In an update to his backers, Joel has revealed that – if the Kickstarter to #BringBackMST3K succeeds – he plans to invite Jonah Ray, comedian and co-host of the Nerdist podcast, to become the next host of “Mystery Science Theater 3000.”
Hodgson writes:
I can’t really tell you what kind of host Jonah is going to be, but I hope you’ll give him a chance to show you. And even if you’re familiar with Jonah’s career, remember: that doesn’t mean he’ll bring the same exact approach to MST3K. I think a lot of you may be surprised. Plus, like the previous members of our cast, I think Jonah has great instincts and a lot of range. He’s funny, he’s wicked smart, and like I said, his heart’s in the right place. He loves MST3K, he seems to understand what makes it so special, and most important, I know he takes the role seriously.
At the end of the day, he’s just another regular guy in a yellow jumpsuit – not so different from you and me. I’m excited to see what he can bring to the next hundred episodes of “Mystery Science Theater,” until it’s time to hand his jumpsuit over to someone else.
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I started watching in the early years as a young teenager, so I’m partial to Joel, though Mike was also an excellent host. Now we have Jonah Ray, who for whatever reason reminds me of CT era-J. Elvis Weinstein. I had never heard of Ray before now. So I read some of his tweets (some good ones on MST3K with one crazy response from Wil Wheaton) and went to youtube and watched a few videos. Some of it is funny, but he is very foul-mouthed. Perhaps that’s all an act and he can play MST3K host differently. I’ll give him a shot and I do trust Joel. But I’m not sure how much money I’ll give. I know full-fledged blue-streaking won’t make it into Joel’s reboot, but if “bleeping” and nuclear-grade snarking is involved, I can’t share the show with my kids. And I’m well past the Comedy Central-viewing part of my life. I guess Joel addressed the issue, but the update was only for donors. How snarky might it get? How political might it get? Maybe someone could clue me in here on what Joel said. Thanks. And please, I’m not trying to pick a fight here on this board. To each their own regarding taste in humor.
A good friend and fellow MSTie texted me yesterday, he’s a fan of Jonah Ray and was VERY excited about this, so that’s a good sign. I also really like the nice posts on Twitter from Jonah, you can tell already he really cares about the show.
I was watching Pod People again recently, it was the first Joel episode I ever saw (I started with the movie and the first season of the Sci-Fi era, started getting the Rhino tapes not long after) and aside from the great riffing and timeless skits, another reason that episode is so memorable for me is for the eery and unrelated opening synonymous with Film Ventures International. If Joel is reading this, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE get us more weird ’80s Film Ventures International flicks with blurry openings and oddly ambient Space Age music by the incomparable Karl Michael Demer!
To clarify, when I mention I’m done with Comedy Central, I mean the Jon Stewart and beyond era, not (of course) the MST3K era.
Speaking of Film Ventures International again, I just remembered earlier this year in one of the episode guide comments, someone stated that the former owner/head of FVI basically looted the company many years ago, disappeared and was never seen nor heard from again. So maybe getting more FVI flicks would be hard due to this? I thought it was the comments for Pod People but the comment I’m referring to doesn’t seem to be in there. Can the informed commenter who said this clarify or confirm what I just said about FVI’s history being just as unsettling and odd as its own bizarrely edited openings? :shock:
Joel’s backer update said he believed that one of the strengths of the show was that it was something everyone could watch together, with jokes aimed at grown-ups and kids. So there’s almost certainly not going to be any swearing, and any innuendo will be pitched in a similar way to the old series–it’ll fly right over the kids’ heads, but the adults will suddenly laugh and have to say, “I’ll tell you when you’re older.”
I suspect that Ray can tone his material down for a family-friendly audience; most comedians can. (If you’ve ever seen America’s Funniest Home Videos/Full House star Bob Saget do his stand-up, it’s very different from the image he projects in prime-time.)
Well, dang. Jonah Ray has always came off as a condescending person on podcasts; frankly, I’ve found him irritating. I don’t see him being able to pull off the lovableness of Mike and Joel. I trust Joel, though. Hopefully with him in control it won’t be something completely different.
