You’ve had a crappy day. Your boss was a dink, your project was a failure, things didn’t go how you planned, something disappointing or even downright bad happened.
Now you’re back home. You need cheering up. And you’re a MSTie, so you know what you need.
I hear from MSTies all the time that MST3K is often the perfect thing to pick them up when they’re down.
Works for me, too. My favorite pick-me-up ep is 601- GIRLS TOWN. I never get tired of it. Great riffing, wacky movie. I always feel better when it’s over.
What episode do you pick when you need cheering up?
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Weekend Discussion Thread: Episodes That Cheer You Up182 Replies to “Weekend Discussion Thread: Episodes That Cheer You Up”Commenting at Satellite News
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“Vitamin MST3K”. I like that.
Hard to choose just one.
I like different eps for different reasons. Sometimes it’s just that the movie itself is just so darn goofy. Sometimes it’s the riffing. And sometimes it’s just that feel-good vibe to the host segments. I love when Joel and the ‘Bots are just hanging out and talking – If you were a monster, what would your signature attribute be? What do you want for Christmas? What’s the deal with all those single parent families? What were the ’60’s like? Is the band Styx a subtle harbinger of Hell itelf?
It’s all good.
Some of my faves that cheer me up:
Eegah!
Teenagers from Outerspace
Pod People
Manos (believe it – or not.)
Tormented (see above)
The Magic Voyage of Sinbad
The Day the Earth Froze
Cave Dwellers
Daddy-O
Santa Claus Conquers the Martians
I Accuse My Parents
Mitchell
Creeping Terror
The Incredible Melting Man
Night of the Blood Beast
Escape 2000
Time Chasers
…and many more…
Let’s face it – if MST3K had never come into existence, we’d all be walking around in a zombie haze.
Episodes that cheer me up when most needed:
– Rocketship X-M
– Monster A-Go Go
– Cave Dwellers
– Robot Vs. Aztec Mummy
– Magic Voyage of Sinbad
– First Spaceship On Venus
and many more too numerous to list, but the ones listed are some of my most watched because they always make me smile no matter how bad the day.
The tunes always cheer me up.
Someone really needs to make a cover of the Manos soundtrack. It always picks me up, especially the closing credits number.
Night Train to Mundo Fine, along with the Ave Maria performed by Clif Weismeyer’s blind daughter, are also cheerful ditties from Red Zone Cuba.
Boggy Creek II elevates my spirit to hitherto unknown levels, especially after listening to “On the Wings of a Dove” and the Sears catalog crapper scene. Even the tragic Sidehackers warms me, closing with “Only Love Pads the Film.”
If some boy choir (or perhaps Enya or the Celtic Women)covered the songs (along with the majestic MST3K closing credits tune), I know I’d buy a copy.
Now, who could we get to cover “Toobular Boobular Joy”?
Oh, and the Union Pacific shorts always cheer me in an “it could be worse” sort of way.
Space Mutiny has to be number one for me. It’s just so goofy and the riffing so on that it immediately perks me up no matter how many times I’ve watched it.
“Rip his band uniform so he has to pay for it!”
“She’s got an armadillo down her trousers!”
“Bob Johnson!”
The bad special effects, the girly scream of our hero, and grandma daughter all make me love this episode.
Probably Space Mutiny, I mean that one doesn’t even need riffing to be funny
a lot of people are saying “Mitchell” though, apparently I need to see that one lol
Hard to say which one (many of the movies they used were downers). The Russo-Finnish films “Day The Earth Froze”, “Jack Frost” and “Magic Voyage Of Sinbad” are colorful and fun. The two Santa Claus films are good too.
And I must also agree, “Space Mutiny” is so wonderfully incompetent it would cheer the stoniest of moods.
I’ve got to go with The Creeping Terror. It came along at a very dark time in my life and helped me laugh through it. It always makes me smile.
For me the cheeriest movies were always the ones that can let me drift off to sleep contently.
Last of the Wild Horses.
Because evil!Mike can always make me happy.
Girl in Gold Boots
Godzilla movies — any of them
Yeah, different episodes cheer me up in different ways at different times.
Girls Town is way up there for me, definitely near the top. So are Angels Revenge, Master Ninja, Rocky Jones, and Riding with Death.
