Mystery Science Theater 3000 on Netflix: Top Five

Something is janked up with the Netflix RSS feed as of late so that no new movie information is coming through properly. I might have to revise the typical Netflix Stream posting schedule or figure out another source for information. In the meantime, I’m not going to leave you high and dry. Instead, I want to talk a bit about what just might be the finest thing ever put on television, ‘Mystery Science Theater 3000’.

Netflix has become a great place for MSTies to get their fix. It has an impressive selection of titles, and not having to buy the DVDs or deal with versions recorded from TV is a huge benefit. The downside, of course, is that the episodes can’t be streamed forever. So if you’ve never seen the show, start watching now.

5.) ‘Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie’: The thing about the ‘MST3K’ movie is that it’s a far worse way to show off the magic of the show than the series itself. ‘This Island Earth’ is lampooned over an hour and fifteen minutes, cutting the movie and trademark jokes much shorter than need be. Some fans ignore the movie because of this, but the in-theater riffing is solid and the bumper segments between viewings of the movie are excellent. It’s nice to see what happens when the crew gets some cash on their hands.

4.) ‘I Accuse My Parents’: This isn’t one of the movies that shows up on most lists, but ‘I Accuse My Parents‘ is something special. The premise of the film is that we’re watching the testimony of someone on trial for an at-the-time unnamed crime. The movie isn’t offensively bad, but lends itself perfectly to the kind of jokes the ‘MST3K’ crew is fond of.

3.) ‘Warrior of the Lost World’: This is where it starts to get tough. ‘Warrior of the Lost World‘ is one of the absolute best episodes, and one that consistently makes me laugh. No matter how many times I see it, jokes at the expense of “the Paper Chase guy” never get old, and the running gag “Do you have any fruit to declare?” gets me every time. The movie is horrendous, but the crew makes it worth watching.

2.) ‘The Final Sacrifice’: Who could forget this classic episode? Not only does it feature “The Canada Song,” but also introduces the great Zap Rowsdower, a hero who rivals Mitchell (Joe Don Baker) for the least likely and overall saddest film protagonist. It’s a classic episode for good reason. You’ll find few better than ‘The Final Sacrifice‘.

1.) ‘Gamera vs. Guiron’: Even if this list wasn’t Netflix specific and could encompass the entire catalogue of ‘MST3K’ episodes, ‘Gamera vs. Guiron‘ would still be a contender for the Number One spot. It’s an amazingly bad film put together by the brilliantly awful Sandy Frank, and it’s one of the single best episodes of the show ever. It’s also the one episode out of my Top Five that’s leaving the stream this week. We lose it on Saturday the 17th, so you need to get on it now. Seriously, do it!

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