MST3K

Erik Bates | April 24, 2017
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Scott Hardie | April 25, 2017
Riffing is not easy to get into, especially when the movies are bad. It takes mental stamina to sit through 90 minutes of that, even with sketch comedy bits as intermissions. And some of the material isn't even meant to be funny, just deliberately weird.

There are a few in-jokes and callbacks in the new series, but not too many. You're not missing much. A couple of brief appearances by classic characters is as close as it gets to leaving out new viewers.

My advice is to check out the best of the original series first. It's low-tech by comparison but a much better introduction to what the show is capable of. By far the best place to start is Manos: The Hands of Fate, one of the all-time worst movies ever featured (seriously, it's painful) and the show's funniest installment. Netflix lists it as episode 1 in their collection of classic episodes online. Pod People, episode 11, is also one of the best, though it takes a while to rev up. I'm a big fan of Cave Dwellers, which is on YouTube (here's a condensed version).

Another good option is to see riffing in a theater full of people; the laughter of the crowd helps a lot. Some of the original show's cast now performs "RiffTrax" shows live and they simulcast to movie theaters nationwide. We've had good times seeing a few of those. Here's the next one coming up, and here's a good sample of their work.