I am Joel Hodgson, the creator of Mystery Science Theater 3000, ask me anything.

Would you be open to guesting on a Rifftrax? Finally having Joel and Mike together riffing a movie would be the ultimate love letter to fans.

Thank you. You're my hero.

I would say yes. I think it will happen when the time's right.

I have watched MST3k since I was 7 years old (I'm 29 now) and some of the fondest moments of my childhood were sitting down with my Dad to watch and record the newest episode. The material you and the other joke writers drew from exposed me (in some small way) to worlds of music, movies, literature and other culture that have had a profound impact on me to this day. It's always a pleasant surprise when I'm reading a book or watching a movie and I find the source of a riff that I never fully "got" before. The spirit of creativity, intelligence and joyful absurdity present in MST3k is an inspiration to those of us who strive and struggle with our own creative projects today. Thanks for making the Satellite of Love a second home for so many of us. :)

At the end of each episode you had a rather profound list of "Special Thanks" including the authors of the First Amendment and the Teachers of America. Have there been any particular teacher(s) that inspired or guided you towards your creative endeavors?

Thanks again!

You're making me cry.

Yes, every couple of years I had a teacher that seemed to understand me and encourage me. It didn't happen too much, but it happened at the right time. And also my parents were both teachers, and I felt like they were undervalued in society, so I felt like putting that in there because I so appreciate people who teach. It's a vocation that does not get its due sometimes.

I'm 34, my oldest brother is 53. He and I were distant until the fateful day I started quoting some of the movies I'd seen on MST3K. He used to watch some of those movies when they were on TV in the wee hours of the night (in the days before cable). You really helped bring me closer to my family.

Thank you so much for the show!

Thanks, that is so sweet. If you watch enough episodes, it's like Mozart, and scientists have determined that it increases your intellect.

Hi Joel! Thank you for being here. MST3K is a uniquely fabulous show that has obviously withstood the test of time. Under what circumstances can you see bringing it back...maybe instead of on cable, keeping it online?

You know, I would be up for it no matter what comes, but obviously you can't beat the computer for getting your content right now. Online is really compelling right now.

How tidy do you keep your home? Would you say that you do a good job cleaning up the place?

Oh right and if my bosses don't like me they'll shoot me into space.

Hi Joel! Been a fan for almost the full 25 years, i firsy started watching back in highschool. I was so excited to see Cinematic Titanic this month at the Calvin in Northampton. I took my two teens, who also are fans, and was thrilled to get to meet you and the others. I was kind of so overwhelmed to meet you in person that I'm sure I came off a complete doofus - didn't get to say all I wanted to. So here it is - thank you, you and all the others who gave us so many years of absolutely side-splitting laughter. My favorite memory is of my husband and I spending a very high weekend watching MST3K back in the 90s!

One thing I definitely want to thank you for in particular - thank you for always calling out or booing the racism and sexism in those cheesy movies. As a woman, I really appreciated that, to see a group of guys who mostly didn't engage in that kind of cheap humor, and in fact, called it out for what it was. Huzzah!

I'd like to say thank you and we were always careful to have some really good women writers in the room (Bridget Jones who became Bridget Nelson and Mary Jo Pehl) who would inform us when things crossed the lines. They were really influential, obviously.

MST3K still makes me actually laugh out loud like nothing else does. Thanks for years of entertainment.

One of the reasons MST3K is better than "just people making jokes over a movie" is that there are characters making the jokes. So there were some jokes only Tom could have made, and some that only Crow could have said. Were there any character choices that opened up more jokes than you initially suspected?

Oh absolutely. And that really came down to the people who ran the puppets. Crow became Trace, and Tom Servo became Josh Weinstein. So they obviously brought a ton to both roles. And then later, when we rolled over the cast, Kevin Murphy did a great job with Tom Servo and Bill Corbett did a great job with Crow. And those performers really brought the characters to life. The puppeteers really breathed life into the characters.

I love you!

Why is Servo so adorable?

I think he's the universal passion being.

Did you ever riff a movie on MST3K that you thought was genuinely good?

