As I said in my comments on Thursday, I was watching episode 801, and in the movie there is a stock footage shot of an alligator jumping up out of the water and snagging a swamp bird sitting on a log. Crow responds by singing: “Egrets, I’ve had a few…”
Something clicked in me. Despite the loss of Trace, which was clearly a gut-punch to the show, I KNEW they were gonna be okay.
So, what was the moment (hopefully SOMEtime in Season 8) when you knew they were gonna be okay? I know some of you had a hard time with the long string of b&w Universal monster movies they started the season with, and really didn’t come around until almost mid-season with “Giant Spider Invasion.” Or maybe you didn’t come around at all. I know some folks felt that way.
So let’s hear it. What was your moment?
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giant spider invasion is one of my all time favorites, it worked perfectly
Due to moving and loss of cable, the last episode of MST3K I had seen for many years was “Magic Voyage Of Sinbad.” I saw the movie, so I had seen Mike as human (which I knew would be okay for the show – he was the head writer after all).
Eventually got cable again, but the show was no longer on Comedy Central. I found out it was on Sci-Fi, but that wasn’t available in my area. Also, I lost Satellite News along the way, so I had no idea what was going on.
In college, we had Sci-Fi, but I could only catch a few minutes here and there. So as far as I knew Crow just sounded a little weird (it had been over 5 years since I’d seen the show). Mike was still there, and as head writer probably was instrumental in the transition being as smooth as possible, content-wise.
At some point I finally caught some host segments and was tipped off then.
So, though my loss of MST3K for so long is unfortunate, I didn’t have a period of “who the hell is this new Crow? I hate him!” which in fact is rather fortunate.
The first riff that hit me just right was in “The Deadly Mantis” when someone says “Conan’s on the phone” and then (I think it was Crow) imitates Arnald Schwartzenegger; but the first episode I REALLY enjoyed all the way through and gave an A+ to was “The Undead”.
I’ve since discovered that I really like “The Thing That Wouldn’t Die” quite a bit, but I don’t remember liking it extra good the first time it was shown…
Considering I didn’t discover MST3K until close to Season 10, obviously I always knew they were “Okay.”
The Revenge of the Creature was okay, but still a little too shaky to inspire 100 percent confidence in the future of the show. All that vanished with Leech Woman, however. The guys seemed more sure of themselves, less jittery if that makes sense.
A Tributary to the Amazon!!!!!
MST3K has always been my favorite show of all time ever and ever still.
I never had any doubt about “being ok”, it never crossed my mind that the changes that happened throughout the show’s history were bad things. I guess I just trusted that the Brains had a plan and wouldn’t do something if it really sucked. I always knew that they did the show because they loved doing it, not to make a bunch of money and continue milking it despite sucking like some shows with more network influence do.
Try diagramming that sentence…
The Leech Woman, for sure. They had too much on their plates with the first episode to really deliver a classic. Once they got all the introductions out of the way, though, the season really takes off…and it all starts with Leech Woman.
I’m one of the folks that started watching it when it was on Scifi because Comedy Central wasn’t part of our basic cable package but Scifi was. Having gone back though, I think I would have come around during The Undead. Cripes, that episode is fantastic.
My only problem with this thread is that it’s designed for long-time fans of the show. Not all of us were there from the beginning (or even the middle, or even the end), but I still very much consider myself a huge fan of the show.
For what it’s worth, THE HORROR OF PARTY BEACH was the first episode I saw after seeing the movie. I WAY KNEW it was going to be okay. It’s a brilliant episode. :smile:
Sitting Duck: A Tributary to the Amazon!!!!!
ditto
One word:
STTTAAAAYYYYYYY!!!!!!
Losing Deep 13 from the premise stung for a while, but things clicked for me in 803 – The Mole People when Mike tries to be the “down, down” scientist and the ‘bots call him on how lame that is. The movies they chose / were given were rough for most of the season though. The first movie I actually thought was perfect for the show didn’t come until 814 – Riding With Death. I just wish they’d leave Robert Denby alone, but he’s so elusive.
