MSTies unite!

[newsmanfan]

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Sweet! Yeah, I'm stoked about the new Rifftrax for the Hunger Games. I hear, despite people telling me the book series is good, the film featured some performances straight out of a wooden furniture factory. Also hoping my finances swing around so I can see Birdemic on Oct 25.

You shouldn't see "Amazing Colossal Man" without following it right up with "War on the Colossal Beast." Aw heck, why not just make it a Burt I Gordon-a-thon?
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[mupcollector1]

I Love Mystery Science Theater. lol Funny thing, in my childhood I thought it was a kids show until I watched the movie in my college days. lol Now I own 2 of the box sets and the movie. Vol 2 and 7 I think. They are so expensive to get. I want them all. I really want the Hobgoblin one and the Mr. Natual music short. Those are my favorites. Plus I would love to see the pilot where they watch Green Slime. lol The theme is like the Ghostbusters of the 60s but more psychedelic. I love that song, but there's isn't an mp3 where I could buy one on Amazon or iTunes. lol I discovered the movie from the song first, I heard the song from this obscurely hilarious and controversal Charlie Brown Peanuts dub from "Most Offensive Video". I crack up like crazy on those and I normally don't like cheap dubbed stuff. If anyone wants to check these out, a fair warning first. It's 100% uncensored and garentee to be offensive in so many areas but if your like me who can basicly laugh at almost everything that's done irreverently silly, I recommend it. lol Esspecially someone who's got a twisted warped sense of humor like myself. lol

But yeah, it's amazing to watch the bad movie and how they talk over it satirically. The timing is just amazing and the jokes are brilliant. It's somewhere where you got to pay close attention. lol One of my favorites is when they are watching this ET rip off, a creature that looks like a cross betten ET and Alf and I guess there's this weird scene where the creature makes clothes and objects fly across the room mentally. And during the break segment, it's Joe or Joel and Crow and Tom Servo going crazy Pee Wee's Playhouse style. They are all screaming and Crow and Tom are on strings cheaply being pulled up and down showing that Crow is nothing but the waste up and clothes are flying everywhere. lol I was laughing with tears in my eyes. lol Anyone remember what episode this is? Was it Pod People? I got to see this again.

There's a lower cost DVD I have that has a blooper real with Crow swearing the S word and one where he's cought on fire screaming. lol And where the two bad guys during the opening theme come up too soon and knock their head into one of the styrofoam air crafts that's one a string. lol Sets falling down cracking in half, etc. lol

I need to get some more of them but they are very very expensive, close to $100 per set now a days. The Rhino ones are the rarest and I think Shout Factory produces the continuing volumes now, correct me if I'm wrong. lol

 

[Mo Frackle]

I Love Mystery Science Theater. lol Funny thing, in my childhood I thought it was a kids show until I watched the movie in my college days. lol Now I own 2 of the box sets and the movie. Vol 2 and 7 I think. They are so expensive to get. I want them all. I really want the Hobgoblin one and the Mr. Natual music short. Those are my favorites. Plus I would love to see the pilot where they watch Green Slime. lol The theme is like the Ghostbusters of the 60s but more psychedelic. I love that song, but there's isn't an mp3 where I could buy one on Amazon or iTunes. lol I discovered the movie from the song first, I heard the song from this obscurely hilarious and controversal Charlie Brown Peanuts dub from "Most Offensive Video". I crack up like crazy on those and I normally don't like cheap dubbed stuff. If anyone wants to check these out, a fair warning first. It's 100% uncensored and garentee to be offensive in so many areas but if your like me who can basicly laugh at almost everything that's done irreverently silly, I recommend it. lol Esspecially someone who's got a twisted warped sense of humor like myself. lol

But yeah, it's amazing to watch the bad movie and how they talk over it satirically. The timing is just amazing and the jokes are brilliant. It's somewhere where you got to pay close attention. lol One of my favorites is when they are watching this ET rip off, a creature that looks like a cross betten ET and Alf and I guess there's this weird scene where the creature makes clothes and objects fly across the room mentally. And during the break segment, it's Joe or Joel and Crow and Tom Servo going crazy Pee Wee's Playhouse style. They are all screaming and Crow and Tom are on strings cheaply being pulled up and down showing that Crow is nothing but the waste up and clothes are flying everywhere. lol I was laughing with tears in my eyes. lol Anyone remember what episode this is? Was it Pod People? I got to see this again.

