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Posted by Kenneth Morgan
on 11/30/2007, 8:36 pm
Today, Kenneth Morgan writes about revival times three.
*****
Well, it’s been nearly nine years since our favorite cow town puppet show ceased production and we were left with memories, videos and our own amateur attempts at riffing to fill the void. Now, as I’ve said and written many times, the First Rule of Entertainment is, “If you wait long enough, EVERYTHING comes back”. Thus, I’ve had no doubt that, sooner or later, MST3K would return in one form or another.
I must admit, though, that I wasn’t expecting it to return in three forms. I shall attempt to explain (and if you’ve been attentive MSTies, you probably already know all of this).
It seems that the creative team behind MST has continued to riff on bad movies (and, in some cases, good movies). However, rather than band together to simply resurrect the old show, they’ve split up into three separate groups, each with its own personnel and material. I’ll run down the list, arranged in order of appearance:
The first group was, of course, Rifftrax and its related incarnation, the Film Crew. Mike is the main rep for Rifftrax, with Kevin and Bill alongside in most instances, while all three make up the Film Crew. Rifftrax, operating solely on-line, provides riffing commentary for movies that would otherwise not be available, primarily due to huge rights fees. These are usually big-budget Hollywood product, ranging from the notoriously bad (“Battlefield Earth”) to the extremely good (“Raiders of the Lost Ark”). While Mike is usually joined by Kevin and/or Bill for these, he’s also had some guest riffers, most notably Bridget for the opening episodes of “Grey’s Anatomy”. Meanwhile, under the Film Crew banner, Mike, Kevin & Bill have operated a website and produced some MST-like videos, riffing on B-grade offerings like “Killers from Space” and “The Giant of Marathon”.
Okay, that’s the group that’s been around for quite a while, now. However, within the last month (and within about a day of each other), we’ve all learned of two other groups that are joining the party. Based on what I’ve learned from “Satellite News” and other sources, here are those details:
The second group operates under the official MST3K banner and is led by Jim, with a major assist from Paul. Operating from a new BBI website, they’ve produced new animated material featuring the ‘bots, with Jim back as Gypsy, Paul as Crow’s new voice, and newcomer James Moore as Tom Servo. They’ve also announced that they’ll be featuring items, including previously unreleased material, from the original show (or the “legacy series”, as it is being called). In addition to the official announcement on “Satellite News”, many MSTies, myself included, received postcards announcing the new venture.
The third group is called “Cinematic Titanic”. Joel is the main face of this effort, along with Mary Jo, Trace, Frank and Josh/J. Elvis. The word here is that they’ll be producing riffing commentary for several MST-type movies. While reportedly there will be some skits, the main focus will be on the commentary. As yet, I haven’t seen any word on which movies they’ve gotten the rights to, but we can perhaps hope that the list includes some notable titles that got past the Brains first time around (like, say, those last two Gamera movies from the original series).
Okay, those are the details. Now, please allow me to provide my take on this situation.
I have to say I’m a bit worried. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not the appearance of these groups that worries me. No, my worry comes from the perception I’ve seen in a couple of quarters that this will result in some kind of a three-way split in the MSTie ranks. (Sort of like a Ralph Nader or Ross Perot effect.) The idea is that fans will line up to support one group and get all hostile towards those who support another group. And I’ve seen enough of these kinds of inter-fandom conflicts (TOS vs. Net Gen, OT vs. PT, lots of “Doctor Who” feuds) to know that this sort of thing won’t benefit anyone and will only cause loads of unneeded hassle all around. I must say, though, that the actual group members don’t appear to be contributing to this idea.
Personally, I figure this works out great for we MSTies. First, each group represents a known quantity; we’re not dealing with strangers. Second, the product thus far looks OK. Rifftrax has been doing a good job, so we know we can get good stuff there. The new ‘bots cartoons from BBI started a bit shakily, but have been improving nicely. We haven’t seen anything from CT yet, but the talent involved is a good sign. And, third, since each group has its own special focus, they can collectively cover a lot of ground. Rifftrax can handle the high-budget, heavily-hyped blockbusters/flops. Cinematic Titanic can cover the low-brow movie cheese. And the official site can bring us new stuff with the ‘bots and classic stuff from the old show. In short, we’ve got full riff coverage from all sides.
Now, there’s another concern I have, and it’s purely selfish, actually. Nearly 200 weeks ago, I set up the Great Drought, my own little project to keep MST3K in mind until the inevitable revival. When Rifftrax came along, I figured that I’d keep going until something more official arrived. Well, now it has, along with the added resource of Cinematic Titanic. Thus, the question: “Where do I go from here?”
Do I keep going with the usual routine every Sunday? Or do I just put up a big banner marked, “Mission Accomplished!” and sit back and wait for each new offering from the Tri-Rifftite Pact? (I just thought that one up. Did anyone else think of it?) Hmm…
Well, look at it this way. The way I figure it, I think I’ve got enough material to last me until the next Great Drought anniversary in January. So, I’ll give it some thought. And, at that point, I’ll decide on whether to close the case, start it all over again, or something else. And whoever else might be following along with me can make their own decision on how to proceed. (My word is by no means law on this matter.)
So, there we have it. That’s the situation as it appears to me. Now, with the prospect of all of the old gang back making fun of bad movies, there’s only one more thing to say:
YES!!!
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