I Just Met My Idols (A Story of Intense Geekery)

This past weekend, I experienced something that, I think, only very lucky people get to experience in their respective lifetimes. I met my idols, my heroes, my very favorite entertainers in the whole entire freaking world: The cast of Mystery Science Theatre 3000.

By CC Staff

Most people don’t understand my intense love for the show (most people have probably never even heard of the show?), and that’s fine, I don’t understand why people like Nickelback or are fascinated by the minutiae of Paris Hilton’s life, but MST3K was a part of my childhood and stayed with me constantly to my adulthood, so this little TV show is something very precious to me.

So when I heard that they were having a 20-year anniversary retrospective in Dallas at the USA Film Festival, I knew I had to go. These guys rarely get together to do stuff like this and if they do, it’s never in the Southeast, where I live. So my boyfriend and I saved up and right after I finished my last final, we took the three hour plane trip to Dallas for the weekend to meet them.

I had been thinking for weeks about what I would say when I finally got to talk to the cast. At all costs, I wanted to avoid the pathetic, “I’m such a huge fan”, and “I’m so honored to meet you”. I’m sure they get that lame sh*t all the time. No, I wanted to stand out, to create a speech that would make me seem all at once excited, but composed; funny, but not like I was trying too hard. I wanted to make an impression.

I decided on a quick little joke about how it was a tough call to see them and not sneak away to the Q&A with Meatloaf down the hall (not that I have beef with Meatloaf. heh.) Then I was going to segway into how the show has so thoroughly influenced my lexicon, so I could sound smart by using the word “lexicon” and have an original way to show them how much I appreciated the show.

I stood in line and when TV’s Frank was in front of me, I stuck out my hand, my witty rejoinder on the tip of my now drying tongue and said, “I’m SUCH A HUGE FAN! *obnoxious giggle*”

I shook it off and moved down the line to Joel Hodgson, the creator of the show and the person I wanted to meet the most. Fine, I quickly thought, I’ll save the Meatloaf line for Joel, he’ll love it and we’ll make an instant connection.

“Hi!” I said, knowing instantly that it would not go as I planned, “Can I tell you what a huge honor it is to meet you?”

I finished meeting everyone with a heavier heart, certain that when they thought of me (which, I’m sure, would be often) they would do so with a shake of the head, disappointed that I had turned out to be just another in a sea of nerdy fans.

But I will not despair. I’m proud to be just a fan, and despite not making the impression I wished I had (or at all), I still got to see a live taping of their new show Cinematic Titanic (which, if you haven’t seen it, is incredibly, amazingly funny) and they were just as wonderfully hilarious in person as they are in the show.

I met my idols. How many people can say that?

[What about you? Met any idols? Celebrities? Were you smooth, or a total dork?]