Hello there! I wanted to make a thread for everybody to talk about perceived unfair criticisms of the show. Feel free to politely disagree if you think a criticism is valid, but this will be judgement free zone to talk about criticisms of MST3K that you feel are unfair or without merit. This is not just for the new seasons, but for criticisms spanning the life of the show. I wanted to make this thread to get other people’s perspectives on criticisms I’ve had that people disagree with, so I can learn other perspectives on issues I’ve had. Maybe a perspective I never thought of will change my mind, 
also to learn of criticisms I never knew existed.
I’ll get the ball rolling with one I personally didn’t agree with for the new seasons. I’ve read this one a few times and personally never understood it.
“Keep GPC out of the theater.”
I do not agree with this one at all. It’s a way to break up the monotony and get Rebecca more involved in the riffing. Having Rebecca more involved in the events of each episode is something I greatly desire. Not only because she is hilarious, but the riffs she throws out are often pure gold. Was anybody upset when Cambot created the ESPN graphic during Sidehackers? I guess the argument could be made that it was more judicious. From my perspective though when GPC chimes in it’s always a worthy moment so who knows for sure!
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I HATE TOM SERVO’S NEW VOICE!
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[nods sagely]
Yes, the best use of GPC in the theater is to break up a long pause or otherwise interrupt a moment that means nothing, because nothing important is happening.
Similar to how her original self was welcome during the opener of the Hercules flick because that was a giant exposition dump/flashback which no one cared about-- probably not even the movie’s characters because they’d already lived it. lol
I’ve never actually sat down to see if each one of her drop-ins fits this arbitrary but clearly necessary criteria which I painstakingly made up ten seconds ago. But even if there’s little or no fit, the change did get us that Below The Dam song in Killer Fish (my favorite episode of half-season 12) so… YAY!!!
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Haha, the show has seemingly just done whatever it wanted in terms of plots, voice actors, side characters, types of movies… it would be hard for me to watch a season and be jolted by differences and that goes right down to the riff pacing and caliber of humor, too.
We all have favorite actors, designs, and movies because of how different the seasons mostly already are.
Gus is my editor now o.0
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A critique I don’t agree with is that the Mike seasons were too mean. First – this is purely opinion, but I think they’re often funniest when they’re being snarky or dark about the film. (Of course it depends. Really tearing into the people who make a fun low-budget project like Demon Squad or The Final Sacrifice isn’t funny in the way that ripping Francis Coleman a new one, or savaging a relatively high budget film like Mitchell is).
Second, I think this criticism misses that the Joel era could be savage – that Joel is just as snarky but because it’s delivered in his trademark laconic style, it sounds nicer. But it’s not.
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When I talk about the later seasons being meaner, I’m referring to a greater tendency to not disguise the hate just a little, and maybe to drag out the joke far longer than necessary. (I mean, they made fun of Mike’s mustache in two separate seasons and… Mike didn’t look bad in a mustache, really.)
But I’ve also said before that I didn’t see the majority of the SciFi Era until well after the show was off the air. Maybe I would’ve noticed less if I’d experienced the whole thing unfolding in real time.
And during the original run, our own perceptions and standards regarding what’s appropriate and what’s not could have also changed. 1988 to 1999 is a good chunk of time. So… 
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Trace Beaulieu is an absolute savage with some of his lines and I love it.
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I actually saw someone not ironically complain about … his old voice … in Demon Squad?
Sigh.
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Also a big part of these things is nowadays I want to actually see who’s complaining - a screen name just doesn’t cut it anymore for a rotten tomatoes armchair opinion
Edit: this isnt just for mst3k, believe you-me it’s a lot of fandoms online
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Completely agree with this! Tbh it’s part of what makes Joel’s delivery so iconic to me.
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Yeah. I think sometimes it’s how the meanest stuff is placed that’s most important. Kind of like how I want salt sprinkled over my food and not just dumped in a big pile in the middle of the plate. lol There IS such a thing as over-seasoning.
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Looks at title
Looks at description
Oh, I thought it was for stuff like “the ending to Monster A Go Go”.
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They couldn’t even afford ONE gear. 
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The relentless grumbling about the virtual sets of Season 13 gets to me. I’m completely fine with them, especially because they’re in the background. It’s not the action I’m actually watching from the actors. And the update fit its low-budget cowtown puppet show roots. Covid necessity, sure, but if doing virtual sets for Season 14 could have made the crowdfunding work, I would have been all for them to continue.
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I’m somehow blessed by having yet to read negative Season 13 feedback and remained blissfully unaware until recently
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One of the stock complaints on Le Tube seems to be, Blah blah I don’t have to take whatever I’m handed. I can’t tell if all these commenters work from one script or whether they’re all the same person. Regardless, I guess they’re correct, but it’s still not an actual substantive critique of anything. Also, if you turn it into a challenge coin and then delicately flip it over, the other side is that One Famous Writer explaining to his public that, The Creator Is Not Your Birch.
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I watched Diablo 4 launch to critical acclaim and landmark sales… and then the trending videos from content creators who’s revenue source involved bashing it while playing it…
And Im leaving out all the way-more-juicy political examples I routinely see in order to stay on topic here
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I both do and don’t want to know whose income might depend on getting in comments beneath the official MST3K vidoes to type IT STINKS! over and over again for days on end.
Are we sure that it’s not just Joel, winding us up? Maybe he has a side hustle that we don’t know about. 
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Yeah I don’t think it’s that much of a conspiracy for MST3K, so much as it’s super easy to make a flippant mean comment and disappear while still getting too much attention
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