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Letters
Jan 10, 2004 1:19:13 GMT -5
Post by emperordorkin on Jan 10, 2004 1:19:13 GMT -5
In the online ACEG summary of "Escape 2000", Mary Jo Pehl has this to say: "There was a time when we actually read letters at the end of the show. That convention gradually trickled away and none of us missed it. The letters were difficult to write around and got in the way of having any momentum in the last sketch." While I have to agree that the letter-reading did sorta grind the final host segment to a halt, the way she wrote this sounded a bit mean-spirited, as there were no doubt tons of young heartbroken MSTies who dreamed of getting their letter read or shown on the air, and never did. And, the fan mail-reading did give another kind example of what a warm-hearted caring and loving show MST3K really was, behind all the sarcastic cynical movie riffing. What do you guys think? Yay or nay to the on-air letter reading?
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Letters
Jan 10, 2004 2:05:32 GMT -5
Post by RMuldrake on Jan 10, 2004 2:05:32 GMT -5
That sucks. Letters ruled!!
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Torgo
Moderator Emeritus
-segment with Crow?
Posts: 15,420
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Letters
Jan 10, 2004 2:08:44 GMT -5
Post by Torgo on Jan 10, 2004 2:08:44 GMT -5
The letters were a great way to show support for the show.
But I do see what Mary Jo is getting at. I do see them being hard to write around.
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Letters
Jan 10, 2004 2:23:44 GMT -5
Post by ash2 on Jan 10, 2004 2:23:44 GMT -5
I agree with Mary Jo the letter were cool for fans but the show was much better without them
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Letters
Jan 10, 2004 8:55:27 GMT -5
Post by GizmonicInstitute on Jan 10, 2004 8:55:27 GMT -5
I liked the letter readings,but I can see why it could be hard for them to write things around them.The letter readings could provide for some funny lines,IMO.
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Letters
Jan 10, 2004 10:16:59 GMT -5
Post by Miss Interoceter on Jan 10, 2004 10:16:59 GMT -5
If I had to choose between letters and the stupid arcing storylines Sci-Fi made them write seasons 8-10, I'd choose letters.
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Letters
Jan 10, 2004 10:52:56 GMT -5
Post by Phantom Engineer on Jan 10, 2004 10:52:56 GMT -5
I always thought the letters were the weakest part of the show.
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Letters
Jan 10, 2004 12:20:51 GMT -5
Post by TV's Cowboy on Jan 10, 2004 12:20:51 GMT -5
The letters to me were a good way to show that MST3K had a supporting fanbase and that the writers cared for that fanbase. But if it was too hard to write around them then I can understand that. My favorite letter is probably when a kid asked for Crow to be at his birthday party(I think it was in the episode the Crawling Hand)
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Letters
Jan 10, 2004 13:32:48 GMT -5
Post by mightyjack on Jan 10, 2004 13:32:48 GMT -5
For me it disrupted the flow. I'd want them to hurry up and read so we could get to Deep 13. And near the end M&TB didn't seem as interested in the letters.
That's something they actually did really well during the KTMA years, they responded and made jokes, the letters, answering machine was a real fun part of the show back then.
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Letters
Jan 10, 2004 13:43:33 GMT -5
Post by Phantom Engineer on Jan 10, 2004 13:43:33 GMT -5
I always thought the letters were a Joel thing and Mike seemed more out of place with them. Kind of like the invention exchange, Mike took it over for a little while and then it was dropped. They could have dropped the letters also.
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Letters
Jan 10, 2004 15:23:26 GMT -5
Post by Afgncaap5 on Jan 10, 2004 15:23:26 GMT -5
I've gotta say that while some of the letters made the closing segments funny, most of the time I was just waiting for them to get to some other funny thing after the letter, so I'm kinda glad that the letters were eventually dropped.
But they were dropped at about the right time, if you ask me. They used the letters a bit during season seven, but once they were hurled centuries into the future it would've been unrealistic to say that people were still sending letters to the show. Especially since Deep 13 had probably long-since been shut down, so Dr. F couldn't even forward them to the Satelite.
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Letters
Jan 10, 2004 17:26:35 GMT -5
Post by Phantom Engineer on Jan 10, 2004 17:26:35 GMT -5
Oh sure on Sci Fi letters would have made no sense but I wish they would have dropped them sooner.
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TomServo69
Moderator Emeritus
Gone but not Forgotten
Nothing ever changes........
Posts: 5,467
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Letters
Jan 10, 2004 17:39:51 GMT -5
Post by TomServo69 on Jan 10, 2004 17:39:51 GMT -5
I don't know, I kinda have mixed opinion about the letters. Some of them were dumb, but, they were at the end of the show and didn't really detract from the show itself. I also agree with the fact that, since most of them were poorly written, they did at times lead to some good lines from Joel and the Bots. It was also a good way to show that they respected fans and vice versa.
Servo
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Letters
Jan 10, 2004 17:47:04 GMT -5
Post by Poe33 on Jan 10, 2004 17:47:04 GMT -5
I loved the letter reading and they were smart to include it. It was one of the elements that made the show so watcher friendly.
I was never a fan of Mary Jo on air character. The show lost much in way of the sketch segment when the mads left.
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Letters
Jan 10, 2004 17:47:53 GMT -5
Post by Phantom Engineer on Jan 10, 2004 17:47:53 GMT -5
My problem with them was that most letters were from kids with their cute little drawings. I think it could give the wrong impression about the show that it was aimed at kids. The host segments always had the look of a cheap kiddie show but there was so much more.
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