(Invidious link)

From the description:

Mike and The Bots are BACK! Get a look at the first publicly shown official shot of our intrepid host and his robot pals for The RiffTrax Experiments.

Your Friend, the Doctor is a vintage Coronet short from the same series as Your Friend, the Ratcatcher and Your Friend, the Dropout Who Just Needs to Crash on Your Couch for a Few Weeks While He Gets Things Together, Man. It’s also a direct prequel to the horror film Your Enemy, the Insurance Company.

cross-posted from: https://quokk.au/c/Risa/p/947070/bajoran-movie-duty

News from an email I got today. Download before it's gone.

Unfortunately, on June 30, 2026 the Gizmoplex apps on platforms such as Roku, AppleTV, Android, and FireTV will cease operations, with the Gizmoplex website shutting down on September 30, 2026. We know this platform has meant a lot to many of you — it was built for and by this community — so we don't share this news lightly.

What this means is that if you’d like to continue to have access to content you may have purchased on the Gizmoplex, you should download it to a personal drive well in advance of the September 30th website closure. More instructions on how to do so are available HERE. We have significantly reduced the prices on Season 13 and past livestream events, so if you haven’t had a chance to purchase them, now is the time to add them to your collection.

The good news is that while the Gizmoplex may be no more, MST3K isn't going anywhere. The show remains widely accessible, with its own 24/7 channel, on-demand episodes across many streaming platforms, as well as on the FilmRise app (free with ads), and via Shout! TV on Prime Video and Roku for ad-free viewing.

If you need further assistance, you may send us a message via the contact form at shout-tv.com/contact.

MSTies have always been the heart of this show. You've kept it alive across decades, formats, and platforms, and that means everything to us. We're grateful for each one of you. Thank you as always for your support.

From the sales page:

With a few notable exceptions (Goodburger 2), we all know that sequels never reach the heights of the original. So just take a moment to process what that must mean for Jurassic Shark 2: Aquapocalypse. Yeah, we know. It’s sobering stuff.

Jurassic Shark, if you’ll recall, was about an art heist that was occasionally interrupted for some light CGI chomping. The stolen painting, which we can only hope involves a group of canines gambling, remains lost in the ocean. Remember how we said that everything about sequels was inferior? Well the ocean must have held out for a bigger salary or a nicer trailer or something, because in Jurassic Shark 2, the ocean is very obviously played by a lake.

Joe! What do you know, Joe?

Harvey B. Dunn was born August 19, 1894, in Yankton, South Dakota. I think this is the first performer I've covered born in the 19th century -- wow! So today would be his 131st birthday.

To put that in perspective, the first commercial radio broadcast in the United States took place on November 2nd, 1920, when Harvey was 26 years old. (Not that he would have heard it; even three years later, only about 1% of American households owned a radio receiver.)

So things get a little tricky researching the story of an actor so old. A lot of his work would have been in live theater and on radio, records of which are lost to time. Yes, we know all about someone like Lucille Ball's vaudeville and radio work, thanks to dedicated researchers and academics--but this is Harvey B. Dunn we're talking about here. An affable fellow to be sure, but probably less inspiring to scholars than Lucy.

Except, I did find a pretty comprehensive review of his career from a YouTube channel called Zeus Brothers Entertainment. Worth checking out if you're at all curious about Dunn, the man, the myth, the legendary owner of a trained parrot.

On MST3K, Dunn appeared in three experiments: #404 - Teenagers from Outer Space, #423 - The Bride of the Monster, and #613 - The Sinister Urge. A rare three-fer!

Unlike some B-movie actors though, Dunn had a ton of really decent parts in film and television over the years, so even though he was a regular in Ed Wood's films, they weren't his "big break" or his "last gasp" -- they were just another job.

So, happy birthday Grandpa Joe! We hardly knew ye!

He tampered in God's domain.

From the video description:

Own the short: https://www.rifftrax.com/with-an-all-star-cast

The title of our new short, With An All-Star Cast, could describe all kinds of movies. Ocean’s Eleven, Love Actually, Cannonball Run, and however many of those Expendables things they’re gonna throw at us. But there are stars bigger than any of the meatheads, smooth talkers, and leading ladies you’ll find in those films, stars who shine so bright all the world can see them, smell them, even taste them. The name of these true stars?

MEAT.

Yes that’s right, meats, in all their vaguely pink 1950s splendor, come to life on the silver screen! It’s an amazing film-within-a-film that puts Sunset Blvd to shame (only because Sunset Blvd was sorely lacking in five-pound pork chops). A male actor fails to cook properly on the set of a cooking short, so naturally the filmmakers trick a woman into doing his job for him! Yeah, like we said, it’s the 50s.

Strap on your bib, crack the seal on a new bottle of barbecue sauce, and get ready to roast and broil the greatest stars of all: With An All-Star Cast!

