RiffTrax’s NatGeo Special Detailed, Plus A Planned Live Skewering Of Sharknado

By Nick Venable | Published

This article is more than 2 years old

rifftraxIf there would be anything better than the guys from RiffTrax poking asteroid-sized fun at movies, it would be living in a world where everything from video games to cereals to baristas has an option where you can turn on RiffTrax commentary. How am I supposed to use this hair dryer if I can’t hear Kevin Murphy making whirring noises as I do it? Murphy and his former Mystery Science Theater 3000 cohorts Mike Nelson and Bill Corbett are headed to the weird and wonderful world of National Geographic programming for three one-hour specials airing back-to-back on NatGeo at 8 p.m. EST on Tuesday, April 1. No fooling, that plug was for reals. Plus, the trio have also revealed their next live show will be centered on that most dastardly of creatures: the Sharknado.

Murphy gave a recent interview with GeekoSystem where he answered many of the most obvious questions that fans would want to know about their first foray back to TV in over 15 years, such as how this came together and what it might mean for them in the future. For instance, he says it was NatGeo that approached them with the concept of providing their signature zings over the network’s original programming. The material seen in the episodes was a combination of NatGeo’s suggested footage and the trio’s requested subject matter. “And of course a lot of it came down to animals,” Murphy says, mentioning they had much fun with a segment stressing the danger of some animals as hosted by someone at zero risk of trouble.

Here’s his breakdown of the episodes:

The one about the explorer who’s hunting for this demon bat, we loved so much that we ended up just making fun of one entire episode — just one entire episode of him hunting for the bat. And then, the others are just kind of chunks from different programs that we put into themes. You’ve got the Irish guy who falls in love with the seal, and also in that one, there’s a guy from LA who falls in love with a goose in Echo Park.

He also mentioned that the seal lover lived in a garbage house, and that he learned something unspeakable about a koala. As far as what lies ahead, he called the Riff-Off an experiment and a fun experience, and added that “we’ll just see how this pans out, and if people actually tune in and watch.” You guys better watch, or we’re going to sick a demon bat on you. Check out a few clips from the shows below.

RiffTrax took to YouTube to announce Sharknado as their next RiffTrax Live! event, which will hit theaters all over the country on Thursday, July 10 and Tuesday, July 15. Chances are, you live somewhere near a theater that will be featuring this, but if you don’t, you should write to your local congressshark and complain about it.

sharknado rifftrax

To really kick this post up to 3000, here’s the trailer for the most recent RiffTrax release, Terror at Tenkiller.