Play MSTy for me

I was going to call this post "Thank YouTube" but it's more MST3k-based than YouTube-based. But YouTube started it when I was looking around on their site for TV series openings and stuff when I found that whole (well, segmented) episodes of were available. I've since been watching many of the episodes that I had not seen before but had always wanted too. It's not as nice as having it on DVD but I'll take what I can get. It just reminds me that Mystery Science Theatre 3000 is still one of my favourite TV series of all times.

Even before I had seen the series I was always very interested in seeing it ever since I heard of it on either the Internet (back when it was relatively new and relatively hideous) or on some crappy TV show that shows the funniest clips from other recent TV series. It instantly caught my attention because it was already quite similar to an 80's TV special I loved called It Came From Hollywood in which John Candy, Dan Aykroyd, Gilda Radner, Cheech and Chong heckle clips from silly sci-fi and monster movies. I remember seeing it long ago, so I have no idea how well it holds up. Still, I was intrigued and when I stumbled on to a tape of it way back in late junior high/early high school at Strange Adventures I picked it up immediately. The episode was the Atomic Brain and it still remains a favourite episode of mine.

The show was created way back in 1988 by Joel Hodgson and some other comedian friends in the mid-west. It was put on a crappy little station called KTMA which, when MST3k was airing on it, air almost nothing but syndicated reruns of forgettable sitcoms and action shows. MST3k gained a quick local following although some people didn't quite get it (apparently one person called the show saying that he liked it except for the annoying people talking through the movie). The show was originally improvised and was really not very good (or so the creators of the show admit). Still, it proved popular enough to have their 13-episode season expanded to 21. Nonetheless, it was cancelled due to the station's financial woes.

The series premise was simple: Joel, a janitor at Gizmonics Institute (a crazy science place) is knocked out by two evil scientists (Dr. Forrester and Dr. Erhardt) and forced to watch crappy movies in an attempt to find the film that will drive him insane. Once the film that is bad enough to drive him over the edge is found, then the mad scientists (or Mads) will use it to conquer the Earth. To keep his sanity, Joel creates robots from the instruments that control the film. The robots are the slightly pretentious Tom Servo, the smart alecy Crow and the unlikable Gypsy (I'm sorry but this character just sucks. Bad). But really it's all about making fun of movies.

The series was eventually picked up by the then young Comedy Channel (now Comedy Central) mostly because it ate up a lot of time on their schedule. When it made it their a friend of the creators and TGIFriday's employee Mike Nelson started working on the show and became head writer one season later simply because of his talent. With season two Josh Weinstein AKA Dr. Erhardt (who is barely remembered by fans) and the voice of Tom Servo left the show so a new Mad was introduced (TV's Frank) and Tom got a new voice. The show continued and just as it got popular the shows lead Joel Hogdson left. Part of it was because he was not comfortable with acting and was really more of a reluctant host and the other was that he was disagreeing with producer Jim Mallon about the direction of the show. In the middle of the fifth season Joel's character bids a final farewell to the cast after being freed against his will, and is replaced by head writer Mike Nelson as host. In my opinion, Mike is a better host mostly because of his confidence and that the era he ushered in brought forth more polished riffing.

Well, the series continued with TV's Frank leaving (he enters Second Banana Heaven at the end of season six) and the series was seemingly cancelled at the end of a very short seventh season. Since it seemed unlikely that there would be no more show, the season finale had the characters reaching the end of the universe and evolving into pure love or energy or something (it was pure whatever it was). At this point, Trace Beaulieu (Dr. Forrester, Crow T. Robot) left the show and his character Dr. Forrester exited.

The series was later picked up by the Sci-Fi Channel, where the crew was given a few guidelines (a continuing storyarc throughout the season, sci-fi movies only) but for the most part it was business as usual. The series lasted three more seasons (which where easily my favourite) before being cancelled.

Since then the actors have been involved with many random projects and books. Most noticeable is that Mike Nelson is chief content producer for Legend films and while there has done some MST3k-style riffing for some of the films. Mike's still pretty funny but it's just not the same without the other cast members. Luckily, Mike's also producing RiffTrax, which include film commentaries by him and, in some cases, his friends Kevin Murphy (the second Tom Servo) and Bill Corbett (the second Crow). Basically, they're MST-style film commentaries for more mainstream films (X-Men, Star Trek V, Road House) that can be downloaded and listened two while you watch the film. I found clips of them on YouTube and their pretty good.

