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Comments: 185 + -   Joel and Original Cast of MST3K Riding the Cinematic Titanic on Wednesday October 31 2007, @11:18AM

Posted by CmdrTaco on Wednesday October 31 2007, @11:18AM
from the dear-god-please-no-mike dept.
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AugstWest writes "Unfortunately it's in separate projects, but just after Jim Mallon (the man who owns all things MST3K) announced that he would be bringing back Tom Servo, Crow and Gypsy in animated Flash shorts on the web along with Paul Chaplin (a writer from the original MST3K), Joel Hodgson, the series creator, has announced that he will be launching a new venture called Cinematic Titanic. It will feature horrible movies riffed by the original cast of MST3K, including Josh Weinstein (the original Tom Servo), Trace Beaulieu (the original Crow), Frank Conniff (TV's Frank), Mary Jo Pehl (Pearl Forrester) and, of course, Joel himself. They've already got the rights to 12 movies, and will be releasing one a month starting in December for DVD purchase or download."
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Submission: Joel and the Bots are back! by AugstWest (79042)
Joel Hodgson Answers 95 comments
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Joel and Original Cast of MST3K Riding the Cinematic Titanic 50 Comments More /

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  • MST3K? (Score:5, Informative)

    by avij (105924) * on Wednesday October 31 2007, @11:19AM (#21184181) Homepage
    The obligatory clarification links (from Wikipedia) -- some of us have never heard of MST3K:

    Mystery Science Theater 3000 [wikipedia.org] , often abbreviated MST3K , is an American [wikipedia.org] cult television [wikipedia.org] comedy series created by Joel Hodgson [wikipedia.org] and produced by Best Brains, Inc. [wikipedia.org] that ran from 1988 to 1999.

    • Re:MST3K? (Score:5, Insightful)

      by albwus (1145209) on Wednesday October 31 2007, @11:30AM (#21184329)
      Then what are you doing on slashdot...
    • Youtube search came up blank.. is this really as lame as it sounds or is it actually good?

      • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

        by Cheesey (70139)
        You can find some classic full episodes on Google Video. I recommend searching for "MST3K 0820 Space Mutiny". Generally the show is good, but you do have to be in the mood for laughing at an awful sci-fi movie, and some episodes are much better than others. You might also enjoy "Prince of Space", "Puma Man", and "Overdrawn at the memory bank", my personal favourites.

    • Re:MST3K? (Score:5, Funny)

      by MSTCrow5429 (642744) on Wednesday October 31 2007, @11:58AM (#21184733)
      If you've never seen the divine greatest show of all time, MST3K, much less heard of it, please kill yourself now. We can't have philosophical zombies wandering around who have no idea how to react to "Movie Sign!," or Mike blowing up Earth, again.

        • Re:MST3K? (Score:5, Informative)

          by MSTCrow5429 (642744) on Wednesday October 31 2007, @02:03PM (#21186481)
          Joel likes Mike, supported him as being the new host. MJP worked with Mike on Rifftrax. I don't see sides, just different groups of the same former org going off and doing slightly different things. Yeah, I'd like some people swapped, want Bill Corbett as Crow, and Paul Chaplin as Pitch, but our prayers have been answered, MST3K is coming back, and Joel is doing his own great thing too. We now have Rifftrax, MST3K 21st Century, Cinematic Titanic, and Cartoon Dump. What more could you want on that front?

        • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

          by AceCaseOR (594637)
          Geography, from what I understand, more than anything else. Mike, Bill, and Kevin are, IIRC, in the Minnappolis (sp) area. The Cinematic Titanic crew is in the Los Angeles area. Finally, from what I understand, Jim Fallon is not, IIRC, on the best of terms terms with Mike, Bill and Kevin after he sued them to kill their Film Crew project in, IIRC, 2002.

  • No question at all. (Score:5, Insightful)

    by pla (258480) on Wednesday October 31 2007, @11:23AM (#21184231) Journal
    Unfortunately it's in separate projects

    Let's see now... Joel and the original cast, or some random schmuck who owns the rights to Joel's creation? Tough call.

