TBoT+-+MST3K+and+Knock-On+Effects

=Toolbox of Thought: MST3K and Knock-On Effects=

(Alternate Title: “//The Only Reason I am Considering Buying ‘Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen//’”)

//”We got movie sign!”//

Have you ever been in a movie theatre (or at home with friends/family watching a movie) and realised that the movie you are watching is not just mediocre but absolutely terrible. You could always leave in the middle of it, but you paid good money to watch it or don’t want to seem rude and antisocial. So you sit there, suffering through some poorly-made film, wishing you could watch something else instead. But sometimes the film is so bad that watching it threatens your very sanity, and the only way to survive it is to zone out or think of the most snarky criticisms and jokes you can make about it. Now imagine a show where a man and two robots are routinely forced to watch bad movies and riff on them. That, dear readers, is the basic concept behind Mystery Science Theatre 3000.

MST3K was created as a way of getting some use out of really bad old movies that the television networks had the rights to show, but didn’t unless they were desperate for gap-filler. Basically, they took bad movies and made them fun to watch. This concept proved to be very popular and soon gained a cult following that allowed it to last for several seasons (albeit across three different networks) and has lasted to this day. I won’t be going into the specific details of MST3K here, but if you want to know more about it there’s a great video [|here].

No, I will instead be talking about the after-effects of the show. Specifically, what other things have been created after the show was cancelled. There are three that I know of, but there may be more.

1. Copycats and Reunions

Since MST3K popularised the concept of watching bad movies to riff on them for the entertainment value, there have been numerous imitators. None of these have appeared on TV (at least not to my knowledge) but there are free MST3K-style video riffs available for free on the internet.

Because this is the internet, it is safe to assume that the majority of them are not worth watching (90% according to [|Sturgeon’s Law]) but it is also safe to assume that there are also some good ones out there as well. And among the best would be RiffTrax, an online return of several of the original MST3K guys making downloadable alternate commentaries for DVD’s ranging from ‘The Matrix’ to ‘The Twilight Saga’. (YES! This is justified and necessary and, from what I’ve seen of it, very funny.) RiffTrax does cost money, but it’s worth it for the comedic genius behind MST3K making a mockery of modern movies. (Check out the added alliterative appeal there.)

MST3K may have also been a contributor to the concept of Let’s Plays (they are very similar), however I have no evidence to support this theory. At the very least it is similar in concept to some LP’s.

2. The “MST” Genre of Fanfiction

Now, anyone who goes on FanFiction.net can attest to the fact that there is a LOT of bad fanfic out there. Seriously, the place is swimming in Mary-Sues (another future topic) and implausible crossovers. (Again, Sturgeon’s Law states 90% of fanfic is bad.) So, someone had the bright idea of doing to bad fanfiction what MST3K did to bad movies.

Originally, the writers of MST fics would simply have it play out like the original Mystery Science Theatre 3000 complete with the original cast, structure and inventions at the end. Eventually, they branched out into using characters from the canon that the bad fanfic authors were mangling, as well as original characters and sometimes characters from other shows/movies/games/etc. A good guide for doing MST’s of Lord of the Rings can be found [|here].

MST’s are a form of “sporking” – the act of making a parodic and humorous work out of bad fanfiction. Also under this label are missions done by the [|Protectors of the Plot Continuum]. The major difference is that inPPC missions, the agents involved actually go into the fanfic and have to fix what’s wrong with it. What exactly fixing it entails depends on what’s wrong with it. The Department of Mary-Sues is staffed by assassins; the Department of Implausable Crossovers agents are “Untanglers”; and the Department of Bad Slash have to perform exorcisms on canon characters possessed by Sue-Wraiths. I’d go into more detail here, but I’m going to save the PPC for a possible later topic. (Or maybe even an article.)

3. The MST Party

(This one’s my personal favourite, for reasons you will see soon.) After learning about the amazing world of MST3K, I noticed something: when something bad comes on TV and you have to sit through it (terrible old commercials on a video recorded a decade ago for drama, for example) people tend to naturally MST it if they’re in a familiar enough environment. This was shortly followed by another observation: some places sold DVD’s for less than $5, but they were generally really bad. These two observations led me to come up with a fun idea: buy the most crappy under-$5 DVD’s I could find, invite some friends over and MST the bad movies/tv shows.

It was brilliant! I’ve already tried it with just one friend and we had a blast. Not only is it fun, its easy on the wallet, too. Just one recently-released DVD can cost $30 or more. Older movies cost between $10 and $20. You know how much money I paid for three new (as in never sold or used before, but not recently released) DVD’s totalling approximately 320 minutes? Two dollars and ninety cents. Individually they cost ninety-seven cents ($2.90 is the price after rounding) and I haven’t even finished watching them yet. (I plan on having an MST Party these holidays. It’s going to be awesome.)

The sheer value of this purchase is staggering. Especially in terms of how much entertainment I can squeeze out of those three DVD’s. You don’t even need to be completely frugal to have fun with this sort of thing, there are plenty of $10 or more movies which are perfect for an MST party. Of note I would say Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen, The Twilight Saga or any generic action movie with a typical bald-headed grumpy-looking protagonist. Plus, if the movie you choose turns out not to be too bad, you’ve also gotten yourself a good movie for your collection (or at least seen a surprisingly good movie) and have learned not to judge a DVD by its cover and price.

Hm… I can’t help but think I’m forgetting something.

Oh, of course!

4. Trope Names for TV Tropes I mean seriously, have you even counted how many tropes were named by MST3K? It even gave TVT their much-beloved MST3K Mantra.

Wait… What’s that? I couldn’t quite hear you mumbling, you’ll need to speak up. What do you mean you don’t know who or what TV Tropes is? Have you been living under a- Wait a minute, this gives me an idea. I’ll be back next time. (Then you will understand a good deal more of what I was rambling on about in part 4.)