MST3K Related Questions

Q1 (Forrest):  Thanks again for this opportunity Mike!  To get started, my first question is: have you and Rhino Entertainment had a discussion on using some of the B-Movies that they have in stock for direct to DVD MST releases?

A1:  Yes, it’s been discussed, very cursorily.  As you might imagine, there are a lot of complications, and things haven’t really moved along any farther than the talking stage. 
  

Q2 (Shawn):  First off, I’d like to thank you for all the laughs you’ve given me.  After a hard week’s work there was nothing like relaxing in front of the TV, watching MST, to take the edge off.  I find great comedy very cathartic, healing.  Do comics ever think of their work like that?  Have you ever thought to yourself, “This book’s going make people happy” and do you appreciate what a gift that is?

A2:  You’re very kind to say so. It’s certainly gratifying to know that your work is appreciated.

It’s a very good and fairly complex point that you make.  Because I firmly believe that entertainment at its best has the potential to ennoble. Look at Bach, Beethoven, Vermeer, etc.

Okay, now look way, way down at MST.

Really though, we always knew we were blessed to have the job we had, and we tried our best to make it something joyful, rather than something cynical and depressing.
  

Q3 (Forrest):  Do you think there will be any more new episodes of MST3K?  Is there anything the fans can do to help that idea become a reality?  Most of us would all really love to see the show back on the air.

A3:  I don’t think there will be anymore.  It’s just a guess, though, not a rock solid certainty.  There are just a lot of hurdles in the way.
  

Q4 (Forrest):  What other episodes, besides The Slime People, would you have like to have redone?

A4:  I would like to redo a whole lot of them from the early years.  We just got a lot more savvy about how to use the jokes, and if we could apply that knowledge and spruce up the shows, it could really improve them.
  

Q5 (Forrest):  Sorry if this has been asked millions of times, but I’m sure a lot of MiSTies don’t know: how exactly did you become head writer?

A5:  It was after the first season, and everybody had al these responsibilities.  Joel and Trace on props and sets (all of us really), Kevin on sound, Jim doing Gypsy and producing (and building and setting up computers and office space) so someone had to be in charge of the script.  It fell to me.
  

Q6 (Forrest):  What exactly was your job as head writer?

A6:  I was in charge of the script.  Making sure it was tight, making sure the comments were where they needed to be, making changes.  Breaking ties in the writing room, that kind of thing.
  

Q7 (Forrest):  Were you nervous when you first got the job as host?  Did Joel give you any feedback on your performance as host?

A7:  Yeah, I was pretty nervous, but since I had the responsibilities with the script as well as the hosting, I was a little to busy to worry much about it.

Joel was already gone by the time I started so he didn’t give any feedback, no.
  

Q8 (Forrest):  How did one become a writer for the show?

A8:  It was complicated.  We kind of picked people we thought would be good and asked them, most of the time.  A few we auditioned by having them write and contribute comments from home.  If we liked what we saw, they were invited to try out live and in person.
  

Q9 (Forrest):  How often do you see your former colleges from Best Brains?

A9:  Some quite a bit.  Others not at all, ’cause they went and moved away to L.A.  Those that live in town I see on a regular basis.
  

Q10 (Forrest):  I’ve read that some of the directors of certain MST’d films have actually asked you guys to riff their movie.  How often did this happen?

A10:  Not that often.  Towards the end, it happened a few times.  I really don’t remember any specific films or directors, but I know that Jim (Mallon) spoke to someone who offered to make movies specifically for the show.
  

Q11 (Forrest):  Watching every episode in the show, I couldn’t help but notice there were changes in humor on how the quips were delivered.  When the show started out, the riffs seemed to be good natured, and then, as the show progressed, the riffing became more cynical towards the movies.  Was this a conscious choice, or did this change just happen?

A11:  I don’t know if that’s true, actually.  If so, it certainly wasn’t a conscious choice. I look at, say, Girl in the Gold Boots, and I think it’s pretty light hearted.  There may have been specific movies that we hated enough to actually have ripped on a bit harshly, but I don’t think it moved that way as a general trend.
  

