Walk up to a random stranger (over 25) and ask him or her about the show. They may not get it at first, but start talking about the bad movies and the robots and silhouettes and for, I would estimate, 7 or 8 out 10 people, a smile will suddenly break over his or her face and they’ll say something like “Oh yeah! I LOVED that show!”
But, I always ask, did they REALLY? Now ask the stranger how many episodes they saw. Does he or she remember the names of any of the movies? What is his or her favorite character? For about 8 out 10 of the people who remembered the show, I find, what you will learn is that the person saw it once, and maybe not even a whole episode. Maybe they were at a friend’s house. Or they channel surfed to it and watched for a while, then surfed away. Oh, they LIKED it. In fact, their brief experience with it left them with a WONDERFUL sense of what a great show it was. But they never sought it out or watched it again.
If you’ve ever encountered someone like this, you have encountered that special animal, the “casual fan.” Another observation about them: most of them have committed to memory EXACTLY ONE riff that made them laugh during that one viewing. They very likely will recite it to you and then laugh riotously as if they’d heard it for the first time (while most of the time you sit there chuckling politely because, out of context, it makes no sense).
Most MSTies have had a similar experience. I’ve had it many times. One I fondly remember is the case of a father of a friend of my daughter’s. We got to talking about the show once and the one thing he remembered about the show was that there was a character in a space movie called “crank whore.” He thought that was hilarious. I didn’t have the heart to correct him.
Tell us about your encounters with that strange creature, the “casual fan.”
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Most people I ask about it have no idea what I’m talking about, but I’m in my mid-20s and most people I ask are my age as well. Perhaps that’s why?
The first (and only) person I met who watched the show was in high school, but he wasn’t a casual fan. Like me, we loved the show and we’d often shout references to each other in the hallways during class periods. Then there’s my stepfather and stepbrother, who were also big fans of the show…but otherwise…I’ve never met anyone who knew what I was talking about!
“I’ve never heard of that show before…But it sounds like something *YOU* would watch!” – Um, thanks?
I’ve never encountered any casual fans. Anyone I’ve shown the show to I have made into MSTies. I have spread the gospel as best as I could.
Now, all I need to do is get them all together in the same room and drink that Kool-Aid at exactly midnight….
A guy I work with saw my MST mousepad and commented- “oh, that’s the show where the gum ball machine talks back to a movie- I saw that once.”
I’ve given my husband a number of MST-shirts, which he frequently wears to work. There are people who recognize his Patrick Swayze Christmas tee, and who might say, “Oh,yeah, I love that show!” but those same people will not react at all to his “Nobody gets me…I’m the wind, baby” tee, which actually has Servo’s picture on it. I’m guessing this indicates people who really don’t know too much about the show.
I have come across many instances of this phenomenon, but the one that sticks out in my mind is as follows:
We were watching MST3K in our college house (I hesitate to compare it to “Animal House”, but it was actually two living areas upstairs/behind a small row of businesses with the wall torn out in a strategic place to connect both addresses. Five bedrooms in all). Anyway, we were watching MST in the bedroom at the end of the hallway upstairs with the door opened, people could come in and out as they pleased. My one friend Katie wandered in and asked what we were doing. When she finally recognized the show, she vaguely alluded to “The Final Sacrifice” and asked “What was that guy’s name in the movie?” She seemed to find the show endearing, but she summarily wandered off to another part of the house in a matter of minutes.
I don’t blame the “casual fan”. Investing ninety minutes in something “bad” or “cheesy” is a commitment not everyone can make. Sometimes the show cuts the experiments in such strange and jarring ways, it makes it nearly impossible to completely follow what’s going on. While it may be found “funny”, it can also be disorienting, confusing and sometimes just dull. (A perfect example to me is “Women of the Prehistoric Planet”. I’ve never seen the original, but I have to imagine there are several minutes of film excised that would REALLY help continuity).
I will say what you get out of the show is a reflection of what you put into it. I know when I started out as a ten year old, I only recognized a few of the references, and my mind was literally spinning with questions after episodes. But because of this show, I knew who Frank Zappa was at eleven, and now I’m the proud owner of the “Weasels Ripped My Flesh” vinyl LP, (RZZZZZZ!)
