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It's funny.  Laugh. Media Television

Ask MST3k Creator Joel Hodgson 191

As turkey day approaches, we have the chance to ask Joel Hodgson whatever you can think of. If you've lived without electricity since the 80s, you might not be aware that he was the creator and original host of what may be the funniest show in history - Mystery Science Theater 3000, as well as the upcoming Cinematic Titanic. I've still got my fan club membership card even after nearly 2 decades. Standard Slashdot interview rules apply: ask your questions here, and we'll pass a bunch of the highest scoring ones for Joel to answer.
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Ask MST3k Creator Joel Hodgson

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  • by eldavojohn ( 898314 ) * <eldavojohn@g[ ]l.com ['mai' in gap]> on Wednesday November 21, 2007 @05:08PM (#21440049) Journal
    What do you think about the other efforts led by Mike Nelson like Rifftrax [slashdot.org] & The Film Crew [slashdot.org]? Is there a reason that you, Pearl, TV's Frank & Dr. Forester have split from Mike, Brain Guy & Tom Servo? I'm overjoyed that there are multiple efforts but why?
    • What do you think about the other efforts led by Mike Nelson like Rifftrax [slashdot.org] & The Film Crew [slashdot.org]? Is there a reason that you, Pearl, TV's Frank & Dr. Forester have split from Mike, Brain Guy & Tom Servo? I'm overjoyed that there are multiple efforts but why?

      I think these days they go by their other names: you know, Mary Jo, Trace, Bill, Kevin, Josh, etc...

    • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

      by Anonymous Coward
      Never mind the Joel vs. Mike controversy -- it will just lead to endless arguing. Joel, do you prefer vi or emacs?
  • Box Set Frustrations (Score:5, Interesting)

    by eldavojohn ( 898314 ) * <eldavojohn@g[ ]l.com ['mai' in gap]> on Wednesday November 21, 2007 @05:10PM (#21440097) Journal
    My frustrations abound with my attempts to collect the Licensed DVDs of your MST3K material. Currently I have no method of acquiring the tenth box set ($250 on eBay?!) and Rhino has some insane pricing scheme which amounts to $10-$15 a disc. Why did Best Brains Inc. go with Rhino? Why after all that effort to make this material free online (at one time I think there was a dedicated server) are they so expensive and hard to get a hold of? Will Rhino go after me if I continue to own and share tapes and files of MST3K? The mantra always was to keep on circulating the tapes--and with the advent of bittorrent, that's never been easier--but now that they are one by one becoming licensed by Rhino, is that legal?
    • Wish I had mod points, I'd love to see the entire series of DVDs available at decent prices, or at all. My wife would do anything for me if I could get her the complete set. Did you hear that? ANYTHING. Help me out here Joel!

      • Just bit torrent the seasons. Sure they're VHS dups and the quality suffers sometimes but that's half the fun.
      • by ConceptJunkie ( 24823 ) * on Wednesday November 21, 2007 @09:29PM (#21442777) Homepage Journal
        It has nothing to do with Joel or Best Brains for a majority of the episodes. It's all about the expiration of the rights for the original movies. Now I can never understand why someone who owns the rights to a total stinkturd of a movie, which most (but not all!) MST3K movies were would choose to leave their work to congeal in obscurity when they could sell thousands more copies of it, but IP is all about control you know.

        Robert Fiveson, the director of "Parts: The Clonus Horror" which appeared in MST3K Volume 12 Set was smart about it appeared in an interview clip on the DVD. He said he'd originally realized that while MST3K would certainly mock his movie, which despite its low budget and cheesy production was actually a decent movie, so decent it was totally ripped off to create the recent "The Island" directed by Michael Bay. Fiveson went on to say that he received tremendous support from the MST3K fanbase when he pursued a lawsuit against the makers of "The Island", which ended in a settlement, IIRC. Fiveson said he's very glad to have been associated with the show.

        All that said, however, there are still a large number of unreleased episodes of the show based on movies whose copyrights have lapsed or are otherwise in the public domain, and here's hoping Jim Mallon and everyone else in a position to do so will work with Rhino to continue these quality releases of the best TV show ever.

        Expensive or not, I'm more than happy to support Best Brains and everyone who made this wonderful treasure of TV. Yes, that means I'd bought them all on VHS originally, but I think all those have subsequently been re-released by Rhino, and sadly, the rights have expired again on some movies meaning they can no longer sell Volumes 1 and 10 (I think those are the two).

