Chris Hardwick's Blog, page 2124

The TWIN PEAKS Theme Performed in SEINFELD-Style is Way Too ’90s

Twin Peaks and Seinfeld are really two sides of the 90’s television coin. One one hand, Twin Peaks is a dark look at murder, and on the flip side, Seinfeld isn’t about that much at all. Where the two iconic shows overlap, though, is in music. In very different ways, music is an important part of the show. While the Twin Peaks theme song is dark and moody but also optimistic, Seinfeld‘s musical introduction is famous for the goofy oddity of its synth bass and mouth sounds.

These two songs probably shouldn’t be mixed together in any way, but somebody went and did it anyway. The result is surprisingly coherent, but let’s not forget that it’s also very, very silly (via BoingBoing).

The original Twin Peaks theme reflects macabre but hopeful life in a small town, and here, even though it’s played with the iconic slap bass sound, that vibe still shines through. It’s odd in nature, yes, but in execution, it’s more effective than you’d think. It goes to show that the Seinfeld song was upbeat and kooky because it wanted to be, not because it was limited by its oddball instrumentation.

We’re not sure how this was made, but if it was anything like how the original Seinfeld music was made, it must have been a real process. What do you think of this super ’90s mash-up? Would Agent Cooper approve, or do you not want to even consider that because a fictional character knowing that he’s in a TV show that has a theme song would be way too meta? Let us know what you think!

Featured image: ABC, NBC

DESTINY 2’s Nathan Fillion-Filled Teaser Has Us Stoked

Guardians, your destiny awaits.

With the official reveal trailer for Destiny 2 dropping tomorrow, Bungie decided to keep the hype-train going by dropping a very funny cinematic teaser featuring Nathan Fillion reprising his role of Cayde-6, everyone’s favorite Hunter Vanguard. Our good friend is kicking back at what looks like some sort of Guardian bar, sipping on a drink (it looks like he may have had more than just one drink) while telling a grand story about a time he was attacked during some “super boring meeting” and had to do “a lot of shooting.” Once he finished reciting his tale, the camera pans out to show that he’s actually in the middle of a battlefield in the ruins of the Last City (an important location in the world). Feast your eyes on the hilarity above.

Despite the tongue-in-cheek nature of the clip, there’s actually quite a lot we can glean about the upcoming game. First, that there’s actually humor in it–one of the main complaints fans had of the original game was that it took itself way too seriously. There was never any levity to bring some soul to the game. Second, having Nathan Fillion’s voice prominently featured in the teaser could be a hint that he’ll be playing a bigger role in the sequel–one can only hope. Why not put that great talent to good use?

Regarding tomorrow’s official reveal trailer, we’re hoping to see some actual gameplay, and maybe a hint at the direction Bungie is heading regarding the changes and improvements that are on the way in the sequel. Our wish-list includes a more comprehensive narrative, and hopefully a more robust campaign. The first game was criticized—rightfully so—for creating an interesting universe that had very little backstory and substance.

An overhaul on the leveling system and loot drops would also be appreciated. For many, it was a drag that players weren’t able to level up to the max (which meant you weren’t ready for a raid) because they were missing one piece of armor. I remember having to complete the Vault of Glass over five times to get all of the armor I needed to progress my ranking. The grind became a point of contention for many. Equally, making it easier to get rare loot without making the game a breeze would be appreciated. Overall, simplifying the leveling system would go a long way in making it easier for new players to jump in.

Making the planets more expansive and alive would also make for a much more interesting experience. I’d like to see more secrets hidden around the explorable planets. The first game did have hidden chests in caves and such, so Bungie was already headed in that direction.

A personal wish of mine would be to have Peter Dinklage back to voice the in-game Ghost. I know he wasn’t great in the first game, but he brought some much needed charm. His VO became a sort of joke among those who played hundreds of hours of Destiny. Bring Dinklebot back!

What do you guys hope to see announced tomorrow? Are there any features you’d like added to Destiny 2? Are you even interested in a sequel? Drop your thoughts in the comment section below!