Q12 (Forrest):  Also, I noticed that as the show progressed, it started out as making as many obscure pop culture references during the movie as possible, and then, as it progressed more, the riffing seemed to flat-out make fun of the movie with many, but less pop culture references.  Was this a conscious choice, or is it just me?

A12:  I think we probably got a little sick of the pop culture references just because they tended to be easier to do than coming up with a good joke.  But there’s a difference between making fun of the movie and making fun of the reality of the movie and the character’s within it.  Much of the time, we weren’t mocking the movie itself but sort of inserting ourselves into its reality and riffing off of that.
  

Q13 (Forrest):  You said that writing for MST3K mostly consisted of fun and laughter, but there was always a bit of pain (for the repetitiveness of the bad flicks), were there any episodes where there was no laughter and fun, and only pain?

A13:  All of the Coleman Francis films, at least for me.
  

Q14 (Forrest):  Do your kids enjoy watching MST3K?

A14:  They do, yes.  They really started to enjoy it after listening to the CDs of our music.  It was a big hit with them.  Of course, the songs drove me nearly mad, but they liked them.
  

Q15 (Forrest):  Do you ever pop in an MST episode for your own personal enjoyment?

A15:  No, I don’t.  I did recently get the Rhino DVDs ( they did a tremendous job) and I skipped around here and there.  There was a skit during Merlin’s Shop of Mystical Wonders where Mike reads from some Ernest Borgnine’s children’s books that really made my son laugh, and it got me going, too.
  

Q16 (Forrest):  Do you ever get stopped on the street by people that know who you are?

A16:  Now and again.  It tends to be in one particular area of Minneapolis known as Uptown. Don’t ask me why.
  

Q17 (Forrest):  I noticed that there is barely any political humor in MST3K.  Did you, as head writer, try to keep the jokes away from political humor as much as possible?

A17:  Absolutely.  Nothing would date the show more quickly than to include that.  Plus, we had diverse viewpoints in the writing room, so we just steered away from it altogether.
  

Q18 (Forrest):  Would the writers sometimes get into arguments in the writing room over using or not using certain jokes?

A18:  Oh, yes.  All the time.  It was difficult to manage the tone of the show, and though we were very close on what we thought it should be, we didn’t think identically.  So that naturally resulted in some tensions.
  

Q19 (Forrest):  Who made the most jokes in the writing room on average?

A19:  Whoever had the strongest cup of coffee at the moment. (Really, it was collaboration in the best sense.)
  

Q20 (Forrest):  How were the riffs assigned to each character?

A20:  It wasn’t all that exacting.  It was up to the character to make each one his own.  But there were obvious comments for one robot or the other, or Mike.
  

Q21 (Forrest):  How often would bloopers occur in the taping of the theater segments?

A21:  Very rarely.  We were pretty darn good at that part.  We’d be off on timing and sometimes we’d drop lines.  But really, there wasn’t a lot to redo.
  

Q22 (Forrest):  Watching the tape Last Dance Raw, which was a tape that BBI sold to MiSTies on the taping of the last episode of the show, you all seemed really worn out.  We all know that you’d love to do the show again if you ever got the chance, but were you a little happy to get a break from the repetitiveness of bad movies?

A22:  No, we weren’t worn out.  We were conscious of the camera, and I know that everyone felt a little self-conscious about having such an emotional moment caught on tape.  So I think everyone held back when the camera turned on.  Trust me, off camera, it was a great time, though certainly melancholy.
  

Q23 (Forrest):  Who was Mike Dodge?  I see his name in the credits often, and he played the Atom Bomb in Invasion USA.  But, beyond that, I’ve never heard much about him.

A23:  Mike is a friend and a hilarious writer, actor, voice actor and former ad guy who wrote but was not around during shooting.  He also didn’t travel with us, so he was only a half time kind of guy.  Mike was also the narrator for “Edward the Less” our web series.
  