I loved so many of the movies. A movie being bad has nothing to do with it really. In every movie you riff, you find really great moments regardless. Just saying they are bad movies is a coloring book version of what we do, really. As you know, you can riff on any movie. But the cheesy movies are easier to get. It was just the path of least resistance, to use cheesy movies.

I've read that Joe Don Baker was none too pleased with your take on MITCHELL (my fave episode)...what other feedback from people associated with the original films have you gotten?

I think that particular story is a myth? I never heard anyone give a substantial explanation as to what happened, I think that is maybe an urban legend. But I met a few people associated with other movies that we've riffed on like Beverly Garland who was in It Conquered The World and Robby Benson that was in City Limits and Miles O'Keefe who was in Cave Dwellers and they were all really sweet about it and seemed to like what we had done. Cave Dwellers was one of our best shows, actually.

I've been on this site for 2 years or so, this is the first time I'm genuinely star struck. I have been watching your show for at least 13 or 14 years now, I still cannot believe how funny it still is to me. You were by far my favorite and most memorable host. I don't really have a question, just know you've have a huge impact on my life and I look forward to watching reruns of this show forever. My favorite line of your's from all time;

"You are being kidnapped by the Light FM." I can't remember ever laughing harder at anything in my life. Take care and thanks again!

Thank you so much, that's beautiful.

Hi Joel! So have you been given the key to the city of Hopkins, MN? I think its safe to say that you put them on the map.

Oh thanks. Actually Trace Baeulieu is from Hopkins MN and I think he got the key.

I always loved your fan mail segments. Did you get a lot of mail, and was it mostly children, or did adults write too?

It was everybody. It was kids and adults. the fan mail helped us so much back then, back then it was pre-internet and it helped to get to know these people who liked what we did. We saw a great diversity of kids and adults and everybody in between.

Hey Joel, we actually met at the Lakeshore Theater in Chicago back in 2008...you thought I was your friend's son Ryan, which I was not. But I was pretty tongue-tied and forgot to introduce myself. So hi, I'm BJ, it's great to meet you.

How do you feel about homegrown MST3k knockoffs? What advice would you have for a group who's stealing the MST3k format for creating educational videos for kids?

I love it when people do movie riffs and my only advice would be don't be disembodied voices on a video where no one knows who you are. If you don't produce anything that explains why you're riffing on a movie it's very disorienting. You need to introduce yourself to the audience by creating a theme song or create an introduction on video so that the people who don't know you will know you.

Are you able to ever watch movies normally, or do people just stare at you the whole time with an expectant, "Eh? Ehhhhhh?"

That's funny. I do end up sitting with people occasionally who don't know me very well and think I'm super funny all the time. It's unfortunately not true. I'm like everyone else when I go to a movie, I want to be taken up into the world of the movie and forget who I am.

How does it feel knowing that your show had fans like the man himself: Frank Zappa, and The Simpsons creator Matt Groening?

I'm really just humbled that you even think that.

MST3K continues to be incredibly popular years after the fact. To what do you attribute the appeal?

I think it's because it's a comedy show that carries its context with it in the form of the movie it's riffing on.

What is your all time favorite episode of MST3K?

I like Pod People.

Not a question, but a thank you.

When my boyfriend and I first started dating, I had no real idea what MST3K was other than a show with a man and some robots. He swears it wasn't 'a test,' but the first episode we watched together was Manos: The Hands of Fate.

Needless to say: Love at first sight.

Two years later, MST3K has brought he and I closer together. It truly brings smiles to our faces that nothing else can. In addition, it allowed me to connect with co-workers who have become some of my most trusted friends.

Thanks for all the laughs and for being so accessible to your fans. Happy Silver Anniversary!

Wow, thank you.

Hi, Joel. I'm told you know what episodes will be on the next set from Shout Factory, and that you might be persuaded to tell us what they are. If so, please give us the lowdown!

Untamed Youth

Hercules and the Captive Women

The Thing That Couldn't Die

The Pumaman

(I'm now your official MST promotion machine) (Freakazoid MST3K promotion machine, report to dancefloor)

Any plans to write a book? Either about your own journey or the history of how puppets and bad movies changed comedy forever.

