I remember watching the episodes on Saturdays instead of cartoons. Nowadays you can catch them on Prime, alongside a newer show called Rifftrax that does about the same idea. I’ve only seen one or two-are they as funny? Better? Worse?
About the same, I guess, unless you watch them in a theater with other people (Fathom events). The (kinda) live experience is a lot funnier than watching on TV. Another advantage Rifftrax has is that it’s never dragged down by a lame framing device with superfluous characters. Sometimes Rifftrax seems a little stale since it’s been around in one form or another since the first episode of MST3K. I mostly stick to their short subject shows.
Rifftrax at it’s peak:
-Samurai Cop
-The Guy from Harlem
-Miami Connection
IMO they are all funnier than any MST3K episode but that’s not to say that MST3K didn’t have some absolutely wonderful shows.
(You might be able to see one or all of those three on YouTube. )
The Rifftrax take on Megaforce was pretty good.
Rifftrax suffers from having a smaller writing staff than MST. Frank’s literary references are missing, for example. So, there’s less variety of humor to select from. But I have seen some good Rifftrax episodes and their live stuff usually rocks, too. Cinematic Titanic is good too. But when Rifftrax or CT redoes a movie that was done on MST, it’s never as good as the first time. All the best jokes were used in the MST version.
100% this. I like Rifftrax, and have watched at least 60-70% of their catalog, plus a half dozen “live” events (Octaman especially was great!), as well as the Mads (both in person! and streaming) and Cinematic Titanic, as well as all the episodes of the MST3K renewal (3 seasons).
All have their strengths, but all suffer a bit from not having the unique talents that are part of the other splinter groups. And the Rifftrax team often benefits from some of the other guests (Weird Al for “Three Magic Words for Pork” especially), or associated riffers (the brits, or specials with Bridget and mary Joe).
But again, H-T is so right that when ANY of the teams re-visit the movie that it never quite reaches the original.
Aside, I love Frank, and my wife has several of his books, but some of the topical political burns (while 100% accurate) may detract from the comedy, while scoring sick points against Trump and cronies.
I’m going to say that Cinematic Titanic feels more like the old MST than does Rifftrax. I guess it’s because it has more of the original writers who are generally more mellow in their riffing than Mike, Bill, and Kevin usually are.
Rifftrax is better when it’s a short. I think that was really the case with MST3K too, since they didn’t have to cut parts of the material for commercials and framing devices. I’ve never had good luck with the timing of a track to a movie for something they didn’t have the rights to.
Minor disagreement. It probably depends on when you came into MST3k. For most (not all) it depends on who your first/majority host was. Joel fans will find Cinematic Titanic to be closer to old MST3k, while Mike fans will probably like Rifftrax more. I started with MST3K in the last season of Joel and first of Mike, and like Rifftrax more than CT, but both are good.
And The Mads (Trace and Frank) performances are IMHO somewhere between the two, with Trace being more the mellow sort and Frank being more biting.
Just a minor difference in interpretation rather than a disagreement though, and again, I think it’s about when you came into the series.
I came to MST3K starting with season 2 and have been a fan since. Rifftrax is a very close second. The main thing I like is they do not cut up the movies like MST3K had to do.
I did enjoy The Film Crew though it has been ages since I’ve watched any of their episodes.
I haven’t seen much of The Mads, but what I have I have enjoyed.
For some reason Cinematic Titanic just didn’t connect with me. I have several of their DVDs but haven’t rewatched them since my first viewing. Maybe if I give it another shot I might enjoy it more.