I have been endlessly fascinated with the paracalculus of suck to awesome applied to shows like SNL.
"Anything after 79 is bullshit!" "Anything after 93 is bullshit!"
When did the Simpsons start to suck, again? Was it after season 5 or 6? Or was it still pretty good until season 12? Was it when they introduced fantastic elements outside of the Halloween episodes?
And didn't M.A.S.H. really start to suck when BJ started wearing that fucken pink shirt? Or was it when Trapper left in the first place?
In the end, we are all going to die by fire--pointless, conceptually muddled, fire.
"The fire was okay, but it didn't really start to suck until--AAAGH FIRE!!!"
:::gulp:::
:::slams drink on table:::
:::apologetically droops out of bar:::
Really, the plug should have been pulled in the mid-90s, when every sketch was lame and the studio audience was mostly quiet except for nervous laughs and awkward "uh, should I be laughing now?" chuckles.
Never mind SNL, let's have a Joel vs Mike debate. But give me ten minutes so I can go and make some popcorn.
(It takes that long because I can't stand microwave popcorn. If you want the best tasting popcorn in the world, here's how to do it: use 3 tbsp canola oil, and half a cup of corn. Put the oil and a couple of kernels in a covered pot, heat over medium heat till those kernels start popping. Pour in the rest of the corn. Pop for about 5-6 minutes, or until it slows down to 1-2 seconds between pops. Shake the pot every now and then, and oven mitts are a good idea at this stage. Once the it slows down to 1-2 seconds between pops, turn off the heat. Leave it covered for another minute or so, as some of the kernels might pop even after the heat is turned off. Add salt, if desired. Enjoy!)
As the cosmic cycle of Death and Rebirth goes on, so too does the SNL cycle of Funny and Suck, forever waxing from Suck to Funny, forever waning from Funny to Suck.
Also, I find the Joel v. Mike divide usually comes down to who was the host for the first few episodes of the show you saw. I started watching Joel episodes, and still have a soft spot for him and his accordion vacuum.
Joel, no contest. Mike had his moments but his delivery wasn't as good and he marked the beginning of the end of MST3k writing for themselves instead of the audience.
The first ones I saw were Joel yet I'll say that the Mike episodes were way better hands down. Better delivery, better writing. Too many Joel jokes flatly spelled out the premise right before the punchline.
The best you can say about the Joel episodes was that Frank + the Doctor > Bobo + Pearl.
Good thing that didn't happen today, or he'd be assassinated by the president via Predator Drone while the Tom Servo puppet went down in history as Gitmo's most enhanced interrogation resistant prisoner. Mike Nelson would make the Fox News circuit where he'd inevitably punch Geraldo and Crow T. Robot would become the new Republican candidate for president, since he's the one with the charisma.
Meanwhile TV's Frank writes a tell-all about his affair with Gypsy and Cambot is seized by the police after recording them beating an Occupy Gizmonics protester.
This was the routine that ended with him asking the home viewing audience to turn their TV on its side then donning a batman mask and using the mike cord to 'climb up' the stage.