Movie: (1961) When Danish scientists discover a piece of an ancient dinosaur, they dig it up and inadvertantly bring it back to life.
Opening: Jonah Heston, a space trucker/rebellious Renaissance man, returning to Gizmonic Institute with a load of meteors, receives a phony distress call from Moon Base 13 on the dark side of the moon. Jettisoning his load, he lands and is immediately captured and brought to the underground lair of Kinga Forrester, daughter of Clayton Forrester, granddaughter of Pearl Forrester. With her is her chief henchman, who calls himself TV’s Son of TV’s Frank, but whom everyone just calls Max. Kinga announces that she is restarting her family’s greatest experiment, Mystery Science Theater 3000
Intro: Jonah introduces Tom and Crow and demonstrates Gypsy’s new voice and flying rig. Also Tom can FLYYYY … but only in theater. Crow wants an improvement. Kinga introduces herself, Max does as well, and then explains the premise. Jonah shows off his invention: a bubble fan. Kinga introduces the movie
Segment 1: Jonah & the bots sing “Every Country Has a Monster”
Segment 2: Tom Servo clones himself
Segment 3: Jonah reads letters
Closing: Jonah creates a tiny Copenhagen for Gypsy to destroy; Kinga is not impressed
Stinger: Petersen gets nutzoid
(55 votes, average: 3.80 out of 5)
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• The new door sequence, as near as I can tell is:
6—Laundry room
5—Bathroom
4—Kitchen
3— Bedroom
2—Office?
1—Workshop (aka “the fab lab”)
• For the record, MSTies had to wait 6,424 days since the debut of episode 1003- MERLIN’S SHOP OF MYSTICAL WONDERS for the arrival of season 11.
• The new lyrics to the theme song (please correct if I have something wrong:
Har Mar Superstar: In the not-too-distant future, Next Sunday A.D.
There was a guy named Jonah, Not too different from you or me
He worked at Gizmonic Institute, Just another mug in a yellow jump suit
A distress call came in for him at half past noon
That’s when an evil woman trapped him on the dark side of the moon.
[Kinga] I’ll send him cheesy movies, the worst I can find
He’ll have to sit and watch them all and I’ll monitor his mind
Now keep in mind that Jonah can’t control when the movies begin or end
So he’ll have to keep his sanity with the help of his robot friends
Cambot, Gypsy, Tom Servo Crowwww
[Har Mar Superstar] If you’re wondering how he eats and breathes and other science facts
Just repeat to yourself: “It’s just a show, I should really just relax”
for Mystery Science Theater 3000.
Other thoughts and observations
“Turn down your lights (where applicable) returns. The previous episode to have was episode 402- THE GIANT GILA MONSTER, from June of 1992.
• That’s Erin Gray and Will Wheaton as the Gizmocrats. A lot of people saw that opening and wondered if it was going to be a regular thing. It wasn’t. Just a one-off. Thanks to Erin and Will for doing it.
• The little device that taps into Jonah’s ship plays a little mechanical version of the theme song, and Jonah says it “sounds familiar.”
• The little Gizmonic Institute flyover is very much in the style of the old miniature set pieces.
• The giant clown hammer, too, looks very familiar.
• When the doors slide open on Moon Base 13, it is the complete antithesis of the old Deep 13. Deep 13 was a lonely, quiet place with few inhabitants. Jonah walks in one what could be a rave: a full band in mid-song and plenty of henchman to send him on his way.
• It appears that the old Umbilicus has been re-attached to the SOL — interesting that something from post season 5 would appear. Somewhere Mike is smiling.
• Robot roll call is also quite different: No little sayings. Cambot is always shown on Jonah, Gypsy enters from the right, Tom enters from the left and Crow leaps up onto Jonah’s back.
• Joel plays “Ardy,” the “movie in the hole” guy. The whole liquid video thing he controls is a bit baffling to me.
• The riffing begins slowly but eventually picks up steam.
• This movie was cut quite a bit—in fact there were TWO songs, both of which were cut. This one and this one.
• The Carvel ice cream jokes seem overdone to me. There, I said it. I’d say it again if I had to.
• Callbacks: “I’m squishy” (Young Man’s Fancy), Killer Shrews were mentioned.
• At one point there’s a bit of a drum beat in theater when Jonah does a riff on “Monster Mash.” A bit of a departure…
• The only Trump reference I caught: “Yooge! Yooge!”
• I guess all the coverage of the relaunch led to the arrival of letters, even before the show had arrived on Netflix.
• Isn’t it nice to have Rebecca (the new voice of Gypsy) there for harmonizing purposes?
