1st time watching the Netflix stuff🤔

My process too. First watching Retilicus (1961)? The novelty and my anxiety disappeared fast replaced by an ever-increasing awareness it was back. The opening intro establishing Jonah and Gizmonic, the Munsters riff during “Reptilicus” on the screen, hearing “Xanadu” and other Joel era riffs, the Monster Mash recreation in the lab (that was my moment), and Every Country Has A Monster each set me at ease and by the close of the movie I believed in my gut it was back. Every subsequent experiment behaved stronger than the last. Cry Wilderness (1987), The Time Travellers (1964), Avalanche (1978).

Avalanche may be the initial Netflix that felt absolutely right and drew me in totally. It is the Netflix episode I watch the most and I’d place it against any classic episode. “Orange Juice!”, “Dear Trip Advisor…”, the Avalanche POV jokes, and the cheerleader in the kitchen quip are top tier MST. It has the replay and the elements exactly right.

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Joel’s stab at modernizing it. The moving bots in the theater, Gypsy dive bombing a joke twice an experiment, the slew of today’s references. It’s all to draw in and keep younger viewers. I’d argue “the original vibe” is there and with abandon. But to expect it to be what it was in the 90s? Won’t happen. This IS the new MST3K. Like it or not. And most of us do. Obviously I too would probably prefer less Growler and M. Waverly spouting drive-by lines in the theater while even that grew on me seeing those Season 12 episodes again. Something occurs to us when we age where it’s difficult to accept changes to the things we love or adapt to it as we did as children. Most of my beefs with the Netflix shows vanished as I went back and watched them again. It may not work for everyone. But it did for me.

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The old show had “today’s references” … they’re 30 years old now :crazy_face:

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@Ron I know Ron although for those who only grew up on the older programs so many Star Wars (1977) and millennial allusions will be a jolt to the system specially if you weren’t expecting it. It’s human nature to be surprised by the obvious and to be surprised by the surprise. :wink:

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I suppose.

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‘Every County Has a Monster’ was definitely IMPRESSIVE! Getting all that in a take, even if not the first, seems incredible to me.

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That’s for sure! So many great host segments in the Netflix era but this one is King!

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When the show stopped in 1999, us fans had no alternative but to watch older episodes. Fast forward 18 years, we as MSTies were accustomed to the today references of nearly 20 years ago or more. To then finally have Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) puns and The Force Awakens (2015) spouted? It’s quite a revelation and a little shocking if all you saw previously were already a generation out of step to now. To have fresh MST episodes reacting to our nowadays culture is exciting if you haven’t had it in two decades or more importantly never had it. That’s when the shock or overload pops in along with faster riffs and new voices.

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I had a similar experience with regards to figuring out who was speaking the first time I watched it. Having rewatched season 11 more than a dozen times I can say I’m quite used to their voices now and know exactly who’s speaking. :v::heart::film_projector:

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I was just siftin’ through Avalanche for the riffshots project and forgot that there’s a Numerosity joke in there. Does Sesame Street still use those at all? If not, that’s a riff that would fly over the heads of anyone born after, say, 1995.

But MST3K has always been really awesome about keeping riffs relatable to almost all the audience and then a few obscure ones that wink to those who know.

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They truly have. Quite true. Yet there was an 18 year gap and accumulated material during that period where world events and pop culture were untapped owing to no MST3K. SUDDENLY in Season 11 that genie bottle is opened and new and older riffs poured out and the quality of it is as high as ever and with 20 years of new stuff to use.

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The Netflix years are terrific! Everything that Mst3K was about. Avalanche, Carnival Magic, Mac and Me, Atlantic Rim…just a few of the excellent episodes in the Jonah era. It’s Mst and it’s good. I can’t wait to see more on the Gizmoplex!

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I really enjoy the Netflix episodes. I do still have trouble sometimes figuring out who’s speaking, but I really like the return to a more pleasant, “having fun with the movie” approach to riffing.

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It helps to see the live show first.

The energy level of live performance is so far above the recorded version, it’s hard to over-state. Jokes are funnier, the experience is next-level, and you’re with a bunch of fellow lunatics sharing the madness.

I saw Reptilicus live and it may be my favorite riff experience ever. The episode is good, but live it’s amazing. It also made it much easier for me to get used to the newer style, and Tom & Crow’s & Jonah’s voices,

I realize that may not be super-helpful but I think it’s true.

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I’m a huge huge fan of the Netflix episodes and have revisited every episode multiple times. Imo the riffs maybe come a little too fast at first, but they hit their stride pretty quickly, and as others have said it gets even better in The Gauntlet.

The only bad thing about that season is that it was so short.

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(Sarcasm) Thank You Netflix.

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Funny thing about the Netflix episodes is that you’re so used to MST3K being this sort of “1990s Time Capsule” that I was honestly just that little bit stunned when they started name-checking things like Facebook, Twitter, Kickstarter and relevant celebrities!

Also: Seeing in-character cameos from the original cast is just so delightful!

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Having seen 2 live shows now, I completely agree. I wasn’t able to see the Jonah crew but the others really did great. Joel’s ‘No Retreat, No Surrender’ was the funniest experiences of my life. The Time Bubble Tour proved to me my Kickstarter backing was well worth it and the new stuff will be well done.:+1:t2:

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Avalanche and Carnival Magic are the two episodes that feel most like classic episodes in terms of pacing and the riffs coming smoothly and naturally. It helps that both those movies also moved at a glacial pace, which I think gave the guys a little more room to deliver their lines in a chill but funny “bunch of guys hanging out watching a dumb movie” pace, without sounding like their vocal chords are constantly straining to do the 100-yard dash.

While The Gauntlet was a little better than Season 11 as a whole in terms of riff pacing, when Season 11 got it right, it was perfectly fine.

That said, from what I’ve seen of the live shows, the MIGIZI shorts, and all the Turkey Day stuff, especially with the Emily or Joel crew, the riffing pace on those seems perfectly fine to me. Maybe they consciously slowed it down so it’d be easier to do in one take without constantly flubbing lines, but for whatever reason, do more of that, please, sirs! Because it’s been working out great, and feels more like “proper” MST3K.

I’d rather have them riff at a leisurely Season 1 or 2 Comedy Central pace and have more of the jokes knock it out of the park, than try to fill a quota where they feel they need a joke every 5-10 seconds to keep the momentum going, even if the movie or the writer’s room can’t keep up.

Mac and Me, Cry Wilderness, Atlantic Rim and Wizards of the Lost Kingdom, however, are good example of movies where the riffing was quite fast paced, but it was less distracting because the movies moved along at a fair clip as well. It’s when you try to rapid-fire riff something that’s hobbling along slower than a three-legged tortoise that it becomes really apparent that the guys are trying too hard, and need to take a step back and relax.

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I’ve never really understood the complaint that there are too many jokes. That’s more bang for your buck!

Hampton is very possibly one of my favourite Crows. After revisiting the show many times, I am now very used to their voices.

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