        Push the button, Frank!
      • by Yer Mom ( 78107 )

        I'd love to see the entire series of DVDs available at decent prices, or at all.

        Or in region 2. Hint, hint.

    • IANAE, but I believe Rhino themselves didn't clear the rights for the Godzilla film in set ten and that's why it got pulled. Damn shame, as it's easily one of the best episodes officially released (however briefly). I only got to see it because an old neighbor of mine scooped it up when it came out, and I seem to recall there was speculation even then about it getting pulled due to whichever entity managing the distribution rights of the Godzilla movies (Toho [appropriate biz abbreviation here]?) being supe
      • Actually, as I understand it, it was Sandy Frank who took great umbrage of MST3K's lambasting of his American adaptations of the Japanese monster movies. I was surprised to see the Godzilla movie too, which I agree was a superb episode, unlike, say, some of those interminable Gamera movies, good riffing notwithstanding. I buy every MST3K release on its release date because I know their availability is often ephemeral.

  • by TJ_Phazerhacki ( 520002 ) on Wednesday November 21, 2007 @05:10PM (#21440109) Journal
    Did the idea for the show come from a single inspiration, or was it a process?
    • Did the idea for the show come from a single inspiration, or was it a process?

      http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mystery_Science_Theater_3000#Inspirations_and_influences [wikipedia.org]
    • It was originally a public access show out in the minneapolis area.

      I used to live about 10 miles away from Best Brains back in my college days, but never had a chance to visit. A friend of mine back then did actually manage to get a tour of the place and got quite a few photos of the original set and "the ball". The set wasn't much more than sheets of plywood with dozens of rubber dog toys glued to them, covered in a matte grey paint. (Kind of explains why the SOL was always depicted as a bone in the show.)
  • Sci-Fi Channel Years (Score:5, Interesting)

    by eldavojohn ( 898314 ) * <eldavojohn@g[ ]l.com ['mai' in gap]> on Wednesday November 21, 2007 @05:12PM (#21440125) Journal
    I had heard rumors that Sci-Fi was the end of MST3K. I know people that have argued whether it was quality or requirements of a story arc in Sci-Fi's contract that caused the show's viewership to fall, why do you think the show eventually went off the air? What was your opinion of it at the end? What was the biggest mistake MST3K made?
    • by theMerovingian ( 722983 ) on Wednesday November 21, 2007 @06:11PM (#21440881) Journal

      I had heard rumors that Sci-Fi was the end of MST3K.

      Sci-Fi is where shows go to die. I have never seen a concept so promising completely fail to deliver in all respects, but the Sci-Fi channel is the penultimate failure of cable television. I love science fiction as much as anyone, but I intentionally and actively avoid that channel because the vast majority of the stuff they air is total crap.

      Allowing your show to be put on Sci-Fi channel is the death knell of your intellectual property (prime example-- Highlander: The Source).

      • Re: (Score:2, Funny)

        God, I hope you're right. If you are, than we're on the cusp of the end of professional wrestling.
      • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

        by Joe Tie. ( 567096 )
        Don't forget sliders. Fairly good show that seemed to almost instantly turn to crap when it hit sci-fi.
      • by geekoid ( 135745 )
        I gave up on the sci-fi channel when they didn't run space 1999 in 1999. I mean Come On!
        • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

          I gave up on the Sci-Fi Channel when I realized they were really the Low-Budget Horror Channel with occasional forays into SF.

          MST3K was, and always will be a niche show, and TV executives as a group have some sort of bizarre mental block when it comes to niche shows. They don't understand them, don't like them and usually destroy them (see Futurama). If it's not "American Idol" or some similar lowest-common-denominator dreck, they treat it like some kind of radioactive waste. And these guys are geniuses
  • Why'd you stop? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by damn_registrars ( 1103043 ) <damn.registrars@gmail.com> on Wednesday November 21, 2007 @05:12PM (#21440133) Homepage Journal
    Really, there's no shortage of bad movies still being made that deserve the MST3K treatment. Did you just get tired of mocking bad movies?
    • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

