skillwithaquill Reviews

Mystery Science Theater 3000 (1988–1999)

Should go down in history as one of the greatest shows ever written

[10 December 2005]

Mystery Science Theater 3000 could quite possibly be one of the most inventive and hilarious shows of all time. In a nutshell, an average guy is rocketed into space by his evil boss and is forced to watch terrible, cheesy, poorly acted, poorly written, poorly shot, B-grade movies (sometimes even lower grade than that). The only way he keeps his sanity is by mocking and riffing on the movie-of-the-week with his robot friends, Tom Servo and Crow T. Robot. He is also kept company by the robots Cambot and Gypsy, who do not watch the movie.

Each episode of MST3K delivers almost non-stop laughs and great one-liners that make watching these awful movies not only bearable, but also hilarious! There are fans (known as MSTies) of all ages, from adults who have been watching it from the first televised episode to teens just discovering it thanks to the release of the DVDs.

All in all, I am a huge fan of MST3K and have never been dissatisfied with it. I've never seen an episode that didn't make me laugh out loud.

It's difficult to describe it to those who haven't seen it before, so if you're not one of the legions of fans of MST3K yet, hurry out and rent or buy one of the DVD sets. You won't be disappointed! 10/10

Sapphire & Steel (1979–1982)

A fantastic show I'll never forget.

[8 July 2005]

I'll admit it; I'm not the biggest fan sci-fi television. I'm not a Star Wars or X-Files fanatic. When I read about Sapphire & Steel, I wasn't expecting much. I figured that if I didn't like it, I could MST it. (MST stands for Mystery Science Theater 3000, read my comments about it if you've never heard of it before) To my surprise, I didn't need to use my fleeting talent for mocking films. I became hooked on Sapphire & Steel after I watched the first episode.

I was intrigued by the premise of the entire show. Sapphire and Steel, played by Joanna Lumley and David McCallum, are extraterrestrial beings (for lack of better explanation – none is ever really given or necessary as to who they really are) sent on different assignments including breaks in time, people being locked in pictures, and ghosts seeking revenge for their wrongful deaths.

I was wrong to write this show off as another X-Files. Sapphire and Steel is much more thought provoking, mysterious, and different from all the other shows floating around out there. The series finale was one of the best ends to a television show I've ever seen! If I had the money, I'd buy the entire six-season DVD set, but since I'm broke I'll have to live with repeatedly renting it from Netflix. It's a definite guilty pleasure of mine.

10/10 - I recommend it anyone with an open-mind who has a couple of hours to kill on a rainy day.

Absolutely Fabulous (1992–2012)

Absolutely Amazing Show

[29 January 2005]

I'm going to be honest. The first time I saw the show, I didn't like it one bit. It annoyed me and I didn't find it funny. But one afternoon I was stuck in bed with a cold and Absolutely Fabulous happened to be on. I decided to give it another chance.

Wow, am I glad that I gave it second chance!

Absolutely Fabulous has a definite oddball sense of humor that can be really hilarious. I find myself laughing out loud at the oddest comments and jokes. Joanna Lumley and Jennifer Saunders are a great team and never cease to impress me. I own almost all the DVDs and I don't typically buy television shows on DVD, usless I really enjoy them. As the tag line says, sin is in, sweetie! 10/10