From the description:

Own the short: https://www.rifftrax.com/warty-the-toad

Not just a cruel nickname for the kid in the elementary school cafeteria with an unfortunate skin condition anymore, it’s Warty the Toad! Quite possibly our wartiest short yet, and the first to feature real live pond critters voiced by a real live pond person* (*pond person status of narrator assumed but unverified). Warty is vain because he’s covered in so many warts, which definitely makes sense. The wiser pond critters try to show him the error of the ways, and the hognose snake tries to eat him, probably because he’s bitter that warts are considered flattering while his hognose is worthy of scorn in this confusing, upside-down pond mythos.

Reached for comment, Kermit the Frog has denied all knowledge of Warty the Toad and categorically denies he is the father.

There’s a little to learn and a lot to smell at this pond, join Mike, Kevin and Bill for Warty the Toad!

From the description:

What is Skaterdater? An app for likeminded rollerblading enthusiasts to find love? An obscure German word that was actually a savage insult about the Habsburg Dynasty? No, Skaterdater is actually the first film ever made about skateboarding, from a time before skateboarders even started wearing shoes! Seriously!

Skaterdater is an honest-to-goodness “film” film, too: it won the 1966 Palm d’Or for Best Short Film at Cannes, and was nominated for an Academy Award. Raising the important film history question: are there more close-ups of bare feet in this Oscar-nominated film, or the Oscar-nominated films of Quentin Tarantino?

The short follows a group of boys cruising the streets of Southern California on tiny wooden skateboards, wearing matching windbreakers, grooving to surf rock, irritating the Old Folks, and eventually becoming distracted by The Ladies. Inevitably, this leads to a duel between two of the boys, and it’ll be a miracle if they come out of it with all their toes intact.

Breaker breaker, we’ve got a Skaterdater on the elevator (this doesn’t mean anything, it’s just kind of fun to say out loud). Get ready to drop in and shred with Mike, Kevin, and Bill for the clean-cut, matching windbreaker style of skateboarding found in Skaterdater!

Written by Bill Corbett, Conor Lastowka, Jason Miller, and Zachary Shatzer

From the description:

Another Week: Another YouTube Mads Goodie!

This week, because we’ve got Trace Beaulieu & Frank Conniff’s riff Night of the Ghouls on sale thru Sunday Night, here’s an extended preview from the film!

If you like Ed Wood, seances, spooky skeletons, trumpets, or slide whistles: you’ll love this movie!

Get your own copy of The Mads Are Back: Night of the Ghouls on sale for $6 with Promo Code DRACULA

http://dumb-industries.com/nightofthe...

Shop t-shirts, downloads, poster prints, and tickets to upcoming The Mads Are Back events at Dumb Industries: http://dumb-industries.com/

Written & Performed by Trace Beaulieu & Frank Conniff

Produced by Chris Gersbeck

About The Mads:

Trace Beaulieu and Frank Conniff, known to fans of the cult TV series Mystery Science Theater 3000 as “Dr. Clayton Forrester” and “TV’s Frank” respectively, present a new series of livestreams, The Mads Are Back! Every second Tuesday at 8pm ET, Frank and Trace continue the tradition of Mystery Science Theater 3000-style movie “riffing” LIVE and online, where viewers can watch from anywhere in the world.

Beaulieu, who also provided the voice of “Crow T. Robot” during Mystery Science Theater 3000’s initial run, portrayed evil mad scientist “Dr. Clayton Forrester,” while Conniff acted as Forrester’s lab assistant and sidekick, known as “TV’s Frank.” Both Beaulieu and Conniff were writers on the show and have continued to collaborate since leaving MST3K, as members of the similarly-themed live show Cinematic Titanic, and also as co-hosts of the weekly movie podcast Movie Sign with The Mads.

Mystery Science Theater 3000 premiered on local affiliate KTMA-TV (now WUCW) on November 24, 1988. Comedian Joel Hodgson created and starred in the TV show, which found him playing a janitor in the “not-too-distant future” imprisoned aboard The Satellite of Love, forced to watch a series of bad movies in an effort to drive Joel and his robot friends insane. The show was eventually picked up by Comedy Central and later the Sci-Fi Channel, before being rebooted by Hodgson in 2017 for Netflix.

In 2015, Beaulieu and Conniff began touring movie theaters throughout the country as The Mads Are Back, offering their signature brand of quick-witted commentary (known to MST3K fans as “riffing”) over numerous B-movies.

Own the short: https://www.rifftrax.com/the-myths-of-shoplifting

Shoplifting! Before they invented bittorrent, the five fingered discount was all the rage with the teens (second only to the storied AARP discount.) But there were lots of “myths” about shoplifting. That it was a “victimless crime.” That you “won’t go to jail.” That if you “shoplift a Gorgon’s head, Pegasus will leap out of it.”

