#ACFGEG

[paperpennies]

Hey, I was wondering

How many people (out of those who see this) have actually read my MST3k episode guide blog? I haven’t been updating it because reasons (which may or may not be good reasons). If people actually want more of it, I might keep working on it. If nobody reads it, I don’t feel all that bad about never updating. So what’s the opinion on that?

[satelliteofmstielove]

K19 Hangar 18

                                  Aliens or something, I don’t know

General notes

          I always remember that this movie is K19 because it’s Hangar 18 and that for some reason strikes me as mildly funny. From the title I expected it to be about airplanes, but it’s actually about spaceships. Made in 1980, starring people from things. Nothing really to note about the episode. Everyone’s here for the whole thing this time, so let’s get a-rollin’.

 Prologue

Joel pops up from under the desk sounding like he hit his head.

No real intro this time, no Mads. Joel just tells us the name of the movie and we go straight into Movie Sign. Maybe they were pressed for time this week.

 Movie pt. 1

I can’t tell when the guys get into the theater because the version I’m watching is such bad quality. Any black backgrounds make it impossible to see the guys. Later on they started putting a slight filter on the movies to make the silhouettes stand out better.

At 3:22, Joel asks why made-for-TV movies always look different than normal movies. Tom informs him, correctly, that Hangar 18 was shown in theaters. Why is that, actually? It is related to how they’re shot? There’s even a difference in look between different types of TV shows, so I assume that’s why. Does anyone want to inform both me and 1989 Joel?

When the movie astronauts are checking switches and things on the space shuttle at 5:39, Crow asks Joel if he remembered to check their switches and things. Joel doesn’t answer. Several seconds later at 5:47, Servo asks him the same thing, and he says no. Servo seems slightly distressed but lets it be.

Crow’s comment about the movie satellite makes Tom/Josh laugh at 7:26.

Joel messes with the on-screen controls at 7:43, but again, you can barely see him.

Something about Crow’s incredulous tone at 9:10 is really funny.

When you can finally see them, Joel and bots look like they’re sitting closer together than usual.

At 9:54, Joel makes a joke about prune-flavored Tang, and Josh laughs mockingly at it.

So far this whole movie has been half black screens. VHS movie played on UHF TV x old VHS recording + YouTube upload = hard to see.

76° at 6:13, when the time and temperature come up at 12:46. Looks like the Twin Cities are making their way toward summer.

Tom calls commercial at 13:25, Jeopardy-style, and Joel commands it more forcefully at 13:31. They don’t fade out until 13:38, though.

Joel reads the setting caption at 13:47, and Crows remarks a bit petulantly that he can read.

Holy crap, those are big lights on that police car. Also, why does this guy have such a strong Southern accent when they’re in Arizona? And I’m already sick of these captions.

As they leave the theater, Crow says he wants a soda, as if that’s the reason they’re leaving. Servo says he wants some saltines.

 Host Segment 1

 Crow’s wiggly fidgeting is cute. He’s such a little kid in the first few seasons.

Joel tells Crow he’ll need to borrow some of his RAM chips later to increase computing power for some other part of the ship. He doesn’t explain which, but maybe it would be common knowledge for Crow. Apparently, a dangerous meteor shower that could puncture holes in the ship is heading their way, and somehow the extra RAM chips with help with that? Maybe he can use it to increase the ship’s shields (which may or may not exist), or maybe he needs it to calculate a course away from the meteors or something. By the way, is it still called a meteor shower if it’s in space?

The bots have been really into irritating Joel in the past few episodes, and the trend continues here with Crow asking “Why?” and “So?” to everything Joel says. At first he seems sincere, but it quickly becomes clear that he just wants a reaction. It’s not clear if Joel catches on, but either way, he continues patiently explaining.

I love it whenever the bots cuddle up to Joel. Crow seems to know it’s cute and is using to his advantage.

Joel mentions that if he dies from lack of oxygen, the bots with have no human to play Parcheesi with, and implies that always ends badly. Having seen how the bots get along when Joel’s not around, I can imagine how that goes.

Mid-morning pleasure stimulation? Okay…I mean, I’m sure that’s not weird but it sounds weird.

Crow finishes off the whole thing with the classic “Daddy, what’s Vietnam?” and laughs, telling Joel to lighten up. Joel does not think it’s funny and finally snaps. Joel’s interesting; he’s almost impossible to rile, but once riled, he’s got something of a temper. You can see it in segments like his attempted barbershop/soda fountain in Giant Gila Monster [402] and the end of Castle of Fu Manchu [323]. Here he actually tells Crow to go get his belt! I can’t tell if he’s really going to use it on Crow or if he’s just playing along with Crow’s game by being the angry dad. Hope it’s the latter.

Similarly, I can’t tell if Crow’s reaction is real or if he’s still just in little kid mode. Again, I hope the latter is true.

 Movie pt. 2

Crow is making sounds of pain as they come into the theater. Joel tells him to quiet down and Tom teases him and laughs about the ordeal. I guess he really did use the belt. That’s the not the right way to discipline your robot children, Joel.

He also seems to be fixing Crow’s arms or something. They are kinda flimsy.

At 29:57, Crow says something about a “safety seal” and Servo barks like a sea lion. Just made me laugh.

Joel says when he was in 4th grade, he had the same kind of biohazard suit from the movie at 30:31. I’d doubt it, but it’s not impossible, especially given that a) Joel’s weird and b) this show takes place in a version of reality where satellites, robots, and mad science are a pretty casual affair. So who knows? But Joel also says it didn’t have the big mask, so he might have just been talking about a regular raincoat. (Or maybe it was a joke, because riffing. But that’s no fun.)

30: 56- I love Crow’s straightforward approach to things, hahaha.

At 31:09, they’re talking about Meatloaf (the singer) and Crow mentions he likes ketchup on his meatloaf. It’s not related to the joke, but it makes me imagine tiny baby KTMA Crow trying to eat meatloaf at the table with his dysfunctional little arms, which is oddly adorable.

The aliens really do look like Uncle Fester…when the guys sing their version of the Addams Family song (at 36:43), you can hear all three of them snapping (well, at least two). The bots must be able to generate snapping noises.

At 39:20, Joel mentions “Joe Namath Netted Slingshot Briefs”, which become a running comment throughout the rest of the series, especially the Joel era. I’m not getting a picture for this one; I think the BVDs picture from the last entry was enough trauma for all of us.

Wow, mentions of Jackie Coogan and Tor Johnson back to back at 39:55. Little did they know then how many opportunities they would have to talk about Tor Johnson (so many episodes, including The Unearthly [320], Bride of the Monster [423], and The Beast of Yucca Flats [621]). By the time they got to Jackie Coogan (The Space Children [906]), though, none of these original three were there. Here’s a picture of Jackie Coogan for no reason.

Now this airport guy has like a half-Boston, half-Southern accent. Though it is in the southern half of the country, Arizona is not really The South, filmmakers.

At 44:49, Tom goes on making fun of the possibly-crazy airport guy for so long Crow mutters that Joel spanked the wrong bot. That prompts Servo to ask him how his “bot” is; Crow doesn’t respond. 

Crow makes a zing! joke at 45:22, and Joel tells him to “take the laugh” like Dr. F told Larry in the previous episode. Crow says it hurts when he laughs, which makes me wonder how badly Joel spanked him with that belt. Oof. Tom also mentions that load pan-emptying will hurt later. The more I hear about load pans, the more I don’t want to know the details.

As they leave the theater, Crow says he need to get a pillow for some unspecified part of him.

Host Segment 2

Joel attaches what he calls a coupling device to Crow’s head so they can look through his memory and decide what’s worth keeping.

The first memory in the list is “On”. I’m not totally sure what that means, but I’m assuming it’s a necessary function. Maybe it’s the code that allows him to turn on?

Crow knows how to play Heart and Soul? I’d like to see that.

Nobody wants to go through “load pan training” again. My earlier sentiment about load pans has not changed. I would also like to see Tom and Crow’s bunk beds. What do you think the membrane that Crow mentions is? Apparently it’s less pleasant than load pans.

Nobody wants to keep the King Family specials.

They don’t feel like keeping a bunch of Highlights magazines, STP commercials with Mario Andretti, every episode of Punky Brewster, Lyle Waggoner’s penile implant show (???), Joe Something-or-Other’s business school (I wonder if that’s a local thing), Robert Vaughn’s Helsinki Formula, Aaron Gray’s cellulite show, or George Hamilton’s skin care hour. They do, however, want to keep a still of that one Farah Fawcett poster. I won’t bother to put a picture of that here because you’ve probably already seen it.

Joel smiles when Crow makes his buzzer noises.

He asks Crow where he picked up these weird infomercials, and Crow tells him he fell asleep while watching TV23 one night. It sounds like the Brains thought their channel played too many infomercials.

Movie pt. 3

I guess stunt driving isn’t part of the training to become a government agent. Also looks like their car was a Pinto.

The Apache Plaza Joel mentions at 58:03 was local mall in St. Anthony that was damaged by a tornado and then snowmelt. River Place is another spot in Minneapolis.

At 58:43, Crow notes that aliens have nipples like Joel does, as a human. Joel says his are a little more ”pouty.” I don’t know what that means, but ew.

Ah, thank you, movie, for cutting away instead of showing them cutting into the alien, proving once again that you are better than City on Fire. But you can really stop telling us where we are every single time we change locations. If the time is important, fine, put that, but if you’re just moving between places we’ve already been several times, you don’t need to tell us again.

Time and temp pop up again at 1:02:09, 75° at 7:15.

Tom calls commercial at 1:03:12.

Crow makes a good point at 1:05:44- why did it take them so long to even try to figure out where the government was hiding the ship?

Hey, a swear bleep at 1:08:45. The guys react to it, obviously knowing they would have to cut it out for the episode. Servo proceeds to make some “ship” jokes.

You know, these government agents would be a lot less conspicuous if didn’t wear suits everywhere. Also, even if the brakes don’t work, wouldn’t the car, you know, slow down if he stopped pressing the gas? Cars don’t just maintain momentum forever even if they can’t stop. And I’m already predicting this whole petroleum plant thing is going to explode in firey ball of death, killing the new set of G-men, while the astronauts get away.

Wow, Crow makes the same guess at 1:11:28.

Well, I was sort of right. Crow was more right than I was.

Crow’s little “c’mon, c’mon” as they leave the theater is adorable.

 Host Segment 3

They’ve hooked Crow up to the coupling device again, and take a look at his first memory ever.