I second Saint Rude at #5 comments completely. Bill seemed to get more comfortable in each show afterward. At first it seemed that Kevin seemed to step on Bills lines but that levelled off quickly. I knew they were going to be OK ,in that I would continue to watch regularly, until PRINCE OF SPACE. This episode told me that they were great in that I would wait in anticipation until the next episode.
I will always favor season one’s original cast but I also greatly enjoyed how the show evolved as each original cast member was replaced very well. I believe this added just enough new life and added to the life span of the show. There are very few shows that span 10+ years.
Now that you ask, I realize that if I had doubts they must’ve been small ones … because honestly, when Bobo told Mike that everyone and everything he knew had been obliterated, then paused only for a breath before saying, “Your movie this week–” … well, I fell on the floor laughing. And my faith in the Brains was confirmed.
I can’t remember the exact moment, but THE DEADLY MANTIS was the episode that removed all doubts…. it was probably the line, “But there’s a mantis in my pantis!”
MattG #13 beat me to it – the Mole People episode was the first one where I thought they realy hit their stride again. “Down, down, down..”, riffs on The Load and the omniscience of John Agar, the Keebler elves/Data/smurfs riffs on the Sumerians, and some of the “perfect timing” riffs, like “Are you there God, it’s me Margaret.” The timing and the pace got back on track then. I love Season 8 from that point (except Devil Doll – evil ventriloquist dummy movies/TV shows give me the creeps, even if they are bad).
Hands down, The Leech Woman made things all better. An all time classic episode with some very memorable riffs (i.e. “Real Africa….Hollywood Africa” and “It’s Flavorite brand Naipe” Also, the final host segment is hilarious with Tom holding Mike and Crow at gunpoint and forcing them to do a Beverly Hillbillies sketch. What’s NOT to love in this one…..
I never really got the pearl forrester thing. Too far removed from Deep 13, but that moment that said “this is MST3K” for me was the film The Girl in Gold Boots. I still chuckle at the thought of Mike singing that baliad.
814 – Riding with Death.
Specifically the “Turkey Volume Guessing Man” bit is the one that made me fully accept Bill as Crow.
Before that I was still enjoying the show, but that’s was the first really top notch show of the season for me.
I began watching MST3K in 1994, during Season 5 and loved it immediately. Because Comedy Central was also stripping the show throughout the week, I was able to catch up on Seasons 3 and 4 so I got a good look at the series in a very short time.
The midseason switch from Joel to Mike that year didn’t really faze me, partly because I hadn’t been invested in the cast for years, and partly because…well, I just don’t get into the whole “fan mania” of a TV show like a lot of people with too much time on their hands.
So, for me, the return of MST3K on Sci-Fi (what is this “SyFy” crap, anyway?) was a triumph from the opening of the first show. I immediately got the point on the “endless chase” theme, and since they had done such an outstanding job tying up the Deep 13 theme on Comedy Central, it made sense that Dr. Forrester wouldn’t be around anymore (and I thought the “Planet of the Apes” theme was damned clever). It all worked for me, and Bill Corbett did such a great job with Crow’s voice that, frankly, to this day I still can’t always tell the difference between him and Trace Beaulieu.
I’m sure fans who were with the show from the beginning have different stories, but there was never any angst for me in the various transitions over the years.
Oh, yeah–and I think that all those folks who get all sniffy about Mary Jo Pehl and the Pearl character should just calm down. Maybe that theme wasn’t as funny as Deep 13, but she did her best with the material and it had its moments as a worthy follow-up to Dr. F and Frank.
I was late to the party, only discovering it on Comedy Central about a year and a half before it got canned. When it transferred to Sci-Fi, I was too happy that it was still going to even think about its potential to lose anything.
OK? They were always ok in my book no matter which cast was on the screen….How can any one think otherwise? Shout out to
Mary Jo……..LOVE YA!
“You got any Readers Digest?” from Leach Woman brought me back.
For whatever reason, I’m one of those Brains can do no wrong guys, so the moment they announced the move to SciFi, I was content and happy in the knowledge that they would be okay.
