Mystery Science Theater 3000: 5 Overrated Episodes & 5 That Don't Get The Love They Deserve

2. Pod People (Episode 303)

Mystery Science Theater Pod People Pod People is a complicated episode. It's an English-dubbed version of a Spanish movie called Los nuevos extraterrestres (The New Extraterrestrials) and entirely unrelated to any stories about body snatchers. It was originally intended to be a straightforward horror movie about a rampaging alien mother but, after the blockbuster success of E.T., was frantically rewritten to be some kind of family-friendly venture featuring a kid and a lovable alien. Needless to say, Juan Piquer Simon was not a fan of the result. This whisper-down-the-alley version of a movie ended up on MST3K and instantly became something of a classic. Lines like "It stinks!" and "Trumpy, you can do stupid things!" are the MSTie version of Godwin's Law. The longer a conversation between two or more MSTies goes on, the probability that someone will quote one of those lines from Pod People approaches 1. For me, Pod People's place on this list isn't necessarily due to how bad the movie is. Sure it's bad, but there are definitely worse episodes to sit through. It isn't how forgettable the jokes are, either €“ any given episode is going to consist mostly of jokes that you don't remember, and there are some great lines in here that have passed into MST3K legend (quoted above). I picked it for this list, and for such a relatively high spot on the list, because everyone else seems to love this episode. Its rank near the top belies my utter inability to understand why so many people are crazy about this episode in particular.
Contributor

After obtaining a BA in Philosophy and Creative Writing, Katherine spent two years and change teaching English in South Korea. Now she lives in Sweden and edits articles for Turkish science journals. When she isn't writing, editing, or working on her NaNo novel, Katherine enjoys video games, movies, and British television.