MST3K host: Joel or Mike?

[RRA]

MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATRE 3000 is one of my favorite TV shows ever, one of the few that I'm still sorta hurt and annoyed that it went off the air. So many more bad movies left to ridicule! So little time! But still 11 years and 197 episodes seems more than enough for such an oddball concept and charmingly low budget (more accurately, no budget) program with obscure references that demanded that God invent the Internet. But screw it, I'm greedy. I wanted more.

Anyway, for those that already know (or completely ignorant), MST3K in it's lengthy history had two hosts. For the first 100 epsodes, show creator Joel Hodgson was the MC. After a creative control fight with producer Jim Mallon, he left the show and appointed the show's head writer Michael J. Nelson to replace him, a gig he would keep until the show's cancellation. Notably both men in recent years have kept up the spirit of MST3K with their own seperate riffing businesses, Cinematic Titanic and Rifftrax. (The latter as a bright side now can ridicule blockbusters and movies people actually want to see.)

Who was better? I still remember back in the day the bitter Internet debates about who the fans prefered. Personally I loved both, both basically pissed the shit out of turkeys, just Joel was more dry and conceptual while Michael was more on the nose? Slapstick I don't know, except it was funny too. So who do you pick?





(Unfortunately one knock against Mike, he's unfortunately a real right wing nut in real life. Shame really to find that out about a TV figure you were a fan of. Oh well.)

[Blasty]

Joel was more wry, sly and better at the deadpan humor. I think he was just more naturally brilliant.

But Mike was hotter and more blastylicious so there's that.

Both were outstanding. I just discovered that Amazon Instant has a ton of episodes for streaming if you're a Prime member!

But yeah, this was one of my favorite shows ever and one that really influenced me. I do believe I did the write-up blurb for it when HS unveiled AD's greatest shows of all time list. Here it is:

Mystery Science Theater 3000
Created by: Joel Hodgson
Starring: Joel Hodgson, Michael J. Nelson
Ran from: 1988-1999
Representative episodes: The Giant Gila Monster, Manos: The Hands of Fate, Hobgoblins

Watching incredibly, laughably bad movies can in and itself often be very entertaining, especially low budget genre ones but kicking back and hanging out with a couple of your best buds and ranking on said bad movie, verbally tearing it to shreds with your sharp wit and irony can actually be quite the priceless evening! Mystery Science Theater: 3000 is just that TV show and it captured with charm and cleverness how much fun watching a bad movie can be just by allowing the viewer join them in their outer space movie theater where they have been captured and each episode are punished by having to watch the worst movies ever made but luckily for us, they don't have to be silent while doing so and thus we the viewer are treated to a massively entertaining display of off the wall humor and pop culture reference zingers that come both fast and furious and slyly.

[RRA]

You know, I'm gonna vote Mike. Why? Because I just rediscovered this MST3K from his pre-hosting days when he would pop up for supporting parts.

[BeautySDK]

Mike.