World of Weird Al Yankovic

QUOTE Though there was some worry that Joel loyalists might disrupt the affair, both BBI and fans were pleasantly surprised by the enormously supportive greetings and standing ovations Mike received every time he appeared. And while CC baffled attendees with a booth featuring something called The Wheel Of Fish, it also got high marks for contributing funds toward the costume ball held on the last night of the con.



I was kinda wondering about this the other day for some reason, since I read that part of the site a while ago. I think this would have been around the time (1994) that Comedy Central would have aired "UHF" at some point...were they cribbing an idea from the movie? After all, with Orion out of business, who would care, right?



I'm going to try to find out if anyone ever took pictures of this contraption.

And since Al had little or no rights to the movie, CC could use it pretty freely.



I guess they figured enough MST fans would be Al fans as well, and would get the joke. Looks like most of them didn't. But then again, maybe the design wasn't different from the movie's... but how many changes could you make to a wheel of fish?

Being the MST3K and Weird Al freak that I am, I must say that I have seen every CC and SCI-FI Channel episode of MST numerous times, and not once in the 10 years they were on the air and in the countless thousands upon thousands of obscure pop culture references they made over that period*, did they ever make mention Weird Al! And trust me, I listened for a reference to him every time I watched the show!



If a bigger MST fan can refute that, please do! But I always found it strange that Al was neglected on the show.



Oh well. I still love them both very very much.



Meadows



* Keep in mind, this was a two hour longshow, featuring an estimated 800 "jokes" per episode!

QUOTE Being the MST3K and Weird Al freak that I am, I must say that I have seen every CC and SCI-FI Channel episode of MST numerous times, and not once in the 10 years they were on the air and in the countless thousands upon thousands of obscure pop culture references they made over that period*, did they ever make mention Weird Al!



Holy cow! Really?? Geeze, I thought they'd make one refrence... but they have made quite a few Prince refrences.



BTW: Another thing I noticed... when the opening played (during the Joel Era), I believe Joel is cleaning a part of the staellite with a vacuum tube attached to... an accordion!



*Plays erie music*

I remember seeing an ep of MST3K that had an Al reference in it. I forget what crappy sci-fi movie they were watching, but there was a weird shot of an alien hand flicking and rubbing its fingers together. Then somebody said, "Got a boogie on my finger, and I can't shake it off."



~Allison

Allie, I believe you are correct... I have a vague memory of them saying that, and that phrase is also used by many people who do their own MST3K-esque projects (called MSTs) online.



One of the more major connections is the UHF Commentary... which I thought was MST3K inspired, and I'm probably right!



I hope... :lookround:

QUOTE One of the more major connections is the UHF Commentary... which I thought was MST3K inspired, and I'm probably right!



I'm not sure about that. There are only so many ways you can have a commentary track. But it would have been funny to have an alternate track that was an MST3K rip off. Get Al and a couple of his funniest friends to rag on the movie. That would be great.

Love the idea, scotti! :biggrin:



However, usually commentary is more informant, and while the UHF one was definately informing, there were quite a few MST3K-esque comments... I guess Al was basically doing a little parody of critics... but not to the extent MST3K does.

QUOTE Get Al and a couple of his funniest friends to rag on the movie.  That would be great.



Maybe they should be able to do that to Purple Rain instead.



UHF was already funny, and intentionally cheesy (in a comical way)... not to say it was bad!!



Don't hurt me! :lookround:

I think it was bad in the way it was intended to be. The cheeziness is part of it's charm.



It just doesn't have enough Yankovic to suit me.