Review: Odeum Theater Brings Hilarious MST3K WEEKEND to East Greenwich

There's no denying that Rhode Island has numerous venues for exciting entertainment events. There are the big ones that are well-known, like Providence Performing Arts Center and The Vets in downtown Providence. But there are also a number of smaller venues throughout the state, like the Stadium Theater in Woonsocket and the Odeum in East Greenwich, which also bring in great events. This weekend, the ninety year old theater tucked into historic buildings along Main Street in East Greenwich is hosting a two-day event celebrating the hit comedy TV show Mystery Science Theater 3000.

On Friday night, one hour before the event, fans were lined up down the sidewalk, waiting to get into the Odeum. For those who aren't as knowledgeable about the show as those devoted fans, a quick refresher. Mystery Science Theater 3000 (MST3K) originally appeared on a local Minneapolis station in 1988 and then ran on Comedy Central for six seasons before switching to the Sci-Fi Channel for its final three seasons. The show's unique premise had a human (Joel and later Mike) and his robot friends trapped on a spaceship, floating somewhere in space, in the near future, and forced to watch terrible movies. As they viewed the movies, we viewers at home would see their silhouette, as if we were seated behind them, watching with them. During the always-terrible, worst-of-the-worst movies, Joel or Mike and the two robots (Crow and Tom Servo) would "riff" on the movie, making fast-paced, quick-witted, sarcastic, snarky and hilarious jokes and remarks about the action happening in the movie.

MST3K was and still is a unique experience that is as entertaining, fun and hilarious today as it was twenty-five years ago. There have likely been imitators over those years who have tried to recreate the feel of the show, especially in the age of YouTube, but none have ever been able to exactly replicate it's quality or its success. At the Odeum on Friday, Joel Hodgson, the show's creator, appeared on stage in between the evening's double-feature, to answer questions from the adoring fans in attendance.

Hodgson was extremely down to earth, humble and appreciative as he fielded about everything from the earliest origins of the show to how the terrible movies for each episode were chosen. One particularly interesting factoid for this audience member, and fan of the show for many years, was that they actually watched each movie seven times, while writing and assigning all of the jokes. To me, the show always had such an improvised, off-the-cuff feel, I had no idea everything was so pre-planned. Another great moment came when a very young fan asked Hodgson about one specific joke from one specific episode, and how they had come up with it. Hodgson could not remember but rewarded the fan with a boxed DVD set. He gave out a number of free itmes to fans who asked questions, while also gently ribbing some of the questioners and showing the same great sense of humor he brought to the show so many years ago.

While the evening provided fans the opportunity to meet and ask questions to Joel, it also gave them the opportunity to see a double-feature of MST3K episodes, without commercial interruption, of course. The first was an episode Hodgson called his favorite, featuring a movie titled I Accuse My Parents, which was preceded by a short educational film called The Truck Farmer. The short film was a kind of infomercial or public service announcement about farmers in the south and the food they provide to the northern states during the winter. The dated documentary (from 1954) provided the MST3K cast the chance to offer some hilarious humor which was still amazingly relevant and relatable today. Just as side-splitting was the riffing they did during I Accuse My Parents, a movie from the mid-1940 featuring a young m an who falls into a life of crime and blames his parents for the dark road he ends up following.

After Hodgson spoke with the audience, he introduced the evening's second episode, featuring one of the most hilariously bad movies of all time, The Pumaman. This Italian-produced movie in English from 1980 features a man who finds out that he is somehow a descendent of gods who have given him the power to turn into a superhero known as Pumaman. All by itself, this movie is hilarious and well-worth watching just for how bad it is. When given the MST3K treatment, it turns into something even greater, something that had the Odeum crowd laughing non-stop for ninety minutes. It was impressive to see just how well the MST3K episodes stand up over time, how the humor is still just as fresh and funny, and relevant, as it was when the show first aired. It's amazing to see just how many jokes fill each episode, how many of them land perfectly, and how many references there are, touching on everything from The Grapes of Wrath to MTV to Edgar Allan Poe to James Bond to NATO and even Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet.

Friday's event was only the first of the two-day MST3K weekend. On Saturday, Hodgson was back at the Odeum, bringing even more fun and entertainment with "Riffing Myself" and "Joel's Favorite Shorts." As he promised on Friday night, "Riffing Myself," is likely to be filled with even more great stories of his time on the show as well as his life before and after its run.He also noted on Friday that Saturday would allow him the chance to autograph items for fans. If the shorts included in his "Favorites" are anything like The Truck Farmer we saw on Friday, they will no doubt be hilarious and well worth the price of admissions.

For fans of MST3K, this was absolutely a must-see event, and they no doubt filled the seats of the Odeum this weekend. If you're not a fan of the show, or know nothing about it, I urge you to seek it out, whether it's this kind of live event, online somewhere or through whatever DVD or even VHS supplier you use. There really is nothing quite like MST3K, even though Hodgson himself admitted on Friday night that somebody could certainly recreate it or do it again on one of the thousands of TV channels that now exist. Even if someone does that, you should accept no substitutions. The original is and likely always will be the best. Check it out. You'll be glad you did.

For more information about the Odeum in East Greenwich and their upcoming events, check out their website, www.theodeum.org. For more information about MST3K, there's an official fan site, www.mst3kinfo.com.

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