Wow! When the topic is “tell us about the people that had no idea what you were talking about” it just seems that the weekend discussion has finally “Jumped the Shark”. Sorry MSTies but its true. RIP
PS, and dont tell me how i miss read or missed the point. I got it.
I would never have thought of MST3K as “the most fondly remembered show nobody actually watched”. It ran ten seasons, so someone must have been watching!
Going back to the topic at hand, however…I once was talking to someone who said she used to love the show, but she was a fan so long ago she remembered “the original Joel.” There’s a casual fan.
Seriously though, it could be a lot worse. There are other fandoms that have much bigger problems with this. I don’t know too much about Doctor Who, for example, but you can always tell when someone knows nothing – they call him “Doctor Who” instead of “the doctor”.
I sound like such a geek right now, don’t I?
This has definitely happened to me more than once. I’ll mention the show or be wearing an MST3K T-shirt and someone will say, “Oh, that show was great, whatever happened to it?” and maybe even “I wish I could see that again” or something like that. Then I’ll have to explain how long it’s been off the air, the fact that half the episodes are available on DVD and they could be enjoying it, etc. I’ve also run into situations where someone genuinely did watch a lot of episodes, but never went beyond that to learn anything about what or who was behind it.
I’ve also been reminded not everyone gets that into a show no matter how much they like it when the same thing happens in reverse and people are talking about a different show, music group, etc. that I also like, but that beyond enjoying some of their work I know nothing about the people who make the show or music, etc. In other words, we’re all selective about how much time or energy we invest in different things we like.
Until about five or six years ago I *was* that casual fan since all I remembered of MST3K was catching parts of a few episodes at some college chum’s apartment in the early ’90s, which meant that I remembered things like the “Straw Dogs” riff from Pod People without knowing that’s what it was from until much much later. The only episode I remember watching in anything like its entirety was Warrior of the Lost World.
#6: “Wow! When the topic is “tell us about the people that had no idea what you were talking about” it just seems that the weekend discussion has finally “Jumped the Shark”. Sorry MSTies but its true.” Yeah, I’m inclined to agree with this.
“Casual fans” Get the title wrong all the time!
“Mystery Theater 3000?”
“Mystery Theater Science 2000?”
“Mystery 300?”
I am surrounded by casual fans. My wife will watch an episode with me if she’s in a good mood, but fall asleep half way through. Most of my friends might come over once every two months and watch an episode with me. I do have one friend that is the most integrated, but even he is a “fair-weather’ fan. I’ve let him borrow several dvds and was appalled to hear he would fast-forward until a scene that “looked” funny. Great scott, man! It’s the subtle in-between stuff that’s the force behind the show!
Sidenote: Also, not one of the people surrounding me appreciates the host segments. I’ll be rolling in the floor because of on-screen antics while everyone around is angrily asking me to fast-forward til the movie starts again. (sigh)
I think the definition of “casual fan” being used here is far, far broader than I’ve usually seen it used before.
Everything from “watched it on weekends when young” to “knew vaguely about it, watched a couple of minutes of it once” seems to fit.
I think “fan” is the deal-killer here. The term implies affection or enjoyment, but the examples given in the original post are more of the “Oh, I knew that existed” variety.
How many people have had the encounter where you’ll meet someone and, upon some mention of mystery science, respond “I love that show!” When asked which Mike episode they like they reply, “Whos Mike?” Oh, so you saw the Joel years. “Joel?”….. why bother, I say.
Oh yeah, at one time I had the silhouette as the wallpaper on my laptop and my uncle’s wife saw it. She said “Oh, Mystery Science Theater! TJ and I used to watch that every Saturday morning on the Science Fiction channel. Hey TJ remember that when you were like 12 or 13 years old it was on every Saturday morning.” She said the thing that she liked the most about it was that the main villain was a woman. She was unaware that there were shows on Comedy Central before that.