Thank you for that, you sly thing! Yes, one day definitely.

Hi Joel! So what did the sattelite of love smell like during the Joel era...

Like a leathery musk.

Hey Joel,

Long time fan. Your show actually is what connected me and one of my best friends. I thank you for that. Your show is also what I turn to on rainy days when Im feeling blue. When you pitched this show, was it an immediate yes or were people all "uhhh, I dunno Joel, mocking film in a space station launched by an evil corporation with two robots built by the main character is a bit of a television cliche, isnt it?"

May your forehead grow like the mighty oak! -John

Ha! Absolutely, it would be impossible to pitch, and that's why I did the show locally in Minneapolis, so I wouldn't have to pitch it. I'm terrible at pitching show ideas.

What crazy, impractical dream project would you like to pursue (given an insanely wealthy benefactor) and who would you take along for the ride?

Wow, that's easy, I'd take you along! Well obviously we would need to make a real-live Mystery Science Theater in space with a real guy and real robots.

Hey Joel, been a fan since I was a kid plus still have a crazy amount of VHS tapes full of mst3k. Thanks so much for doing this...what is the last movie you watched (recently) where you wished you were still on the Satellite of Love so you could rip on it?

You are welcome! I'd love to riff on Olympus Has Fallen

Hi Joel! Thank you for creating my favorite show and for the years of entertainment MST3K and Cinematic Titanic gave us. I have two questions:

• You work as the creative lead for media for a company called Cannae. Can you talk about the work you do there?

• Now that Cinematic Titanic is winding down, do you have any other projects in the works besides "Riffing Myself"?

Sure. The Cannae Drive is a novel propulsion system for satellites and spacefaring vehicles. It's amazing, I encourage you to read up on it at http://cannae.com/. As the creative lead for media, I work with vendors who create our motion graphics and designers to get the message out about the Cannae Drive.

I do, but I can't talk about them right now. But I will be on the reddit Black Friday special on this Friday 11/29 on their YouTube so keep an eye out: http://www.youtube.com/reddit

Is there any chance that we might see a Televised special next Thanksgiving on Comedy Central celebrating the 25th anniversary of MST3K debuting on The Comedy Channel?

I don't know. I can tell you if enough people tune in to the Thanksgiving livestream we'll get to do it again. http://www.mst3kturkeyday.com/mst3k/redditama.html

Hi Joel! Knowing that you have just recently started watching the Mike episodes, which is your favorite by far?

Also, was there any movie that was just too terrible to do. Mike and Kevin said that one such movie was "Child Bride," but were there any others?

I'm not going to say today, but I'm including it on Thursday's livestream.

I was going to mention Child Bride as the one that really comes to mind. Frank was the one whose job it was to screen the movies, and he says there are many, many movies that weren't good enough for even Mystery Science Theater.

1. One of the ways MST3K noticeably changed over the years was how it relaxed the rules behind the show's premise. In the first couple seasons, there was a rigid adherence to what was logical given the plot and characters: The 'bots could only eat RAM chips and visitors to the SOL always had a reason why they couldn't or wouldn't help its inhabitants return to Earth. Before the show ended, however, the 'bots had no problem enjoying braunschweiger melts and the crew had a time machine (which would presumably be of some use in escaping their predicament). In short, it seems the show relied more and more on its plea for viewers to repeat to themselves... well, you know. In hindsight, was a loosening on the restrictions inevitable, and do you wish you weren't as rigid from the beginning? Or would you prefer to stick to what avoids plot holes?

2. Also, what do you make of MST3K as a whole after you left? What do think of the characters of Pearl Forrester, Bobo, and Brain Guy, and the use of seasonal story arcs?

