RiffTrax Website

I’ve mentioned, a fair few times, that I’ve become a huge fan of MST3K, surely the inventor of the modern audio commentary track. Sadly, I feel as though I’ve arrived too late to make any sort of worthwhile fan contribution to it. In any form. I don’t believe we ever got the show here in the UK, which I can only assume would have been a copyright nightmare anyway. Well, after the show’s original run ended and everyone who was ever involved went their separate ways, they eventually reformed under different guises, like talented magnets of comedy.

Joel Hodgson and his camp formed Cinematic Titanic. Mike J Nelson and his camp formed RiffTrax.

As many of the original viewers surely were back in the mid-1990s, I’ve not been too sure about Mike’s screen/audio involvement. I’ve gone through my reasons before, so I don’t feel inclined to be a dick and repeat them. Anyway, as hoped, my heart has defrosted and I’ve come to enjoy him, either in MST3K or RiffTrax. I’m glad about this, as it means I can soak up more riff content. I also love Bill Corbett, who’s dry comedic timing is just perfect, and Kevin Murphy is as awesome and beautiful as he always has been. Oh and while I’ve not heard them on any feature length films yet, Mary Jo Pehl and Bridget Jones are fabulous on many of the shorts.

And so we come to this post.

Well, as mentioned above, I felt somewhat impotent in not being able to contribute as a fan, until I discovered that RiffTrax had a paid subscription on their website. I’m not inclined to throw money at every streaming service “because that’s just what you do”, much to Netflix and Disney’s chagrin, as I’d like to think I’m more discerning than that. I only whip my wallet out when the content speaks to me personally. I’ve also not watched broadcast television since the covid pandemic started, mostly in order to avoid panic mongering and misinformation, and I’m still sticking to that behaviour 6-years-later.

So, yes, I recently subscribed to RiffTrax, which I have yet to regret. I chose the highest tier, not because I needed to, but simply because I wanted to give them more cash. I think there’s a social element to my tier, but I have no interest in that. In terms of socialising, I’m like a blind bull in a China shop perched precariously upon a cliff in a hurricane. In hell. So I shall leave all that for now.

There are, erm, curious rules to what you have automatic access to, including only content older than a year and not content that’s available on paid disc, but hey-ho. I get it. Girl’s gotta eat, am I right?! Right. I’m going slow with it all, if only to savour it like a fine wine, but so far I’ve experienced (not including those I’ve already seen on YouTube): The Phantom Menace (audio only), the legendary Reefer Madness, Maniac, and Battlefield Earth (audio only). I have disc copies of the two audio-only ones, so it was just a simple matter of rummaging around in my many, many, many disc carry cases to find them, but that’s my problem. Sometimes US and UK cuts are different, as I found out with Battlefield Earth, but it didn’t take too long to reorientate myself.

I think it’s really sweet that all these great people are still friends and working together after over 30 years. I can barely keep a friend for longer than a few years. At best. There’s even a video of the RiffTrax boys just out on a fishing trip. Aww, bless! Not to pull out my sadness violin, but I’m a lonely soul these days, with RiffTrax and MST3K keeping me company through such dark personal times. Satirical comedy also aids in alleviating my lifelong anxiety. I guess it just helps to have someone remind me that everything is ridiculous, so maybe I shouldn’t worry so much about it all.

Please drop by their website here.

Do stay in touch, darlings.

Toodles!