• Fave riff: “How about Reportacus Shutupacus?” Honorable mention: “It’s just a sign that says ‘Made you look’!” and “…not even attempting to get a job.”
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Episode guide corrections if this one is staying around and not being retyped:
Wil Wheaton, not Will Wheaton. (That’s one “1”!)
“Joel” to fix “oel” for playing Ardy.
I haven’t finished the first episode yet, but I’ve been skipping around the host segments and they definitely have the feel of the old show. Plus with the space of widescreen I’m glad they kept some sort of viewscreen, and the jetscreen is pretty creative and in the spirit of the show.
I went in last Friday morning with an open mind, hyped up after more than a year of, uhm, hype.
Wasn’t in love with the way the first intro song happened, but we had to get back into the SOL, so no biggie.
Had a bit of a time with the first few minutes, getting used to the new voices.
Then, the Professor walks through his DMV office and gets greeted by literally everyone: *Underwater sounds* “Good morning, professor!” With that, after falling out of my chair laughing, I knew my money had been well donated.
Not being much of a binge’r myself, I must say I am extremely pleased with Cry Wilderness and Avalanche so far, but I am biding my time. Bring on season 12!!!
Mostly liking it.
They’re a little samevoice-y. Like a trio of CT-era Josh.
Kinga needs about three more helpings of mad in her scientist. She’s making early Joel look like a dynamo of energy so far.
Love the new arrangement of the closing. Very EPCOT Center sounding.
Something else to note:
They cut out a big night club scene that, if memory serves me right, develops a romance between the general and one of the blondes. It was pretty funny unriffed so a bit disappointed they didn’t riff it. The credit of someone playing herself at the end is not, as Jonah riffs, the eel but the nightclub singer.
I’ve commented elsewhere on the clumsiness of the riffs in this ep. I’m happy to say I watched Avalanche and the first half of Starcrash last night and the riffing was well-timed and not too fast. Rumor has it the ep’s were not filmed or written in order so I wonder what gives.
So, is Max actually the son of TV’s Frank? Or is he just a fanboy? I suspect the latter, but I’ve seen a lot of people take him being “TV’s Son” at face value. What do you think, sirs?
Wouldn’t be nice if those of us who still have TV sets would be allowed to watch this show? I realize that having a real TV is like telling a 20 year-old that I drove my horse and buggy down to the general store and asked to use their newfangled “telly phone” plugged into a wall to make a call.
Off topic, but have you considered importing it to a Dreamwidth account instead? Way less of a headache.
So here’s my heretical thought for the day: The commercial bumpers feel kinda weird in the Netflix port of the show, but they are traditional, and the way they’ve done it in the new show reminds me A LOT of the old station breaks that my local TV station had to throw in the middle of my Saturday morning movies. But the REAL nostalgia point here is that Patton has almost perfectly NAILED the cadence of Penn Jillette’s old voice overs for Comedy Central. Would anybody else have thought it cool if Joel actually had pulled in Penn to do them?
Presumably the doors are only closed when they’re on the bridge ? This actually makes much more sense than the original door sequences — a really long tunnel with no other use would be a huge waste in a spaceship. Still, don’t leave anything fragile out.
Has anyone else noticed that the door sequences seem slightly off-kilter, like cambot is tilted just a little bit clockwise?
I really like the fact that they kept the commercial bumpers even though Netflix doesn’t have commercial breaks — it reinforces the premise that Kinga’s broadcasting from the dark side of the moon.
I also like that they establish that only Max considers himself “TV’s Son of TV’s Frank”.
I get the complaints about the riffs being “lightning-fast” but my favorite sequence takes full advantage of that:
Good question. I suspect it’s the latter as well. Joel has referred to Max as a “clone” a few times, and that makes sense… there’s already a Pearl clone wondering around Moon 13, why not a Frank clone? Pearl’s clone is named Synthia (get it?!), so Frank’s clone having a different name, and also not looking EXACTLY like the original would make sense. My own theory is that, since Kinga touts her family name/legacy often, he simply wants to be similarly respected as the “offspring” of a previous Mad as well.
Of course, if he is a clone, that doesn’t explain why he’s so “normal” while Synthia wonders around like a robotic Frankenstein Monster and can’t form a sentence in proper English, but hey… it’s just a show. ;)
Actually if you re-watch Segment 3 of #1102, you’ll see that Synthia is (for whatever reason) only pretending to act like a Frankenstein monster-type character while in the presence of Pearl, but then goes to speaking and acting normally, once Pearl is gone.
