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Post by Dr. Henry Krasker on Apr 16, 2008 22:09:22 GMT -5
And by "first season", I mean the first season on the Comedy Channel. I just watched The Crawling Hand and Planet of the Prehistoric Women. There's a much more relaxed feel to these episodes than later episodes, especially once Mike took over as host. Instead of wall to wall riffing, I feel more like I'm listening to three buddies hanging out and watching a bad movie together. There's a real charm to these first season episodes.
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Post by ca20 on Apr 17, 2008 0:04:18 GMT -5
I feel the show really had a great charm in the KTMA season, and that that charm was lost in season 1. I think that buddies hanging out thing was much stronger on KTMA, and disappeared when they started writing the riffs.
Of course, by season 2 & 3, the writing got so damn funny that it didn't matter that that early charm was gone.
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Post by Skyroniter on Apr 17, 2008 6:56:31 GMT -5
I think they still had most of the KTMA "charm" during season one. I agree that relaxed feel was much stronger during KTMA but the move to cable required better structure and more riffing. The sparseness of KTMA riffing was fine for local TV but really wouldn't have gone over well nationally.
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Post by Frameous on Apr 17, 2008 11:49:52 GMT -5
Personally that is what I love about this show, and feel that is a quality of any of the really great episodes. Maybe it is just my sense of humor, but I like it when they jokes really fly, like in a spoof film. That way if a joke falls flat, there is always one right behind it. |
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Post by Mod City on Apr 17, 2008 12:56:23 GMT -5
I have a good deal of love for the first national season, and I think the relaxed pace has a lot to do with that. Non-stop riffing is fine, but when the jokes aren't hitting it seems like they're trying too hard and it starts to get a tad obnoxious. That, and you really do end up not hearing a great deal of what's going on in the movie.
I think their best shows were the ones where they were riffing at a pace similar to the first season (Comedy Channel) but with well-written, refined, blind-sidingly funny jokes that became more of the norm in later seasons.
That, and I'm a sucker for Moon Zero Two. Darn space coons...
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Post by samtaco on Apr 17, 2008 15:23:10 GMT -5
Robot Holocaust is great episode and my fav of season 1 cause they really feel laid back.
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Post by quinnmartin on Apr 17, 2008 16:19:46 GMT -5
Instead of wall to wall riffing, I feel more like I'm listening to three buddies hanging out and watching a bad movie together. There's a real charm to these first season episodes. Totally agree with you. The quality of the riffing isn't nearly as important to how much I enjoy the episode during those earlier seasons as it became later on. It really became a very different show as time went on, even though the format didn't really change at all. |
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Post by tokiyoke on Apr 17, 2008 16:23:47 GMT -5
I didn't dislike the first season, but when I watched it for the first time, I was disappointed in it. It just wasn't as good as I was expecting.
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Post by Afgncaap5 on Apr 17, 2008 18:21:46 GMT -5
I think there's a continuum of MST3K-fanness involved with how the episodes are perceived. The "wall to wall" riffing sacrifices some of the charm, but makes up for it with better pacing. The earlier episodes might not have the better pacing, but can create a nice "feel" that lets you relate to the characters.
I'm okay with either one of these, however the one defining factor about whether I think it's a good decision or not to go one way or the other is the movie. A really, *really* bad movie warrants the "wall to wall" riffs, in my opinion, because sometimes the movies are so bad that I really need their jokes to help me through it.
So for the better-quality movies, I'll take some of the earlier charm. But as they get more terrible, I want more jokes.:-)
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Post by Dr. Henry Krasker on Apr 17, 2008 18:47:45 GMT -5
Don't get me wrong, I love the wall to wall riffing as well. I just think each season has it's own reason to love it.
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Post by quinnmartin on Apr 17, 2008 19:29:26 GMT -5
A really, *really* bad movie warrants the "wall to wall" riffs, in my opinion, because sometimes the movies are so bad that I really need their jokes to help me through it. So for the better-quality movies, I'll take some of the earlier charm. But as they get more terrible, I want more jokes.:-) On that point, I think it's interesting to compare the two sparsest riffed of the non-KTMA seasons - 1 & 10. Season 10's lineup of movies was a lot less appealing than season 1's, IMO, so I really feel the sparseness of the riffing more when I watch season 10 than I do when I watch season 1. |
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Post by Broadsword on Apr 19, 2008 9:18:15 GMT -5
To me season 1 started off slowly then really started to become alive around Project Moonbase onward (including Women of the Prehistoric Planet). Their host segment started to become a little bit better and the riffing was becoming sharper. I think also it would have better for on the earlier ones if they didn't have Commando Cody on as much. On or two of the shorts would have been plenty.
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Post by antennavillain on May 1, 2008 23:29:53 GMT -5
I would have liked to have seen Josh stay just a little while longer than he did. Even David Caruso stayed on NYPD Blue longer!
And for my money, the KTMA eps (that I've seen) are often funnier than S1 eps (again, that I've seen).
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Post by Bix Dugan on May 2, 2008 12:38:50 GMT -5
Robot Holocaust is great episode and my fav of season 1 cause they really feel laid back. "Go to the U.N. building, right behind you. There are people there!" "If I didn't know any better, I'd think that was Central Park." |
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Post by doctorz on May 2, 2008 13:51:40 GMT -5
I enjoyed most of what the first season had to offer with the exception of the unwatchable Aztec Mummy episode. I'm one of those that has to be slightly interested in the movie they are riffing if I'm going to sit and watch it. I thought most of their choices for this season were good solid B-grade, greasy Sci-Fi and worth some lovin.'
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