Thursday, April 10, 2008

Why Didn't I Think of That????

I remember when I was in ninth grade, seeing a TV show on Nickelodeon called Mad Movies. Basically, the idea was to show an old movie (public domain, I’m assuming), but the movie would be chopped up and re-edited into a half-hour show, and re-dubbed with new audio, and in a sense “changing” the script of the movie. The result was absolute hilarity. I only saw about 4-5 episodes, and loved it!

In the early 1990’s, Mystery Science Theatre began its run on Comedy Central. It was in the same mold as Mad Movies, taking a movie that was public domain, but instead of redubbing it, three characters would “watch” the movie and make funny comments. I loved it, but at times it was a little long – it would’ve been great to have this in ½ hour formats. On a side note, I hear that MST3K is making some sort of comeback – I’ll be interested in seeing where this goes.

I’m reminded of these two shows, because a coworker gave me a link to a website which reminds me of the shows. The site takes clips from movies, and a guy makes comments about what is going on in a particular scene. For instance, during the movie Cocktail, there is a scene where Tom Cruise and the other guy are bartending and making fancy drinks during a song, and the crowd by the bar is cheering them on. The “narrator” is making comments like, “Sure, they only serve two drinks per song, but it’s worth it.”

These guys basically are cashing in on stuff we probably all do … which is making fun of movies, TV shows, commercials, etc. Sometimes I wonder why I didn’t come up with these ideas … sigh. Anyway, if you’re interested in this site, check it out - http://www.rifftrax.com/samples.

10 comments:

Steve and Des said...

Its actually some of the guys who did MST3K on the website.

Steph said...

Haven't heard of it but sounds funny, will have to check out YouTube.

Ink and Stone said...

I like the "shortened" MST3K idea, Los. Some of those movies did droll on. The over-dubbing reminds me of Who's Line Is It Anyway? where they show a film clip and the players need to improv the audio. Good stuff.

Superstar said...

sounds like stuff I see on U-tube all the time!
I think you should cash in on it w/ you and the rev's podcasts!!!

El Padrino said...

parodies rule

snowelf said...

Los, speaking of Nickelodeon...did you know they are bringing out the Mysterious Cities of Gold on DVD sometime this year. Did you ever watch that show? I totally want it, but I hope I don't get "bruced". ;)

--snow

Los said...

Steve and Des - That definitely makes sense.

Steph - you'll love it.

Ink - Yep, it definitely tends to lose it's "funny" after the first 1/2 hour.

Superstar - The Rev and I have an idea for a tv show ... we podcasted about it before ... we need to go back and discuss some more.

ElP - Good parodies are great ... the "Date" and "Epic" movies suck.

Snowelf - I never heard of that show ... see, my parents didn't get cable right away, so I had to go over a friend's house to watch shows like "You Can't Do That on Television."

Shelley Jaffe said...

This premise reminds me of a movie my guys & I just saw recently - "Be Kind, Rewind".

Not quite as biting as MST3K, but still v. funny. Especially if you like Jack Black.

-B- said...

MST3K was great for it's time. I remember not getting into their bits too much, but loving their commentary during the movies.
I always wanted to take video of people on the streets and dub new audio over it - but that would be hard to put into a show because you would have to ask each person to sign off on it without knowing what you are going to make them say. And of course we would make them look and sound like real idiots!!

Sandi said...

I LOVED MST. But you're right, sometimes the entire movie as too much.