Here’s a good topic for weekend discussion: “episodes I hated or just disliked at first, but now love.”
Ooh, good one! Me, I would pick episode 615- KITTEN WITH A WHIP. Something about the movie turned me off the first couple of times I saw it, but when I watched it more recently for the episode guide, it just cracked me up and the movie didn’t bug me at all.
And, you know, I guess since we’re doing this, we should also probably allow comments on the reverse: episodes you initially liked but later soured on.
Which one(s) would you pick?
) to help our users cope with "trolls" and other commenters whom they find annoying. Go to our
Originally I really didn’t care for the Hercules movies, seeing them when I was really young. Since then those movies have grown on me though. It Conquered the World, Horror of Spider Island and Red Zone Cuba seem to get worse each time I see them though :???:
RZC, believe it or not, gets both worse and better on
repeated viewing. Individual bits, like Cherokee Jack
and Castro popping in plus their not-so-great-escape
are to be savored, but some bits, especially the
scene with the decrepid diner owner and his daughter
just get more and more depressing- especially when you
know the bits that were cut out (thank goodness) by
the Brains.
DEVIL DOLL used to be one of my faves but in a recent viewing I noticed most of the laffs were up front and the second half dragged on to the point I was feeling as hypnotized as Hugo! :shock:
Swamp Diamonds: always loved the short, but, thought the feature was boring. I watched it again a few months ago and I loved the entire episode.
Tormented: Can’t imagine why I didn’t love it at first, but, I didn’t. Maybe because it’s a talky black and white film. But, it’s a classic.
Touch of Satan: Thought it was just OK initially. It’s one of the funniest episodes ever. The riffing is so consistent. The two leads are AWFUL. And the 70’s are plastered all over it.
High School Bigshot: Again, thought it was OK. Now, it might be my favorite Mike episode. The bread delivery man’s battle for his soul is one of the most insane shorts they ever did. And Marv and gang are so depressing and bleak that it crosses over from sad to hilarious. “Am I a sweathog now, Mr. Kotter?”
This may surprise some people, but Hamlet has grown on me. Yes, when I was young I was of the mind that the film was so unrelentingly dull that the riffing couldn’t save it. However, after studying the play and seeing several other film versions of Hamlet, I came to appreciate the episode more and more. I think it’s the only episode that requires full knowledge of the story beforehand, so that one can just sit back and enjoy the riffing. I still don’t think it’s one of their best, but I think it’s better than people give it credit for.
Soultaker is my pick. Didn’t do much for me on the first viewing, but now it’s one of my go-to choices. I kind of like the movie itself (until the whole thing falls apart in the hospital), I love the soundtrack, and I very much enjoy the riffing.
Can’t think of any that I enjoyed & later soured on. Maybe I’m not critical enough.
I really enjoyed the Killer Shrews the first time it aired, but a repeat viewing of it just bored me to sleep.
I’ll also put in for A Touch of Satan. Didn’t really think it was so special but after seeing it several times, it’s just plain funny and with a pretty good story line to keep you interested.
I agree with Killer Shrews…I watched it recently and was really struggling to make it through. I think the “Killer Shrew” drink sketch is one of my favorites and I have it in my head that the whole ep is good.
I never knew why everyone thought Giant Spider Invasion was so good but I recently watched it with my wife and she cracked up through the whole thing ! Made me realize it was as good as people say.
“Prince of Space” and the other similar Asian import… Egad, those never did get better with time. The riffs were good but not enough for me to suffer through the movies more than a second try.
And “Hamlet”? Sounds like a restaurant breakfast order, just awful with no change through time. Even the terrific threesome couldn’t rescue them. And yes, that’s my real name which I’m not ashamed of using.
Prince of Space was that movie for me too!!!!
The Creeping Terror was pretty rough going the first few times I watched. The narration was funny, but confusing at the same time.
Starfighters is another one that takes a little getting used to. Great riffing, but the movie is so dull, I sometimes can’t believe it was made in color.