      by hewdew ( 1192705 )
      I've always heard rumors that you were just "done" and wanted to move on and do other things. of course there were rumors that there were tensions on the set between you and...? somebody. i always guessed that it was you and mike. maybe because of a bit of a power struggle? you being the creator and host, but mike as "head writer". i obviously didnt know the specifics of the creation process, but i could see that causing some problems on a set. i still dont think ive heard you really speak of mike or kevin
    • by mgblst ( 80109 )
      There are bad movies, and then there are bad movies made today. Imagine being forced to watch some of the crap that comes out today, probably multiple times. Gigli, Independence Day, I could go on for quite a while.
  • Public Domain (Score:5, Interesting)

    by eldavojohn ( 898314 ) * <eldavojohn@g[ ]l.com ['mai' in gap]> on Wednesday November 21, 2007 @05:14PM (#21440159) Journal
    What is your opinion on public domain laws? As someone who creates content but also relies on making derivative works of other content, do you support it? What do you think is a desirable length for something to become public domain?
  • Hollywood Trends (Score:4, Interesting)

    by eldavojohn ( 898314 ) * <eldavojohn@g[ ]l.com ['mai' in gap]> on Wednesday November 21, 2007 @05:16PM (#21440191) Journal
    What trends have you seen in new movies that you feel are positive? Is there anything about movies today that you utterly detest? Do you ever notice similarities between new movies today and the MST3K movies? What are your feelings about today's movies? I've always wondered if you are capable of watching a movie today without making hilarious jokes in your head, is watching film a major part of your life?
  • New Content (Score:5, Interesting)

    by mugnyte ( 203225 ) on Wednesday November 21, 2007 @05:17PM (#21440197) Journal

      We've all laughed at the choice of just inane productions you guys have lambasted over the years. However, there's new choices for great commentary being made every day (skipping personal suggestions). What sort of licensing issues do you guys run up against for acquiring certain content? Is there a "sweet spot" for movies to be in for it to be worth fighting for? How do you choose?
  • by Tetsujin ( 103070 ) on Wednesday November 21, 2007 @05:22PM (#21440271) Homepage Journal
    MST3K is still popular with its fans after all this time: people still watch the show, mimic it, repeat the jokes, build robots, etc. What I'd like to know is, how does that feel? Is it fun to think that people enjoyed something you did enough to stick with it after so long, or is it just strange to think that people fixate on it?
  • Cherokee D (Score:4, Interesting)

    by LWATCDR ( 28044 ) on Wednesday November 21, 2007 @05:24PM (#21440311) Homepage Journal
    So who which writer was the model rocket fan? I loved the reference to teh Cherokee D in Marroned.
    Also if you could could give the MS3K treatment to any move which movie would it be?
    My vote would go to the original Star Trek movie.
  • who ate all those Hamdingers anyways?
  • Did you ever watch Cheap Seats (kind of like MST3k but featuring sports) when it was on ESPN Classic? I'm a huge fan of it and whenever I watched it I thought of 3k and how much it probably inspired the writers of Cheap Seats. It wasn't really a show for the typical Slashdot reader but the Sklar brothers are mighty hilarious in my book.

    Cheap Seats [imdb.com]
  • How much improv? (Score:5, Interesting)

    by xPsi ( 851544 ) * on Wednesday November 21, 2007 @05:32PM (#21440423)
    Obviously, a huge amount of energy went into writing a typical MST3K show so that it recreated the feel of a bunch of sharp-witted pals staying up late at night over beers and pizza making fun of a bad movie. Nevertheless, it seems like as a group of talented comedian/actors, after watching so many campy movies with such vast bounties of ripe, low hanging fruit, it would be just too tempting to blurt out something amusing that deviated from the script. How many of the remarks made during a typical MST3K show (i.e. during the featured movies) would you say were improvised and how many were scripted?
    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by Dachannien ( 617929 )
      I've read (probably on Wikipedia) that the first season was largely ad-libbed, but they started scripting things a lot more heavily after that, which was one reason why Josh Weinstein (now apparently J. Elvis, to the WGA) left the show.

      Still, there are moments I could swear were ad-libs, especially during the Joel years, where Joel or one of the bots would say something and earn a surprised-sounding laugh from the others.
      • Josh changed his name so as not to be confused with the Other Josh Weinstein who, among other things is an executive producer of one of the few shows that can compete with MST3K for my favor, The Simpsons.