I have a real TV that I watch the new season on. I’m only being slightly hyperbolic when I say Netflix is available on every single form of electronics created after 2011.
Don’t know about other riffs, but that one’s supposed to be fast, since they’re kidding the rapid-intercutting-without-anything-actually-happening.
Qv. the quickly-intercut climax of Robot vs. the Aztec Mummy: “Doctor?–Robot?–Lightbulb?–Floyd?–Doctor?”
As noted, Kinga’s verse is
I’ll send him cheesy movies, the worst I can find
He’ll have to sit and watch them all and we’ll monitor his mind
Also, I think room 3 in the door sequence is the Fab Lab. The 2x4s and circular saw connect with Jonah’s extensive use of laser cut wood. I think door 2 is more of a ‘Bot Repair Bay, what with the spare Crow head and all that tubing
I’m about halfway through the season and I’m enjoying it but I have a minor quibble, really so minor that it’s probably just me that feels this way but the multiple movie signs and door sequences still kind of throws me off. I wish they’d just do “commercial breaks” after the first and third host sequences like in the old days. But, like I said, it’s minor.
re: “the payload”, in one of the breaks they mention the “remains of the experiments” that are stored in tubes at the end of the episode, I think this is what Gypsy is dropping off and picking up, some kind of container to hold it in for transport back to Moon 13.
Favorite riffs: “He’s destroying the film stock!” and “In Denmark, The Beatles chase you!”
My only dumb gripe is that I miss Magic Voice, and the theater JH&tB image should be a bit bigger.
First-time commenter here. I’ve been watching since the Comedy Central days, and I’ve seen almost every episode (including KTMA). Having lived through a number of disappointing show reboots (Family Guy and Futurama, yecch), I had low expectations going into this — so much so that I was considering giving the whole thing a pass (despite being a backer), because I didn’t want my memory of the show sullied.
But I was pleasantly surprised. Instead of the raunchier, dumber version of MST3k I was expecting, I got the same, comfortable style of riffing I love. The show had me laughing within minutes. My only complaints have already been mentioned by others: flying Tom and theater-Gypsy are pointless distractions, the riffing is a little too fast at times, the atmosphere comes across as artificial when the bots react to things the instant they appear on screen, and Baron’s Servo is a weak spot in an otherwise slick production. All in all, however, the show is solidly entertaining.
High points:
– Hampton’s Crow is perfect. There were times when I almost thought Trace was back in the theater.
– The station breaks are a nice touch. Very similar to the Comedy Central bumpers.
– Having the Skeleton Crew play songs from the show’s past is both awesome and great fun. We’re going to be spending a lot of time trying to identify each song.
– The special effects are the perfect mix of low-cost and impressively stylish. It took me a while to notice that those were marionettes in the opening.
– The host segments were shorter than what we’re used to, but I thought they were the right length. I never felt that things were dragging.
– The episode itself was shorter than what we’re used to, but again, I actually think this is a better length. Whenever I’ve tried to introduce new people to the show, the episode length has been the biggest sticking point. Reptilicus seemed to fly by.
All in all, I’m happy. MST3k is back!
Also, here’s my advice for anyone first encountering the new MST3k: Rather than compare it to your favorite season of the past, compare it your LEAST favorite. For me, that would be Season 1. This new season, #11, is better. And as far as I’m concerned, if the new MST3k can be better than any season of the original show, then it’s the real deal. This is MST3k!
(Coincidentally, my least favorite seasons were Joel’s and Mike’s first. It took them both a season or two to grow into their roles. Which makes the thought of a Season 12 all the more tantalizing… Things can only get better from here.)
First, I was happy to give to the Kickstart er as thanks for not just seasons 1 – 10 but also for keeping it going with quality DVDs and Cinematic Titanic, etc. I assumed new generation, younger, hipper target audience, I would not be as addicted to season 11. I was ok with that. I was pleasantly surprised to find so many riffs that made me laugh out loud. I too thought riffs came a bit rapid fire, but I rewatched for this and followed it quite easily. Conclusion: i will be enjoying this episode for years to come.
It took some adjusting to get into the groove of the revival, but by the end of this episode I was feelin’ it, big time. It’s not exactly the same as it was before, no, but it’s still fantastically funny :D
Honestly, this is a great choice of movie for the first episode back. Nothing MST3K does better than a big dumb monster movie, and this is one of the goofiest I’ve ever seen. Lots of stuff for Jonah and the bots to latch onto, and they wring every ounce of comedy out of it all, from the large-nostriled American war general to the Lenny-wannabe eel-fetishist custodian to just Reptilicus himself. I damn near laughed up my lunch when he ate that Minnesotan family. “Oh, now I’m in awe of this movie!”
