Joel vs. Mike: The Hosts of Mystery Science Theater 3000

Mystery Science Theater 3000 is perhaps the most iconic horrorhost television show ever made. Joel, Mike, and those zany bots Tom Servo and Crow spent 11 years making fun of gloriously bad movies, and with the inception and growth of the internet in the show's heyday, fansites sprang up by the hundreds. Of course, chatboards also sprang up, and with any good online discussion, a furious argument was soon born: "who's the better host?"

Gypsy was the most believable one.

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I have two things to share with all of you. One isn't important, and the other has the potential to be very important. These bits of information flow into each other, so I'll share the not-so-important one first. I don't have anything of substance for you this evening. I know that even the best bloggers don't post everyday; after all, it's not like this is a job or anything (although I'm still hopeful.) It's just that things were on a roll between myself and Daffy's writing, so not giving you the same excellence you've received over the past two weeks feels like a bit of a cheat.

The potentially life-changing news is this: I didn't write an article tonight because I've been working on something very special for The Haunted Drive-in: its very own Youtube Channel! Before you all break out in a chorus of "So what?" let me say that I know it's not hard to create one. But, what is hard is finding the right content to fit this blog and entertain our readers. I've been searching the net for hours, trying to bring you videos that best encompass the feel of what we're trying to do here, which is celebrating the scary, the silly, and the sublimely cheesy. This Youtube Channel is an exciting new way to do that.

We don't have any original content just yet, although I've got some ideas brewing in the cobwebbed cauldron that is my mind, and I'm sure Daffy does too. However, what you will find are several different playlists devoted to things that have received due mention on this website, including vintage commercials for nostalgic horror-related toys, trailers for classic horror and grindhouse films (as well as the amusing fake trailers from the motion picture event Grindhouse), and loads of intermission countdown clocks, PSAs, snack bar ads, interstitial cartoons, and title card stipes.

In the near future, we plan to add some of our favorite theatrical cartoons from the Warner Bros. and Disney studios, trailers for horror and science fiction films grouped by category (slasher, ghost story, etc.), and creative videos from other YouTubers that show us the best and worst horror has to offer, as well as our own original content. It's going to be a big undertaking finding all the random clips we're currently searching for, but we're extremely excited about the end result. If you know of some great vids on YouTube or elsewhere online that we don't already have in our playlists, let us know! Intermission reels, cartoons, movie trailers, segments from TV horror host shows, anything! Whatever would fit the spirit of The Haunted Drive-in is welcome. Just remember: the scary, the silly, and the sublimely cheesy. Enjoy, and prepare to lose a few hours watching all this stuff.

Here's a taste of what you'll find at our channel:

(Please note: some of the content is meant for mature viewers, and caution should be used when deciding to view some of the grindhouse trailers. We present them as they are in the spirit of "the preservation of exploitation.")