Do you remember times when they seemed to like the movie, or at least the scene? I can mostly remember riffs from Servo that suggest this:
There’s a scene in Overdrawn at the Memory Bank where Fingal and Apollonia are having a juicy argument when Tom blurts out, “Is this still the officially sanctioned ‘boring part’?”.
When the zombie raises from his coffin and roars at the start of Zombie Nightmare he says, “Cool!” and it really was.
And he might not be actually admiring the scene but in The Legend of Boggy Creek 2 there’s a bit where the lights go out, the students starts shouting in panic and the prof tells them to shut up. I agree with Tom, I bet his class is fun!
Even early in the series, they would sometimes point out things they liked. For example, at the end of First Spaceship on Venus, Joel has some complimentary things to say about the multinational and multi-racial cast.
Also, in interviews, they will sometimes mention movies that they kinda enjoyed. I think there’s a general consensus that The Magic Sword was one of the more pleasant movies of seasons 1–10.
I think there was more of it in the early seasons, but I think the lightheartedness of the riffs seems to indicate a greater enjoyment. Like in Danger! Death Ray, Crow gets really giggly. They really seem to be enjoying themselves all through.
I know what you mean about RT. I don’t see it in all of the riffs, but when I watched Sharknado 2, it really felt like they were doing something they were being forced to do and I didn’t get that feeling from the first Sharknado. I regretted buying Sharknado 2.
If you ever have a chance to see a RiffTrax copy of an MST3K title, they put short intros on each one—and yes, they quite often remark on how much they enjoyed certain titles and what they enjoyed about them.
When it comes to the SOL crew liking a scene, one of my all-time favorite MST3K moments comes from Girls Town, where they watch The Platters sing, causing Servo to react genuinely and positively: “Hey, this is kind of good! It’s The Platters. I love them!”
I think I recall reading that Mike and the gang thought Time Chasers was actually a neat concept and interesting, just lacking budget and a little execution.
Their first trip to the future had some solid predictions–it wasn’t overly futuristic looking, everyone had cell phones, the physical fitness trend continued, and I really appreciate the building made of 100% recycled materials though I have not yet seen one.
Crow calls him “the only genuine talent in this film,” though that’s not exactly right. Mary Wells of “My Guy” fame sings “Never Steal Anything Wet.” The mix is so poor that she sounds like she’s underwater singing it. But that’s not her fault. The “Book Of Love” singer Carol Connors had a modest hit with a group called The Teddy Bears. She also co-wrote the theme for Rocky. (Which makes her an MST3K alumni who was once nominated for an Oscar!)
