Top 10 MST3K Episodes of the 2017 Era (so far)
It would be easy to dismiss Mystery Science Theater 3000’s return in 2017. The first two seasons of the modern era didn’t feature Joel Hodgson (who would return in season 3) and it featured all new voices for the bots and a new host (Jonah Ray Rodrigues), plus new mads (Felicia Day and Patton Oswalt). And to be fair, there’s some issues (especially with that first Netflix season) where it feels a bit overproduced.
But it would be wrong to overlook the comedy gold that beats at the heart of this new incarnation. There’s some truly classic moments that I find myself repeating randomly and some inspired riffing that harkens back to MST3K at its zenith. Out of the the 35 episodes, here are the top 10 Mystery Science Theater 3000 episodes of the 2017 era (so far):
10. THE BATWOMAN (1968)
Episode 8 of Season 3 finds Emily Marsh with Tom Servo (Conor McGiffin) and Crow (Kelsey Ann Brady) riffing this absurd Batman ripoff that reimagines the caped crusader as a lady luchador solving aquatic murders perpetrated by a mad scientist intent on creating a new merman creature. What’s not to love?!?
9. CARNIVAL MAGIC (1983)
Season 1, Episode 12 is a dip into the Al Adamson pool with this schlockfest about a midway act that consists of a magician and his mumbling talking chimp that says such fantastical phrases as “sure” and “you boss, me star.” Kids of all ages will delight alongside Jonah and the bots (Baron Vaughn and Hampton Yount) at the constant sweatiness and the random vehicular mayhem sequence that seemingly goes on forever.
8. THE CHRISTMAS DRAGON (2014)
Season 3’s finale is a truly special episode as it combines all three iterations of the hosts and ‘bots, including having Jonah, Emily, and Joel Hodgson in the theater to riff on this truly bizarre family holiday sword n sorcery movie. This low budget (and lower intelligence) flick is prime material for great moments by the cast who seem genuinely baffled by its existence.
7. ATLANTIC RIM (2013)
The second entry in The Gauntlet (aka Season 2 of the 2017 era) is this Asylum-made PACIFIC RIM knockoff that attempts to get a lot of mileage out of Graham Greene’s gruffness and David Chokachi’s bro-appeal. The Satellite Of Love crew do impeccable impressions of the cast while also lampooning the buffoonery - and having a pretty fun musical number to boot!
6. KILLER FISH (1979)
Another The Gauntlet/Season 2 episode, this one is a slice of impressive ‘70s cheese with tons of B-movie acting staples running around with stolen jewels and ravenous piranha. The musical interlude while Karen Black swims through the deadly waters is a lot of fun while lots of great impressions of Margeaux Hemingway and Lee Majors makes for a delightful time.
5. THE MASK 3D (1961)
This one is easily in the top five if only for the fact that it’s a Halloween episode (an MST3K first!)—but there are also great Tom Atkins references and the movie itself is tremendously bizarre. It’s a terrific episode that deserves to be part of your spooky viewing rotation every year
4. CRY WILDERNESS (1987)
Only the second episode of the 2017 era and it’s an all-timer. The Bigfoot design is…unfortunate (way too boob-centric), the child protagonist is easily one of the worst in the history of MST3K (and that’s saying something), and it’s all in service to a truly bonkers story that seeks to warm your heart but also features someone getting their eyes gouged out by a bird.
3. GAMERA VS JIGER (1970)
GAMERA films are a staple of Mystery Science Theater 3000, and this entry doesn’t just continue the tradition of excellent kaiju turtle shenanigans, but is actually one of the best Gamera episodes in the entirety of MST3K. Some of the funniest bits are just Jonah and the ‘bots seemingly genuinely cracking each other up as the monsters slough on screen.
2. MUNCHIE (1992)
Sure, hokey Sci-Fi movies are its signature brand—but warped family fare may be MST3K’s secret bread & butter. MUNCHIE is a terrible movie with some dreadful comedy, yet the riffers find a way to spin that dead zone of funny into pure gold. Mocking Jim Wynorski’s film with its awful looking puppet and oversized acting results in some hilarious and memorable moments.
1. MAC AND ME (1988)
The kickoff episode of The Gauntlet/Season 2 is easily the funniest with brilliant takedowns of the cashgrab cynical movie. MAC AND ME is an infamous bad movie, providing tons of fodder for riffing, from its awful design to inept plot to truly INSANE climax. And the entire cast and crew rise to the occasion to deliver easily the best episode of the modern era (so far).
“Pretty Nice.” “Pretty Nice”…indeed.