Star Trek V, Ben Murphy and Mr. Sinus Theater...

[Variety of Cells]

this really sucks...

I am as big a MST3K fan as anyone here or anyone on the freakin planet for that matter.  I have watched this show since the early 90s and did everything I could to follow it.  My favorites though are Final Justice, Space Mutiny, Mitchell and that weird foreign Jack frost.

I caught a Mr. Sinus Theater show several years ago in Austin and as a MST3K fan, I naturally loved it.  It was somewhat different in that they did live audience participation and did songs and stuff, but the basic heart of it is obviously the MST3K concept of riffing on the film.  I don't understand why everyone hates on them so much.  I still love Mike, Trace, Kevin, Mary Jo, Bill and everyone else for what they did, but they arent doing it anymore.  Its obvious that the Sinus guys are fans doing what MST3K inspired them to do.  And if you get down to it, the MST3K crew did not "invent" making fun of bad movies, they just formatted it in a great way. 

I swear, if you guys gave Sinus a chane, you would dig what they do, which is in a different direction than the regular crew.  And OBVIOUSLY NO ONE will ever top what Mike/Joel and the Bots did...ever.  I am a fan of both MST3K and Sinus.  You guys go ahead and pick sides nd only like one or the other, I'll be over here laughing my ass off twice as hard.

In the land of the assless, the single cheeked is king. 

Our beef with Sinus isn't their content, it's their attitude.  They would not change their name, which is strikingly similar to MST3K, after being asked to.  It'd be a different story if they used a different name, but they refused to change and they were sued.  For that, we hold a grudge. 

Oh, and Mike, Bill and Kevin are still doing it over at the Film Crew.  It's not MST3K, but it's the same concept. 

It's cool that you can look past their jackassery, but if they are going to try and mooch off the MST3K name I'm going to put my money into something else. 

[RandyMistie]

I learned along time ago to not f**k with the Tarantula, he has 8 feet with which to kick your ass.  He's the man, and if he don't don't like these nose people, neither do I.

Just say you're sorry and move away...

[ScottotD]

Meh, holding a gruge on behalf of people you like seems like a waste of time to me.  Surely if it's funny and in the same vein you're only hurting yourself by not seeing it, especially if the courts decided they were in the wrong and I assume awarded some compensation.

This on the other hand is both a MST ripoff and a peice of crap:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107103/

[Tarantulas]

Actually its more of a ripoff of this http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0061177/

But yes, to recap, Sinus tried to officially license the MST name and were rejected by BBI.  So what did they do?  They broke the law.  Supposedly, BBI wasn't looking for money, just for them to stop.  I posted links to articles on the previous pages, hop over there for the full story.

The real issue was never that they were also riffing movies in a MST fashion, it's that they fought the name issue, lost, and still tried to use the name.

They could be the funniest thing on Earth, but I will never watch it.

[ScottotD]

Like I said, I don't really see the point in holding someone elses grudge but you can do whatever you want.

I would assume the name was meant in a cheeky rather than anything malicious but most people on here seem to have already chosen sides and I'm not going to Texas anytime soon so it's a moot point.

[Tarantulas]

If you read the articles about it, you might understand my boycott better.  Which would be better than just dismissing it with vague Britishness.

[jammindude]

I agree that it was wrong...just flat out wrong.

And I could forgive them if they just would have honored one simple little request.

"Please don't use that particular name"

IF they *REALLY* cared.....if they were TRUE fans of everyone at BBI.....if they had a *GNAT'S ASS* of respect for anyone who has ever been involved with MST3K....it would have ended right then and there.

But to just flat out refuse....they should be ashamed of themselves.

NOT for picking the name in the first place (heck...I might have done *that* much)....but for flat out refusing a simple request.

"Please.....if you really respect my work....don't do that"

Their response (in effect) was a big F.U.

I don't care how good, or how funny they are....they have no respect for other people's rights.   I will not give my money to people like that.

Edit: I would add....that even if they made a public apology....and didn't make any excuses...but just flat out apologized to BBI and everyone in the MST3K community....and didn't pull any punches in admitting that what they did was just *flat out wrong*.....They would earn my respect, and I'm certain I would not be alone.   They might even gain a few more fans.

[Tarantulas]

I wonder how my new project "Mister Cy Nust's Theater" is going to fare when I open in Austin next month...  I hope they understand that I'm not trying to rip them off.

[jammindude]

I wonder how my new project "Mister Cy Nust's Theater" is going to fare when I open in Austin next month...  I hope they understand that I'm not trying to rip them off.

You should just call it "The Sy Nuss Show".......I'm sure they'd understand.

[Cap'n UKRiffer]

I wonder how my new project "Mister Cy Nust's Theater" is going to fare when I open in Austin next month...  I hope they understand that I'm not trying to rip them off.

Not well for it infringes on my 'Mister C My Nuts Theater' production which consists of me and 2 squirrels riffing on diferent types of nuts... We're opening for Elton John in Las Vegas next year, wish us luck

[WouTar]

Luck wished.

[shortstack]

Like I said, I don't really see the point in holding someone elses grudge but you can do whatever you want.

I would assume the name was meant in a cheeky rather than anything malicious but most people on here seem to have already chosen sides and I'm not going to Texas anytime soon so it's a moot point.

It's about protecting a particular brand... MST3K branded themselves in a particular way, and the company didn't want somebody muddying the waters and destroying what they had spent prescious time (and money) to build.  They owned the name, it was their right to say what they did, and did NOT want associated with it.

[Cornjob]

I agree that Mr. (no E.) Sinus Theater should have changed their name when asked.  But then, I always hated that name, probably in part because snot is my kryptonite.  I'll admit I didn't at first understand why they used that name.  Somehow I didn't catch the phonetic similarity until I first saw the show and heard their theme song, which started out with

Well the concept's not so original, it's true
But that other show stopped making new episodes,
and we didn't know what else to do...

The video showed them trying (very unsuccessfully) to build robots out of household items like a phone, blender, slinkies, etc., and watching television.  It also introduced the guys by name ("...with John, Owen, and Jerm...").

There's no reasonable way anyone could have gotten into one of the shows and thought it was in any way related to MST3K.  Well, maybe if a friend bought tickets and lied to them about it, but that, like me in bicycle shorts, is a stretch.

I've seen many of their shows (some more than once), including Xanadu, Dirty Dancing, The Terminator, Red Dawn, Point Break, Speed, The Karate Kid, Footloose, Top Gun, The Lost Boys, Masters of the Universe, and Kiss Meets the Phantom.  Most of them were incredible.

Eventually, they did change their name to the even more horrible (IMO, what with the whole snot=kryptonite thing) "The Sinus Show".  Recently they broke up, and John reformed a new troupe with a somewhat different format, named "Master Pancake Theater".  Yeah, I'm not fond of that name either, but at least there's no booger factor.

So, to sum up:  Mr. Sinus was awesome, but they should have changed their name when asked.  I still love MST3K, and RiffTrax totally rocks my world.

Pope Stevo da First

P.S.  I wonder if PBS ever tried to sue Disney over "Mouseterpiece Theater"?

[Pak-Man]

Wow! Necro-Bump! :^)

[BathTub]

The more unusual part is that it appears to be on topic!