What would it be? It would not only have to be a great episode but it would have to be one that would be good on repeat viewings.
Mine may surprise you: It’s episode 610- THE VIOLENT YEARS
(with short: “YOUNG MAN’S FANCY”)
To me, it just has everything an MST3K episode should have. Every single host segment is great (though the “Star is Born” thing Tom does is probably the least funny), the short is weird, the movie was written by Ed Wood and features the classic “lady violating the poor defenseless guy” scene, and the riffing is top-notch throughout. They are just firing on all cylinders.
That’s mine. What’s yours?
This topic is certain to demonstrate the truth of what has come to be known as “Sampo’s Theorem” which states: “For every MSTie who believes a given episode is the worst thing they ever did, there is another who believes it is their finest hour.”
Oh, and I will allow honorable mentions, but only one. Mine would be episode 416- FIRE MAIDENS OF OUTER SPACE.
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You know, I’m gonna have to go out on a limb here and take the MST movie. I don’t know if anyone else has said it, I just think that’s the way I’d have to go. I mean it shows lots more of the ship than we typically get and that’ll be a big help when I’m trying to build my life sized SOL model in order to pass the time on my island alone.
I’ve got to agree with Rachel. The Day The Earth Froze is just so weird that It’s hilarious even without the great riffing (“Where’s my Sampo!”).
Santa Claus is a very, very close second. The prancing Devil (“Even Hell got an NEA grant”), those nauseating kids, and the commentary by the narrator combine to make this a sidesplitting move in its own right. Add the commentary and, I’m in bad movie nirvana!
(and it kills me to leave out Teenagers From Outer Space, but I’m glad to see that it is well represented on this list too)
I would have to go with really old “Teenagers from Outerspace” The riffing is great throughout and the host segments are great especially the “Reel life and “Real life” sketch. So give me the space teens and I’d be set for quite a long while. I do think it should be a top 5 or top 10 list though.
Honorable mention would have to be “The Attack of the the Eye Creatures” it makes me cackle each time I see it.
Have to pick my beloved Riding With Death.
I can watch it endlessly and still get laughs.
Runner-up is way too tough. I want to pick Red Zone Cuba but I fear it would drive me over the edge of sanity. The Lost Continent & Wild Rebels are very rewatchable too-and Deadly Mantis. and Teenage Crimewave. Oh, this is just too frustrating!!
After a few minutes scan through the other entries, I agree with the writers who suggest a Top 10 list- there are at least that many episodes I treasure, and actually they would all be tied for the gold medal. I’ll be right there for that list! But anyway, thats not what you asked for, so:
My #1 pick would be Prince of Space: great host segments surfing the wormhole, especially Mike as the other dimensional robot. And you can’t get a much better villain than Krankor (“crank-whore?”) and a Japanese place on the map called Beaver Falls. And some of my favorite riffs: “Somebody stole my cup!”; “Cecil Fielder!”; and “my baby sunhat and smock will protect me!” And, of course, Krankor’s laugh. Cracks me up every time.
Runner-up: The Creeping Terror. A totally botched and totally goofy movie that the crew relentlessly hits hard and well.
Wow, 100+ comments already!
It’s really hard to choose. A lot of people hate it because the movie is SO bad, but I really like Wild Wild World of Batwoman.
All the Russian fantasy movies have excellent riffing plus a movie that, for what it is, is rather cool.
I’m with Sampo on this. I have always loved The Violent Years. This episode has great host segments, a great short, and a movie that is so ripe for riffing. I could watch this 24/7.
My runner-up would have to be I Accuse My Parents, far and away my favorite Joel episode.
Thought I was going to have to apologize for picking SciFi era episodes, because elsewhere I constantly run into comments about how awful they are, but I can see I have plenty of company here.
First choice: “Final Justice”–Among other things, I just love the song the ‘bots sing during the closing credits.
Honorable Mention: “Final Sacrifice”–all I can say is, “Rowsdower!”
So hard to choose …
I’d have to flip a coin between Cave Dwellers, Space Mutiny, Time Chasers, and Overdrawn At The Memory Bank.
Bearing in mind that I am currently limited to those eps that Rhino has managed to release. :cry:
Giant Gila Monster. Why, because I haven’t seen yet (but I am eagerly awaiting my copy in the mail). But wait, we are imagining that I own every episode and have seen them all. In that case I would choose The Dead Talk back because I know it is good but I haven’t watched it to death yet. If I were to send a movie to someone on a deserted island who had never seen MST3K before it would be Hobgoblins with an honorable mention for Manos……..The Hands of Fate.
