I think I was hoping much more for a bunch of unknown people, and not internet darlings. MST3K was its own thing, and I am not saying this will be bad, but they are getting moderately famous people to work on this show. That wasn’t the direction I hoped things would go in.
Minneapolis is still a hotbed of great comics. We get the touring ones here in Appleton, WI. I suppose they could have chosen a group who know each other and tried to recreate the magic, but I am not sure that would have worked. Internet darlings also probably will help the Kickstarter get funded better.
Hampton Yount and Baron Vaughn aren’t exactly well known.
I had no interest when this launched because the only person involved was Joel and he was vague about casting. Now that I see who the host, villain, and voices of the robots are, I have backed it. Putting nobodies in there would give this show even less credibility - with Ray, Day and Vaughn in I know there will be talented actors and comedians involved in the project. You’re the guy who apparently thinks actors are just mouthpieces for writers though, so I’m not surprised you don’t understand the importance of putting established performers in main roles.
Stop filling this thread with your seemingly endless whining.
Well, considering what I liked so much about MST3K, as elaborated earlier in the thread, was that the actors WERE the writers on the show. MST3K was a deeply connected and crafted show where the people starring in it wrote it, acted, etc. Pretty much did everything. That is one of the many reasons I was a fan of the show.
We are talking about a show the originated in some studio on a cable access channel in Minnesota. The environment that they crafted the lighting in a bottle that was MST3K was partially due to the way the show was created/built and ran in the later seasons. This reboot, as far as it looks so far, feels different to me. I guess my ideal reboot would be if Joel was making this with a bunch of Minneapolis comedians that I have never heard of, but are perfect for the show. Choices like Jonah and Felicia are great for the Kickstarter’s publicity, but these are people known for other things.
I know I am a grumpy old man in this regard, but MST3K was my youth. Owning reams of DVDs, VHS tapes recorded with favorite episodes passed around between friends. “This is the best episode!” no, this one is!
I “whine” because I care so deeply for MST3K, isn’t that the point of message boards? To have a discussion about something? I don’t know if this show is going to be good or not, but that is why we are talking about it? I don’t want it to be messed up? I know we aren’t all going to see eye to eye on this, but I have concerns and I am going to voice them.
It is hard to exactly describe how my feelings are about this show, because it is so completely tied to my childhood. There was something cool and underground about being an MST3K fan, and I loved that growing up. Older kids might have quoted Monty Python to their friends, but for me it was “Watch Out For Snakes” or “Rowsdower”. Thinking more about this Kickstarter, I have reflected a lot on how deeply ingrained MST3K was in my youth. Hell, old usernames for chat services had some variation of tomservo or crowtrobot built in there.
I know that whatever this is going to be won’t change what I grew up watching, but I do deeply care about what they are doing now. I have a friend that works at Shout Factory, and is personally involved with the MST3K licensing etc, and they are all super pumped about this project, and I am sure it will be fun. But, as I get older (yeah yeah, I am not that old) and as more and more Kickstarters exist to bring back beloved old franchises, MST3K, Descent, etc. I begin to understand how different things are now, and how what I loved back then could never exist now. My life would be different if MST3K didn’t exist, I wouldn’t have some of the lifelong friends that I still have now, if it weren’t for that tape-trading back then.
And the shock really is that this show, that they are developing, is going to be miles different than what was made back in the 90s. My initial reaction was that they were going to bring back the show that I loved. And the kickstarter was super vague at first, maybe that was an option? Then, as the days went by, it was clear they wanted to do a complete reboot. That took me aback a bit, but reading what Joel had to say about it, I was open to the idea. But now, as they are announcing more and more details, things seem to be moving in a different direction than I was hoping they would go.
I think it is probably why I deeply dislike a lot of what kickstarter is about. (not that everything to come from it is bad) Things have been moving a bit more and more towards utilizing nostalgia to launch a new product or show. I mean, Star Wars 7 is coming out, kickstarters bringing back old games and franchises are everywhere. To me, using nostalgia to fuel a new product feels a bit like a cash in. I am sure other nerds have gone through this with Marvel movies and the Star Trek films, but MST3K is my nerd-dom. So, now I am realizing how much people had vitriol for that 2nd Star Trek film, it is because Star Trek meant a lot more to them than it did to me. I was like, “It is just a movie! Why do you care?” I thought the movie was OK, but Star Trek was never my fandom. MST3K is, that is why I whine. Now I am that person. I have become the person I hate.