        I always wondered about possible ad-libs... I get the impression they were few and far between after season 1, because by the time they show was actually being recorded, the actors, who were also all writers, had seen the movies several times. Besides, some jokes are so good they could provoke laughter ev
  • why (Score:4, Interesting)

    by trybywrench ( 584843 ) on Wednesday November 21, 2007 @05:34PM (#21440447)
    why did you go?
  • Theme song (Score:3, Funny)

    by kwabbles ( 259554 ) on Wednesday November 21, 2007 @05:35PM (#21440457)
    The only two songs that I've been able to remember word for word in their entirety for my whole life have been the national anthem and the MST3K theme song.

    Does it contain a subliminal message?
  • Permission and Sets (Score:5, Interesting)

    by Avatar8 ( 748465 ) on Wednesday November 21, 2007 @05:40PM (#21440547)
    Do you have to get permission from the target movie's owning company to use/abuse it?
    Has this caused limitations of content for your treatment?
    What movie(s) did you really want to review but were denied for some reason?


    One of my favorite parts of the show was the creative use of inexpensive materials for the set (except that Millenium Falcon on the door might be worth something now). Will your current project use the same creativity, or will it be more funded and "polished?"

  • Dear Joel, (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 21, 2007 @05:41PM (#21440553)
    What makes *you* laugh?

  • The first (Score:5, Interesting)

    by ChromeAeonium ( 1026952 ) on Wednesday November 21, 2007 @05:45PM (#21440601)
    Did you guys ever find the first couple of episodes, and how did you lose them anyway?
    • Jim Mallon has the KTMA episodes and owns the rights thereto, as I understand it. He considers them to be of sub-par quality (and in the case of several of the early ones in the season, he is correct, especially when one or more cast members weren't present... when Joel does a whole movie solo, it's pretty weak, his talents notwithstanding), and does not wish them to be seen by the public. No one outside of him has yet shown up with a recording of anything before the 4th episode, and considering this was
  • by KC7GR ( 473279 ) on Wednesday November 21, 2007 @05:46PM (#21440611) Homepage Journal
    I'm a little surprised no one else has asked this yet.

    We all know what a great job you did with MST3K, what the show was about, etc. HOWEVER -- I'm more curious about you! ;-) What do you do when you're not lampooning bad movies? What do you do in the way of hobbies or relaxation? Favorite books? Heck, for that matter, what do you LIKE to see in terms of movies or animation?

    And, perhaps most interestingly, are there any particular movies that you wouldn't dare lampoon?

    Inquiring knows want to mind!

  • by sh00z ( 206503 ) <sh00z@y a h o o .com> on Wednesday November 21, 2007 @05:48PM (#21440623) Journal
    Joel,

    All of the on-line biographies of you gloss over your "formative years" and seem to concentrate on your prop comedy stand-up work in the Twin Cities as being the impetus for MST3K. However, having grown up in the Green Bay area myself, I can't help but think that some of MST3K (especially its connection to irresistibly awful movies) was inspired in part by WLUK's TJ and the ANT [milwaukee-...-hosts.com] show. Can you comment or elaborate on whether you enjoyed this show as a teenager?

    • Re: (Score:3, Interesting)

      by epee1221 ( 873140 )
      While we're taking questions from the Green Bay area, what did you write on the theater wall at Ashwaubenon High School? (It has since been boarded over)
  • by Tetsujin ( 103070 ) on Wednesday November 21, 2007 @06:11PM (#21440885) Homepage Journal
    Did you suffer any significant loss of bone mass as a result of your long-term spaceflight? (Are you aware that you currently hold the record for the longest continuous space flight? By a human I mean. Some would give that credit to Valeri Polyakov [wikipedia.org] but you seem to have her beat by about four years...)
  • Hey Joel (Score:5, Interesting)

    by MobileTatsu-NJG ( 946591 ) on Wednesday November 21, 2007 @06:14PM (#21440919)
    While you were at MST3K, was there ever a mis-interpreted gag that caused an uproar with some of the fans? Maybe something that sounded unintentionally naughty? Just curious. I remember all those nice letters that were read at the end of each show. Made me wonder if you ever got nastygrams.
    • by dr_dank ( 472072 )
      Dammit, threads like this made me wish that I could still post during the day. On the topic of letters:

      Did you get a bulk of letters that referenced things so far from the current shows that you really had to dig back to see just what they were talking about?

