Anyone else have a terrible memory for riffs? I’ve been watching MST3K since the late 90s, but I often feel like a bit of a noob when people are rattling off quotes because I just can’t remember them and have to look them up to get the right wording or episode.
On the plus side, most rewatches are like a first viewing.
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You’re not alone. There’s episodes I’ve seen a lot and others only once. A few I’m sure i haven’t seen all the way through- and then there’s the Netflix stuff I haven’t seen at all. I never had Netflix and was weirded-out by a host who wasn’t Joel or Mike so didn’t try hard to find it elsewhere.
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“That’s all I’m taking from you!”
Seriously, I never bothered to remember anything until the '90s. Then people started quoting movies at me and I’m just there going…“Huh? You were looking for droids? I don’t understand.”
I buckled to the peer pressure and now communicate solely in movie quotes. Even this message.
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Yeah, you wouldn’t be alone on that. I’ve watched every episode in the series, and there are more than a few riffs that slip through my memory.
But I don’t see that as a bad thing, necessarily. You needn’t let that make you feel like a noob, not at all.
I like to see a silver lining on that. For me, it means that some (or rather, many) riffs will continue to be fresh and hit hard when I hear them. It’s like you say, it comes across as something of a first viewing. And that’s awesome!
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I definitely do NOT (durnit, edited to NOT) see it as a bad thing. It could just mean you have better things to do with your brain cells. 
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Maybe I should’ve said Casual rather than Noob. I definitely like that nothing feels worn out yet, but it’s a bit embarrassing to have to look up the quotes in posts to join in on a joke sometimes.
Either way I’m glad it’s not just me.
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I certainly remember some riffs and will never forget them, but there are so many and it’s so thick that there are always riffs I forget and watching an episode always can be at least a partially fresh experience because I will hear all sorts of riffs I didn’t remember. Even with episodes I’ve watched a dozen times like Time of the Apes or Mitchell, there’s enough I don’t remember that it’s still very enjoyable.
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