I reserve the right to change my mind on these from day to day, but today the answer is:
Favorite 3-
507 I Accuse My Parents
508 Operation Double 007
509 The Girl in Lovers Lane
Least Favorite 3-
1004 Future War
1005 Blood Waters of Dr. Z
1006 Boggy Creek II
My three favorite chronological episodes are the following.
706 - Laserblast
801 - Revenge of the Creature
802 - The Leech Woman
Two of my all time favorite episodes here. Laserblast is my favorite episode of the entire series. It’s special not just because it was my first season 7 episode, but it’s also because it’s one that I watched with my dad. And the fact that it brought him so much joy and made him laugh his ass off makes it a special one. It’s also just really funny on its own, and a great send off to my favorite cast member, Trace! The Leech Woman was one of those surprise gems for me. I was surprised by how much it kept me laughing. It was just one memorable joke after another. There are a couple weak ones, like the Transgender society riff (it’s not that it’s offensive, it just makes no sense). However, I can excuse some weaker jokes in an episode full of great ones.
Meanwhile, Revenge of the Creature is just a good one to round out the trio. It doesn’t stand out too much, other than it being the first episode of the Sci Fi era. But it’s one that I enjoy.
Least favorites were a bit more tricky, since there aren’t many episodes I actively dislike. But here’s what I got.
1201 - Mac and Me
1202 - Atlantic Rim
1203 - Lords of the Deep
Mac and Me is decent enough. It’s definitely one of the better Gauntlet episodes, and it did give me some smiles and chuckles here and there. However, Atlantic Rim and Lords of the Deep are just horrible. The riffing in these really just made me want to turn off the TV. A lot of the time, it just felt like referencing stuff for no reason. I know that reference humor is a big part of MST3K, but these just didn’t feel clever. Couple that with the shortened running time, and these episodes (along with the whole season) were just lackluster. Thankfully, Ator saves the second half of the season.
Great responses so far. And “least favorite” certainly doesn’t have to mean “ones you hate.” I think three consecutive “meh” episodes could certainly be one’s least favorites when compared to the episodes you love and can recite top to bottom.
609- THE SKY DIVERS
610- THE VIOLENT YEARS
611- LAST OF THE WILD HORSES
Sky Divers is nigh-unwatchable even with riffing
I genuinely dislike the entire “violent teenagers” genre; I find it sad and creepy
I don’t care for Westerns generally, and this one is even more boring than most
MOST Favoritest
508- OPERATION DOUBLE 007
509- GIRL IN LOVER’S LANE
510- THE PAINTED HILLS
with an honorary mention for this excellent foursome:
819- INVASION OF THE NEPTUNE MEN
820- SPACE MUTINY
821- TIME CHASERS
822- OVERDRAWN AT THE MEMORY BANK
421 - Monster a Go-Go
422 - The Day the Earth Froze
423 - Bride of the Monster
I’ve got two top ten episodes in there (422 and 423).
I’d put close contending trios in:
505 - The Magic Voyage of Sinbad
506 - Eegah
507 - I Accuse My Parents
812 - The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies
813 - Jack Frost (it IS my all-time fave)
814 - Riding with Death
Least favorite? That’s the real challenge. I’ll have to put some thought into that and come back.
I’m going to leave KTMA and Season 1 out of the mix on this. I like those episodes, and I don’t know about measuring them against the rest of the series.
Strange Creatures is the nadir for me, so, no chance of that swap happening at my end.
But after that one, season 8 is off to the races, with only a few speed bumps to slow it down a bit (Neptune Men starts great but becomes tedious by its final act, and Memory Bank is only so/so for me)
Season 5 might have my best win streak, from Super Dragon to Teen-Age Strangler, there’s 11 goodies in a row. Sandwiched between Swamp Diamond and Batwoman, of which I am cool too.
Yeah, Neptune Men comes out of the gate STRONG, but that aerial battle at the end is a headcracker.
Yeah, Seasons 5 and 8 were pretty much skips for me in terms of the least favorite trio question. So much great stuff all around that the possibility of a weak threesome of episodes is pretty much ruled out.
820, 821 and 822 are a great way to close a fantastic season! (And if I could “break the rules” I would list 813, 814, 815 and 816 as my favorite four episode stretch)
Least Favorite trio is a bit tricky. Since they’re close enough together, I would have to say those Season Two biker movies are the “tougher sell” for me.