Image: Bungie

7 Things We Noticed in the SPIDER-MAN: HOMECOMING Trailer

Get ready, Marvel fans! The second trailer for Spider-Man: Homecoming has arrived, and it looks like Peter Parker has his hands full with more than just the Vulture! He’s having some problems with his mentor on top of the usual high school drama. What’s a friendly neighborhood Spider-Man supposed to do about all of that? Today’s Nerdist News is breaking down the latest footage from Spidey’s first solo story in the MCU!

Join host and freelance Daily Bugle contributor Jessica Chobot as she takes us through the second Homecoming trailer and the many story details that have finally been revealed. We knew there was a battle brewing between Spidey and the Vulture, but we didn’t see conflict with Tony Stark on the horizon!

It looks like Iron Man‘s teen protegee may have screwed up on a boat rescue, and lost the backing and the fancy suit that Stark gave him. It’s also worth noting that the general public doesn’t seem to know that Captain America is a fugitive, or that the Avengers have essentially split in two.

Peter’s school life also makes a lot more sense now, since it appears that he and Ned Leeds are roommates at a school devoted to science and technology. Peter and Ned’s collaboration may also explain how Spider-Man reclaims at least some of his familiar tricks, even if he doesn’t get the costume back from Stark.

What did you think about the new trailer for Spider-Man: Homecoming? Let us know in the comment section below!

Armie Hammer and Sharlto Copley Face Off for a Nerf Gun Duel

We here at Nerdist abhor violence.

Unless it involves Nerf guns.

Then we not only support it, we are willing and eager to sanction it. Which is why at this year’s South by Southwest we asked Armie Hammer and Sharlto Copley to give our audience a real live taste of what they can expect from their new film, Free Fire, with a mano-e-mano Nerf gun duel.

The two actors, along with the film’s director Ben Wheatley, sat down with our own Dan Casey earlier this month at Austin’s SXSW to discuss the movie, which we described in our review as a “bloody, violent, darkly comedic tale of an arms deal gone awry.” But we figured, why only talk about the film when we can have a fun, exciting–and most importantly foam safe–recreation of its gun-toting action?

We won’t give away the result of this epic-ish battle, so you’ll have to watch it yourself to see if Armie dropped the hammer (nailed it), or if Copley turned out to be a sharlt-eyed shot (oh god we are so sorry). But we will say you should be very, very wary of accepting a gun fight under “South African” rules.

For those of you that were unable to visit us at SXSW, or for anyone who might still be unfamiliar with Free Fire, you can watch Dan’s entire interview with Hammer, Copley, and Wheatley right here.

We’ve been excited for Free Fire ever since we first saw the trailer for it last September, and it’s not exactly hard to understand why. It’s a throwback to classic midnight movies (it even takes place in the 70s), set inside a warehouse where two Boston gangs have been trapped following a failed arms deal. If you are worried it might not be violent enough for such a premise, don’t worry: Martin Scorsese is an executive producer on the movie.

Plus, besides Hammer and Copley, the cast also includes Academy Award winner and soon-to-be Captain Marvel Brie Larson, as well as one of our other favorites, Cillian Murphy. Fittingly for a movie about guns, this cast is loaded.

And even if we didn’t know any of that, the awesome retro-style poster for the movie from Mondo, that we were able to bring to you exclusively, would have had us ready to get locked and loaded to see it. It might not show off any of the film’s great cast, but it does feature the main star of the movie.

Image: Mondo/Jay Shaw

Look at the size of that gun. See? We didn’t just willy nilly ask these guys to have a Nerf gun duel. We had a very good reason for doing so.

Not that we really need one when it comes to Nerf gun fights.

Free Fire hits theaters on April 21st.

What other classic movies does Free Fire remind you of? And what other actors should we ask to duel with Nerf guns? Fire off your best ideas in our comments section below.

SUPERGIRL Lets Its Female Villains Be Villains

Editor’s Note: this post contains major spoilers for Monday night’s new episode of Supergirl. Read at your own risk if you aren’t caught up with the season!