I once got into a verbal argument with a supposed fan who was insistent that MST3K had done a riffing on “Plan 9 From Outer Space”. It was, at that time, regarded as the worst movie ever made, so why wouldn’t they do a treatment on it? (This argument took place in the mid-1990s, years before the existence of Rifftrax). I told him that they had, indeed, done several Ed Wood movies, but Plan 9 was not one of them, probably because the noteriety of the film made it too expensive for them to attain the rights to. When he actually said I was wrong, I challenged him to recite a host segment from the alleged episode. He said – and I quote – “What the hell is a host segment?”
Game. Set. Match.
When we were still dating my wife watched most of Werewolf with me. She was cracking up for awhile but by about 2/3 or 3/4 of the way thru the episode she was done and never watched MST with me again. I think there were too many riffs for her to digest after an hour or so.
The bright side is that almost 10 years later “Dear Sir, send pants at once.” is still a catchphrase in our house.
Sorry to those who find this a boring or stupid topic. It the amateur sociologist coming out in me. I’m always interested about different people’s reaction to the show.
I’m getting a lot of great suggestions for future topics and I will start using them soon.
I had someone look at my shirt with the shadowrama on it and they said, “Oh yeah, that’s that Mystery Theater 17,000,000 something show.”
When I meet someone like that, I generally don’t push it any further. Either they get it or they don’t, and geeking out won’t change anything. The fact that they liked it all is great…
Years ago I was down in Disney World and was wearing my Mike Nelson tee shirt and one of the cast members commented “I love that shirt, great show!” I felt so proud.
People I’ve asked have never heard of the show. I consider myself a fan, but not a “hard-core/die-hard” fan. I don’t know ALL the episodes or ALL the riffs, but I do enjoy the show and reading fans comments about each episode or the show in general. Although I haven’t seen every episode, I’m trying to own the episodes that are released on dvd. So, if a MSTie came up to me and asked me about the show, I would probably know maybe 60-75% of what they know. Does this make me a “casual fan”?
I’ve met no casual fans either. As seen elsewhere, everyone either never gave the show a second thought, or can quote chapter and verse and maybe even sing some of the songs.
I did meet a hater once… a coworker of mine that hated MST3K because he was TRYING to watch the movie….
But I have to ask: what’s wrong with being a “casual” fan? Sure, it would be nice if everyone was as full-blown obsessed as we were, but isn’t it great when people just like it at all?
I’m not talking about people who are faking their knowledge in order to look good, like, “I loved MST3K! The talking giraffe was my favorite character!” I’m talking about people who just mildly like it.
For example: I started watching MST3K when I was in high school. My mom would catch parts of it, and even though she never got “into” the show, she’d sometimes watch it with me and chuckle a little, and even make a “Rowsdower” joke every blue moon or so. She wasn’t obsessed with it, but she liked it, and she would probably be considered a “casual fan” of the program. When I got to college, I showed several MST3K episodes to my friends, and they thought the show was hilarious. I don’t think they bought ten boxed sets of the show afterwards, but they obviously enjoyed themselves, and the show made a great impression on them.
I think it’s perfectly OK to be a “casual” fan of something. For example, I’m probably a “casual fan” of the Beatles. I own several of their albums and I like a lot of their songs; but I don’t know every biographical detail of John, Paul, George and Ringo, and I don’t go to Beatles fansites or anything like that.
In an era where we want the show to be more widely recognized, I think it’s necessary for a brand to encourage as many “casual fans” as possible. I’m not saying they should sell out; quite the opposite. There isn’t anything else on TV quite like MST3K. But I am saying that while a brand may depend on its core of diehard fans, a large group of “casual fans” certainly wouldn’t hurt sales and popularity either.
@ #23-
My dad does that too when I have an MST3K episode playing. he is so focused on the damn movie, following the story, pointing out things that don’t make sense, commenting on things that are actually good, trying to make his own jokes (which mostly suck), and all I’m thinking is, “Geez, dad shut up and let me listen to the ones who actually ARE interesting to listen to!”
Seems like every friend I’ve known who has said they’ve seen the show falls into this catagory, with the exception of my long suffering wife. She’s absorbed more MST3K lore through osmosis from me that most other actual fans I know.
I rem. being in line to ride a roller coaster at Cedar Point. I was wearing on of my MST3K t-shirts and a guy in line says “Hey, I like that show it’s the one with the martians talking to the screen, Right?” I said yeah, something like that.