The changes in the show rarely changed my level of enjoyment, but i did think it was clear that the first few sci-fi episodes were shaky. What sold me on Bill Corbett was his hair-trigger anger at the movies they were watching. It always made sense to me that after almost 10 years of bad movies, that they might start getting a little angrier at them. That and I find it almost impossible to NOT get angry at talking grey men.
I “lost” cable right at the end of season six. A friend of mine (also a fan of the show) told me I was’nt missing much with season seven even with the season one re-runs. He also told me that he did’nt like the new crow on season eight, so after almost running my VHS collection of S2 thru S6 into the ground, I “retired” my interest in the show until I became severely unemployed in 2001. (Here’s where the story touches on last weekend’s thread). Having lots of free time and little or no interviews in the pipeline, I started watching my old battered VHS tapes of the show again thus reinvigorating my love of the show. I even used a small portion of my severance pay on new VHS blanks and began dubbing them on new tapes to “save” them. Years on, the Rhino releases helped patch “holes” in my collection. So until vol. 4 of the Rhino sets came out, I had not seen one MST3K episode from from season 7 on (except for the movie of course). I became a believer in post season six material with “Overdrawn…” & “Space Mutiny” in Rhino’s vol 4 set. It was’nt until I had access to the internet that I got to burn…er I mean VIEW, yes view most of season 8 on (at least until YouTube put the clamp down). So in retrospect, had I kept cable on into the SiFi channel years, episode 804 would’ve given me a glimmer of hope and 805 would have nailed it (in that there’s bound to be more “traysure” in the episodes to follow). That episode would have told me to STAYYY!!! a devotee.
Put me on the list for 804. Though the first few eps weren’t terrible, The Deadly Mantis is the first one I remember watching and laughing as much as I used to. That and leaving Deep Ape. I have nothing against Bobo, but I dreaded the thought of having that Planet of the Apes ref run through the rest of the series.
I guess “caught in a endless chase…” should have been my first clue.
Well, as sad as it sounds, I didn’t really watch it on its Sci-Fi run until season 9 began (I remember The Projected Man as my first REAL episode, although I had caught bits and pieces on CC but really didn’t know what I was watching). However, now that I’ve seen them all, I’ve got to say that 802 – The Leech Woman has as much of a strong balance of quality and quantity of riffs that the old CC years had.
“What do you think, should I trust him? We’ll be right back.”
As I said before I remeber Watch the first eps with hope. This was after I think 96 mst3k con where one sci fi excutive (Not bonnie hammer some other guy) came to con. He said how much he love mst3k and how he bought the show. I belived.
Ofcorse the sci fi guy (who’s name I can’t remeber ) left and went to work for USA network and Bonnie took over and everything went down hill. But at lest we got 3 more season of our favorite show. That is more than Pushing Dasies got.
Now sci fi is just sad and USA has really great program irionic I think not.
But it really came together when I saw “the girl in gold boots.”
It’s hard to know when I knew they were going to be OK. However, I was able to watch Ep 801 with the “join fans” function on Sci Fi (I still miss the Riff the Commercial function on Sci Fi) and enjoyed the episode immensely. Since I remember seeing “Revenge of the Creature” a long time ago on a local station’s 3D night, this ep resonated. I think I felt better about this season the moment they breaked out some more adult jokes that I wasn’t expected. In the previous thread, I mentioned the line that was a bit risque but it left the moment I knew they would be ok. “What’s a taboo, really?” Is the line that won’t die for me and I knew they were ready to return. Maybe I just didn’t have expectations for them so they didn’t let me down?
I had an experience mush like Goatie’s. I didn’t have cable from early ’92 until summer ’99, and my friend with cable didn’t like MST3K, so I could only see it on vacation. During those years, I saw bits of a very few episodes (Brain that Wouldn’t Die, Atomic Brain, Last of the Wild Horses, Clonus), plus the movie. So by the time I could watch it every week again, Joel and TraceCrow were fond but distant memories.