Last night’s episode of Supergirl, “Distant Sun,” was pretty much an exercise in deception and betrayal as played out via the royal family of Daxam. Since their arrival on Earth, King Lar Gand (Kevin Sorbo) and Queen Rhea (Teri Hatcher) have made no secret of their intentions to bring Mon-El (Chris Wood) back to Daxam so that he can assume his true place as ruler, but their demands aren’t merely a result of familial desire for their son’s success—and Queen Rhea’s feelings towards her son’s new romantic partner, Kara Zor-El (Melissa Benoist) don’t stop at mere dislike. In fact, Rhea goes to some pretty evil lengths against the Girl of Steel as well as her own family, and the best part is that she does so unapologetically, which has made the Daxam story arc one of the most unexpectedly entertaining plots this season and Rhea one of its most exciting new villains.

As we saw in Monday night’s episode, Mon-El’s mother was willing to go as far as putting out a contract hit on Kara to ensure that she wouldn’t interfere in a twisted version of “family business.” After defeating a series of alien bounty hunters, Kara attempted to meet with Rhea face-to-face to get her to call things off—but she didn’t exactly get the response she was hoping for, as Rhea proceeded to stab Supergirl with a pair of kryptonite blades with the obvious intention of, well, killing her. Yet it seemed that this was still just a warning sign of what was simmering beneath Rhea’s cool exterior.

At the very end of the episode, after Lar Gand intervened to assure Mon-El and Kara’s safe return to Earth, Rhea turned around and killed her own husband for what she viewed as a betrayal of their family, essentially solidifying her status as a mustache-twilling villain for the latter portion of season two. Lar Gand’s death was jarring, but it accomplished something far better: it was the evidence that Rhea has reached her tipping point. Now that we know she’s willing to murder her own family, it looks as if she’ll stop at nothing to ensure her plans succeed.

It’s not the first time Supergirl has doubled down on its villains by having them ascend (or more accurately, descend) to a brand-new level of evil. Lillian Luthor (Brenda Strong), who operated under the mysterious title of the Doctor from the season two premiere until her identity reveal in the fifth episode, “Crossfire,” serves as the head of Supergirl’s pervasive enemy, Project Cadmus. Over the course of the second season, Cadmus has been responsible for some of the show’s most intimidating and recognizable characters for fans of the comic source material—including Metallo and Cyborg Superman—and has had a significant hand in causing many of the problems faced by Supergirl and her team at the DEO. From anti-alien viruses to equipping street gangs with alien weapons, Lillian has been orchestrating those events like a glorified puppet master, escaping the DEO’s attempts to apprehend her on multiple occasions.

What makes Supergirl‘s female villains like Lillian and Queen Rhea work so well (aside from the sheer number, because there have been many of them and they’re as different in their goals as they are in their personalities) is that the show allows them to fully lean into their villainy. In a storytelling world where so many bad guys experience the tried and tired redemption arc that somehow hand-waves away all of their terrible behavior, it’s a welcome change to watch a show where there’s no expectation that the evil-doers will suddenly have a moment of clarity, or recognize the good that was inside them all along. And because we see it so often, the redemption arc has almost become a narrative cop-out, a means of changing direction that minimizes the impact of evil in retrospect.

There’s also no question that when it comes to villains, it’s often the female characters who are given bigger opportunities to make amends for their destruction—which is why it’s thrilling that two of Supergirl‘s biggest bad guys are mothers. (Jury’s still out on the possibly-maybe bad Madam President, alien usurper.) The combination of protective maternal instincts and the need to act in what they believe to be their children’s best interests allows for motives that are more complex than the need to create chaos, and characters like Lillian Luthor and Queen Rhea of Daxam are proof that older women can be just as much forces to be reckoned with as some of the most terrifying baddies around.

What did you think of last night’s Supergirl? Let us know in the comments below.

