
RAH Humor Review: Mystery Science Theater 3000
by Ray Koziel

How many times have you found yourself watching an incredibly cheap,
stupid, and/or boring movie on television?  It's happened to all of
us, for whatever reason - the plot was lacking or non-existent, the
special effects were cheap, and the acting could have been done
better by chimpanzees.  But, instead of finding something better to
watch we deal with it anyway, criticizing the movie at every point.

Enter Mystery Science Theater 3000.  The idea of this program is
simple: take these really bad movies ("Santa Claus Conquers the
Martians", "Gamara vs Guiron", "Fugitive Alien", etc.) and heckle
them.  The show has become very popular since its first season in
1989 for a couple reasons.

First, there is an interesting cast of characters in an equally
entertaining setting.  It is based in the future and the main
character, Joel, is sent into space by his bosses at the "Gizmonic
Institute".  Their purpose is to subject Joel to these movies to
analyze his reactions.  Fortunately, Joel does not have to watch them
alone.  Using various parts of the ship (the "Satellite of Love")
Joel creates Crow, Tom Servo, Gypsy, and Cambot.  However, by using
these parts to create the robots Joel has no control over when the
movies begin or end.

Meanwhile back on Earth, Dr. Clayton Forrester and his sidekick, 
Frank, prepare each week's film for Joel and the robots.  Our heroes
                                       respond by mercilessly ripping
     __         ~~~        ^   ^       the movie to shreds.  Our view
    /  \       /   \       (###(       of the movie is from behind 
    \  /      <    |     (~~\  /       them in the theater.  We get
     ||>       \   |      ~~~||        to see every gesture and hear
    /  \       /   \       /~  ~\      every comment.  Occasionally
 /~~~~~~~~\  /~~~~~~~~\  /~~~~~~~~\    there are intermissions when
|Toy boat! ||Toy boat! ||Toy boat! |   Joel and the robots return to
                                       the main part of the ship
where they do parodies which annoy Dr. Forrester and Frank even more.

Another appealing thing about Mystery Science Theater 3000 - or
MST3K - is that the heckling is very good.  Their jokes and puns come
from a variety of sources.  While Joel and the robots watch a film
you will hear references to such things as the Wall Street Journal,
Don King, "Spinal Tap", "2001", and a variety of actors and
situations.  The writers of this show are culturally literate and up
to date in current affairs.  Many of the puns made are often about
the slightest details in the movie, such as tire tracks in a field in
a barbarian film.

Mystery Science Theater 3000 is a witty, comical production that has
found new life for old, cheesy movies.  It is a show that must be
seen to be fully appreciated.  MST3K can be seen on Comedy Central,
available from your cable service provider.  Check local listings for
show times.                                                     {RAH}

