The Golden Turkey Awards

The Golden Turkey Awards is a 1980 book by film critics Michael and Harry Medved. It is one of four books by the Medveds that examine notoriously bad films. The others are The Fifty Worst Films of All Time (1978), The Hollywood Hall of Shame (1984), and Son of the Golden Turkey Awards (1986). In the 1986, The Golden Turkey Album was released by Rhino records, which featured songs from many of the films referenced in the books.

Many of the films and people referred to in the book(s) were later featured on Mystery Science Theater 3000, including Ed Wood (who "won" the award for Worst Director), and Mamie Van Doren and John Agar (who were nominated for Worst Actress and Actor, respectively).

The mocking spirit of The Golden Turkey Awards could be considered a spiritual predecessor of Mystery Science Theater 3000, and Joel Hodgson has cited it as an influence.

List of MST3K films mentioned in the Medved Tetralogy

• The Amazing Colossal Man
• Attack of the Eye Creatures
• Attack of the Giant Leeches
• The Beast of Yucca Flats
• Beginning of the End
• Beyond Atlantis
• The Brain That Wouldn't Die
• Bride of the Monster
• The Brute Man
• The Crawling Eye
• The Crawling Hand
• The Creeping Terror
• The Deadly Bees
• Eegah
• Fire Maidens of Outer Space
• Gamera
• Gamera vs Jiger (as Gamera vs Monster X)
• The Giant Gila Monster
• Girl in Gold Boots
• The Green Slime
• Hercules
• Hercules Unchained
• The Horror of Party Beach
• I Was a Teenage Werewolf
• The Incredible Melting Man
• The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies
• It Conquered the World
• The Killer Shrews
• King Dinosaur
• Laserblast
• Lost Continent
• The Loves of Hercules
• "Manos" The Hands of Fate
• The Million Eyes of Sumuru
• The Mole People
• Monster A-Go Go
• The Phantom Creeps
• Project Moon Base
• Reptilicus
• Robot Monster
• Santa Claus Conquers the Martians
• The Sinister Urge
• Squirm
• Swamp Diamonds (under the title Swamp Women)
• Teenagers from Outer Space
• 12 to the Moon
• The Undead
• The Unearthly
• Untamed Youth
• Village of the Giants
• The Violent Years
• War of the Colossal Beast
• The Wild Wild World of Batwoman (under the title She Was a Hippie Vampire)
• Women of the Prehistoric Planet

MST3K Films Nominated for a Golden Turkey Award

• The Brain That Wouldn't Die: Most Brainless Brain Movie of All Time
• Bride of the Monster: Least Convincing Scientific Explanation in Motion Picture History
• The Brute Man: Worst Cinematic Exploitation of a Physical Deformity
• The Crawling Eye: Most Idiotic Ad Lines in Hollywood History
• The Creeping Terror: Most Ridiculous Monster
• The Deadly Bees: Most Badly Bumbled Bee Movie of All Time
• Eegah: Worst Rock 'n' Roll Lyrics in Movie History
• Fire Maidens of Outer Space:
  • Least Classy Use of Classical Music in Movie History
  • Most Primitive Male Chauvinist Fantasy in Movie History
• Gamera: Most Ridiculous Monster
• The Green Slime: Most Laughable Concept for an Outer Space Invader
• The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies:
  • Worst Title of All Time
  • Most Inane and Unwelcome Technical Advance in Hollywood History
  • Most Idiotic Ad Lines in Hollywood History
• It Conquered the World: Most Laughable Concept for an Outer Space Invader
• The Killer Shrews: Worst Rodent Movie of All Time
• The Mole People: Worst Rodent Movie of All Time
• Monster A-Go Go: Most Idiotic Ad Lines in Hollywood History
• Robot Monster:
  • Worst Credit Line of All Time
  • Most Idiotic Ad Lines in Hollywood History
  • Most Laughable Concept for an Outer Space Invader
• Santa Claus Conquers the Martians: Most Insufferable Kiddie Movie Ever Made
• Squirm: Most Idiotic Ad Lines in Hollywood History
• Teenagers from Outer Space:
  • Most Ridiculous Monster
  • Most Idiotic Ad Lines in Hollywood History

Golden Turkey Awards "Winners"

