MST3K, RiffTrax, and Beyond: MST3K Season 6

Let me be Frank about Frank, Frank is the greatest Frank that ever happened to me. And as he ascends into Second Banana Heaven on his final season of Mystery Science Theater 3000, he leaves behind a legacy like no other. His imprint upon the series is undeniable, especially since Frank Conniff was the one who selected films for the series during most of the Comedy Central run and boy howdy did he pull out all the stops for the sixth season.

He must have known the end was coming, because he has no mercy for the viewer. He pummels us with wild, weird, and obscure for almost the entire season, ranging from notable shit classics like The Creeping Terror, the bizarrely terrible filmography of Coleman Francis, and a film that defies all explanation in The Starfighters. Less aggressive fare includes the star studded melodrama Kitten With a Whip, the cheap thriller Bloodlust, silly teenage vehicles in Girls Town and High School Big Shot, and one of the most amusingly silly spy movies ever made in Danger!! Death Ray. This all comes to a head in the finale where Frank takes his final bow and we watch a Mexican wrestler superhero movie starring the legendary Santo!

It's an absolute ride of a season for those who thirst for the series to tackle the roughest of films with little time to breathe in between. Not all of them are garbage heaps, but the ratio of amusingly dumb to "Whew boy" is higher than normal this season. I'm not saying that directly influences the quality of the season but it can wear a viewer down. This season is an endurance test and if you can sit through it then chances are you're in it for the long haul. The laughs had are far lower than the previous season, though it runs about neck and neck with the quality of season four, though season four might edge it in more digestible movie selection. My favorite episode of the season is Bloodlust, which is a playfully dumb movie with hilarious commentary. Zombie Nightmare is close behind, with a doofus 80's horror movie being perfect fodder for the show. Also recommended are the wildly stupid Danger!! Death Ray, the crazy Russian fantasy Sword and the Dragon, and the so-full-of-Mamie-Van-Doren Girls Town. Episodes that don't quite pay off are aggressively boring TV pilots like San Francisco International and Code Name: Diamond Head. Unfortunately it's not all ladies night like Girls Town, as female led films like Angels Revenge and Racket Girls are tougher to get into than most. Also gracing the bottom of the list is the rather inconsequential Invasion USA.

Sandwiched in between such legendary seasons like the transitional fifth season, the short-but-sweet seventh season, and the epic rebirth of the eighth season, the sixth season is a bit of an odd duck. There are some identifying factors that make it distinctive, such as the introduction of the Umbilicus, a strange but amusing host segment running gag of Tom Servo running Crow over with his car, slighter than normal one-punch host segments, and of course the final run for our favorite henchman TV's Frank, though it tends to sink like a stone by comparison to the better runs that surround it. It was the last of Comedy Central's four season contract with the series, which kept our beloved comedians steadily employed. They would push them out with an abbreviated run the following year, but one can't say it wasn't a hell of a ride.

Top Five Episodes

1. Bloodlust!

2. Zombie Nightmare

3. Danger!! Death Ray

4. The Sword and the Dragon

5. Girls Town

Bottom Five Episodes

1. San Francisco International

2. Angels Revenge

3. Racket Girls

4. Invasion USA

5. Code Name: Diamond Head

MST3K, RiffTrax, and Beyond

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MST3K Season 6

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