For some reason the memory isn’t from Crow’s point of view…Anyway, Joel sings a song while finishing Crow up, then whacks him lightly to turn him on. His first sound is a baby cry until Joel whacks him again. Joel tells him name and he asks why, and Joel tells him it stands for “Cybernetic Remotely Operated Woman.”

Current Crow is very surprised to find out he’s a woman, but seems to get over it very quickly.

Joel tells him he’s actually a hermaphrobot because he ran out of parts. Why would running out of parts mean that he had both- you know what, never mind. 

I guess being a woman or hermaphrobot turns Crow into a stressed mother.

But it’s actually a joke anyway ha ha ha, Joel made a fake memory to tease him. Joel tells him that he only made him in the first place so he could play that joke on him in the future. Harsh, man. Joel’s kind of a big jerk in this episode.

Movie pt. 4

 Hey, it’s the plot-relevant radio station, like Invention Exchange from Giant Gila Monster [402].

Crow makes another good point- will the people inside the spaceship survive? It didn’t get burnt up on re-entry when it landed, so maybe they will. OoooOOOOOoooo mystery….

At 1:34:31, Crow also makes a call-back to City on Fire [K16].

Oh, they did survive. Did the guys preview this movie, or are they just that eerily smart? Maybe one of them had seen it before in the past?

Conclusion

This segment is very short, just the guys mentioning that the fan club is almost up to 1,000 members, and showing off the fabulous demon dog that 1,000th member can win. They mention it’s from the opening credits. Demon dogs will show up again in the next season in The Robot vs. the Aztec Mummy [102].

Is Crow carrying something over his shoulder? I can’t tell what it is.

The credits cut off in this recording, so hopefully there was nothing terribly interesting or new.

Thoughts on the Movie

          Forgive me the unkindness, but his movie is full of mostly rather ugly people. And Darren McGavin looks like the general from The Iron Giant, and/or Tommy Lee Jones. Which makes sense because the general from the Iron Giant looks like Tommy Lee Jones. Beyond that, I don’t know how I feel about this one. It’s really not that bad, it’s just sort of dumb. I feel like it would have made a more interesting television series than a movie. It has some good moments, but it felt like it was trying to tell two different stories. The longer the movie went on, the more it seemed to lose its focus. On the other hand, I actually cared some when Lou died, which is more than I can say for a lot of movies, even non-MSTed ones. Ending was kinda stupid, though.

          The other main thing that kept bothering me was why the government kept letting the astronauts poke around and potentially muck up the their big cover-up. Why do they even let them out of D.C. or Houston or wherever they were? (I really should remember because of the excessive captioning.) Can’t the Feds just keep them where they are until they’re done lying about the U.F.O.? I mean, that doesn’t sound legal, but neither does tampering with and lying about important scientific information to keep people happy until the election, and they’re already doing that. Half the plot could have been avoided if they’d just been smart enough to stop Bancroft and Price from running around. I guess that’s why they didn’t. But that’s not a good enough reason to suspend my disbelief on that point.  

          Oh yeah, and then it gets into the tired old sci-fi trope of the aliens who are almost exactly like humans and trying to explain with actual science. I don’t have any real problem with human aliens in fiction (Superman, for example, has never bugged me), but when they try to pretend like it makes any sense, that’s where they always lose me. The whole “humans are descended from them” just doesn’t work for me. If the two species were able to breed, wouldn’t they have needed to be very similar to begin with? Then that brings us back to the parallel evolution thing, which makes very little sense in an attempt at hard sci-fi. So yeah, not quite a bad movie, just a mediocre one. It would probably make good material for a modern riff.

Review

          This one was alright. It seemed like they were a little distracted by a semi-watchable movie, so there wasn’t much riffing. I didn’t laugh a whole lot during this episode (favorite riff- Tom: Maybe they’re just a couple of yahoos from Arkansas.) The spots they did riff had a lot of energy, but they seemed to lose it as the movie went on. Maybe the movie wasn’t stupid or infuriating enough to keep them firing. That’s another good reason they wrote and practiced the riffing when they moved on to the wonderful world of cable.

           Not related to the review, but I have a question for my six or seven readers. I mentioned a lot more of my thoughts on the movie in the notes this time- is that annoying, or do you prefer it that way? I got back and forth about whether I should include that there. On the one hand, it’s part of the experience of watching and episode. On the other hand, it’s not really the purpose of this guide. I’ll do whatever works better for you guys, so let me know if you have a preference. Thanks!

[satelliteofmstielove]

K18 The Million Eyes of Sumuru

                                 Like Fu Manchu, but with more sexism!

General notes

          So, sorry it took me like four months to get this next entry out. School got busy faster than I expected. But last time it was almost a year and a half, so at least there’s that…anyway…

          The Million Eyes of Sumuru is a 1967 British spy film about a scary lady and her army of scary ladies. It’s based on a book series by Sax Rohmer, a man whose name sounds like the title of a film-noir western about a jazz musician wandering in the desert. He also wrote the Fu Manchu books, which explains a lot. Also, it was directed by a guy named Lindsey. This movie includes some celebrities (sort of- does Frankie Avalon count as a celebrity?) and was produced by our other Castle of Fu Manchu friend, Harry Alan TOOOOOWEEEEERRRRRRRSSS. Wilfrid Hyde-White is in this, he played Colonel Pickering in the movie version of My Fair Lady. (I only mention that because I somehow didn’t recognize him until most of the way into this movie, even though I’ve seen My Fair Lady several times.) It also stars George Nader, from the famous and hilariously terrible Robot Monster, which we’ll get to watch later on in Season 1.

          The main interesting note about this episode is that Tom Servo leaves partway through the movie. Again, it’s a case of Josh needing to be somewhere at the same time they were taping. He’s still in the host segments, because they always taped those before the movie part. Now, let’s get to Sumuru. (I don’t have a link for this one because it’s not on YouTube, but you can find it at Club MST3K.)

Prologue

I don’t know if I ever mentioned that I like the little tentacle things in the KTMA doorway sequence.

Oh man, continuity! That’s unusual for this show in general, not even just KTMA. They did a “previously on…” sketch as the intro for The Deadly Bees [905], but that one purposefully had nothing to do with anything that has ever happened on the S.O.L. They also did general premise recaps fairly often in Season 1 and occasional other times, and some story arc recaps in Season 8 when they were forced to have a story arc. This is the only episode I know of, thought, that has a classic “previously” bit, separate from the rest of the host segment, that recaps with a clip from the previous episode. Neat.

Also, does anyone recognize the voice-over voice? Josh or Kevin are the usual deep-voice go-tos, but this doesn’t sound like either of them. The musical sting comes from Fugitive Alien (I thought it was Time of the Apes at first, which goes to show how well I don’t know my Season 3 episodes).

After the clip, we join the Mads trying to get a look at Joel floating outside the satellite. They confirm for us that he is not floating naked in space, but is actually wearing underwear (which we could kinda tell from that very accurate action-figure Joel model). I had to look up what “BVDs” were, though. I had to look at this so now you do, too:

Whatever camera they’re using to look at Joel must have really good zoom if they can tell his cheeks are blue.

Has he been out there for a whole week? That’s impressive. Much later, in Time Chasers [821], the S.O.L. seemed to maybe have a Tardis-like air bubble-forcefield thing around it when it docked with Pearl’s van, so maybe that’s how Joel managed. Of course, a week in the cold of space with no food or water doesn’t really leave him very well off even if he had air, but those are all science facts. More likely this episode and the last one just take place closer together that that. (My default headcanon assumption is most episodes take place roughly in real time with when they aired, but there’s exceptions to that for sure). But again, I’m more than willing to relax about this kind of thing. I just speculate for fun.

The Mads are 2001-loving dorks, and we love them for it. As characters. As people, they’re jerks.

I think this may the first occurrence of weirdly affectionate Dr. F nicknames for Joel. We’ve had a few weird insults in previous episodes, but I think this is the first of this particular kind.

I didn’t know the Mads could open the S.O.L. doors from down on Earth. But I guess they control all sorts of other things from their lab, so why not the doors? Larry doesn’t actually press any buttons, but Joel gets inside anyway. Maybe he pressed it under the desk.

Joel is putting on his jumpsuit as he comes onto the bridge. The bots must have left it right by the door. Why did Joel take it off to go outside in the first place? Was he in the middle of changing and got sucked out the door? Actually, a random semi-nude spacewalk doesn’t seem too far outside something Joel might do on purpose…

Joel also thanks the Mads for letting him inside. It’s good to be polite to your captors, I suppose. In some episodes, rudeness does result in punishment, so probably a smart idea.

 Locked you out again? How many times has this happened, Joel? Maybe you need to get another key. Although if he’s going out into space in only his underwear, he might not have a good place to keep it…this is getting weird, let’s move on.

Trace’s weird expressions in this segment keep making me laugh.

The Mads are really enjoying taunting Joel this week. I like their doofy handshake. I can imagine them doing that in the halls at Gizmonic and other mad scientists just looking at them like they can’t stand them.

Joel’s response is actually much more sarcastic than usual for him (outside the theater). 3-12 weeks? What’s he talking about there? Anyone know? Did KTMA have multiple seasons?

Poor guy, he sounds really done. Being stuck out in the vacuum of space for a while probably does that to you.

The Mads’ movie intros are starting to sound more like they will for the rest of the series. Also, Larry tells Clay to get the movie, and he does. I sometimes forget that Dr. F and Dr. Erhardt were portrayed mostly as equals during KTMA. The junior doctor/henchman thing didn’t really get going until Season 1.

I never know what to make of angry Joel. It happened more often in KTMA, but still not that much. Also, his hand gestures are weird.

We didn’t see the bots in this segment, probably because they’re off hiding from Joel and their impending punishment.

Movie pt. 1

Wow, the Mads were right; this is a really washed-out print.

Joel comes into the theater dancing to the parade music from the movie. He seems to have forgotten about being angry. Maybe the bots got an earful on the way down.

4:32, time and temp: 6:04 and 67°. The episode originally aired in early May, so I’d assume this is sometime around then, if not the exact night. I don’t know if TV23 re-ran these or not.

Crow mispronounces “emperor” at 4:39, and corrects himself, which makes Joel chuckle.

At 4:43, Tom tries to apologize for locking Joel outside, saying they “didn’t really know it was [him].” Joel understandably doesn’t respond.

During the opening credits, they do a lot of “relative of famous person with same last name” jokes. Those became a staple during credits for the rest of the show, especially the Joel seasons.

Servo doesn’t know who the Buddha is at 7:27. Also, Joel’s Wisconsin accent really comes out when he says “Buddha.”

At 7:46, Joel starts a riff that just sort of peters out. Something about the plant in front of the camera, but I’m not sure what he was trying to say.