Sampo,
Quick question: Is Satellite News being directly informed from the new MST3K group about the reboot goings on or is everything coming in via 2nd hand sources and/or the Kickstarter updates? I should hope that the new MST3K would want to work hand in hand with the official fan site in some capacity. After all, this site has kept the freak flag flying for quite some time. Shout Factory saw the value in giving Satellite News first update dibs on new box sets and such at times in the past, correct?
But for some reason and I hope my inference is completely wrong on this, it just seems like this site is being held an arm’s length away from the reboot proceedings.
Marketing is going to be absolutely critical here. Right now everything still exists in the old MST3K bubble in terms of funding, or even knowledge of the project. It’s pretty much just the old loyal fanbase, who may not adjust well to the changes Joel is aiming at (and which I totally support). I’m wondering what the plan is to elevate this thing beyond just the existing DVD collector crowd, and pull in the volume of contemporary riff appreciators necessary for long-term success. But, whatever Mike, Kevin and Bill did obviously worked, so it can be done!
For those concerned about lots of swearing/overload of snark, I don’t think Joel will allow it. I went to his riff camp in Seattle a couple of years ago and he nixed a couple of jokes I had that I didn’t think were any worse than what was on MST (no swearing but heavy innuendo). I don’t say this to criticize Joel in any way, since the show was under his name, he certainly had full creative control and veto rights and the whole thing was a fascinating look behind the scenes of riffing I’m glad I got to experience. I’m just saying that from talking with him and seeing his origin story in Riffing Myself, I think Joel will have a tighter leash on any racy/adult stuff than others would.
The Bob Saget analogy is pretty solid. We’ve seen many comedians slot in well to family material–from Robin Williams in Aladdin, to Eddie Murphy in Shrek, to Andrew Dice Clay in The Adventures of Ford Fairlane…
Like Joel and Mike and all the rest, Jonah Ray will be playing a character, and I suspect that Joel’s creative control will keep things in the PG-13 range.
Andy Kaufman did a guest appearance in his Tony Clifton persona on The Miss Piggy Show.
George Carlin was in the Bill and Ted movies and Shining Time Station.
Chris Rock and Margaret Cho have both done prime-time network sitcoms.
Peter Capaldi is currently starring in Doctor Who.
And Kal Penn went to work for the freakin’ White House.
Lots of R-rated comics have done family-friendly roles. I don’t see why this would be any different.
And if Jonah at least has some instinctive dedication to Comic Timing, as well as the “spirit” of MST3K, he can keep himself in check.
When Joel hired Mike out of standup to be The Guy Who Writes Things Down, he said he was attracted by “the way he just seemed to be amusing himself onstage, and didn’t care what the audience thought”. Well, Joel, what can we say?…Ya GOT YOUR WISH.
Hence Joel may not have had much involvement during the changeover of his leaving the show, and much of the tasteless personal riffing on “Mitchell” certainly felt like someone else making up for lost time while the boss was away.
Whether Jonah knows the difference between “Embarrassing something pompous with an unexpected or obscure reference”, and the Millennial “Punish something mercilessly for trying to attract your attention” remains to be seen, but the smart (as in, smart) money goes with his instinct for catching a reference off guard.
Not to mention his role in Tarzan II, which seems rather hypocritical given Carlin’s wacky bleeped-out counter-culture monologue of what he’d graphically like to do to Mickey Mouse, back when Disney seemed too establishment in the 70’s.
But that’s a bit too much of a “sold-out” example.
For UK readers, I would have gone with Kevin Eldon playing Penfold in the new “Danger Mouse” reboot–Now there’s a disaster waiting to happen.
All indications are Joel is intending to keep it very family friendly. I also think that is the smart way to go. He knows like many of these revivals, survival is dependent on both old fans and new fans. Kids were always a part of the MST3K fan base. I was in college myself when I discovered the show. But I’ve had my daughter watch some episodes (She’s 12.) I can’t say she is INTO the show, but maybe with a new version for her generation she’ll watch with me.