    I never "hated" Mike like some did, because he just filled a role. But I think we can almost all agree that Joel made the show (literally and figuratively), a fact supported by its demise once he left.

    • Re:No question at all. (Score:5, Insightful)

      by Orion_ (83461) on Wednesday October 31 2007, @11:34AM (#21184411)

      But I think we can almost all agree that Joel made the show (literally and figuratively), a fact supported by its demise once he left.
      That's a pretty absurd claim to make, given that Joel left halfway through season 5, and the show ran 10 seasons. In truth, the show went on just fine without Joel, though personally I preferred Joel's screen persona to Mike's.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by Knara (9377)

      Mike was head writer since, IIRC, CC season 2. To say that Joel "made" the show, is silly.

    • Re:No question at all. (Score:5, Informative)

      by aberkvam (109205) <aberkvam AT berque DOT com> on Wednesday October 31 2007, @11:42AM (#21184559) Homepage
      Jim Mallon [wikipedia.org] is hardly "some random schmuck". He helped create MST3K back in its Minnesota UHF days, directed almost half the episodes, and played Gypsy in seasons 1-8. Joel may have provided the original creative force but he hardly could have created it alone.

      Joel left in the middle of season 5. MST3K continued until season 10 and released a feature film. I am not sure what this "demise" is that you speak of...
    • "But I think we can almost all agree that Joel made the show (literally and figuratively), a fact supported by its demise once he left."

      It 'died' like 6 seasons after Joel left. No, the end of the show does not support the "Joel is better than Mike" debate.
    • Yeah, the second 50% only came after Joel left, and then it died. Somehow, he controlled Bonnie Hammer.

    • Re:No question at all. (Score:5, Insightful)

      by elrous0 (869638) * on Wednesday October 31 2007, @12:02PM (#21184785)
      The whole "Joel vs. Mike" thing always struck me as silly. First of all, the two worked just fine together for years before Joel left. Mike was the show's head writer from its second season onwards (the year they went national) and even appeared on-camera in many of the "Joel episodes." It's not like he was some "new guy" that they picked up off the street to replace Joel. He had been a major part of the show almost from day one.

      So if Joel and Mike could work together just fine for all those years, why can't their fans get along too? No Joel fans had any problem with Mike BEFORE Joel left. And if any Mike fans had any problem with Joel when he was there, they'll have to partially blame Mike too--since he was the one writing most of the jokes and bits.

      • Re: (Score:2)

        by elrous0 (869638) *
        Actually, they both look like puffy, hideous CHUD's to me. But I don't think anyone watched for their looks.

  • O rly? (Score:2, Insightful)

    by EveryNickIsTaken (1054794)
    We can only hope that they re-review "Manos, the Hands of Fate"....

  • dear-god-please-no-mike (Score:3, Insightful)

    by w.p.richardson (218394) on Wednesday October 31 2007, @11:24AM (#21184257) Homepage
    Screw you. There are as many good Mike episodes as Joel. I will agree that on average Joel was better, but Mike was not bad enough to warrant that description.

  • Don't have the MST3K DVDs, but I'd like this:q (Score:4, Interesting)

    by blind biker (1066130) on Wednesday October 31 2007, @11:27AM (#21184303) Journal
    I have some idea of what the Mistery Science Theater movies look like, and my long-time desire is to acquire the DVD set(s). However, it would have much greater value for me, if the DVDs contained both the original version sans satellite crew, and the version with the wisecracks. That way I could first ascertain myself of the crappiness of the original movie, and then enjoy the ripping with the crew.

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by cblack (4342)
      Some of the DVDs do come with un-riffed versions on the flip sides of the DVDs. I don't recall which ones though. Also, I don't think it is worth viewing the movies without the riffing.

      • Re: (Score:3, Informative)

        by aberkvam (109205)

        Some of the DVDs do come with un-riffed versions on the flip sides of the DVDs. I don't recall which ones though. Also, I don't think it is worth viewing the movies without the riffing.
        This list [mst3kinfo.com] shows which releases come with the original movies.
    • I'd avoid that request if I were you. Remember, the whole plot of the show is to force Joel/Mike to watch terrible movies with the anticipation of driving them mad. The commentary is there so the audience doesn't go mad themselves. Think of Joel/Mike & the bots as safety buffers for your brain.
    • Holy crap you have a lot of time on your hands.