The RiffTrax website can be found here. And some great RiffTrax previews can be found here, here and here.

Sorry, if my post isn't that great this week (or ever) but I'm tired and I had to start this one later than usual. Mostly it was an excuse to show that I love MST3k and that RiffTrax are awesome.

Ticked Off

I finally got the first season of the Tick on DVD and I have to say that I'm very disappointed. I don't know if Beuna Vista just doesn't have any love for the show, but this is one of the poorest looking DVD sets I've ever seen.

Now, I have some problems with the first season of the Tick to begin with: the animation is a bit weak in some areas (though some of it, like character designs, holds up rather well), the humour isn't as strong as following seasons and while it certainly has charm the first season, it doesn't quite click. I also don't really like Mickey Dolenz (of Monkees fame) as Arthur. He's no bad really and he has nebbish down but the I prefer Rob Paulson's take on him, who gives Arthur a bit more personality. The problem with the humour is in part a problem with timing and delivery (there are some jokes that I realize I would love in print but the screen fails to deliver) and just poor plotting. Still, there are lots of great jokes, including the Carpeted Man's refusal to take off his super s

hit despite sweating profusely, Stalingrad (a villain whose power is looking like Stalin) and most of the episode "the Tick vs. the Tick" where the two super-heroes fight over the use of the super-hero name. And for the first seasons failings I still like it (though would not necessarily recommend it).

However, the DVD is pretty piss poor. The only thing I appreciate is that the set features a cover with new art by creator Ben Edlund. Lovely. But the menu itself is both bare bones and ugly looking. The menu shows the Tick (Arthur in disc two) standing while wacky things move about the scene while the theme song plays. It doesn't sound too bad when I say it, but it's irritating and hideous. There's no extras (though there are trailers for other stuff before the menu comes up. I hate that), which is a shame because I would have like some Ben Edlund commentary and maybe some more insight into the series, as well as the creation of the character (which he first created for his university newsletter).

Also, episode 11 is missing. Now it's a pretty weak episode ("the Tick Vs. the Mole Men") and I'm not fighting to get it but I just don't like the fact that they would do that. It's the principle of the thing.

Still, I'm looking forward to season two, when things get really good. In fact, I'm going to make a list of the series best episodes, simply because lists are easy for me to write. Must have something to do with my lack of imagination:

Best Episodes of Season Two:

Alone Together: An accident on the moon shoots the Tick into deep space where he's saved by a cosmic entity named Omnipotus. Omnipotus agrees to bring the Tick home if the Tick acts as his personal hygenist. *shudder* Too bad Omnipotus is planning to eat the Earth when he gets to it.

Classic Quote:
(After the Tick convinces Omnipotus not to eat the Earth and teaches him the meaning of friendship)
The Tick: (whispering to Arthur) "I don't even really like him."

Evil Sits Down for a Moment: The vain super-hero (if you can call him that) Die Fledermaus and furniture controlling villainous Ottoman Empress fall in love. It's all fun and games at first until the Empress asks for a commitment. Plus, the Tick is convinced he's an elderly British woman.

Classic Quote:
The Tick: "Oh, look, Arthur! It's a completely rehabilitated villain. She's comfortable with herself. Comfort, commitment, marriage... what do all these things have in common? The letter C! Except for marriage. And if people get all British when they get knocked on the head... what do British people get? I know! Comatose! Another C!"

Ants in Pants!: After the Tick has an unpleasant run in with evil ants, he checks himself into Captain Sanity's Superhero Sanitarium. Unfortunately, Captain Sanity's only idea is to have his Shaft-like assistant Taft ("Yer darn right") fight the Tick in different costumes.

Classic Quote:

(while wrestling each other)
Taft: "I'm your momma, man!"
the Tick: "NO YOUR NOT! YOUR TAFT!"

Grandpa Wore Tights: The Tick and Arthur spend the day at the super-heroes retirement home while the Terror, an elderly villain, seeks a weapon they took from him years ago. Old people are amusing.

The Visual Eye: "Oh, the Ray Gun was terrible weapon. Turned everyone it hit into a guy named Ray."

(Flashes to a sepia-toned city scape crawling with friendly, young gas station attendents)
Ray: "Fill 'er up, chief?"

The Visual Eye: "Then there was the Tommy Gun..."

Best of Season Three:

That Mustache Feeling: The Tick inexplicably wakes up with a mustache, which he obsesses over. But when the mustache begins acting on it's own the Tick begins a decent into madness. Who holds the answer to the problem? Jim Rage, Agent of S.H.A.V.E.!

