Actually, that’s not really a problem with Manos. It was badly shot, but it’s in focus and the images are clear, and the audio is… well, audible. Granted, it was dubbed in by two actors after the fact, and the little girl’s voice sounds really strange, but you can hear it. It’s not bad in a muddy audio; dark, grainy picture sort of way. It’s just bad in a… It’s just bad.
Manos is one of my absolute favorites. Manos and Mitchell.
The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies- if that title makes you laugh, get this episode. ‘Ortega taco shells are made of people!’
Santa Claus - this one kills me…‘The age old battle of evil versus the narrator…’
any of the Russo-Finnish ones.
any of the shorts tapes
Manos…yes, you must experience this one…yesss…
You’ve been whooshed. Hint : look who made the comment. 
Maybe, but if somebody is so moved by the cinematic art of Manos to use Torgo as a screen name, maybe it DID hit too close to home, didja think of that? 
I must look at names before I post in the future, that much is obvious…
Warrior of the Lost World for the music references alone. Though you’ll also get:
post-apocalyptic cornfields,
hot slot bots,
the cough syrup bit,
black Nazis, white ninjas,
MegaWeapon! MegaWeapon!
“Here are two unsuccessful insurance salesmen,”
repeated bashings of the Paper Chase Guy,
and much much more!
Lost Continent – “Rock climbing, Joel”.
Also must second Cave Dwellers. And on that title, I think that’s one that had to be re-done with a different title and different opening credits, for some weird reason. “Pod People” was another similar one – the opening credit sequence visuals had no relation to the movie.
And I believe “Cave Dwellers” was the movie originally called “Ator the Invincible” (which I once saw part of on some cable channel when my dad was channel surfing and lingered on that movie).
Giant Spider Invasion (Wisconsin farmers, Alan Hale is Sheriff)
Having lived in The Majikal Land O’ Cheeze (TM.) my entire life, this episode had me laughing so hard I was crying like a baby. I shit you not. Tears streamed down my eyes for 2 hours. I could hardly catch my breath I was laughing so much. (YMMV) This is absolutely the episode to own, weather you reside in Wisconsin or any of the the Cheeseless 49.
Gesundheit.
I need to second (third?) Cave Dwellers as well. It’s the first one I saw and also my favorite. Of course, I still havent picked up a copy of Manos.
Side Hackers, Jack Frost and Squirm are the best. episodes. ever.
shakes fist menacingly Ever.
Woo! Go Packers!
Yes! If you take the goodness of The Giant Spider Invasion, the goodness of Final Sacrifice (love that there’s a Rowsdower on SDMB) and the goodness of Track of the Moonbeast (Johnny Longbow) - that’s the kind of hilarity I want to be rolling on the floor with! I don’t like aliens/robots/creatures when heavy emphasis is put on them. I hate watching beasts, they bore me. Blood Waters of Dr. Z stunk for that reason - nothing for them to crack wise about - just endless scenes of the creature swimming, climbing in his water tank, climbing out of his water tank, fiddling with his computer dials, lumbering about, etc. Hardly any dialogue. There has to be plenty of dialogue! It’s much funnier when they are making wisecracks about people rather than creatures. For me, people, not beasts, have to be the main characters.
Someone said:
“fire maidens of outer space is my nominee. Jumpsuited astronauts, heroes who do nothing, lots of walking around and waiting. Stock footage as special effects, and of course the fire maidens.”
…Here’s the thing, I would NOT think that was funny because of the “doing nothing” and the “walking around and waiting.” I know we love to love ones that are So Bad They’re Good, but this one sounds like it would be hard to watch, just Bad, period. Yet…that poster liked it for the very reasons that I would dislike it.
Mitchell, Riding With Death, and I Accuse My Parents sound good. Are we going to end up on ebay furiously outbidding each other?! Those lucky sellers will love to see this group coming!
No, don’t buy these on EBAY!!! It’s a rip off! Search for MST Tape/DVD traders! Send your DVD’s/tapes in and get them back for a minimal cost!
Well, I don’t know how to copy casettes or DVDs. We have a VCR and a DVD player and that’s about all I can tell you! The episodes are so easily available, and at prices I don’t consider bad. Especially if you understand the finance part of my MST3K Plan (below)!! I don’t think ebay is a ripoff! Buyers are the ones who assign worth and value to something, and so set the prices. If items are expensive it’s because it’s worth it to someone out there. I guess you mean you’ve bid higher than you would have preferred to!
But, I do understand what you mean - if you want to buy a season of episodes you’ll pay around $50 and up. That can get prohibitive when you’re dealing with over a hundred episodes.
See, that’s the whole point of my plan - to make buying from ebay VERY affordable for me! It’s the cost of making mistakes I want to avoid, now I think I can do that, thanks to my fellow Dopers. Dopers match episodes from my "Liked"list with episodes they think are funny in the same kind of way. They don’t tell me what THEIR favorite episodes are (we’d just end up with a long, meaningless list). They’re saying: “I bet you’d like Mitchell because I see you already like Final Sacrifice and it’s the same kind of stuff.” So I get a list of episodes considered by Dopers to be soulmates of my favorites list. And that’s my ebay shopping list.
On ebay I bought Season 10 on DVD (13 eps) for less than $52. In addition I got 10 individual episodes from Seasons 8-9 for less than $45. Both prices included S&H! I can buy from him again. Getting brand-new MST3Ks isn’t going to be a costly project after all, thanks to the folks who are helping me find just the things that suit my taste.
I’m having lots of fun putting together my “MST3Ks I Hope To Get” file as well! (I’m such a Dork!)
Thanks so much for the tips. Keep them coming if you think of anything or want to second someone’s suggestion. Also, see my post at the bottom of Page One for a couple more “requirements” I thought of. (Hope I’m not making this seem like a school assignment.)
Lemmon Kainenn!
No, Lemminkainen was the guy that Annikki was in love with. Her brother’s name, so far as I can remember, was never given in the MST version of the movie, but according to various other places on the web, his name was “Ilmarinen”.
I was introduced to the wonders of MST3K by a friend who actually had Comedy Central when it was on there, and have nearly every SciFi channel ep … some of my favorites:
Deathstalker - A ComCentral Mike episode, and a classic. “Potatoes are what we eat!” - First episode I ever saw.
Santa Claus - I have to love a movie that catalogues the neverending battle between Satan (well, one of Satan’s lesser minions, anyway) and Santa. ComedyCentral episode.
The Sword and the Dragon - Tom Servo makes Crow and Mike play D&D. Comedy Central episode.
Space Mutiny - Scifi Episode, available on DVD from Rhino. Just for the endless string of names they make up for the hero of the picture. ‘Slab Hardbeef!’ ‘Rock Thumpchest!’ ‘John McRunfast!’
It was footage from three episodes (including the pilot) of a Bochco-produced adventure series called The Gemini Man. The producers’ clumsy efforts to pass the resulting collage off as a bona fide movie make this a must-own, and I hope the OP has added it to her list.
You can hear his name at least twice.
I love that movie.
“Hey, look everybody, I’m a moose!”
See also Master Ninja I and II, and at least one other episode I can’t remember off the top of my head.
Oh good lord. I never thought of looking on e-bay! :smack:
I’ve got almost all the sci-fi era, but a few holes to fill; plus I need about 100 of the Comedy Central eps. I’ve got me some shopping to do.
And, back to the topic – I highly recommend Starfighters.