3. How would you say Mike's style of acting/hosting/riffing/etc. differed from yours?

4. Besides the infamous scene from The Sidehackers that was completely deleted from the episode, there were plenty of elements of questionable taste or 'products of their time' from the riffed movies that made the cut: Crude racial stereotypes, images of Japanese atomic bomb victims, the fate of the little girl in Manos. You and the 'bots usually reacted to these scenes with audible disgust or uneasy laughter and 'Sorry about that folks,' but would you have preferred to cut those scenes if the movie could be followed without them? Do you think MST3K handled those scenes well enough, or that the scenes still disrupted the tone of the show?

5. Are you aware that someone has taken the SOL's Porkarina idea and ran with it?

6. As noted in the out-of-print Bot Building Booklet, Crow is mainly composed of sporting equipment, while Tom Servo is primarily made of toys. Was this intended as commentary on their respective personalities?

7. What happened with your Antsite?

8. One last thing. As I'm sure you know, it is unlikely that the majority of MST3K episodes will be released on video or download, as their riffed content is ensnared in various legal issues. This would mean that new generations will never be able to experience the bulk of MST3K — or at least that would be so, if it were not for the episodes being available via means that are not exactly legitimate, and perhaps frowned upon. With that in mind, do we have your blessing, aside from the episodes available for commercial purchase, to keep circulating (the modern equivalent of) the tapes?

One of the ways MST3K noticeably changed over the years is how it relaxed the rules behind the show's premise. In the first couple seasons, there was a rigid adherence to what was logical given the plot and characters: The 'bots could only eat RAM chips and visitors to the SOL always had a reason why they couldn't or wouldn't help its inhabitants return to Earth. Before the show ended, however, the 'bots had no problem enjoying braunschweiger melts and the crew had a time machine (which would presumably be of some use in escaping their predicament). In short, it seems the show relied more and more on its plea for viewers to repeat to themselves... well, you know. In hindsight, was a loosening on the restrictions inevitable, and do you wish you weren't as rigid from the beginning? Or would you prefer to stick to what avoids plot holes?

I would just say you're making me think way too much.

Also, what do you make of MST3K as a whole after you left? What do think of the characters of Pearl Forrester, Bobo, and Brain Guy, and the use of seasonal story arcs?

I'm just glad they stuck to the formula as closely as they did.

How would you say Mike's style of acting/hosting/riffing/etc. differed from yours?

My impression was he was buddies with the bots, and I was more like their creator. I was trying to orient them to what people expected of them, a little more parental. At the end of the day, it's just a springboard to do movie riffing.

Besides the infamous scene from The Sidehackers that was completely deleted from the episode, there were plenty of elements of questionable taste or 'products of their time' from the riffed movies that made the cut: Crude racial stereotypes, images of Japanese atomic bomb victims, the fate of the little girl in Manos. You and the 'bots usually reacted to these scenes with audible disgust or uneasy laughter and 'Sorry about that folks,' but would you have preferred to cut those scenes if the movie could be followed without them? Do you think MST3K handled those scenes well enough, or that the scenes still disrupted the tone of the show?

Oh man, you're really bringing out the tough love guns! We did our best. From the time we started production to the time we wrapped production, we were turning around each show in 7 days. And these questions you're asking would take me longer than that to figure out. And I gotta say it to you: it's just a show and I really should relax.

Are you aware that someone has taken the SOL's Porkarina idea and ran with it?

If she gets music to come out of that pig somewhere, I wish her well.

As noted in the out-of-print Bot Building Booklet, Crow is mainly composed of sporting equipment, while Tom Servo is primarily made of toys. Was this intended as commentary on their respective personalities?

I don't think so. I just think I really collaged the bots really quickly, so I just assembled objects that looked nice together, that's all I was doing.

What happened with your Antsite?

It was a glorious success?

One last thing. As I'm sure you know, it is unlikely that the majority of MST3K episodes will be released on video or download, as their riffed content is ensnared in various legal issues. This would mean that new generations will never be able to experience the bulk of MST3K — or at least that would be so, if it were not for the episodes being available via means that are not exactly legitimate, and perhaps frowned upon. With that in mind, do we have your blessing, aside from the episodes available for commercial purchase, to keep circulating (the modern equivalent of) the tapes?

