1301 - Santo in the Treasure of Dracula
Premiere Date: Friday, March 4, 2022, 5:00 PM PST (soft launch - May 6 official launch)
Host: Jonah Heston
Special Guests: March 4th Livestream - Mary Jo Pehl, Joel Hodgson, Matt McGinnis, Josh Warner, Lesley Kinzel, Tim Ryder & Rebecca Hanson, Ivan Askwith (voice during Q&A), Cheryl & Mike at the end - May 6th Livestream: Joel, Jonah, Hampton, Rebecca, Felicia
Writers: Tim Ryder, Harold Buchholz, Mary Christen, Devon Coleman, Yvonne Freese, Tammy Golden, Emily Marsh, Matt Oswalt, Howie Michael Smith - Consulting writer: Elliot Kalan (all eps)
Soft launch review - And so it begins, a new chapter in the life of MST3K, with a new home... several new homes to be exact, with the Gizmoplex proper set to open its doors to the public in May.
After plugging the laptop into the TV, I waited with bated breath, then Joel came on the screen making with the introduction, aaand...
white dot? Technical difficulties right out the gate (not unexpected), but hey we had some laughs in the forums about that.
After about 20 minutes the experiment begins and the first thing I notice is that this pandemic era episode has a rather flat n' cheapish greenscreen look to it, not so slick and busy as the Netflix years, it's like the cowtown puppet show for the digital age. Practical sets would be preferred, but this is what we have, and I can live with it.
First impressions - the host segments are still a weakness (on rewatches I've come around on the host segs) the riffing was steady and the chemistry in the theater was at peak form. GPC doesn't drop off a payload but did deliver a killer Watchmen riff, Servo doesn't fly willy-nilly, riff delivery had a nice rhythm, and wasn't overstuffed - all told this was more akin to classic MST.
As with the first Santo ep (Samson vs. the Vampire Women), you get good quipping, coupled to an enjoyable, cheesy flick that does a lot of the heavy lifting and works with the riffers (like the guys noting how Santo is just sitting back and watching this horror play out).
At the halfway point, we get an intermission: Mary Jo as Pearl joins Synthia for ads, while Joel, Matt McGinnis, and Josh Warner as Santo, have a cooking n' soda segment, which is goofy (Mountain Don't, lol), but runs long and kills the momentum. I was itching to get back to the episode.
The Livestream included a Q&A with stories about the challenges of getting the show up and running, talk about the new door sequence, and a sneak peek at the soon to arrive virtual theater.
UPDATE: April 11th - I gave Santo 2.0 a listen & look through, and it's much improved - sound levels between movie and riffing are better, as is the synching. And did they tweak the color in the Mads segments, the lighting on faces and such appear warmer to my eye?
Still no end credits or stinger, but I laughed even harder with this viewing, there's a lot of sharp material at the start (the doctor pretending to be blind; the Heathers reference), which continues in the hilarious visit to the past. The riffing stays strong through the final act ("Usually I'm not a veal guy, but..." - Jonah. Plus, the 'Partridge family ruffles' line was a funny I missed hearing on my first watch).
While I appreciate that they want to make the live events special for us, I was more tuned in and better able to enjoy the experiment without the wraparounds and intermission.
UPDATE: May 6th - Official launch version: The bugs have been worked out, audio is perfection, visuals are sharper, and we are brought closer to the actors in the host segments (so I've updated my screengrabs). We now have credits and a stinger (Santo and pals are beset upon by thugs). The Gizmoplex takes another step towards completion. The ticket booth was revealed, banners for May's vault picks were added, to go along with the standees... the lobby looks smart! (BTW, am I the last to notice that the carpet in the screening bunkers come from The Shining? lol)
The Livestream opens with Joel, with a model, giving the Gizmoplex tour, and closes with a brand new aftershow Q&A. Ads are now spread across the episode, the mid-episode kitchen sketch from the soft launch was removed, but there's a 4+ minute intermission with papermations.