Space Mutiny!
It’s not only my favorite, but one could keep their sanity on a deserted island by counting all of the “railing kills”…
“Sting, Debbie Reynolds, and God”
“Guy Pringle was the lobster boy? Man I’d hate to slam a stack of that guy”
There are so many amazing ones to choose from those I’ve seen, but I can only imagine what goodness I’ve missed from the episodes I haven’t seen.
If I am stuck on an island, it means I have finally been forced to take a vacation and mean it.
To celebrate such a monumental, rare happenstance, I would pack “Boggy Creek 2” as my first choice, and I’d take “Space Mutiny” too. Since I hate traveling alone, I would force the boyfriend to pack “Overdrawn” as “his” first choice and “Giant Spider Invasion” as “his” backup.
Like one other reviewer said…I can’t get enough of the railing kills, and let’s face it, there’s nothing funnier than hearing Crow say, “She’s got an armadillo down her trousers” in a Crocodile Dundee accent. And when Dave screams in triumph, it sets off a running gag where Mike and the Bots scream like women at random points until the film ends. HILARIOUS!
Eighties workout gear as spacesuits is a side-splitting treat that’s not to be missed. I have never seen so much spandex in my life until I saw “Space Mutiny.”
“Giant Spider Invasion” has an enormous set of film disasters all packed into one convenient compartment: horrifically dated sexist lines (even for when it was shot), smarmy rednecks, and a Volkswagen stretching its acting chops and pretending to be–wait for it!–a giant spider. How could that recipe NOT end in incredible laughter?
This needs to be a Top 10. But then we’d complain that it needs to be a Top 20. And then where will you be?
You must remember this…this movie really sucks!
Sooooo tuff! I guess I’d have to go for Skydivers…from start to finish, it’s just so bizarre with or without the commentary! But Manos – having Joe Cocker as your bellhop makes me weep every time. Same with Space Mutiny – Wooh! Someone stole my purse! I could go on…sigh.
“War of the Collosal Beast” because… c’mon… Mr. B-Natural, man. Just so funny-creepy.
My honourable mention is an obvious one but sometimes they’re obvious for a reason. Manos the… Hands of Fate.
There’s something about how astonishingly bad a film Manos really is. There are a lot of movies MST3K handled that weren’t so much awful as they were simply boring or low-budget or dumb.
Manos was transcendently terrible.
Actually, now that I think of it, flip the two.
Manos, man, Manos.
Hands down, “The Beast of Yucca Flats” is the best MST3K episode. The two shorts (one about saving money, the other about how Puerto Rico is “Progress Island U.S.A.”) are phenomenal and the riffing in the movie is amazing. Not to mention that this is one of the worst movies they watch. Terrible narration, no on-screen dialog, and the most spastic musical score man has ever dared to write and record. One of my favorite lines and a great example of classic Mike delivery:
“Tor Johnson as the beast…that’s just smart casting”
Hmmm This is a tough one….I think I’d have to go with OVERDRAWN AT THE MEMORY BANK with an honorable mention going to OPERATION DOUBLE 007 :grin:
I guess I’d have to go with 1006- Boggy Creek II: and the Legend Continues. Even though I’ve seen it a million times, the whole Crenshaw sequence, along with the repeated jabs at the perpetually unshirted Tim, make for an episode with a lot of longevity. My runner up I guess would be 911- Devil Fish.
For me it’s always been “THE DAY THE EARTH FROZE”, Episode 422.
“Don’t call me mistress in front of company” always makes me laugh as well as the Beach Boys send off as the hero is logging down the rivier.
My runner up is hard to day but if push came to shove I would pick Episode 620, “Danger! Death Ray.’ The riffing on bump-pa-da-da is endless and never ceases to get to me.
I think it has to be Bride of the Monster, with Hired part 1, but the entire end of season 4 is solid gold for me: Monster A-Go Go, The Day the Earth Froze, and of course, Manos. But Bride wins because it’s an Ed Wood movie with Bela and Tor and an insane short preceding it.
