Rover_Wow's MST3K Obsession
MST3K - "Whatcha talking 'bout, Willis?"
If you've ever heard of this show called "Mystery Science Theater 3000",
or MST3K, you're probably aware of the hundreds of fan sites on this cult
cable show, some of which even feature some fans' MSTings. For those of
you going "huh?", here's a brief history of the show:
The show premiered on local Minnesota TV station KTMA back in 1989,
and went nationwide on Comedy Central a couple of years later. It featured
Joel Hodgson and a couple of "robots" (played by puppets) named Tom Servo,
Crow T Robot and Gypsy, who were trapped on the "Satellite of Love" (an earth
orbiting vessel shaped like a bone) making fun the low quality scifi of
the 50's and 60's (although once the show featured the 70's turd
"Laserblast") by making funny (yet sometimes obscure) references related to
what's going on.
These references, alongside with the little jokes they sometimes make,
are called "riffs". Many cast changes occured during the show's run.
Examples:
-
Originally, Dr. Forrester and Dr. Erhardt (ever heard of him?) sent the films.
Later, Erhardt left, but subsequent character additions saw the addition
of TV's Frank, Pearl, Bobo, Brain Guy etc. who sent the films. These
characters are collectively known as "The Mads".
-
Around 1995, Joel Hodgson left the show and was replaced by Mike Nelson
(who most MST3K fans are more familiar with... ;-) )
-
And in 1997, Trace Beaulieu (who voiced and puppeteered Crow) left and
was replaced by Bill Corbett.
In 1997, the show moved networks from Comedy Central to Sci-Fi Channel.
They also made a theatrical film during their little hiatus. In 1999, MST3K
ended (production-wise) with the SoL crashing down onto
Earth and Mike and the 'bots taking up an apartment. The series might be
over, but the show still airs in reruns on Sci-Fi for
the time being.
How I got involved
I'm probably the LAST guy you'd expect to be someone who's obsessed
with MST3K. For one, I live in Thailand of all places. So, how on Earth
did I know of this show, you might ask? Well, it started sometime in 1997
when "Road Rovers"
aired over here. I saw the show and got addicted. So I went on to the Internet
for RR sites and eventually found Krankor's
site to be a good one. One day, I noticed one of the links: "Unofficial
Road Rovers MST3K". Out of curiosity, I clicked on it... and saw some
fans' riffs (and MSTings) from scenes of the show. I was similarly addicted.
(You know, I seem to latch on to shows I've never seen... I've also latched
on to Hey Arnold! and As Told By Ginger, I latched on to Buzz Lightyear's
show a couple months before I actually saw it, and I've also latched on to
Rugrats, which I haven't seen in years. But enough about that.)
I also clicked onto a link to Krankor's now defunct MST3K page, which featured
many MST3K paraphernalia, including sounds, which I downloaded like crazy.
In 1998, local cable aired the MST3K movie, giving me my only ever glimpse
at MST3K and making me even more obsessed. I also went onto websites to
look for various MSTings. Anyways, I decided to put some of it up, and
the result is what you see here.
My MST3K Paraphernalia
Sounds - I have various sounds, all downloaded
from Krankor's now defunct MST3K page.
Movie MSTings - My first obsession with
fan MSTings involved MSTings of Hollywood movies. Previously, I could easily
find such MSTings through the "Pro" category at Website
No. 9. Later WSN9 removed the category (and the MSTings themselves...
copyright trouble, I presume) making them harder (if not impossible) to find.
Rugrats - I started a couple of pages to collect riffs of the
Rugrats. I separated them into 3 pages: "The Rugrats
Movie", the series and "Rugrats
in Paris: The Movie" (though the last one is still empty). I also offer a page
for other Nicktoons' riffs here.
Other MSTings - I later started reading some fanfic MSTings,
some from WSN9 and Shinji's
Vault of Anime MSTings. I liked 3 particular MSTings and read them
often and now I'm offering them here:
Later, I received this MSTing in my email, and I decided to put it up.
"Schlock Treatment" is a Darkwing Duck story
which includes Ducktales' Gizmoduck (anyone remember him?). Otherwise,
there's nothing to write home about, especially the bad spelling, grammar
and the fact it's in script format.
Also, I've found a MSTing of the Road Rovers ep "Dawn
of the Groomer". It's highly visual (meaning if you've seen the ep before
reading this MSTing, you'll understand the riffs), and it's really hilarious.
I also found a handful of stuff and had other people do MSTings of them:
-
"Music"
- A 1999 Rugrats episode in which the Rugrats discuss the music they like,
and wonder what the new Rugrat Baby Dil thinks of when listening to music.
MSTed by Darth Kirby.