I really do hope this is good, I am not going to shout “worst decision ever” over casting Felicia Day, she has been pretty awesome in some cool shit. But, the MST3K that they are rebooting isn’t the ideal dream I had for a reboot, and that is clear now. I will watch it, of course, but I am just nerding out about it right now.
Maybe I should “really just relax” :)
It seems like your ideal version would not involve the original creator of the show.
My god, dude, you really should just relax. ;)
I know, for so long I was like “Man those people care way too much about Star Trek” I guess MST3K is my Star Trek.
Hah, I feel ya man, I too grew up with MST3K and it’s a huge part of my childhood. I love, love, love it.
Jon, is it possible that the people behind the new kickstarter TRIIIIIED TO KILL YOU WITH A FORKLIIIIIIFT!
??
For the record, I think you defend and express your irrational opinions very well.
Ole!
56
I realize that I have become completely irrational about all of this, and I think my insane wall of text helps with that.
Now get out of my writhing space. (so I can enjoy the horrors of spider island)
In fairness, I think I generally see eye-to-eye with you, Jon, on a lot of this. IIRC, we’re of similar age, so I suspect we grew up watching the same seasons of MST3K. In my case, it’s what I watched on Sunday afternoons (?) with dad after church, and the subversive joy of watching something that certainly tested the line of–well, not decency, but “Good Christian fun”–with him so soon after the weekly (and dreadfully boring) Mass was a real treat. I never got deeply into tape-trading or anything–not that dad and I didn’t have a decent collection of low-quality VHSes of our own–but it was something I really loved and enjoyed.
In that world, a big part of it was the latter-day cast, including Mike and even Mary Jo (alright, I liked her insofar as I sort of hated her character, which is probably the mark of a job well done). So I suspect I don’t have nearly the appreciation for nor gratefulness toward Joel that a lot of folks 2-20 years older than me might. He was in the back of my brain for the whole thing, but wasn’t really intrinsically tied up in the show for me growing up. Since then I’ve had the opportunity to watch some of his episodes, etc., and thought they were good, too, but my hear lies with the back half of the series.
So, yeah, seeing a new KS ramp up with a bunch of new people hand-picked by Joel to satisfy his vision of where the show should go doesn’t immediately engender my support and understanding. I don’t think he’s an evil dude or even bad for the show. . . I just don’t automatically assume that Joel’s vision will produce more of the show I loved so much.
Plus, Felicia Day’s got some weird vocal thing that somehow reminds me of the spinning-spit-slosh sound kids with braces used to make in school, and it kinda grates after awhile (I think she amped the dweebiness up for Supernatural, the only place I’ve watched a lot of her aside from rare Tabletop appearances, so maybe that’s affecting my view). Funny as shit, mind you. . . but I find myself glad she’s not one of the regular riffers ;)
Felicia Day is the only one of those people that I have ever heard of and even she’s very much only a celebrity in certain specific circles, so I think the degree of star power is being a bit overstated. (I think maybe I’ve heard the name Baron Vaughn but if I have I don’t know what context.) I mean, yeah, it’s not a handful of random friends and acquaintances from Minneapolis and as a Twin Cities resident that’s mildly disappointing to me, but beyond that, meh. What matters to me is whether the new show is consistently funny, and I will reserve judgment on that 'til it’s out. I would like to support it but they priced themselves out of my enthusiasm/budget so oh well.
Well, I came into MST3K during the Mike era, but I had a cousin that was a huge fan, and we shared tapes, and she introduced me to the awesomeness of a bunch of older Joel episodes.
If this has done anything, it has made me go back and watch a lot more MST3K.
PlutoTVis running episodes 24 hours a day! And Amazon Prime video has a bunch to stream. It’s a golden age!
What is this PlutoTV thing?
http://pluto.tv/watch/mst3k should be a direct link to the MST3K channel. No idea regarding legality, but the FAQ for the Kickstarter (https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mst3k/bringbackmst3k#project_faq_156010) suggests it’s the legit place to go on various mobile devices and TV rebroadcasteringos on Turkey Day, so I guess there’s that.
yeah… Turkey Day marathon being on Yahoo screen is troubling.
That app is terrible.
Just happened to hear Baron Vaughn on the Bullseye podcast and he was damned hilarious. Makes me excited for his role in the new MST.
Bullseye’s going to have Joel in the next couple of weeks, too.