      My best friend and I wrote your show when we were teenage geeks, making references to the episode we watched, paid our respects, and tried our hand a quirky humor in hopes that it would be read on the air. It wasn't until over a decade later that we re
  • by antifoidulus ( 807088 ) on Wednesday November 21, 2007 @06:19PM (#21440957) Homepage Journal
    on sites like the Digital Archive Project. I know many current and former MST3k staffers have shown support, but I am interested in what you think about the early stuff(KTMA era and season 1 era) episodes being available for all to see. In the Amazing Colossal Episode Guide there are a couple of statements telling us not to go seek those out because they aren't very good, but fans have encoded them anyway. Does it still bother you? And also, can we please have the master tapes for the first 3 KTMA episodes? Please!
  • Other Stuff (Score:3, Interesting)

    by Toonol ( 1057698 ) on Wednesday November 21, 2007 @06:24PM (#21441051)
    Can you fill us in on your projects and work after MST3K? Also, it seems everybody focuses on a show that you left many years ago... does that irritate you or gratify you?
  • Well... (Score:4, Funny)

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday November 21, 2007 @06:26PM (#21441071)
    How do you all eat and breathe on the satellite?
  • by sammyo ( 166904 ) on Wednesday November 21, 2007 @06:31PM (#21441147) Journal
    Has any actor/writer/director been legitimately peeved by your often acrid, yet so very accurate commentary?

    • Has any actor/writer/director been legitimately peeved by your often acrid, yet so very accurate commentary?
      The final episode that Joel did was for the movie Mitchell, starring Joe Don Baker. Now, you may actually have seen him in movies today including Goldeneye, Congo, or The Dukes of Hazzard. This actor reportedly threatened to physically harm the MST3K staff [wikipedia.org] if he ever saw them. One of the voices said that he was sure JDB was just joking but I'm not so sure.

      Also, there have been some new introductions to the DVDs licensed by Rhino and I've watched them all. At the beginning, they often talk with or about trying to contact the actors/directors of the films. Oftentimes, it's kind of sad when they show the actors or actresses as they really poured their heart into the movie. For Time Chasers, Mike opens up saying that they invited the original cast to see the movie together with them. I guess they thought it was going to be more friendly ... than it was. There were many low blows at acting quality, how people looked, how they talked, the music for the movie, the region it was filmed in, the list goes on. It put the whole movie in a new context when I rewatched it. Still, hilarious MST3K, I highly advise seeing it.

      That said, I have spent considerable amount of time and resources researching Manos and although this is off-topic from your question, I must point out that it was written, directed, produced and starred in by the same man. Hal P. Warren, a fertilizer salesman from El Paso Texas. You can find considerable material on that movie including that the camera had no sound function and couldn't hold more than 60 seconds worth of film which resulted in many cuts and bad editing and three people doing the voices. The film crew was not allowed to do anything artsy and soon dubbed the production "Mangos: Cans of Fruit." The unfortunate story of Torgo is that he was supposed to look like a Satyr but instead put the metal leg inserts in backwards (supposed to make his legs look like that of a goat's) and, as a result, had hilariously large knees. This caused him great pain and, whether he was addicted to pain killers or shamed from the movie I can't say, but he committed suicide shortly there after. Rest in peace, Torgo [imdb.com]. After I found out about that, I did feel a touch bad for him, considering his short life.
  • MST3K made me laugh so hard, I would get asthma attacks. Why did you do this to me?
  • Zippy TV show? (Score:4, Interesting)

    by Vegan Pagan ( 251984 ) <deanasNO@SPAMearthlink.net> on Wednesday November 21, 2007 @06:41PM (#21441275)
    Bill Griffith, the creator of Zippy the Pinhead, often complained that Hollywood wouldn't let him make a Zippy movie the way he wanted. But when I saw MST3K, especially the host segments, I thought cable TV would be the best place for Zippy because MST3K had a similar style of humor and was thriving in the cable world. Did Bill Griffith ever tell you what he thought of MST3K, or if he wanted Zippy to follow a similar model?
  • by fonik ( 776566 ) on Wednesday November 21, 2007 @06:43PM (#21441297)
    Recently on my college campus there has been a huge rise in popularity of MST3K among people who have never seen an episode before. I think this is due to the ease of illegally watching episodes online. Do you think that this trend is good or bad?