If I had to pick one, I’d pick Operation Double 007. The over-the-top opening song, the trippy showgirl ambush or whatever it is, the On Golden Pond riffs later on, the whole thing is pretty goofy.
“Norman, the calla lilies are raining hot lead!”
The people who keep answering Space Mutiny no matter what the question is should really see a second episode. They might be surprised to find that some of the other episodes are really funny, too.
Both Master Ninjas
I Accuse My Parents
Outlaw
“Horror At Party Beach” literally kept me going through a rough patch ten years or so ago.
Ring Of Terror, Jack Frost, Blood Waters Of Dr. Z, Red Zone Cuba, Skydivers, Beast Of Yucca Flats and Assignment:Venezuela never fail to cheer me up. My wife loves The Undead and The Thing That Couldn’t Die. The three volumes of shorts and MST3K:The Home Game also work wonders.
‘Monster-A-Go-Go’ or ‘Werewolf.’
For me, there’s only one answer: “MANOS”
And I’m not forcing myself to pick just one; it really is the only choice. You see, I’m pretty sure I have a mild case of Asperger’s Syndrome, partly because I often get locked into one emotion for a long stretch, regardless of stimuli. As annoying as it can be to remain genuinely happy even when a nice day takes an unexpected detour to visit relatives in the hospital, I also can’t risk watching anything uplifting when I’m really upset because my emotion might contaminate my memory of something otherwise cheerful instead of the reverse. When I have a bad enough day that my brain makes its predictable jump from “really irritated” to “cloudy” to “partly genocidal”, “MANOS”, and only “MANOS”, is the experiment with the perfect balance of fun, hatred, and nihilism to put me in a mood of cheerful misanthropy.
That is, if I have to pick an episode. I’m actually a LOT more likely to pop in ‘New York Ripper’. You see, “MANOS” is also enjoyable any old time, but Lucio Fulci’s take on the Big Apple is tough for even me to sit through unless I’m in a mood to secede from my species, and if there’s one thing I can’t stand, it’s a wasted opportunity. The ending’s even similar to “MANOS”’s, with a little girl who’s the only character you don’t despise by the end being dealt an even more haunting fate of slowly rotting to death in a hospital, suddenly and permanently all alone, and then the camera zooms out as the peppy theme song comes back on to tell us that no one in the big city will ever know or care, now or after she’s gone. Once I’ve had a good laugh at that, I know I’ll cheer right up and be horrified at having laughed at it first thing in the morning.
Uh…did I mention that another symptom of Asperger’s Syndrome is total honesty, even if that means delving into the nature of violent depression and missing the point of an otherwise uplifting thread? Well, I’ve had a bad month, and that’s what’s in my heart. Where my blood belongs.
I’ll get Volume XV for my birthday on the 14th though. The Girl in Lover’s Lane might cheer me up. Maybe. I dunno.
These are my favorites:
The Creeping Terror (the only copy in my extensive collection to not make it through Katrina :cry: )
Track of the Moon Beast (when he’s listing ingredients for his stew or whatever never fails to crack me up)
Escape 2000 (after he blows up the helicopter and continues to look up in the sky “Boy, it’s staying up there a really long time.” Priceless)
Manos (“What is that?” “A symbol of their love?” “Well it’s not framed very well.” Fav riff)
MST3K: The Movie (it was actually the first mst3k I ever saw and it will always have a soft spot in my heart)
Why Study Industrial Arts? (since this whole short is just a list of reasons why you should it makes for some of the best riffing to date)
Johnny at the Fair (how Joel starts it off saying not to get too dark and that’s exactly what they do)
These are just my fav’s. But every single episode will automatically bring a grin to my face, especially if they are ones I’ve never seen before and there’s a lot of those.
I gotta go with Gamera vs Guiron. The host segs are great, the “thank you” scene with the two women is hilarious, and the bicycle song and Cornjob…. well, I could go on and on….
I always loved the Christmas movies:
Santa Claus and Santa Claus conquers the martians
also:
Godzilla versus Megalon
Wild Rebels
Teenage strangler
The rebel set
I accuse my Parents
Werewolf
Girl in golden boots
Sidehackers
Hellcats
Horror of Party Beach. Not even the whole movie, just the scene with the two drunks “I thought all-nude was a dress code.”