I think my wife is a “casual fan” because even though she likes the show and likes certain movies they do,it seems I’m always having to explain a certain joke they make about the movie,if it’s a certain character looking like someone or whatever.For me,I’d rather watch it by myself instead.
I’ve met a surprising amount of people who’ve heard of the show, but yes, are always those ‘casual’ or ‘familiar’ watchers. If everyone who supposedly “loved” the show went out and bought DVD set or two it probably would double Shout’s profits on it!
Good lord, you’ve set me on it, now.
When I was ten years old (or maybe a little younger) my dear mother and I were in a Blockbuster near my house. She showed me a DVD copy of MST3k: the movie. That night, I took it home and watched it. I distinctly remember nearly choking to death on bad Chinese food when Crow, I think, joked that the pilot’s legs were sticking out. Several years later, I am a big fan of the show who, excersizing my good memory, can recite a song after hearing it twice. A little while ago I was watching, I think “Final Sacrifice” and she walked in and started watching. For the first time, I asked her where she had seen the show before she showed it to me. She said I HAD INTRODUCED HER TO IT. Then followed a long argument in which she tried to say that she had watched it once for about twenty minutes before she had changed channels. Considering that she said it was before I was born, I assume this was from the late Comedy Central era. How in God’s name could she have remembered or even know the name of the show if she had caught it for twenty minutes in the late Comedy Central era, and probably not a memorable episode at that (because I know I’ve shown her or at least mentioned most of the really memorable episodes in detail)?
Otherwise I don’t really know any casual fans.
Maybe I’m missing something, but isn’t “Crank whore!?” what Crow says when the Phantom of Krankor first introduces himself in Price of Space?
Most of the people I know either have no idea what the show is, or are related to me and have had it forced upon them. Except my brother and cousin. No matter what we talk about, a riff ends up in the conversation somehow.
What surprises me is going to the live Rifftrax shows and talking to some of the people there who have no idea about MST3K. “This was on TV before?” And the number of us standing there dumbfounded at these poor, poor uneducated people. I pity them.
I do not know if I would call him a “casual fan”, but my brother did watch one whole episode with me one time. I think it was HAMLET. It was only one time, and every time I brought it up again, he would roll his eyes at me.
The one joke I noticed that has staying power with my friends who are ‘casual fans’, is ‘watch out for snakes’ from Eegah. (I know–it wasn’t a riff in that episode.) Several of us had watched Eegah a few years back, and when I repeated that stilted bit of stage direction while hiking with them a couple months after watching it, they laughed, having got the reference. I’m positive that this line is the only thing most of them will ever remember about the film Eegah (or MST3K, for that matter).
I actually would have qualified as one of those people in the ‘casually aware’ category. I didn’t have Comedy Central when MST3K was on there; I only began watching it when it moved to SciFi. And so once when I was talking about the show to my younger nephew, about the show, and he mentioned Deep Thirteen, and Dr.Clayton Forrester, TV’s Frank, I was like “Duh?” He was totally disgusted with me. He was a fan of the early years, and had no use for the later episodes (and was sort of a snob about it). Only through purchasing DVD’s of the show from the Comedy Central years did I become more knowledgable of the full range of brilliance I had previously known nothing of. I think a lot of people fall into the category such as I: would have loved the show, but for one reason or another never watched it enough (I worked second shift during the SciFi channel years, too, and had to remember to tape the show). I now have 47 ‘single’ DVD’s and 14 of the four DVD box sets. So I have to admit, my knowledge of the show grew only AFTER it was off the air, excepting the SciFi years. And of course it is not re-run anywhere, which makes it even more obscure. MORE PEOPLE would be far more familiar with the show, if it were in re-runs somewhere. I re-watch all the episodes frequently. I watch at least one episode each day. I worry about this; I think of the story of Howard Hughes, watching “Ice Station Zebra” over and over again for weeks…
So the subject boils down to “Let’s gossip about people who don’t enjoy the show as much as we do?”
Oi.
