If there are two shows I have loved
unconditionally over the past thirty years, they are Saturday Night
Live and Mystery Science Theater
3000. Those two shows have always been my favorites- my mainstream
favorite and then my not-so-mainstream, much more nerdy favorite. I
can't even tell you how many people I have introduced to MST3k
over the years.
In any case, in
honor of the show that I consider one of the smartest, funniest things
ever seen on TV (as well as one of the biggest overall influences on
the Funny 115), here are my all-time favorite Mystery Science Theater
episodes.
Super Important Pre-Countdown Disclaimer:
In general, I am a much
bigger Mike fan than a Joel fan. And I know that everyone has
an
opinion about this, so I won't linger on this subject too long, but in
general I think the Joel era was much more innocent and whimsical (at
least up
until Mitchell), and the Mike era was just meaner and more blunt.
And also, in the words of my brother-in-law, Andrew, "In the Mike
era they tended to make fun of the process of MAKING the movie,
as opposed to just throwing out random pop culture references." Because
of that last point, I
find that Mike episodes are much better when you want to introduce
somebody new to the show. And also because of that, my favorites
list is much heavier on Mike episodes as opposed to Joel.
It's not all Mike episodes, though, I still love a lot of the Joel
ones.
Case in point
So here we go. Let's get on with the countdown. Just click on the picture to read my comments about it.
Mario's Top 50 Mystery Science Theater Episodes
50. Time of
the Apes
49. The Human
Duplicators
48. Pod People
47. The Giant
Spider Invasion
46. The Day
the Earth Froze
45. The Blood
Waters of Dr. Z
44. Teen-Age
Strangler
43. Outlaw
42. Village of
the Giants
41. Overdrawn at the
Memory Bank
40. The Giant
Gila Monster
39. Laserblast
38. Squirm
37. The
Amazing Colossal Man
36. Manos: The
Hands of Fate
35. Prince
of Space
34. The
Incredible Melting Man
33. I Was a
Teenage Werewolf
32. The Brute
Man
31. Operation
Double 007
30. Wild
Rebels
29. Fugitive
Alien
28. Final
Justice
27. Jack Frost
26. The Magic Voyage of
Sinbad
25. Gamera vs Guiron
24. The Painted Hills
23. The Leech Woman
22. Soultaker
21. Boggy Creek 2: And The
Legend Continues
20. Danger!! Death Ray
19. Merlin's Shop of
Mystical Wonders
18. The Final Sacrifice
17. I Accuse My Parents
16. Deathstalker and the
Warriors From Hell
15. Teenagers from Outer
Space
14. Agent for h.a.r.m.
13. The Skydivers
12. Time Chasers
11. The Touch of Satan
10. Red Zone Cuba
9. Mitchell
8. Eegah
7. Space Mutiny
6. Riding with Death
5. Santa Claus
4. Track of the Moon
Beast
3. Girls Town
2. Werewolf
1. The Puma Man
