Favorite "Series Finale?"

[starschwar]

With the crowd funder not working out, I think now's a fair time for this.  Every so often in the show's history, we've had episodes where the future of MST3K was in doubt in way or another, and they all serve, to an extent as pseudo-finales.  So, what do you think of 'em?

KTMA - it's just announced as a temporary hiatus.  Which is technically true, but they'd return on cable, with a rebooted continuity, revamped visual style, and a new last name for Joel.  It's simple, earnest, and charming - perfect for KTMA.

Comedy Central - Someone really, really loved 2001:ASO.  My own feelings about the movie aside - I do like that they used a VHS as the monolith though - I never cared for this one.  It just kind of happens, and Mike and the Bots going off to become energy beings isn't satisfying - the end game was always to get back to Earth.  The notion of Pearl raising Clayton right is amusing - especially considering how quickly that was abandoned. 

Sci-Fi - Diabolik is up there with the likes of Star Trek TNG's All Good Things when it comes to perfect series finale type episodes for me.  The revelation that GPC wound up to be a big biz genius is delightful.  But the real joy is where Mike and the 'bots wind up.  Sitting on that couch in their typical seating order, riffing on The Crawling Eye "again."  It is beautiful: The Experiment backfired.  The Forresters had hoped that exposure to bad movies would make their test subjects break and use this power for evil. Instead - Mike and the 'bots now riff movies of their own volition.  What was once torment is now recreation.  Bad movies are fun now!  All you need is a good sense of humor and a couple of (robot) friends to do it on your own.  This is my pick.

Netflix - It's been done, but it's always fun when the Mads are made to riff.  Other than the meta reason of announcing the real live shows, I don't really understand why Jonah would go "on tour" and not escape outright, though.

Gizmoplex (for now?) - It's really fitting, isn't it?  The mysterious investor stopped investing, and the Gizmoplex itself is ruined.  Called it, right?  Meanwhile, our heroes - and a pragmatic Pearl - go back to the 90s.  Perhaps foreshadowing the show going back to its more humble roots for the next iteration?  I can hope!

[CrowTrobotfan92]

Honestly if anything I think both the CC and Sci-fi eras have good closures to them. The CC era works if you don't feel up for continuing on into season 8 - Mike and the bots are pure life form, Pearl gets another chance to raise Dr. F properly, the end.

The Sci-fi era acts like a nice time skip feel if you DO want to continue into that era.

[Udvarnoky]

Both LASERBLAST and DIABOLIK function as excellent series finales. LASERBLAST has a real "leaving it all on the field" quality that would have left no dissatisfaction had the show not been rescued, but I think DIABOLIK is even better because it has a humility to it that just feels right to show's personality. It was somehow even more appropriate to parody the Mary Tyler Moore finale than 2001, and our last moments with Mike and the bots where they are disproportionately content with their modest living situation ("One bedroom, one half-bath, and on the bus liiiiine!") is just such a sweet, homey parting shot that for me captures the essence of the whole enterprise. It kind of provides a nice symmetry (probably not intentional) with the season premiere bit where Mike is beside-himself jealous of Joel's achievement managing a Hot Fish Shop.

Probably the only shortcoming of either episode is that the team didn't have the leverage and/or lead time to curate some special, finale-specific movie selection (like doing PLAN 9 or whatever), but that's kinda the story of the whole show it sounds like.

[starschwar]

Yeah, Diabolik wasn't the best movie choice - but the riffing was spot on. And it gave us one of the best stingers ever. But a Eurospy comic book crime movie (with Morricone music!) probably isn't the right type of movie to go out on.

All things being equal, if they knew earlier in advance that 10 was the end, they should have probably saved Future War for last. It's cheap (cardboard camcorder), derivative (Terminator 1, plus dinosaurs and martial arts), nonsense. It's every bit as silly as the likes of The Creeping Terror and all that. But it has the absolute charm of having been filmed and released in the mid 1990s - well after MST3K began. Bad movies are forever! Indeed, the crew allegedly joked to each other that the movie would get riffed one day. They were right, and all too soon!

[monkeypretzel]

Has any other show done TWO great finales? Both Laserblast and Diabolik knocked it out of the park, but I tip toward Diabolik for the happy ending.

[starschwar]

Dec 6, 2023 19:54:48 GMT -5 monkeypretzel said:

Has any other show done TWO great finales? Both Laserblast and Diabolik knocked it out of the park, but I tip toward Diabolik for the happy ending.

Futurama has done four satisfying finales, both in anticipation of and in reaction to numerous cancellations:

Season 3's The Devil's Hands Are Idle Playthings

Season 5 (the DVD movies) had Into the Wild Green Yonder

Season 6's second year (because nothing can be logical or consistent) had Overclockwise, which had a final scene that served as yet another satisfying closer.  There was one more episode of that season, but it was a non-canon anthology, so I still say it counts.

Season 7's second year ended with the absolutely beautiful Meanwhile - which felt like a more final and proper ending than any of the others - and the show still came back again!  I haven't had a chance to see the new stuff just yet though.

All did a fine job of wrapping up or at least significantly advancing some of the more important long term character arcs that drove the show forwards beyond just the episodic hijinks.  All four were also written by Ken Keeler.  I know nothing about him, but I can't help but imagine the existential panic of having to bring the show to a satisfying conclusion "again."  So much pressure!