One of those is the Weekend Discussion Thread. Frankly we feel like the topic has been discussed from every conceivable angle. I’d like to add that for the many many years we’ve been doing the WDT, I have (nearly) always been impressed by the wit and wisdom of our commenters. But we feel the feature has run its course and outlived its usefulness.
The other is the weekly trip through the episode guide. To begin with KTMA and go, week by week, all the way through season 12 would be a four-year-plus commitment that, at age 62, I just cannot make.
Erhardt, our RiffTrax reporter, will continue to announce new riffs and will continue to handle tech issues with the site.
And I will continue to post This Date in MSTory and announce MSTory obituaries (and I do appreciate the “heads up”s I get from several regular readers when they hear about somebody who has passed on and has some connection to the show).
I will also cover any actual show news that arises. Hopefully one day I will be able to announce that Joel has found a new way to continue with our favorite cowtown puppet show.
The episode guide here on the site is complete through season 12, and the FAQ is mostly updated, although there is still more work to be done on it, as well as updates of several of the legacy pages. That is what will be our focus until such time as the show returns.
We also have high hopes that a long-promised complete revision of Daddy-O’s Drive-In Dirt will someday arrive. (No pressure, buddy.)
So we’re not going away, we’re just powering down a bit and turning our focus inward.
If you’re following me (@msampo) or the web site (@mst3kinfo) on Twitter, you should get the word if something new is happening. We also have a Facebook page I almost never update, but if anything big happens, I’ll get over there and post.
And in the meantime, if you haven’t visited the tip jar (at left) lately, now might be a good time to think about doing it, doncha think?
Thanks for your patronage.
Oh and, by the way, if you have a business in Northeastern PA (Scranton-Wilkes Barre) and are looking to hire an editor, web editor, social media manager, public relations person, content manager or marketing manager, please email me. (msampo at aol dot com)
) to help our users cope with "trolls" and other commenters whom they find annoying. Go to our
I understand. Thanks very much for the work you’re doing. And, unfortunately, I don’t have any close connections in the Scranton area at present. If you’re willing to widen the radius to include Wayne County, I’ll pass the word.
Without your dedication, Sampo, this website would likely have evaporated long ago. Thank you for your years of dedication. You deserve a gold hamdinger to hang on your load bay wall.
but there was no dedication….
but yes, Sampo, thanks for all you do for keeping the site and a cowtown puppet show in the minds and hearts of the masses.
I haven’t really been part of the MST3k community since the show first went off the air, but I appreciate this site and all the hard work that went into it. It was like having a home to go back to when the reboot was announced. So thank you, Sampo, Erhardt, and everyone else involved. May your foreheads grow like the mighty oak.
and Erhardt too.
If you’re not going to do episode guide “walkthroughs” then at least have the discussion always open or else create some sort of forum.
It’s annoying to read through the comments and not be able to respond because the thread for that episode is closed.
oh yes, it would also be great if this site expanded more to include discussions on RiffTrax (as it’s basically MST under a different name anyway)
I know you guys post updates whenever there’s a new RT movie or short or whatever, but it just doesn’t garner the same activity that the Episode Guide postings do
Perhaps you might like to volunteer to take on that and other tasks from Chris and Brian?
Totally understandable, my friend. Thanks for giving us a place to discuss our favorite show for so many years. Hopefully there will be more to talk about in the future.
“And as we left the clam flowage that day…”
It was a pleasure to come up with three ideas for the WDT and join in every weekend for the other WDT posts. You’ve done yeoman work, you and Ernhardt couldn’t have done more. It’s a pleasure to have this still open and thanks for keeping all Msties, both young and old, plugged in and up to date. Happy New Year 2020!
Thanks for picking my WD topic that time. That’s was a thrill. I made a copy of the whole discussing to look at in my old age. (older age, I just turned 53! I’ll look at it when I’m Kirk Douglas territory…well, Kirk’ll be entering Moses level not long after)
As many people know here, I almost left this board back in May, after a difference of opinion with Sampo.
