Gizmonic Institute Radio: Your MST3K Companion

He jock it made of steel! KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK! Japanese monster movie time! With a robot! And… other stuff! We get a kick out of this week’s movie offering, partially because it’s a Japanese monster movie and we love cheesy Japanese monster movies, and also because it’s a pretty great ep of MST3K. Now if you were to quantify HOW great of an ep it is compared to other awesome cheesy Japanese MST3K episodes (Prince of Space and ANYTHING with the word ‘Gamera’ in the title jump to mind), it’s pretty average. We’re celebrating this episode in particular because it’s our FIRST cheesy Japanese monster movie episode. Also it’s great. Once you’ve spent some time with us, and our friends Godzilla and Jet Jaguar  (I wish!) you should head over and chat us up on our facebook page, and follow us on twitter. If you really want the blessings of the world’s greatest robot Jet Jaguar, leave us a review on iTunes. Thanks for listening!

CHEESE HUNT! This week we play games. Games are great and fun, especially when they involve coffee and golf pencils and cheese and burritos. This week we also discuss MST3K S2E11 – First Spaceship on Venus. This is probably one of the least bad films that Joel and the Bots have been forced to watch so far in the show, but that doesn’t mean the riffing suffers. They bring it fast and hard for the whole episode, making First Spaceship on Venus a great episode, and one of the best we’ve seen so far. Don’t forget to stop by our facebook page and join the episode discussions, or to follow us on twitter for audio log updates. If you’re feeling particularly wonderful, you should leave us a space valentine in the form of an iTunes review too. Because you’re that awesome. Thanks for listening!

We’re BACK! And man, things have changed. Except they haven’t really changed that much, but then again… Just listen and you’ll know what I’m talking about. This episode we discuss MST3K S2E10 – King Dinosaur which is another TERRIBLE Robert Lippert movie tightly bound in a wonderfully hilarious Mystery Science Theater wrapper. If movies could be burritos, this would be the world’s worst yet most hilarious burrito. OH. There’s also a fairly substantial amount of BRUTAL LIZARD MURDER too. That doesn’t really fit into the burrito analogy, but I digress. Don’t forget to stop by our Facebook Page and join the discussion about MST3K, our show, and high voltage capacitors! You can also follow us on twitter, and leave us a SUPER late Christmas present in the form of an iTunes review. Also, BUY ONE OF THESE AWESOME T-SHIRTS! Thanks for listening!

Merry Kronmas! (and Happy Kronmas to our friends in the UK!) Do yourself a favor, go familiarize yourself with Mallory Keaton. I promise, it will help. Not that she has anything to do with this week’s MST3K Episode S2E9 – The Hellcats. Joel and the bots riff on another biker movie in a string of biker movies (if you’re keeping track, 30% of this season’s MST3K movies so far have been bad biker movies). If you remember our episode about Sidehackers, you’ll be upset to know that The Hellcats shares more than just a flimsy premise and aesthetic. Yay. There are also A LOT of blue riffs this episode, so at least that’s something. Back on earth it’s commercially the CRAZIEST time of the year – which means you should head over to our tshirt shop and buy one of our new MST3K episode tees up for sale. Proceeds help go to support our show/pay for webspace and hosting, and generally just help us out a lot. Plus you get an AWESOME shirt out of the whole deal! Pretty sweet, eh? As always we’re on facebook, twitter, and iTunes, where you can bring us some Holiday cheer by leaving us an awesome review!   Thanks for listening!  

Rock Climbing.     Seriously, the previous sentence speaks for its self.   Once you’re done listening to this week’s ep (or even DURING if you’re an effective multitasker) you should head over to our T-SHIRT STORE and pick up one of these AWESOME new Gizmonic Institutes Radio t-shirts. It features the Gizmonic Institutes geared ‘G’ logo, filled in with EVERY SINGLE MST3K episode name EVER. I may be biased, but I think it’s the best MST3K shirt that has ever been made. Not to mention, every shirt we sell helps us keep making these crazy shows, so it’s a win-win. You can also stop by our Facebook page and join the random MST3K discussions there, follow us on Twitter, or leave us a review on iTunes.