Never underestimate the attorneys at Shout! Factory. You can take that however you want.

Hi Joel! Longtime mstie, first time caller! My question is about the invention exchanges on the show. Did you come up with all of them or were they sourced out of the production crew along with the rest of the show? Do you have a personal favorite from all the ones done?

I remember missing them after the transition, but then reading later on that they stopped because “Joel was the tinkerer” and the spirit just wasn’t there anymore.

And of course, THANK YOU for what has remained my favorite tv show for 20 years now!!

Lots of those came out of my notebooks from when I were in standup. They were ideas that were too hard to take on the road but worked well for MST3K. And thank you.

My son and I love watching re-runs of MST3K. Did you ever get any negative replies from writers/producers/etc of the movies you screened? I would think that some of them may have been pissed off at being on your show.

The only time I'm heard someone say something negative was one of the producers who said "I know my movie isn't Citizen Kane but did they have to do this?" Ultimately he took the money and let us do our thing.

There are a lot of celebrity fans of MST3K. What's your most surprising encounter with a famous fan?

By the way, I should also mention how much your show meant to me and still does. I watch the old shows all the time. I work at a startup and we all constantly quote riffs to one another in the halls. Also, a friends' parents were B-movie actors from the 50s up through the 90s and she said she never thought her parents' vocations were terribly interesting because she just grew up around that... until she saw Hanger 18 and you and the Bots made fun of her dad. At that moment, for the first time in her life, she realized her dad was cool.

I'm always shocked when I meet famous people who like what I do. I was amazed to hear Frank Zappa was a fan, and I was lucky enough to get to speak with him before he passed away. I asked him what he thought when he heard us reference his music on the show, and he said it was "unsettling."

Joel,

Is it super weird that I am reading every one of your comments, in your voice, and picturing you reading these questions like the old 'fan mail' segments, in your Gizmonics jumpsuit, standing next to the bots?

If you aren't doing it like that, perhaps you should be!

It's a powerful illusion-I'm actually on my cell phone driving to the airport while Sarah, the publicist at Shout! Factory who works on MST3K is transcribing my answers. Sorry! OMG...crash

Hi Joel!

Being a somewhat snarky person myself, I always found a great deal of love in watching MST3K. Are there any old episodes you'd love to revisit and redo?

Who do you feel has the right idea in comedy writing today?

What's your favorite band right now?

I would love to. All the KTMA episodes need a re-do, and also the first season it bothered me that the set wasn't finished and also we just got so much better the next year. We went from 300 or 400 riffs per episode to 700 or 800 riffs per episode so I would love to redo the first season and also the KTMA episodes because we just kept improving.

My favorite band at the moment is Vampire Weekend. All time favorite is the Clash.

I absolutely love your show! I've been watching it since I was like two! I was wondering, are there any episodes or big decisions you made that you regret? Also, are there any bots that were designed or built but never put into the show?

No I didn't design new robots for MST3K but for a brief time we were working on a show called Robotropolis that had many, many robots including Crow, Tom and Gypsy. About regrets, I will just quote "I've had a few, but then again, too few to mention" - Sinatra

Hi Joel, and thanks so much for the AMA. I saw you in Milwaukee and really enjoyed the show and meeting the guys who kept me company during my childhood. My question is this: With the explosion of digital media and CGI, notably in cartoons and movies (Pixar, Disney, etc), do you see a place for puppetry in the future of entertainment?

Also, do ya get tired of taking pictures with fans? You look sad!

Meeting you at the Pabst was very awesome, though. It made my day, and my cousin's. You may have been doing something you enjoy, for a job, all those years, but you made a difference for some people who looked at you and the bots as old reliable friends we could watch and listen to when things get rough. I thanked you in Milwaukee for helping me through some rough times, and I thank you again now.

Yes absolutely. There are digital puppets. And you're welcome, and yes it is hard after doing a 2.5 hour show to then get your picture taken a thousand times for hours after a show, some of them don't turn out that great and I apologize.