  • Mike Nelson has already been doing this (Score:5, Informative)

    by elrous0 (869638) * on Wednesday October 31 2007, @11:30AM (#21184333)
    Actually, Mike Nelson has been doing this for some time already with Murphy and Corbett (the later Servo and Crow) at Rifftrax [rifftrax.com]. Looks like we've got a Joel/original-bots vs. Mike/new-bots slapfest a-brewin'.

  • Rifftrax, and now this! (Score:3, Informative)

    by cblack (4342) on Wednesday October 31 2007, @11:32AM (#21184373) Homepage
    I think this is great and will definitely be checking these out. I am a huge mst3k fan and am really pleased that many of the people that were involved with the show are putting out new material. For those who don't know, Mike Nelson and friends also have a project called RiffTrax [rifftrax.com] where they do more popular and high profile movies like The Phantom Menace, Daredevil, and Cocktail. Also, I don't care if I'm starting a flame war: I prefer Mike Nelson and Kevin Murphy as Tom Servo :)

  • They forgot to mention (Score:4, Informative)

    by antifoidulus (807088) on Wednesday October 31 2007, @11:32AM (#21184381) Homepage Journal
    that the "final" crew of MST3K(onstage anyway) is involved in yet another project(well, projects): The Film Crew and Riff Trax, both lampooning movies. RiffTrax is interesting in that you buy mp3s of the riff online and play them over the dvds of the films. The Film Crews is closer to MST3K in that it comes in 1 package and even has some filler sketches in it....
    • If the new shows are technically movies, will they (or their counterparts) rip on the MST3K movie movies?

  • Selling DVDs? Wrong vehicle, boys. (Score:3, Insightful)

    by xxxJonBoyxxx (565205) on Wednesday October 31 2007, @11:34AM (#21184403)

    They've already got the rights to 12 movies, and will be releasing one a month starting in December for DVD purchase or download.


    Selling DVDs? Wrong vehicle, boys.

    I used to watch MST3K, but it was only because it was ON FOR HOURS and you felt safe dropping in and out of the viewing session. (It was a basically a crappy movie, so you weren't missing anything.)

    I didn't go see the MST3K movie (there was one, right?) for the same reason. The show's fun for free at my leisure, but not at $6 and the feeling that I'd be compelled to watch it for 2 hours.

    So...if you can get MST3K back on TV where it can serve as the background for whatever I'm doing with my kids or my computer, I'll tune in. Otherwise...buy it? Way too much commitment.

    • Re:Selling DVDs? Wrong vehicle, boys. (Score:4, Funny)

      by Tetsujin (103070) on Wednesday October 31 2007, @11:45AM (#21184579) Homepage Journal

      So...if you can get MST3K back on TV where it can serve as the background for whatever I'm doing with my kids or my computer, I'll tune in. Otherwise...buy it? Way too much commitment.
      Step 1: Put DVD in player.
      Step 2: Press Play.
      Step 3: Do things while movie plays.

      • Step 1: Put DVD in player. Step 2: Press Play. Step 3: Do things while movie plays.

        You haven't seen a DVD in a while, have you?

        It's more like this:
        1. Put DVD in player
        2. Wait for stupid menu to come up
        3. Play the DVD
        4. Wait for stupid previews to go away
        5. See DVD distributor's logo again
        6. See silly FBI warning
        7. After 5 minutes of farting around with pressing buttons and fast forwarding, you finally have what you're looking for

        (And, you forgot steps 0, .25 and .5: Buy the DVD, figure out how to break thro

        • Step 1: Put DVD in player. Step 2: Press Play. Step 3: Do things while movie plays.


          You haven't seen a DVD in a while, have you?
          Granted, I skimmed over a bit of trivial crap. But nevertheless, once the damn thing's playing you can leave it on in the background. Or you can get yourself a non-crippled DVD player and skip the parts you don't like... But I watch MST3K "in the background" all the frikkin' time...