I’ll bet you’re excited for the thrilling conclusion to last show’s cliffhanger! Guess what? The conclusion is SO THRILLING that we had to make it a three part trilogy! A Thrillogy?!??! I just thought of that just now and totally haven’t been sitting and waiting to use it at this exact moment. This week we discuss MST3K S2E7 – The Wild Rebels, an episode that (spoiler alert!) Seth didn’t mind and Jeff didn’t really like all that much. Between Wild Rebels and Sidehackers, it could be possible that Jeff just doesn’t really like motorcycle movies. Who knows? WE DON’T HAVE TIME TO SPECULATE. When you’re done enjoying this week’s audio log, you should head over to our Facebook page, and join the discussion about all things MST3K (don’t forget to give us a like while you’re there)! You can also follow us on Twitter, and if you find yourself walking around with a heavy heart, but only because your heart is made of gold, you can go to our iTunes page and write us a review there. You’re the best! Thanks for listening!

Just in time for Halloween, we have a spoooooooky audio log about a spooooooooooky MST3K episode, S2E6, Ring of Terror! Actually… there really isn’t anything spooky about this audio log, and there is DEFINITELY nothing spooky about Ring of Terror. In fact, this may be the worst movie that Joel and the Bots have had to watch since last season’s Slime People. It really is that bad. But not spooky. After basking in the afterglow of another great audio log, you should head over to our Facebook page where we discuss past episodes, audio logs, and random things like the abandoned Cincinnati subway system. You can also follow us on Twitter, or if you’re feeling like being a REALLY REALLY great person (or have been a really bad person for a while and want to do something to make up for your poor behavior) stop by our iTunes page and write us a review! Thanks for listening!  

You know what people don’t emphasize enough these days? Friendship. It’s important, especially in space. I can’t stress that enough. This week’s episode also features our ship’s elevator. We discuss Rocket Attack USA, the episode which we accidentally call Rocketship XM no less than TWO times during the audio log. Is it our fault that both movies have similar titles? I don’t think so. Is it our fault that both movies are big stinkers, as well as being total bummers? I certainly hope not. This episode of MST3K was great though. We’re to the part of Season 2 where the show is really starting to find its voice, which means we have great things to look forward to! Also – Rocket Attack USA! is the first episode that features an end of show stinger. Good stuff! Once you’re done listening, stop by and join the discussion on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter. If you feel like emulating one of the AMAZING people who reviewed our show on iTunes this week, you can stop by there and do that too. Thanks for listening!

All I have to say is, be careful what you wish for. Especially if you add a bit of insurance to your wishes by using some advanced science and physics. You’ll find out what I mean soon enough in this week’s audio log. While we experience an uncharacteristic departure from our usually INSANE  goings-on, this week’s MST3K episode, Catalina Caper, does more than enough to make up for it by injecting our lives with the FDA daily recommended dose of good-natured teenage hijinks. We haven’t had this many hijinks since Untamed Youth, and good news – this time there aren’t any horriffic miscarriage/teenage deaths to bring the movie down! There IS an underwater knife-fight, but that just INCREASES the level of hijinkery.   If you couldn’t tell, we really like MST3K S2E4 – Catalina Caper.   Once you’ve finished enjoying the audio log, head over and join the discussion on our Facebook page, and follow us on Twitter. If you feel like filling our lives with as much joy as Catalina Caper did, you can also go to our iTunes page and leave us a review there.   Thanks for listening!

Would you be surprised if I told you that when it came time to record this week’s audio log, that nothing strange, weird or dangerous happened? Well if I did, that would be a lie. Not only were parts of this week’s episode both VERY strange and VERY weird, but we had to dodge the icy hand of death AGAIN. You would think that we would be used to that sort of thing by now. This week we discuss MST3K S2E3 – Jungle Goddess, a movie that I assume came to be after the world’s most racist screenwriter rode The Jungle Cruise at Disneyland too many times. It continues the MST3K season 2 movie trend of “the characters in this movie have no redeemable value” while managing to break the trend of “everyone is dead by the end”. Too bad. Luckily the riffing is still great (as always) and that, combined with the fact that we’re also treated to the SUPER WEIRD first episode in the Bela Legosi serial The Phantom Creeps, makes this a slightly above average episode of MST3K. Once you’re done listening, you should join the conversation about MST3K on our Facebook page, or follow us on Twitter. And if you want to make us really REALLY happy – stop by our iTunes page and leave us a nice review there.   Thanks for listening!