8:13, Joel makes a pun and asks Crow if he likes it. Crow doesn’t seem overly enthused, but he says it was cool, anyway. Tom then tells him should laugh at it, since Joel’s upset with them. He hasn’t been acting too upset since they got into the theater, but maybe he’s been glowering or something.

Crow and Joel both talk at the same time at 8:31. They’re usually pretty good at not doing that, considering it’s improv.

At 8:35, Joel says “whoops” and looks down. It looks like he was just moving out of the way of the movie, but maybe he hit Crow’s arm or something.

Movie thing: I know it’s not even 10 minutes in yet, but the editing in this is really bad.

At 11:52, Joel tells Crow a terrible joke, which he kinda laughs at, but it seems to make him a little bit sad. Joel laughs, though.

Servo’s Frankie Avalon joke at 12:27- does that come from somewhere or did Josh just make that up on the fly? It’s very clever. Josh always has been the best of the MST alumni at off-the-cuff quips. Crow and Joel groan, though.

At 13:01, I’m not sure what Joel’s laughing at.

Joel bats at the old man at 13:16.

Movie thing: Gosh, 60s white-people dancing is always so second-hand embarrassing. Also, along with being washed out, the sound is really bad in this, too. I’m having a hard time understanding what anyone is saying.

I appreciate their Batman riffs at 15:43.

At 16:36, Tom makes fun of Frankie Avalon for being in the movie, but since Frankie’s hugging a pretty lady on screen at the time, Crow disagrees with his assessment. His enthusiastic follow-up about Frankie’s hand placement makes me laugh, along with Joel.

Josh calls commercial at 17:22, while making fun of Colonel Medika’s line delivery.

The guys are talking over each other a lot this week. I guess they’re just full of riff ideas.

Joel’s delivery at 17:45 is kind of adorable, for some reason.

All their riffs about the van starting at 18:26 are really funny, but what was that, Joel? Freeze him and make him into little bongs? Bombs? Huh?

I’m sorry, but WHAT IS HAPPENING?!

You can’t really see it because the quality is so bad, but at 19:27, Joel and the bots lean along with the car-chase cam.

Terrible pun from Joel at 20:20ish.

Some more of the Crow attitude we know and love at 22:20.

At 22:29, Servo complains to Joel about hearing voices in his head. Joel sounds a little concerned, but then Tom drops it.

Joel starts poking at Frankie’s giant chin at 22:57.

Crow just can’t let the poor framing in this scene go.

Tom’s confused about the number of Sumuru’s eyes at 26:10.

Joel gives the naked woman two thumbs up at 26:52, then stands up to look down at her chest! Unexpected from him. Things are getting awfully blue in here…

Crow starts a game of tag with Joel as they leave the theater, which is cute. Joel takes a huge obvious step over Trace on the floor, and mumbles something. I can’t tell whether he says something to Trace, or say something about “chase”. Either would make sense in context.

Host Segment 1

 We go right into the host segment, skipping the doorway sequence. It’s hard to tell with these VHS recordings whether that’s how the episode was made, or if the person just cut it out. It does look like a little bit from the beginning of this segment is cut off.

Joel is still mad about being locked out of the ship, so he’s attached “idioprobes” to the bots. They look like strings, and apparently administer pain while attached. That seems a little harsh to me, but I’ve also never been stuck out in space in my underwear, either. I like the way Crow sidles sideways into frame.

When Joel rips the idioprobes off the bots, you can clearly see the string on Servo, but he just pretends to grab something off of Crow. They didn’t have any extra string for a prop?

After Joel removes them, Servo starts trying to give the “we didn’t know it was you” excuse again, saying they thought it was any of several dead musicians. (All the people in the list are drummers, except for Elvis.)

Joel’s not having it, and threatens the probes again. I’m not really sure why they’re called probes; they’re not really probing anything.

Tom demands a trial by his peers, and Joel says that he’d build them more peers if he could. Interesting- does that mean he’s used up all useful robot building parts on the ship already? That would explain why he stopped at four, besides the fact that four is more than enough to deal with.

Then Joel asks where Gypsy is, and the other two hem and haw and finally admit they left her stuck in the spiral-on-down, which I think is the way to the theater? I know they’ve used the term before, but infrequently. Anyway, Joel’s not happy about that, either. Servo’s defense is pretty reasonable, since his arms don’t work. Crow’s in trouble, though.

Apparently you can unstick Gypsy from the spiral-on-down by pressing a button on the little control panel thing. I wonder if that unsticks her from anywhere in the satellite, or if it’s just for that one spot. Crow calls it a robo-purge button, which kind of makes it sound like the former.

I love Gypsy’s screech when she gets released.

Joel seems so done with the bots and everything by the end of this segment. He can’t do anything but smile and (metaphorically) wave. The cheesy grin isn’t usually his style; that’s more of a Mike thing.

Movie pt. 2

Still 67° at 6:38 (am or pm).

Joel sings a little Sumuru song at 35:48. I’m not sure if the tune comes from somewhere or if he was just making it up on the spot. Anyone recognize it?

At 36:20, Joel and the bots mess with the car dashboard.

37:33- Tom makes another off-color joke. I have a feeling more are on the way, given the content of the movie.

At 44: 20, Servo brings up the slant-6 Swinger car again, the one they mentioned in a few previous episodes.

He also calls commercial at 44:45.

Joel’s sounding extra sleepy in a lot of his lines.

Ah good, it’s time for the movie to dial up the sexism again.

By 51:11, Crow’s lost patience with the kissing scene.

At 52:04, Tom tells Joel he needs to leave, because he needs to go bake brownies for the Pinewood Derby. The real-life reason was mentioned at the top, but I’m thinking in-universe, Servo was just tired of watching this movie. Joel’s fine with him leaving, as long as he agrees to show up for the sketches between the movies segments. Tom promises, and wonders if they have eggs. Just a pointless thought, since it doesn’t matter how they eat (or breathe), but I always assumed either the Mads send them supply shipments, or they have some kind of food synthesizer that makes it for them. They definitely have the latter by the end of the series, since Crow mentions it in Soultaker [1001], but earlier than that, it’s not clear. Maybe both?

Host Segment 2

Joel tries to hold a trial for the bots, but, as usual, everything is a joke to them. They just won’t go along with anything he’s trying to do. The courtroom thing reminds me of Crow’s trial for cheating in Wild World of Batwoman [515].

The bots go off on another word-association tangent, which leads to a game show sketch, while Joel just looks on impatiently.

He uses the button panel as a gavel.

Even Gypsy gets in on making life difficult for Joel. It looks like maybe Josh was throwing his voice to do Gypsy from the other side of the desk. Either that or they recorded that part in post. Either way, Trace or somebody else must have been operating her.

Time and temp comes up on the host segment this time; Still 67° at 7:07. The updates are more frequent this week than last time.

Joel gives up on getting order in the court, and picks up Tom and kisses his head while misquoting Jimi Hendrix. What else can you do but give into the madness?

What is that on the desk besides the papers? It looks like an upside-down mug, maybe?

I like the weird noise Crow makes when Joel calls Movie Sign.

Movie pt. 3

 As Servo mentioned, he doesn’t go back into the theater with the others. Joel was holding him as they ended the last segment, so I guess he must have put him down somewhere on the way to the theater.

Joel and Crow try to move away from the spraying champagne at 55:10.

I agree with Crow at 56:27, please stop.

Man, Crow keeps saying what I’m thinking.

At 59:45, Crow calls back to the oceanic opening credits from the Gamera films.

Oh goodness, again with the Brain That Wouldn’t Die-style KPORN saxophone…also, so does security want to like, check her bag or anything before she goes in to the president? No? Yeah, see, that’s exactly why security exists.

Wait, he did get shot? Huh? It would be nice if they would SHOW us what’s happening! And this is the most ineffectual political security ever.

Host Segment 3

As promised, Tom is back for the host segment.

I love Crow’s flowers on his net.

Joel was out in space for five weeks? I guess it was longer between episodes than I thought.  That’s what I get for not checking first.

It amuses me that the bots are just now asking about this, even though they obviously thought about before, since Servo did calculations. But Joel’s got a guitar and he’s ignoring their questions, sort of like how they ignored him earlier when he was trying to put them on trial.

Time and temperature again, 7:28 and down to 65°.

Joel and the bots sing us a lovely part of the theme song to remind us to just relax about the eating and breathing thing. I’m guessing they anticipated people calling/writing in with questions about how Joel survived. As much as this episode guide exists to overthink things, that kind of science fact I am quite relaxed about, and I don’t mind being reminded.

I wonder whose guitar that is. It might be Josh’s, since I know he has musical inclinations. It doesn’t look the same as the guitar Larry has during the Clay and Lar’s Flesh Barn song in Women of the Prehistoric Planet [104], but that doesn’t mean it’s not still his. Also, do you think Joel’s really playing the guitar here? It sure looks like he is, but I’ve heard him say in interviews that he doesn’t play the guitar. Maybe he just meant he doesn’t anymore, or very much.

I think Crow is just moving his mouth, not actually singing. Nice harmonies from Tom, though.

Movie pt. 4

Haha, she’s running to her inevitable death, it’s funny! These highly-trained assassins sure jog at a casual pace, don’t they? I guess they’re probably in heels.

At 1:08:21, Joel mentions that he likes a movie with lots of midriff. This one ought to make him happy, then, no midriff shortage here.

Classic “oh wow” from Joel at 1:12:28, and another at 1:12:39. I don’t know if I’m going to note all of them. Maybe I should, and then someday someone can make a pointless compilation video or something.

Wizard of Oz reference #16 at 1:12:46. Maybe someday someone can make a pointless compilation of these, too.

Crow makes Joel laugh at 1:12:53.

The guys have no patience for Frankie’s fourth-wall-breaking joke at 1:13:01.

Wow, what a pointlessly prolonged scene leading up to nothing. They did in two minutes what they could have done in 30 seconds. That’s padding Roger Corman could be proud of.  

Also, that cut. This movie can’t decide if it wants to be a comedy or not. Not that it’s succeeding at comedy, but sometimes it’s sure trying.

“I know it’s best” because I’m a man, albeit a wimpy, useless one. Man, just like City on Fire, this movie annoys me so much I can’t leave it alone, even though that’s not what this guide is for. (I also think it’s easy to start filling in riffs yourself in KTMA, when it’s slow.)

I just noticed Joel’s leaned way back in his chair.

He calls commercial at 1:21:07.

Sumuru’s mines are operated by switches? That seems far less effective than normal mines…

Joel keeps talking about midriffs. I guess he really is a fan. 