There's a lower cost DVD I have that has a blooper real with Crow swearing the S word and one where he's cought on fire screaming. lol And where the two bad guys during the opening theme come up too soon and knock their head into one of the styrofoam air crafts that's one a string. lol Sets falling down cracking in half, etc. lol

I need to get some more of them but they are very very expensive, close to $100 per set now a days. The Rhino ones are the rarest and I think Shout Factory produces the continuing volumes now, correct me if I'm wrong. lol

You're right, Shout is now the producers of the DVDs. Btw the two mad scientists are named Dr. Forrester and TV's Frank (the latter replaced Forrester's original second banana, Dr. Ernhartd).
Also, I find youtube a helpful tool in avoiding the high costs of the DVD. Every episode (excpet for the first few KTMA ones) are available for viewing, along with a nice mix of goodies (such as the blooper material you mentioned, behind the scenes footage, etc.).

 

[newsmanfan]

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Yes, that would be "Pod People". "Good? He's the BEST!"

Or you could find a friend and go in together on the cost, and share!

*is not reiterating how I get my eps*
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[mupcollector1]

I remember there was a documentary on TV on how Joel (I guess he was the creator of the show) got into huge arguments with the producer who was Gypsy and he either left the show because he just didn't feel comfortable being on screen anymore or he got fired. It was an interesting documentary, they showed the writers watching a b-movie and just coming up with funny insults and they have a tape recorder going and someone to write down notes. Did that documentary end up on any of the DVDs?

It seemed like there was a bunch of changes as the years went on, new puppeteers for Crow, that Trucker lady who replaced the original villains, and is it Mike that replaced Joel? I always liked Joel better because he was laid back and suddle and when he commented on the movie, we could just say something super funny very suddlely.

I remember the Muppet Babies jokes, in fact I think they are on my DVD set. I think it's one of the Hercules episodes. lol

Also was there a reference on the Fran Live episode of Dinosaurs referencing "Push the button Frank" ? Dinosaurs, another great satirical puppet program lol Wasn't the 90s amazing time for TV? Now that's my generation

 

[Mo Frackle]

The producer was Jim Mallon. I think I should point out that the disagreements between Joel (yes, he was the show's creator) and Jim were mature and professional, and by no means heated. There were just some creative differences. Joel wanted to move onto other things, and possibly try out new things on the show, while Jim felt that the show's format shouldn't be changed. Overall, Joel just kind of felt he was losing creative freedom. But I don't think Jim and Joel were enemies.

A brief (or not so brief) history of the show for ya:

Joel pitched the idea for this show to Jim Mallon at a local Minneapolis TV staion called KTMA. Originally, Joel only thought of doing wraparounds to B-sci-fi flicks, but Jim convinced Joel to put himself in the theater. To help out, Joel called friends and fellow comedians Trace Beaulieu and Josh "J. Elvis" Weinstein. The three of them were in a comedy course together.

The original bots (Crow, Gypsy, and a 'baby' robot named Beeper) were hot glued at the last minute by Joel. Trace picked up Crow, while Josh got Beeper and Gypsy (who was a originally a male gruff-voiced dog-type robot). After the unaired pilot, Beeper was changed to Servo. Weinstein originally gave Servo a Kermit type voice, but found it annoying, and instead made it into more of a radio DJ type voice. And thus, Tom Servo was born. Shortly thereafter, mad scientists Dr. Clayton Forrester (Trace) and Dr. Lawrence Ernhardt (Weinstein) were introduced.

At this point, the series was made on a very low budget. Typically, an episode was shot in a day. The guys (Joel, Josh, Trace, Jim, and KTMA camerman Kevin Murphy) would come into the studio, crowd into Jim's tiny office, and hammer out the host segments in about 45 minutes. About 10 minutes of a movie from KTMA's library would also be screened for the movie segments. The host segments were hardly rehearsed (in most cases, the guys were literally reading off of a script during shooting), and the movie segments were entirely ad-libbed (they didn't have the money to write it at this point).

