Little Bit of TTPCTS, Mixed With MST3K

[teddog]

Alrighty, so this was started by me watching MST3K, seeing a post over at mst3k and pondering some things. I know there's some Mystery Science Theater 3000 fans here, so let's discuss this!

(TTPCTS = Take The Plot Concept Too Seriously, if you're not familiar with that)

The post was actually a link to the NBC Mystery Movie theme. If you've never seen it before...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zaWuXHMrwXo
It's an amazingly delightful retro TV theme on its own. Note that NBC Mystery Movie only ran from 71-77. It's referenced in the show A LOT. There's a whole skit based around it in Teenagers from Outer Space.

"I taste copper!"

Now, looking up the NBC Mystery Movie also found the ABC Movie of the Week theme:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rM-Vkd7On2Q

Which is mentioned in at least the episode Pod People. The ABC Movie of the Week ran from 69-76, although I don't know how long that theme was used. The reference in the movie is only to the original theme.

Now, here comes the ""It's just a show, I should really just relax" part.

The robots should only have memories of media from 1989 and onward, 1988 if you want to include KTMA. But they're kids of the late 80s, in either case. Therefore, any references after to come from two sources:

1 - Joel showed them copies of the original shows. This seems to be the case in terms of the ABC Movie of the Week, because the bots know a stupid amount about Killdozer and probably watched the original movie.

2 - Joel accidentally-on-purpose programmed them with knowledge of these shows, possibly to give them something to relate to, sorta like how parents discuss the shows they watched and claim that they're so much better than the crap on TV today.

Now, if you want to take the theory that Joel Robinson's age is the same as Joel Hodgson's age, Joel would only have been born in 1960. So, these are really shows and references from Joel's childhood. Given how much they're mentioned on the show, Joel places a high personal value on these memories.

The question is... why? I don't think this is ever really addressed on the show, unless you count the skit about the 1960s on the episode Catalina Caper. That is a strange mix of Joel's fond memories and odd rants about his parents. Otherwise, I'm drawing a blank.

Okay, fellow MiSTies.... why do you think Joel seems to cling to his childhood? Is it the side effect of his youthful personality and he's just very in-tune with his inner child? Is it nostalgia run amok? Is it actually the side effect some event in Joel's past? Or possibly homesickness from Earth? THIS GEEK WANTS TO KNOW!

Comments

[pyat.livejournal.com]

It makes sense - the only media he has access to is old movies, so he'd be viewing them in the light of his childhood experiences. He can't form new experiences, and the bots don't have access to anything new either.

Though, you ever notice how Mike occasionally gets really bitter about his early professional life?

[commanderteddog.livejournal.com]

I don't think we know if the only media Joel has access to is old movies, though. That wouldn't explain how the bots know references to media that would be "modern" to them: Twin Peaks, Tiny Toons, etc.

It could be that Joel has to actively choose not to form new experiences. To pull an example from PoG, because the set-ups for the shows are so close, Commander Rick would rather watch reruns of old science fiction shows on obscure TV stations than watch newer series when he's bored. If Joel was like Rick, it would be because he's seeking media comfort food.

The Mike thing actually comes up in the show, though. It's a plot point in the episode Time Chasers. Pretty much the side effect of a misspent youth.