15 Differences Between the New and Old “Mystery Science Theater 3000”

Photo credit Netflix

It’s widescreen!

Guys, we’re in an era where things being widescreen is kind of just a given. All televisions made nowadays are widescreen. No longer do we have giant tubes and huge TV stands to house them (though on the downside, Duck Hunt guns don’t work anymore).

Mystery Science Theater 3000 aired in an era when widescreen was more of a luxury than anything. If you wanted something widescreen, you had to make sure you bought the right DVD (and this was actually probably well after MST3K ended). Television shows definitely weren’t widescreen. And crummy horror films from the ’50s and ’60s? Forget it!

Even if you watch episodes of this show on Youtube or the twenty classic episodes already on Netflix, they’re still in 4:3. So it’s a little weird to see the new episodes in widescreen.

The theater row at the bottom of the screen holds more seats. Everything looks a little crisper and cleaner thanks to HD technology. And it feels like the characters in those seats have more room to move. With their updates (and Gypsy’s ability to come into the theater), it’s nice not to have them crammed into a smaller frame.

Except, of course, the horrible B-movies our companions are forced to watch. Those still slip in and out of focus.