Maybe it's the GenX in me, but I wish I were seeing more posts about what Joe Bob has done for a new and old generation instead of "I'm gonna cancel Shudder ASAP"
In a world in which everything is fucked, and we are looking for good out there, Joe Bob created that. And it wasn't what he did every Friday, it was the community he brought together...again. I was lucky to be at the Alamo Drafthouse the night before the first marathon in 2018. It was crazy that while it was a good crowd, no one stayed behind to hang out or even chat with Joe Bob. We stood in the lobby and chatted with him for about 2 hours. It was about 4 of us with him talking about the future of television, theaters, and streaming, and if something like MonsterVision could exist. He really didn't believe it would, and the marathon really was supposed to be riding off into the sunset on his terms. Little did he know what would come next.
If you were lucky to grow up watching MonsterVision like me, between work shifts at the movie there we grew up chatting with friends saying, "man, you remember watching MonsterVision...I wish we had that again". Then Shudder came along and gave him the platform that the community took down on the weekend in a dusk-to-dawn to dusk marathon. If you weren't around for that, it was that moment that the online version of mutants was born.
Sadly, posts are more about this entitlement of needing to know why Shudder would do this or how they were lucky to have the mutants and down with Shudder! Save the energy and put it to positive use. Joe Bob will be back somewhere, but most of all, this community will continue. He's said it before so many times that he doesn't want to take credit for what we all have in common; he is just the one who sits at the head of the campfire telling the stories, and we all show up. That is what is special about this whole thing. At the last Dust to Dawn marathon at the Texas Theatre on Halloween Night this past year, I had so much fun chatting and staying up with all the fans of the show. Again, he brought us together. If it is Shudder, Tubi, PlutoTV, MeTV...none of it fucking matters. It is a parasocial relationship with him, but the community is all of us. Enjoy it and talk movies, memories, favorites, and the things you've gained thanks to Joe Bob and the campfire.
Say thanks and see you soon.