I decided to stay, mostly because of the community here.
This board about a cowtown puppet show and its offshoots has members with more humor and humanity than virtually all the other sites and boards on the whippersnapper internet.
I’ll miss the WDT, but I can’t imagine anyone expecting another run through of the episode guide.
That project started, I believe, in 2010.
The episode guide is thorough and complete.
I am concerned about Sampo mentioning his age.
I hope he, and everyone else here, is in good health and spirits.
Thanks for the website, the updates, and the community, Sampo and Erhardt.
Happy 2020 to us all.
Sampo, I can only imagine how much (time/energy/money) this site has taken you and Erhardt to maintain, and you’ve given us all something truly special: Nowhere else could phrases like “Watch out for snakes!” or “It’s Petey Plane!” be used…and recognized instantly. Seriously, thank your for that.
At the same time it also makes me a little sad, too, to lose the WDT and weekly features. I’ve so enjoyed them over the years, ever since I started posting actively back in 2008 or thereabouts. But of course nothing lasts forever, so I will just say, again, how very much I appreciate all you’ve done.
Be well, Sampo!
Thank you to Sampo (and Erhardt!) for all you’ve done and all you continue to do for MST3K fans everywhere. I don’t comment often but I’ve been coming here for years and will keep coming back until I’ve memorized every bit of trivia from every Episode Guide. And then keep coming back, because why not. This is my only real slice of the MST3K community and I love it.
I cannot remember how long ago I came across this site, so it feels omnipresent in my life at this point. Thank you Sampo and Erhardt for all your years of work keeping this place together. Enjoy the downtime, you’ve earned it.
More thanks from me to Sampo and Erhardt for keeping things going this long. I’ve enjoyed the WDTs and the Episode Guide the most but also realize that we can only figuratively shout “Rowsdower!” so many times. Interestingly enough, this scale-back comes right at the time I am determined to “digitally declutter” and be online less. So more thanks.
P.S. New Rifftrax just now — another Basil Rathbone/Nigel Bruce Sherlock Holmes film riffed by B&MJ. My favorite!
I can understand not going through all the episodes again, but the WDT was one of the main reasons I go on this site and that’s been since the late 1990’s. I liked reading what other people thought about those topics and made many comments myself. I think there is still more things that can be discussed.
Sampo, thank you for your dedication to this wonderful site!
I’ve loved reading and occasionally commenting in the quirky and informative WDTs over the years.
I have learned a lot from this community and I look forward to the next discussion post when that happens.
The Rifftrax updates are great. Thanks for keeping those going, Erhardt!
Good luck with the job search.
p.s. Another vote (so to speak) for re-opening the WDTs and Episode Guides to additional comments if possible, unless it means more work for you.
I guess we’re all learning, hopefully not too late, that Sampo is a feeling creature . . . that MST3K fans have to find their own way, to make their own mistakes . . .
To say “We’ve done WDT and Episode Guide, thanks, they’re over”, is basically saying what everyone doesn’t want to say:
Joel’s made his farewell tour, MK&B are slowing down, there’s no new Netflix S13, and all the DVD’s are out (unless the Susan Hart news is as promising as we thought it was. That sounds a lot like OVER.
And some of us have been there since the beginning. (Oh, if you weren’t around during the Usenet days of rec.arts.tv.mst3k.misc, you didn’t get your advanced training as a MSTie.) Some of us have, ahem, been watching since the Comedy Channel days, and know what the show used to look like…Not that I’m singling out any particular branches of fans, mind.
But all shows must pass–Even hearing all the news about Alex Trek on Jeopardy makes me depressed, but life happens between reruns. I’ve had to deal with losing Star Trek after “Enterprise” just started getting good again, I’ve had to deal with losing Star Wars one way or the other, and I’m currently watching the fourth season of Monty Python on disk and asking “WTH happened??” For Fans Who Want More ™, there’s always “Trek: Discovery”, “Rise of Skywalker”, and “The Meaning of Life”, but any one of those is an answer to the question “Is More always Better?” You already know my answer to one of the More MST3K solutions.