The following year, Comedy Central (then the Comedy Channel) picked up the show, and thus MST went from a low budget local show to a slightly higher budget network show. Everything was redesigned, and the movie segments were now scripted. In addition, Mallon began performing Gypsy, while Mike Nelson was added to the writing staff. Josh left after the end of season 1. His character's absense was never fully explained (in the season 2 premeire, it's briefly mentioned that he went 'missing').

After Josh left, Frank Coniff was added to the writing staff, and replaced Weinstein's Dr. Ernhartd character as the more dopey "TV's Frank". In addition, Kevin Murphy took over for Servo. Joel and the gang were impressed with Mike's comedic and organizational skills, and promoted him to head writer of the series. Soon after, more writers were added, including Mary Jo Pehl, Paul Chaplin, and Mike's wife, Bridget Jones.

Joel decided to leave the show midway through season 5, and Mike replaced him as the host. Frank left at the end of season 6, and his spot was taken over by Dr. Forrester's mother, Pearl (Mary Jo Pehl). Trace left at the end of season 7, the last season on Comedy Central. Sci Fi picked up the series for three more seasons. With Forrester gone, Pearl took over as the head mad, assisted by her two sidekicks, Planet of the Apes refugee Professor Bobo (Kevin Murphy) and an all knowing being called the Observer, aka "Brain Guy" (Bill Corbett). Bill also took over as Crow. Eventually, Jim gave the role of Gypsy over to toolmaster Patrick Bransteg.

 

[mupcollector1]

The producer was Jim Mallon. I think I should point out that the disagreements between Joel (yes, he was the show's creator) and Jim were mature and professional, and by no means heated. There were just some creative differences. Joel wanted to move onto other things, and possibly try out new things on the show, while Jim felt that the show's format shouldn't be changed. Overall, Joel just kind of felt he was losing creative freedom. But I don't think Jim and Joel were enemies.

A brief (or not so brief) history of the show for ya:

Joel pitched the idea for this show to Jim Mallon at a local Minneapolis TV staion called KTMA. Originally, Joel only thought of doing wraparounds to B-sci-fi flicks, but Jim convinced Joel to put himself in the theater. To help out, Joel called friends and fellow comedians Trace Beaulieu and Josh "J. Elvis" Weinstein. The three of them were in a comedy course together.

The original bots (Crow, Gypsy, and a 'baby' robot named Beeper) were hot glued at the last minute by Joel. Trace picked up Crow, while Josh got Beeper and Gypsy (who was a originally a male gruff-voiced dog-type robot). After the unaired pilot, Beeper was changed to Servo. Weinstein originally gave Servo a Kermit type voice, but found it annoying, and instead made it into more of a radio DJ type voice. And thus, Tom Servo was born. Shortly thereafter, mad scientists Dr. Clayton Forrester (Trace) and Dr. Lawrence Ernhardt (Weinstein) were introduced.

At this point, the series was made on a very low budget. Typically, an episode was shot in a day. The guys (Joel, Josh, Trace, Jim, and KTMA camerman Kevin Murphy) would come into the studio, crowd into Jim's tiny office, and hammer out the host segments in about 45 minutes. About 10 minutes of a movie from KTMA's library would also be screened for the movie segments. The host segments were hardly rehearsed (in most cases, the guys were literally reading off of a script during shooting), and the movie segments were entirely ad-libbed (they didn't have the money to write it at this point).

The following year, Comedy Central (then the Comedy Channel) picked up the show, and thus MST went from a low budget local show to a slightly higher budget network show. Everything was redesigned, and the movie segments were now scripted. In addition, Mallon began performing Gypsy, while Mike Nelson was added to the writing staff. Josh left after the end of season 1. His character's absense was never fully explained (in the season 2 premeire, it's briefly mentioned that he went 'missing').

After Josh left, Frank Coniff was added to the writing staff, and replaced Weinstein's Dr. Ernhartd character as the more dopey "TV's Frank". In addition, Kevin Murphy took over for Servo. Joel and the gang were impressed with Mike's comedic and organizational skills, and promoted him to head writer of the series. Soon after, more writers were added, including Mary Jo Pehl, Paul Chaplin, and Mike's wife, Bridget Jones.