“Nothing says ‘International’ like a picture of the U.S. Capitol building.” Man, right from the very first riff, I knew everything was gonna be okay :D
At first, the occasional breakneck pace of the riffing threw me off a bit. It was obvious that they don’t record these in one long take anymore. Which, honestly, I can see the benefit to that from an editing standpoint. And I wasn’t familiar with everyone’s voices yet, so I was sort of in a state of confusion at times – “Who’s talking now? Was that an extension of the last riff, or a new riff?”
After a while, though, I began to get used to it. By episode’s end, I was able to remember “Okay, that’s Jonah, that’s Servo, that’s Crow” whenever someone spoke. (I went through the same thing when I first started watching the show in college – even with Mike, Kevin, and Bill’s distinct voices, it took me a while as a newcomer to remember who was who.) The riffs are tighter, yes, but damn are they funny. It’s the same style of humor as the classic run, but with riffs I can’t believe they’ve never made before. “Either the print is in really bad shape, or it’s raining tar.”
By the time Reptilicus ate Copenhagen (“The Island of Sodor, NO!”), I was laughing so loud I thought my neighbors were gonna complain.
I like the new cast. Jonah is a fantastic riffer and seems like just a nice fun guy. Felicia and Patton are great as Kinga and Max – I love Patton’s “Just let me have this one thing” when she flatly shoots down his “TV’s Son of TV’s Frank” title (I was not expecting that). Hampton, Baron, and Rebecca are good as the bots – not quite to the level of Trace, Bill, Josh, Kevin, or Jim, but hey, it’s only episode one, I’m willing to give them time to play around and find their grooves.
And that’s the great thing – that there’s still 13 more of these for me to experience. I can’t wait to see what comes next :D
That’s the medley from Starfighters, right?
I thought it turned out OK. I also thought the riffs were a bit too fast, but I’m sure they’ll reach the right pace as the series goes on. I do miss the closing TWAAAAAAAAAAG! to the end credits theme, though.
Loved this episode! A great movie to choose, as others have said. The riffing was great, the theme song was great, the casting was mostly great, the song was great, the feel was great, the effects of having an actual budget were great, everything was great, except a few nitpicks:
– If Kinga’s higher gear could be dialed back a touch, that would probably be for the better.
– Not a fan of the overt stop-motion going on . . . but by the second episode I was already getting used to it.
Plus it’s been revealed he is colorblind (and sees the world in a really disturbing POV).
Would have been really cool, but I like Patton a lot more, and any excuse for more Patton is a good thing!
Megalon: I think the episodes are about the same length as the old shows if you remove the commercials.
Jumping ahead a bit, but I just finished Starcrash and I’d put it up there with any classic episode from the show’s original run. The riffs are great and perfectly paced, the host segments are great, just great all around.
Rumor is partially right. The host segments were NOT filmed in order. But the movie riffs WERE recorded in order starting with Reptilicus – Jonah has confirmed this on the Revival League podcast, and also said it was something Joel insisted on after he, Jonah, asked why they had to do the two Wizards of the Lost Kingdoms back-to-back. (And again, because I’ve seen this rumor crop up here on Satellite News in a few threads, Baron, Hampton, and Jonah were all in one room together at the same time recording the movie riffs, not in separate places at different times.)
I’ve popped in a few times throuought the day to provide some points of discussion, but I really wanted to provide a perspective to this proto-episode guide that I haven’t seen in here yet: one from someone that actually got to see the episode early and had to keep their mouthhole shut about how wonderful it was for nearly 2 months. :)
I was blessed to be able to attend the red carpet premier in Chicago back in February, and it was a damn near transcendent experience. Hundreds of excited MSTies, all jazzed about what they were going to see, piled into the beautiful Music Box Theater, and we were certainly not dissapointed. :)
Having now seen the episode like five times now, I am able to better recall how I felt during certain parts of that first screening that escaped me in the following weeks. Honestly, I’m shocked I was able to retain as much as I did, considering how excited I was! So here, as best as I can recollect, are my impressions from my first ever viewing of episode 1101:
First off, Joel announced the movie being ruffed right before the lights went down and the episode started. I think I yelled “OH MY GOD, NO WAY?!” a little too loud. The movie choice was, to me, the best part of not just the episode, but the entire experience of seeing it live. As a monster movie buff, I’m painfully familiar with Reptilicus. I proudly own the film in several formats, and have watched it numerous times. Ever since becoming a MSTie, this film has been the #1 film I always wished they’d riffed, tied for first place with a certain South Korean movie called Yongary… yeah, I’m in heaven this season. :) But Reptilicus was a perfect movie for MST3K, and a perfect movie to start the new season with. I was tickled pink… Sid Pink, that is!
