EPTLet me make some things clear: I do not watch television. It may be the obnoxious, intrusive commercial breaks; it may be the laugh tracks used so liberally in every primetime comedy. It may be the plethora of cop and hospital dramas that flood us every new season. Whatever it is, I just can't stand it.
I rarely see movies. Not counting Toy Story 3 a few days ago, the last time I stepped into a theater was for The Dark Knight. These things just don't interest me.
However, there are select exceptions to these rules, which I collect on DVD. They are: The Simpsons (seasons 3-9 obv), Space Ghost: Coast to Coast (all 5 volumes, I want vol 6 so bad :|) and then there's the greatest television series of all time, Mystery Science Theater 3000.
For the uninitiated, a blurb via Wikipedia:
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The series features a man and his robot sidekicks who are trapped on a space station by an evil scientist and forced to watch a selection of bad movies, initially (but not specifically limited to) science fiction B-movies. To keep sane, the man and his robots provide a running commentary on each film, making fun of its flaws and wisecracking (or "riffing") their way through each reel in the style of a movie-theater peanut gallery. Each film is presented with a superimposition of the man and robots' silhouettes along the bottom of the screen.
I love this show. I have 70+ episodes on DVD, and since every episode is a full blown movie, that's 70+ DVD's dedicated to just one series. My collection features such b-movie gold as Eegah, Red Zone Cuba, Cave Dwellers, and much more. MST3K is serious business. The better episodes will have me in stitches for 90 minutes solid. The lesser episodes are still good just because the films are so fascinatingly bad.
Here's a sample of some of the educational shorts they sometimes run before the main film:
Why Study Industrial Arts?
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A Case of Spring Fever
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Truck Farming
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Mr. B Natural
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I8kH4XyWjq4
They made a total of ~198 episodes while the show was running. I've seen about half of them. If you want to check out some full episodes, and you do want to check out some full episodes, here's a list of some of my more favorites:
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The Beast of Yucca Flats
Samson vs. The Vampire Women
I Accuse My Parents
Red Zone Cuba
The Final Sacrifice
EEGAH
I Accuse My Parents
Merlin's Shop of Mystical Wonders
Time Chasers
Cave Dwellers
The Giant Spider Invasion
Overdrawn at the Memory Bank
Operation Double 007
Samson vs. The Vampire Women
I Accuse My Parents
Red Zone Cuba
The Final Sacrifice
EEGAH
I Accuse My Parents
Merlin's Shop of Mystical Wonders
Time Chasers
Cave Dwellers
The Giant Spider Invasion
Overdrawn at the Memory Bank
Operation Double 007
Soooooooooo gooooood. I know there's more mysties out there - share the love!
