In the Peanut Gallery with Mystery Science Theater 3000


Book Description

The award-winning television series Mystery Science Theater 3000 (1988-1999) has been described as "the smartest, funniest show in America," and forever changed the way we watch movies. The series featured a human host and a pair of robotic puppets who, while being subjected to some of the worst films ever made, provided ongoing hilarious and insightful commentary in a style popularly known as "riffing." These essays represent the first full-length scholarly analysis of Mystery Science Theater 3000--MST3K--which blossomed from humble beginnings as a Minnesota public-access television show into a cultural phenomenon on two major cable networks. The book includes interviews with series creator Joel Hodgson and cast members Kevin Murphy and Trace Beaulieu.




Reading Mystery Science Theater 3000


Book Description

First broadcast in the not too distant past on a television station in Minnesota, Mystery Science Theater 3000 soon grew out of its humble beginnings and found a new home on cable television. This simple show about a man and two robots forced to watch bad movies became a cult classic, and episodes of the series continue to be packaged in DVD collections to this day. Before its final run, the show received Emmy nominations and a Peabody award for Television excellence, and in 2007, Time magazine declared MST3K one of “The 100 Best Shows of All-Time.” In Reading Mystery Science Theater 3000: Critical Approaches, Shelley S. Rees presents a collection of essays that examines the complex relationship between narrative and audience constructed by this baffling but beloved television show. Invoking literary theory, cultural criticism, pedagogy, feminist criticism, humor theory, rhetorical analysis, and film and media studies, these essays affirm the show’s narrative and rhetorical intricacy. The first section, “Rhetoric and the Empowered Audience,” addresses MST3K’s function as an exercise in rhetorical resistance. Part Two, “Mystery Science Theater 3000 and Genre,” analyzes MST3K through distinct generic traditions, including humor studies, traditional science fiction tropes, and the B-movie. Finally, the third section addresses postmodern and intertextual readings of the show. By providing an academic treatment of an iconic television phenomenon, these essays argue that Mystery Science Theater 3000 is worthy of serious scholarly attention. Though aimed at a discerning readership of academics, this collection will also appeal to the intellectual nature of the show’s well-educated audience.




Mystery Science Theater 3000


Book Description

A fun and fascinating deep dive for "devoted and loyal MST3K fans" (Library Journal) that reveals the impact and creation of the cult-hit television series Mystery Science Theater 3000. Few television shows can boast the long-term cult popularity and cultural influence of Mystery Science Theater 3000—or MST3K to its legions of devoted fans, known collectively as MSTies. Created by quirky standup comic Joel Hodgson and producer Jim Mallon, Mystery Science Theater 3000 was a low-budget and altogether unconventional comedy series about a man trapped in space and forced to watch the worst movies ever made alongside a pair of homemade, wisecracking robots named Tom Servo and Crow T. Robot. In Mystery Science Theater 3000: A Cultural History, Matt Foy and Christopher J. Olson explore the vast cultural influence of the cult television series, charting how the show’s aesthetics, style of humor, and distribution innovations heralded shifts in popular culture and media production and criticism. The show also engaged viewers in the do-it-yourself media subculture of the 1980s that blurred the lines between media producers and consumers and introduced the art of media “riffing” into popular culture. Beginning with the humble origins of MST3K, Foy and Olson dig into everything from the show’s journey across networks to the must-watch episodes. Also discussed are the endeavors of cast members after the show’s cancellation, including RiffTrax, Cinematic Titanic, and the Mads Are Back, as well as the show’s second life through a Kickstarter campaign and a Netflix revival. This is an essential guide to all things MST3K for fans both new and old.




The Greatest Cult Television Shows of All Time


Book Description

Reaching back to the beginnings of television, The Greatest Cult Television Shows offers readers a fun and accessible look at the 100 most significant cult television series of all time, compiled in a single resource that includes valuable information on the shows and their creators. While they generally lack mainstream appeal, cult television shows develop devout followings over time and exert some sort of impact on a given community, society, culture, or even media industry. Cult television shows have been around since at least the 1960s, with Star Trek perhaps the most famous of that era. However, the rise of cable contributed to the rise of cult television throughout the 1980s and 1990s, and now, with the plethora of streaming options available, more shows can be added to this categorization Reaching back to the beginnings of television, the book includes such groundbreaking series as The Twilight Zone and The Prisoner alongside more contemporary examples like Crazy Ex-Girlfriend and Hannibal. The authors provide production history for each series and discuss their relevance to global pop culture. To provide a more global approach to the topic, the authors also consider several non-American cult TV series, including British, Canadian, and Japanese shows. Thus, Monty Python’s Flying Circus appears alongside Sailor Moon and Degrassi Junior High. Additionally, to move beyond the conception of “cult” as a primarily white, heteronormative, fanboy obsession, the book contains shows that speak to a variety of cult audiences and experiences, such as Queer as Folk and Charmed. With detailed arguments for why these shows deserve to be considered the greatest of all time, Olson and Reinhard provide ideas for discussion and debate on cult television. Each entry in this book demonstrates the importance of the 100 shows chosen for inclusion and highlights how they offer insight into the period and the cults that formed around them.







German Science Fiction: Student Fiction and Essays 2013-2014


Book Description

This volume presents an array of creative, analytic and research work presented by students of the Popular Culture and German Literature: Science Fiction sections of the academic year 2013-2014 at the Ohio State University. This course has been evolving over the past 5 years into a highly experimental and experiential classroom that augments lectures with literary and film analysis in order to further student's critical potential. Students work with concept building, social and historical background and cultural recognition, as well as psychological analyses of texts that conclude with the creative synthesis and the committal of the day's activities to long-term memory through journaling and discussion.







Giant Creatures in Our World


Book Description

Dismissed as camp by critics but revered by fans, the kaiju or "strange creature" film has become an iconic element of both Japanese and American pop culture. From homage to parody to advertising, references to Godzilla--and to a lesser extent Gamera, Rodan, Ultraman and others--abound in entertainment media. Godzilla in particular is so ubiquitous, his name is synonymous with immensity and destruction. In this collection of new essays, contributors examine kaiju representations in a range of contexts and attempt to define this at times ambiguous genre.




The Liverpool Companion to World Science Fiction Film


Book Description

The first comprehensive companion to science fiction film as a global, rather than solely Anglo-American, concern.




Universal Terrors, 1951-1955


Book Description

Universal Studios created the first cinematic universe of monsters--Dracula, Frankenstein, the Mummy and others became household names during the 1930s and 1940s. During the 1950s, more modern monsters were created for the Atomic Age, including one-eyed globs from outer space, mutants from the planet Metaluna, the Creature from the Black Lagoon, and the 100-foot high horror known as Tarantula. This over-the-top history is the definitive retrospective on Universal's horror and science fiction movies of 1951-1955. Standing as a sequel to Tom Weaver, Michael Brunas and John Brunas's Universal Horrors (Second Edition, 2007), it covers eight films: The Strange Door, The Black Castle, It Came from Outer Space, Creature from the Black Lagoon, This Island Earth, Revenge of the Creature, Cult of the Cobra and Tarantula. Each receives a richly detailed critical analysis, day-by-day production history, interviews with filmmakers, release information, an essay on the score, and many photographs, including rare behind-the-scenes shots.