I won't say it was the best MST3K ever, but it may well be my favorite. For most of my life, Thanksgiving had been may second favorite holiday after Christmas (and in more recent years it has become my very favorite), except for one thing: That Goddamned Parade™. Oh, how I hated that thing! The only thing worse than watching a parade was listening to people talk about watching a parade. TGP was both! My parents insisted on having it on, and to make matters worse, no one was even watching it... except me. They were all busy doing one thing or another in preparation for the meal, but they wouldn't let me change the channel or turn it off. I swore to myself that once I was out of that house I would never watch TGP again, and I never have. For all I know, it may not even be on anymore (although I strongly suspect it is). After all these years I finally feel I have achieved some level of vidication.
The Baron > Jeff of Earth-JNovember 28, 2025 at 11:00am
I won't say it was the best MST3K ever, but it may well be my favorite.
Well, technically, it wasn't an MST3k at all, although one could argue that RiffTrax is essentially SciFi Channel-Era MST3K without the host segments or network censors.
I liked the Macy's parade when I was little, but I haven't seen it in years. I noticed it was available on YouTube yesterday, but I couldn't be bothered to watch it. Fifteen years ago, I went into the City to watch the parade in person. It's one of those things where I was glad that I did it just to see what it was like, but I have no desire to ever do it again. (There's a Japanese saying to the effect that everyone should climb Mount Fuji once, but only a fool climbs it more than once. That's kind of how I feel about this.) What it was like was getting up at the crack of dawn on Thanksgiving and taking the LIRR* into the City, only to find that it was already super crowded - there was no way on God's Green Earth that I was going to get up early enough to take the 4:30 a.m. train into the City, which is what I would've needed to do to get a good spot - and that I was lucky to be Cyberman-sized because I wouldn't have seen sh*t, otherwise. Then there was the standing outside in 40 degree weather (4.4 C for our friends in metric lands) for several hours waiting for the parade to start, and more afterwards waiting for the crowd to disperse enough for me to walk back to Penn Station to catch a train home. I'm sure that it would be much better if you knew someone who could get access to one of the buildings along the parade route.
MY THREE SONS: I recently mentioned in another thread that my local TV market while I was growing up carried only the color, post-Mike episodes and that I wasn't able to watch any of the William Frawley b&w episodes until I went away to college. still, I never became nearly as familiar with the early episodes as I was with the color ones. My plan had been to wait until I was finished with season four of The Beverly Hillbillies (the last one I will be watching at this time) before delving into My Three Sons, but I just couldn't wait. So far I have watched onthe first episode. I couldn't tell which which of the early episodes I have seen, but I can tell you for sure I haven't seen the very first episode (nor, I'm guessing, any of the first seasons ones) so these will likely all be new to me.
The first thing I noticed about S1 E1 is the oppressive laugh track. If I haven't mentioned it before, I hate laugh tracks. When Tracy and I decided to watch all of M*A*S*H several years ago, we bought the entire series set because that's the only format in which turning off the laugh track is an option. (I wish more sit-coms on DVD had that option.) I have learned to tolerate it on Leave it to Beaver and The Beverly Hillbillies, but the one on My Three Sons is obnoxious. The "audience" laughs uproarioulsy at lines that should rate a mild chuckle at best, drowning out other dialogue. I'm only one episode in, but I really hope they get better at this, and soon.
On laugh tracks: On a recent episode of Georgie and Mandy's First Marriage (set in the mid-'90s), I forget which TV show they were watching, but it didn't have a laugh track. Georgie protested, "But this is a comedy. Without a laugh track, how are you supposed to know when something's funny?"
The Baron > Jeff of Earth-JDecember 7, 2025 at 1:52pm
I remember when I was very little and did not yet know that laugh tracks were a thing, I began to suspect something when I would hear the exact same laughter on different episodes of a given show.
I also remember watching I Love Lucy (which I read years later did not use a laugh track) and hearing Desi Arnaz's distinct laughter coming from off-camera during scenes in which he was not participating.
So far I have watched only the fist episode [of My Three Sons]. I couldn't tell which which of the early episodes I have seen, but I can tell you for sure I haven't seen the very first episode (nor, I'm guessing, any of the first seasons ones) so these will likely all be new to me.