Classic Quote:
The Tick: "Hey, you have both eyes! You're not a secret agent at all! You're just some guy who hates my mustache!"

Devil In Diapers: The villain Mr. Mental seeks protection, so he hypnotizes the Tick and Arthur into thinking he's a baby. It's pretty creepy seeing a 40-year old man being treated like a baby but it's a funny sort of creepy.

Classic Quote:
None I can't think of. I'm still creeped out by the forty year old in diapers.

The Tick Vs. Education: The Tick teaches an Adult education class for super-heroes. His students: The Flying Squirrel, Sarcastro: Master of Sarcasm, Mr. Exciting, Gesundheit, and Babyboomarangotan. Together they must face ice cream mascot Uncle Creamy and the KGB Agent who replaced him.

Classic Quote:
Ex-KGB Agent and current Uncle Creamy Ivan Rubek: (In with a stern tone and Russian accent) "Hello, children. We are having fun at this time. My carefree antics are winning your hearts."

I Can't Think of a Good Zellers Pun

Well, I didn't get a job at Chapters (damn) but I got a job at Zellers (*shrug*). It seems OK and all, but I don't plan on staying too long past Christmas for a multitude of reasons. One is that if everything works out I'll be teaching English in Japan for most of 2007. Hopefully things will go well with NOVA on Sept. 30th and there'll be a place for me in NOVA. I imagine that if it does go well with NOVA, I'd be heading for Japan sometime between November and January (I checked January off in my application so hopefully that will affect things). The other thing is that while it certainly isn't bad work, it's just something I'm not as interested in sticking with for a prolonged period of time. If things don't work out this time around with NOVA, then I plan on trying again and moving out of my parents apartment. I don't have a specific plan yet but I just want to get some independence in my life and get out of my rut. Maybe into a new rut. Hopefully, if NOVA doesn't work out this time around I'll be able to get some more substantial work with the English Language Programme beyond what I'm doing now (which is nice, it's only about an hour and fifteen minutes a day, on days that I work). OK, that's really more like a few reasons rather than a multitude. Still, it isn't bad work so far.

My work with ELP is really nice (and rewarding) so far, but it doesn't require too much work and I'm really hoping to do more there. Basically what I'm taking part in is recreational activities for the studentsYesterday, I gave a small tour of the UNB/STU campus to some students and today I played cards and some board games with an older Korean woman. Interestingly, it took a lot longer to grow board with War than I thought she would but she really enjoyed Go Fish (which she pronounced as Go Fishy). We also played Boggle and Snakes and Ladders. A good time was had by all.

That's all I can really think of writing about for now... yep.

Conversations with Clod

(By the way, I'm the titular clod)

Well, I had two job interviews today, both of which rather well.

First, I had an interview with Zellers which turned out much better than expected. I wasn't sure even if I wanted to work there simply because I would be afraid it would be like Wal-Mart. I never really hated working at Wal-Mart per se, but I never really liked it that much either. I think I'd like working at Zellers more, partially because I'd only have part-time hours and because the positions available mean I won't have to work in the clothing department again. I feel very confident about the interview because there are plenty of openings, only a few other people being interviewed and the guy interviewing me took a liking to me. Seems he was a "Brunsy" (writer for the Brunswickan) too and said something along the lines of "anything for a fellow Brunsy". Nice guy, but that statement struck me as a little weird, as he repeated it a couple of times and I never really thought of the Brunswickan as a kind of fraternity. But any interview that ends with a discussion of the merits of Grant Morrison's run on X-Men is a successful interview in my books.

Strangely, this is the second interview I've had so far and the second one were I meet people who know comics (though not as much as I, if I may sound like a pretentious snobby ass) as the same thing happened when I was interviewed by Chapters a week ago and found that half of the other people in the group interview were talking about comics. A good omen?

Anyhoo, my other interview was a second interview with Chapters, who asked me a few extra questions. It was a pretty short interview (about 15 minutes) and they told me that I'll be informed within the next couple of days if I have the job. My hopes are up and if I get the job, I'll get 30% off all books and 10% off giftware (plates and stuff). I don't know if it stacks with my iRewards card but either way that's a pretty sweet deal. I'm hoping and praying for that call.

Both jobs start out as part-time jobs but that shouldn't be a problem for me as long as I can balance it along with my part-time work with the ELP, who I have a meeting with on Friday. I know I have that work if I want it, but I just hope whatever work I get allows me to work with ELP too.