I’m sorry I keep talking about movie things, but why the heck is Frankie here? Isn’t his character just some rich playboy with no actual skills? Did I miss some line near the beginning that explained his extensive military training? I really might have, the sound was terrible.

Joel’s riff attempt at 1:32:26- he pauses to get his sentence in order, then still says “fooms” instead of “films”. I find that way funnier than I should.

Is Joel okay? He’s having a really hard time getting over Trace on the way out, again. Maybe they’re squished closer to the wall than usual?

Conclusion

 Apparently Servo’s mouth is broken now, so Joel moves it for him and makes him sing.

Joel mentions they’ve got 900 people in the fan club. That’s extremely impressive for a dinky little puppet show on local UHF. Seems like people could tell from the beginning that MST3K was destined for greatness.

The fan club newsletter is called The Binding Polymer? I wonder why. Just science-y sounding, I guess.

Why does Joel need to move Servo’s mouth to talk when he’s not even onscreen? Maybe he can’t talk at all if his mouth doesn’t move. That seems like an odd design choice for a robot, but then again, so do most aspects of the bots. Speaking of Tom’s mouth, is KTMA Tom’s mouth the same as regular Tom’s mouth, but upside down? I’m probably just crazy.

Crow seems shocked by Joel’s sudden button press.

As he often does, Joel looks offscreen before the camera cuts away. He really does seem tired this week, doesn’t he? Hope he went home after this and slept.

Kevin’s listed under “Puppet Operation” in the credits. Maybe that means he was running Gypsy in the second host segment.

Thoughts on the Movie

          Wow. You know, after reading a little bit about it, I had hopes that The Million Eyes of Sumuru would be a little bit higher quality than the past few movies we’ve seen. In some ways, that’s true.

          But overall, I have to say…WHAT IS WRONG WITH THIS MOVIE?! I have so many questions: Why can’t George Nader and Frankie Avalon stop being smug and sardonic and cutesy for three and a half seconds? Why did they frame shots so half the time you can’t tell what’s going on? And President Boong? First of all, Boong, really? Second of all, Sinonesia? What? Third of all, he is clearly a white guy in eyeliner and all of this is supposed to be remotely acceptable to the audience!? I mean, Fu Manchu was racist, too, but at least they made some attempt to suspend audience disbelief.

          And the really big one: how do you think they fit this much misogyny into one film? Remember, even if a woman hates men and has dedicated her whole life to destroying them, she still becomes instantly smitten if touched by a man, no matter how unattractive. Also, even if she is a trained martial-artist-assassin, she will not make any attempt to stop said man from touching her, because she is a woman. Yes, women exist solely as sexual creatures who could never desire anything more than to be dominated by men, no matter what they may try to convince themselves otherwise. In fact, every human being is motivated only by sex at all times! And was that significant glance between Helga and the other chick at the end there supposed to redeem anything? Sax Rohmer, Harry Towers, Kevin Kavanagh (screenwriter on this fine, fine film)- y’all have issues.

          This movie has plenty of other stupidity which I’m not going to bother to get into. I think I’ve expressed my feelings adequately. It’s not unwatchable in the way Castle of Fu Manchu is, but it’s plenty more offensive. Let’s just move on with our lives.

Review

          This one was okay. As I said before, Josh thrives the most on the improv riffing, and the second part really starts to drag once he leaves. I still laughed out loud at several riffs, (favorite riff- Crow: Does she always make that noise when she walks?) but there’s a lot of dead space in between. Compared to the past few episodes, it definitely has less energy, which also makes it easier to get caught up in the badness of the movie.

          Overall, had good parts, wouldn’t put it in my KTMA top five, by any means. Still, with every episode the guys seem to figuring out more and more the feeling they want in the movie and host segments. You can see it moving towards its destination.

[satelliteofmstielove]

K17 Time of the Apes

                                                    Monkey wrenching

General notes

          Ah, more Sandy Frank. That name just warms my heart. Oh wait, that’s the rage at having to watch another one of these things. Okay, so maybe it’s not quite that bad, but man, it’s not good. This is the last Sandy Frank episode for KTMA, giving us two seasons of freedom from the hot dog dropped on the beach, until Season 3 when we get to watch almost all of these movies again, but with better riffing.

          Like Cosmic Princess [K10], Fugitive Alien [K12], and Mighty Jack [K14], Time of the Apes is actually assembled from pieces of a TV show. The original show was called Saru no Gundan (“Army of Apes”) and aired in the early ‘70s. Apparently, it’s not too bad, if Planet of the Apes adaptations (one might say “rip-off” instead, but hey) are your thing. I can see how, without bad dubbing and half the story cut out, it could be a fun watch. In this form, however, it’s…well, it’s on MST3K.

          This episode is unique- Joel’s not in it! I don’t know the detailed backstory, but I guess he had to be out of town that week, so they just taped the episode without him. Having just Tom and Crow in the theater makes for a slightly different feel. Let’s go watch some monkeys, shall we?

Prologue

The Mads are having trouble getting the Joel on the phone. Unfortunately for them, the bots are in a trolling mood and aren’t being much help.

It sounds like the Mads send Time of the Apes as retaliation for the bots’ unhelpfulness. Something similar happens in several later episodes, such as Hobgoblins [907]. It seems like Pearl was especially prone to this.

Mr. Potato Head is back on the desk this week. Dr. Forrester takes out his anger on it by ripping off its nose. Or maybe he just felt like dressing it up differently, at that exact moment.

Movie pt. 1

Does anyone else automatically sing “Sandy Frank, Sandy Frank” along to the opening music? I can’t help myself.

Crow sits in Joel’s usual seat.

At 3:06, Tom already says he feels kind of a void without Joel in the theater. He’s also not too happy about sitting right next to Crow, it seems. He tells Crow maybe he should empty his load pan because he doesn’t smell very good. So…did anyone ever figure out what a load pan was actually supposed to be? I’m not sure I want to know, now.

I never noticed before how peppy the music in this section of the movie is.

Crow doubts the monkeyhood of the animal at 5:41. Tom thinks it’s a possum, Crow guesses lemur. Crow was closer- it’s actually a loris.

6:55- Crow continues his already storied career as an incorrigible punster.

Servo mentions Joel’s absence again at 7:16, wondering where he is.

At 8:32, Crow’s already got this movie’s number.

Wow, this advanced scientific compound’s wiring does not seem up to code.

Crow mentions doing experiments in science class at 10:10. I know it’s probably just a joke, but Joel probably would do experiments with the bots for fun. Probably not “destroy the monkey freezing plant” experiments, though.

At 10:48, Tom mocks Crow’s time as a Christmas tree from several episodes ago, which Crow does not particularly appreciate. He compares being frozen to “drinking a Slurpee real fast.”

Tom also calls commercial at 11:23.

When Johnny starts calling for his uncle at 13:10, the bots start up calling out other names. Sort of a proto version of a joke they’d use in multiple later episodes, most memorably in Pod People [303]. They start it up again at 16: 27.

Some of the camera movement and editing choices in this movie are so strange.

Tom begins whistling at 18:47. After a little while, Crow asks him how he gets his “blowport” to pucker to make that sound. Tom says it’s a special program, but…Also, if anyone knows what song(s) he’s whistling, I’d be interested to know.

At 20:48, Crow says Joel should be there, and Servo says he’s getting a little concerned.

Trace has made Josh laugh at least three times so far in the episode. He’s on a roll. Has been for the past few episodes, actually.

Crow mentions Joel’s absence again in a riff at 22:36.

I don’t know why, but Crow’s little “Mm?” at 23:18 is adorable.

The bots decide to go look for Joel as they leave the theater.

Host Segment 1

The bots discuss where Joel might be, and go over where they’ve already looked. It’s sort of cute how they don’t know all the rooms on the ship.

They quickly degenerate into arguing, unsurprisingly. They really are like young siblings.

Crow calls Tom a “spasmodic crofisator” (crophysator?), a term that would be used again at least once in Season 1. It sounds like an insult but I’m not sure what it means. Maybe they don’t know, either.

Gypsy shows up to break up the fight, carrying Joel’s jumpsuit in her mouth. Does Joel only have one jumpsuit? I always sort of assumed he had at least a couple. But I guess in KTMA he only ever wore the one on camera, so maybe he did only have one. He only had one on camera in Season 1, too. Actually, the only season where he clearly had more than one jumpsuit was Season 2, where he had at least 5- teal, bright red, cyan, light green, and his classic maroon one, which he wears in every episode after it first shows up in Godzilla vs. Megalon [212]. Mike wore the same green one throughout Season 5 (unless you count the navy one in Mitchell), got a royal blue one (Zombie Nightmare [604]) and a teal one (The Creeping Terror [606]) in Season 6, and then switched between the three of them for the rest of his time as host. You know, in case you wanted the brief jumpsuit history of MST3K.

Crow doesn’t know what a pod bay is either. Tom is not taking things seriously and activates a “wah-wah-wah” noise. Does that satellite have those built in?

Apparently the only possible conclusion one could reach after finding Joel’s uniform is that he’s floating naked in space. They don’t seem too concerned for his safety, just more interested in seeing him in an embarrassing position. These are the monsters you created, Joel.

Movie pt. 2

The way this is cut makes the story feel really choppy. Was is this bad in the version they used for the Season 3 episode? Probably.

The fire in the movie makes Crow sneeze at 28:52. Somehow. I wonder if Trace is a little sick- his voice cracks, too, at 29:08.

TV23 time and temperature at 35:41. 6:42, and 56°. I wish they’d tell us AM or PM, but I guess the people actually watching when this was on wouldn’t need to be told that. It was probably PM, since they taped during the day and played them in the evenings. I’m not sure if they showed them at other times on the channel as re-runs or not, though. Tom from mst3ktemple.com would probably know.

At 37:24, the bots start talking about how good it is to get your shoes off when you’ve been on your feet for a long time, despite the fact that neither of them wear shoes and only one of them could. (Unless you count that time from Danger Death Ray [620] where Tom wore the shoes on his head and hands. I don’t.)

Crow starts singing about taking the “ape train” at 46:41. It annoys Servo, but apparently Crow has to do it or his head will blow up. Personally, I think he may be exaggerating.

Immediately after, at 47:01, Tom mentions Joel void again. Crow says they’ll just go look at him through the telescope when they get out of the theater again. I guess that means they did locate him outside at the end of the last host segment, even if we didn’t get to see it.

Movie thing- why does the action scene on the train have such slow, ponderous music? I guess it’s not really that much of an action scene anyway.