Hey! Do farts have lumps?
mine? TIME CHASERS it’s pretty easy going down – and it just makes me laugh.
“Hi I’m Bob Evil.”
Definitely prince of space, cave dwellers or pod people also! They are a soothing blanket of funny when my day has gone bad.
My three choices are:
Catalina Caper: goofy, no one in the cast is really despicably evil, bright California colors (I love the look of the 1960’s beach movies). And of course, the beautiful women.
Daddy-O: I think I would actually enjoy watching this without the riffing (seriously, there are bits of dialogue that I think are terrific). Although the riffing is top notch. The songs are fun. The B&W atmosphere of the 1950’s hipster that ain’t that hip and the set design (the teen hangouts, Bruce’s really small gym, Janet’s palatial estate) is visual and sensory perfection. I also love it because of James Ellroy’s short story based on Dick Contino and this movie.
Teenage Strangler: again, I love the atmosphere of this film and I can’t get enough of Mikey.
BONUS: Short to watch… Young Man’s Fancy (Crinkle Cut Potatoes). To this day, I don’t understand the point of this or why it was even made, but start to finish, this might be my favorite riffing, I have the whole thing memorized.
Almost any 2nd to 10th season episode will do, MST3k has helped me get through a lot of bad days.
Pod People and Squirm for me. They’re two of my all-time favorite episodes and they never fail to comfort me.
There’s a small list, some of them only on fading tapes. But I think Cave Dwellers is my best cheery episode. Or sometimes Fugitive Alien (I’m weird) or Wild Rebels or Santa Claus or The Day the Earth Froze…
I Accuse My Parents for me. Peppy songs, pretty ladies (PC enough?), razor sharp riffing and great host segments.
Otherwise pretty much any short. The line from Design for Dreaming, “Honey, are you read-Oh my God!” always gets a laugh from me.
Always.
Boggy Creek II and the Legend Continues or Prince of Space, both very silly and full of good riffs.
and for when the Christmas blues set in Santa Clause Conquers the Martians.
The Rocky Jones movies really pick me up when I’m down. (Well, Manhunt In Space anyway, haven’t seen Crash of the Moons yet).
Samson vs the Vampire Women is my favourite period, so that always helps.
Racket Girls, though mostly for Are You Ready For Marriage and Rita Martinez’s acting.
The Commando Cody serial.
Usually the best for me when I’m down is the ’50’s Sci-Fi movies.
Overdrawn at the Memory Bank, by far. The last of WNET’s Sci-Fi trilogy, and from what I have heard, the worst of the three. “Mom, my nuts” cracks me up every time”
My dad actually has the first film of the trilogy, “The Lathe Of Heaven” on DVD. I really need to take the time to watch it.
Don’t ask what the second film of the trilogy was. I don’t remember.
Wow!
I really needed this thread this weekend. Thanks for all the suggestions.
The PBS Lathe of Heaven was pretty good. The remake, less so.
Prince of Space, Werewolf and Space Mutiny–my three absolute favorites. They’ve always been hysterical, but now that I’m taking editing classes at school, they’ve opened new opportunities for me to test my error-catching skills. I used Lt. Lamont last week in class as an example of poor continuity editing.
There are so many, but if I think about it for only a second, the first episode that comes to mind is Space Mutiny. The many names of Commander Shriekslikeagirl never fail to put a huge grin on my face. And all of the recycled Battlestar Galactica footage makes me nostalgiac for my childhood.
Danger!! Death Ray. So ridiculous, great riffs, and a reminder that if a movie this bad can be made, whatever failures you may have suffered that day pale in comparison.
And, Prince of Space. Goofy and hilarious.
;)
#112 Untamed Youth
#423 Bride of the Monster
#503 Swamp Diamonds
#810 Giant Spider Invasion
#817 Horror of Party Beach
#820 Space Mutiny
#903 The Puma Man
#908 The Touch of Satan
and then all the rest, K-10….
I rotate through different episodes over time for anti-stress treatment. But if I had to choose one best episode for comforting, I’d probably go with “Catalina Caper”. I love the music, I love the riffs, and it’s really rather upbeat.
