It's as much a part of youth as regrettable portraits or cystic acne: gathering around with a group of friends, cuing up something terrible like The Room or Troll 2, and trading potshots all night until it hurts to laugh anymore.
This tradition didn't start 24 years ago, but that's when it got a massive mainstream bump. The Mystery Science Theater 3000 ship first set sail in the late 1980s, ultimately spanning three different TV networks, 10 seasons, and 197 episodes (we're talking 18,000-plus minutes of material like Humanoid Woman). Throughout, MST3K never deviated from its basic premise: watching horrible movies, when combined with a little well-timed snark, is always fun.
Now, some things—autumn, Crystal Pepsi, etc—just don't last long enough. Most agree the musings of Mike Nelson, Crow T. Robot, Tom Servo, et al. fit this bill too. So even though MST3K said goodbye in 1999, the desire for the service they provided never went away. As VHS and DVDs gave way to Blu-Ray or .MOV, a trio of MST3K alums took their craft to the Internet.
Nelson launched RiffTrax.com in 2006. Same basic premise, except rather than full episodes including films, RiffTrax would offer downloadable commentary .MP3s viewers could sync with their own screenings. (This allowed Nelson to avoid being "sued out of existence.") Nelson recruited Kevin Murphy (Servo) and Bill Corbett (Robot) and the rest is history: pushing 120 films and counting.
Today, RiffTrax goes beyond the original crop of SciFi B-movies and hits everything from blockbusters to classic films too (including titles as recent as The Hunger Games; "feels like an NPR audio essay is about to break out"). The site gained enough popularity that they even coordinate live events—both with Nelson and co. in person or through simultaneous screenings. Their next screening falls in the latter category but returns to MST3K's low-budget SciFi roots: October 25, the 2010 classic Birdemic.
For the quick and dirty, here's the RiffTrax description:
Rod is a young software salesman on the brink of launching a solar panel business in Silicon Valley. Things really seem to be going Rod’s way, especially when he reconnects with beautiful high school classmate Nathalie, a model who Victoria’s Secret chooses out of the blue to be their new cover girl. Their unbelievably perfect world is shattered by a sudden, unexplained bird attack. The vultures team up with the eagles, and begin dropping caustic liquids and exploding like bombs (really!). Rod and Nathalie find themselves on a terror-filled ride up and down the coast, fighting off the vicious birds with their wits and...coat hangers. Yes, coat hangers.
Expect tears to be shed for Hitchcock and references made to the Wilhelm scream. If seeing three MST3K minds riffing on a bottom 100 IMDB film doesn't excite you, you could always try their take on Bond and prepare for Skyfall instead. But at the very least, attending this week's event is an investment in your future. After all, who doesn't want to be caught up for Birdemic II next year?
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