    Alternate question: What is it like to watch regular movies with those jokes going on inside your head?
  • When my friends and I watched your shows, we learned how to be comical critics and make fun of shows that we watched. Entertainment never had to be grade A when my friends were around because we'd lampoon the show if it got boring or worse. This type of freestyle joking at movies is great for kids with a sharp sense of humor. I was wondering if you ever thought of the impact you have on people's method of watching shows?
  • Dear Joel... I'd imagine that the show was a lot of fun at times, especially in the gag-writing. But as the laws of averages goes, not every movie that comes down the pike is as ripe for jokes as others. They can't all be gems, which became more obvious after you left the show (I mean it seems there were more "blah" movies to work with, not a statement about the MST3k actors). Some you can just look at and come up with a hundred things to say, others are just kind of "meh" and you have to work harder to
    • by dr_dank ( 472072 )
      This is an excellent question. The only MST3K episode that absolutely stands out in my mind as utterly unwatchable is Red Zone Cuba. I can't imagine how much worse this could have been watching it several times to develop the script. Taking the parent's question a step further: percentage-wise, how many films that have you seen over the MST3K years that were truly beyond redemption?

      I'm sure quite a few got a one-way trip to the trashcan while the tape was still warm.
  • First off, thanks for a great show... Were you ever hassled by any of the actors/directors who may have seen their movies on an episode of MST3K? You must have met a few of them at some point, I wonder how they handled it.
  • Live tours? (Score:2, Interesting)

    by austinpoet ( 789122 )
    Hi Joel,

    Always liked you more than Mike.

    Live action facsimiles of MST3K have been popping up (most notably, at least for Austin, Mr. Sinus Theater (which had to change its name)) lately, and with technology improving, have you considered doing a live action tour? Perhaps with a Jazz band opening act? or TMBG?
  • I know many fans like myself enjoyed your warm sense of humor, and the relaxed sense of family-like togetherness you brought to the show. In my case, I stopped watching after you left because I missed that feeling...things became too cynical and cerebral for my taste...it had lost your special ability to give the viewer a sense of comfort and belonging.

    I remember reading an interview in which you said you felt uncomfortable in front of the camera, and that you left MST3k primarily for that reason. Do you
  • Some MST3k fans have given unofficial MST3k treatments of fan fiction, called MSTings [keithpalmer.ca], and even of a cheesy Jack Chick tract [humpin.org]. What do you think of those?

  • by bigbigbison ( 104532 ) on Wednesday November 21, 2007 @11:04PM (#21443307) Homepage
    It seems that cable channels are becoming just as timid as network stations (who of course own nearly all of them). Could MST3K get on the air today?
  • How did you eat and breathe, and other science facts?
  • So Joel... (Score:3, Funny)

    by FnordX ( 115944 ) <fnord@nospAM.cyberspace.org> on Thursday November 22, 2007 @12:18AM (#21443689)
    Which do YOU prefer, Joel or Mike?
  • All I know about it is some jokes about it I've seen on websites like slashdot.
  • Why did they send the movies on U-Matic tapes? That format only has a running time of up to an hour and no way to increase that by long-play. It wouldn't make sense as someone would need to exchange the tape in the middle of most movies.
  • What was your favorite movie riffed on the show? Were they any bad movies you wanted to riff that MST3K never aired?
  • I love the series, and I get the feeling that most of the jokes were done affectionately, but sometimes MST gets a bit personal ("Here is the girl known throughout the dorm as horseface!"). Did you every get contacted by someone who was really hurt by the comments, and did you regret the jokes?

  • Have you ever met Sandy Frank?
  • Do you know about http://www.badfilmsociety.org/ [badfilmsociety.org]

    and how do you feel about them and similar off-shoots of your idea? I hope you feel you've made a cultural impact and you're not pissed at them. re your cultural impact, I'm in the UK, my US wife started me watching your stuff (on YouTube, but that another question) and I'm hooked. I need more! Its a really nice common thready of humour between our two cultures.
  • For years I desperately wanted a Crow doll (still do) but you didn't seem to do a lot of merchandising back in the day. What's the story? (I asked you this in an AOL live chat in 1996 or so, and even logged in as Belinda Carlisle, hoping that would get me a Crow doll.)
  • There are so many truly craptacular movies out there, were there any that were truly excremential but MST3K just didn't get to?

    I can think of a bunch that would have been killer... Last Year At Marienbad, Tarkovsky's Solaris (heck the remake was even more unwatchable...) the list is long. but what ones were "left on the table"?

    RS

  • If you were a movie, what movie would you be? Kurt from Frostbite Falls, MN

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