I’ve been inclined to ignore a fair number of poster’s recent admonitions about “elitism,” and even this subject itself wouldn’t have prompted me to think of it in that light, but the way it’s been phrased . . . man. A mite condescending, methinks.
Granted, I know exactly what Sampo and others are talking about. I’ve had such encounters, although I can’t blame most such people I’ve met because they only learned of the show fairly late into the Sci-fi era and never had the chance to get truly acquainted (and I myself only started in the early or mid Sci-fi era, although I loved it and sought out DVD’s when I finally learned they were available).
I’ve also on rare occasions met people who just didn’t get it, or worse, judged their eternal opinion of the show on a single episode or even a *single moment* of a single episode, thereafter pronouncing it “lame” or even refusing to watch any others on general principle. *That’s* infuriating – closed-mindedness at its worst. Still, I think a more positive and interesting discussion would be about how we’ve converted people (or failed at doing so, if we want to keep it broad enough to vent some frustrations). But as it stands, this kind of smacks of some strange ideological purity.
My personal conversion count hovers around nine fairly serious fans (who really like the show, enough to own a few episodes, but not enough to seek them out rabidly) and a smattering of five or six less serious ones, who really do enjoy it quite a bit but are not as fully committed to the rifflore and background production details. I’m also grooming another four people currently, and so far response is positive, but not much riffback is occurring just yet. I need to clinch the sale, as it were . . .
I’ve had the exact same experiences that Sampo has. People saying “I love that show!” (they always say those exact words, without fail), not knowing any details, having one riff memorized, etc. It bugs me because a) I get excited thinking I’ve met another MSTie but then get disappointed when they aren’t really, and b) why would you say you love a show that you know next to nothing about? “I’ve seen that show” or something to that effect would be an okay answer, but don’t say you love it when you obviously do not. That said, I don’t think the point here is to make fun of people who aren’t into the show, it’s just strange that MST has this effect of people having such a strong reaction to a show they’ve barely seen. MST is the only interest of mine that I’ve had this happen with.
@37 I don’t think anybody’s really making fun of people who don’t enjoy the show, but some of the vibe is still . . . negative. Dismissive, incredulous, irritated, etc.
But you’re absolutely right about the effect that MST3k has. It’s intruiging on a sociological level, as Sampo has alluded. I do know, however, of some other phenomena for which I’ve met people who claim to be fans or at least interested, but really don’t hold up to inspection. Dinosaurs and Star Wars come immediately to mind. People profess an interest, even an excited one, but then really don’t know much of the detail, history, methodology, or caveats involved. I suppose the thing that ties these and MST3k together is that all are easy to grasp intutively, all are distinctive and easy to enjoy at a visceral level, and yet also have layers and layers of complexity on top of the basic gestalt which most laypeople don’t have the time, energy, or inclination to really delve into. I’m sure other examples must exist; those are just two that I have an appreciation for personally.
Still, it’s a rare phenomenon that provokes such a response, and MST3k is in good company socioculturally.
Without digging too deep into what it all means, I remember watching the show in the mid 1990’s, and most often, when I encountered a person who was vaguely aware of the show, they’d say, “Is that the show with the reindeer at the bottom of the screen?”
I always liked that.
I have about four or five friends that like the show, only one of which is near the fan that I am. The others are more of the “casual fan,” I guess. But their love of the show is no lesser for it, I would say. When they watch an episode, they laugh, they “get it,” and honestly, I kinda like having friends that are “lesser” fans of the show; it means I can educate and drop knowledge bombs on them at my leisure, like recently I had to explain what the KTMA season was all about and that led into a discussion on the genesis of the show, etc, etc. My friends seemed to enjoy the knowledge that was dropped, although, it remains to be seen how much of it they retained.
Casual fan, super fan…what’s the difference? As long as people are loving it (I’ll settle for “liking” it even) that is the best I can hope for.
Let’s have a discussion thread on the haters. You know, experiences you’ve had with individuals who actively dislike the show. I feel the show gets some hate out there, from some (like famous people, Harry Knowles and Rob Zombie) who actually like the movies that MST rips on, and see the show as doing a disservice to the enjoyment of B movies (something I would argue the opposite of; MST has done nothing but increase my love and appreciation for B cinema).