Q24 (Forrest):  Who was the writer for MST who was also a Star Trek fan?  Who was the 2001: A Space Odyssey fan?  Who was obsessed with Gymkata?  Who was the big Killdozer fan?  (I’m not even going to ask who the Road House fan was.)

A24:  We were all fans of Star Trek, at various levels of fandom. (I’m not really a fan, though I’ve seen plenty of them and was happy to throw in comments.)  I think Kevin, Trace and Jim were huge 2001 fans.  And Frank was pretty big into saying Gymkata, though I don’t know if he was a fan.  I was the Killdozer “fan,” though all of us remembered it quite fondly.
  

Q25 (Forrest):  Do you think bad movies will ever stop?

A25:  Yes. Wait, no. No.  I was thinking of something else.
  

Movie and DVD Related Questions

Q26 (Forrest):  I really enjoyed Movie Megacheese.  Will there ever possibly be a second Movie Megacheese book?

A26:  In fact, Kevin, Bill and I are working on book that has similarities to Megacheese.
  

Q27 (Don and Shawn):  As a DVD collector, I think your commentary for Reefer Madness is a fantastic idea, because there’s nothing like extra features for selling a disc.  And I’ve heard it’s a more straight-forward commentary, instead of a “riff track”.  Have you considered going in the familiar direction of riffing a movie for future commentaries?

A27:  I am, in fact, doing some more commentaries and am working on others with Bill and Kevin.
  

Q28 (Forrest):  Besides your commentary on Reefer Madness, what other films will you do a commentary on?

A28:  Night of the Living Dead and Carnival of Souls.
  

Q29 (Forrest):  What are your thoughts on the following shows: Beavis and Butthead, South Park and Futurama? 

A29:  I haven’t seen any of them, I’m afraid.  Currently, I don’t have television capabilities.
  

Q30 (Forrest):  How big is your DVD collection?

A30:  Not very large.  I think I have about 60.  I rent a whole lot of Netflix, though.
  

Q31 (Forrest):  What did you think about the extended editions of The Lord of the Rings?

A31:  I loved them both.  And darn it if I ain’t excited about The Return of the King. 
  

Q32 (Forrest):  Also, like LOTR, you once said that Amadeus: Director’s Cut was on your to-buy list.  Did you think that the director’s cut was an improvement, or do you prefer the original version, if you’ve seen it?

A32:  Actually, I haven’t seen Amadeus yet. 
  

Q33 (Forrest):  Have you seen The Passion of the Christ?  If so, what did you think?

A33:  I have seen it.  I have mixed feelings about movie depictions of the central event in the Christian faith.  For myself, I have the Bible and that works well for me.  Also, I’m a Protestant, and we tend to be more Easter focused, while traditionally, Catholics have been a little more Passion focused.  So it did me good to spend a little time there.

All that being said, I think it was a pretty fine movie, and darned if it didn’t get people talking about religion again, a subject that some are trying to close off from the public square, a pet peeve of mine.  Though the Judeo-Christian worldview has served us well for more than two hundred years and underpins the finest society in the history of the world, there are those fighting hard to throw it all on the scrap heap and replace it with radical secularism, a worldview that has brought us Nazism, Communism and some of the greatest horrors of all time.
  

Q34 (Forrest):  What is the best movie you have ever seen? (Besides Road House)

A34:  Road House. (Oops, just saw your note, above.)  Um, it’s always changing, of course, but I think Casablanca.
  

Q35 (Forrest):  What is the worst movie ever?  I mean, the WORST you have ever seen. (Besides Road House)

A35:  What was the latest Rob Schneider film?  ’Cause that’s it.
  

Q36 (Forrest):  What did you think was the best movie of 2003?

A36:  The Return of the King.  The moment when the Rohirrim ride down into the mass of Orcs.  Pretty amazing.  Worth it all.
  

Q37 (Forrest):  What did you think was the worst movie of 2003?