Well, for me the only episode I can remember changing my opinion on is The Unearthly in season three. I was a kid still when Rhino released it and I enjoyed it immensely. I still do too when I watch it, which is now infrequent. I think there are two reasons for this: 1) More episodes were released over time so I was fortunate enough to choose from a wider selection, and 2) I realized that The Unearthly is insanely front loaded with “Posture Pals” and “Appreciating Our Parents.” I think by the time the movie rolls around, prolonged periods of silence broken up with a riff like “Stop fighting and give me skin!” ultimately seem funnier, because there are (seemingly) fewer riffs to listen to.
I didn’t like HAMLET the first time out, but once I got past watching how bad the production was, I could get into the riffing. The host segments still leave something to be desired though.
“High School Big Shot” and “The Leech Woman”.
Both bored me to tears at first. Many years and many viewings later I can say they’re both pretty gosh-darn funny.
Giant Spider Invasion is my pick. I didn’t see it during its initial broadcast. But, I heard it was incredible. So, I sat down to watch it the next time it was on.
I didn’t really care for it. It was funny, but I didn’t think it was one of the greatest.
However, on repeat viewings, I really started to enjoy it. And since then, it’s actually become one of my favorites of Season 8.
Gammera Vs Guiron- The more I watched it, the goofier (even for a Gammera flick) it got. Each time I watched this episode it got more surreal. It is a lot like David Lynch’s ERASERHEAD to me. Lotsa weird characters and dialogue! The kids mothers were very eerie. The phobia about ‘traffic accidents’ had me scratching my head. Space babes with Lector culinary impulses was original. That radically cool space hair clipper is da bomb. Guiron silliest foe yet. Kondo/Cornjob was at least a pleasant fellow.
I agree about Hamlet. Ophelia’s cute, and it
really is sort of tolerable, especially
to see Mad Max emote. ;-) An interesting counterpart to his
performance in The Freshman.
But maybe the worst to rewatch is First Spaceship On Venus.
Awful special effects and dubbing, even if we do see what
THE FUTURE of 1985 will be like (must say I prefer Time
Chasers LESBIANS OF THE FUTURE land).
For me it’s the Wild World of Batwoman. The movie is odiously bad, enough that the first few times I tried I couldn’t even get all the way through it, but sometime during the fourth or fifth attempt, I made it, like a runner breaking through the wall, and now it’s a favorite. Would you like some soup?
My wife says both Prince of Space and Mitchel grew on here – for me it would be Legend of Boggy Creek 2. Crenshaw!!!
“Cave Dwellers” and “Bloodlust” are two episodes I didn’t think much of on first viewing. But have grown on me since then. Mostly Cave Dwellers.
Bloodlust still has a couple dead spots, but I still get a kick out of “I was an Ursa MAJOR!”
I really, REALLY hated Hamlet the first time I saw it, and the next time I saw it I…uh, hated it again.
Never mind.
“The Undead” — when I first saw it, it didn’t click, and I thought, “Oh, great, MST is beginning to suck again.” Now I think it’s a lot of fun. I also was disappointed in “Phantom Planet” at first but it definitely grew on me.
It’s funny you should mention “Kitten With a Whip.” It’s the only one I shut off halfway through and didn’t revisit for thirteen years. It’s still not great but it’s not as horrible as I thought it was.
Pod People didn’t click with me for some reason the first time but I’ve warmed up to it recently.
Beast of Yucca Flats grew on me big time. Initially, I didn’t give much consideration to the shorts, and once the unstoppable dreariness of the movie actually began, I would always give up. But once I finally gave the full episode all of my attention, it became an instant favorite. Money Talks is good, Progress Island is FANTASTIC (perhaps my favorite short of all time), and the film is just in a whole weird stratosphere of its own (the narration alone is mind-numbingly hilarious.) Plus, the wrap-around host segments for this episode up the stakes to another level.
Honestly, to a lesser extent, the other Coleman Francis films fit this category for me as well. His films are so immediately bleak that its tough to have any desire to watch, but once you give them a chance and invest some time you get a ton of laughs in return. Surely I’m not the only one that feels this way.
