First Posted: 1/30/2013
It doesn’t take much to excite me. Hand me a comic book or put me in front of a good band and I’m golden. This past week, though, all it took was a press release.
Last Thursday, I received a release from the Scranton Cultural Center stating that Joel Hodgson, creator of Mystery Science Theater 3000, was coming to my hometown. I was ready to drive to Philadelphia for his new one-man show (and, of course, gloat about it in my column), so knowing that I could just walk up to meet him made my week. Then it dawned on me that I could actually interview him and I just about lost it. General Manager John Popko just laughed as I freaked out while dialing his number.
Within hours of that eager thought, I was chatting with the guy who invented movie riffing and drinks coffee with Jerry Seinfeld. He was as friendly and funny as I expected, but those who aren’t familiar with the show (and shame on you if you aren’t) may be wondering what the fuss is all about.
Well, for me, it’s not just about giving B-movies the critical lashing they deserve. It’s about taking an awful experience, like paying to see a bad movie, and turning it into a positive and memorable one. We have fun here, of course, but when you’re in the public eye like journalists are, you often face a lot of negativity, a lot of people eager to knock you down.
To them, I say go ahead and try. I learned from the best how to laugh and take the worst of it in stride.
-Rich Howells, Weekender Editor
