Display MoreEarlier in the year, we held a pair of Saturday morning marathons that celebrated Wing Commander-connected media that didn't quite fit with the Friday movie club. And now we're bringing them back! This Saturday, October 18, we'll be bringing you another themed morning of '90s media and great Wing Commander conversation. This time, we're taking a look at a series that was pretty influential during the making of Wing Commander III: Mystery Science Theater 3000. We'll be watching two episodes that are referenced in WC3 and talking all about what life was like on the internet way back in 1994!
"Manos": The Hands of Fate (1993, s4e24): MST3k brought Manos to the world, introducing future generations to what may be the single worst movie ever made. But it made for a pretty funny episode! And one that was clearly appreciated by Wing Commander III's development team, which named the crucial Torgo system after a character from the film. He takes care of the place while the Master is away…
Mitchell (1993, s5e12): Get ready to meet Mitchell, an unpleasant cop who… well, we won't spoil it. But the episode was so funny (and then contemporary) that the Wing Commander III team opted to make the game's entire cheat code (wc3 -mitchell) a joke about it. As you likely know, it even plays a sound clip from the episode when you take off with the cheat active!
So JOIN US on Saturday, October 18th at noon Eastern when we'll enjoy them all together! Previous marathons, we've had big fun wearing pajamas and eating cereal… so we recommend you plan to do the same again! Like last time, we're going to start things off with a classic Looney Tunes short… the third Duck Dodgers short, Marvin the Martian in the Third Dimension, which was the last one made while Wing Commander was in active development.
This time, all three videos are available on YouTube!
We've also uploaded a zip of all three shows together locally for anyone who can't access YouTube. You can get that here.
How do we watch the shows together?
It's pretty low tech! Simply join the Wing Commander CIC Discord on Saturday and we will be chatting (in text) along with the shows in the main channel. Everyone who wants to join in should download their own copies from the CIC and we will count down to play them one at a time together starting with the short at noon EST on Saturday. Everyone is welcome and we encourage you to join in the conversation; sharing your thoughts helps make the experience better for everyone!
Will there be custom certificates made for the attendees this time?
Yes.
Why are you STILL calling it a 'cartoon party' when almost all of the shows are live action?
Shut up.
I love these events but want to do better long term planning. Do you have any others coming up?
We do! Here's the upcoming schedule:
- Marathon 4 - Wing Commander Academy & The End of the Future - November 15
- Marathon 5 - Wing Commander Combat Information Center Family Day! - December 20
- Marathon 6 - I'd Rather Be Playing Wing Commander - January 17