Host Segment 2

Crow’s wearing Joel’s jumpsuit, which is ridiculously adorable. I wonder how he managed to put it on. It probably would have been entertaining to watch.

Servo and Crow discuss the implication of Joel being stuck outside, with themselves being the only ones who could let him in, all the while ignoring his pounding on the door outside. They like the idea of forcing Joel to do their will in exchange for saving him from the dark vacuum of space.

What does Crow have against breadfruit plants? Do they take up too much of Joel’s time?

Predictably, Tom’s still on about babes.

Crow also suggests sending him adrift with a sextant, charts and a toaster. Servo objects to losing Lucille the toaster, something about four toast slots. I hope hope hope that it’s just because he’s likes making four pieces of toast at a time and not for some other reason…speaking of which, what kind of fun does Crow think Joel would have with the toaster? I guess he’d tinker with it. He wouldn’t have anything else to do, since the sextant and charts sure aren’t going to help him navigate anywhere in space.

The bots decide the pounding they’re hearing is space barnacles that need removal, to justify messing with Joel some more, but get Movie Sign before they get a chance.

Movie pt. 3

At 51:41, I agree with Tom- I’ve never seen anyone that unconcerned about a UFO.

Josh sneezes at 54:12. Crow/Trace says “gesundheit.”

Tom forgets Godo’s name at 57:05. Usually forgetting how to say characters’ names is Joel’s thing. I guess someone had to do it since he’s wasn’t there.

Did Sandy Frank even attempt to make this part coherent? Was it 5 pm on a Friday and he was just like “Eh, this is good enough, those kids won’t know what’s going on anyway”?

Servo calls commercial again at 1:01:43.

At 1:03:23, Crow is unimpressed by Tom’s joke.

1:04:46- Servo mentions Joel again, though I’m not sure whether he means Joel is a naked ape, or someone who is going back to his country. Is he saying that’s why Joel went out into space in the first place? I guess it could be.

Tom and Crow discuss the Academy Awards at 1:06:12.

The cliff in this flashback is, like, the least treacherous cliff ever. You could walk up that.

Host Segment 3

Cambot plays some old footage of Joel (from Invaders from the Deep [K01], with the long hair and turquoise jumpsuit- wait, he did have another jumpsuit in KTMA. Does that invalidate my whole spiel about jumpsuits from earlier? Oh nevermind). It freaks out Tom and Crow for a second because they think they’ll be in trouble. Have we ever seen this part before? I can’t recall if that little bit is in the snippets video of the three missing episodes.

Inevitably, the bots get into another argument, this time about whether the Joel behind the door was real or simulated. Usually the human has to break up the fighting. If something else didn’t interrupt, I wonder how far it would escalate.

Anybody know who that was behind door #2? Whoever it was, he terrified the bots. Maybe just because he was huge? Or perhaps they don’t like baldness.

Things get a little trippy when Tom starts playing with the laws of reality. He seems to have that power. He does something similar in Gunslinger [511], and Crow doesn’t like it any better then than he does here.

Movie pt. 4

At 1:15:17, Crow and Servo talk about whether or not humans have the same number of hairs on their bodies as apes. Crow thinks so, Servo doesn’t believe it.

I think we’re all starting to get impatient along with Crow. This is dragging on forever.

Down to 54° by 7:45, so I’m guessing it is PM, at 1:27:24.

Ah, we’re finally back on track- Wizard of Oz reference #14 at 1:29:23. I knew they’d return someday. The last three episode haven’t had any, at least that I could find, so my original theory about there being a WoZ riff in every Joel episode has been disproven. I still predict that there will be at least one in every Joel ep in the series proper, though.

The impatience continues.

At 1:31:20, Servo says that if Joel were there, they’d have run out of monkey puns much earlier. Is that because they’d have said more of them in a row to annoy him, or because Joel’s presence discourages the creation of monkey puns?

Something about Tom’s timing at 1:32:07 is just great.

Very brief Wizard of Oz reference #15 at 1:33:55.

Movie thing- So they do explain how they got back to their own time, it just makes NO SENSE. I wonder if Tom still feels like exploding.

Servo forgets Godo’s name again at 1:36:16, calling him Gobo.

1:36:58- uh, what other organ were you thinking of, Crow?

Tom falls over onto Crow as they start to leave the theater, but manages to get back up.

Once again, I can’t not sing the Sandy Frank song along with the credits.

Conclusion

We get a rare outside shot of the S.O.L., along with floating-(semi)-naked-in-space Joel, as represented by an action figure of some kind. I…don’t really think Joel would look like that with his shirt off, but hey.

Tom and Crow contemplate life without Joel. They only seem to recall all the mean stuff Joel has done to them since their creation, but they still do say they miss him a little.

They also talk about how they actually like each other, although that “You’re the greatest” remark from Crow could have a bit sarcastic. Hard to tell. I prefer to interpret it in a positive light.

I don’t know if I mentioned it before, but Alexandra Carr is now in the credits as the Fan Club Coordinator and Production Assistant. She’d continue to be on the show’s staff for a long time.

Joel is also still listed as starring in the episode even though he wasn’t there, just like Trace was still credited for Crow in the eps where he was gone.

At least in the copy I linked, the sound on the tape starts flipping out in an amusing way at the very end.

Thoughts on the Movie

          This movie is…really goofy. I won’t go in-depth, since we have to watch it again in a few seasons, but man. Actually, it’s quite refreshing after two confusing 70s TV-movie dramas in a row. It’s not really any less confusing, but it’s much more entertaining to watch. This is also the second movie in a row with a really annoying child, although Johnny is much more amusing in his annoyingness than the kid in City on Fire (Gerald? Was that his name? I don’t care enough to go check). That kid was just not very good, whereas Johnny is not that terrible, he just kind of a spaz. Fits in with the rest of the movie, I guess.

Review

          This was a pretty solid episode. Of course, the definition of a solid episode in KTMA versus Season 1 and beyond is quite different, but this one measures up to what they’ve done so far. Josh and Trace kept the energy nicely throughout. The two of them always played off each other well (favorite riff- Crow: Let’s buy these guys a tripod, whadda ya say?). This episode didn’t provide nearly as many laugh-out-loud moments as the last one, though, which reinforces to me that three really is the magic number. Something about having all of them together brings it up to the right level. The movie itself was pretty lively this week, which probably helped make up for losing a riffer. If it had been say, Cosmic Princess with only Tom and Crow, it might not have worked as well.

[satelliteofmstielove]

K16 City on Fire

                                                    Roasted turkey

General notes

         …So. Hey. Remember when I used to make these, like, a long time ago? It’s been over a year since I worked on the guide, for various reasons involving school and reboot junk and other stuff, but mostly school and reboot junk. I won’t go into details because who cares. Let’s just move on and watch an episode of MST3K.

          This episode features a little more fan club talk, and not much else worth noting here. Let’s get to the watching. Guess who finally learned how to embed hyperlinks? Onward!

PS note: This movie contains quite a bit of unpleasant imagery, including a lot of people getting burnt throughout, a couple of distressed/dead animals, and a short surgery scene which begins about 1:17:30. Just thought I’d note it here for people who’d want to be warned.

Prologue

The Mads get a letter from the Mad Scientists League, an organization that will crop up in one form or another in various episodes down the line, such as Mitchell [512] and Girl in Gold Boots [1002]. Sometimes it’s called something different, but the idea is the same. Here, as in later mentions, they’re not really sure if the Mads’ brand of evil is really mad or scientific enough to qualify as mad science.

The official unofficial episode guide on Satellite News says that the comment Larry makes about Ken Keller has something do with a local university president, I think. I read it a long time ago and don’t really remember. I tried to go back and verify, but uh, I can’t get www.mst3kinfo.com to work for me. Is that just me or are other people having that problem? Did something happen to it that I haven’t heard about? (I haven’t been very active in the fandom for, like, more than a year, so I’m a little out of the loop about a lot of stuff.)

What kind of job do you think Larry had at the Pentagon? Do you think the “worked for two weeks, paid for two years” thing was actually part of the gig, or something he engineered for himself? Questions for the ages.

Apparently now the Mads get all of their research money from the MSL. I wonder what happened to all the money Clay won in Vegas a few episodes back. Guess they blew it all on who-knows-what already, which would not be surprising. Is Gizmonics as a whole funded by the MSL? In a previous episode, it sounded like the Mads had to meet some kind of standard for Gizmonics in order to work there, so maybe that’s related to the…look, I know it doesn’t matter, and the guys didn’t think any of this through when they made it up. They just threw it together 45 minutes before they taped the episode, not worrying how it fit together in the world. Which is totally fine. I just like to see if I can make it make sense, despite that. Coherence is not required in the MST universe, but it’s kind of amusing when you find it. At least to me.

Sounds like Larry’s already kinda bored with the “worst movie ever” experiment. I think Joel and the bots might be on the same page.

Uh, is Gizmonics not considered the private sector? Do they have government funding? If so, how the heck do they swing that? I realize the pork goes pretty far in this country, but thinly-veiled mad science seems like it would be pushing even that. They must have some kind of in with a senator or something. Maybe one is a Gizmonics alumni- politics would be a nice place to continue practicing evil.

Fruit inspection is apparently their only other option for a job. Ouch.

Clay, at least, seems to think the MSL doesn’t consider them mad enough because their experiment is too cutesy. I wonder if that’s what it said in the report. Personally, I wouldn’t really consider their movie selection cute, but I guess in comparison to the truly grade Z garbage that would come later, like Manos or Red Zone Cuba, I can see what they mean.

Huh, it heads straight into the movie without showing the S.O.L. first, without even the doorway sequence. I don’t think that’s happened before.

Movie pt. 1

Am I crazy, or do the theater seats look extra tiny and crowded together this time?

I like Servo’s wrestling-announcer-style reading of the title card at 3:58.

At 6:02- I can’t be the only one who automatically responds “McCloud.”

Crow sounds concerned about the smoothie (or whatever that’s supposed to be) at 6:30. He also mentions the many camera edits. Why does that scene have so many of those?

Josh interrupts Joel again at 6:56. I haven’t been keeping a count, but that’s gotta be at least 6 or 7 times over the course of the series.

At 14: 39, TV23 shows the time and temperature. Is that 6:15 AM or PM? Based on the 32° temperature, I’d guess morning, assuming this aired in March or April.

A transcript of the French that begins at 15:23, at least as well as my two years of high school French can tell: “Monsieur Pierre. Pas maintenant. Non, uh, après le mois demain à trois heures. Non, something something. Something bien something? Au revoir.”, which translates to “Mr. Pierre. Not now. No, uh, after the month, tomorrow at 3 o’clock. No, something something. Something good something? Goodbye.” You guys probably understood most of that without help, but still, there it is. (The après le mois could have actually been rapidement, meaning quickly, but I thought the former made slightly more sense in context. Or not. I don’t know, really.)