The Myths of Shoplifting is here to clear up all of these misconceptions. It does this using the controversial “all dork cast” method that was so popular in the seventies. Watch as they attempt to steal makeup, records, and a pocket calculator! Even more impressive is that they are attempting all of these thefts in a Sunglass Hut, which to the best of our knowledge does not sell any of those things. We believe it sells sunglasses.

Of course, this short was not very effective, since all the cool kids were already cutting class to shoplift stuff.

Join Mike, Kevin, and Bill for The Myths of Shoplifting!

Own the short: https://www.rifftrax.com/rhythmic-bal...

The title of the short is Rhythmic Ball Skills, I mean, what else do you need to know? It’s Rhythmic Ball Skills!

Rhythmic Ball Skills is set in some kind of gym class purgatory nether realm. There, children are instructed by an offscreen presence to go through the motions of waving various balls around in what no reasonable person would call “exercise,” let alone “fun.” The short itself describes what the kids are doing as “activities for demonstration,” which is maybe the most Orwellian phrase you’ll find outside of 1984.

When the ball skills are this rhythmic, you really don’t wanna miss out. Brace yourself for the demonstration of activities and join Mike, Kevin and Bill for Rhythmic Ball Skills!

Today is something of a holiday in bad movie circles, for today is the day that the cinematic burning bag of turds Mac and Me was released in American theaters. Oof.

Described by some as "a blatant, soulless, calculated rip-off of E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial with a hefty glob of product placement slathered across every frame like so much barbecue sauce over a McRib," it was the brainchild of producer R. J. Louis who'd previously with McDonald's on some of their ad campaigns.

Louis tapped director Stewart Raffill to direct, who described the warm welcome he received to the production this way: "I said, 'Well, what's the script?' And he said, 'We don't have a script. I don't like the script. You have to write the script. You're gonna have to write it quickly so prep the movie and write the script on the weekends.'" Which may explain why Mac and Me looks a lot like it just straight up copied E.T.'s homework.

Also according to Raffill, Louis insisted that the child lead of the film should be disabled, leading to the casting of Jade Calegory, a young actor with spina bifida, which required him to use a wheelchair to get around. It was seen as a major step for visibility of folks with disabilities in film.

So it was a serious flop at the box office in addition to being a terrible movie. And yet—AND YET—it has nevertheless developed a cult following. I blame the fact that for movie viewers of a certain age, a VHS of Mac and Me was a constant presence in many family video libraries, actual libraries, and residential daycare establishments. (Didn't we all know that one kid who would insist on watching Mac and Me at every sleepover?)

It was featured as the first episode of MST3K's "The Gauntlet" Netflix season. Riffs or no, I find this film hard to watch.

Spotted this on that "other" social link site 😉

Sketch comedy/anti-comedy? It's weird, man!

Born 1934 (presumably in California?), Charles Robert Kaltenthaler, Jr. (aka David Love) is a bit of a cipher. I'm not even sure if he's still alive. According to some sources he was last heard from in 2007, but honestly he seems to have disappeared after his appearance in Teenagers From Outer Space.

His involvement in TFOS followed on from his involvement with director Tom Graeff. By all accounts the two were romantic partners, but split shortly after the making of the film. Graeff would go on to have a rather eventful life (check out that last link for details), but Charles seems to have faded into obscurity.

Which is a shame, because his portrayal of the sensitive alien "Derek" was pretty decent. He really did seem like a man from outer space! Then again, one hopes he found a happy, more peaceful life away from the world of low-budget/no-budget film-making.

So, happy birthday Charles, wherever you may be!

From the descriptions:

The Mads get animated this week with the full short Tom Thumb in King Arthur’s Court from their A Night of Toons broadcast!

Join Trace Beaulieu & Frank Conniff as they riff this timeless tale of knights, medieval royalty, and, er, tiny people.

Featuring Bridget and Mary Jo, a new short available for purchase from Rifftrax:

Tired of a partial electric home? Then try THE TOTAL ELECTRIC HOME from Westinghouse!

What is a Westinghouse? Our best guess is some sort of company that made electric stuff that they really wanted you to buy in the 1950s.

Join couple A as they show off all their cool electric appliances and gadgets to couple B without ever offering them a cocktail or a slice of salami.

Electricity solves every problem and keeps everything very clean so everyone has more time to buy more stuff! Don’t be envious, just start buying and be fulfilled TODAY!

Born in 1919 as Agostino De Laurentiis, Dino spent his early years selling pasta for his father's company. Er, did I mention he's Italian? I should probably mention that.

He went to the national film school in Rome in fact, and formed his own Italian film company, which moved fully into production in 1946, eventually building its own studio facilities in the 60's. It was during this era when (amongst many, many other films) he produced Danger: Diabolik, which was eventually featured in the final episode of MST3K's Sci-Fi Channel run, experiment #1013-Diabolik.