#117 The Bolem, you’re trying to mess with our heads, aren’t you? :evil:
Impossible to pick just one …
#1 Riding with Death
#2 Puma Man
#3 Cave Dwellers
#4 The Magic Voyage of Sinbad
Honorable mentions:
Master Ninja 1 & 2, Last of the Wild Horses, Space Mutiny, Final Sacrifice (the scenes with the “D’ooooh, i’ll get that varmint” Yosemite Sam riffs always get me!)
Time for a by-season list:
1. Moon Zero Two – Best opening credits ever.
2. Hellcats – Upbeat and has the Shatner sketch from Crawling Hand
3. Cave Dwellers – “Ator! Ator my sweet friend!”
4. The Day the Earth Froze – No biggie there.
5. Operation Double 007 – I like this even without the riffing.
6. The Sword and the Dragon – “I’ve never hit a damn thing! It’s astounding!”
7. Deathstalker and the Warriors from Hell – “Stick stealer!”
8. Space Mutiny – All-time favorite episode.
9. The Final Sacrifice – “Rowsdower!”
10. Track of the Moon Beast – I’d eat Johnny’s stew if I wasn’t allergic to some of the ingredients.
Horror at party beach”do you smell fish?”
Devil doll “Jug eared stomach eaters.”
Squirm”Mr.Breeeaaarrrrdsley!”
Space mutiny “Hello Grammadaughter!”
Deadly Bees”Have you seen the dogs meat?”
Puma man”When you want the flavor of bacon in a chip”
Boy, I agree with everyone who’s having a hard time choosing just one! I need a whole list, in no particular order:
Space Mutiny–the crap and the riffing are in perfect sync.
Eegah–“Watch out for snakes!” has become a cherished part of my personal vocabulary.
Final Sacrifice–“You use too much mousse . . . ”
The Girl in Gold Boots–“Oh, I’d like to have that pretty mind back!”
Outlaw–The dwarf buffalo shots, Watney Smith, “Tubular-Bubular Joy”: an instant classic!
Laserblast–with the all-time greatest MST scene, when the fat, greasy sheriff gets blasted on the hopper . . .
Skydivers–w/ the Swing Choir face-off
Well, and then Teenage Strangler, Danger Death Ray, Incredible Melting Man . . . and whatever else I’m in the mood for when I need a pick-me-up . . .
It has to be a very good episode to get me out of some funks. “Jack Frost” or one of the sword and sandal flicks usually does the trick. If I’m especially jaded, “Starfighters” with the The United Servo Academy Men’s Chorus gets me a good laugh.
Late as usual but here goes:
***Deathstalker…ATWFH : (Bat-winged helmeted knight riding through the forest) Squeek! Squeek!
***Gamera Vs Gurion : (Gamera on the swing bar) – “that’s Cathy Rigbee in that suit”
***Fugitive Alien I : (Ken with reflective object) – “New! from the Franklin Mint!”
***Fugitive Alien II : (peeking from top of a desert dune) – “John!…Paul!…George!…Pete Best!”
***Village Of The Giants : (giant Beau Bridges falling) – “buffalo shot that covered three states!” & (giant dog standing on hind legs) – “I wanna go walkeeees!”
***Crash Of The Moons : (John Bannergram & “Poopee!” stinger)
***Wild Rebels : (Wild Rebels Cereal jingle) – “porin’ milk on them’s like settin’ off a gun!” & Banjo’s “you’re messin’ with private stock”
***Mitchell : (Mitchell’s arguement with kid) “Buzz Off Kid!” & (Mitchell running for the gate) – “Keep Your Eeeeyyyyeeee on the Sandwich!”
***#816/#819 any scene/host segment with Krankor : HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HA! HAAAAHHHH!!!!
Uh oh… forgot one (probably more):
*** Magic Sword : (Basil Rathbone dog biscuits) – “now in pesto for the pretentious dog”
Sampo
Great thread but, as you can see from the responses, there are a lot of stressed folks out there who are having bad days, often!
A few readers have shared that these movies provide them with actual relief from very real malodies. You can add me to this list. I am short on the necessary seratonin/dopamine levels and these shows really do help get through the week. Your web site is also a big help so thanks alot!