At 17:46, Tom mentions nude Shelley Winters photos in Joel’s room, and Joel shushes him. Sounds like maybe he has something to hide.

Joel and the bots keep predicting that maintenance guy will turn out to be a psycho. I can’t remember if they were reviewing part of the movies before using them by this point in the show’s run or not. They might have seen farther into the movie previously and know what’s going to happen. Let’s watch.

Man, it’s like 20 minutes into the movie and they’re still introducing whole new swaths of characters. Were people supposed to take notes while watching? Also, seriously? The city on fire is on fire because some dumb kids threw a cigarette? That’s…kinda disappointing. I was sort of hoping for gigantic explosion, and I’m not even usually a gigantic explosion kind of person.

Crow’s distressed about Mickey Mouse burning to death at 20:54.

Crow comment at 21:07 about same movies kinda sums up my feelings, as well.

The boys do a classic Lassie type sketch at 22:00.

There’s another interruption problem at 22:43, this time with Joel interrupting Josh. Afterwards, he asks Josh what he was going to say, and then says he was glad he interrupted him once he hears the riff. Burn. Crow/Trace even comments on it.

Uh, the boy in the striped shirt, Gerald or whatever his name is…to quote the Star Wars: Episode 1 RiffTrax, is it okay to say this kid sucks?

Crow thinks the movie is getting too scary as they leave the theater. He used to be quite a bit more sensitive early on, didn’t he? He still had his moments later in the series, though, like in Being from Another Planet [405] when he’s afraid of the basement.

Host Segment 1

The bots are doing something potentially suspicious with a telescope as we enter the bridge.

Joel brings up their supplies, saying somebody’s been overusing the oil. I don’t want to point fingers, but I’d guess it was Tom, seems like something he’d do. Then again, Crow has said in the past that WD-40 was his favorite lubricant, so maybe…

The bots aren’t listening to him, though- they’re trying to get their prank going. It’s surprising that Joel still falls for some of these by now, but I guess he’s not known for being really aware of his surroundings.

Servo was definitely the less innocent one if the first couple of seasons of the show. Crow had moments but Tom made his babe obsession a part of his personality.

Joel not only falls for the telescope eye ring prank, he rubs his eye all over it to be sure it gets on there really well. I’m sure they had to do that for the episode to make sure you could see it on camera, but it makes Joel look like he doesn’t know how to use a telescope. Maybe it’s just a weird telescope.

One thing I always liked about the bots- especially in the first few seasons but really throughout the show’s run- is how they don’t know so many basic things but still know details about, for instance, 1960s ad campaigns for cigarettes. It gives the impression that they have random parts of encyclopedias in their memory banks, which is probably true. I always felt like Joel probably dumped as much info as he could think of into the bots when he built them, but he couldn’t think of everything important at once, so they’ve got big holes in their knowledge base. For the purpose Joel built them for, it makes sense and works pretty well.

Poor Joel. He’s not the butt of the joke that often, at least not without getting back in some way.

Movie pt. 2

Crow’s confused at first by Joel’s comment about cattiness at 32:39.

At 37:55, Joel starts talking about seeing Orville Redenbacher get into a fistfight with his nephew at a party. I have no idea if this is true (though I doubt it) but maybe that eventually became the inspiration for the Orville Popcorn sketch in Godzilla vs. Megalon [212]. Odd how a weird little idea like that could stick around for so long.

Hm, I guess I did get my gigantic explosion after all. But somehow it still doesn’t fill the gaps in my heart…Actually that was really horrific. Geez.

Not important, but does anyone else think the psycho guy looks kinda like Peter Davison?

Joel laugh at 44:47, and a pretty enthusiastic one.

Huh, that movie section was unusually short.

Host Segment 2

Joel’s got an invention, which may have been inspired by the movie- Hell in a Handbag. This one, like many KTMA era inventions, will be reused in Season 1, in The Mad Monster [103].

Servo is not impressed by Crow’s flirting techniques with pretending-to-be-a-woman Joel and demonstrates his own. What is it with him and mangoes?

Joel got really into his part there for a second. Maybe he should have been in drag more often on the show, since, like, everyone else was. Actually maybe that was just all Mike.

Why would Joel program a thug algorithm into the bots? When did he ever think he’d need that? Maybe that explains what happens at the pinball machine in The Girl in Lovers Lane [509]. Also, I like how they can apparently just rummage through their own programming and find old stuff. Cool.

Joel seems to find the bots’ thug mode pretty funny. Maybe that’s why he programmed it into them.

Crow’s scared of the Hell-in-a-Handbag. Poor baby hahah. The way Joel grabs his neck affectionately afterwards is really cute, though. Joel says it was all in retaliation for the telescope prank earlier, but Servo didn’t seem phased, so really only Crow got punished. Crow’s also the only one who apologizes. Crow is always cute, but he’s extra cute in these old episodes. I just really love Crow, you guys.

Movie pt. 3

It’s called the Manson Refinery? That’s fitting, I suppose, with all the people it’s killed.

Crow falls right over backwards at 53:58. He and then Servo say they feel woozy. Understandable given the content of the scene. Ugh. But in reality, Trace was probably having trouble with the puppet. He has said in interviews that the KTMA Crow handled “like a T-square.”

At 56:18, Tom calls someone onscreen a “boinkus”? Doinkus, maybe?

Geez, nobody in this entire city has heard of stop, drop, and roll.

Host Segment 3

Joel and the bots do a little march/call and response thing. They’re having a little bit of trouble staying on beat, though (and on pitch). I like the song, though.

Joel’s jumpsuit is pretty fitted in the butt area. Just in case, you know, you were interested in knowing that.

They run down the hall with Cambot at Movie Sign. I’ve already forgotten if they’ve done that before in KTMA (that’s what happens when you go a year without working on your episode guide). They did it once or twice in the show proper, though not with the bots.

Movie pt. 4

Wow, seriously? First all the burning people, now surgery close-ups? How much pointlessly gross stuff is this movie going to include?

Also, dead bird shot, just to be sure everyone is sad. Why didn’t that kid just let the bird OUT OF THE CAGE? It can fly! That would at least give it a better chance.

And now the psycho’s comeuppance is getting anti-climatically crushed by a falling fire escape, and Shelley Winters dies too for no good reason? I haven’t even had anything to say about the riffers during this segment because stupid crap keeps happening in this movie.

Tom comments on how they killed off Shelley Winters in a stupid way, but the doctor guy somehow survives all the fire. I agree. This movie is stupid.

That’s the ending? THAT’S THE ENDING? Sappy music and romance and whatever, the city was on fire but hey it got put out (OFFSCREEN) so it’s all fine? Who cares about the thousands of victims and the millions in property damage? Not us, we’re kissing! Wow. Thanks for that, movie.

Crow gets excited about the name “McCrow” in the end credits at 1:37:22.

At 1:38:00, Servo begs to leave. At first Crow says they need to stay for the credits, but then agrees that they should go.

Servo also says goodbye to the audience as he leaves the theater.

Conclusion

Gypsy’s on deck for this segment, and Joel asks her where she’s been. Apparently “bumping into newsletters”. I wonder if she’s the one who printed them off.

Looks like back then you got a certificate for joining the fan club. I wonder if anyone out there still has theirs. Probably at least a few do.

I like Gypsy’s “ooh, aah” at the fan club membership card.

Crow tells the fans to keep more drawings coming. I guess he likes those.

Mr. Crow of Beverly Hills is still credited with the hair designs for the show.

Thoughts on the Movie

          A more accurate name for this movie would be Oil Refinery and Area Around a Hospital on Fire, since most of the city is never actually on fire. Not that I’d want to see it, but with a title like City on Fire you kind of expect to see a whole city on fire. All I’m saying is our expectations were mismanaged. Also, what was the point of burning the house earlier in the movie? Just to give us a fake-out? “Hah, you thought the fire was going to be earlier in the movie but instead, it was later in the movie!” You really got us there, guys.

          But jokes asides, this film mostly disgusted me. Does anyone want to watch long sequences of people getting burned alive? Do they like watching people endure terror and pain? It could be the filmmakers were just trying to underscore the dire situation, but it seems more like a sick fascination with showing suffering and death. I guess that’s common in movies and TV, in various forms, but it doesn’t make any sense to me. I talked about this a little in the entry for SST: Death Flight [K13], but it applies here again- pointless destruction of things and lives just doesn’t make good entertainment for me. Maybe a good disaster movie is about people overcoming and surviving in the face of horrible circumstances outside of their control. Certainly that’s not the case here. This movie becomes more a parade of lurid and gruesome imagery than anything else. No thank you. I guess maybe that’s why it wasn’t successful, hm.

          On a lighter note of criticism, did every friggin’ TV movie in the ‘70s have to be about 800 different people? Seriously, that’s SST: Death Flight, Superdome, San Francisco International, this movie- ok, I guess Stranded in Space wasn’t. Or Code Name Diamond Head. Or Mitchell. But those are sci-fi, spy, and cop movies, respectively, while the others are disaster/action/um, airport genre. Whatever. Point is, you do not need 437 different protagonists. Stop putting in 437 different protagonists.

          There’s not much else to say about this movie, I guess. The plot starts out confusing but converges and becomes somewhat less so as it goes along (though that's partially because several plot threads just drop off the map). Most of the acting is decent, some of the characters actually seem kind of interesting. Not every part of it sucks. Unfortunately, any of that mildly good stuff is buried in a pile of rubble and burnt bodies.

Review

          Despite my distaste for the movie, this was a funny episode. I laughed out loud many times and had a hard time picking a favorite riff (though I did pick one- Crow: That’ll wake the dog up.) The guys are really starting to get good at this. Even with the slower pace of the improv riffing, it doesn’t really feel empty like some of the older eps do. That may have something to do with a more action-filled movie, too, but the jokes are definitely improving. While the movie is not as watchable, funny-wise I’d call this as good an episode as SST: Death Flight, which I previously called the best KTMA ep. Nice job, guys.

[satelliteofmstielove]

K07 Gamera vs. Zigra

                                     Trace’s triumphant-ish return

General notes

          Happy New Year at KTMA! Trace is back from his vacation, so we get Crow back, which is lovely, and really gets the riffing back on track. And another major milestone- the first appearance of Trace and Josh as the Mads! An early form, without some of the prominent aspects that we normally associate with them, but it’s definitely them, and having the new characters adds a whole new fun layer to show.  