-The extensive opening was a LOT to take in. We are introduced to Jonah, Will and Erin have their cameos, Jonah is captured, we see Moon 13 and the Skeleton crew, hear the new theme song for the first time, see the new Robot Roll Call, doorway sequence, and bridge… it was a bit overwhelming. I remember being confused as to why Kinga, Max, Synthia, and the boneheads were screaming bloody murder, but the purpose for that became obvious on second viewing, of course.
-When Cambot pulls back to the bridge as Har Mar Superstar belts out “For Mystery Science Theater… 3000!”, I teared up. It was a big moment, but what really got me was seeing Gypsy. I adore her, and after being left out of most of Joel’s updates, I was relieved and excited to see her there. She is, of course, unaltered in the opening.
-I immediately felt comfortable with Jonah, Hampton and Baron. They were perfect, and only get better with each episode.
-Gypsy… wow, that was a shock. Joel’s update on Rebecca playing her hadn’t gone out yet, so hearing a woman’s voice come out of a Gypsy hanging from the ceiling… it was weird. I’m still not entirely used to it. I just adore Gypsy’s dopey voice, and I honestly miss it. That said, Rebecca is really amazing in the part, and I have no complaints. After a while, I found the only thing really bugging me about Gypsy was the newer model flashlight used for her eye… it just didn’t look right, but hey… it’s just a show.
-The Mads were great right off the bat. TVSofTVF being called Max was a surprise, and a wonderful tribute to The Great Race, which is, of course, where “push the button” comes from!
-The liquid movie system was baffling, too. I had to wait until the post screening Q&A to get some answers.
-I love the influence of Gerry and Sylvia Anderson’s supermarionation shows, particularly Thunderbirds, on the Moon 13 (and Moon 14) sets. Joel is obviously a fan.
-When Tom comes into the theater and says “Nothing says ‘International’ like a picture of the U.S. Capitol building.”, I freaking lost it. The FIRST joke, and I was in. After that, they could do no wrong… and they didn’t.
-Movie line that didn’t need a riff to be funny: “Henry, as an American, you’ve drilled all over the world.” The audience lost it.
-Tom flying in the theater was unexpected, but I was in stitches the moment he kissed the scientist on the lips. Hysterical.
-Lots of jokes about finding the Reptilicus goo delicious. They just got funnier.
-When Gypsy dropped in, I got a huge thrill! It was a surprise, and her riff “Now your MISTER Filing Cabinet!” was perfect.
-“I won a parking ticket!” got a huge laugh.
-I love love LOVE the “commercial bumpers”!!!! It took me until the third one to realize that the band was playing songs from the classic MST3K… again, it was all so new to me and overwhelming… but in a good way! Plus, it’s hard not to recognize Livin’ in deep 13…
“a reptile.” “disfunction!” also slayed the audience, as did “Vroom vroom! I’m driving the freezer!”
-Speaking of music… oh my GOD the Monster Song. So wonderful, so perfect… the entire theater was clapping along, and when Movie Sign sounded, there was about 20 straight seconds of applause. Instantly one of the greatest songs, and host segments, in MST3K history. Fun fact: Joel told us that this was the first scene Jonah filmed on the SOL set. What an initiation!
-Crow says “Dickweed” at one point, and the audience cheered. :)
-Being familiar with the film, I was excited to see how the guys handled Peterson and his gag with the eel. I was not dissapointed.
-My brother was with me during the screening. He’s a huge jazz/Glenn Miller fanatic, so the “Reptilicus 65000” bit nearly killed him with laughter.
-While on the topic of music, there are a ton of “Reptili-tunes” in this episode, with the monster’s name popping up in the lyrics of almost a half dozen songs, including “Can’t Buy Me Reptilicus”, the “Reptilicus Mash”, “Reptilicus Risin’, and the aforementioned “Reptilicus 65000”.
-Jonah THRICE does an hysterical Frank Nelson impression. (“EEEEYYEEEEEEEESSSSSSSS?!?!”) I remember him doing it during the Rifftrax MST3K Reunion show and loving it. I was so happy to hear it return, and I hoped it would become one of his running gags. Thankfully , I did, as he does it in a few other episodes this season!
-More Tom clones in the second segment! I guess it’s just not the SOL without Tom duplicates running wild!
-There are, of course, several mentions of Kickstarter in this episode.