I agree: I’m surprised there’s not been a bigger “HOO-RAH!” about this on this website. Seems like there should be a news story thread every single time Joel issues an update on the fundraising. For instance: No article today on MST3Kinfo.com that they reached the $2 million goal last night?!? Feels like this website should be drumming up the excitement for the new series, a bit more…
yellow jump suit? so he’s gonna look like devo?
Had the exact same thought. I was shocked there wasn’t an update (and still isn’t) when the initial goal was reached.
What’s going on, Sampo? We love you!
well i have to say, i personally am pulling for the “racier” side of mst3k than the “saturday morning” side of things; i would hate for it to be anything too disneyfried-bland as most everything is these days… same time, there’s a balance, and it shouldn’t be full-tilt an adults-only show (scifi-era trended that way), but should i have ever worried? (i seem to remember some mike epis that went all the way to “wet dream” territory or something like that; i’m not against it and it was that earlier era when even having scifi in your subscription meant you -expected- stuff you couldn’t see/hear on broadcast tv, but that difference now seems pretty negated by the sheer saturation of all the variant available markets.)
but it’s gotta keep that edge, even if only to hint at it… i think of things like the “gypsy moon” song, when crow at the end dives off the carnal deep-end and joel has to jump in and shut him up real quick! or the “std” film narration they used to love to make (“johnny has a problem…”) all the way to the thinking (or making it up as they went, as it were) that while servo always had a “ladies’ man” self-image, when it came down to it that one episode, he’d never been on a date and decides to ask gypsy out… (or even thinking of the “never made out” episode)?
you’d have to wonder if disney would allow gypsy to even notice, “steve’s more shiny!” at the end of a herc episode, or any commentary about “greek upskirt shots”? gotta keep away from that kind of influence; stay away from ABC, ESPNEY disney-network channels; stick more toward the AMC zombie-apocalypse crowd. (though i find that crowd kind of equally hysterical too…)
btw, jonah hill – oh wait, jonay RAY… heh sorry… ;) nah hey, i haven’t listened to too much “nerdist,” but it may now be the one podcast i’ve listened to more than any other – there’s just tons of interesting ‘casts the ch-ardwick’s done, and so far they are all each very funny, very interesting – they bridge the old and new geek crowd there; just listen to the live interview at the “Airplane!” anniversary showing. now that’s going way back in the commercial humor bin, even long before mst3k!
a bit of nerdist and “funny or die” crowd could go a long way; they’re not going to be so “new” with their humor that “us oldie moldies” would get felt left behind.
gonna be puttin’ in $25 buckos just to say i did – just like i’ll be doing for bernie. voting with your money; it ain’t just for billionaires anymore!
I’m late to the party, with not much to add, but I’ve been following all the developments over the past week, and I’m incredibly stoked about MST4K (or is it MST3K: TNG?). I donated late last week and might even increase my pledge depending on how hard the Happy Holidays hit my bank account.
Thanks for all the fish, Joel, and welcome to the MSTieverse, Jonah! 8-)
I’m honestly taken aback by some of the negativity that’s cropped up around this. In the KS comments, reddit, and even here… just.. sad. I know I should probably expect it, I mean I did live through the Joel v. Mike days on the good old UseNet days, but still. We’ve been waiting for something to happen for 15 years. Waiting for Joel to get back in the door for longer then that. And we’re gonna bitch about his hand-picked choices before we’ve seen even one scene from a new episode? Really?
Regarding the discussion of more adult humor on MST3K, I thought there was enough of that during the Sci-Fi Channel version. If Joel wants the show to be back to its “family” roots during the Comedy Central years, more power to him.
Mike was an unknown quantity who also happened to be MST3K’s head writer. Jonah Ray is Jonah Ray and, frankly, if you aren’t really a Jonah Ray fan, you’re not likely to become a Jonah Ray fan just because he wears a jumpsuit.
Unless, of course, you’ve never heard of him before, and your only experience of him is as the new host of the reboot of your ALL TIME FAVORITE show.
