Second Annual MST3K Turkey Marathon Chat? November 13, 2014 3:48 PM   Subscribe

I thoroughly enjoyed this event last year. I was working and so got out of family obligations which was nice. It was made doubly enjoyable by having an actually-fun Thanksgiving activity. MST3K is streaming their marathon this year as well: "Tune in right here on Thanksgiving day at 12 noon ET / 9 am PT for six classic episodes of MST3K, complete with brand new introductions by Joel Hodgson." Shall we meet again? MST3K Turkey Day Marathon 2014 chat.metafilter.com
posted by Beti to MetaFilter-Related at 3:48 PM (49 comments total) 16 users marked this as a favorite

I anticipate being in dire need of comic relief with fun company at some point on T-day. I'll most likely pop in at some point. Thanks for the suggestion, Beti!
posted by Sheydem-tants at 4:02 PM on November 13, 2014


Anyone know which six?
posted by a lungful of dragon at 4:21 PM on November 13, 2014


Hey all! We in the MST3K Club (people are calling it that and I have nothing against it) have been doing episodes on Thursdays lately, and just concluded 109 PROJECT MOONBASE. I am going to take Thanksgiving off from our weekly showings because, when it comes down to it, a Joel-hosted Turkey Day > our meager things.

That's two weeks off though, so next week we're still on for 110 ROBOT HOLOCAUST, an immensely weird movie.
posted by JHarris at 7:18 PM on November 13, 2014 [1 favorite]


I'll be around (well, I keep a tab open for chat.metafilter whenever I'm at home and awake and sometimes when I'm not) and I have no other plans (NOT going out shopping Thursday OR Blecch Fiday, no way) unless one of my annoyingly-nice neighbors drags me away to their gobble-feast (but they've usually done that only on odd-numbered years). So I will be around and interjecting my own riffery as fast as I can not-really-touch-type them. Of course, here on the Left Coast the official event will be over at 3PM my time, so I may hijack jharris' streaming setup and do my own marathon of either some more MST3K or Darkwing Duck and Cow & Chicken cartoons (in the tradition of Turducken) or constantly looping "Too Many Cooks". Still very tentative so anyone wishing to encourage me OR discourage me is welcome to do so.
posted by oneswellfoop at 7:36 PM on November 13, 2014 [1 favorite]


no sorry but i will be romancing the iron bull
posted by poffin boffin at 8:26 PM on November 13, 2014 [1 favorite]


I'd potentially do it! Loved watching it last year!!

I had a lot of VHS tapes recorded from turkey day, watched over and over.
posted by Crystalinne at 8:53 PM on November 13, 2014 [1 favorite]


Is okay with me Foop, although most of the MSTies I expect will be in the Turkey Day livestream. I might drop by yours too though.
posted by JHarris at 12:59 AM on November 14, 2014


With the Eagles scheduled to beat down the Cowboys I won't have as much time for MST3K but I will pop in at some point.
posted by Drinky Die at 5:27 AM on November 14, 2014


I'll need to bring a charger for my phone and properly ignore the in-laws so that I can vicariously watch the shows through all of you.
posted by charred husk at 5:59 AM on November 14, 2014


a lungful of dragon: "Anyone know which six?"

Not officially announced yet. Apparently the new DVD coming out (Vol XXXI) has the Turkey Day bumpers as an extra, which leads one to believe that the episodes on it are very likely to be four of the six:

Jungle Goddess
The Painted Hills
The Screaming Skull
Squirm
posted by Chrysostom at 6:23 AM on November 14, 2014


Squirm!!!!!

"I don't know why, but okay!" [wiggles] - Mike
posted by Crystalinne at 6:47 AM on November 14, 2014 [1 favorite]


Oh man I was just recently rewatching The Screaming Skull (or rather: "The screaming. Skull.") as a restful morale-booster. Still holds up! I assume that means we'd get the Gumby short too? I also have fond memories of The Painted Hills, because of its short Body Care And Grooming, and Tom and Crow's formal debate about the girl being derided in the film. (Spoiler: as with most formal debates, it devolves into spitting on each other.)

MST3K Turkey Day has always been my favorite Thanksgiving tradition.
posted by theatro at 6:52 AM on November 14, 2014


What a fine way to celebrate my birthday this year. (Yes, November 27th is my birthday.)
posted by Kitteh at 7:38 AM on November 14, 2014 [1 favorite]


no sorry but i will be romancing the iron bull

I had to look this up because I thought it was a nickname for an mechanical bull and wondered why on earth you would spend thanksgiving doing that all day.