A37:  From Justin to Kelly.  I never saw it, but I feel confident in my answer.
  

Q38 (Forrest):  What’s the most underrated movie of all time?

A38:  The most recent version of Nicholas Nickleby.  It’s a great film, but got almost no attention.  (Reviews were good, it just wasn’t seen by anyone.)  It’s the kind of movie I love: good overcoming evil, bullies getting their comeuppance, kindness and goodness cast in the best of light, a total lack of cynicism.  It’s just great.
  

Q39 (Forrest):  What’s the most overrated movie all time (let me take a guess, Titanic or Gangs of New York, right)?

A39:  American Beauty.  A crappy piece of propaganda.  It’s Three’s Company all dressed up with ponderous pretension.  I can’t tell you how much I loathe that film.
  

Q40 (Forrest):  What do you think is the best movie of 2004 so far (as of April 2004)?

A40:  I’ll go with The Passion of the Christ, for the reasons above.
  

Q41 (Forrest):  Which is the worst movie of 2004 so far?

A41:  Dirty Dancing: Havana Nights.  I haven’t seen it, of course, but I still feel confident in my answer. 
  

Q42 (Don):  On the recent Academy Awards, a film from Canada (The Barbarian Invasions) won an Oscar for Best Foreign Film.  Does this positive turn of events for the Canadian film industry make up in any way for them also making The Final Sacrifice?

A42:  I have only one thing to say on the matter: Rowsdower. (Said of course in a light, lispy manner.)
  

Q43 (Forrest):  What do you think is declining more: movies, television or music?

A43:  Oh, dear.  Well, television is very actively harming people on a daily basis.  Music might be a wash, though it’s pretty bad, too.  I’m going to stick with TV.  MTV alone is probably more destructive than bad music and movies put together.
  

Q44 (Forrest):  You know… Sometimes, I’ll see a trailer for a movie, and say to myself, “wow that looks really good,” and then when I see it, it turns out as crap.  Does this often happen to you?

A44:  Every time I see a trailer.  Though if you get good at it, you can see through even the trailer.
  

Q45 (Forrest):  How many more VH1 Super Secret Movie Rules episodes will you appear in besides the “Slasher Movie” one?

A45:  I really don’t know.  I taped for a few more, but it’s up to them as to whether or not they include me.  I did them all in a fog, sitting in an oppressively hot Hollywood hotel room, so I really have no memory of it.
  

Q46 (Forrest):  What are your thoughts on Plan 9 From Outer Space?

A46:  I haven’t seen it in some time, though I do remember we screened it for MST and we finally turned it down because it just had too much narration.  I don’t like narration on films.  It means they’re not doing their job. 
  

Q47 (Forrest):  Did you like Tim Burton’s Ed Wood?

A47:  Love it, actually.  It was a big hit with the MST crowd. 
  

Q48 (Forrest):  Who would you play the part of, if Death Rat were to be made into a movie?

A48:  The caterer.  No, I don’t think I’d be a good fit for any of the characters, actually.  Maybe Ralph, the bartender with misshapen head.
  

Q49 (Forrest):  What would you do, if Death Rat was to be made into a film, and your producers told you they had assigned Coleman Francis to direct and Tony Cardoza to play Ponty?

A49:  I would take the project back and give it to the producers of The Final Sacrifice.
  

Random Questions

Q50 (Shawn):  Are you still writing reviews for Barnes and Noble?  (They’re very funny by the way.)

A50:  Yes. I just wrote one for them, in fact. 
  

Q51 (Forrest):  Who was the better composer: Mozart or Beethoven?

A51:  I believe it was Beethoven.  Mozart, as great as he was, didn’t advance music.  He just made it heavenly.  But Beethoven changed the very language of music immeasurably.
  

Q52 (Forrest):  What was your stand-up comedy act like?  Were they a success?

A52:  It was surprisingly goofy.  I did an extended bit that ended with my impression of Robert Frost reading Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening.  I always have said that my act bombed all the time, but people who know me assure me it wasn’t true. 
  

