MST3K on Google Video update
Someone has been uploading more episodes of MST3K to Google Video recently.
So I thought I’d mention that I’m still updating my list of MST3K episodes online regularly.
If you are looking for a good episode to watch, check out Space Mutiny. It’s an awful science fiction action movie featuring a rock stupid chunk faced hero, his senior citizen love interest, and lots of reused footage from the original Battlestar Galactica.
MST3K Shorts list
MST3K is a great show, but there’s one thing it also is: long.
Luckily for you, the not-quite-there MST3K fan, there are a lot of “shorts” from MST3K episodes.
These are quick films shown right before the movie. They are usually very short, 11-15 minutes or so. The shorts are educational film strips meant for schools or colleges, or even entertainment features meant for theaters. Many of these are the famous 50′s shorts with disembodied, authoritative voices telling you how to groom yourself or why you should be in industrial arts or join the band or something.
cog_nate at MetaFilter has put together a list of all the shorts as well as links to watch them on YouTube or Google Video or whatever. Go watch a few and bookmark that page.
Here’s an example of a fan-favorite short called Mr. B Natural (the most natural B you’ll ever see). It’s a film about how if you feel like a loser, just join the band! Oh yeah, and buy your instrument from Conn Musical Instruments, and you’ll become a happy king?
The white race will salute you as you prance and gad about!
MST3K Google Video update
Someone has been uploading a lot of MST3K episodes to Google Video lately.
Every time I see a new one, I add it to the MST3K video list.
Feel free to send me any omissions.
In the meantime, enjoy my favorite episode: Prince of Space!
Brett Somers: 1924 – 2007
Brett Somers died on the morning of September 15, 2007 of stomach and colon cancer at her home in Westport, Connecticut.
Her obituary is available at BrettSomers.com.
Brett Somers, are you out there…?
Here’s who remains of the 6 Match Game All-Stars in the above cast:
- Betty White
- Fannie Flagg
Yikes.
WiiFit: Is it just the SquareMaster?
Nintendo’s announcement of the WiiFit game and corresponding “balance board” device seemed like a great extension to Nintendo’s casual gamer strategy. After all, there are lots of people using Wii Sports as an “exercise” device, and there’s even a blog that was started with the goal of losing weight and getting in shape with the Wii.
But is the WiiFit something that people might buy and use, or is it just a hunk of plastic selling for close to $60?
I’m not sure at this point, but I was reminded of an MST3K “invention” sketch called “The Square Master.” It was intended as a parody of exercise equipment commercials (and also was making fun of the soundtrack of the movie featured in that episode).
There’s basements full of unused exercise equipment all over the world: is this another one of them? Or is this a legitimate device meant to enhanse the immersive experience of the Wii? Will skateboard/snowboard games support it? Dancing games?
Give ‘em Hell, blank
I’ve recently “upgraded” my cable service to a digital HD-DVR box. This service comes with a “digital variety pack” of additional channels as well. One of them is GSN, the Game Show Network, which runs the best game show of all time: Match Game.
Match Game is a really simple game, but the real show is the zany rapport between all the celebrities and the host. The idea is that the host, Gene Rayburn reads a short sentence or two with one of the words omitted. The celebrities then write down a word that will fit in the blank, and the contestant must guess the word that they think will match the celebrities most often.
For instance, Rayburn might read, “Dumb Donald was soooo dumb, that when someone told him it was chilly outside, he grabbed his…BLANK.” The questions are usually written in such a way that the “blank” is some sort of double-entendre. In my example, most celebrities would probably write “spoon” on their cards, but some celebrities might write “bowl” or something.
Match game was featured in the VH1 show, “The 100 Most Unexpected Moments in TV History” (or something like that) for the following clip in which the celebrities and audience revolt against the judges.