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by rrkap (634128)

          You do realize that most DVD players can be set up to just play the main movie automagically, don't you? The procedure then becomes:

          1. Get Disk
          2. Insert Disk
          3. Play movie

          That being said, if you can't handle opening the DVD case or using the menu on your cable box, then changing the settings on your DVD player might be too much for you.

    • I agree. It was always nice when it was on at 12 on comedy central, and you could just pop the show on and chill :)

  • The return of the original Mighty Voice! (Score:4, Informative)

    by Tetsujin (103070) on Wednesday October 31 2007, @11:38AM (#21184467) Homepage Journal
    Man, just think of all the babes, the hot oil, the mango juice!

    The summary is a bit confusing given that it lumps the two announcements together... There seems to be a bit of confusion about who's doing what and how...

    Story 1: (announced earlier) The cast from the end of the series are doing some animated web shorts, using the MST3K characters
    Story 2: (new) The cast from the beginning of the series are doing some live performances and DVDs and such of movie riffing - with no details yet on the exact format...
    • They changed my original title on the submission, the summary made much more sense as "Joel and the Bots are back!"

      • They changed my original title on the submission, the summary made much more sense as "Joel and the Bots are back!"
        Well, Joel is back, the bots are back, but they're on separate projects... :D The Cinematic Titanic site doesn't say anything about there being bots involved...
  • Anyone started a betting pool as to when Twentieth Century Fox is going to sue for an injunction against Cinematic Titanic for trademark violation for use of the name Titanic?
  • I was wanting to check out what they did for Battlefield Earth but, to do so legally, one would have to buy the rifftraks AND a copy of Battlefield Earth. I'd be happy to do the former but not the latter.

  • In honor of Halloween,,, (Score:3, Funny)

    by digitaldc (879047) * on Wednesday October 31 2007, @11:58AM (#21184723)
    MST3K ~ Samson vs. the Vampire Women
    [We see an ominous castle in a deserted forest.]
    [The camera zooms in on a dessicated woman's corpse in a casket.]
    Crow: Let the Cher jokes... begin.
    Servo: Hey, it looks like Cher! Heh heh heh...

    [Vampire priestess Tandra calls on the goddess Selene, changing from her withered form to a hottie.]
    Servo: Another successful José Eber makeover.
    Crow [as Tandra]: I'm pretty, so I have value now.

    [As Diana plays the "Moonlight" Sonata, four bats hover outside her window.]
    Servo: Hey, the woodland creatures love her music!
    Crow: I don't get the physics of a hovering bat.
    Servo: The Vampire Precision Flight Team in formation!
    Crow [as Bat]: I don't know how long I can keep this up!

  • Wanna catch up with old MST3K episodes? (Score:5, Informative)

    by g_adams27 (581237) on Wednesday October 31 2007, @11:59AM (#21184749)

    Wanna see what all the MST3K fuss is about? Old episodes (just about all of them, except for those that are commercially available) can be found at the Digital Archive Project [dapcentral.org]. Old episodes of the show encouraged viewers to "keep circulating the tapes", and the DAP guys are doing just that. For legal purposes they pull down any episodes whenever Rhino decides to package and sell them, but otherwise, just about everything is there.

    Most episodes were encoded years ago in MPEG4 format, but there's an impressive (and growing) number available in higher quality DVD format.

  • trumpy (Score:3, Funny)

    by trybywrench (584843) on Wednesday October 31 2007, @12:05PM (#21184843)
    from Pod People: boy> wow trumpy you can do magic!! Tom Servo as trumpy, an alien> it's called Evil, kid

  • Awesome news (Score:3)

    by MrCopilot (871878) on Wednesday October 31 2007, @12:30PM (#21185187) Homepage Journal
    I have the complete set, My kids and I watch em all the time.

    I miss Joel, although I prefer the later bots.

    Every thanksgiving, we re-enact Turkey day from the days of yore on the Comedy Channel. Remember, way back in the days when Penn Gillette was th voice of Comedy Central? 24Hr MST3K Marathon.

    I just want to take this opportunity to say, Thanks for coming back Joel!

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