-Another classic MST3K riff: “There’s got to be a morning after!”
-I wonder if the “Boy is my butt tired” riff came from a fan?
-Letters!!!! The first one I recognized as one Joel read during the 2015 Turkey Day marathon. It was wonderful to see it back.
-Crow’s riff “Chinstraps on Binoculars, why?” nearly killed me.
-Hearing the audience react to the “special” effects for Reptilicus was a thrill. I’d never seen the movie in a theater, and seeing the incompetence on the big screen was hysterical. The reactions of the audience, and the riffers, were perfect.
-My brother and I had been on one of those weird comedic kicks where we were stuck on something we thought was hysterical… in this case, using the name Sven, along with a Danish accent, in a number of increasingly rediculous puns. (example: I is Sven, my clothes are so… ex-SVEN-sive!” I know, I know…) Anyway, when Crow says “Sven, for members only!”, we both nearly gave ourselves aneurysms from laughing so hard.
-Jonah’s comment about the gingerbread sets is one of my favorites.
-The “its all you can eat” riff was another that brought the house down.
-By the time the credits rolled, the audience was sold. MST3K was back. We all clapped and sung along with the reprisal of Every Country has a Monster, and I finally realized the Skeleton Crew song was Wild Rebels too late to sing along.
In the end, I couldn’t have been happier. It took all the willpower in the world to not sing this episode’s praises to the world for two months. All I could do was reassure people that yes, it was hysterical. Yes, it was brilliant. And yes, it was Mystery Science Theater 3000. It was an experience I’ll never forget.
(By the way, I was both interviewed and extensively filmed by the documentary crew, seeing as how I came to the show with my Tom Servo puppet fully decked out in a dapper suit and bow tie. I blame it all on Tom. :) So, when the DVD/Blu-ray comes out, if you see a doughy guy in a leather jacket and backer shirt carrying a Tom Servo in a suit, that’s me!)
My edit didn’t work, but I have one other note:
-Tom’s line “Are we suddenly in Chicago?” got a HUGE laugh… for obvious reasons. :)
BTW: Subtitles on Netflix work for all the dialogue and riffing.
Thanks sincerely for recounting this wonderful memory for us. Reading it made me almost feel like I was there.
Also reminds me that MiSTies are the greatest group of fans around!
Am I wrong or did the band slip in their version of Creepy Girl? I found myself singing along at the end.
My only two complaints are: the riffing is WAY too fast and close together. Hopefully it will slow down in the future. And not to be “that guy”, but I can’t stand Baron’s Servo. Both Josh and Kevin had deeper voices, which helped get across his verbosity and ego, as well as provided variety in the theater. When they’re watching the movie, I can’t tell who’s speaking a lot of the time. They all seem to be in the same range. Hampton’s Crow is very early Trace. Very well done.
Cornjob @80: “BTW: subtitles on Netflix work for all the dialogue and riffing”.
Piggy-backing on that, yes the closed captioning for the new iteration is very good, accurate and keeps up with what it is onscreen. I just wanted to note, however, that the CC for the “older” episodes they released are terrible- constant and glaring mistakes and omissions. In fact, sometimes it is so bad it distracts from enjoyment of the film. I could just turn that function off, I guess, but I have tinnitus real bad and it is helpful (usually) to have it on. Quite frankly, they should get their money back from whoever did it and get someone else to do it over. BTW: I love Season 11!
Some info for This Date in MST3K:
Reptilicus
Feb. 21, 1961: Reptilicus released in Denmark
Director Sidney W. Pink: Born March 16, 1916, died Oct. 12, 2002
Composer Sven Gyldmark: Born April 21, 1904, died Oct. 5, 1981
Screenwriter Ib Melchior: Sept 17, 1917, died March 14, 2015
Actor Carl Ottosen (General Mark Grayson): Born July 18, 1918, died January 8, 1972
Actress Ann Smyrner (Lise Martens): Born Nov. 3. 1934, died Aug. 29, 1916
Actress Mimi Heinrich (Karen Martens): Born Nov. 1, 1936. Seemingly still alive.
Actor Asbjørn Andersen (Professor Otto Martens): Born Aug. 30, 1903, died Dec. 12, 1978
Actor Bent Mejding (Svend Viltorft): Born Jan. 14, 1937. Seemingly still alive.
Actor Povl Wøldike (Dr. Peter Dalby) Born Aug. 13, 1899, died July 25, 1975
Actor Dirch Passer (Peterson) Born May 18, 1926, died Sept. 3 1980.