Hey Joel, I'm looking forward to the Turkey Day Marathon this week. Let's get the inevitable out of the way, any chance of both Cinema Titanic and RiffTrax putting on a show together or at least a reunion? I was lucky enough to see you and Mike around 2000 at the Honda(?) NY comedy festival and the crowd ate it up.

/Also thanks for helping me converting my wife into a life long Mstie.

I think we kind of covered this question, it's like I said earlier, we'll all be together in that great big movie riff in the sky.

Thank you so much for creating something that has lifted my spirits during some of the saddest times in my life. My dad and I used to watch MST3K together and after he died, I found myself appreciating the show a whole lot more.

My question is: What is your biggest disappointment professionally? A project that didn't come together? I've heard of The TV Wheel and that sounds like something very experimental and inventive that never took off.

Leaving MST3K was disappointing to me, but let's count The TV Wheel as a disappointment as well. Fortunately, you try a bunch of things and if one of them works, you can be grateful for that.

Joel, thank you, thank you, thank you. Didn't stumble across MST3K until my teens as I lived during a time when not everyone had access to cable, even if you wanted it! A cruel time, a dark time, the early 90s. But thankfully a friend was circulating the tapes and gave me Bert I. Gordon's "Tormented" and I was hooked.

In riffing now and then - do you feel pressure to keep up to date on everything pop culture to keep riffs fresh/relevant or do you just rely on an encyclopedic brain?

Thank you! I don't have to have an encyclopedic brain if I riff with people who do. Movie riffing is easy if you do it with funny, smart people.

Hey Joel,

If one of the Bots had the chance to rule the country, which one would you choose?

That's Crow, because he always wants to decide who lives and who dies.

How did you come up with the term "Deep 13" as the Mads' HQ?

I just wanted to include the number 13 because of its attraction/ repulsion factor. It existed 13 floors below the surface of the Earth.

Have you decided which 6 movies will be streamed on Turkey Day?

Yes but the titles are a surprise.

Hello Joel! Thank you for doing this AMA and thanks for all the years of MST3K! They give me and many friends and family significant joy and we quote the show almost daily.

Two quick questions:

1. Any fun/weird public access stories?

2. Were you a fan of the North Stars?

I think you might be thinking that the show was public access, but it was actually a UHF channel. And when we shot the shows, we had to be gone by 5 pm because they had to move all the sets in for the pro wrestling show.

Unfortunately I was never a hockey fan. But I encourage those who are.

Congratulations on the 25th anniversary! MST3K was a huge influence for me. Thank you!

Question...question...oh! I know!

Which host segment are you most proud of?

I love the one in "I Accuse My Parents" where we act out the song "Are You Happy in Your Work?"

Thank you for your show! It holds many good memories for me and many of my friends.

If you could only ever watch one film for the rest of your life what would it be?

Dr. Strangelove

Do you approach a movie like Manos from a studio movie? Was there any possibility for Manos to not be terrible?

You got that right, Manos was a terrible movie.

What kind of TV shows/movies influenced you as a kid and young man?

Monster movies, and I loved Beany and Cecil when I was a kid. If you look at the characters on that show, there are a lot of similarities between them and the characters on MST3K.

Are the first 3 KTMA episodes really lost? Nobody on the internet can seem to find them. Any thoughts of putting any of the KTMA shows on DVD for the real die-hards?

I see no reason to look at the KTMA episodes other than for academic reasons. It was profoundly important for the development of movie riffing, but they are hard to watch now, if you ask me.

I mostly just want to say thank you. Thank you for creating one of my favorite shows of all time. Thank you for creating Gypsy, Servo, Cambot, and Crooooooow. And thank you for coming to St. Louis for Cinematic Titanic. I get so excited while watching MST3K that I'll clap like a ridiculous penguin trying to fly.

What are your favorite genres of movies to riff on? And what were some of your favorite moments while working on Cinematic Titanic and MST3K?

Thank you. When I started, I thought it was going to be Japanese monster movies and Hammer films, and we quickly found after doing movies like SST Death Flight that it could work with any movie.

