Rifftrax, MST3K’s successor

Not too long ago, there was a cult TV show called Mystery Science Theater 3000. This wonderful TV show involved taking old movies, usually B-grade sci-fi or horror, and letting some brilliant comedians mock them constantly. It was comedic brilliance. Unfortunately, MST3K was canceled.

Luckily, after the cancellation, a new online service sprang up headed by the former star and head writer from MST3K. This service is called Rifftrax. The general idea is: you download an mp3 of the commentary from the writers/comedians at Rifftrax, and have it playing when you watch the movie it goes with. Since this new format does not require the guys at Rifftrax to license the movies they want to riff on, they are free to pick the big budget stuff.

The first Rifftrax I experienced was Battlefield Earth, an awful movie based on a book by the founder of Scientology. Thanks to the Rifftrax commentary, however, it became not only watchable, but hilarious. Soon I tried others, like Star Trek VI and even the first Lord of the Rings movie. It’s just like watching MST3K, but instead of the almost unwatchable classics “Manos: The Hands of Fate” or “Santa Claws Conquers the Martians,” these movies are modern blockbusters.

I’m not sure why I didn’t write about this earlier. I’ve been enjoying these for months now. If you haven’t had a chance to hear one, there are some samples on the website. If you’re unfortunate enough to have never even seen the original MST3K, rent some DVDs of it from Netflix or go find some episodes on Google Video. It’s an acquired taste, but if you give it a chance you’ll thank me later.