#mst3k: the gauntlet

[gladismajor]

further conclusions from the mst3k revival:

gpc's voice, while jarring, very much suits her

hampton yount (crow) and jonah ray were both clearly msties before joining the show

baron vaughn (tom) took an... interesting approach to tom, but it's not so bad that it's a disservice to kevin murphy. vaughn's tom is much more of a mean gay™ than murphy's and it's honestly really funny

it's so strange seeing tom and crow have arms that work. and seeing gpc all strung up in the ceiling like that. not in a bad way it's just strange

he's a drummer, he's a rapper, he's got a lovely singing voice, what can't he do? jonah's lovable, though not quite the blorbo material that joel and mike are

felicia day is serving so hard as kinga forrester go off girl. i do wonder exactly how she came about and how old she is, considering she's supposedly clayton's daughter and clayton died at some point between seasons 7 and 8, but that's also 500-ish years we're talking about there. whatever i'll figure out that whole timeline at some point

i really like all the little wooden models!! they're so cute!!

the theme song fucks!! the original should have had the trumpet parts and the bari sax and the epic drum fill that the new one has

oh so this is where the "the mads cut off oxygen in the sol during movie sign" thing came from

oh my god the hosts are the wiggles. joel is red, mike is blue, jonah is yellow and emily is purple

ONE OF CROW'S PUPPETEERS IS THE SANDERS SIDES PUPPETS GUY?????

jonah referring to kinga as "sir" gives me deep and indescribable gender envy

also really cool that baron vaughn was on dropout go off king

i hate the unrequited kinga/max subplot so much

jonah does the exact same little hops during movie sign that joel does omg jonah ray was 100% a hardcore mstie

there are. a lot more suicide jokes/references than in the original. were the writers okay?? i mean it's pretty in character, especially for crow, but like. y'all good??

there's so many songs!! i love it!!

[mst3kgifs]

Good, I'm not late for Baby Club.

[always-just-down-the-street]

A Random Thought About MST3K

(We will resume your regularly scheduled Inanimate Insanity angst soon after our breaking news.)

So I'm watching Season 13 of MST3K, or at least the part of it currently showing on the MST3K Forever-a-thon, and I finally realized something that always made the reboot seasons feel off in comparison to the originals- and it's not the hosts, Jonah and Emily and Joel all do great, it's not less funny, it's not the Mads, it's not the multiple versions of the bots or the fact that it's on the moon.

It's the host segments...but not the part you think.

A thing with MST3K is that the host segments all kinda tend to follow different patterns, at least what from what I've seen watching a ton of it. Now, each Host Tenure? Hosts Tenure for the latest, but each division lets say tends to have a higher focus on a certain type- not saying the other types don't exist, but each section tends to focus on one more.

Joel's tenure as host includes a lot of guest characters- characters that'll appear in that little window up in the Satellite of Love, generally from the movie they're riffing but there are exceptions depending on the circumstance.

Mike's tenure instead utilizes a lot of unique plots, especially once we get to the Sci-Fi era- these can be one-off like Crow biting Mike in Werewolf, the time travel plot in Time Chasers, the mirror universe from Last of the Wild Horses, or they can be larger overall plots- the Ancient Greece Arc, Deep Ape, the Observers, or the space children for a smaller example.

Jonah/Emily's* tenure has a lot of songs- famously there's Every Country Has a Monster, but there's also Concepts, Sing a Song for Jiger, Monster RSVP, a host segment entirely dedicated to some song that some or all characters on the SoL sing.

(*I didn't include Joel because I wanted to focus on the hosts exclusive to the reboot.)

Now, again, I'm not saying these are mutually exclusive- The Gauntlet is practically a season-long arc for Jonah, Mike encounters plenty of guest characters, and who could forgot that classic Joel-era song Idiot Control Now? But looking over the general vibe of the reboot-era host segments, I realized something that lead to a bigger realization.

Guest characters are now no longer shown through the Satellite of Love, instead being shown through transmissions, they're in other spacecraft- befitting of the more sci-fi elements of the reboot literally being on the moon, but...

...you ever notice that the reboot-era host segments have a less physical feeling than the classic episodes? It doesn't really feel like anyone's on a set anymore, like actual physical locations. Sure, there can still be depth but...it's hard to put into exact words but the locations shown in host segments now feel 2.5D instead of 3D. Most action happens in a straight line, all camera angles are straightforward. It feels less like a location and more like a big, long table with a background. Hell, it's something I noticed occurring more and more- up until Season 13 Moon 13 was a 3D location, but in the Gizmoplex era...now they're also on a 2D plane.

Now let's not get it twisted- I'm not saying they're bad, they're still funny and by all means that's the main requirement, I like the return of the invention exchanges that vanished early-ish into the Mike era, hell I like that S11 actually made a small arc that you have to pay attention to out of them to know it's even there- if you haven't watched it yet, I'm not gonna spoil it, it's free if you have Netflix. But it's just a small thing I noticed in the reboot era that I felt like I had to get down somewhere.

