • MST3K without Joel isn't any MST3K at all.
    • Joel was the man. IMHO, the problem with "the new guy" is that he's too animated to make the dead-pan humor most effective.

    • Crow T. Robot: You know, at this stage in any killing spree, you really ought to turn the gun on yourself.
      Crow T. Robot, Tom Servo: [chanting] Turn it! Turn it! Turn it! Turn it!
      Joel: Hey! Hey!

      that's when he left as a character and then he hung on for another six years after that. So really, do we need another MST3K at all? I mean, we've got 11 years of it with Joel as character and/or writer. That is enough to keep my bittorrent humming for awhile.

    • Now, now...There's plenty of room in bed for both of them.

      ...oh wait, that sounded gayer than I meant

  • Another Link & Rifftrax (Score:3, Interesting)

    by eldavojohn (898314) * <my/.username@@@gmail.com> on Wednesday July 25 2007, @01:01PM (#19986115) Homepage Journal
    I'm going to suggest an alternate site, IGN's review of it [ign.com] which, surprisingly, gave it a 9 out of 10--so I'll have to find this. From that review:

    The basic framework of The Film Crew is simple enough; three average men have been hired by media mogul Bob Honcho and given the task of recording a commentary track for every film ever made. Naturally it's a conceit to get Mike, Kevin and Bill back to doing what they do best; tearing the film industry's lesser children to ribbons. The structure of each Film Crew release is similar to MST3k in most respects, the only main difference is the lack of commercial breaks and less interstitial sketches - which most MST3k fans never considered to be that essential anyhow. The films are divided in two sections by a "lunch break" sketch which the guys sit around, you guessed it, the lunch table. The main difference of The Film Crew is the lack of the signature character silhouettes at the bottom of the screen while the movie plays, not a huge loss overall but it does mean that they can no longer interact with the on-screen action when the verbal jokes run thin.

    A few months back on Shout!'s website, fans were asked to vote on which of the four scheduled Film Crew releases would be the first on store shelves, the winner was the 1961 clunker Hollywood After Dark. Also know as Walk The Angry Beach and The Unholy Choice, the "film" features future Golden Girls star Rue McClanahan getting down to her skivvies and shaking it for all she's worth when her acting career fails - oddly enough that's the story of the film too.
    It might also be worth mentioning the Rifftrax [rifftrax.com] effort they put together a while ago, with more info/comments on the Slashdot article [slashdot.org].
  • And for all those who don't have a clue what MST3K is and whether you should care:

    http://www.mst3kinfo.com/mstfaq/basics.html [mst3kinfo.com]

    (Q1 says "What is Mystery Science Theater 3000?" ;) )
    • OK I really want to rate this redundant. But I won't. Because somebody will whine at me. DAMN YOU /.!!!!!!!

  • Blasphemy (Score:4, Insightful)

    by realmolo (574068) on Wednesday July 25 2007, @01:06PM (#19986187)
    "and less interstitial sketches - which most MST3k fans never considered to be that essential anyhow."

    The sketches *were* essential. Some of them were great, and almost all of them were funny. Well, at least when JOEL was doing them.

    Joel was better than Mike. By a lot. People that like Mike will be the first up against the wall when the revolution comes.

    • How could we have withstood the horror that was "Attack of the Giant Leeches" if it was not for the Joel/Tom/Crow: "A Danger To Myself and Others" (The Hillbilly Song) sketch?

      • For what it's worth, I think Mike was significantly better in the host segment skits than Joel ever was. When not in the theater, Joel pretty much fell back to prop comedy, and after a season or two it became rather formulaic. In the theater (which, of course, is really the most important part), I think they were both excellent, but in different ways: Joel's deadpan delivery was suited to a very different sort of comedy than Mike's approach. In the end, I tend to gravitate more towards Mike-hosted episodes

  • What crap (Score:4, Informative)

    by JimboFBX (1097277) on Wednesday July 25 2007, @01:16PM (#19986321)
    ok so the link on slashdot doesnt even go to the http://www.filmcrewonline.com/ [filmcrewonline.com] website, but rather some dude's lame blog with lame ads. Oh, and I'm not even sure they even do this anymore, since they've been busy with RiffTrax, and their official website hasn't changed in a long time. What a terrible slashvertisement by man-in-the-middle proxy (go to my website to go to the real one).

  • Joel or Mike? (Score:5, Funny)

    by SirStanley (95545) on Wednesday July 25 2007, @01:18PM (#19986347) Homepage
    What no Joel?! He was by far superior! /troll flamebait I'm wasting karma points on this.
    • Karma points? By saying something as foolish as that you risk your eternal soul to the fiery pits of hell. I'd not want to be you on judgement day.

    • What no Joel?! He was by far superior!

      Superior??? I've heard he uses vi.

  • Posted in 2001 on IMDB, a user noted [imdb.com]:

    I think the best way to sum it up is just to say that Mystery Science Theater 3000 would have had a field day.
    In fact, this movie was so bad they had to bring back MST3K just to make fun of it!

    Oh, and nuts to "thom walker" from the UK!!!

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