{"id":5750,"date":"2017-04-19T08:00:21","date_gmt":"2017-04-19T16:00:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.wou.edu\/westernjournal\/?p=5750"},"modified":"2017-04-18T17:03:41","modified_gmt":"2017-04-19T01:03:41","slug":"review-mystery-science-theater-3000","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/review-mystery-science-theater-3000\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: \u201cMystery Science Theater 3000\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"
By: Darien Campo\r\nDesigner<\/pre>\n
Everyone\u2019s a critic these days.<\/p>\n
The fine art of \u201criffing,\u201d making fun of bad movies through biting commentary, is still alive. On the internet there is no shortage of critics and reviewers all vying for attention on the digital stage, but we must be careful not to forget the original show that taught us how to make fun of movies; the critics who inspired a thousand differs.<\/p>\n
Netflix sure hasn\u2019t, and on April 14, they released the long-awaited return of cult-classic \u201cMystery Science Theater 3000.\u201d<\/p>\n
For those not in the know: \u201cMystery Science Theater 3000\u201d was a cult sci-fi comedy series in the \u201890s about a man and his two robot pals trapped on a spaceship, the Satellite of Love, where evil scientists force them to watch the worst movies ever made. In order to keep their sanity, the three resort to riffing on the terrible onslaught of low-budget films.<\/p>\n
Watching the show was akin to hanging out with a group of friends and watching the Syfy channel late at night just so you could add your own commentary on top of the movies.<\/p>\n
Netflix\u2019s revival and next season of the show focuses on a new human subject, Jonah Heston, played by Jonah Ray, co-host of \u201cThe Nerdist Podcast.\u201d Original creator Joel Hodgson personally picked Ray to host the show, while giving him the choice over who would be the new voices of the show\u2019s robot co-hosts, Tom Servo and Crow T. Robot, voiced by Baron Vaughn and Hampton Yount, respectively. Mad scientists Dr. Forrester and TV\u2019s Frank are replaced with their descendants, played by Felicia Day and Patton Oswald.<\/p>\n
The show\u2019s format hasn\u2019t changed over the last 30 years, and still focuses on the three hosts riffing on a cacophony of film flops interspersed with short, goofy segments. Yes, the invention exchange is back.<\/p>\n
I was amazed at just how similar the revival was to the original. The sets look cheaply made, the segments have a very loose \u201cfirst-take\u201d feel, some of the jokes are too obscure for anyone to get \u2013 it is everything that \u201cMystery Science Theater 3000\u201d ever was and more.<\/p>\n
For returning viewers, you\u2019ll feel right at home from the silhouetted theater to the numbered hallway. For brand new viewers, jokes and references aren\u2019t 30 years old anymore,making it possible to actually follow them, but luckily they never feel like they\u2019re referencing modern pop culture in a pandering manner.<\/p>\n
I only have minor gripes with the new season.<\/p>\n
I, and other viewers, have noted that the speed that riffs are delivered is way faster than it was in the \u201890s. We\u2019re not given as much time to absorb the film itself, and the rapid-fire jokes break the illusion that these three characters are improvising on the spot. But, for a modern audience\u2019s short attention span, it makes sense.<\/p>\n
The \u201cMystery Science Theater 3000\u201d revival perfectly blends recreating the original show\u2019s campy feel while bringing modern humor to a new audience. This is not just for returning fans, I would invite anyone who loves bad movies to take a look at season 11 of \u201cMystery Science Theater 3000,\u201d exclusively on Netflix.<\/p>\n
Keep circulating the tapes.<\/p>\n
Contact the author at dcampo13@wou.edu<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
By: Darien Campo Designer Everyone\u2019s a critic these days. The fine art of \u201criffing,\u201d making fun of bad movies through biting commentary, is still alive. On the internet there is no shortage of critics and reviewers all vying for attention on the digital stage, but we must be careful not to forget the original show […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":937,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5750","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-entertainment"],"modified_by":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5750","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/937"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5750"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5750\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5750"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5750"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wou.edu\/westernhowl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5750"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}