Mystery Science Theater 3000
I have been a fan of Mystery Science Theater 3000 since I discovered it on Comedy Central in the early 1990s (the show’s first season was on a cable access channel in Minneapolis in 1988 before CC picked it up for national broadcast in 1989). I had recorded every episode on VHS (or most of them) and watched many of them over and over again (personal favorites are Manos, the Hands of Fate and the Mexican Christmas movie Santa Claus). The world of MST3K was rocked when original host Joel Hodgson decided to step down midway through Season 5, but the show continued to thrive for seven seasons on CC, three on Syfy and two (so far) on Netflix. Not to mention one theatrical film. And two fan conventions (I went to the second one in Minneapolis … it was my birthday weekend so why not?!).
If you are not familiar with MST3K, the concept is that Joel worked for a corporation (Gizmonic) in the not too distant future, basically a janitor who was shot into space by a couple of mad scientists. On the spaceship the Satellite of Love, Joel built some robot friends — Cambot, Gypsy, Tom Servo and Crow T. Robot — and the ‘Mads’ would send them cheesy movies, the worst they could find, to monitor Joel’s mind (according to the theme song lyric), but Joel and his robot pals turned the tables and riffed on the movies while they played, their silhouettes at the bottom of the TV screen. There would be little breaks where Joel and company would perform little skits before getting back to the movie. And that concept has remained basically untouched.
There have been some live MST3K events beamed to theaters across the country, and some former MST3K cast members formed off-shoots of their own (Cinematic Titanic and RiffTrax), but nothing beats the original which attracted audiences for the movies, the laughs and the ‘bots, who may have become even bigger stars than the human hosts. People will argue about who their favorite host is, but Joel is the original and is much loved by MSTies everywhere.
And now the show is hitting the road under the title Mystery Science Theater 3000 Live: The Great Cheesy Movie Circus Tour with the ‘bots (unfortunately not voiced by the indelible originals but close enough approximations from the Netflix iteration), two new humans — Emily (Emily Marsh) and Mega-Synthia (Yvonne Freese, who also voices Gypsy) — and original host Joel Hodgson as Joel Robinson. The show kicks off with Joel entering the stage with a guitar, performing a close approximation of the theme song and introducing the cast. There is a bit of funny business as Mega-Synthis is introduced, basically taking over the job of ‘the Mads’ and the movie begins. Now depending on which show you attend, you will see either the 1986 karate flick No Retreat, No Surrender, which basically introduced the world to Jean-Claude Van Damme, or Circus of Horrors, a 1960 British fright film not produced by Hammer but featuring Donald Pleasance. I would have loved to have seen Circus of Horrors but we got No Retreat, No Surrender instead. And in between the breaks in the movie, which are highlighted by the hallway sequences from the KTMA, Joel, Mike and Netflix eras, the cast entertains with attempts at various circus acts which one of the ‘bots calls into question because of safety concerns.
No Retreat, No Surrender is hilariously bad, and Joel and company do manage to provide quite a few laughs with their riffing. The problem I had with this is that the sound was not great. The movie was too low at first (the audio was eventually bumped up) but then it was at the same volume as the cast so there was a lot of talking over each other that often ended up being unintelligible, so I missed a lot of the jokes. It also didn’t help that a place like the National Theatre in DC — which is a great venue for stage shows and musicals that pack in audiences — was only about half full for the first show of the weekend which allowed the sound to just bounce all over the place instead of being absorbed by seats full of bodies. It also doesn’t help when you are surrounded by people who would rather comment on the movie themselves, or laugh uncontrollably at a volume level louder than the people on stage with microphones. The lady behind me would cackle so loudly I couldn’t hear anything else. Please people, be thoughtful for those around you. This is not a TV show and you’re not in your living room!
That may come off as me saying you should think twice before plopping down your hard earned cash to see the show. Not at all. If you are an MST3K fan, you MUST see this show (and if there are multiple shows in your area, check the schedule to see which movie is being riffed) because it’s cool to see something like this live, but more importantly … it’s Joel’s final, farewell tour with the show. How can any true MSTie pass up that opportunity? You can’t. Hopefully the two other shows at the National Theatre will have better audiences and more balanced sound, and future venues will also be sure to monitor the audio (pre-show sound checks are helpful) for the maximum viewer enjoyment. Regardless, it’s still a blast to see Joel, Tom Servo and Crow on stage riffing, and this is the last time you’ll have the opportunity to experience that. So get your tickets now! Cities to be visited include Wilmington NC, Philadelphia PA, Milwaukee WI, Memphis TN, Orlando FL, Tampa FL, New Orleans LA, Portland OR, Seattle WA, San Jose CA, San Francisco CA, Denver CO, Atlanta GA, and Minneapolis MN. A full schedule can be found on the tour’s official website.
Mystery Science Theater 3000
You can find the tour dates on the show’s website, or check our Ticketmaster link below for ticket availability in your city.
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