Then watching the reruns on SciFi led me to check out the few Rhino VHS tapes at my local Blockbuster. And to find this site, which led me into tape trading. And I’ve been an MST junkie ever since.
Incidentally, since it was on early in the morning on SciFi, I would record it, watch it, then record over it. It took some months before I decided they might be worth watching more than once…
“Revenge of the Creature” had some decent riffing and I got used to Bill Corbett’s Crow easy enough there, but “The Leech Woman” really picked up the pace for me.
All the same, I think that the 8th season could’ve benefited from a wackier, livelier movie to relaunch the series on Sci-Fi Channel.
It’s the difference between starting a season with “Cave Dwellers” and starting a season with “Space Travelers” – momentum.
Frankly, I’m still worried about them.
No, actually I never anticipated any problem. What could be more natural than mocking bad movies? There were a few weak episodes in season eight but they were outnumbered by classics. I think I might have been a little concerned during Leech Woman. Revenge of the Creature had been slightly on the middling side and then there was this dreary-ass follow-up. But then The Mole People is hilarious and it was mostly smooth sailing from there. Except Terror from the Year 5000 which was strictly dullsville and Neptune Men which I think is one of the worst of all time.
The first 4 eps. of Season 8 had me worried, in that it seemed like they were going to be limited to B-grade b/w monster movies from Universal, most of which were not great, but also not “Manos” bad. Those movies at least had technical competence behind most of them, and I preferred the really obscure stinkbombs that they used to dig up for the CC eps. The riffing was okay, but not stellar for those first few eps.
Then came “The Undead”, which was not only a welcome return to Roger Corman, but featured some excellent and consistently funny riffing! At that point, I realized all would be okay.
I never really had any doubts that ‘they’ would be fine. The first couple of episodes did leave me with some trepidation about bill however. Those doubts were laid to rest with the host segments of ‘Giant Spider Invasion’… watching Crow just vibrate under the effects of massive caffeine and sugar dosage was a watershed moment. Nobody will ever replace Trace… that man is something special (which is why I named my son after him) but that moment I know Bill would do just fine with his take on our beloved molybdenum bot.
I was never really worried about them. The only thing that worried me was the constant drum of gray, dull Universal movies at the start. But by the middle of the season that fear was gone.
The moment I first saw Professor Bobo. Despite other posters’ fears of a PofA theme, I would’ve enjoyed three whole seasons with Apes as tormentors and Pearl as the LawGiver.
Although that would’ve meant we’d never have met the Observers and experienced the sublime, best-ever-MST3K song, “When I Held Your Brain in My Arms.”
And that would’ve been a bad thing, I meant to add. So, obviously, I’m all confused and oh look a birdy!
For me, the first nine eps of Season 8 are too similiar to each other to distinguish themselves in my memory of first watching them. I do recall thinking to myself, at one point, “When are they gonna riff a film in color?”, since those first nine are all black and white. Admittedly, The Mole People had what I thought were the first glimpses of their return to form, and Parts: The Clonus Horror and TISCWSLABMUZ were so bizarre that it at times distracted me from following the riffing. But after watching Jack Frost, I said to myself, “Holy crap! They’re back with a vengeance!”. From there, the rest of Season 8 rolled on, with one great episode after another.
The first Sci-Fi Channel episode I saw was “Horror At Party Beach”. A good, cheesy black and white monster movie, excellent riffing and the “Sodium” song let me know Everything was alright.
Well I only discovered MST3K about a year ago. The truth is,it was the SciFi episodes that really drew me in, and are still amongst my favorites. I fell in love with the show after seeing “Girl in Gold Boots”. The sketches in that episodes were timeless. Crow doing the strip dance, while Servo referred to Mike as Taliban Mike had me almost crying I was laughing so hard. Other episodes from that time that I loved were, “The Touch of Satan”, “Time Chasers”, and “The Final Sacrifice”, and “Blood Waters of Dr Z”.
…Like everybody said above, The Leech Woman did kick off the new season and network off to a good start. One of my favorite episodes BTW. However I didnt get into the first ep ROTC, though. But I like how the show started: no door sequence went on to the first segment, picked up where the last Laserblast segment left off. Very interesting.