Anyway, back to Experiment 1310- H.G. Wells' The Shape of Things to Come.

[spockvarietyhour]

[nerds-yearbook]

On February 3, 1990, J Elvis Weinstein made his last appearance as a regular on Mystery Science Theater 3000 with the riffing of "The Black Scorpion". He was the first voice of Tom Servo as well as Dr Erhardt one of the original "Mads". He also co-wrote one of the early versions of the MST3K theme songs. He would not appear on the show again until the Netflix version on November 22, 2018 where the movie "Ator, the Fighting Eagle" was riffed as the last movie of "The Gauntlet". ("The Black Scorpion" "Ator, The Fighting Eagle" MST3K, TV)

[phoenixphantomrise]

Unbelievable...

[jacksonmunden]

August 23rd, 2020, Inktober Prompt # 34 - Gauntlet. In honor for the MST3K Gauntlet. I also want to give a shout to Felicia Day and the rest of the Guild gang to wish them luck on their fourth and final night of their D&D game tonight. It starts tonight at 7 PM PST and 10 PM EST on Felicia Day's Twitch Channel. Check it out.

[spaghetti-spider]

So you're telling me Max ISN'T the test tube baby of Frank and Forrester?!

[agirlandherhund]

Yes. It has been officially announced that MST3K will not have another new season on Netflix. It’s a total bummer + while I’m sad about it, Gratitude is what I’m truly feeling. I’ve been a fan of this show for over half of my life. I started watching this creative collection of Midwesterners on this ridiculous show as a college student + they made me laugh so hard, my stomach would seriously ache after our viewing-marathon sessions. We’d quote episodes + bust out laughing all over again. It was as much of an education to me as my theatre classes were. MST3K inspired me to move from small town Iowa to Chicago to pursue comedy. I Did Not Ever think then that I would be on the other side of it someday - writing, voicing, performing, shooting + touring with it! And after years of performing then hitting a plateau in Chicago, MST3K gave me the courage to come to LA. It provided me the opportunity to be in a Writer’s Room with people I highly admire - I actually made THEM laugh!?! I got riffs in!?! I wrote a sketch!?! To later see that sketch come to life in The Gauntlet still brings me tears of joy. I’ve met so. many. phenomenal. people through this already incredible experience. The cast, puppeteers, crew, writers, directors, MSTies - old + new, MARK HAMILL!!! (I freakin’ hugged freakin’ Mark Hamill. He was thrilled that a female was actually now voicing Gypsy. I’ll never forget those words coming out of his mouth when I was introduced to him.) And Now MSTies are quoting riffs that I’ve written. They’re giving each other awkward Synthia hugs. They know my voice (literally as Gypsy + figuratively if they’ve seen me in a live show). I still can’t believe I’m a Mad AND a Bot!?! All of this is precious, precious Gold to me that I’m so incredibly thankful for. Please know how thankful for + honored I am by you. No matter what is next - and I have no idea what that is but I’m hopeful - I thank everyone involved in all levels from Backers to Joel - Many Thanks; Mange Takk - for making this Iowegian’s Dream Come True. 💜

[monkeypretzel]

I think most fans already unofficially knew this with how Joel has been talking in his interviews during this tour, but Beez said today on Facebook that Netflix is not picking up another season of MST3K. 

Everyone knows what I think of the new show so I don’t need to rehash it here. But I am sorry for those of you who enjoyed it. You deserved better than this. The TV cast and crew deserved better than this. All the fans who contributed to bringing back the show deserved better than this.

[long-hot-summer-nights]

“good shows that were intended for little kids but are actually worth your time” list

hilda

haha elves and giants and a dragon and trolls and talking trees yesssss.

she-ra and the princesses of power (spop)

lesbian moms but not rocks but probably in space

glitter force

this is a very childish one but its kinda fun to watch but not really. think of mlp but teen anime girls. 

the dark crystal

im only on episode two but woah creepy elves and super cool art design

mystery science theater 3000 (mst3k)

very good if u want a laugh and like low budget, second-hand, knock-off movies. 

[mst3kgifs]

Excuse me, is the wedding still happening or...?

[mysteryscribbletheater3000]

MST3K Trading Cards Series 3!!!

If you haven't heard already, the MST3K Series 3 trading card set is on Kickstarter NOW! I was invited back to do MORE #artisttradingcards & I had a blast. Here's the first one I did for S3. GETCHA SOME COOL CARDS AIGHT?

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2020657542/mystery-science-theater-3000-trading-cards-series-three?ref=5nd18l

[spockvarietyhour]

[shypufferfish-blog]

crooooow!

[subbyp]

hey fellow MSTies, I’m curious: What’s your favorite of the revival episodes? 

(BTW, mine is The Beast of Hollow Mountain)