• Most Embarrassing Movie Debut: Paul Newman in The Silver Chalice.
• Most Ridiculous Movie Monster: Ro-Man from Robot Monster
• Worst Performance by a Popular Singer: Tony Bennett in The Oscar
• Worst Title: Rat Pfink a Boo Boo
• Most Brainless Brain Movie: They Saved Hitler's Brain
• Most Badly Bumbled Bee Movie: The Swarm
• Worst Casting: John Wayne as Genghis Khan in The Conqueror
• Worst Performance by a Politician: John Lindsay in Rosebud
• Worst Two-Headed Transplant Movie: The Thing with Two Heads
• Worst Rodent Movie: The Food of the Gods
• Worst Performance by a Novelist: Norman Mailer in Wild 90
• Worst Cinematic Exploitation of a Physical Deformity: The Terror of Tiny Town
• Worst Musical Extravaganza: At Long Last Love
• Worst Performance as a Clergyman or Nun: Mary Tyler Moore in Change of Habit
• Worst Performance as Jesus Christ: Ted Neeley in Jesus Christ Superstar
• Worst Blaxploitation Movie: Scream, Blacula, Scream
• Biggest Rip-off in Hollywood History: The 1976 version of King Kong
• Worst Credit Line: The 1929 version of William Shakespeare's The Taming of the Shrew, "with additional dialogue by Sam Taylor"
• Most Unerotic Concept in Pornography: Him
• Worst Performance by an Animal: Dinky the Chimp in Tarzan and the Great River
• Worst Vegetable Movie: Attack of the Mushroom People
• Worst Performance by Sonny Tufts: Government Girl
• Most Ludicrous Racial Impersonation: Marlon Brando as an Okinawan in The Teahouse of the August Moon
• Most Obnoxious Child Performer: David Kory in Dondi
• Worst Film You Never Saw (category for films never completed or only released in a limited fashion): Billy Jack Goes to Washington
• Most Inane Technical Advance: Percepto in The Tingler
• Worst Line of Romantic Dialogue: an exchange between Gary Cooper and Madeleine Carroll in Northwest Mounted Police
• Lifetime Achievement Award Worst Director: Edward D. Wood Jr.
• Lifetime Achievement Award Worst Actress: Raquel Welch
• Lifetime Achievement Award Worst Actor: Richard Burton
• Reader's Choice Worst Film: Plan 9 from Outer Space

Son of the Golden Turkey Awards "Winners"

• Most Idiotic Ad Lines: Kwaheri
• Most Embarrassing Nude Scene: Burgess Meredith in Such Good Friends
• Most Ludicrous Professional Name: Willie "Sleep 'n Eat" Best
• Worst Performance By Ronald Reagan: Hellcats of the Navy
• Most Awkward On-Screen Marriage Proposal: Between Debra Paget and Louis Jourdan in Bird of Paradise
• Worst Biker Movie: Satan's Sadists
• Most Insufferable Kiddie Movie: Pinocchio in Outer Space
• Most Humiliating Performance By a Future TV Star: Joan Collins in Empire of the Ants
• Least Convincing Scientific Explanation: A psychiatrist claims that a patient's fixation with furlike materials is due to having been a gorilla in a previous life in The Bride and the Beast
• Most Unbearable Bear Movie: Prophecy
• Most Preposterous Romantic Pairing: Sophia Loren and Burl Ives in Desire Under the Elms
• Least Heroic Battlefield Speech: First Yank into Tokyo
• Worst Promotional Gimmick: A summit meeting between Adolph Zukor, Mae West, and the titular dog for Won Ton Ton, the Dog Who Saved Hollywood
• Most Ludicrous On-Screen Impersonation of a Hollywood Legend: Faye Dunaway as Joan Crawford in Mommie Dearest
• Worst Performance as a Nazi Mad Scientist: Veronica Lake in Flesh Feast
• Least Classy Use of Classical Music: Shostakovich Fifth Symphony in The Brain Eaters
• Worst Beach Party Movie: The Horror of Party Beach
• Least Uplifting Conversation with God: In Search of Historic Jesus
• Most Primitive Male Chauvinist Fantasy: Mesa of Lost Women
• Most Ridiculous Cowboy Hero: A blind gunfighter with a seeing-eye horse in Blindman
• Most Shamelessly (and Tastelessly) Derivative Title for a Pornographic Film: Beyond the Valley of the Ultra Milkmaids
• Worst Rock 'n' Roll Lyrics: "To Have and to Hold" from Frankenstein Meets the Space Monster
• Most Laughable Concept for an Outer Space Invader: The Creeping Terror