          Also, introducing a new feature: MULTIMEDIA! Well, just pictures, really, so… SINGLEMEDIA! Okay, so it’s not that exciting, but I’ll be including relevant pictures- like behind-the-scenes stuff, for example- where I feel they’ll be interesting/helpful. Okay? Okay. On to the episode!

Thoughts on the movie

          I don’t know why I’m still including this section in these Sandy Frank movies that I’m going to comment on later in Season 3, as I’ve stated like three times now. Heck, I don’t even know why I bothered to type this out. But I already did, and you’ve probably already wasted your time reading it, so I might as well end it abruptly just to make sure it’s as unsatisfying as possible.

Prologue

Crow gets unfrozen! It’s kind of cool how having to make up an excuse for Crow being gone actually ended up providing a good opportunity for developing characterization.

I like how Joel stands up into the frame as Cambot comes in through the door. Seems like he keeps looking for new ways to enter the shot.

Joel’s hair doesn’t look as good as in the last episode. Alas.

More pointless nitpicking: Joel says they’re getting Crow “uncryogeneticized”, but the root word is “cryogenic”, not “cryogenetic”. Because how would “cryogenetic” even make sense? Frozen genes? It doesn’t really matter, because they were just making crap up, but still…

^Edit: Somebody pointed out my wrongness regarding the word "cryogenic". I'll let them explain: "Cryonics is when you freeze a living being (or a robot, in this case). Cryogenics is the study of extremely cold things. A cryogenicist could feasibly be involved in cryonics, but it would be because they were studying the frozen human, not because they were freezing the human." So actually Joel was even more wrong than I thought c:

Servo’s excited about getting Crow back, although it sounds like he’s mostly just excited about showing off his new voice some more. Still, it’s kind of cute.

The “oil can” thing is obviously from The Wizard of Oz. Is this the first Wizard of Oz reference in the whole run of the show? I can’t remember one before this, but I might have missed it. Either way, it’s definitely not the last. I’m confident there’s probably at least one per episode throughout the whole Joel era, and definitely more in some. (That would make a good drinking game, for those who do that kind of thing.) I think it’s Joel who’s the big Wizard of Oz fan, because it crops up in other stuff of his, too. Plus, it just seems very him, doesn’t it?

Joel conveniently has an oil can handy. Which actually does make sense if he was planning to unfreeze Crow. And besides, when has this show ever needed an excuse for any character to have anything handy?

Bwahahahaha, is that Joel making the fake squeaking noises when he puts the oil on Crow’s joints? Oh, Joel. Oh, this cheap show. I love it.

Crow thinks he dreamed the whole “frozen into a tree” thing (in a very Wizard of Oz-ish way), but Joel corrects him, and they show that freezing footage again, for the fourth time. It probably was a good idea, since the show was still new and likely gaining new viewers every week, but for those of us who’ve been following along, it’s gotten a little old. At least for me, a whiny baby.

(I actually just now looked up “suspended animation” in the dictionary, just to see if it was in there. It is. Plausibility of Crow’s statement confirmed. Because that definitely matters when you’re talking about a robot made of junk in space on a cheap local T.V. show where they watch bad movies. Yup.)

Apparently Servo finds the footage of Crow’s freezing amusing, and Joel finds that amusing. Crow doesn’t really find any of it amusing, though.

I love Crow’s line- “I guess the man who made me forgot to give me enough brain to stop him from doing stupid things to me.” KTMA Crow was different, but you can totally see the Crow we know starting to form here. His voice even starts to move in that direction for the first time. Also, the beginning of a long-running theme of the bots not taking too much crap from Joel, which I think is probably good for him.

Joel’s “Sorry…” in response is so pathetic c: He still tries to defend his actions, though I don’t think he’s really got much of a case. Also, Crow’s little “ow” is cute and pitiful.

Servo’s on Joel’s side, unsurprisingly, and immediately takes the opportunity to troll Crow as much as possible. Usually Tom is the trollee rather than the troll, but he had his moments.

Crow gets over his irritation pretty quickly, though, and launches in to a string of evergreen puns. Apparently, this is pretty standard behavior for him, because Servo takes it as a sign that he’s back to normal.

Movie pt. 1

Once Servo reaches his seat, he falls over, and Joel has to come pick him up. I guess Josh was having issues with the puppet. Also, Servo could still come into the theater by himself at this point, rather than having to be carried, as he is from Season 1 onward.

Crow comes in a little late, and notes that the movie is a Sandy Frank film, and Joel asks him if he’s ever heard of Sandy Frank, which is kind of weird. Don’t you remember, Joel? Crow watched Gamera vs. Barugon with you guys, just a few weeks ago.

Crow’s still going with the puns and makes one about a sandy frank. Servo (Josh) laughs right away, but it takes Joel a second to realize that he’s joking.

Aw, it looks like Joel moves Crow out of the way of the on-screen Gamera-fire.

Joel makes a comment about the music sounding like it was made by a turtle, but then questions his own statement. Crow doesn’t seem to think the idea sounds too far-fetched.

Crow says he’s getting seasick during the credits. Crow seems prone to motion sickness- he gets it in some other episodes, too, like during the opening credits of Beginning of the End (517) and when the Satellite’s getting flung around in Diabolik (1013). It’s kind of oddly cute (not the throwing up part), maybe just because Crow usually tries to play tough guy, and you wouldn’t expect him to have a sensitive stomach. (For those questioning how a robot gets sick in the first place, I would direct you to the theme song and advise you to relax.)

6:25- Joel says “I’m already bored, you guys.” at about the same time as I was thinking it. It is odd having a credit sequence with few or no riffs. The opening credits of a regular episode are typically lively and goofy. The silence is understandable, given the context, but still, it feels kind of strange.

Ha, at 6:49, Joel attempts a riff, but gets interrupted by the movie’s narration. That kind of thing is another good reason why they later decided to write them.

Joel’s riff dies again at 7:57.

It doesn’t have anything to do with anything, but at 8:03, when the Zigra ship shoots a beam down at the moonbase, it frames the silhouettes perfectly. Just a fun coincidence.

Movie question: Wait, was that just a really awful translation, or is Kenny actually brushing with whipped cream? Or was he supposed to have been eating whipped cream, in the morning, immediately after brushing his teeth? There’s no real good possibility here.

Joel taps Gamera’s belly at 17:04 starts pinching Kenny’s arm at 20:25.

Crow seems rather smitten with the spandex-clad Zigra lady, and it makes Joel laugh.

At 20:56, Servo starts moving his head up and down, like on a stick. Why, I don’t know. Stretching?

Tom starts trying to put the moves on the Zigra lady at about 22:38 (I guess that’s what the neck stretching was for?). Seems like both bots are quite enamored. I wonder if Joel meant to program that kind of thing into them. I’m guessing probably not.

At 23:49, is Crow pretending to bite Joel? Is he just bored? Not that I’d blame him if he was. Anyway, it’s cute.

Joel slaps Zigra Lady’s chin at 24:24. I’m not sure if he disapproves of her attacking the earth, or if he’s just bothered by her hugeness.

It looks like Servo just kind of falls over as they’re leaving the theater. Makes sense, since Josh probably had a hard time moving the puppet that far over to the side- a problem they later solved by having Joel carry Tom in and out.

Host Segment 1

Joel welcomes the audience again. Did he forget that he did it before? Do they do that a lot on the show, and I just never paid attention?

Joel doesn’t seem to want to discuss how the Mads stranded him in space. The bots seem more upset than he is, but the way he reacts to them bringing it up suggests that he’s got more feelings about it that he’d like to say. He’s big on having a positive attitude, so it would make sense that he wouldn’t want to dwell on something that depresses or upsets him, especially when the bots are involved. He’s always trying to teach them to have that same positive outlook, and he might be afraid that discussing lots of negative feelings will conflict with that. It probably wouldn’t, but Joel’s still pretty new to the robot parenting thing, so he’s still figuring things out.

The bots, on the other hand, seem to want to talk about it. They seem upset on Joel’s behalf, which is sweet of them. Although they probably don’t fully understand what being stuck in space means for Joel, they clearly get it to some degree, and don’t like the idea of anyone hurting their human. They’d also have a right to be upset at the Mads for their own sake, since they have to watch the crappy movies, too.

Joel thinks there’s a possibility that the Mads might send him home. I wonder if the Mads ever implied, or even outright stated (read: lied), that they were ever planning to bring him back down to earth. It seems more likely that it’s just more of Joel trying to be positive and give himself something to look forward to or hold onto.

And the Mads emerge! At this point, according to the beginning of The Crawling Eye (101), their lab, for lack of a better word, was still up in Gizmonic Institute proper, and they got booted out later for shooting Joel into space (although they never explicitly admit that’s what happened). It looks suspiciously like a local T.V. station. Then again, maybe they just didn’t get a very good lab because everybody thought they were crazy and nobody liked them. (Obviously they just taped it in a different part of the KTMA studio.) The New Year’s decorations are a nice touch.

Apparently Gizmonic had pretty casual dress standards. I guess Dr. F didn’t feel the need to make a fancy uniform until he was down in a cave. Maybe Gizmonic never approved it or something. Of course, the real reason they don’t have costumes is because the KTMA budget was infinitesimal, but where’s the fun in that explanation?

Apparently they really like Pepsi.

Dr. Forrester’s weird, extra-low voice was apparently chosen to differentiate it from Crow’s higher voice. It sounds kind of painful. Similarly, Dr. Erhardt’s higher-pitched voice was meant as a contrast to Servo’s deep “mighty voice.” It also sounds kind of painful. Obviously, Trace eventually ended up going something much more similar to his real voice for Dr. F. Larry’s voice, on the other hand, only got higher.

The abrupt footage of the “Russian” comedian (who is definitely not Josh) is kind of jarring. Also very purpley. They pulled it from Mallon and Kevin’s New Year’s Eve Extravaganza “Melon Drop” show on KTMA, which aired just before this episode.  You can read about it here: http://www.mst3ktemple.com/ktma.html and/or watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v5oDf9rq5ZY&feature=youtu.be , if you’re so inclined.

Joel is very extra-polite to the Mads, which is interesting. I mean, he was usually polite, but here he’s really treading carefully. They do control his oxygen and everything, so it makes sense for him to feel some trepidation, especially since this is the first time they’ve actually called him. But it still feels a little odd. He’s probably also trying to be as nice as possible to avoid hurting any chance he might have of getting brought back to Earth.