What do you think, sirs?
My living room has a full-size Crow, Servo and Gypsy in it. Either people come in and go, “Holy crap! It’s the bots from MST!” or they don’t know what the hell they are. The right people get it.
I was a big fan back in the early 90s. As the show progressed, I started to become preoccupied with other things, and stopped paying attention to MST. I think it was the Turkey Day Marathon that was not hosted by any of the cast members that cheesed me off, and I stopped watching. I’d still get my Satellite News in the mail, and that’s how I found out the show was cancelled. By that time, my stupid cable provider had split Comedy Central with VH1 for half the day, another reason I couldn’t see the show anymore. Cut to years later, and I got the SciFi channel. Curious to reconnect with the show, I suffered through the many many repeat viewings of Screaming Skull and other on Saturday mornings, after the show had died again. I enjoyed the SciFi years, but I always wondered what the hell happened? Where’s Frank and Trace?
After that, I was that casual fan, remembering only Do you want to go faster, I’m not touching you does this bug you and Daddy-O can I borrow the car-e-o. I started a new job, and one of my coworkers referred to MST as “I miss that show more than I miss some people.” She started accumulating DAP copies, and I was dabbling in early RiffTrax, you know the Mike -only ones that are more commentary tracks than riffs. Mildly amused by the RiffTrax, I kind of wandered off from MST again, and didn’t think about it.
Then, about 4 years ago, my friend at work who was getting the DAP copies laid Warrior Of The Lost World on me. I laughed so hard I cried. This was the beacon of light I remembered from back in the day! I then spent the next year getting all the episodes and diving right in. Now, I’m possibly a bigger fan than both of my co-workers. Then shortly after I got back into MST, Cinematic Titanic emerged. What timing! Next thing I knew I was talking to Joel at a live show.
So I guess what I’m getting at is this: sometimes all a “casual” fan needs is a reintroduction. I hadn’t realized what I had left behind. I’m a bigger fan now than ever. Since then I’ve seen every MST, almost every RT, and am planning my 3rd CT live show for March. And all it took was a little nudge from the Paper Chase guy.
“Grady! The Paper Chase guy is here!”
The problem sometimes when talking about levels of fandom is the tendency to hate one or look down on people who aren’t uberfans. Which reminds me of the truely and horribly real geek sterotype: The Chosen Fanboy. I’m a comic nerd and boy do I know way too much about my favorite four-color pass time. But, I don’t think that just because I know so much (although there is still a great gulf of knowledge I don’t have) that I think I’m better than other people, like I’m some kind of God chosen person. A couple steps down from that is those who like something and geek out about it, and when they come across those that don’t or are lesser fanboys in their eyes: they get all aloof and condesending to those people; either out loud or in their thoughts. And remember, knowing everything about sports and then talking down those us dorks that don’t like them: makes you a huge hater geek, even though you think liking sports and not dorky sci-fi or comics makes you not a geek.
As I psoted earlier, many friends are casual fans. The “frustration” I have with these casual fans, (the ones i know at least) is they like the show enough to watch it, but not support it. Kind of like how i hate when a person says they “love” a band so they burned a copy of that bands cd. That’s not love, that’s ripping the band off! Sorry, i went to a place the discussion thread was never intended to go. Again, sorry.
My closest experience to a “casual fan” as defined here would be with my Mom. Whenever she sees a bad movie on Syfy she says, “This would be a good one for those M-S-2-K guys.” I just shake my head and leave the room. Mothers can be SO embarrassing!
Every episode I have ever watched was by myself with the exception of one time my daughter we watched about twenty minutes together. As far as I am concern the only fans I know are me and the people on this web site. Everyone else is not a fan. They really are just causual viewers.
Want to be a fan? Here are my requirements. Watch every episode at least once. Own every released episode on dvd. Get every unreleased episode on the gray market. When new episodes are released – buy them. Re-watch them as time allows. Enjoy the good ones often. Enjoy the not so good one by finding something to enjoy in them……even if it’s only a few riffs. Every show had merit talk of them with respect. Remember there was only one MST3K and it was the best damn show ever to broadcast. AMEN.