"That is the coolest cremation furnace I've ever seen" - Jonah
Favorite Riffs: "He's like a Hershey's Kiss in a suit" - Jonah | "Okay just smash buttons until something happens" - Servo | "I have veartego" - Crow | "Look at that, she's a two-prong outlet" - Crow | 'If you brought marshmallows we can make s'mores out of our doors" - Jonah | "We interrupt Mexican Odd Couple for this important bulletin" - Servo | "Most of wrestling is just different types of hugs" - Crow | "We didn't touch your reffoosh" - Jonah | "Is the hubcap dating the second unit director?" - Jonah | And the quips with the kid at bedtime were a hoot
Favorite Host Segment: Mean Jonah and the bots as complimentary wrestlers - (I also laughed at how Frank-like Max was (gullibly ordering what the SOL is selling in the QVSanto skit)
Amazing Colossal Grade: 3.5 for the episode on its own; new Livestream version was scaled down and was a smoother watch (though the Q&A dragged on, with the backer roll call at the end)
Special Event: A Tribute to Manos + Short: Pipeline to the Clouds
Premiere Date: Friday, March 18, 2022, 5:00 PM PST (soft launch - May 11 official launch)
Special Guests: Jackey Neyman-Jones, with Matt, Joel, Mary Jo, Rebecca, White Dot, and Jonah and the Bots
During the countdown to transmission, we were treated to a delightful paper cut-out pre-show, featuring all our favorites (including Dr. F and Frank) gadding about the moon to space jazz - there were ads, a link to the Torgo pizza recipe, and a giant Tom Servo hand that pushed cut-out Joel into a crater. (This material was removed in the rebroadcast)
Pearl and Synthia host the evening, Pearl explains her evil scheme (the short of the month club) then introduces nu-MSTs first one-reeler *,
Pipeline to the Clouds, which is like Chinatown without the incest (funny that a Chinatown riff is heard in Manos, not Pipeline). Jonah, Baron, and Hampton's work on the piece runs hot and cold - Tom's Count von Count, for example, became annoying right quick, and the Tex Avery-esque reactions to the ladies made me wince - on the other hand, Crow's "All dead", Servo's line about cloud babies who urinate life-giving water, and Jonah's little citizen and citizen juice riffs, were rib-ticklers. Also, as a western film fan,
"the rare Spaghetti Industrial" riff
was right up my alley. For social commentary, the trio level a few clever and cutting topical slams, one directed at
Nestlé, the other, a sarcastic bon mot on humankind's selfless nature.
After the short, white dot makes a cameo appearance (ha), and then it's off to the land of Manos, which was the episode, sans the Kickstarter-style watch party. MJ & Rebecca do show up during the breaks to set up the commercials, and Jonah and the Bots put on a skit for good and evil month (the theme of March's 'Vault Picks' - featuring Human Duplicators, She-Creature, Hercules Against the Moon Men, Teenagers from Outer Space, Outlaw of Gor and Zombie Nightmare). Other original host segs? Jonah helps the bots work through their Manos trauma, the gang assemble their monster hunter teams, and later attempt some backward masking... all of these were, okay, but combined with MJ and Rebecca's routines, well, it's a bit much, a bit cluttered, and I found myself zoning out in spots.
I watched at the Kingadome, and I like the look of it - I started in zoom-out mode for the intros, just to drink it all in, then zoomed in once it got going. It gives a feeling of being in a theater which creates a nice, fun atmosphere.
Overall, a decent, if exhausting, 3-hours spent - classic episode, new short, opening night for a new theater, chatting with friends over a slice of Torgo's pizza... topped off with Jackey Neyman-Jones joining Matt, Joel, and Mary Jo for a post-experiment Q&A, where I was regaled with tales of MST and Manos and the fruits of that perfect marriage.
The event included pizza box artwork and a recipe
