MST3K—as it is affectionately known—is the show that refuses to die. After beginning on a tiny Minneapolis station in 1988, Joel Hodgson’s deliberately cheesy takedown of old bad movies—riffed on by one captive human and his snarky robot cohorts—migrated to the fledgling Comedy Central, where it flourished for seven years before being canceled in 1996. It was then picked up by the Sci-Fi Channel, where it survived until 1999. And then it never really disappeared: aside from reruns and an avalanche of home-video releases, it spawned Cinematic Titanic (VL Online-11/17), and now this full-fledged Netflix revival spurred by a Kickstarter campaign. The cast is new—Jonah Ray is now the "host," and Patton Oswalt one of his tormentors—and the humor is a bit more topical (though no less juvenile), but the format is identical. The movies, of course, vary widely, although there are the usual poverty-row sci-fi efforts (The Time Travelers, Starcrash), nutty fantasies (Wizards of the Lost Kingdom I and II, The Loves of Hercules), foreign monster flicks (Reptilicus from Denmark, Yongary from South Korea), risible American ones (Cry Wilderness, The Beast of Hollow Mountain) and sui generis turkeys (Carnival Magic, The Christmas That Almost Wasn’t) among the 14 "honorees" here, which also include a couple of decent Doug McClure actioners (The Land That Time Forgot, At the Earth’s Core) and a big-budget disaster movie (Avalanche, with Rock Hudson and Mia Farrow). Guest stars include Hodgson, Jerry Seinfeld, Mark Hamill, and Neil Patrick Harris. Compiling all 14 episodes from the 2017 11th season, extras include a behind-the-scenes documentary about the revival. Recommended. (F. Swietek)
Mystery Science Theater 3000: Season 11
Shout! Factory, 8 discs, 1,260 min., not rated, DVD: $69.99, Blu-ray: $99.99 Volume 33, Issue 4
Mystery Science Theater 3000: Season 11
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