Another issue I’ve found are some, note I said some, not all, of the fans who came in later in the show’s run, maybe not till after it was already on Sci-Fi Channel who act like Joel is just some lame guy they don’t care about or for because Mike is who they saw first. Not to take anything away from Mike, obviously he was great on the show no matter what they had him doing, but Joel invented the show and set the tone for the first five years, without which there would have been no later run with Mike in the lead. In other words, Joel obviously did something very right when he created, steered and starred in the show those first five years and if you were with the show from the early days you had to get used to replacements for Joel and other original cast members as they left, not the other way around. I guess I’m just saying it’s kind of annoying when some supposed fans act as if Joel was some late-comer who didn’t belong there. Without him there would have been no show popular enough to pass to Mike when he left.
@#46
“Every episode I have ever watched was by myself with the exception of one time my daughter we watched about twenty minutes together.”
Interesting. Since the show went off the air, I have never once once watched an episode (or any Rifftrax or Cinematic Titanic) by myself. I have always watched them with at least one other person, because for me the greatest joy of repeat viewings is sharing them with new people, or in a close second, with those who are just as invested and MST3k-literate as I am. (Doing both at the same time is spectacular!) I love introducing people to something new and wonderful, and I love watching the subtle signs that their appreciationing is growing – marked most clearly by their asking more and more questions about the show and its background.
“As far as I am concern the only fans I know are me and the people on this web site. Everyone else is not a fan. They really are just causual viewers.”
I’ll come back to this in a sec.
“Want to be a fan? Here are my requirements. Watch every episode at least once.”
-Haven’t done it, never will.
“Own every released episode on dvd.”
-Ditto.
“Get every unreleased episode on the gray market.”
-I’ve got a majority through the DAP and regular purchases, but I’m still 40 or 50 away from the total national run. And I only care to see/own perhaps half a dozen or so of this remainder.
“When new episodes are released – buy them.”
-I don’t always. I wait for prices to come down for most any product, no exception here.
“Re-watch them as time allows. Enjoy the good ones often. Enjoy the not so good one by finding something to enjoy in them……even if it’s only a few riffs.”
-Only when I’m with others who want to watch them, too. I do try to extract as much appreciation as I can, though.
So what was that line again?
“As far as I am concern the only fans I know are me and the people on this web site. Everyone else is not a fan. They really are just causual viewers.”
RapTal = person on this web site
RapTal does not meet most other required criteria
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Illogic is fun, isn’t it?
“Remember there was only one MST3K and it was the best damn show ever to broadcast. AMEN.”
Here, however, we are in complete agreement. Best. Show. Ever.
My point is that I can adore this show without being an obsessive, own-every-episode, watch-it-every-day, rip-the-audio-and-listen-to-it-at-work kind of fan. Not that I grudge those fans their enjoyment – it makes me smile just to think that there are other people who really, truly like the show. A whole community of The Right People. Just being a fan, period, immediately gives you a huge boost on my respect-o-meter.
God, I miss this show.
I actually just encountered my first “I’ve never heard of that show” person. I found that a little appalling.
The best reaction I’ve heard from casual fans is many young women that I’ve met who tell me that they used to watch the show with their dad. I’m in my late 20s and I began watching the show and taping it religiously when I was about 13 or so. It’s pretty awesome to know that, while they might not be a die hard fan, the show still holds a nice place in their heart. This makes for MST3K being a good show to watch on a date, heh heh.
The WORST and by far annoying reaction I get is people who ask me about “Manos: The Hands of Fate”. Yeah, I know that it’s the anniversary of the first showing of that episode, and it cracks me up’n all, but seriously. This is the most thin veil of interest in MST3K that I can imagine. I’ve met countless people and when I tell them that I’m a huge fan and that I have every episode, they ask me, “Hahaha, have you ever seen Manos: The Hands of Fate!?” like it’s some secret and not one of THE most popular episodes of the show. It’s fine if it’s a favorite episode, but when it’s the only one you can name-drop, you are showing that you have very far to go to become a real fan.
Maybe I’m a bit of an elitist, but I can live with that. Mystery Science Theater 3000 is worth it!
-Davey