Images: The CW

Titan Comics’ PENNY DREADFUL Takes Us Back to the Demimonde (Review)

In the past, Penny Dreadful would be airing their season premiere on Showtime right about now. Alas, series creator John Logan decided to end the show last year with the third season, even though fans were left wanting more. Luckily, publisher Titan Comics is continuing to expand the world of Penny Dreadful with a sequel series coming this year and this recently released, 5-part prequel miniseries comic, Penny Dreadful, Vol. 1.

For those of you out there who never watched the series during its three season run, the show was a reimagining of classic 19th century horror novels, taking elements from Mary Shelly’s Frankenstein, Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Oscar Wilde’s The Picture of Dorian Gray, and eventually, The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and mashing them up together. Although the series was very faithful to the original novels, there were many times when Penny Dreadful deviates from established canon completely.

The main characters of the series—Sir Malcolm Murray (Timothy Dalton)Ethan Chandler (Josh Hartnett), and Vanessa Ives (Eva Green)—were entirely new creations, related to Mina Murray Harker (the main female protagonist in Dracula). Having said that, Mina herself is only briefly seen in the series, as she’s really just a entry point for all of our new characters.

From TV series writers Krysty Wilson Cairns, Chris King, and Andrew Hinderaker, with illustrations by Louie De Martinis, this particular story fills in many of the story gaps from the very first season of the show. Centered on Sir Malcolm Murray—a famous British 19th century adventurer—and his companion, the mysterious Vanessa Ives, the duo set out to rescue Murray’s daughter Mina from the clutches of a sinister “Master” vampire who, although unnamed, we know to be Dracula. It’s mentioned very briefly in the series, but this Master vampire had Mina abducted from side of of her new husband, a man named Jonathan Harker. This is a name that should be very familiar to anyone who has read or seen an adaptation of Dracula before.

Now, On the actual TV show, we only ever get that very brief mention of Harker and never see him on screen—despite being the lead character in Bram Stoker’s original novel. It’s in this story that we meet not only Harker, but his friends from Stoker’s book, like the Texan gunman Quincy P. Morris, and Mina’s friend (and fellow victim of Dracula’s bite) Lucy Westenra. This story finally reveals how all these classic characters fit into the overall Penny Dreadful narrative.

The first several pages of this story are actually a retelling of scenes from the fifth episode of the season one, “Closer than Sisters,” which revealed the backstory of Vanessa Ives and the Murray family. In that episode, we learned that Vanessa and Mina Murray were childhood best friends, but she betrayed her by having an affair with Mina’s fiancé before the wedding (which Mina later discovered).

The utter shame and sadness at her own actions allowed the already psychic Vanessa to become vulnerable to the demon world, which was a years-long struggle for her to overcome. When she eventually does overcome it, and when her old friend Mina is abducted by Dracula, she offers her unique psychic services to help her father Sir Malcolm find her—and hopefully save her and atone for her own sins.

The story in these pages takes us outside the known narrative of the show, as we follow Sir Malcolm, Vanessa, and Sembene (Malcolm’s African manservant) as they take a carriage to the home of Mina’s husband Jonathan. Chaos ensues, and the trio are forced to look elsewhere for Minda. We also get a bit more of Jonathan’s side of the story, and discover how Mina was seduced and taken by the Master Vampire.

This story gives us flashbacks within flashbacks, as we also get an extended story where we learn how Malcolm Murray lost his son on an African expedition many years ago, and why he and the African Sembene have formed the lifelong bond we see on the TV series. This is a story that is only hinted at in the show itself, so its nice to see it fully fleshed out here.

Eventually, the story dovetails nicely into the beginning of the series, and actually explains a lot of many different things that were left open to interpretation on the TV show in a satisfactory way. After a kind of awkward first chapter dialogue wise, the story begins to echo the language used on the show far more readily, and you feel like you’re immersed in an episode you never saw. John Logan’s florid writing style is hard to match well in comic book form, but eventually the writers get into the groove and style of Penny Dreadful and acquit themselves admirably. Which makes total sense once you remember they wrote for the TV series as well.