To appreciate that time passes–to shows as well as to webmasters–is to appreciate that OUR time is passing while we don’t notice. If you’ve literally spent twenty years shouting “Rowsdower!”, hoping the rest of the world was in on the secret club that seemed so cool twenty years ago, where are you now? Has your ability to appreciate the show increased, or did you spend a lot of time trying to relive the one point in your life where it “meant” something that it really didn’t?
I’m still a MSTie fan, and I watch it on disk, unless there’s a good episode on PlutoTV when I need some random viewing. (And if there’s nothing good showing on the Classic Doctor Who channel.) Because that’s what it is now–It’s reruns. And that’s what reruns do. Like they said about Lincoln, now it belongs to the ages.
I remember when the Sci-Fi series ended, and Usenet RATMM was disingenuously invaded by provoking trolls saying “Okay, your show’s over, that means the Usenet group’s going to dissolve into mindless off-topic chatter and be taken over by troll crossposts, so let’s get started!” (Because, in their minds, that was what was “supposed’ to happen to all Usenet groups, y’see.) To paraphrase Mr. Murray, we came, we saw, we kicked troll @$$, and continued on with our happy free-form MSTie discussions well into the death of Usenet, back when Satellite News was just getting started.
But we had a different group of fans then, who had built the show up from nothing on fan word-of-mouth, and knew that it was something ABOUT the show that would live on, even without it. And it wasn’t always “Having a place to parrot funny catchphrases, trying to see who else saw that episode.”
I could never thank you guys enough for all the hard work you do on this site. I visit nearly every day. But, I understand that, for the moment, the show is sadly winding down. I hope your health is well Sampo, and I wish you the best of luck finding employment. I’m probably a little to far south (Maryland) to help you on that front, but I wish I could. In the mean time, take a well deserved rest.
First off, Erhardt and Sampo deserve some kind of medal of service to MST3K for maintaining this site for free and putting up with the rest of us. Sorry if you’ve ever felt taken for granted.
Second off: see above.
Third off, I’ll miss both the WDT and episode discussion. I don’t think it’s played out myself, and would welcome some way or another forum for us to discuss MST and related projects. The output of The Film Crew and Cinematic Titanic would be a natural start due to it’s small volume and likelihood that people here will be familiar with it. Then different rifftrax could b e discussed, possibly determined by vote here since their output is so large, or possibly classic rifftrax like Roadhouse and Ice Cream Bunny.
I’d chip in on the site maintenance, but I have no applicable skills, or the time and energy to properly do the job. I will be hanging around, and hopefully we’ll get more episodes sometime. Thanks to all of you. Be well.
I wish somebody would bring back “Caption This!” from the early sci-fi Channel website years. I miss that sooooo much!! (I know I just blurted that out but couldn’t help it)
Eric J.:
Perhaps you should work on curtailing your negativity as a new year’s resolution.
MST3K, even in reruns, means something to we MSTies.
Amongst other things, it’s what connects us here on this board.
Who’s to say what’s over or slowing down?
Bill and Kevin have discussed upcoming Rifftrax projects and mentioned the planning of this year’s live shows on their respective Twitters.
Joel and Bill recently had an interesting Twitter exchange.
Bridget and Mary Jo have a new riff available.
Not all of us MSTies run around shouting “Rowsdower,” just like not all “Star Trek” fans wear Spock ears.
To each, their own.
I’ve been a MSTie since 1993, and have been viewing this site since its inception.
Our time isn’t passing.
Even if MST3K itself is over, its episodes and its spirit live on.
Let us MSTies and this site thrive!
New information about the classic era has come to light over the years since it was written, so the show history needs a revision in places. It also needs an update to the Netflix era. The Shout dvd releases might need an update as well.
Since 1993. Experience shows that your (our) weapons are useless against him. If the Satellite News lasts until the Sun runs out of hydrogen some things will not change.
