Josh

I have to say I'm quite glad that show failed and we got Community instead.

And now another tie. Followed by . . . stand-alone entries that aren't tied?! 18. Horrors of Spider Island (Season 10) (10 points) Here's the Satellite News episode guide entry on this episode for more information and commentary, including a theory that the host segments are out of order. Here's some background info and trivia about the movie itself from Daddy-O's Drive-In Dirt, including a mention that may or may not be intended to make you look up nude pictures on the internet. Watch this episode on YouTube (in 10 parts)! BONUS: For those with access, watch this episode on Hulu! IF YOU DARE: Watch this movie without the MST3K treatment! 18. Santa Claus (Season 5) (10 points) Here's the Satellite News episode guide entry on this episode for more information and commentary, including a note that the filmmakers pretty much knew this was coming. Here's some background info and trivia about the movie itself from Daddy-O's Drive-In Dirt, including a note that Santa Claus has become the It's a Wonderful Life of Mexico. Watch this episode on Google Videos! 17. Fugitive Alien (Season 3) (12 points) Here's the Satellite News episode guide entry on this episode for more information and commentary, including a list of quite a few callback references. (The entry is nearly halfway down the page.) Here's some background info and trivia about the movie itself from Daddy-O's Drive-In Dirt, including links to all the other Sandy Frank movie entries. That bastard. Watch this episode on YouTube (in 10 parts)! 16. The Wild Wild World of Batwoman (with short: Cheating) (Season 4) (13 points) Here's the Satellite News episode guide entry on this episode for more information and commentary, including an explanation for why invention exchanges were eventually dropped from the series. Here's some background info and trivia about the movie itself from Daddy-O's Drive-In Dirt, including alleged confirmation that this movie does indeed contain footage from another film riffed by MST3K. Watch this episode on YouTube (in 10 parts)! Not In The Top 52: I Accuse My Parents (with short: The Truck Farmer) (Season 5) GhostMachine reminded me of this one, so maybe it's just fresh on my mind. In any case, I do think it tends to fall in the "unfairly overlooked" category. It's actually a well-made movie, from a technical standpoint. The acting isn't even that bad, considering the era. The real perpetrator here is the writing. Right from the start, this movie is preachy and heavy-handed. That's okay, because ultra-serious makes for good riffing. But this movie goes the extra mile and (as pointed out in the third host segment) makes the protagonist make a series of colossally stupid decisions. The movie is actually kind of watchable (in that you actually know what's going on), the riffing is great, and that recreation of the nightclub song that Joel and The Bots do is the icing on the cake. Here's the Satellite News episode guide entry on this episode for more information and commentary, including an explanation of just what the hell "Insight" was. Here's some background info and trivia about the movie itself from Daddy-O's Drive-In Dirt, including a note that director Sam Newfield was responsible for 3 other MST3K-riffed films. Watch this episode on YouTube (in 10 parts)! Next time: we crack the Top 15!

Really?