But instead you are playing a game and not having a big adventure of cowboy type!
posted by winna at 8:09 AM on November 14, 2014


SQUIRM

NOW YOU'RE GONNA BE THE WORM FACE!
posted by The Whelk at 9:03 AM on November 14, 2014 [1 favorite]


Fingers crossed Joel has something to announce about the return of MST3k on Turkey Day!
posted by inturnaround at 9:26 AM on November 14, 2014 [1 favorite]


I'll probably be around for at least the early part of things.
posted by Room 641-A at 9:45 AM on November 14, 2014


I think any return of MST3K is complicated by Jim Mallon.
posted by Chrysostom at 9:53 AM on November 14, 2014


I think any return of MST3K is complicated by Jim Mallon.

Bill Corbett recently did an AMA in which he said as much without directly saying it... which doesn't mean it CAN'T happen, but suggested to me that if it did, it would be in a significantly altered form. For example, new robots, I'd wager.
posted by Z. Aurelius Fraught at 10:50 AM on November 14, 2014


Right, I saw that AMA. Agreed, they would need either a change large enough that Jim couldn't claim rights, or just buying him out once and for all. Either looks tricky.

From other stuff I've seen, Kevin doesn't seem really interested in doing MST again (although, that could be Jim issues), and Mike seemed lukewarm at best. I'm not optimistic.
posted by Chrysostom at 12:14 PM on November 14, 2014


I think any return of MST3K is complicated by Jim Mallon.

Indeed, but he can be bought out. He's a therapist in Minnesota now last I checked.

The resurrection of the show is something that Joel himself had talked about with Wired earlier this year (though Wired really buried the lede here). I am of the belief that the end of Cinematic Titanic and the first public announcement of this were not coincidence.

I imagine there will be some manner of Kickstarter (one commenter on the MST3k Satellite News website said Joel told him at Chiller Theater in NJ that it's slated for January) to get the rights back and produce new episodes.
posted by inturnaround at 1:21 PM on November 14, 2014


YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAY!

I am so there. Last year was AWESOME.

(And oh God if Jungle Goddess is one of the movies I may die of joy. Horrifying racism with extra blackface is hilarious! kill me)
posted by tzikeh at 4:24 PM on November 14, 2014


I am definitely there, I specifically move my family thanksgiving visit to Friday to make sure I could be around to see this :)
posted by hobgadling at 4:30 PM on November 14, 2014 [1 favorite]


yessssssssss...
posted by ardgedee at 5:49 PM on November 14, 2014


yes! Seriously, last year, the best thing about Thanksgiving was spending it with you all.

oh wait, one of the movies is Squim? I may have to go make stuffing during that one.. ewwwww
posted by vespabelle at 10:02 AM on November 15, 2014 [1 favorite]


The RiffTrax guys are doing all right for themselves, while I think the concept loses something without the stranded-in-space back story, the riffing is still pretty sharp. Although....

One of the things about MST is how the nature of the riffing changes over the years as the writing room changes. Starting from Season Two it's much better than Season One and KTMA, but from there on the jokes vary as people join and leave. The classic TV references, for instance, those seem to be Frank's thing. Tolkien jokes I think are Mike. So RiffTrax, which beyond the three guys has a completely different writers' room, has a different "texture" to its jokes. It doesn't replace MST, but kind of supplements it.

That's one of the sad things about them stopping Cinematic Titanic, because it's probably as close to the original MST3K writers' room as we'll ever get.
posted by JHarris at 3:13 PM on November 15, 2014 [2 favorites]


Yeah, I don't want this to be a Joel vs. Mike thing, but RiffTrax is not to my taste. Mike seems to come off more...harsh...than Joel did, and increasingly so in the later seasons. Like he was really pissed at the movie. Whereas Joel's affect was always a little more, "Oh, you have got to be kidding me."

RiffTrax seems to be that almost angry affect turned up to 11. So, I'm glad they're doing well, but it just doesn't click for me.
posted by Chrysostom at 1:11 PM on November 19, 2014


YES
posted by Librarypt at 3:04 PM on November 19, 2014


SHUT UP AND TAKE MY MONEY
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 5:13 PM on November 24, 2014


On the other side of the fence, December 6th, the RiffTrax guys are doing a theater-based live riffing of Santa Claus (the same movie MST already did, but with all new commentary). December 16th, it's been confirmed that they're going to be on the National Geographic channel again riffing programming.
posted by JHarris at 10:04 PM on November 24, 2014


No no Lupita!
posted by Chrysostom at 6:03 AM on November 25, 2014


Not sure the timing will work out but if we get home from my folks' house before the end of the marathon I'll probably stop in!

RE: an MST3K reboot, Joel was just interviewed on "The Pod People" podcast and it sounded like it's a thing that is actively being pursued, but he was circumspect and apologetic not to have any kind of timeline as to when it might actually happen. He did say that there will be a crowdfunding component to it. I would post a link to the podcast itself but I'm having a hard time finding one. I found it via the Podbay app for iOS. It's worth a listen! Joel seems like a real mensch.
posted by usonian at 11:56 AM on November 26, 2014 [1 favorite]


Ow man is Screaming Skull the one that comes with the free coffin if you die while seeing it?