MST3K is over?
Yeah, and Sean Connery left Bond behind with “You Only Live Twice” and never came back. And “Turnabout Intruder” was the last time anyone ever saw “Star Trek”. And the last Doctor was Sylvester McCoy. And ROTJ was the absolute conclusion to the “Star Wars” saga.
Sorry, I’m not about to turn off the lights, then walk out the door and lock it behind me. We may or may not be going into another extended hiatus with the main show, but I don’t believe it’s done. Just as I did after “Diabolik”, I’ll just settle in and wait for the next phase to begin.
Oh, and I don’t think TROS is the end of the Skywalker story, either. Episode X will be along, in time.
Well, it’s not “over” in the sense of Monty Python or the Beatles, where at least two major creative influences are now either dead or incapacitated (and Star Wars only has one…so far), but at least Joel’s alive enough to enjoy his retirement.
I didn’t hate the Netflix series to the same degree that I hated Roger Moore, Star Trek: Nemesis, the Hobbit Trilogy or Torchwood, but there is that palpable feeling that you Can’t Go Home Again.
Eric J.:
If you believe “you can’t go home again,” why are you here? Posting at 4:00am, nonetheless.
Get some sleep.
Then, go back to watching classic “Dr. Who” or “Star Trek: Enterprise.”
(Although, from the reviews I read back then about the latter, the only good thing about the show was the dog.)
It’s been a good run here at Satellite News. I’ve been here since around 2007, and will continue to frequent. I’ve got my Seasons 1-7 to keep me company, and occasionally their friends from K and 8-12 visit.
Sampo: Do you know if Joel still has a contact with the company that produced the Cinematic Titanic shows in the beginning (the Laurel Canyon, CA studios). I wondered if there was a chance he might be able to do new eps of MST the same way he did CT. I presume, now that Shout! is part of any production process, that may not be an option anymore, but I was curious. Thanks.
Still, I just bought The Gauntlet episodes on DVD, and it’s always a pleasure to work our way backwards through the classics with our millions of DVDs. And we can always hope that Susan Hart will FINALLY allow the episodes for the movies she refuses to let go of to be released.
The short answer is: no, I have no idea who Joel does or does not have contact with. The slightly longer answer is: if your idea has merit, I’m sure it has occurred to somebody involved.
You mean that pipsqueak who is trying to replace Art Fleming? Things were so much better in the Art Fleming days, without all those fancy-pants electronic screens …
(Spellcheck attacks aside, as one who tried out for the local test twice to fulfill childhood dreams, news of Trebek fighting cancer and possibly losing is not a bit of misplaced-angry-fanboy hilarity for me. :( )
Sampo, I wish you all the best–I hope everything works out for you. You and Erhardt have done so much for this MSTie, I wish I could repay you!
I can’t help but feel that “a different group of fans” means “a better group of fans, who hate Mike and SciFi and want to have MST3K all to ourselves, well at least from Rocket Ship X-M to Manos, and anybody who doesn’t agree with us is wrong and evil and loving MST3K means only wonks making intellectual wisecracks to B-movies at midnight screenings in college-town theaters and not anything else” . . .
For me, MST will always mean laughing to the point of tears with my children while watching Laser Blast, Escape 2000 and Space Mutiny and hearing my 9-yr-old son shout “Watch out for snakes!” at a minor league baseball game. Wonks making wisecracks about bad movies at the midnight showing is absolutely great, I love reading about it, it’s one of those things that draws us all closer on this wonderful site. But it doesn’t trump my family’s shouting of catch phrases or anyone else’s personal experience with this amazing show. That’s what makes it as great as it is–there’s something for everyone.
