A Mild Disliking Pit?

[Chris L]

I always preferred Joel.

The Mike vs. Joel debate permeates another dank, dorky corner of the internet!  Joel is definitely the more likable of the two and came up with the brilliant (?) idea for the show in the first place, but Mike is wittier and had better comic timing so those episodes hold up better for me.  I absolutely do not watch any of those pitiful host segments after Frank and Dr. F left though.  Nor should anyone.    

It's weird that all of the MST3K vets have grouped into competing movie heckling factions now.  Has anyone seen that Cinematic Titanic thing Joel is doing?  

[ughwhy]

Has anyone seen that Cinematic Titanic thing Joel is doing? 

Something about that $15.94 price point really puts me off. I like lots of jokes as much as the next guy, but you'd have to pay me about $10.00 to pay $15.94 for that business. Sorry, Joel.

[Beth]

I always preferred Joel.

The Mike vs. Joel debate permeates another dank, dorky corner of the internet!  Joel is definitely the more likable of the two and came up with the brilliant (?) idea for the show in the first place, but Mike is wittier and had better comic timing so those episodes hold up better for me.  I absolutely do not watch any of those pitiful host segments after Frank and Dr. F left though.  Nor should anyone.   

Years ago, my boyfriend played drums for a band called Bring Back Joel. I think this was at the height of the MST3K Mike/Joel debates.

[A.M. Thomas]

whoever started or posted the topic about where to go in europe

What is this, FOTChan?

[dave from knoxville]

This dunce might have made it into my Hate Pit if she had some semblance of a personality.

I can't hate someone unless I know her name. Or stalk her.

[Martin]

This dunce might have made it into my Hate Pit if she had some semblance of a personality.

I can't hate someone unless I know her name. Or stalk her.

I can. Kat von D.

Didn't a someone here have some dirt on her that made me dislike her even more?

[perry]

also, have you seen her boyfriend?  SHEESH.  and not that i like kat von d, but she could throw a rock and hit someone who doesn't look half as ridiculous as that man.

[senorcorazon]

Has anyone seen that Cinematic Titanic thing Joel is doing? 

Something about that $15.94 price point really puts me off. I like lots of jokes as much as the next guy, but you'd have to pay me about $10.00 to pay $15.94 for that business. Sorry, Joel.

Cinematic Titanic is pretty decent, but I'm not sure if the price is right. We watched it in 10 minute spurts and enjoyed it, but felt like watching it straight through would have been a bore.

[Fig Neutron]

I REALLY liked Cinematic Titanic's Oozing Skull, but with the horrible 'packaging' (you get it in an envelope like Netflix--Boo!) and price, I kinda felt like a customer at the Burger Barn.  Y'know, offsetting their costs on to me.

And this is the first I saw of Mike's specific comments.  I'm certainly not ecstatic, but it's not like he said he has a crush on Ann Coulter and has a Dittohead bumper sticker.

And they keep the politics out of their stuff (having watched countless hours of MST and Rifftrax, I am quite certain I have not been swayed to the right).

Even the Rifftrax political ads don't knock either side for their politics.

[scotttsss]

Has anyone seen that Cinematic Titanic thing Joel is doing? 

I have a very soft spot for MST3k, but only the Joel years.  And of those years, really only like 1990 to 1992, before the Comedy Central Turkey Day stuff.  As a kid the whole experience of the show was somehow really magical at the time.  When Joel left I was entering high school, and I stopped watching the show when Mike came along.  Mike isn't funny to me.  Mike was never funny...to me.  ...No "debate" as such. 

When I listened to the Sound of Young America I was really enthused about the prospect of Joel coming back, and especially Frank, because he floored me constantly in those old episodes.  "Black is slimming!"  etc. 

So when I bought and recieved the Cinematic Titanic dvd in the mail I was excited, and I put it off till I had time to watch it, and when I did, oh no, ohhh no no no.  I never really laughed out loud at MST3k, I don't think anyone did, right?  But this was indeed a tanker.  No good.  None of the fun of MST3k with the plot devices of mad scientists and a guy trapped in space etc, just a bad movie with not that funny people watching it with you.  Too bad.  I mean there were a few funny parts, sure but on the whole, no.  And I can't imagine buying another one for $15.  As referenced earlier, it's literally a dvd in an envelope with your fucking address on it.  Creativity goes out the window when you're trying to resurrect your career, Joel?  If they believed in it they'd have at least designed a simple jewel case for it. 

My rating:  Big Fucking Sigh. 

[Chris L]

That's sad to hear, Scraps.  The rollout for this seemed kind of chintzy before I heard about the envelopes but Frank and Trace's involvment seemed vaguely promising.  I was also sort of hypnotized as a kid by the show's mix of odd whimsy, B-movie weirdness and stoic Midwestern sarcasm, which were completely revelatory to my then-depressingly bland senses. 

As for today, it's tough to sit all the way through a Joel episode on the rare occasion I do watch one.  I honestly laugh more at the Mike-era episodes, where the charm quickly dissipated and the whole enterprise slid into a smug zingfest, but the quips became much sharper and more durable.  Catching up w/ some Sci-Fi era episodes like "Girl in Gold Boots" and "Soultaker" recently has given me lots o' laughs.