I've been a big MST3K fan ever since I first saw the show around 20 years ago. Who would have thought that a janitor (Joel Hodgson)/space explorer (Mike Nelson) and his robot companions stuck in space making fun of horrible movies would be such a masterpiece? I honestly don't know if I prefer Joel Hodgson or Mike Nelson, as I love both.
Among my favorite episodes in this series are Manos: The Hands of Fate, The Final Sacrifice, Future War, Invasion of the Neptune Men, and Hercules and the Captive Women.
If you love seeing really shitty movies getting made fun of, then this is the show for you.
I'm a morbid cynic who thinks very, very differently from most other people. Chances are, if the majority says X is the greatest in its category, I'll disagree with that notion, because I tend … more
Consider the Source
Use Trust Points to see how much you can rely on this review.
"In the not too distant future..." evil scientists Dr. Clayton Forrester and Frank conduct an experiment by sending unsuspecting victim Joel into orbit on a spaceship, aka "The Satellite of Love." Beguiled from any sort of entertainment, Joel (Joel Hodgson, show creator) has no choice but to watch the worst movies the scientists can find. With time on his hands, he builds companions out of parts on the ship -- robots named Crow, Tom Servo, Gypsy, and Cam-Bot (who films the show). Through the miserable screenings, Crow and Tom keep Joel company, and survive by adding their own dialogue and cynical commentary. Thus, the MST3K viewing audience avoids the perilous experience of the bad films, delights in an hysterically dense soundtrack, and relishes the moments when the silhouetted figures of Joel and the 'bots play camera tricks by interacting with the images on the screen in front of them. Every flaw in B-moviemaking is brought to light -- right down glitches in sound and bad prints -- with emphasis on plot structure, screenwriting, and performance (or, more appropriately, the lack thereof). Intermittently (to allow for commercials when the show appeared on the Sci-Fi Channel), Cam-Bot provides a break from the film viewing with sketches by Joel and the 'bots continuing the movie-mocking, television screen interactions with the evil scientists including the ritual "invention exchange," and other low-budget preposterousness. Later seasons ...