Also, Squirm is a terrible, terrible movie, but the close up of worms with teeth -- the worm the guy finds in his milkshake The worms coming out of the shower head. That is a sincerely fucked-up movie.
posted by angrycat at 6:16 PM on November 26, 2014 [1 favorite]


Here is some news:

1. The official MST3K livestream is at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5p56igk63es. It actually has an attached chatroom this year, so you don't have to use chat.metafilter.com for conversation if you don't want to. But with so many MSTies watching, you might want to have it open anyway, the scroll rate might be pretty rapid.

2. The main show starts at Noon Eastern. But until then they're looping Manos: The Hands of Fate. As I always caution people, it's not a good episode if you're new to the show, but if you're already a die-hard MSTie it's a cult touchstone, the legendary worst movie they ever did, and you'll love it.

3. They've promised some unexpected surprises this year. What kind of things? I don't know for sure, but.... Well for one thing, Joel said last year that they were planning on reviving the show, and at various times since then had mentioned it's progressing, but hasn't been determined yet, and there's likely going to be a crowdfunding component to it. But on the other side, and intriguingly, RiffTrax has been hyping this year's Turkey Day on their official Twitter feed, a first for them, and they've promised surprises during the show too! Could it be that Mike and company could be participating in Turkey Day this year? Could it be that they'll be involved with the show's revival?? God, that's just about the most exciting news possible for me.

So that's what I know, how it stands for the marathon. I don't know if it's kosher to post it again to Talk, or FanFare, so we might want to use this post as a communication base. I'll see you all tomorrow, or earlier, if you can stomach Manos!
posted by JHarris at 12:45 AM on November 27, 2014 [2 favorites]


Learned in chat tonight: the town of Fort Smith, AR actually contains a business called Big G Burger, as a reference to MST3K!

And they're saying "Brought to you by Gizmonic Institute" between showings of Manos! That has me absurdly excited. Ah may fahint!
posted by JHarris at 1:58 AM on November 27, 2014 [1 favorite]


I will be late by a bit!
posted by The Whelk at 8:42 AM on November 27, 2014


Oh man, it looks like they will have multiple people on. That's Josh's voice on Tom, and it sounded like both Bill and Trace for Crow.
posted by Chrysostom at 9:04 AM on November 27, 2014


Oh, first ep: Magic Voyage of Sinbad.
posted by Chrysostom at 9:04 AM on November 27, 2014


After Sinbad, a reminiscence of Thanksgivings past by Frank, Joel, and Trace. Then a commercial with Kevin for the RiffTrax Live version of Santa Claus, another Joel/Crow/Tom bumper, and...

Giant Spider Invasion
posted by Chrysostom at 10:44 AM on November 27, 2014


Second is The Giant Spider Invasion.
posted by JHarris at 10:49 AM on November 27, 2014


Third: Lost Continent! ROCK CLIMBING, Joel. Rock climbing....
posted by JHarris at 12:26 PM on November 27, 2014 [1 favorite]


Fourth: 706 LASERBLAST.
posted by JHarris at 3:14 PM on November 27, 2014


Fifth: 303 POD PEOPLE, one of the biggest, I think this one won the guys a lot of fans.
posted by JHarris at 3:55 PM on November 27, 2014


And...Pumaman.
posted by Chrysostom at 5:36 PM on November 27, 2014


Yep, 903 PUMAMAN. He flies like a moron! Remember to pronounce it correctly.
posted by JHarris at 5:37 PM on November 27, 2014


It's over! Thanks for dropping by everyone, the YouTube channel stayed pretty constantly over 10K viewers, and I saw it at nearly 13K once.

A notice at the end of the video informed us that the marathon will repeat on the MST3K Pluto TV channel all weekend long, so if you missed it you'll have multiple chances to catch it again. The movies again are:

505: MAGIC VOYAGE OF SINBAD (Joel, CC)
810: GIANT SPIDER INVASION (Mike, Sci-Fi)
208: LOST CONTINENT (Joel, CC)
706: LASERBLAST (Mike, CC, DrF+Pearl)
303: POD PEOPLE (Joel, CC)
903: PUMA MAN (Mike, Sci-Fi)

Good night everyone, and hope to see you in our weekly showings in the MST3K Club on FanFare. Next week is 111: MOON ZERO TWO.
posted by JHarris at 7:24 PM on November 27, 2014 [2 favorites]


Aw I missed Pumaman.

"Now. There're going. To boff in the air."
posted by angrycat at 5:45 AM on November 28, 2014


This was a lot of fun. Look forward to doing it again next year!
posted by Librarypt at 5:47 AM on November 28, 2014


The Turkey Day bumpers are here.
posted by Chrysostom at 8:21 AM on November 28, 2014


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