Mike was head writer and Joel was creator of the show - clearly, the show would not exist as we now know it without both of them working together. Arguing over who was better is pointless.
Gypsy's retort of "bite me" at 2:00 after Joel says hello to her is supposed to be a subtle in joke to the fact that executive producer Jim Mallon, who had been her puppeteer and voice for much of the series starting with the first (not counting the initial KTMA/Season 0 run) season was a contributing factor to Joel's departure back in mid season five among other things. He has previously stated in interviews that himself and Jim had been having ongoing disputes over aspects of the show's continued production behind the scenes. The irony of the joke is that he was no longer playing Gypsy by that point, having already stepped down as her operator near the end of season eight and turned the role over to long time staffer Patrick Brantseg to focus on production duties. I also like how they explain the alteration in Crow's voice from Trace Beaulieu to Bill Corbett, by simply stating that he changes his bowling pins every so often.
@Steve Owens I don’t get this comment. There’s a specific in joke reason behind this line, but you apparently think no one even cares to know what the meaning behind it is. Rude much?
Well I see MST3K as a big family Joel: father Tom: older son Crow: younger son Gypsy: stern older sister Dr Forrester: grouchy Uncle Dr Erdhart: other uncle TV's Frank: dim witted cousin Mike: Youngest son Pearl: Grandmother (heck they even call her Grandma Pearl sometimes) Bobo and Brain Guy: abusive, think their superior cousins
Slurpee the Unholy Joel did create the bots he is their father in a sense. Mike, and Jonah are like best friends, or brothers to the bots. I want to see Mike visit on the new seasons.
It's even more ironic when you think about how Joel was the only one up there, so why was he writing his name on his socks.. who else is gonna wear them. Glad I started watching this show as a kid, it can help you start to appreciate depth I think
Maybe have Pearl get trapped in there with them along with a redirected Dr F and TV's Frank then all the writers and Riffers would have one last hoorah before S11
"Don't compare yourself, Mike; it ain't healthy." Awesome. =D And I agree; Mike was head writer when Joel ran the show. It's not like some complete stranger took over. Anyway, I love 'em both.
"Well, I don't wanna go into too many details other than it cost me a TON to get up here." He should recycle that line if he makes a cameo in the reboot.
This is probably the greatest moment in MST3K history. I don't think the universe was made to handle this much awesomeness! I love both of these hosts!
Also I know they know each other in real life but it would be awesome if Joel Robinson, Mike Nelson, Jonah Heston, and Emily Crenshaw met each other! Also Emily is from MST3K live.
This goes into history as one of the greatest meetings of minds in television history: When Frost met Nixon When Parkinson met Ali When Gus Honeybun met Oscar Puffin and of course, when Mike met Joel.
Considering that this was from the show's last season,I'm surprised they didn't instead have Joel appear in the final episode,and that it's he who helps Mike and the 'bots get down to Earth.
Finally, the great meeting of the minds and the first thing they talk about is managing the Hot Fish Shop in Osseo. THAT is why MST3K is still the greatest show ever!
I will never get over that Osseo reference. I grew up in that town and always thought we were too small for anyone to care about. It's trippy to hear someone casually mention it here, but I guess I shouldn't be surprised given that this show was run by fellow Minnesotans.
Agreed... They both had a huge impact on the show... People act like Nelson showed up out of the blue, but he'd been the head writer for the entire CC era... The show was hilarious with both of them
0:56 Missed opportunity there. They should have made Crow say "I knew there was something weird about [Dr. Forrester]. It would have been another great joke to follow up the bowling pin one.
If only Joel went into the theatre intact there should be a special with all the characters who riffed on the show get trapped together no Crow no Tom just Mike, Joel and Pearl sat in the theatre and making jokes
Watching this brings tears to my eyes. I spent so many years of my life watching this show with my father. And to be brought up in the same City as this was filmed in. For all of you MN people, Season 0(KTMA) was filmed at Central High School. Both Mike and Joel were great characters. I truly love this show in all its glory. Long Live MSTK3K keep circulating the tapes
Back when I saw this I was like OMG MIKE AND JOEL ARE TOGETHER WITH ALL OF THE BOTS AND THERE BOTH GONNA WATCH MOVIES TOGETHER! And then I was like gud dammit!
