Whenever you watch 2 or 3 MST3K in a row, or for weekend viewing, do you do it with a theme in mind? Things in common between episodes, to make it (more) fun. What themes are possibilities?
These are some of ones I’ve done:
MST3Ks featuring '60s sitcom military superiors/antagonists. Watching “Project Moonbase” with Haden Rorke (Dr. Bellows, I Dream of Jeannie), then “The Indestructible Man” with Joe Flynn (Capt. Binghamton, McHale’s Navy). Related idea: The 2nd one paired with “Merlin’s Shop of Mystical Wonders” for a McHales’s Navy theme.
Any MST3K from KTMA that was redone on season 3, and its s.3 counterpart. Definitely best done different weekend days apart!
And, if you can survive such an ordeal… the Coleman Francis Trilogy!
Any couplings you’ve done, or might? (I am referring to MST3Ks, of course )
Usually when I watch MST3K, I’ve relied on those 24/7 channels like Pluto TV and Shout/Twitch, so I don’t do the whole pre-programmed mini-marathon thing too often.
But if I was going to?
It would be tempting to go with a seaside trilogy like Catalina Caper, Tormented, and The Horror of Party Beach.
Or maybe a Western roundup of episodes like Gunslinger, The Last of the Wild Horses, and The Beast of Hollow Mountain.
Normally if I watch more than one in a row I just go to the next episode chronologically, but I did recently treat myself to a Mitchell/Final Justice two-fer. [I wanted to confirm if I was right in thinking that Final Justice is actually the better riff. Mostly because of Crow’s report on Malta, but also because it gave us the immortal “Go ahead on.” Also you don’t have to watch Linda Evans doing the funky chicken with Joe Don.]
My first thought for a theme binge though would be The Spider Quadrilogy:
Earth vs the Spider
Giant Spider Invasion
Horrors of Spider Island
Ator the Flying Eagle
optionally branching out into The Deadly Mantis and Beginning of the End.
Normally, I’m a watch-in-order kind of gal. However, I have a couple of themes beyond just “I like these eps, so I’m going to watch them”.
The secret agent theme:
Secret Agent Super Dragon
Operation Double 007
Danger! Death Ray
Agent from H.A.R.M.
The strong man (Herc) theme:
Hercules
Hercules Unchained
Hercules against the Moon Men
Hercules and the Captive Women
Colossus and the Head Hunters (I include this because the Moon Men is really Maciste just like this one is.)
Then, I will do a simple Coleman Francis theme where I just watch that trifecta. …and maybe wrap it up with Killers from Space since Coleman has a cameo in that one.
I’m not above watching more than one of the spy movies in a row, since Super Dragon is my favorite Joel episode. I’d likely start with H.A.R.M., which is the biggest slog. Then go to Death Ray. Then Double 007, then to my crown jewel of big spy dinks.
You could theoretically have Human Duplicators in there, too. Though it’s more firmly planted in SciFi than the others.
Oh, and what Fourth of July is complete without a double bill of Rocket Attack: USA and Invasion:USA ?
Technically speaking (I have to do this; I can’t help it), Track of the Moon Beast, It Lives by Night and even Werewolf don’t qualify for a lycanthropy marathon. The word lycanthrope means “wolf man”. Track of the Moon Beast is a werelizard. It Lives by Night is a werebat. And even though the title of the movie is Werewolf and that’s what they all say, when Richard Lynch was describing the so-called “yataglotchi” at the beginning, he describes it as a werecoyote, not a werewolf.
Now that I got that out of my system, I’ll say that it’s a nice grouping.
The best kind of watching is when whatever streaming platform decides for you and it’s a surprise. Like how it’s more special when your favorite song comes on the radio rather than you just being able to pop in a tape.
I pick based upon what has a riff or skit that I love. In no particular order:
Catalina Caper
Danger Death Ray
Fugitive Alien back to back
Gamera (any)
Gunslinger
Human Duplicators (if I can stand that lady’s voice)
Magic Sword
Manos
Operation Kid Brother (Double 007)
Overdrawn at the Memory Bank (looking for unriffed copy if anyone wants to sell)
Untamed Youth
Warrior of the Lost World
Werewolf
Wild Rebels.
So many great ideas here! I’d happily watch just about any of these suggested collections, but I think my favorite theme is secret agent as well. Usually I’m quick to identify a favorite, but of these four – Super Dragon, Double 007, Death Ray and H.A.R.M. – I don’t think I can. Each of them is just bursting with cheese.
How about a British theme?
The Projected Man The Deadly Bees Gorgo
If you take a few liberties, Pumaman could probably be wedged into either of these themes.
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