“Starfighters” I really didn’t care for when it was new but over time came to appreciate it, especially after Frank defended selecting it in the MST episode guide. The Hercules episodes I found (and still find) hard to get through…
The Crawling Eye, The Corpse Vanishes, The Crawling Hand, Rocket Attack USA, The Indestructible Man, Tormented, Secret Agent Super Dragon, Teenage Strangler, Radar Secret Service, The Skydivers, Night of the Blood Beast, The Leech Woman and Blood Waters of Dr. Z fall into that category for me. I initially found them ok but after subsequent viewings came to really love these episodes and now many of them rank amongst my favorites.
The Undead for sure, and also The She Creature. Both episodes were ranked low on my personal faves list; now I think both are among the best of the series. :smile:
When I first watched Prince of Space, I thought it was of the same quality as the Comedy Central era episodes, a quality I found missing in so much of the SciFi timeframe. I watched it the other day and even though I like the movie itself (Japanese sci-fi in B&W, great film to work with) and the sketches were good, the riffing did not hold up. Too much condescension and the “we like it very much” comments went on waaaaay too long.
I had taped the first several eps on Sci-Fi, season 8. Like The Mole People, Teenage Warewolf, She Creature, Etc. Didnt like any of them. So I just taped over them for better upcoming eps. But now, since I’m an obsessive fan, I regret that I did. So at this point now I have collected all the Rhinos and all the Shout Factories. I still have some personal gems from sci-fi and CC that I saved. So, good or bad, I will still love ’em all.
For me it was the “Riding with Death”; I hate 70’s mish/mash tv “movies” but after a couple of viewings, the movie got funnier on it’s own, even without the good riffing. However, I will never like “I Accuse My Parents”.
I had trouble with both “Santa Claus” and “Overdrawn at the Memory Bank” the first time. Now, I love them both and find myself thinking of them frequently.
Short answer, a lot of them. ;-)
The first one that really grew on me was Catalina Caper. Sure it had some funny bits, but overall it just left me saying “ehh.” This didn’t change after several re-airings. I managed to tape it (having just gotten a VCR) on what I think was its last airing (Beach Party Weekend?). I would pop that tape in from time to time, and it was during that period that I really caught the wave of the movie. It became a favorite.
A recent convert is Racket Girls. I think I slept through it, the first time I saw it. The only riff I could remember was “Playskool’s My First Desk.” In the year before it came out on DVD, I was revisiting the episode – converting the tape to DVD – and it really makes me laugh.
A lot of movies I recorded over back in the day but later rediscovered-particularly Sci-Fi Network eps like Giant Spider Invasion, The Undead, The She Creature and The Final Sacrifice. But also older ones like Human Duplicators, The Day the Earth Froze and The Incredible Melting Man. Sometimes the dismal quality of the movie would just drown out the riffing until I adapted to it. Like The Incredible Melting Man. I just couldn’t believe how terrible the movie was when I finally saw it after years of seeing stills in monster magazines as a kid. The reverse of that is Teenagers from Outer Space which I’d loved as a bad movie for years before I saw the MST3K version. To this day I think the riffing falls far short of what it should have been. It seemed like such a gift for them but it’s like they had a bad week, or something.
The first time I saw “The Attack of the the Eye Creatures”, I thought it was a good enough episode. Seeing it later, my laughter brought me to tears. It’s among the most absurd movies they ever ran.
Skydivers started out as an episode I didnt care for and now I love it more with each viewing.
Gamera vs Guiron. I wasn’t overwhelmed by any of the Gamera episodes at first, but after watching this one a few times, the bicycle song, Officer Corn Job and the alien chicks with the southern accents won me over. And Crow’s Richard Burton routine is a howl. I also have grown to love Killer shrews, mostly for the great short “Jr Rodeo Daredevils”.
I cannot watch RING OF TERROR. The dvd just sits collecting dust.
