The ethical questions raised...

[Sharktopus]

I'd been avoiding this thread because it had the word "ethical" in the title, but if it's turning into a reminiscence of dated MST references I'm all over that. But that's the magic of the show - with the sheer volume of jokes whizzing around the guy who's scratching his head at the mention of an obscure Minnesota Twins middle relief pitcher from 1972 might be the guy who always laughs at the Adam Duritz references.

Can you believe Mike's still going back to the Duritz well? Are Counting Crows relevant to anyone besides me anymore?

[Tarantulas]

I don't think the Counting Crows were ever relevant...  Its a well you go to for twangy voiced singer jokes and strange hairdos

[Joe Don Faker]

   Another reason for avoiding political humor which I believe Mike has mentioned in interviews is that it automatically dates the material.  Much political humor is extremely topical and doesn't hold up years later.  Mike writes these riffs to stand the test of time in most cases.

True, but since Bush's re-election was in fact a sign of the Endtimes, that'll be a moot point, soon enough, eh... :-P

[Tarantulas]

Texas!

[SmilinJackRoss]

   Another reason for avoiding political humor which I believe Mike has mentioned in interviews is that it automatically dates the material.  Much political humor is extremely topical and doesn't hold up years later.  Mike writes these riffs to stand the test of time in most cases.

This is true.  I saw an interview with Kevin and Mike (I think it's on the Rhino vol 4 box set) and they said they tried not to do too much pop culture references because they didn't want to date the material too much.  That's not to say they obstained from pop culture references (we all know that they did it once in awhile), but they made a conscience effort to reel-in tha type of humor.  But, as I think Kevin put it, sometimes you just can't pass up a good Alanis Morrisette joke.

[Variety of Cells]

I'm sorry if some of you got the impression that I didn't like all of the pop culture references.  As I get older I slowly learn more about the past, so when I re watch episodes I get more and more of the jokes, giving each episode a huge amount of replay value.  I love all of the references, but that doesn't change the fact that they are dated. 

[sarcasm_made_Easy]

a number of the references were WAY dated even when they first said them.

[Tarantulas]

Besides, Roscoe Arbuckle jokes NEVER get old... 

[J-Proof]

they don't?

[Pak-Man]

It's a funny thing... If you reference something from 2 or 3 years ago, it's "dated" but if you go back 30 or more years, it's an "homage."

[BathTub]

more likely it's "fromage"

[mrbasehart]

It's one of the problems I had with MST3K actually: all the references to old tv actors and tv shows which completely flew over my head.  I had to look up some of the shows.

I still want to watch McCloud. 

[starfighter]

    Question to mrbasehart:  Did that mean you had to look up yourself??

[Tarantulas]

It's hard not to create riffs that aren't dated unless you simply want to just make ovservations about what going on in a scene and make it the sole reference point.

And 9/10ths of the time it sounds like the cardboard cut outs from "Hobgoblins".

"Watch out, you little doo-dad!"

[Pak-Man]

The beauty of Rifftrax, and MST3K before it, is that they don't worry too much about throwing out a joke that only a handful of people will get. Sure, they throw in plenty of jokes that everyone should get, but the obscure references make you feel really smart/culturally savvey/Geeky when they hit home. Even dated references are funny to anyone familiar with the date. :^)

Dated humor can have an unintentional comedy to it as well. Just watch the bit in Teenage Strangler with their discussion about Showbiz Love. :^) (Or read it: http://www.mst3kinfo.com/ward_e/bit514.html )