Now that you have some idea what the Match Game is, I want to share one of my favorite MST3K sketches of all time. It’s a parody of Match Game: a “one-man show” in which Crow plays the host, Gene Rayburn, as well as an entire panel of the most well-known celebrities associated with the show. It’s called “Give ‘em Hell, blank”, and features a particularly striking maudlin monologue in the voice of an aging Gene Rayburn. The sketch is hilarious because all the celebrities answers are butt-related, but the whole thing works because it’s so well written. Here’s the sketch:
A DVD of Match Game best-of is coming out on November 21st.
Rifftrax
I love MST3K, but I always wondered what it would be like if a real movie was featured. You know, like Top Gun or X-Men or something.
That dream is now a reality!
Rifftrax are sound tracks that you can purchase and play alongside your DVD. Sound ridiculous? Well, it is, except that featured on these Rifftraxs are none other than Mike Nelson (TV’s Mike Nelson), and occasionally Kevin Murphy (TV’s Tom Servo) and Bill Corbett (TV’s Crow T. Robot) from MST3K fame!
I must admit, it’s kinda weird paying for a long sound clip of what is essentially one or two guys saying things that make no sense on their own. Also, it’s kinda awkward if it’s just one guy (Mike) doing the riffing. I mean, it’s kinda like I’m paying Mike $3 to come tell jokes to me one-on-one in my living room while sitting on my couch. It just feels weird. I, for one, hope that more of these tracks will feature 2 or more riffers from now on.
If you don’t feel like shelling out $3 for a man talking to himself, you can check out some sample tracks (synced to the corresponding video). It feels just like MST3K without the silhouettes–even the exact same character voices. Of course, Mike’s favorite movie, Road House is featured, along with Star Trek V, The Fifth Element, xXx, and Top Gun. Most deservingly, Britney Spears’s Crossroads is featured, although I imagine it’s especially creepy to listen to a man talk to himself about Britney Spears’s awful acting.
New MST3K Clips
It’s that time again! No not time to shave your back*, it’s time for more MST3K clips! Here’s just some random clips from the show that I had laying around and decided to upload to YouTube (which has the best video upload tool known to man).
The …
It’s that time again! No not time to shave your back*, it’s time for more MST3K clips! Here’s just some random clips from the show that I had laying around and decided to upload to YouTube (which has the best video upload tool known to man).
The Sinister Urge is an Ed Wood film about the pornography racquet and the teenage gangs that will KILL for porn!
The sketches during the show can sometimes be really corny and ridiculous, but I think they come off as charming, genuine, original, and downright hilarious at times. For instance, the “invention exchange” that opened the show for the first 4 1/2 seasons. Here, in Women of the Prehistoric Planet, the mad scientists have come up with a new kind of restaurant. And Joel and the bots…well…not really sure their invention has any practical value.
What exactly is happening in this next scene in Wild Rebels? I’ve never seen this episode, except for the clip below. Carrier mole seems like a sound communication concept, though.
I really do think Zapruder was the camera man for the awful footage in The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-up Zombies. Every scene looks like someone’s last known photograph. Oh, and that dancer, she’s got to be a man.
*Apologies to Bob Saget.
MST3K on PSX
It is YouTube/Google Video week here at MD Groves (apparently)!
Today I have a rarish treat for MST3K fans. The cast did a short promotional video for Playstation Underground back in 97 or 98 I guess, making fun of some of Sony’s commercials and promotional video. It is SciFi-era MST3K at its best, for sure.
MST3K DVD Volume 9
UPDATE: I’ve been looking for some clips of these episodes on YouTube/Google Video/etc, but to no avail. However, I did stumble across this site, and I’ve ripped 4 clips to ASF files for your convenience. Enjoy!
MST3K Volume 9 DVD is now available for pre-ordering from Rhino Records.
Volume 9 features:
- Women of the Prehistoric Planet – featuring the origin of the “hi-keeba” catchphrase
- Wild Rebels
- The Sinister Urge – hilarious Ed Wood anti-porn film
- The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies – featuring the famous Ray Dennis Steckler (a.k.a. Cash Flagg)
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