Joel decided to leave the show midway through season 5, and Mike replaced him as the host. Frank left at the end of season 6, and his spot was taken over by Dr. Forrester's mother, Pearl (Mary Jo Pehl). Trace left at the end of season 7, the last season on Comedy Central. Sci Fi picked up the series for three more seasons. With Forrester gone, Pearl took over as the head mad, assisted by her two sidekicks, Planet of the Apes refugee Professor Bobo (Kevin Murphy) and an all knowing being called the Observer, aka "Brain Guy" (Bill Corbett). Bill also took over as Crow. Eventually, Jim gave the role of Gypsy over to toolmaster Patrick Bransterg.

Hmm, Very interesting. Thanks for the info

 

[Mo Frackle]

As for the history of changing out characters:

Originally, Joel's concept was that he was the last man on earth, and was in a spaceship, trying to come in contact with any other survivors (shades of I Am Legend). So he won't get lonely, Joel built some robot companions. Eventually, this idea was changed to Joel originally working as a janitor for mad scientists Forrester and Ernhartd. The Mads needed a test case for their experiment, so they blasted Joel up into space. The experiment: send Joel cheesy movies to see how many awful flicks it takes to drive one's brain insane. In order to keep his sanity, Joel and his robot pals riff during the movies.

After Ernhartd went "missing", Forrester hired a former Arby's employee named Frank (or TV's Frank). Later in the series, Forrester and Frank hired a temp worker named Mike. Gypsy overheard the two Mads talking about killing Mike, but misheard, and thought they were talking about Joel. With the help of Mike, Gypsy prepares an escape pod for Joel. After Joel leaves, the Mads need a new test case, and so they conk Mike on the head, an shoot him into space.

Unlike Joel, who treated the bots like a surrogate father, Mike was more of a buddy to the bots, somebody that they could pick on, but still pal around with. In addition, Mike had more of an average Joe persona, while Joel's was more laid back.

Later, TV's Frank was summoned to "Second Banana Heaven". Pearl moves into Forrester's place in order to look after him. At the end of season seven, Forrester's funding is cut, and he plans to end the experiment and move back in with his mother and cut loose the Satellite of Love (the spaceship). However, Mike and bots manage to find a way of escaping, and head back to earth. The episode ends with Mike and the bots becoming pure enery (as they're at the edge of the universe). Meanwhile, in a hilarious parody of 2001: A Space Oddessy, Forrester tries to grab a giant videotape labeled "The Worst Movie Ever Made". Ultimately, he's reborn as a star-baby. Pearl sees this as an opportunity to try again at raising her son.

When the Sci-Fi era begins, Mike and the bots learn that they have been traveling for centuries, and our now heading back towards earth in the year 2525. Much to their shock, earth is now ruled entirely by apes, one of whom is Prof. Bobo. As demanded by earth's new ruler (which is later revealed to be Pearl), Bobo sends the guys another bad movie to watch. It's soon revealed that Pearl gave up on raising her son, and smothered him to death with a pillow. His dying wish was that Pearl take over the movie experiment. Thus, Pearl froze herself and woke up in the year 2525, becoming the ruler of the apes. Earth gets blown up, but Pearl and Bobo manage to escape. They land on another planet ruled by "observers". It, too, gets blown up, with one survivor, Brain Guy. Eventually, Pearl, Bobo, and Brain Guy reside in a castle known as Castle Forrester.

During the last season, Joel returned for a brief apperance. He manages to save the SOL just as it was getting ready to be blown up (Dr. Forrester had it set to do this earlier on). And for one brief moment, Joel and Mike finally meet. Frank also appears. It's revealed that Frank was kicked out of Second Banana Heaven, and eventually became a Soul Taker.

At the end of the series, Pearl accidentally sends the SOL to crash back on earth (even though earth had already been destroyed, but who cares? It's just a show). Pearl gives up on saving Mike and the bots, and gets a job as dictator of Qatar. Brain Guy and Bobo are also getting new jobs. Mike and the bots finally crash on earth, and Mike, Crow, and Servo rent a small apartment (Gypsy started "ConGypsoCo", and opted not to move in with the guys).

 

[Lola p]

*claps*

Wow. Impressive. That was amazing.

*hands Mo a muffin*

 

[Mo Frackle]

Phew. Thanks. I can't believe I did all of that! It would have been easier to just post the wikipedia page. Oh well.