In part one of a Gauntlet six-movie binge, Jonah and the bots take on the 1988 film Mac and Me: an alien is befriended by a wheelchair-bound boy while trying to escape from NASA.
Follows the adventures of a young boy, Paul Cooper, who gets a vision from old pal Bigfoot while he's at boarding school.
While Jonah and crew dig into a schlocky ski-resort disaster flick starring Rock Hudson and Mia Farrow, Kinga Forrester connects with her long-distance lover.
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Title: Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Return (2017– )
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| Series cast summary: | |||
| Felicia Day | ... | Kinga Forrester 20 episodes, 2017-2018 | |
| Patton Oswalt | ... | Max (TV's Son of TV's Frank) 20 episodes, 2017-2018 | |
| Jonah Ray | ... | Jonah Heston 20 episodes, 2017-2018 | |
| Baron Vaughn | ... | Tom Servo 20 episodes, 2017-2018 | |
| Hampton Yount | ... | Crow T. Robot 20 episodes, 2017-2018 | |
 |
Joel Hodgson | ... | Ardy / ... 20 episodes, 2017-2018 |
| Tim Ryder | ... | Bonehead #1 20 episodes, 2017-2018 | |
|
|
Zach Thompson | ... | Bonehead #2 20 episodes, 2017-2018 |
| Rebecca Hanson | ... | Gypsy / ... 20 episodes, 2017-2018 | |
| Har Mar Superstar | ... | Skeleton Crew Bandleader 20 episodes, 2017-2018 | |
Set in the not-too-distant future, a Gizmonic Institute employee is lured to the dark side of the moon by third-generation mad scientist Kinga Forrester and her flunky, Max. He is sat in front of cheesy movies with his robot buddies and forced to tortuously watch bad movies in their entirety as these mad scientists study the effects on his mind.
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One of the problems with reviving a cultural monolith like MST3K, is that it needs to be done perfectly or it will be deemed a dismal failure.
This reboot does a pretty decent job in updating many aspects of the show to 2017. The DIY aesthetic is still there and exploited pretty well. The cast is very solid. The change to Gypsy was a long time coming and well-executed.
The films that have been chosen are not particularly stand-out awful, but definitely fodder for riffing.
The main issues I have with the rebooted series can be ascribed to growing-pains as the cast and crew (re)acquaint themselves and fall into a groove. Although fondly remembered, the first two seasons or so of MST3K are far from stellar for similar reasons: the chemistry needs time to brew, everyone needs to get the feel of the format, and they need to find their strengths and exploit them.
The Host Segments are somewhat weak. While they have always been hit or miss, in this series they are rather disposable. This might be remedied once the crew decides on the relationship between Jonah and the Bots. Joel was "the Father" and Mike was the "Brother." Jonah is kind of awkwardly tossed into there and they simply abide.
The Riffing is pretty good but way too fast-paced. While it is naturally scripted (for maximum effect) it is way too jam-packed and the Riffers stumble over themselves trying to get as many in per film. It really weakens the impact of jokes and kills off the all-so-sweet illusion that they're organic. Some of their strongest riffs were the prolonged gags that they gave more than a second's notice to. As a consequence of this rapid-fire pace, they really miss opportunities to focus on exploitable moments or they create awkward transitions that really do not sell what could have been apexes of the episode.
As I said, the quality is there: they just need to see it and grow into it. So time will tell if they do so. Their pacing of riffs is perhaps their key area that needs improvement.
That said, for a reboot: they have updated the series and format well and just need to fine-tune it and surpass the growing pains.