Actor Ole Wisborg (Captain Brandt) Born Aug. 14, 1925, died Dec. 20, 1978
Other
March 19, 2003: A clip from Reptilicus is featured in the South Park episode “Cancelled.”
Have not seen much but it’s good, MST3K is back, yes!!!!
What I would like to mention and I have not seen anybody mention it, maybe it’s just me…is this:
What I like is when Mike, Kevin and Bill do their thing, at MST3K and also now on Rifftrax, is when
they interact which each other a bit and laugh about each other’s contributions sometimes. That kind of makes
it more real and relaxed I think. They never did that on Cinematic Titanic, that’s why I thought that show seemed a bit.. stiff(what I saw of it, did not see all shows).
Maybe Jonah and crew will interact which each other as time progresses as well (again, I have not seen much of the new shows, apologies if they started to do that already).
MST3K lives!
??? Time Travelers isn’t for another couple episodes…
Crap, Ann Smyrner’s death should be Aug. 29, 2016.
One observation about Ardy is that it’s the first time Joel has ever played a second character in a franchise known for its key players doing double or triple duty.
Having sneak-peeked through the host segments (waiting until I have time with my wife to watch the full shows), and comparing to the live Q&A they did on Facebook, I finally nailed down what’s been bothering me with the bots (and really everyone).
Everyone is so stiff (except Jonah, who is less stiff)! Comparing the bots on the show to the live Q&A, there was more expression with their puppets there than on the whole show. I don’t know if it was because everything was rushed or Joel’s direction, but there needs to be more natural movement. Everyone seemed too scared to move in case they break the set somehow. I think the stiffness marred Baron’s Servo by this very reason, because it’s obvious in the Q&A that, left to his own, he can act as Servo just fine.
Also, move Crow’s eyes! He always looks like he’s looking off camera to something, even when directly talking to Jonah.
Anyone know if Hampton and Baron did the bots for the Q&A? Would be interested to know who was working them, as they did a pretty good job.
Hopefully by season 12 everyone will have relaxed a little and let everyone have a little fun on the set. More chemistry to this fine cast would be awesome!
Well, let’s be honest, you’re going to see Reptilicus clips EVERYWHERE–It’s goofy, and more importantly, it’s public domain.
My first association was seeing it as a standard gag on the Monkees, where during the crazy counterculture fun, Peter Tork might look out the beach window through binoculars and “see” stock clips of Godzilla attacking Tokyo, yuk yuk.
Only they couldn’t afford Toho (yep, we hear ya, brother…), so they instead showed cheap available clips of Reptilicus coming up out of the lake or thrashing his head on Copenhagen…Because, back then, we didn’t know other countries made goofy monster movies, and thought it was Japanese.
Oh, and because other studios also owned Gamera and that giant space-chicken from “The X From Outer Space”.
Again, like TIE in the Movie, S11 had to go with something every first-time viewer knew as Iconically Goofy for their debut, but since they didn’t have Universal’s library this time, they had to stick to PD.
Yeah, the commercial breaks aren’t necessary for a streaming show but I think that they serve a practical purpose: They allow the theater segments to be broken-up into 15-minute pieces. Since they are single takes, one flub would require the whole segment to have to be done again from the start. If you mess up at minute 14 of 15 it sucks but it’s not that big a deal. If you flub a line at minute 29 of 30, boy, that’s a big pain to reshoot.
So many other commenters have already echoed my own feelings that I won’t repeat it. I’ll just says that I have watched all of the new episodes and, as a fan and a backer of the Kickstarter and an American, I couldn’t be happier.
Favorite riff not already mentioned: As the “squishy” daughter turns and slowly walks forward like she’s in a trance, Jonah says “Omelet bar…”.
Second Fave: Same daughter, “He’s mine, I licked him!”
Perhaps CT didn’t do that very much in the studio-produced DVDs, but they did it a lot in the live shows, and it was hilarious.
Agree with you. They put “Mad” before “Scientist” for a reason.
After all, she IS Pearl Forrester’s grandaughter!
Captain Howdy rates episode 1101 at 4.5 planchettes out of 5.
What a thrill to be able to participate in a new – NEW!!! – episode guide on the Satellite News! Is this the 1990s? Am I dreaming?
I want to start at the end. The new orchestral theme for the credits blows me away every time I hear it. In general, the music on this new season delights me. Will there be a Clowns In The Sky III released with all the music from this season, including the new arrangements of Mike’s old songs? I certainly hope so. (And I hope Mike gets royalties for the use of his music.)