What he does outside of the show is entirely irrelevant to me. He’s the new host and that’s it. And the safe bet is that I’ll be a fan after the first new episode is released.
On the “adult humor” subject, I’m not really wishing they do more off-color riffing. My bigger concern with the “family orientation” is that it restricts the type of bad movies they can riff. There are LOTS of terrible R-rated movies out there that would be prime targets, and they will either be passed up entirely or shown in heavily edited form (which is worse, in my opinion).
This type of decision was out of their control in the earlier incarnation. It seems a shame to self-restrict now that they’ll have more freedom.
Apologist much?
Why would Joel relinquish this mythical milquetoast integrity you perceive of him in his very last episode? Joel made those “tasteless” personal riffs voluntarily. It wasn’t confined to Mitchell, either. I remember just as many cutting riffs about Lee Van Cleef’s gut, Tammy’s snaggleteeth, Max Keller’s speech impediment, a certain Grimolt warrior’s masculinity, Estelle Winwood’s age, the intellect of several supporting actresses….
The list goes on. Besides, the riffs are aimed at CHARACTERS in FICTIONAL portrayals. Joe Don Baker just happens to play a lot of boorish slobs. It’s make-believe, remember?
And maybe you’ve got it backwards. Rather than Mike steering the ship in 512(before he officially took over which seems unlikely), perhaps Joel reveled in one last chance to really unload on a truly loathsome character (Mitchell).
I’m sorry if it seems that the world keeps changing and stacking up against you, but that’s how it works. You are not the center of the universe. We do not exist to do your bidding, or to make things easier for you. We all gotta do our own thing, and your choice is to adjust or whine about it. You perpetually select the latter. And though while your pessimism and obstinance frustrate me, I admire your dependability! You are reliably a killjoy. There’s a certain beauty to that, too.
Motto of the Round Table, adopt, adapt and improve!
I’m convinced EricJ is actually either Tom Shales or the Dot Matrix Printer Guy (or “DMPG” as I call whoever that was) with a new “I HATE _______ ” banner all primed and ready to be mailed to the new studio in LA.
MST3K was gone for so long that I never expected it to be back. The Sci-Fi Channel treated it badly at end and if there was anything more that I wanted it was more episodes back then. I moved on and seeing as how I missed most of the CC era, I had plenty of MST3K that was new to me. So no, my life doesn’t depend on this revival of MST3K. This show is getting a new host of questionable quality. It will also have a new Mad, Crow, Servo and presumably Gypsy. God knows what their voices will sound like. Servo is especially going to be hard accept since Kevin Murphy=Tom Servo. Please give more credit to those voicing concern about this revival of MST3K. It’s not just typical internet negativity.
I’ve been a MSTie since 1991 and it’s absolutely great that they’re reviving the show. But, I’ve seen The Meltdown enough times to think that Jonah Ray isn’t very funny. He’s one of those comedians that just tells goofy stories, but I don’t think I’ve ever actually laughed at anything he said. Compare that to Joel’s hysterical standup that’s still funny 25 years later and I’m a little concerned.
But I will be there day one for sure.
For those who claim to “not get” the negativity…Would I watch Ash Vs. Evil Dead without Bruce Campbell? X-Files revival without Anderson and Duchovny? Twin Peaks with somebody else playing Agent Cooper? No sir. So why in the world would I watch (let alone donate to see) MST3K without Joel, Mike, Trace, Frank or any of the others appearing in it? Not so tough to understand guys.
I really don’t see what makes this Internet negativity any different from “typical” Internet negativity. It’s a bunch of dudes handwringing about a thing they haven’t seen yet, because they’re upset that a revived version of a thing they liked is not going to be the same as the version they liked before. Sounds pretty typical to me.
We’ve still got plenty of time before we find out whether this turns out to be like Heath Ledger as the Joker (where all the people preemptively ranting about the casting turned out to be wrong) or Michael Bay producing the new Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles movie (where all the people preemptively ranting about the style of the film turned out to be right).
On the other hand, would you watch Star Trek without Captain Kirk? Batman without Adam West? Little Shop of Horrors remade as a musical?