Rats! Every time I managed to pick an episode or two, the next post on this thread brought up another great contender. I think I’ll count all the episodes mentioned in previous posts as unavailable, and give my Honorable Mention to “The Deadly Bees”, just because the movie itself is SOOO bad.
As for the DVD I’d bring with me, I’m going to skip the episodes and grab for “Shorts Vol. 1” By the time we got through “A Date With Your Family”, my wife and I were laughing so hard it hurt, but we couldn’t stop!
The line which really drove it home: “Father feigns eating, draws Junior out, then disowns him!”
i can’t believe that there are so many nerds among us (this is a good thing)! what a wonderful time to be living.
…i’d have to say circa 2000 my favorites were definitely; space mutiny, final sacrifice and girl in gold boots. i could and have watched them over and over. but of recent years i discovered a jewel that had evaded me. so, if i could only have one it would have to be ep. 519 OUTLAW OF GOR. which includes the best bit/song ever!!! TUBULAR BOOBULAR!
For me, it’d be I Accuse My Parents (with “The Truck Farmer”), absolutely no question. The riffs are really solid, the short is hilarious, and the movie itself is one of my favorite genre of bad movie; the “message” movie. And the message is just so idiotically conveyed on top of that.
The runner-up is a lot harder. There are easily a half-dozen or so I could list, so I won’t even bother. A top ten list or similar is something I would’ve done better with.
It’s unsuprising to see it mentioned only once, as it seems nobody loves the movie like me, but i would choose Prince of Space. I like it VERY much.
I Accuse My Parents is a good one. The message at the end, saying that it will be shown to servicemen overseas, makes me more forgiving of the movie. I can imagine all of those American soldiers, getting some rest after the horrors of battle. I’m sure that the last thing they need is some serious dramatic movie. I can also imagine them riffing the movie.
TIME CHASERS!!!!!!!!!! or if not that one, Touch of Satan. I would say ‘I accuse my parents’ but I’ve seen that one waaaaay too much, lol.
I never get tired of the musicals.
“The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living And Became Mixed-Up Zombies” just inches out ahead of “Girl In Gold Boots” – but so, so close.
“Warrior Of The Lost World” is the first episode that I ever caught – personal favorite. It is so hard to choose JUST ONE!
My favorite: “Riding With Death.”
Runner-up (which I don’t think has been mentioned yet): “San Francisco International.” (“Where the big B actors roar!”)
Some great choices on this thread. Gives me a lot of episodes to revisit.
Skydivers w/ Why Study Industrial Arts?
Honorable mention(s):
It Conquered the World w/ Snow Thrills
Eegah
The Beatniks w/ General Hospital pt. 2
My pick is number 116 on the list, but I forgot to give an honorable mention. This is the first episode I really fell in love with and I think it’s one of the strongest, easy…what with Pernell Roberts, Davey stealing the plane, and David Hartman having a tough face that challenges you, my honorable mention has to be:
San Francisco International
Not only is it a great episode, but they mention my home town! The gold that the crooks try to steal is from “the Federal Reserve of Juneau” as Clu Gulager’s character states. Funny thing is…there is no Federal Reserve in Juneau.
Soooo hard to choose. I’d probably go with “Jack Frost”. Honorable mention to “I Accuse My Parents” and “Being From Another Planet” (I know, I know, I’m breaking the rules but there are just too many top-notch eps in my opinion to narrow it down to one).
My choice would be easy “Time Chasers” I actually grew up in Castleton, vt so I would be reminded of home when I watched
“For Castleton!”
Just One??? Well, OK
Girl’s Town
Just look at the Credits: Mamie Van Doren(!), Elinor Donahue (princess), Paul Anka, Mel Torme (the velvet hog!), Dick Contino (Daddy-O)
Favorite riffs: The Bill Clinton guy pawing a girl saying ‘Hilary who?’. The Nun saying ‘It’s time to beat the word of God into her’. When the big girl first comes in and Crow says ‘Uh-Oh, Romulans!’ When the car crashes and everyone splits, the guy saying ‘Let’s get out of here’ DOES look like a gorilla, or Jerry Van Dyke.
This is a tough one with so many greats, but for me it would have to be 201 Rocketship X-M. The host segments are absolute killer (like “funny or not funny floating”), the movie is fun, the jokes during the movie are top-notch and unending. The running gags during the trip (“by this time my lungs” for example) to Mars and the running gags (such as the one with the singing of different songs for the “good” and “bad” guys) during the exploration of Mars are just a few of many highlights of a GREAT episode.