It would be funny if Mike, Kevin and Bill cameoed in the new series and as a joke have it be that in the MST3K universe Mike also made Rifftrax with his old college friends Kevin Murphy and Bill Corbett
Agreed. Pretty much any of the stuff they did was not that funny, and Pearl was annoying to say the least. At least Trace as Dr. Forrester was actually funny occasionally. Same with TV's Frank.
Now that I will agree with. The writing on the new show is so hit and miss IMO. Many of the riffs range from somewhat funny to downright garbage. It almost makes me prefer Rifftrax over this revival in many ways.
neither one is better, theyre both hilarious! i love how mike is always just so well spoken, in contrast to how stoner-like joel was. they both did wonders for the show.
Personally I like Mike a little more, but I really, honestly do like them both. I liked the way Joel acts as a father figure to the robots and the way Mike is like an older brother, but has moments of being the nurturing guardian as well. They both had their best moments in 'Sidehackers' and 'Hobgoblins'.
season 11 including the ktma season, which is generally considered season 0. frank was also making a comeback guest appearance along with joel on this episode… their last season (1999) until 2017.
I love them both, but I grew up watching Joel (and Trace, and Frank, and Kevin). So that particular time period of MST will always have the most special place in my heart.
The thing worth mentioning is Joel met Mike as a different character - in Rocket Attack USA, Joel met a Russian cosmonaut played by Mike. Should've said something like you look familiar, but it had been a long time.
If you count over the monitor, Joel meets "Mike" several times, since almost every single one-off character in the first five seasons is played by Nelson. It's a similar thing with Pearl.
I almost kind of wished this was the final episode instead, where it is Joel that comes and saves everyone. Maybe even joins in the theater so we could have had Mike, Crow, Tom AND Joel in the same theater riffing the movie, before rescuing them.
Joel's riffs were more subdued and good natured where as Mike had a little more bite and sarcasm. Both had their own styles, but both of them made it work. Despite casting changes, MST3K was a solid show all around.
IMO Joel was more natural in the host segments than Mike...and vice versa with the movie riffing. So it all comes out even in a way. Not one was better than the other. I happen to prefer Mike over Joel however because I mainly watch this show for the movie riffing and not the host segments.
Yeah, I know what you mean. Mike's best host segments are the ones when they're trying something new and different. (e.g. Last of the Wild Horses, The Deadly Mantis, etc.) When he just sticks to the usual same-old format, it doesn't always work so well.
bigleaguechew87 even though the first episodes I saw were Mike episodes, ive always preferred Joel. He was just closer to my sense of humour. He wasnt as consistently funny as Mike, but at least once per episode Joel's delivery of a certain line would leave me in hysterics and cause me to miss five minutes of the show.
I only really liked Joel better because he was on the show when I started watching it. When I watched the show again many years later, Mike was on it, and I was like "Where the fuck is Joel?"
+exiledPostman I can appreciate an attitude that thinks the original is the best. But I find that Mike has his own strengths. He's good in his own way. Not better, not worse, just different.
I think what ruined mike hosting is he came on about the same time they went primetime on scifi and they doubled the amount of commercials. When i watched it on comedy central it came on late at night and there was only a commercial break every 30 min instead of every 10-15.
+exiledPostman I always like Joel best because he was the first host and the creator of the show, but I didn't have a problem with Mike when he became the host. This is mainly because he had already been working with them for a long time as head comedy writer for the show, and made a lot of the cameos as characters like Torgo, etc. I had more of a problem after Trace Beaulieu left and we suddenly didn't have Crow's iconic voice anymore and no more Dr. Forrester. I'm not that fond of Pearl as the main mad scientist.
It took me a few episodes to get used to Mike but I totally did. I still have a soft spot for Joel because he was the first, I liked his relationship to the bots better and thought the host segments during the Joel era were funnier, but I grew to love Mike in my own way.
I saw him down here in San Antonio yesterday. One person asked him if he thought Cinematic Titantic showed more love for older movies than Rifftrax did. He said that he thought that somewhat, yet still liked the majority of the stuff that Mike, Kevin and Bill have done. I didn't ask him anything like that, though. I just asked him why he hated hamdingers. I didn't realize that hamdingers were ham sandwiches in a metal can (proto lunchables).