MST3K will never be “over”, in the sense that the dinosaurs or the Lusitanian language are “over”. I will be regularly watching eps on Shout! Factory’s “MSTie Mondays”, from my own vast DVD collection, on Netflix or Shout’s website, or now again on Comet (!!! Thanks for the heads-up! I didn’t know, and would never have known otherwise). I really like parts of SS11 & 12, but I will always seek my MSTie fix from SS2-10. If Joel (or any one of the old Brains) can create another reasonably viable reboot I will absolutely watch with an open mind and a lot of gratitude, and I know I will laugh–and probably a lot. Hopefully, it will provide me with some great eps to add to the rotation. But as long as I have access to classic MST, it will never die, no matter what happens in the future.
Maybe to some, but not to all. There’s no better, just different. If you like Sci-Fi-Fi era and Netflix era, fine. It’s your preference, of course. For me, the CC era feels like a completely different show that I have to share the fandom with. As much as I love Rifftrax, the Sci-Fi era does relatively nothing for me. It’s just so clunky, shades of KTMA, but you gotta get re-started somehow. That, and the storyline aspect. When the host sets reflect the film, (for the most part, anyway), the host megs seem to enhance the film. When the host sets are completely unrelated and into their own story, and feels so off. To me it feels like this:
Movie, follow it’s narrative. Stop, now put on this other show with another story for five minutes. Now, turn that off and go back to the other. And repeat. The Sci-Fi Channel execs had no idea what they were doing to an other wise perfect formula. And, unfortunately, this bled into the Netflix era, as well. Hey, if you like New Coke, that’s cool. It’s way too sweet for me.
So when I read Rowsdower or any Space Mutiny ref for the billionth time on the internet, my heart always sinks a bit because I wish more shared my passion for the early era of the show the way they seem to care about the latter era.
But, in that regard, over the past few years I’ve seen an uptick in talking about more of those early episodes. Putting things like City Limits on Netflix actually made MST related Morrisey memes a thing for a while, so there is hope! With 217 episodes to watch, it’s takes a while to go through them all. All I ask and hope for is don’t just keep watching the same episodes, sprinkle in the ones you haven’t seen. You may discover a new favorite!
The Episode Guide is out of date. You have enough raw material for a definitive, new MST3K history/Episode Guide. Lots of untold back stories, too. Surely some publisher would be eager to talk to you.
Totally get it – I haven’t been a regular contributor for a couple years now, and generally because of the same sentiment. Felt like I kind of ran out of things to add to the conversation. But let me echo everyone else and say thanks again for your work and dedication to providing that outlet for us to share our quirky love for this show. You guys have “circulated the tapes” for longer than just about anyone could have expected. Thanks a ton!
Very nicely put. To each their own! If everybody expressed their preferences in such a civilized way, this site would be even better than it is. It is very true that the SciFi honchos never knew what to do with MST3K. BUT: those three seasons still produced many of my favorite eps, and I actually like the the storylines. But whatever, as you said, everybody’s different!
You’re absolutely right about (re)discovering new episodes that you didn’t have in your rotation. That is one of the best parts of having “MSTie Mondays” on Shout!Factory TV. I never thought twice about Lost Continent till I checked it out on Twitch TV–the Sid Melton “butt-pulling” scene had me laughing so hard I missed the next ten minutes of dialogue. I’ve gotten reacquainted with lots of episodes like that!
Just checked in on this Saturday morning to say how much I miss WDT. As a relative newcomer (I joined up just after “The Return” was released) it was never stale to me. It helped me through my three year quest to watch every episode. (Hamlet was definitely the hardest slog.) I was looking forward to having something meaningful to contribute to the episode guides next time around. Having some structure and getting to know regular contributors is much better than the entropy-fest on Reddit.
Back to (re-)watching TISCWSLABMZ. Thanks everyone for the memories. I’ll try to be glad that it happened, not unhappy that it’s gone.
I’m watching TISCWSLABMZ on Netflix right now. I don’t remember liking it the first 2 times I watched- wasn’t one of my faves. Now, third time through- I’m loving it! MST is so strange that way!
Thanks y’all for all the great Sunday mornings-and sometimes filling downtime at work!
Neil Peart passed away for anyone keeping score.