As many have said, there is a lot of new stuff to take in in Reptilicus: new theme, new look, new cast, new movies – new everything! And yet, the format is so familiar and stable that, instead of frightening or putting me off, each of the new things becomes something wonderful to discover. I’m enjoying learning about the universe of MST3K as much as I’m enjoying the riffing. I’m not the only one who has watched the doorway sequence in slo-mo, stopping and starting to see what’s in all those rooms. And widescreen! Oh, MST3K is so good in widescreen. There’s so much more room for them to play with on the Satellite, and there’s so much more room to show us the Moon 13 lair (which shows up in a big wide shot later on in the season).
New gimmicks! Walking Crow, flying Tom (hidden dragon), upstairs Gypsy, and of course all the arms work. I’m glad to see some new actions, and they don’t bother or distract me, at least (though others apparently don’t like them too much). They do make me imagine what the puppet pit must look like on the SOL bridge (I hope there are some BTS pictures and video coming soon) when I see three puppeteers listed for one puppet. Er, I mean robot friend.
About the rapidity of riffing in this first movie – they faced many difficult decisions in setting up the new season, but especially in choosing this first film and then deciding how to handle the riffing for it. If they didn’t put in many riffs, i.e., if they let big gaps of silence go by (as they did on the old show sometimes), then people would complain that there wasn’t enough to laugh at. And so they top-loaded this first movie with riffing, and then very wisely backed that off as the season progressed (what I have seen of it). I don’t think they could have done it any other way, not with attention spans being what they are, and needing to grab and hold people’s attention in this first movie.
The celebrity cameos in this and later episodes don’t bother me at all because the show strictly adheres to the MST3K single-camera format, and so it doesn’t feel like the arrival of these famous people is different or out-of-place (again, at least, to me), as it might if the show suddenly had multiple camera angles and fancy lighting and so on (for the celebrity).
I still cannot quite believe that MST3K is back, and that I am almost through with all the new episodes! It makes me feel sad and happy. We’ve waited so long since Diabolik. Generally, I think Joel and the crew made really good choices about this new series. It is impossible to please everyone, and they obviously put a lot of thought into finding a balance between doing something that is fresh and new but which also feels familiar. On that front, I think they absolutely hit it out of the park. There’s new and old, there’s familiar and strange, and everyone involved with the show seems to have put boundless love and care into making it. It is a joy to watch, and I am only disappointed that there hasn’t been a season 12 announced.
One of the fan letters was from Turkey Day ’15.
https://youtube.com/watch?v=YnNVb65WyTI
Yes, I’d sort of wondered where they were suddenly getting letters from before they’d even started airing on Netflix, since very few 7-yo.’s were Kickstarters.
They didn’t seem to do letters in the other episodes so far, and there’s no Info Club address to write to besides the SOL.com URL.
Thought for a second Jonah was going to do a variation on the sketch (Night of the Blood Beast: Regular Version?) where Mike reads a standard-cliche’ “kids'” letter, and…”Hey, that’s a fake, YOU wrote that one!” After which, the Mike era didn’t really bother with fan input all that much during the Sci-Fi years, even after they didn’t have to do S8’s plot-segments anymore.
I thought about tracking down all the Monkees episodes/dates, but that seemed like a pain.
My wife introduced me to MST3k (by way of MST3k: The Movie) while we were dating, and we’ve since watched through every episode (with the exceptions of Girl in Lovers’ Lane and Kitten with a Whip; couldn’t get through those two), some of them many times. We were thrilled to hear of the kickstarter, and have spent the last year and a half looking forward to the premiere. Overall, we love the new season, and can’t wait for season 12 (and 13-19, we hope). A few thoughts:
Agree with the above remarks that Kinga needs more mad in her scientist. Maybe it ties back to her stated goal of ruling entertainment, rather than ruling the world–just seems beneath a Forrester. Her bumbling is probably no greater than her ancestors’, but she just doesn’t bring the crazy to match.
There are some apparently-random odd things introduced, but not explained. Gypsy with the “payload” is one; the liquid video technology is another. Nothing wrong with odd, but it’s usually there for a reason–maybe we’ll hear more in the next season.
Jonah and the bots don’t seem to have the musical talent of Mike and the bots (and especially Kevin), but that’s at least somewhat offset by Kinga–she has quite the set of lungs (and no, I don’t mean that as a euphemism).
Interesting that they’ve decided to continue with at least some sort of story arc in the host segments. That’s going to leave some interesting things to resolve next season, if there is one.
It also seems like a good number of the movies chosen are actually relatively good, compared to the classic MST3k fare. Still quite riff-able, but they’re all in color, and by and large seem considerably more technically competent.