(The character of Diabolik has a fascinating history all its own, which you can read about here.)

He went on to produce a whole ton of movies (193 by IMDB's count, but who knows really). Many of them were very good, and even those that weren't were at least pretty entertaining.

He's also responsible for Giada De Laurentiis (he was her grandpa).

Dino passed away on November 10th, 2010, at the age of 91.

Coronet’s series of Beginning Responsibility shorts must be the largest franchise in film history. It might even be infinite. Every time we watch one short another blips into existence, yet somehow the new one was still made 5 to 7 decades ago. They are a treasure, a gift that keeps on giving, but honestly, shouldn’t Responsibility have stopped Beginning and finally Begun by now?

Beginning Responsibility: Doing Things For Ourselves In School follows Steve, a classic crew-cutted Coronet protagonist finding his place in the world. Steve tries to follow the core principles of the Beginning Responsibility universe: 1) Don’t be such a pest, and 2) Stop whining about it!

Steve has a friend named Ken who is slightly more boneheaded than him, as mandated by Coronet law. Together, Steve and Ken struggle to put their boots away, wear ugly painter smocks, and generally avoid the wrath of the scolding passive-aggressive narrator who lords over us all in Beginning Responsibility: Doing Things For Ourselves In School!

A bittersweet entry this time. Today is Loni Anderson's birthday and, as you are no doubt aware, she passed away on August 3rd of this year, just two days away from her 80th birthday.

In the first of her connections to the world of MST3K, she was born in Saint Paul, Minnesota, just 22 miles from Eden Prairie (the entertainment capital of the world, and home of Best Brains, Inc). Her father was a chemist and her mother was a former model, and Loni herself got into acting soon after graduating high school. Though her first role, in the 1966 film Nevada Smith, was a bit of a false start -- it took another ten years before she would act professionally again (in the 1976 film Vigilante Force as "Peaches").

She went back and forth between film and television for the next few years, before her breakout role as Jennifer in the hit show "WKRP in Cincinnati," at last giving her an opportunity to showcase her devastating beauty and impeccable comic timing, and racking up several Emmy nominations.

After the end of "WKRP" she continued to work regularly in film and television, and in surprisingly decent projects, too. Experiment #1304, Munchie however stands out as a low point. She gives a good performance in it, but WOW that puppet is horrifying, eh? It's also a comedy that's... really not that funny. Oh well, they can't all be home runs. We all get a little Munchie, sometimes.

But of course, she will be remembered for better things, thank goodness. RIP to Loni Anderson, one of the good ones.

His name is Manners in School, but you can call him Chalky.

Chalky the chalk demon, that is, with a little stick figure body and a big round Charlie Brown head. Chalky is accidentally brought to life by Larry, a surly lad who has to stay after class and clean the chalkboards on account of his poor manners.

From there it’s a battle of wills between Larry, a boy who talks like a 1930s gangster, and Chalky, an upsetting 2D lifeform who loves to shame children. Who will win? It’s impossible to say, but one thing’s for sure - Chalky and Coily the Spring Sprite come from the same dark hell-realm.

Clap some erasers together and join Mike, Kevin and Bill for Manners in School!

Hey, it's Jonah! We all know Jonah.

Born in Hawaii, and later moved to Los Angeles, he started out as a punk rock musician before transitioning to comedy. I guess that explains the wicked drum skills!

While slugging it out in the stand-up comedy trenches, he also worked on a bunch of TV shows, notably The Andy Milonakis Show and The Soup.

And when you think of comedians and the early aughts/teens, what word immediately comes to mind? Of course--podcasts! Jonah was a cohost on the Nerdist Podcast, and in 2012 launched his own music-related one called Jonah Raydio.

Of course, his greatest achievement in the field of entertainment (as far as we're concerned) came with his casting as Jonah Heston on the re-animated television show, Mystery Science Theater 3000, our new host for season 11 -- and beyond! (In addition to the other hosts that participated in season 13, but we'll get to them when we get to them.)

Happy birthday, Jonah -- and well done, sir! I know riffin' ain't easy, but you make it look like a cool breeze from a circular air-recycling system.

Enjoy Trace and Frank’s take on Life in a Medieval Town AKA the Seneschal short. If you don’t learn something about culture in the Middle Ages, hopefully you at least pick up some fashion tips regarding head scarves!

It's called The Five C's of Cinematography: Motion Picture Filming Techniques and it's by Joseph V. Mascelli. Now YOU TOO can compose professional film shots like the ones seen in TISCWSLABMUZ! (I'm kidding, it appears to be a well-respected book on the subject.)

Sunday will apparently be the 20th anniversary of the book's release -- and today is Joseph's birthday! Ha! This was a secret birthday post all along! Happy birthday, Mr. Mascelli!