Close second for me is Monster A-Go Go with Circus On Ice. I can watch that one over and over as well. Tremendously funny from beginning to end.
Also close favorites for me: Lost Continent, Rocket Attack USA, Outlaw, Hercules Against The Moon Men, Teenagers from Outer Space.
Choosing one fav (with an honorable mention) is an act of futility; no matter what you choose, you quickly think of another episode that was just as funny. After much consideration, my choices and why are:
1) “Attack of the (the) Eye Creatures” for the double “the” at the title screen, oily as hell teenagers, goofiest monsters, and a physco in a sweater dress. This isn’t the best episode in my opinion, but one that for some reason I think of first when I think of the craziest.
Honorable Mention: “Teenage Strangler” with the “So Is This Love?” short. Having a woman who looks like she’s in her sixties playing a twenty-something is by itself a riot. Followed by a movie where nobody could act, featuring a whiny, wimpy kid named Mikey….it’s what Mystery Science Theater was created for!!
I’m keeping this at two choices….just like Sampo asked us to!
I’ll just say “Time Chasers.” But it has to be my original VHS copy because it has so many local commercials from my local cable station and it would remind me of home :cry:
Runner up: “Space Travellers.”
It would be easier to pick one from each “era”. :( But even though it isnt exactly the funniest episodeas a whole series, i’d have to go with Godzilla Versus Megalon. To me, it’s their very FIRST perfect episode, beggining to end It has everything i love about the show in it. Fun movie I already enjoy, great host segs and great invention exchange. And production-wise, they had it down by this time. Plus it’s still in a period before they became a bit more rapid-fire with the writing. It still has a bit of the laxidasical feel of season 1/early season 2, the period in which I first fell in love with the show. :)
So many great episodes, so little time!! But, if I had to choose, I’d pick the following episodes: The Brain That Wouldn’t Die; Teenage Strangler with short, Is This Love?; Girls Town; The Incredibly Strange Creatures…and Became Mixed Up Zombies; Mitchell; The Girl in Gold Boots; and Eegah!! I’ve repeatedly viewed all of these episodes, at one time or another, before retiring at night. All hilarious episodes! Its great to end each day laughing!
How about The Deadly Bees, The Giant Spider Invasion, Phantom Planet, Time Chasers, Pod People, Soultaker, or City on Fire.
Oh well, like so many times in my life, I failed to follow directions; so, to make amends, I’ll pick just one great episode this time. This would have to be The Girl in Gold Boots. The “icky elf” guy, Michelle’s dancing, Critter,–need I say more?!!
First choice: “Giant Spider Invasion” with Barbara Hale and Doughy Guy! Honorable Mention: “Final Sacrifice” shot on location in the Anne Murray National Forest. Both are simply perfect.
Toughest…question…ever. Ugh.
I’m gonna hav to go with “Star Force: Fugitive Alien II”. I don’t know exactly why it is, but that episode slays me from beginning to end.
Honorable Mention: “Ring of Terror”. The first one I ever saw and, thusly, the first one I ever fell in love with.
#79 “Then again if we’ve just supposin’ how about Invaders from the Deep and Revenge of the Mysterons From Mars?”
That’s what I was thinking. If the MST community knew I had one of them, they’d come rescue me.
My wife’s would definitely be “Space Mutiny.” Mine would probably be “Time Chasers” with runner-up “Overdrawn at the Memory Bank.”
A tie between two episodes. (Yeah, I know you said only one, but let’s just say I managed to smuggle another one past Homeland Security before the plane crash on the desert island…)
“Santa Claus” and “I Accuse My Parents”. I can’t get enough of either episode.
My pick would most certainly be 704 – The Incredible Melting Man.
There are those episodes where the riffs and the actual movie goofiness combine for perfection and I’ll have to say Deathstalker has that combo. I’ve watched it more than any other episode. So strange, so hilarious, so we eat potatoes.
The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed Up Zombies. Just because the movie itself is so bizarrely entertaining I think I could watch it with out the riffing. Runner up is Track of the Moon Beast. “Moonrock! Oh WOW!”
I would have to go with “Boggy Creek”, and runner up of “The Incredible Melting Man”…
Santa Claus Conquers the martians, hands down. Not necessarily my favorite, but one i could watch over and over again.