For the record, I’m a big fan of Agent Doggett.
Weren’t “Squirm” and “Mitchell” R-rated? Their edited forms didn’t really affect the MST3K versions much (except in “Mitchell” when John Saxon disappears from the story).
But on the other hand, MST3K is a show that has passed the torch before for every character. If SNL went off the air on 1999 and came back in 2015, people probably wouldn’t expect Jimmy Fallon, Tracy Morgan and Will Ferrell to be a part of it.
Or in Doctor Who parlance, when the series relaunched in 2005, fans didn’t expect Paul McGann or Sylvester McCoy to come back.
I’d almost prefer if in series Jonah wasn’t the third host, but the seventh, and we find out that experiments were ongoing over the 16 years off the air.
It’s like you guys are making my point for me. I’d rather see Adam West put back in the suit that Ben frickin’ Affleck for God’s sake. And that horrible Star Trek Jar Jar Abrams rehash with fake Captain Kirk and Scotty of the Dead? I liked Batman and Star Trek growing up but they’re dead to me now. You want MST3K to be the same kind of embarrassment as those? Maybe Jonah Ray could look at his phone the whole time he’s in the theater, I bet the kids would love that. Sheesh. Talk about low standards.
To some of us, while Kevin Murphy is undoubtedly beloved, he is NOT “Tom Servo” in that I started watching MST during the 1st season. To me, and I suspect others, Josh and Kevin are BOTH “Tom Servo,” in much the same way as “Host” = Joel AND Mike.
While haters are gonna hate – that’s what they do – I feel compelled to say: folks, you’re gonna get out of the revived MST what you should expect to get – good riffs on amusingly bad movies. We’ve seen plenty of examples of new people fitting into established roles on this show. The new cast members will be fine. It’s just a show, you should really just relax.
Jeez Louise what a drama queen! :rotfl:
That attitude precludes the possibility of a Michael Keaton or Christian Bale excelling after Adam West.
I know, the next logical counterargument is George Clooney. That’s fair.
In the case of Clooney, bear in mind that director Joel Schumacher lacked the appropriately dark directorial style of Burton or Nolan. Joel Hodgson overseeing the reboot of a show he created is quite different from Schumacher overseeing the direction of the Batman films.
Hear me out: I’m not saying that the rebooted show will automatically be the best television solely due to Joel’s involvement or creative direction. I’m saying the reboot deserves better than a complete and thorough bashing before anyone even sees the first minute of the first episode.
Putting too much of a focus on the J.J. Abrams films (a film series reboot that was positively received by critics and audiences if we look at the IMDB and Rotten Tomatoes, but for the sake of discussion, let’s move past that) ignores a point that Thad implicitly makes, that a “new series must be exactly like the old series or nothing at all” mindset would have prevented the creation of Star Trek: The Next Generation.
TNG followed more or less a similar approach to the original series – granted with a larger budget and more advanced special effects – but it had its own distinct elements that were enjoyable in their own right. TNG didn’t have Shatner, Nimoy, or the rest of the original cast members as main characters, but that wasn’t a strike against it.
Skepticism isn’t a bad thing. MST3K drove home the point that we shouldn’t passively accept everything that’s thrown at us, the viewers.
With that said, the negativity I’ve seen strays far from healthy skepticism. I don’t agree with tearing the show to pieces before the reboot has even started filming. I’m very excited about the show’s return and Jonah Ray as the new host, but I’m going to be fair. I won’t automatically say that the reboot is good without having seen any of it.
What I’m saying is that we should wait and see with an open mind, that healthy skepticism should not give way to unwarranted negativity. I don’t think we should praise the reboot as exceptional or criticize it as unexceptional until it premieres in the not-too-distant future. It deserves that much.
Because Joel is spearheading it.
I really don’t know what to think because I have no freakin’ clue who Jonah Ray is.
Also, call me crazy but I think Affleck will make an OK Batman.
