MST3K with Kids

I’m a longtime fan of MST3K, and I enjoy watching episodes with my kids. However, I find that not all the episodes are great for family entertainment due to the content of the original movies. I am sharing my experience and opinions here in hopes that it will help others choose the best episodes for themselves.

The Best

These movies are my favorites: great episodes with nothing significantly objectionable.

• Cry Wilderness
• Final Sacrifice
• Yongary
• Cave Dwellers
• Fugitive Alien (1 and 2)
• The Day the Earth Froze
• Jack Frost
• Santa Claus
• The Pumaman

Good

These episodes were fun to watch with the family, with nothing objectionable, but not quite as good as the ones above.

• Wizards of the Lost Kingdom
• Master Ninja (1 and 2)
• Alien from L.A.
• Santa Claus Conquers the Martians
• Time of the Apes
• Pod People

Not So Good

These episodes were just not very good. There’s nothing that objectionable in them; we just didn’t like them so much.

• The Magic Sword
• Wizards of the Lost Kingdom 2

Not Recommended

For the movies that are not recommended, I have included some explanations of what I found troublesome. YMMV.

• Attack of the Killer Shrews

  The younger kids were freaked out by the “shrews”.

• Space Mutiny

  This is a great classic episode, but the movie has sexual content that I would rather not show the kids.

• Merlin’s Shop of Mystical Wonders

  It sounds like it should be good for children, but the theme of the movie’s first vignette is rather adult, and the story of the possessed monkey toy is a bit creepy for the young ones.

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MST3K with Kids by Paul Gestwicki is licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0