Why We Still Love "Mystery Science Theater 3000"

It's hard to believe that it's been over 15 years since "Mystery Science Theater 3000" left the airwaves. A show that somehow impossibly ran for over a decade between Comedy Central and The Sci-Fi Channel, MST3K touched a chord with viewers that enjoyed comedy, riffing, and movies in general. For some reason, even after all this time off of the air, the show still manages to resonate. Why is that exactly?

Well for starters, riffing on shitty movies never gets old. Like ever. Anyone can riff on a super shitty movie to help make the viewing experience of said shitty movie more enjoyable. That will never change, which you can tell considering MST3K leads Mike Nelson, Kevin Murphy, and Bill Corbett continue to riff on shit movies with Rifftrax (and in between MST3K and Rifftrax, the short lived The Film Crew).

As for MST3K itself, it's managed to stay relevant all these years later because it's just timeless. Riffing on movies is timeless in itself, but actually being legitimately funny in doing so helps make it all the more truly timeless. It helps that somehow a lot of the jokes made during specific films ("Werewolf", "Future War", "Manos: The Hands of Fate", and "The Beatniks" come to mind) somehow still manage to hold up. Don't ask me how, but they do. That in itself is a total fucking accomplishment and something that many, many other TV shows from the era fail to do.

I still watch old MST3K episodes, usually as background noise whether I'm working, reading, or masturbating. The fact that they're so readily available on physical media and online streaming just goes to show you that there's still a large demand for the show as a whole. Maybe one day Mike (or Joel) and the bots will make a true comeback. Could you imagine a new take on MST3K, with them watching newer shitfests or going back through the shitfest catalogue of yesteryear? I wish, I really, really, wish.

If you have only faded memories of MST3K, or never checked out the show at all, you missed the fuck out. Go remedy that. Right now. Thank me later...and thank YouTube and Shout! Factory too.

"TWIN PEAKS" IS BACK?!?!?!?!?

Over the past few years, we've seen lots of reboots and revivals of classic properties for the sake of mining our nostalgia to scrape just a little bit more cash from us. These have ranged from all sorts of things including "Star Trek", "Robocop", "Terminator", "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles", "Total Recall", and tons more, with even more upcoming like "Star Wars", "The X Files" and more on the horizon as well. Some of them get well received in terms of critical response and box office, but most do not, and justifiably so. Some of this shit should never be touched, seriously. In fact, many often question just why go back to the well like this for these properties to begin with? Is Hollywood that bankrupt for ideas that they have to keep going back? No, not really...they just want whatever can produce a quick turnaround and has a high chance of breaking the bank, that's all. That being the case, it's just shocking that some of this shit would get modern revitalizations, some of it is the last shit you'd expect to...

...like "Twin Peaks".

The serialized TV drama that entertained and mystified audiences in the late 80s/early 90s before flying into a ratings tailspin and getting cancelled by ABC is coming back to Showtime. Filming is supposed to start sometime before the end of this year, and probably premiere sometime next year. David Lynch is returning to direct every episode, of which there were originally nine planned, but has since been expanded well into double digits. We're finally going to get some kind of closure on the cliffhanger that left us with our jaws on the floor over 25 years ago.

Yes, everything you read in the above paragraph is actually fucking happening. This is not fake, not an imaginary tale, this is all actually fucking happening. I don't know how, and I don't really care either, all I know is that this is actually fucking happening.

What a time to be alive.

For those that may be unfamiliar, "Twin Peaks", for at least most of its existence, was unlike any other show to hit network TV in its time. It certainly wouldn't work on network TV today, which is why it's a great thing that it's on Showtime this time around instead of ABC. That being said, every single serialized TV show to come out in its wake owes its existence to "Twin Peaks". There'd be no "Lost" or anything of its ilk were it not for "Twin Peaks", which mastered the art of withholding secrets, using cryptic messages, and generally frustrating the viewer. Despite all that though, somehow this show managed to be kind of masterful.

Since this announcement was made, there has been a little bit of drama to go with it. Originally announced as nine episodes, Lynch bailed on the project, which left its future in doubt. Eventually things got ironed out, and reportedly Showtime has given Lynch full creative control over the whole affair. This both mystifies and terrifies me all at once. I have a lot of love for David Lynch, but so much of his recent work borderlines between being brilliant and him fully inserting his head up his own ass. I imagine that the end result of this new take on "Twin Peaks" could probably fall somewhere in the middle.

Also since the announcement was made, I've been rewatching the show from the beginning, concluding with the "Fire Walk with Me" movie. Now the tone of the movie itself is one thing I truly hope the new series doesn't fully reflect, but that's kind of what I'm expecting. This isn't network TV. There won't have to be any soap opera elements or careful editing and cutting away or hinting at certain things like sexual violence, etc....Lynch can go balls to the wall if he truly wants to, and part of me thinks he will, which like I said above, could go either way.

No matter how it all turns out, the fact we're getting more "Twin Peaks" in the 21st century is a marvel in of itself. I know I never thought anything like this would ever happen, and I'm sure not many other people did either. But we're getting it, for better or worse, and I am seriously truly hoping that this turns out to be something truly fucking great.

Anyone else want some coffee and pie?