As can be a problem in adapting live-action content to the comic form, the art can sometimes look like the artist was just taking still frames from the series and tracing them over a light board. Some like this style while others do not, but all that aside, the actual composition in this graphic novel is actually really well done and beautiful to view. The color palette is particularly impressive here, and some of these pages are worthy of framing. At the end of the day, I have to hand it to artist Louie De Martinis,who handled the entire artwork for this book by himself.

If you’re a big fan of Penny Dreadful and miss it as much as I do, I definitely recommend picking up this collection, as it adds enough new elements to the story that are interesting and sure to excite fans of the source material. Aside from that, there are some nice behind-the-scenes text pieces about the TV series contained in the back of the book that most fans will love. We may no longer have Penny Dreadful on TV, but if Titan Comics keeps making quality spin-offs like this one, it’s sure to keep most fans of the TV series very happy.

4 out of 5 Spooky Burritos:

 

Penny Dreadful: Volume 1  is available at comic book stores and at online retailers now. Are you going to pick it up? Let us know in the comments below!

Images: Titan Comics / Showtime

Mondo’ New Disney Art Show Wants You to “Never Grow Up”

Growing up is overrated. I eschew the trappings of being an adult whenever I can, and I’m not alone. Mondo is teaming up with Cyclops Print Works to present a Disney art exhibit with that very theme called Never Grow Up: A Disney Art Show. This isn’t the first time Mondo and Disney have worked together; they put on a “Nothing’s Impossible” show a few years ago. “Never Grow Up” looks to be just as lovely with work from more than 25 of Mondo’s most well-known artists.

Which artists, you ask? The likes of Craig Drake, Dave Perillo, Tom Whalen, Rosemary Valero-O’Connell, and Ken Taylor. The latter is responsible for this killer Big Hero 6 piece:

Taylor said, “Big Hero 6 is my eldest daughters favorite, and I love so much about this film. The story is super fun but it’s the city that gets me in–the opportunity to draw San Fransokyo has been a blast and one of the best film poster experiences I have had.”

View a couple more sneak peeks from the Never Grow Up show in the gallery below (whee, rhyming!). You’ll find a 101 Dalmatians piece by Jonathan Burton and a beautifully designed Aladdin illustration by Matt Taylor.

You can put adulthood aside and visit the exhibit at Mondo’s Austin, Texas digs from April 28-May 13. Get Mondo Gallery’s hours and information about the snazzy opening night reception and a party for kids at their website.

Tell me: how many Mondo pieces do you have in your collection? Will you be swinging into this show to admire the art and try to score some prints? Head to the comments and let me know.

Images: Mondo/Cyclop Prints

New Studio Ghibli Tea Line Means You Can Have Totoro Tea

Totoro tea for me, please. That’s a sentence I didn’t know I wanted to say, but now that I know Studio Ghibli-inspired tea is a thing, I can’t wait to make Totoro tea over and over. Rocket News 24 reports Japanese retailer Benelic is working with Lupicia to issue a collection of tea inspired by Ghibli animated films. Can you imagine curling up with a piping hot cuppa Kiki next time you settle in for a Studio Ghibli marathon? I know that you can and that you’re already ordering a special mug for the occasion.

The initial release features loose leaf tea blends based on Kiki’s Delivery Service and My Neighbor Totoro.

Let’s take a closer look at the real star of any and all collections: Totoro! The art on the tin features a napping Totoro, which is ideal because look how cute he is. Of course, if you drink a lot of tea, it’s likely going to eliminate any desire you have to take a nap.

This blend, appropriately titled “Napping Totoro,” is a green tea that’s sourced from Sayama, in the Kanto region of Japan. As Rocket News 24 points out, the Sayama Hills are home to Totoro’s Forest, the place where Hayao Miyazaki found inspiration for My Neighbor Totoro.

See the Jiji and Kiki blends in the gallery below. The “Jiji and Butterfly” tin contains a fruity rooibos tea–and hey, rooibos is an ideal evening tea choice because it doesn’t have caffeine–while the “Kiki and Townscape” tin has a black tea with strawberry and black currants. Mmm. I want to add them to my tea stash now.