The quality of the first season of My Three Sons is slightly higher than the remaining eleven seasons, and the individual episodes show more creativity---due to the direction of Peter Tewksbury. Unfortunately, there was a price paid for that. Mr. Tewksbury often ran over budget---too often---and he was fired after that inaugural season. The show did not get terrible afterward. Far from it. But the subtle touches that Tewksbury brought to the show are noticeably gone.
If you haven't gotten there already, you're about to hit three superior episodes in a row, Jeff.
The second episode, "The Little Ragpicker" (first aired 06 Oct 1960), expertly mines humour from natural (as opposed to contrived) misunderstandings, and is probably the funniest episode of the season.
The third episode, "Bub in the Ointment" (13 Oct 1960), has a nice scene in which Steve reminds Mike---and thus, brings the viewers up to speed---of how Bub came into the Douglases' lives after the death of his daughter.
The fourth episode, "Countdown" (20 Oct 1960), is one of the most brilliantly written sitcom episodes I've ever seen (beaten out only by "Short Wave", from Father Knows Best). I won't elabourate because I don't want to risk spoiling it for you in any way.
I began to suspect something when I would hear the exact same laughter on different episodes of a given show.
There's a story told in certain circles about a radio show being performed in front of a live audience by Bob Hope and Groucho Marx. As legend has it, Hope dropped his script accidentally and gotr a HUGE laugh. Not to be outdone, Groucho dropped his script on purpose, to even more laughter. The hope went to pick his script up off the stage, and Groucho stepped on it. Groucho wouldn't remove his foot forcing them both to ad lib the rest of the performance. It is this incident which led to Groucho's long-running quiz show, You Bet Your Life, but it is said that the long stretches of unitnerrupted laughter were used on lagh tracks for years to come.
If you haven't gotten there already, you're about to hit three superior episodes in a row, Jeff.
I'm looking forward to them. My usual pace is one episode per day, so I'll check back in here with my thoughts no later than Tuesday.
Replies
That was hilarious.
I won't say it was the best MST3K ever, but it may well be my favorite. For most of my life, Thanksgiving had been may second favorite holiday after Christmas (and in more recent years it has become my very favorite), except for one thing: That Goddamned Parade™. Oh, how I hated that thing! The only thing worse than watching a parade was listening to people talk about watching a parade. TGP was both! My parents insisted on having it on, and to make matters worse, no one was even watching it... except me. They were all busy doing one thing or another in preparation for the meal, but they wouldn't let me change the channel or turn it off. I swore to myself that once I was out of that house I would never watch TGP again, and I never have. For all I know, it may not even be on anymore (although I strongly suspect it is). After all these years I finally feel I have achieved some level of vidication.
I won't say it was the best MST3K ever, but it may well be my favorite.
Well, technically, it wasn't an MST3k at all, although one could argue that RiffTrax is essentially SciFi Channel-Era MST3K without the host segments or network censors.
I liked the Macy's parade when I was little, but I haven't seen it in years. I noticed it was available on YouTube yesterday, but I couldn't be bothered to watch it. Fifteen years ago, I went into the City to watch the parade in person. It's one of those things where I was glad that I did it just to see what it was like, but I have no desire to ever do it again. (There's a Japanese saying to the effect that everyone should climb Mount Fuji once, but only a fool climbs it more than once. That's kind of how I feel about this.) What it was like was getting up at the crack of dawn on Thanksgiving and taking the LIRR* into the City, only to find that it was already super crowded - there was no way on God's Green Earth that I was going to get up early enough to take the 4:30 a.m. train into the City, which is what I would've needed to do to get a good spot - and that I was lucky to be Cyberman-sized because I wouldn't have seen sh*t, otherwise. Then there was the standing outside in 40 degree weather (4.4 C for our friends in metric lands) for several hours waiting for the parade to start, and more afterwards waiting for the crowd to disperse enough for me to walk back to Penn Station to catch a train home. I'm sure that it would be much better if you knew someone who could get access to one of the buildings along the parade route.
*Stands for "Long Island Rail Road"
There's a Japanese saying to the effect that everyone should climb Mount Fuji once, but only a fool climbs it more than once.