As for “Jar Jar” Abrams’ Star Trek reboot, like Green Switch said both films were fairly well-received, and let’s not forget that at least HALF of the “classic” Trek films were crap(namely 1, 3, and *shudder* 5)
Adam west? man who cares about that guy!? I WANNA SEE LEWIS WILSON FROM THE 1940s SERIALS AS BATMAN AGAIN!
Hmmmm…I’ve managed to steer blissfully clear of angry internet nerds for a long time but my excitement at new MST (whether it’s good or not…just the prospect of it is thrilling to me, we’ll see how it turns out!) has gotten me back to reading message boards and such.
This leads me to a question:
WHY ARE SO MANY PEOPLE SO BITTER!?!?!?!?!?!
The problem with Abrams’ Star Trek is that it wanted to be “different”, with the new timeline, but Abrams’ own personal fanboy instincts took over, and turned both movies into just a mindless fan-pageant string of connected Wrath of Khan geek-references.
Which would be the equivalent of turning any new movie-riffing reboot into a fan-whoring string of Manos and Space Mutiny references, and……..oh, wait. ;)
In fact, during TNG S1, we were so willing to accept a new distinct series after the pilot aced it, that we jeered when two or three episodes in, they did a “homage” rehash of an earlier-series episode just for the “fan-tribute” of it.
If Jonah does well (IF), we’ll be into the new rhythm of the show enough to be looking more at what movies Joel’s involvement picks than whether anyone parrots classic old-series line or whether the new Crow can sound like Trace. (And if the new Crow can actually be funny without having his unfunnily merciless beating of dead-horse gags, and in-joke camaraderie-kidding at the complete obliviousness of the movie, be written in as part of the character, I’ll give it the benefit of the doubt.)
Rather than when they thought they could simply swap cast members, say “Mike can do the new Invention Exchanges!” in Brain That Wouldn’t Die, and discovered that he didn’t want to read viewer letters and couldn’t do prop comedy for three or four episodes without sinking back into “Minimum-wage waiter at T.J. Bearwiches” jokes again.
Oh, good. EricJ is back.
You do realize that your alternate reality of what occurred would have meant that MST3K was cancelled and critically reviled after Mike took over? Instead, the show thrived for 4 and a half more seasons and continued to gain critical acclaim and new fans.
YOU clearly didn’t enjoy Mike and that’s fine. I didn’t enjoy Pearl – I loathed her character, in fact. But, it’s not subjective – it’s an objective fact that the majority of the MST3K fanbase enjoyed Mike. Otherwise, there is no way it would’ve run through Season 10 nor would Rifftrax have any substantive following.
Let it go, man. Let it go.
Is it known how many writers this show will have? The original series seemed to benefit from having at least five people contributing to the riffing.
Maybe all the others died from various reasons, but the new Mads won’t get this guy Jonah.
Again, not to be too critical here, but the “replacement roles will result in a horrible product” rule is not a universal one.
People scoffed at the idea of a Mad Max film without Mel Gibson in the title role, but Tom Hardy showed up for Fury Road and we got an incredible film as a result.
The James Bond and Doctor Who franchises have highs and lows, sure, but overall, it seems for the best that they didn’t end after Sean Connery and William Hartnell respectively called it quits.
Color me optimistic, but I think there’s a good possibility that Jonah Ray and the crew will give us an excellent show. If they don’t, keep an “I told you so” on standby.
You know – it’s perfectly fine to have that opinion and also it’s perfectly fine to not donate to MST3K with that opinion.
However, I feel sorry for you. To have an attitude that “Nothing can ever be as good as the original version” seems to be both shortsighted and a good way to miss out on some fantastic entertainment.
