Free Hot Dog
This may be the least enticing sign I’ve ever seen. It was on Central Ave. in Yonkers, NY and it pointed to a lot behind a Best Buy. I didn’t dare see what it would take to get that Free Hot Dog.
Archive for November, 2007
The Three (3 1/2? 4?) New Mystery Science Theater 3000s
Mystery Science Theater 3000’s premise was limitless: as long as there was bad content around, there was new material to mock. Its demise at the hands of a fickle Sci-Fi Channel in 1999, therefore, was met with much rending of garments and gnashing of teeth. It was not dead, merely resting, for it has risen, albeit it many forms from many factions.
Literally every major player involved in producing Mystery Science Theater 3000, onscreen and off, is now creating new quasi-MST3K related material aimed squarely at the MST3K fanbase. They’ve divided themselves up, and understanding the different groups might help you decide who to give your money to (although I plan on giving it to all of them as long as they turn out a quality product):
- Mike Nelson (Mike), Kevin Murphy (Tom Servo 2.0 [well, 1.0 for everyone who didn’t see the show’s original Minnesota run, which is most people] ) and Bill Corbett (Crow 2.0) really never left MST3K behind. After the show ended, they took on various solo projects, but remained frequent collaborators, and stuck with what they knew: Bad Movies. hey’ve actually got two ventures in the new MST3K martket:
- Mike Nelson brought us the first MST3K-esque project last year: Rifftrax, which provides downloadable MST3K-style audio commentary for blockbuster crap like Transformers and Independence Day, beloved classics like Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory, and most recently old awful movies like Missile to the Moon. Mike goes solo on some, but frequently collaborates with Kevin Murphy and Bill Corbett on others. He’s also got a few guest riffers to join him, like Neil Patrick Harris on Willy Wonka and Fred Willard on Missile to the Moon. I’ve listened to several now (even a few with my wife, who never dug MST3K’s host segments, so appreciates that it’s all movie) and have loved them all.
- Nelson, Murphy and Corbett are also collaborating on The Film Crew, a reimagining of MST3K without the puppets. While Rifftrax supplies the commentary while you supply the DVD, The Film Crew have individual episodes on DVD, complete with host segments and special features. I own all four, and have watched three of those, and it really captures MST3K perfectly. I was also subjected to Rue McClanahan stripping, but that’s just a bonus.
- Joel Hodgson (Joel Robinson), Trace Beaulieu (the original Crow and Doctor Forrester), Frank Conniff (TV’s Frank), Mary Jo Pehl (Mrs. Forrester), and Josh Weinstein (the original Tom Servo and Dr. Laurence Erhardt) all left the show of their own accord well before it ended (with the exception of Mary Jo Pehl) to pursue other things. Either the pastures weren’t much greener or they needed to scratch the same itch the fans have had for so long, and they’ve come together for Cinematic Titanic. They’ve teamed up with, of all people, ILM, and are hinting very strongly that their world premiere will be the until-now rare Star Wars Christmas Special, put out on DVD with Georgie’s blessing. December 10th is the street date.
- Jim Mallon (MST3K producer and the one that holds the rights to MST3K, preventing the above from recreating the show) and Paul Chaplin (MST3K writer) have teamed up to create animated episodes featuring Tom Servo, Crow and Gypsy at MST3K.com, along with a bunch of clips of the host segments from the original series. There’s only one up now and boy is it rough, but I’ll keep checking in on them.
I wish they’d all just get together for a group hug, but I guess I should also be happy that now they’ve gone from producing nothing to four different MST3K-like shows. Keep it coming guys, the wallet’s open.
Blogged with Flock
They can even suck the joy out of sex scandals.
I liked it better when it was just a bunch of anti-homosexual “Moral Majority” Republicans being forced out of the closet in increasingly amusing ways.
Ted Klaudt, formerly of the South Dakota legislature with a failed Senate run, raped his two foster teenage daughters 10 times to test their fertility after one of them expressed interest in becoming an egg donor. This took place on several occasions and was helped along by Klaudt’s pretending to be a female official from an egg-donation program using a fake email address. To complete the cycle of disgust, make sure to head on over to Amy’s Robot via the link above to see what ol’ Ted looks like.
