Unfortunately, this is one of those arguments that can't be settled just by picking one of them, IMO. They both have their strong points. Joel was the series creator, the prop guy, a sort of father figure to the 'bots and to the viewer. He kind of represented the 'good old days'. Mike was the head writer, the musical guy, the big goofy loveable big brother kind of fellow. Personally, my favorite parts of the show's 11-season run was seasons 3 through 7. I'm not too fond of Bill Corbett's Crow, but they could've done worse.
For those of you who have never seen an episode of MST3K, I'd say Santa Claus Conquers the Martians, the Christmas spectacular, is a good place to start. Why, you may ask? Well, because of the custumes. (The joke will be made clear) And for Mike, here's The Brain that Wouldn't Die -- his first episode riffing movies. In my opinion, the theme songs starting from mid-season 5 and on are not as good as seasons 1-2. And remember: Don't think too much into the show, just enjoy the comments. A few of my friends hate the show because they're trying to hang onto the skeleton of a story this show has. And for the heck of it, here's a Pearl Forrester episode. *Ears bleed listening to the song*
For those of you who have never seen an episode of MST3K, I'd say Santa Claus Conquers the Martians, the Christmas spectacular, is a good place to start. Why, you may ask? Well, because of the custumes. (The joke will be made clear) And for Mike, here's The Brain that Wouldn't Die -- his first episode riffing movies. In my opinion, the theme songs starting from mid-season 5 and on are not as good as seasons 1-2. And remember: Don't think too much into the show, just enjoy the comments. A few of my friends hate the show because they're trying to hang onto the skeleton of a story this show has. And for the heck of it, here's a Pearl Forrester episode. *Ears bleed listening to the song*
All of these are good choices, but I'd like to recommend a few more that rank among my favorites.
The Amazing Colossal Man - A man caught in a plutonium blast turns green and gets really big when angered! Just kidding! He doesn't turn green, but he does get really really big!
Teenage Caveman - In a seemingly prehistoric world, a caveman teenager (who looks more like an adult) questions the taboo rules of the elders and explores the world around him.
Star Force: Fugitive Alien II - A Japanese film pasted together from 2 episodes of a television show. Ken and the crew of Bacchus 3 do... something. They mostly just try to avoid dying when their ship falls into a star. Seriously, it takes up 20 minutes of the movie just for that.
Master Ninja I - An American ninja teams up with sidekick Timothy Van Patten to right wrongs and break womens' hearts.
Manos: The Hands of Fate - A $19,000 horror film written, directed, produced by, and starring Harold P. Warren, a fertilizer salesman from El Paso, Texas.
The Magical Voyage of Sinbad - A film about a rather Finnish-looking Sinbad who sails the seas trying to bring happiness to the beautiful city of... well I can't even spell it.
Mitchell - A rather slovenly cop pursues some drug traffickers, and eats a lot of food. This is Joel's last episode.
Teen-age Strangler - This highly-1960s film features a teenager who strangles people... or is it a person who strangles teenagers? I'm not really sure.
Alien from L.A. - A dorky and clumsy Californian girl stumbles onto the lost city of Atlantis in search of her missing father. Unfortunately, there aren't any aliens to be seen in the film.
Santa Claus - A Mexican film where the devil's eternal foe is... Santa Claus? Laugh and cry as you watch the devil set up Home Alone-style traps for Santa, only to have every attempt fail miserably! Weird theology!
Zombie Nightmare - A beefy teenager who gets run down by a group of rowdy teenagers is brought back by the power of voodoo to get revenge on Batman! No, really! Adam West is in this!
Danger!! Death Ray - A scientist who built a Death Ray for 'peaceful purposes only' is kidnapped by an evil organization, and it's up to master spy Bart Fargo (what kind of a name is that?) to right things! Strangely, the Death Ray isn't really that dangerous to anybody. The film really should've been titled "Danger!! Wall-Mounted Guns."
The Beast of Yucca Flats - A defecting Russian scientist gets irradiated from wandering too close to a nuclear test site and becomes a beast... sort of. Also features TWO short films! A young boy is haunted by the spirit of Benjamin Franklin, bent on teaching the boy how to save money. Puerto Rico is also advertised as a great place to invest in... stuff or something.
Samson vs. the Vampire Women - A masked wrestler runs around looking like a goof, and doesn't actually fight any vampire women, just vampire men. This is the last episode featuring TV's Frank.
The Brute Man - A former college football star becomes disfigured and gets revenge on people by talking to them in a gruff voice and giving them bear hugs. Moral of the story? Be nice to the jocks in your school, because someday they'll grow up, become disfigured, and come back to kill you!
Deathstalker and the Warriors from Hell - A warrior who quickly loses his accent quests to recover the pieces of a crystal doorknob so he can prevent a 5-foot-8 balding arch-nemesis from opening the door to the future or something.
Escape 2000 - An Evil Corportation™ wants to rebuild the Bronx, so they deploy the Orkin Army to barbecue gang members who live in the sewers.
Laserblast - A teenager finds a laser gun some aliens accidentally leave behind on Earth, and starts wreaking havoc in between sessions of making out with his stick of a girlfriend. Dr. Clayton Forrestor's last episode!
Parts, The Clonus Horror - A film about Clonus, a facility where human clones are grown to replace organs. Basically it's The Island, without all the product placement.
Jack Frost - A Russian-Finish film about a young man whose head gets turned into that of a bear's. Oh and Jack Frost shows up two-thirds of the way through to provide comic relief.
Prince of Space - A Japanese film about chicken-like men from the planet Krankor who have come to take over earth. Their every move is thwarted by a shoe shining bachelor whose only power is the fact that "your ray guns won't work on me!"
Overdrawn at the Memory Bank - In the future, people get their kicks from having their brains transferred into animals so they can... sit back and just watch what the animal does? Most of the movie is spent watching Raúl Juliá pretend he's in Casablanca.
The Pumaman - An American in England learns he has super powers and gains the mighty powers of the puma: flying around awkwardly, jumping through walls, whining, and committing suicide. I didn't know pumas could do all those things!
Werewolf - The bones of a werewolf are dug up, and anyone who so much as trips on them gets turned into a werewolf.
The Deadly Bees - a young pop star takes a holiday to recover from exhaustion on Seagull Island, but things start to get deadly when killer bees start knocking off people and animals!
Hobgoblins - Basically a cheap ripoff of Gremlins. The cheesiness is what brings it charm, as well as the fact that if you acknowledge the low budget-ness of it all, it's actually bearable on its own.
The Final Sacrifice - A Canadian film about a boy who runs around in the back woods of Canada trying to find out what happened to his father 7 years later, err... I mean "ago".
Quest of the Delta Knights - A group of rebels seek to topple an evil ruler by finding Archimedes' hidden storehouse of girly magazines. Not really. It does contain some sort of weird laser cannon, though. Takes place somewhere in Europe.
Merlin's Mystical Shop of Wonders - Merlin tries to rekindle mankind's love for magic by giving a spellbook to an arrogant journalist and letting loose a toy monkey possessed by a murderous evil spirit. Be sure to keep an eye out for the ROCK 'N' ROLL MARTIAN!
Comments
Aye, that too. It was usually considered rude and a taboo question way back when due to the large flamewars it sparked.
What??
same here
Well that makes alot more sense!
That movie's title theme is also pretty awesome.
You spell it s-a-n-t-a c-l-a-u-s
Hooray for Santy Claus!
All of these are good choices, but I'd like to recommend a few more that rank among my favorites.
Err, did I say 'a few'? I meant 'all'. Hehe.
To get acquainted with the show, you may want to start with the movie...