I like that. Similar to your story, I went to Times Square on New Year's Eve once, but I have no need to ever do so again.
MY THREE SONS: I recently mentioned in another thread that my local TV market while I was growing up carried only the color, post-Mike episodes and that I wasn't able to watch any of the William Frawley b&w episodes until I went away to college. still, I never became nearly as familiar with the early episodes as I was with the color ones. My plan had been to wait until I was finished with season four of The Beverly Hillbillies (the last one I will be watching at this time) before delving into My Three Sons, but I just couldn't wait. So far I have watched onthe first episode. I couldn't tell which which of the early episodes I have seen, but I can tell you for sure I haven't seen the very first episode (nor, I'm guessing, any of the first seasons ones) so these will likely all be new to me.
The first thing I noticed about S1 E1 is the oppressive laugh track. If I haven't mentioned it before, I hate laugh tracks. When Tracy and I decided to watch all of M*A*S*H several years ago, we bought the entire series set because that's the only format in which turning off the laugh track is an option. (I wish more sit-coms on DVD had that option.) I have learned to tolerate it on Leave it to Beaver and The Beverly Hillbillies, but the one on My Three Sons is obnoxious. The "audience" laughs uproarioulsy at lines that should rate a mild chuckle at best, drowning out other dialogue. I'm only one episode in, but I really hope they get better at this, and soon.
On laugh tracks: On a recent episode of Georgie and Mandy's First Marriage (set in the mid-'90s), I forget which TV show they were watching, but it didn't have a laugh track. Georgie protested, "But this is a comedy. Without a laugh track, how are you supposed to know when something's funny?"
I remember when I was very little and did not yet know that laugh tracks were a thing, I began to suspect something when I would hear the exact same laughter on different episodes of a given show.
I also remember watching I Love Lucy (which I read years later did not use a laugh track) and hearing Desi Arnaz's distinct laughter coming from off-camera during scenes in which he was not participating.
So far I have watched only the fist episode [of My Three Sons]. I couldn't tell which which of the early episodes I have seen, but I can tell you for sure I haven't seen the very first episode (nor, I'm guessing, any of the first seasons ones) so these will likely all be new to me.
The quality of the first season of My Three Sons is slightly higher than the remaining eleven seasons, and the individual episodes show more creativity---due to the direction of Peter Tewksbury. Unfortunately, there was a price paid for that. Mr. Tewksbury often ran over budget---too often---and he was fired after that inaugural season. The show did not get terrible afterward. Far from it. But the subtle touches that Tewksbury brought to the show are noticeably gone.
If you haven't gotten there already, you're about to hit three superior episodes in a row, Jeff.
The second episode, "The Little Ragpicker" (first aired 06 Oct 1960), expertly mines humour from natural (as opposed to contrived) misunderstandings, and is probably the funniest episode of the season.
The third episode, "Bub in the Ointment" (13 Oct 1960), has a nice scene in which Steve reminds Mike---and thus, brings the viewers up to speed---of how Bub came into the Douglases' lives after the death of his daughter.
The fourth episode, "Countdown" (20 Oct 1960), is one of the most brilliantly written sitcom episodes I've ever seen (beaten out only by "Short Wave", from Father Knows Best). I won't elabourate because I don't want to risk spoiling it for you in any way.
I began to suspect something when I would hear the exact same laughter on different episodes of a given show.
There's a story told in certain circles about a radio show being performed in front of a live audience by Bob Hope and Groucho Marx. As legend has it, Hope dropped his script accidentally and gotr a HUGE laugh. Not to be outdone, Groucho dropped his script on purpose, to even more laughter. The hope went to pick his script up off the stage, and Groucho stepped on it. Groucho wouldn't remove his foot forcing them both to ad lib the rest of the performance. It is this incident which led to Groucho's long-running quiz show, You Bet Your Life, but it is said that the long stretches of unitnerrupted laughter were used on lagh tracks for years to come.
If you haven't gotten there already, you're about to hit three superior episodes in a row, Jeff.
I'm looking forward to them. My usual pace is one episode per day, so I'll check back in here with my thoughts no later than Tuesday.
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