-
"Night in the Park"
- A Pokemon/South Park fanfic where the friggin' kids find some Pokemon
and have an encounter with Jesse and James. MSTed by Jim
Whaley.
-
The "Rugrats
in Paris" teaser trailer and "The Trial" - Tommy's lamp gets smashed
and the Rugrats conduct investigation into the crime. Plus, we get a preview
of "Rugrats in Paris: The Movie". MSTed by Darth
Kirby.
-
"Touchdown Tommy" - The Rugrats fight over a
bottle of chocolate milk while their daddies watch a football game. MSTed
by Ben Greenwood.
-
"Wheel of Something"
- A Pokemon fanfic where a Pokemon Master, a Pokemon researcher and Pikachu
play "Wheel of Fortune" -- and chaos ensues. MSTed by Jim
Whaley.
-
"Space, Just Another Frontier" - The Rovers and their
evil clones fight in a space station. MSTed
by Roy Tirran.
Note: due to permission troubles with the author of the original fic
Daniel Morales, this MSTing (and my revised version below) will not
be linked until further notice. You can however drop me a line if you
want to read it.
My own MSTings - Most recently, I started writing my own MSTings.
Here's what I've written so far:
-
"Let's Hit the Road" - M&TB (Mike and the 'bots) make
fun of the first ep of the cult furry "Road Rovers". This is
my first MSTing.
-
"Touchdown Tommy" - Get ready for some friggin'
milk bottle action as M&TB riff this episode of Rugrats. This is actually
just a "revised" version of Ben Greenwood's original MSTing.
-
"Storm from the Pacific" - Once again, M&TB make
fun of the Rovers as they pursue someone who's stolen military hardware.
-
"Mr. Hankey the Christmas Poo" - The title turd is
enough reason for M&TB to riff this ep of South Park filled with
disrespect for Jews and, well, just about every other denomination.
-
"Clan of the Duck" - In this Rugrats ep, Phil
and Chuckie cross dress. Think that's perverted? M&TB certainly think so.
-
"Pasts and Presents" - My first fanfic MSTing, and
my first team MSTing (with Jesse
Shearer). The subject: a Road Rovers fanfic in which a female dog (who
looks a lot like Hunter... there's a reason for this) tells her story, and they team up
to fight, who else, Parvo and Groomer. How dumb is this fic? Well, the word
"incompetent" comes up often in M&TB's comments... think about it.
-
"A Hair of the Dog that Bit You" - The Rovers get
attacked by werewolves. At least they're getting it easy when compared to
M&TB. As I wrote this one (5/19/01), I was about to enter college, so
don't expect any more MSTings for a LONG time, OK?
-
"Galaxy Quest" - Well, I'm back. Any MSTer who's
worth his (or her) salt should try to riff a movie... and here's my
contribution. M&TB check out Tim Allen's disastrous sci-fi act... after
checking out news of the Rugrats' 10th anniversary. (My first MSTing in 5
months... initially finished 10/9/01. Co-MSTed with
Ben Greenwood.)
-
"All Growed Up" - Finally. This collaboration with
Shay Caron took its time to
be completed. In this one, M&TB check out some ugly hair and annoying
voices. No, not 1980s music videos, but the no-longer-Rugrats
going to school, and then a concert.
-
"Sid's Schnoz" - M&TB do a Hey
Arnold! fic. More precisely, this fic where Sid mulls over plastic surgery.
But first, an editorial on the show's creator working for Cartoon Network.
Note: After waiting a long time to receive permission from the author,
I've decided to, ahem, invoke the "screw it" clause and put it up anyway.
-
"Space, Just Another Frontier" - The
original version of this MSting was rather long in the making (it was in
development since before I started writing my MSTings), but when it was finally
finished, I immediately got to work sprucing it up a bit. This fic is really worthy of
M&TB's riffing, trust me.
Note: Due to the fact that the author of the original fic has turned me down
for permission to riff the fic, this fic will not be linked from here... if you want
to read it, you can always email me.
Links
MST3K Official Site
Scifi.com's
Caption This - where you can make fun of screengrabs from the Sci-Fi
channel, live.
Web Site #9 -
You can find a whole lot of MSTings here. It can also be reached
here, as part of the
mistings.org network.
Shinji's Vault of Anime
MSTings - Same as above... except that the emphasis is on Japanese
anime, although there are some from video games and US animation.
Science Fiction Theater
1,000,000,000 - Jim Whaley's now-concluded fan MSTing series.
Mystery School Theater 4000 -
Darth Kirby's fan MSTing series. I usually hate non-standard MSTings...
but I make an exception for this series. Why? I dunno, probably because
its main character is named Joel? Then again, I don't like Joel MSTings.
Comments? Email 'em here.
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