The first new Mystery Science Theater 3000 episodes in almost 20 years arrived on the internet today, courtesy of original creator Joel Hodgson and Netflix. But if you haven’t had time yet to dip into a full 90-minute episode, the show’s new team of riffers have a bite-sized treat for streaming fans: a takedown of a couple of the opening minutes of Netflix’s own Stranger Things.
Given how much The Duffer Brothers’ 2016 hit apes the films of the same era that produced so many MST3K classics, it’s fitting that Jonah and the Bots would take fire on “the grey-ish, brownish hues of the early ’80s.” (Even if, in terms of joke quality, the pacing gets a little too intense.) But David Harbour’s Sheriff Hopper provides a perfect target for the crews’ barbs (not to be confused with their Barbs), slobbing through his morning routine like a 21st century Joe Don Baker in the lumpy white flesh.