The GHWP Motto

     If I can convince just one person out there that Peter Graves went to the University of Minnesota, then I've done my job.   -  Crow T. Robot, Mystery Science Theater 3000 Exp#517 Beginning of the End

     That quote, from one of my top 5 favorite MST3K episodes, pretty much sums up my mindset with regard to #GHWP and The Midnight Spectreman. I don't expect it to take off into a big sensation, and I don't think more than maybe 10 people out of every-human-being-on-the-planet-using-Twitter is joining the #GHWP hashtag. It also doesn't help that I picked a time slot at the same time as the massive sensation @midnight on Comedy Central, which dominates the top spot of the hashtagscape virtually every weeknight (Is hashtagscape a word? It is now). That's okay. People have lives, other interests, and bedtimes. If I can convince those 10 people that the greatness of Spectreman existed, then I've done my job because too many good things slip into obscurity. Sure, it's a lark and something inevitably wide open for ribbing and ridicule, but this is a revival for me. It's not just a revival of Spectreman in the eyes of a tiny corner of the public, but it's also a revival of a love I thought I had cast off a few years ago.

     Life was getting me down for a good while, and I didn't find myself with the time, the attention span, or the willingness to feed myself with any amount of joy I used to get from watching these old Japanese superhero and giant monster shows and movies. They used to be a deep obsession. I wouldn't have become a fan of MST3K if not for Godzilla and Gamera, and, somewhat ironically, my obsession for daikaiju and tokusatsu almost made me hate MST3K when I first saw it at age 12. I was a bullied child with a blanket negative view of making jokes at someone else's expense, and when I saw my first MST3K episode, Gamera, I couldn't see the good-natured ribbing at first. It took me quite a few years to realize some of the children in my life were trying to do the same thing with me and weren't bullying me at all. With my first glimpse of MST3K, I only saw someone making fun of something I loved, and it bothered me. I was a kid that had grown up watching VHS tapes of Legend of the Dinosaurs, Godzilla vs. Megalon, King Kong vs. Godzilla, and Gamera to death, and I watched them in stone silence over and over again in awe of the childhood experience. In 1985, when Godzilla was dropped into a volcano, I wandered my yard for three hours crying as I clutched my little Imperial Godzilla figure in my hand. Even though Tom Servo's love theme to Tibby gave me a giggle, I was hesitant, but I was also observant. I started to notice references to things outside of the movie, other movies that they had to have seen within the same genres I enjoyed the most, and I started to notice that many of the jokes they made conveyed a lot more dignity and respect than I thought. Around that same time, I had occasion to see a couple of episodes of The Dean Martin Celebrity Roast. A light bulb turned on in my head. MST3K was doing the same thing. They had a love for these movies that shined through some very detailed references they made, and I couldn't have been happier to discover I was right when I saw the cast of Cinematic Titanic in Dallas, TX, in 2008 for the 20th Anniversary MST3K gathering. It was there that creator Joel Hodgson told us all that it was Gamera and the daikaiju genre in general that were chief inspirations for MST3K. Joel had enjoyed these movies the same way I did: network and syndicated horror hosts like Elvira, Svengoolie, Commander USA, Dr. Paul Bearer, Zacherley and Chilly Billy. Joel wanted to do the same thing. He wanted to make a horror host show, a show that would keep the legacy of these movies alive for new generations, and he had an added spin to put on the medium that would change it forever. So I pulled the stick out and gave MST3K another chance, and I have remained a devout fan to this day. I also think it helped that the show had puppets. I love puppets. I can understand how at least one respected author in the genre of tokusatsu criticism has a tainted and violently dismissive viewpoint of MST3K, but, with all due respect, I think he focused too much on a few disrespectful young people around him that were trying to emulate Joel and the bots, simply didn't get how it was done, and wouldn't shut the hell up in a movie theater. Anyone can make fun of a movie. Anyone can disrupt the flow of a movie with a barrage of commentary, but riffing takes style and atmosphere. Depending on the style and setting, talking during a movie or waiting until it's over to write an essay is just splitting hairs.

     In a way, this is my own little personal way of fulfilling the same dream. I always wanted to be a horror host myself, and I still have a lot of ideas and blueprints I need to make happen down the line. This makes for some good practice, but my real goal is just to get some of these golden oldies back out there in the atmosphere where they belong. It's therapeutic. My favorite hobby just isn't any fun unless I am sharing it, so here I am building up just enough confidence to throw myself out there and watch some Japanese men in suits flop around with anyone willing to join me.