Greetings! It seems like every time we go to record an audio log from out here in the depths of space, something ridiculous happens.  This week’s episode is no different… Give it a listen and you’ll understand the kind of shenanigans we have to put up with. This week we discuss MST3K S2E2 – Sidehackers, which for all intents and purposes, is the most depressing and awful movie the MST3K crew has riffed on to date. Luckily, some good riffing manages to save a a movie which is otherwise completely devoid of any redeemable value. Even though we didn’t like it, Sidehackers seems to be a pretty divisive episode among the MST3K community – we even had a few fans list Sidehackers as a favorite episode, and recently the Onion A/V club put it on a list of “essential” MST3K episodes. After you’ve finished listening, you should stop by our facebook page and say hi, or follow us on twitter. If you really want to bring a smile to our faces, head over to our iTunes page and leave us a nice review. Because you’re awesome.

This week we’re BACK to talk about the first episode of MST3K season 2, Episode 201 – Rocketship XM! Also, as a nice change of pace, one of our weird encounters up here in space was with someone who WASN’T trying to kill us. Things are looking up! As I mentioned, we discuss Rocketship XM, a movie that isn’t TOO terrible, but has a pretty weird origin story. We also discuss the myriad of changes that took place behind the scenes of MST3K between the end of season 1 and the beginning of season 2. Once you’re done filling your ears with our nonsense, you should go to our facebook page and become a fan, or stop by twitter and follow us. If you’re feel like REALLY making our day up here in space a little bit brighter, go over to our iTunes page and rate and/or review the show. Thanks for listening! See you next time!

The last time you left us, we had just escaped the clutches of an evil AI, and were hurtling toward deep space. More importantly, we had also just finished watching the entire first season of MST3K! We decided that to celebrate this landmark event, we would do a special episode where we discussed the first season as a whole – looking back on our favorite and least favorite parts, and hoping to answer any lingering questions. We also reached out to you, our audience, and asked you to share your thoughts and feelings as well. You responded in force, and we had what was shaping up to be one heck of a season 1 recap audio log! But then we had an idea. What’s better than doing an audio log discussing MST3K Season 1? Doing an audio log discussing MST3K Season 1 with SOMEONE WHO WAS ACTUALLY ON THE SHOW. For this, we knew we needed someone special. Someone awesome. Someone named J. Elvis Weinstein. That’s right, J. Elvis Weinstein of MST3K and Cinematic Titanic fame joined us via quantum phone to talk about what it was like to help create, write, and act in the whole first season of MST3K! He also answered several “behind the scenes” questions we had amassed throughout our voyage through season 1! It was AMAZING! When you’re done listening to our audio log, you should be sure to check Cinematic Titanic, where you can find J. Elvis Weinstein along with other MST3K alumni Joel Hodgson, Trace Beaulieu, Frank Conniff and Mary Jo Pehl doing what they do best – riffing on bad movies! Thanks for listening, and we’ll see you next time when we start watching MST3K Season 2! P.S. – don’t forget to become a fan of our Facebook Page, follow us on Twitter, and leave us a review on iTunes!  

Woah! This latest episode was genuinely terrifying for us! I don’t want to spoil anything, but man, things got pretty crazy. We also talk about the final episode in the first season of MST3K , Episode 13 – The Black Scorpion where we discuss terrible geology, and learn WAAAAAY more about stop-motion animators than we ever wanted OR needed to know. In a slight break from our usual format, our next episode is going to be a postmortem where we discuss our journey through the first Season of MST3K. We’re going to cover the highs, lows, and do our best to finally get to the bottom of any nagging questions we still have regarding the movies, show production, or anything else related to season 1. If YOU (yes, you) have any thoughts or questions you would like us to discuss or try to answer, send an email to: mail@gizmonicinstitutesradio.com You can also just stop by our Facebook page or our Twitter (if you’re feeling concise) and write us there! Thanks for listening, and we’re looking forward to all of your MST3K Season 1 related questions and comments!

  As you can tell from the events that transpire in this episode, we’ve had some supernatural-related technical difficulties as of late. Also animal-related. And werewolf butler-related. You know how things are. This week we discuss MST3K Season 1 Episode 12 – Untamed Youth. It’s a jolly, musical teenage romp filled with plenty of lighthearted singing and dancing. Except for the part where a girl unceremoniously dies of negligence in the middle of the movie. Other than that, it’s super happy fun for everyone involved! It’s one of the better movies the MST3K crew has riffed on this season, and ends up being a pretty strong episode in our opinion. Once you’ve made your way through the audio log, you should head over to our facebook page and give us a like, and follow us on Twitter. And if you’re feeling extra super nice, go to our iTunes page and give us a rating or review! We appreciate it a lot! Thanks for listening!