Mystery Science Theater 3000: Robots, Riffs & Cheesy Movies.
Cheesy movies. You know the kind. Like a cop-drama movie on TV, on a Sunday in the ’80s and ‘90s bad. Or one of those horror movies with the terrifying cover art you’d see at video stores that end up being so lame it would be funny if it wasn't so bad.
Maybe a terrible sci-fi flick with really lousy special effects a weird roommate or Ex made you watch.
After realizing the true horror that the movie isn’t going to get any better; you might groan and pass out in protest. Or, you might resort to audibly making fun of the film by making jokes or snarky comments to help “liven it up.” This is called “riffing” and it’s a thing!
Although smart-asses have been yelling at the screen since crappy movies were invented, riffing in the modern sense started with “Mystery Science Theater 3000.”
This show started on a small TV station in Minnesota in 1988 and was on basic cable a year later. It’s a simple premise. A cheesy, usually old science fiction movie with some comedy skits at the beginning, after commercial breaks and at the end; to pad out the 2-hour time slot.
The story behind the skits is two rouge mad scientists from the fictional “Gizmonic Institute,” launch a janitor (Joel) they don’t like into a satellite in space ironically titled “the Satellite of Love”.
They make Joel watch cheesy movies as a psychological experiment to see when he “cracks.”
Joel functions as the host of the show often addressing you the viewer as you are considered part of the experiment too. As the theme song goes, Joel keeps sanity with the help of his robot friends he created. The robots are puppets that wisecrack and ridicule the movie along with the host. Of course, the host and storylines have changed over time; but that is more or less the premise.
Left: Original host Joel. Right: 2nd host, Mike.
After a skit with the host (Joel, Mike or Jonah) and robots; the Mad Scientists (Or Mads as they are known) give the movie sign, an alarm sounds and the crew must run into the theater for the meat and potatoes of the show; the cheesy movie. You see the familiar silhouetted human host and two robot crew in corner of the screen as though you are in the theater watching the film with them. The movies usually have a science fiction leaning and are very very cheesy; like a thick rich Fondue.
These are those ratty old flicks with a desaturated, grainy, picture. The sound is either muffled and rattly as an old drive-through window or sharp and shrill as a cheap walkie-talkie. The acting can vary from pretty good from actors you’ve heard of, to performance art at a mental hospital bad. They show mostly science fiction films; so cool special effects at least right?
Wrong. Lots of tin foil, old foam, and sets you can still smell the Krylon spray-paint on.
The original MST3K ran from 1989 to 1999 on basic cable.
In the mid-2000s several, spin-off shows like “Cinematic Titanic” and “Riff Trax” started to debut online and continue to be made to this day. They are hosted by various combinations of the crew from the original shows. It’s cheesy movies and riffing with the familiar voices, but without the robot puppets and mad scientist skits. The movies are sometimes a little more risque or scary than then they were on MST3K.
A few years ago with the help of a Kickstarter and mega fans, a new season of MST3k was picked up by Netflix after an 18-year hiatus. From the original show’s creator Joel Hodgson, but starring comedians Jonah Ray Rodrigues as the host, Baron Vaughn as “Tom Servo”, and Hampton Yount as “Crow T. Robot” make up the new crew of the Satellite of Love. Felicia Day and Patton Oswalt play the mad scientists and there’s a slew of celebrity cameos to boot.
The lousy movies are back of course, and some are fun-bad like “Mac and Me.”
This was one in a heap of “E.T.” ripoff films in the 1980s. The attempted family friendly aliens have a surprised look that would be disturbing if it wasn’t so lame. This amongst other things like how insanely 80’s it is; with gratuitous product placement and uncalled for breakdancing. The main character is a boy in a wheelchair and he rolls off a cliff into a river, so there's that. All of this provides ample material for the crew to riff, but it’s still kind of a fun movie on its own.
Then there are movies like “Carnival Magic.” This one is just bad.
It’s a low budget 1981 flick about a crummy carnival on its last legs.
That is until the psychic magician reveals that he has been keeping a talking chimp in his trailer. Putting the ape in the show both saves the carnival; and causes shenanigans.
Despite this absolutely bananas concept; the talking chimp doesn't say anything funny, and in fact seems to have existential ennui. This flick needs the riffing and jokes to make it watchable. The 1980 carnival in Florida setting is janky, the music depressing and the whole thing would have most humans flinging poo in disgust.
I am not most humans. I enjoy these cheesy movies. I’m not sure why. Maybe it’s the fact that the filmmakers dared to do a ridiculous movie with a bizarro concept and see it through. Even if in the end the film turned out… well turned out the way it did; lousy.
As for the new crew of the Satellite of love, they’re frickin’ hilarious! The jokes and riffs are fresh with great far-reaching references that crack me up! Even though by it’s very nature this show is extremely dorky; the fresh graphics, animations, and celebrity cameos almost make it seem like kind of a cool show. (almost) This without losing the show’s original, cheesy, home-spun charm.
I have had so much fun with this and the other riffing shows that it has inspired us to try some riffing of our own. I’m not quite sure on how we will do it yet. We are trying a few different things not sure if it will be a blog or a podcast but we are working on it. So stay tuned and look us riffing things soon.
”Cinematic Titanic” and “RiffTrax” are available on Amazon Prime Video and Shout! TV.
Both the original and most recent seasons Mystery Science 3000 are on Netflix.
Thanks For Reading!
-Mike Olguin