I’m going to move away from the usual comparisons here – star trek and Dr. Who analogies abound – and use one of the more recent Sherlock re-dos as an example. Sherlock Holmes and Dr. Watson have been played by approximately 20,000 different actors over the last 100 years. Three recent versions have cropped up – all rather successful: The RDJ/Jude Law movie series, The Miller/Liu TV series, and the Cumberbatch/Freeman BBC short-form series. I have been a fan of Sherlock Holmes for a good part of my life. I’ve read all the original Conan Doyle stories. I’ve enjoyed some previous incarnations. The CBS TV show is OK, it captures a bit of the Holmes spirit, but it is rather a watered down version. I’ve seen a few episodes but I don’t watch it. The RDJ movies were enjoyably pulp. Some aspects were clever, but the movies seem very disposable. The BBC series however is F**king AMAZING. The show is not an exact retelling of classic Holmes, though it plays with many of the original stories, and it is set in modern times, but it is SO well written and smart and exactly in the spirit of the stories and I just absolutely love it.
My point: If I took your attitude, I would have dismissed ALL of those series, as none stayed with the original stories. They weren’t the original Basil Rathbone casts, and they weren’t written by Conan Doyle. Two of those series, I probably wouldn’t have missed that much not having experienced them. But the third, well BBC’s Sherlock is probably one of my 5 favorite things produced in the 21st century. SO much so that if someone told me I can fund 5 more seasons of MST3K or 5 more series of Sherlock, I would choose the latter. And the idea that someone would miss out on that just because “it wasn’t the original”, well it makes me sad.
But – staying with the analogy – at some point, this team making the BBC Sherlock will stop doing it. I feel very lucky that we got a 3rd and now a 4th series – but I know it may not go beyond that. However, I’ll probably keep watching other people try to do Sherlock Holmes. There’s a good chance that no-one will do it as well as this one, but that doesn’t mean that future versions won’t have merit.
So, I am not telling you that you should donate your hard-earned money for a show you don’t feel should return. BUT, I am saying since it looks like it’s coming back anyways – how about checking the attitude at the door and giving it a chance. Maybe, just maybe, you’ll have a good time. And no it won’t be the same as the original. But sometimes, that’s OK.
Carly Simon confirmed that one of the men in her song “You’re So Vain” was Warren Beatty. The other two? She said she surprised herself by giving one name.
EricJ’s favorite music festival? The WE Fest!
Eric J’s favorite video game console? The Wii!
Eric J’s favorite Three Stooges short? Wee Wee Monsieur!
To hit this point a touch more – Rathbone wasn’t the first Holmes on film, not by several… and that’s even if we don’t count the stage. And the Bogie version of Maltese Falcon we all love so much is the 3rd or 5th version of the film (depending on exactly how close to the source it has to be to count). And as a Trek fan who spent months waiting for the TNG premier, I loved the 1st JJ Trek. Second was a hot mess due to a terrible script, but the first was a ton of fun with an amazing cast.
I just don’t get the pre-hate. I don’t really understand feeling it in the first place – skepticism, yeah.. sure, not the bile. I understand even less this need to spend hours of your time telling folks happy about the possibilities how you just KNOW it’s gonna be worse that a cold turd-sandwich even though you know nothing more about what it will eventually be than anyone else, and considerably less than some folks we supposedly trust. And even further I’ve no concept of how someone like EricJ operates – if you’ve really hated all that the show’s been for the past 22 years so much, how and why in the name of all that’s can you still sit here mired in it with folks you love something you so clearly loathe.
And I don’t mean that as some kind of attack, I just really, truly, deeply can’t fathom it.
Not bitter; I donated good money to the Kickstarter, but let’s be honest. The long-standing hope of many, myself included, was that, regardless of who would host, the reboot would reunite the creative team that was responsible for the overall tone and quality of the original series. My admiration for Joel as a creative and funny individual aside, he was absolutely not personally responsible for the quality of MST3K which was more than amply demonstrated by its continued success after his departure. If he were, the series would have folded and TV Wheel would have run for a half decade or more. While I love the cute puppets and the clever format, they were simply conduits for the creativity of a very specific group of people with a very specific brand of humor, and their efforts, more than anything else, are the reason why the show has maintained and expanded the fan following that is making the reboot feasible. Joel, however, seems convinced that the key to MST3K’s success is a combination of puppets, carpentry, backstory, and stand-up comedians. LA-MST3K may prove very funny, but a lot of things are very funny. But, as has been said, it’s just a show.