I use to hate HAMLET, but it has grown a little on me now…like moss!
delta knights- it took a while but i have since fallen in love with this one. it was innane at first (the movie not the riffing) but it was sobad i could not get through the episode. now i rather enjoy it, it’s silliness and the great riffing! :lol:
SECRET AGENT SUPER DRAGON
We really didn’t know what to make of this one the first time we watched it. It sort of just left us cold. And yet, the second time we watched it (and it took us awhile to get to it) we started grooving on Super Dragon’s attitude. He’s very droll (and I like his voice), and even Baby Face makes us laugh. It’s now one of our “feel good” episodes.
I didn’t care for Space Mutiny when they first showed it but after seeing it again on the DVD set it is better than I remembered. However after watching Hamlet again, it is definitely the worst and most boring episode they ever did.
MANOS! The first time i saw it, the host segments were funny but
i honestly didn’t know if i would survive it. Now one of my faves.
HAMLET! has yet to grow on me, however. ICKY.
Random OT riff: “I’ve been asked to explain the ‘iron and steel’ joke…”
I’m going to say Manos, but for a different reason.
All I had of Manos in the beginning was the first half of it on “The MST3K Hour”. I watched is SO much because it was so funny, but I hated that I didn’t have the second half. I often wanted to watch it, but turned my nose up at its incompleteness. Then the DVD’s were released. Hallelujah!!! Straight to the top of my favorites list it went, where it shall stay, FOR-FREAKING-EVER!!
It’s also interesting to discover episodes that when asked straight out “Do you like it?” you answer “M’eh, it’s okay”, but then when you start to compare shows to one another, it quickly rises to the top of your favorites list. “Track of the Moonbeast” is like that for me. It’s number #32 in my ranking of all episodes, but when I first saw it, it followed, and thus was overshadowed by, “Boggy Creek 2”.
I can’t get through The Brain That Wouldn’t Die these days. It’s entirely the movie’s fault for becoming slow, unpleasant, and unwatchable in its second act, especially whenever Jan-in-a-pan is onscreen and we have to put up with her incessant whining and cackling.
All of the Coleman Francis movies have become bizarrely compelling although only one of them, The Beast of Yucca Flats, has become a favorite. All of them, though, are movies to watch in horrified fascination. I’m not sure what Francis thought he was doing but, whatever it was, he tried to make it work. There’s some sort of dark, muddy vision at work.
I remember seeing all 3 of the Coleman Francis Trio (also a great name for a folk group) when they aired and wasn’t able to finish any of them. I found them painfully bleak and my attention wandered on all my viewings. When Rhino started releasing episodes on VHS, Red Zone Cuba as an early release and I started watching it frequently as I didn’t own many other episodes. It eventually grew on me to the point that the other Coleman Francis Eps became personal favorites.
Its amazing that the writers and performers were able to mine comedy from such depressing, violent and nihilistic fare. I think they stand as testaments to the talent of the cast and crew.
I forgot about First Spaceship on Venus. I STILL haven’t gotten through that one yet. I’m good for about the first 20 minutes and then -BAM!- I get hit with the clown hammer every time, only to rouse when I hear the closing theme song.
I was actually disappointed with Mitchell the first time I saw it, but now it’s a favorite.
Same with Werewolf. Until it was released on DVD I hadn’t watched it since it first aired… now it’s one of my favorites…
I liked The Cave Dwellers a lot more the last time I watched it. May have to revisit that one soon…
I also wasn’t crazy about Werewolf the first time I watched it, but when we got it on dvd I realized how much i loved it.
I couldn’t stand THE SCREAMING SKULL during its broadcast premiere, but it has become my wife’s favorite episode.
It fills her with unabashed joy, for some reason, and now other than the fact that we’ve watched it more than any other, I’ve come to appreciate the genius that is Mickey. I mostly like to hear her giggle like a loon at the Mickey-related riffs.
Oh and happy 50th birthday, Joel! You have brought much happiness into the lives of many, and we thank you!