Q53 (Don):  Given that you are well-known for humor, who do you think is funny (living or deceased)?

A53:  Groucho, Harpo, Chico, and even Zeppo and Gummo. Laurel. Hardy. Gene Wilder. Zero Mostel. Carol Burnett.

Lately, Will Ferrell has made me laugh pretty hard. 
  

Q54 (Forrest):  Believe it or not, there have actually been discussions on our discussion board about whether or not you are independent, republican or democrat.  Paul Chaplin and Kevin Murphy have often shared their political views with the world.  So what are yours?  Are you an elephant, a donkey, or neither?

A54:  Well, let me say this, I read the National Review cover to cover.  Check in at Townhall.com every day.  Check the Washington Times daily.  Listen to Dennis Prager and Michael Medved on a regular basis.  Read Mark Steyn with regularity.  Read the Weekly Standard.  So, yes, I do vote Republican.  As the pundit Hugh Hewitt has observed, there are indeed two Americas: Serious America and Silly America.  The Democrats seem bent on turning this into Silly America, so I stick with those who wish this to remain Serious America.

Of course, in addition, as angry as it makes me, I check in with the monolithic press: the NY Times, the L.A. Times, the Boston Globe.  One thing I can’t do, that makes me just insanely angry, is read my local paper, the Minneapolis Star Tribune, known to many as the Star and Sickle, or the Red Star Tribune. 
  

Q55 (Forrest):  If Bill O’Reilly wanted to interview you for his show, how would you prepare for it?

A55:  I would spend a great deal of time trying to figure out why he wanted to interview me. 
  

Q56 (Forrest):  Will the “Other Things” part of your website ever be updated?

A56:  Yes?
  

Q57 (Forrest):  So, you got any interesting stories about your years at TGI Friday’s?

A57:  Well, yes.  But rather than actually recount them, let me just suggest you rent Office Space.  Jennifer Aniston’s experience was pretty much mine.  (I could never make the uniform look as good as she did, though.)
  

Q58 (Forrest):  Really, who’s the least funny comedian of the following: Sid Melton, Pauly Shore, Adam Sandler, Jim Carrey, Carrot Top or Rob Schneider?

A58:  You make it hard.  I’d say Pauly Shore.  I never in a million years could even understand why anyone would think he was funny.  In all the other cases, I can catch glimpses of why people think they’re funny, even if I vehemently disagree.
  

Q59 (Forrest):  Does Batman and Robin still hold the title of the worst thing ever?

A59:  Boy, it hangs in there pretty well.  Though American Beauty makes a good run at it.
  

Q60 (Forrest):  Do you think Satan could ever make a more immoral film than The Craft?

A60:  I believe he was behind American Beauty.  And Pulp Fiction was one of his better works, too.
  

Q61 (Forrest):  If you had to be tied to a chair for the rest of your life, facing a TV screen, your eyes forced open, which would you pick to have to watch out of these four things for the rest of your life?:

• An endless loop of the Carrot Top AT&T commercial?
• An endless loop of Adam Sandler’s Eight Crazy Nights?
• An endless loop of the Mitchell sex scene?
• Or an endless loop of Joel Schumacher hugging Alicia Silverstone on set of Batman and Robin?

A61:  I would crunch down on the cyanide tablet I had hidden in my shirt collar.
  

Q62 (Don):  Like has happened with a lot of us, you mentioned in an interview that you’ve put on a few pounds since MST ended.  Are you worried you might be getting doughy enough to maybe one day appear in a Bert I. Gordon picture?

A62:  I don’t recall saying that.  I was probably kidding.  As far as I know, I’m at pretty much the same fighting weight.  If I ever stop biking, then I’ll worry.
  

Q63 (Forrest):  Thanks again for this interview opportunity!  But really, who is cooler: Patrick Swayze or Kurt Russell? 

A63:  Kurt Russell, easily.  I have a much higher tolerance for him.

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