Ok, this is an odd question, but any chance that you were at a Grateful Dead show at Giants Stadium in NJ circa 1993-1995? I thought I saw you sitting outside on top of a huge rolled up tarp besides one of the bay doors going into the stadium before one of the shows. I was so convinced it was you I was almost going to walk up and say something to be sure, but I ultimately decided that it had to just be someone who looked like you because why would the guy from MST3K be at a Grateful Dead show in NJ. Since I was watching a lot of MST3K at the time and I was at a Grateful Dead show I just figured my mind was playing tricks on me and by the time I found my friend who was also a fan to see what he thought the guy was gone. Just 1 of those little things that always bothered me as the guy really looked like you, so figured since you were doing an AMA this might be the only time I’d get a chance to ask you!

Otherwise, thanks for making me laugh. My early 20s was basically making sure I was home by midnight to catch MST3K on Comedy Central so my roomate and I could smoke a bowl, eat some Ben & Jerry’s ice cream and laugh our asses off for 2 hours. To this day “Huzzah!” still makes me laugh out loud!

TL;DR I thought I saw Joel Hodgson at a Grateful Dead show.

That wasn't me but I have seen the Dead on numerous occasions.

What made you decide to bring the Turkey Day marathon back this year?

It was a spontaneously combusted idea-I mentioned it to Jordan Fields at Shout! Factory and he said "Oh, we were just talking about that!" And since it's been a least 15 minutes since I mentioned it, you can tune into the Turkey Day Marathon at www.MST3KTurkeyDay.com

What was your creative process like for making the show? Did you watch the movies with anyone else during the preview phase? If so, did that help contribute to the flow of the writing? How many viewings were necessary to have a show fully "written"?

We watched the movie we were riffing twice, with lots of stops and starts along the way, where we'd add riffs and talk about things. It would usually take us about 7-8 hours each pass.

Hi Joel! You've been asking us all which episodes we want to see on Thanksgiving. I'd like to know which are your favorite episodes? Thanks! You're hilarious!

I did mention Pod People but I'm also including a few of my favorites in the Turkey Day marathon. And stop me if you've heard this, but… http://www.mst3kturkeyday.com/mst3k/redditama.html

Hi Joel. I love MST3K. My cousin and I started watching it when we were in our teens, I'm 39 now. My cousin has passed away now and every time I watch an episode on dvd or when I will watch the turkey day marathon this week I always think of those fun times we had. Thank you for the great memories!

Thank you so much.

y'all were kind enough to give me a tour of best brains in the summer of '92. let me just say i dont know how you got anything done. the place was a wreck. there was crap everywhere. it was ankle deep in ping-pong balls (city limits i assume), while jef played on a table against no-one. it felt like i just dropped in and you hadn't had time to neaten up and you just were trying to hurry me through, so you could get back to napping. on the way out of the door, you gave me a waffle as a parting gift. my question for you is: do you think the waffle is still ok to eat?

That wasn't me.

Hi Joel!

I was excited to find out that you were into ventriloquism as a child, because I don't feel so alone in my extreme nerdiness anymore. I've always liked Paul Winchell because he had a good mix of skill and humour (more impressed by content than by ability to throw the voice flawlessly).

Tell me, who was/is your favourite ventriloquist?

Paul Winchell and Jerry Mahoney were brilliant and I also love Edgar Bergen and Charlie McCarthy in "Never Give A Sucker an Even Break." If you notice the robots are strong like ventriloquist dummies in MST3K using hedge sticks.

I am always trying to get my friends and coworkers introduced to MST3k. What episodes would you recommend someone watch to get truly hooked on MST?

I don't feel qualified to tell you which episodes to recommend, but there are people who are. The A.V. Club did a great article on "10 Essential MST3K Episodes" that is great place to start. http://www.avclub.com/article/10-essential-imst3ki-episodes-83328

I started up a live riffing show during my local Fringe festival this year called Movie Scrapple. What's the best advice you can give to prospective riffers?

Don't be an asshole.

Were there any movies screened for MST3k's consideration that you all passed on but later regretted because they would have made for great riffing material in retrospect?

No, not that I remember.