The tea isn’t available for customers outside Japan yet, but third party companies that ship Japanese goods around the world will hopefully have them available soon. Fingers crossed. If you’re local to Japan, you can get your pre-order in at Donguri Kyowakoku.

If you could make a tea blend based on any Studio Ghibli characters, who would you choose and what would the blend include? E.g. I think a soot sprite would be straight up dark roast oolong tea. Tell me your choices in the comments.

Images: Studio Ghibli, Benelic

Did you know Totoro was the god of the underworld, though?

Frank Tieri Howls About JUGHEAD: THE HUNGER (Preview)

Jughead has always been a character known for chowing down, usually on a meaty burg or two. In the latest comic from the Archie Horror imprint, Jughead does some serious feasting… although it’s on human flesh as opposed to hamburgers from Pop’s. That’s right, Archie Comics has turned Jughead into a freaking werewolf and it’s just as insane as you are imagining. Maybe more so. To get the full scoop on this madness, we chatted with the book’s writer, Frank Tieri, about all the blood and death in Riverdale.

“Oh, I’m a HUGE werewolf fan,” Tieri said when asked about his affinity for human/wolf hybrids. “F**k vampires and zombies… for me it’s always been werewolves. The Wolfman, An American Werewolf in London… hell, even Frute Brute cereal. Jughead’s my fave Archie character and the Wolfman’s my fave monster—I put ‘em together and we think we’ve got some horror gold here.”

Of course, turning Jughead into a frenzied wolf monster leads to some serious brutality in the small town of Riverdale, including a vicious mauling of dear ol’ Miss Grundy in the book’s opening pages. “Ya know, it’s funny how some people are reacting to that opening Grundy scene,” Tieri said. “It’s like we actually went to their houses and whacked their grandmothers. But honestly, that’s why we did it. We kill Grundy in the first few pages on purpose, to elicit that reaction. It’s a way of letting the reader know ‘Hey, this isn’t the Archie Comics of friendly visits to the ice cream shoppe and sock hops. This is where a beloved character gets her head sliced off in the first few pages. Get ready because Jughead’s a werewolf and dark shit is happening here and no one is safe.'” Tieri promised that Grundy wouldn’t be the only Riverdale resident to suffer an untimely end at the hands of Jugwolf.

Tieri also praised issue artist Michael Walsh, who murdered the task at hand. “Michael Walsh def killed it this issue, both literally and figuratively. He was a total beast. Whatever I asked him to do, he did it, only he did it even bigger and better than what I asked for. It’s the kind of collaboration you can only hope for in this industry and I would work with the guy again in a split second.”

 

Jughead: The Hunger from Archie Comics

 

One of the coolest aspects of this one-shot is the history Tieri and Walsh build into the characters, especially Betty. “I’ll just come right and say it: I’ve always been a Betty guy over a Veronica guy,” Tieri admitted. “Sure, Ronnie’s got the money, but meanwhile everyone underestimates Betty, even though she’s obviously the smarter play, even though you know she’s the one Archie ends up with and has 2.5 kids in a house with a picket fence and living happily ever after. So, yeah, we play into that fact that she’s underestimated.”

We won’t spoil it here, but trust us when we say that Betty’s role is supremely awesome and sets up future stories in this werewolf populated version of the Archie Universe. Tieri even teased that there may be more to come, “We’ve gone to the trouble of creating this whole new universe with it’s own mythology so it would seem like a waste not to go back to it at some point, ya know?”

Jughead: The Hunger hits stands this Wednesday, 3/29 and you absolutely have to check it out. We’ve got an extended preview below, so take a peek and then head over to your local comic shop and grab a copy. It’s bloody good time.