Now, let's move on from our opening tie. With another tie! A four-way tie. 20. Danger! Death Ray (Season 6) (9 points) Here's the Satellite News episode guide entry on this episode for more information and commentary, including a (admittedly tangential) Kirstie Alley reference. Here's some background info and trivia about the movie itself from Daddy-O's Drive-In Dirt, including the revelation that Bart Fargo is Tarzan. Watch this episode on Google Videos! 20. Future War (Season 10) (9 points) Here's the Satellite News episode guide entry on this episode for more information and commentary, including a note that the filmmakers pretty much knew this was coming. Here's some background info and trivia about the movie itself from Daddy-O's Drive-In Dirt, including the unsurprising fact that "Jean Claude Gosh Darn" was in two sequels to Bloodsport. Watch this episode on Google Videos! 20. Jack Frost (Season 8) (9 points) Here's the Satellite News episode guide entry on this episode for more information and commentary, including information on just who the hell Hildegard von Bingen is. Here's some background info and trivia about the movie itself from Daddy-O's Drive-In Dirt, including a reminder that the movie is Russo-Finnish. Okay, so these links aren't always terribly illuminating. Watch this episode on Google Videos! 20. The Killer Shrews (with short: Junior Rodeo Daredevils) (Season 4) (9 points) Here's the Satellite News episode guide entry on this episode for more information and commentary, including the observation that this is essentially Jurassic Park. Here's some background info and trivia about the movie itself from Daddy-O's Drive-In Dirt, including a note that Roscoe P. Coltrane runs (ran?) an acting school in Florida. Watch this episode on YouTube (in 10 parts)! BONUS: The official website of the upcoming sequel. Seriously, check out this cast. Not In The Top 52: San Francisco International (Season 6) This one's mainly getting a mention because I just dig it. Moreover, I think it's an episode that's often unfairly forgotten - and that's if people realize it exists in the first place. In my opinion, the television pilot/failed TV series is a genre that MST3K always did well. This particular TV pilot is just cheesy and fun as all hell, mostly thanks to its cast being a Who's Who of C-list 70's TV actors. Plus, there's something about this movie/TV show containing multiple plots that just always keeps the stupidity moving. I think that's the key here: variety. It's the $3.99 lunch buffet of movies that would probably go well with fondue. Oh, also: URKEL! Here's the Satellite News episode guide entry on this episode for more information and commentary, including depressing news about a cast member. Here's some background info and trivia about the movie itself from Daddy-O's Drive-In Dirt, including what happened when this pilot became a series. Watch this episode on YouTube (in 9 parts)!

The re-creation of the opening credits may be my favorite part of Cave Dwellers. And Quest of the Delta Knights is notable if only for giving the origin of Leonardo Di Vinci's name. I may get in an update on this today.

I must see this.

I figured we could use one master-thread for all things MST3K (including Cinematic Titanic, Rifftrax, Film Crew, any other alumni news, etc.), so I made this instead of creating another independent thread for the list. And now, finally the list begins. 52 episodes received votes from 12 people. You will soon notice that that created a theme: ties. Ties, ties, and more ties. If I were to list all 52 episodes, it would look like I simply couldn't count due to all of the ties. Therefore, in order to have a nice, neat cut-off point and to display as few ties as possible, I present to you EWB's 25 Favorite MST3K Episodes (2011) As of February 20, 2011, the following 25 episodes (in the following ascending order) were considered the funniest, strangest, and overall best episodes in the history of Mystery Science Theater 3000. Oh, and about those ties . . . 24. I Was a Teenage Werewolf (Season 8) (8 points) Here's the Satellite News episode guide entry on this episode for more information and commentary, including a reminder of who Richard Jewel is. Here's some background info and trivia about the movie itself from Daddy-O's Drive-In Dirt, including facts about Michael Landon's ears. Watch this episode on Google Videos! 24. Quest of the Delta Knights (Season 9) (8 points) Here's the Satellite News episode guide entry on this episode for more information and commentary, including a full list of everyone shown in the pancake breakfast segment. Here's some background info and trivia about the movie itself from Daddy-O's Drive-In Dirt, including a note that Tee appeared on Step By Step and Saved By the Bell. Watch this episode on YouTube (in 9 parts)! And with each post I add to the list, I'm going to highlight one episode that somehow didn't receive ANY votes from anyone but deserves a viewing anyway. Not In The Top 52: Cave Dwellers (Season 3) This one deserves a mention due to it likely being the point when the series finally hit its stride. The first season on KTMA was more of a gathering of a few friends who were having fun - not knowing they were creating a brand new form. Everything in the theater was improvised, and by today's standards of riffing it doesn't hold up very well, despite some great efforts by very talented people. The first nationally broadcast season (the true Season 1) was the first draft of a concerted effort by those same people to give the new form structure. The theater segments were being written ahead of time, but no one yet realized the full potential of what they were doing. In Season 2, some notable changes occurred in the cast and crew (Kevin Murphy took over Tom Servo, TV's Frank is introduced), so there was still a "settling in" period. Then Season 3 began, and it began with this episode. Everyone has had a chance to find their footing, the writers have found what they can do with the pacing, and the movie they selected is just terrible in all the right ways. There's continuity errors, bad dialogue, goofy costumes - the works. Plus, the whole re-packaged opening credit sequence only serves to increase the "Huh?" factor. If you haven't already, watch this episode. Here's the Satellite News episode guide entry on this episode for more information and commentary, including an explanation of "a Barney Clark bar." (The entry is the first on the page.) Here's some background info and trivia about the movie itself from Daddy-O's Drive-In Dirt, including a note that this is somehow the third in a series of four films. Watch this episode on YouTube (in 10 parts)!

