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Count me in as a huge supporter of the show. I wrote extensively about its greatness on another thread that unfortunately fell victim to the June hacker attack. This thread (so far) is almost the antithesis of that one since there were as many detractors as supporters arguing their points. And arguing vehemently, I might add.

Detractors' main two points have always been that: 1) the show denigrates the work of earnest filmmakers and cheapens films that shouldn't be made fun of (THIS ISLAND EARTH and REVENGE OF THE CREATURE seem to be the two most often noted); and 2) it is directly responsible for the talking-back-to-the-screen phenomenon so prevalent in theaters today.

That second point is born of ignorance and not worth addressing seriously (though we can certainly debate it).

So it really boils down to whether or not you think MST3K maliciously insults the films and/or the people who made the films being parodied. For myself, I can only think of one time I thought the ribbing was anything more than superficial; that being the constant David Janssen drinking jokes made during SPACE TRAVELERS (MAROONED). But mean? Heck, no. Just astute.

On the positive side of surviving an MST3K attack, there's a website that posts interviews with MST3K creators and even 'victims' (most notably, the guy who made TIME CHASERS) who've gone on to get a lot of extra mileage from the attention. (I'll try and post a link to it later.)

The point has also been made that, if all movies are fair game, what would stop MST3K from going after a movie I really do love, like ONCE UPON A TIME IN THE WEST? My response is that I think even great and classic films could be hilarious with the MST3K treatment. And Mike and the 'bots might even make me realize weaknesses I hadn't thought of before. So bring them on. It won't hurt my admiration one little bit. I still see THE CRAWLING EYE, THIS ISLAND EARTH, and many other MST3K subjects through the same eyes. Only now I have two versions that I can enjoy.

I love MST3K and I wish it had gone on for many more years. I'm sure there will eventually be some kind of resurgence of the concept, if not an out-and-out followup, but I doubt that the same good-natured feeling will be there. (If it comes to be, we should probably count on constant sexual and bathroom humor so prevalent in most sitcoms and comedy shows today. "I'll buy that for a dollar!")

For now, I'll just have to revel in the past (some paraphrased):

"Wow, really old teenagers from outer space..."
"I'm huge!"
"Joel, I'm scared!"
"Left on their own, the scientists crashed a short time later."
"You're...giving...me...mixed...signals."
"But boy, that Gene Hackman sure can act."
"I'm Puma Man!"
"Meanwhile, in another universe..."
"You're listening to K-SLEAZE. All sleaze, all the time."
"I used to have a pretty mind..."
"Gamera is really neat! Gamera is turtle meat!"
"They just didn't care!"
"Rock climbing!"
"Normal view! Normal view! NORMAL VIEW!!!"
"My whole life has been a lie."
"Attack of the THE Eye Creatures?!!!"
"I just want to apologize for human beings everywhere."
"Richard Basehart!"
"Kim Cattrall! Kim Cattrall! KIM CATTRALL!!!"
"Believe me, there's nothing I'd rather see less."
"Lesbians of the future!"

God, I miss you guys...

Here's that link I was talking about:
mst3k-review.home.mindspr...index.html

Lots of interesting stuff here by really hardcore MST3K fans.