While I didn’t get to see any of the “Sci-Fi” episodes until after the show had ended and picked up on the “they’re doing okay” feeling via the MSTing community, I still somehow feel as if I can comment on this… the first “Sci-FI” episode I managed to see was “Agent for H.A.R.M.,” which I thought a good introduction to that era. However, I had already written a first MSTing that I had set “early in season 8” because I had a feeling “they must have been ‘feeling their way back’ then; maybe my own attempts at ‘riffs’ will come across better in comparison to those early episodes”… and then I saw “The Leech Woman,” and liked it enough to decide that they’d been “doing okay” pretty much from the start.
Revenge of the Creature was my first real episode of MST3K. My cable provider didn’t provide Comedy Central until well after MST left. I’d seen a few MST Hours, mainly The Giant Gila Monster and War of the Colossal Beast, and was sad when my local station stopped broadcasting it. Then I learned it was coming to SciFi, and was happy. I’d have to say that, if any moment locked me, it was the “Egrets, I’ve had a few” joke, though it’s possible that “Down, down, down” may have finished the job.
For me it’s the re-vamping of Pearl in the early Season 8 episodes. I was dreading her replacing Dr. Forrester after the disappointing Season 7 host segments where they appeared together. But Mary Jo pulled it off, especially when they leave the Ape Planet and the “endless chase” begins. Her chemistry with Bobo and Brain-Guy is great. Kind of Three Stooge-esque, with her in the Moe role. I stop missing Deep 13, Trace and Frank at this point.
Frankly I love the Universal Monster-type films (Seasons 3 & 8 are my favorites) but admittedly we did get a lot of gray in a row. I was perfectly happy with the season, and if I had any doubts it was erased by Mole Men & Deadly Mantis. The 8th season to me fully developed the continuing trend of really spanking these movies hard. Love it.
:???:
Well, the-SciFi-years fans aren’t going to like this, but, I never really thought the show had the same feel to it again after moving to that channel and losing Trace. I kept watching the show, for the most part, anyway, because I still liked everyone on it and involved with it – even Bill, he just wasn’t Crow, heh – but it never acheived that level from the CC years to me again.
It had some moments here and there, but I was mostly disappointed with big chunks of it.
I missed a few shows altogether and some I just watched the once or twice when they were on and didn’t tape them (or taped over them).
Everything seemed kind of forced and they didn’t have that good-time feel they used to. The host segments were mostly terrible. A few bright spots – “When Loving Lovers Love” “When you killed me…I died…” Crow travelling back in time to convince Mike not to take a temp job, or whatever it was he went back to convince him to do or not to do. :roll: Crow’s nose job – “That’s byutiful.” “What are you looking at?”
That was all good. But I really couldn’t stand Bobo no matter what he did (sorry, Kevin). And the show just had a nasty feel to it now, and like I said, kind of forced. Alot of people have said they liked when the riffers would make each other laugh, and so did I – when it felt natural. But I really hated when sometimes they would seem to laugh after EVERY STINKING JOKE, like they were shouting, “Get us! We’re funny!”
Not always.
I know I’ll probably hear it from some of you who will say, “Come on!! How can you not think they’re funny!! I thought you LIKED this show!”
Well, for the most part, I do, but these last few seasons just didn’t do it for me like in the past. :sad:
I pretty much loved everything about Revenge of the Creature–and I ditto Sampo, when I heard the “Egrets…” line, I had no doubts about the Sci Fi era. I love the old B&W monster movies, so the Sci Fi couldn’t have started any better for me. My wife and I watch nearly all of the season 8 episodes over and over.
They pretty much had me from “Cram it, nature!”
OK, an uneven ride. I understand that there are a lot of people in the world who seem to find monkeys a lot funnier than I do.
“Mole People” had to be one of the best, though.
FWIW, I don’t think anything from SciFi reached my favorites from the Mike era, “Twelve to the Moon” and the riffing on the relentlessly mediocre “San Francisco International.”