No, no, it's terrible. Don't make excuses for it. Terrible, horrible, terrible.

I like Perfect Couples, but I think it has a different audience than the other shows do. It just doesn't compare well against the other shows in that block. It really is completely out of place. It belongs more on one of CBS' nights of largely-inoffensive-but-completely-inconsequential "comedies." And just to beat a somehow-still-fucking-alive horse: fuck Outsourced. Fuck it straight to hell.

The bear skin scene is awesome and nothing but.

Okay, so that ended up being a stellar night of TV. Community came out really fucking strong, and I all but said they had already won it. Taking the episode documentary style (while taking a sly shot at The Office, et al), bringing things to a head with Pierce, and my-god-that-breakdown from Troy. SO good. But then came The Office. It's been getting better and better - but tonight? Fuck, "Threat Level Midnight" was amazing. When it finally got to the musical number I was in tears and convulsive laughter. (And there was a CHEROKEE JACK!!!) WINNER. Parks and Rec was still very solid though. Ron's growing father/son relationship with Andy may be my new favorite thing there. 30 Rock was good too. Still not my favorite, but good nonetheless. Plus, it had to follow everything else. Then television fell down a bottomless pit of despair for 30 minutes. Oh, and Perfect Couples happened somewhere in there. But still. THE OFFICE!

Daaaaaamn, Community. Why you gotta be so gooooood? And you just started!

That is a tremendous reply.

Watch the first 2 for sure. 1 is good and 2 actually improves upon it. 3? Well, matter of opinion at best. I liked it, but it was nowhere near as good as the first 2 - and I have a higher opinion of it than most people do.

That's the moment that got me to finally watch that episode, and I'm very glad I did. Speaking of that, here's a couple of my favorite fan-complilations - parts of which will serve as a bit of a teaser for the final list: Top 10 Joel Era WTF Moments Top 10 Mike Era WTF Moments And what the hell: Top 10 Mike Era WTF Moments Part TWO Speaking of the final list, expect that thread to start going up tomorrow. The votes have been tabulated. Expect LOTS of ties. Seriously, a shit-ton of ties. I guess that happens when 12 people are voting. But a good list all the same! Tomorrow!

NOLAN FRIENDS ASSEMBLE! http://www.cnn.com/2011/SHOWBIZ/Movies/02/14/marion.cotillard.batman.ppl/index.html?hpt=Sbin Yeah, so the dude definitely has an ensemble he's comfortable with.

Also? Gremlins 2. I'm completely serious.

I'd call Diabolik very good, but not quite one of the greats. The bar was just way too high by that point. However, as a finale episode it's pretty damn good. Gorgo? The Irish Godzilla movie? He actually appeared in that episode. Otherwise, the only one I can think of is Laserblast, wherein Mike and The Bots rail against Maltin for rating that movie so well. Jack Frost is actually too weird for me. But I echo your thoughts on Merlin's Mystical Shop of Magical Wonders.

I came in here specifically to mention these too. Good to see someone beat me to it with both. I know nothing about The Orphanage, but Zodiac really is that good. One Hour Photo would be too, but it's mostly the direction, cinematography (big emphasis on that one), editing, and Williams' performance. As a complete work of art, I don't quite feel it belongs on this list, but it is worth seeing.

I just realized that you have room for one more.

I had no problem with the Big 4. Community was probably my favorite, just for where they seem to be going with Pierce, but 30 Rock had the line of the night: "Where are my manners?! Would you like some meth?"

The "Coleman Francis Trilogy" is among my favorite MST3K viewing.

The truth behind that shot (and other footage) makes it even more of a "what the fuck?" moment - a lot of the footage is actual World War II footage.