Images: DC Comics/Archie Comics

MST3K Vol XXXVIII Celebrates the Genius of Mike Nelson (Review)

Just the same way every Doctor Who fan has their Doctor, every MSTie has their host of Mystery Science Theater 3000. Unlike the former, though, where there are 12 (or 13 or 14 depending on how pedantic you are) different Time Lord leads to argue about, as of right now, there are only two hosts, and the factions are split heavily. Obviously both are amazing and have their own distinct take on riffing. But for me, my formative years of comedy were during the Michael J. Nelson years. The genius of Mike Nelson is celebrated in the latest MST3K DVD box set–number XXXVIII!

Mike Nelson took over the hosting duties after the departure of original host and show creator Joel Hodgson in the middle of the show’s fifth season, in 1993. I have a pretty decent memory of Mike’s episodes from that year, but my parents stopped watching thereafter and I was left totally un-MST3K‘d until the beginning of the Syfy years in 1997. As such, I more or less missed out on Mike’s first full season, and his only full season on Comedy Central. Taped releases such as Bloodlust! and Red Zone Cuba allowed me to see some, but it really wasn’t until the Rhino/Shout Factory DVD releases that I’d see anything from seasons 6 or 7, depriving my youth of peak Mike-enjoyment.

Luckily, Volume 38 of the DVD range features three episodes from season 6 that I’d never seen before, and an episode from my beloved season 10 for good measure. (I gush about my love of the Syfy years here.) Each gives a great insight into what kind of host Mike was in those early yet established days aboard the Satellite of Love, trying to stave off bad-movie-madness at the hands of Dr. Clayton Forrester and TV’s Frank. Unlike Joel, who was sort of a teacher and guide to his robots, Mike was a weird older brother and they’d all play tricks on each other. Mike’s riffing style is also much more biting than Joel’s, giving his barbs some sharp edges.

Episode 602, Invasion USA, is a propaganda film from 1952 in which people say they think the government is too involved in their lives, only to have communists attack the shores. Better give in to Uncle Sam, right? This episode immediately illustrates how Mike isn’t Joel when in the first host segment, he tries to build a robot, but utterly fails, and later when he plays along as Tom tricks Crow into giving an insanely detailed and boring lecture on the differences in the two actresses who played Lois Lane on the ’50s Superman show (both starring in the movie at hand).

A few episodes later, in Episode 605, Colossus and the Headhunters, your standard sword and sandal flick, has Mike becoming transfixed by Dr. Forrester’s latest invention–the world’s cutest pet, a pink dog-like thing called Nummy Muffin Coocol Butter. In episode 618, High School Big Shot, features the short “Out of this World,” an industrial film in which an angel and a devil vie for the soul of bread delivery drivers. Mike’s riffing in this short alone (along with the bots of course) makes this one a stone cold classic.

And finally in the set we have a personal favorite of mine, Episode 1007, Track of the Moon Beast, a crappy 1970s creature feature in which a buff dude gets hit by a meteorite piece and becomes a were-lizard. Not a good movie, but it was co-written by, of all people, Batman‘s recently-recognized co-creator Bill Finger. This episode is one I’ve seen a million times and features some genius riffs about Johnny Longbow’s stew recipe, and Mike approximating Kris Kristofferson for a VH1-esque expose on The Band That Played California Lady and their big hit, “California Lady.”

Along with the usual featurettes and interviews–and four brand new movie posters by Steve Vance (see gallery below)–is a real treat, entitled “Mike, by Joel,” in which Joel Hodgson reminisces about hiring Mike as writer, and then de facto bit player, and finally as replacement host, and discusses the strengths of Mike in that role and where the show went thereafter. This is a great and surprisingly candid interview from Joel in which, among many things, he talks about how he initially thought Mike was the wrong choice as his successor.

If you’re a Mike person like I am, this set is a treasure trove of greatness, and highlights a period in the show’s history where the writing was getting extra polished and the jokes were especially weird.

Mystery Science Theater 3000 vol XXXVIII is available on Tuesday, March 28, from Shout Factory.

Images: Shout Factory/Best Brains

Kyle Anderson is the Associate Editor for Nerdist and a MSTie from days of yore. You can find his film and TV reviews here. Follow him on Twitter!

How big are them moon letters, though?