Aw, poor Joel, he almost believes them for a second (And the way he says “Reeeeallly?” is cute c: )

Dr. F’s laugh is the same c:

Ah, the first use of “dickweed.” One of their favorite words on the show, as least in the Joel era. One of Crow’s favorites, too, it seems. A pretty accurate term for the Mads, too, really.

Dr. Erhardt and Tom having an argument is kind of meta. Sort of the precursor to the “bots playing the Mads” sketch in The Atomic Brain (518). Kinda.

Actually, they won’t keep watching Gamera movies until they get through that stack, because they only have one more after this. Did they actually have a lot more and just lost them, or were they not actually Gamera movies, or some other pointless explanation?

The Mads take us to commercial, which is unusual in the show proper. We’ll see if it becomes a regular thing or not for KTMA.

Also, Dr. F’s black gloves are kinda weird, but I guess at least it’s a little bit of a costume. Gotta give ‘em credit for that.

Movie pt. 2

Crow kind of slinks into the theater behind Joel. He’s still upset about the Mads being huge jerks. Understandable, really. For some reason, Servo says he was glad to see them. Maybe he was just being sarcastic.

Joel’s comment at 29:25- “He’d have more luck getting out of a spaceship.” Poor sad Joel :c

At 30:54, Joel pretends to grab onto ZigraLady’s feet. She kind of looks like an Oscar statuette like that.

Joel puts his arms around the bots and they bounce along to the Gamera Theme Song at 33:41. If only they knew then how many more times they would hear and sing it…

Odd movie thing: The old, grizzled, be-barnacled man says it’s 1985, and Kenny says that he’s not dressed like somebody from 1985, but how would he know? This movie came out in 1971 (the English version, anyway- it was actually made even before that). Is it set in the future? What’s going on?

Tom also comments that the old guy’s disturbing laugh sounds like Dr. Erhardt.

Joel calls commercial at 39:19.

And he also attempts to crawl up a flower stem at 39:36. He’s not very successful, but Servo compliments him on the effort.

You can see Joel take a really big step over Trace as he exits the theater. They were actually squished up against a wall when they filmed the movie sections, so it’s actually pretty impressive that he was ever able to get out without tripping.

  Host Segment 2

Joel’s severely bummed out in this segment, which is very rare for him. I don’t think he’s ever this openly sad about his situation in any other episode, except for a couple times when it’s directly caused by an extra-bad movie, like in Castle of Fu Manchu (323). In this case, he’s sad about not being able to go home to Earth, which he almost never displays in later episodes, and never to this degree. Whether that’s because he just doesn’t think about it- or at least doesn’t talk about it- or because he’s actually stopped being sad about it, I guess we can’t know. I suspect it’s somewhere in-between.

It’s very sweet that Crow and Gypsy try to comfort him. I love how Crow’s all snuggled up to Joel’s shoulder. Joel’s not really responding much to their efforts, though.

Ooh, nice move from Crow, reminding Joel that he was the one who’s always telling them to have a positive attitude. Joel says it’s just because he wanted to rhyme the song (Wait, he’s the one who wrote the song? I mean, obviously he sings it, but I would have thought the Mads…never mind, I’ll just relax…), but I think he’s just saying that because he’s upset and wants to be contrary. It’s clear from his words and actions most of the time that he really does abide by that philosophy.

Gypsy’s more straightforward in her approach than Crow. Crow tries to think up an argument to convince Joel logically why he should cheer up, but Gypsy just states that she loves him.

Okay, more evidence that Joel DOES NOT understand his robot creations at this point in time. He thinks that because he programmed Gypsy to say that she loved him that it doesn’t mean anything? He’s already shown that he doesn’t quite get how human they are, but apparently he REALLY doesn’t. I mean, I guess why would he, if he never intended to create them that way, but still you’d think that he’d learn it from observation….well, as smart as he is, Joel can be kind of dense about some things, and stubborn about changing his mind once he thinks he knows something.

The people that called in were unprepared, but the simplicity of their sentiment is sweet.

Aw, Crow’s so determined to make Joel feel better- getting all flustered about it.

What was up with the “call costing $0.50?” thing? Were they getting that question a lot, and wanted to clear it up, or did they just think it was funny, and that’s why they chose that clip?

It’s cute that the thing that actually cheers Joel up is hearing the call praising Gypsy.

He (and Gypsy) are less enthusiastic about the one asking if Gypsy had a speech impediment. What a smart aleck kid, haha. Poor Gypsy seems to be very self-conscious about her voice. Who could blame her, really?

Movie pt. 3

Looks like Crow’s having a difficult time getting settled into his seat. Joel pats him on the beak.

At 55:19, Crow starts dancing and the others follow his example.

Hey! At 55:23, Crow and Joel are looking up ZigraLady’s skirt! Normally Joel would be chastising the bots for that kind of behavior, but here it makes him laugh. He hasn’t fully formed into a dad quite yet, it seems.

At 59:37, Joel mentions a Tom Waits album, but then realizes that the bots wouldn’t know that. I guess he didn’t program that info into them- Tom says so- and they hadn’t yet had a chance to learn it since being activated.

Crow says he likes Zigra’s mouth, presumably because it reminds him of his own.

Bwahahaha at 1:10:11, Crow looks at the woman in front of him and just bluntly says “That’s a really ugly dress.” I don’t know why that amuses me so much, but it does. And his and Tom’s little follow-up conversation, too.

Host Segment 3

Joel and the bots celebrate the New Year! Complete with dumb party hats c: The bots’ first New Year’s. They probably never had such a tame one after this. I’m inclined to think the bots would throw as big a party as they can manage/as Joel will let them.

As previously stated, this episode aired after midnight on New Year’s Day, which is why they mention a “time delay”. I’m pretty sure simply being in space would not cause a time delay, but I suppose they could be orbiting above a different time zone than they’re broadcasting into.

Joel, true to form, has tasked the bots with coming up with New Year’s resolutions- Tom is typically philosophical with a touch of cheekiness, involving a head full of good thoughts and good gumballs. Crow’s isn’t so much a resolution as a request, but either way, it’s a far cry from his much later Christmas wish in Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (321). He was so much more innocent in the early days, haha.

Joel wanting his own apartment makes sense- he did have one before he got shot into space, right? Maybe he had a roommate? Hm, I don’t know if I can see that…but he might be kidding about the whole thing, since he also says he wants a photon torpedo, and that’s not exactly in character.

Aw, poor Gypsy’s still upset about the voice thing from earlier. Guess Joel still needs to go sort that out…

Movie sign interrupts their countdown!  I can’t decide whether that’s more or less climactic.

Movie pt. 4

Tom (Josh) cracks up at Joel’s Deep Turtle joke at 1:28:43.

Joel sneezes loudly and obviously at 1:29:32, and Crow says “Gesundheit”. He asks if he “got any on them”- gross!- and Tom says that he got some in his drink- grosser!- and makes a joke about it, which makes Joel laugh.

I’m sorry, the moral of this story is that if you pollute the oceans, aliens will come and kill everyone on Earth? There may be certain flaws in that logic…

Ah, at the end, they sing the early, prototype version of the “Gamera is really neat, he is filled with turtle meat” version of the Gamera song that they would later prefect in Season 3.

Conclusion

Crow says that he liked the movie, which is…well, he’s entitled to his own opinions.

Tom’s less enthusiastic, and I’d have to agree with him. Mediocre at best.

Joel says that he needs to make Servo some functioning arms. He never does get around to it, not in five whole years.

Joel seems kind of fixated on how the Japanese somehow had jet planes after WWII. He also made a few comments on it during the movie.

They announce what next week’s show will be, something that they obviously stopped doing after a while, since the Mads wanted it to catch them off-guard.  

Also, they can’t pronounce “Guiron”, and they’re still calling him “Gameron” sometimes. You’d think they’d figure it out after watching four whole movies throughout which they say “Gamera” constantly. But I guess not. We like them anyway c:

Overall impression

          Every episode just gets better, and this one is especially refreshing after two in a row with no Trace. The three of them really do have good chemistry together, and it gives a very different, lively energy to have them all there. While it’s definitely super slow compared to what we’ll get once they move to cable, the riffing is really picking up, and it really gets going towards the end. I laughed out loud several times (Favorite riff- Tom Servo: If the dolphin is blind, wouldn’t it just be a fifth sense, then?).

         The characters are also getting a lot more fleshing out, whether intentionally or not, and I never get enough of that, so that made me happy, too. Everything is moving in very good directions. I give it a claw up.

[satelliteofmstielove]

K05 Gamera

                                                 Slow going, but going

General notes

    It’s Christmas at KTMA! Or getting close, anyway. The most generally notable thing about this episode is that Trace isn’t around- he was on vacation or something- so Crow is put into suspended animation and used as a Christmas tree for a few weeks. Seems a little cruel and strange, but the characters weren’t that well-developed at this point, and they had to do something with him, right?

Thoughts on the movie

    I’m think I’m just gonna go for blanket laziness and do movie thoughts for the Gameras and (other Sandy Frank films) that get re-riffed in Season 3. A little window into my thought process, I suppose.

Movie intro/Invention Exchange

Looks like the very beginning is cut off, probably on whatever original VHS recording the YouTube copies comes from. There’s like seven, and I checked all of them. So we’ll just always have to wonder what happened in those few seconds, I suppose.

Crow’s obviously being voiced by Josh again in that flashback, for reasons I covered in the General Notes section.

Joel freezing Crow into a Christmas tree against his will is kinda harsh. Within the narrative (intentionally or not), it seems like it took Joel a while to realize or understand that the bots weren’t just regular robots, but were fully sentient beings with human emotions and personalities. I don’t think Joel would have done it in later seasons. He would occasionally tinker with them, which they typically grumbled about, but I don’t think he’d do something so extreme.

Joel really seems tired here. I mean, he always looks and sounds kinda sleepy, but here he seems actually tired- speaking slowly and the way he’s leaning. 

An early installment weirdness: Joel says that he picked out the movie this time because people liked the Gamera movie so much the week before. Obviously that doesn’t make sense with the story, but that’s just how casual things were at the time.

Still saying “Gameron”. I guess nobody thought to look at the movie case or sleeve or anything?

“Self-titled Gamera EP”- hah

Joel’s hair looks a little nicer and less mullety this week (Hair niceness and mulletiness are inversely correlated).

There’s a different, weirder vase on the desk this week. Or maybe some kind of weird drinking glass?

Movie pt. 1

I didn’t notice before how screechy the KTMA door sequence is.

With the movie being dark as it is, it’s sometimes impossible to see Joel and the bots. I hope that it improves with the color films.

Servo isn’t there. Where is he?

At 4:21, Joel leans back and puts his arm over the back of the seat next to him, and you can hear him breathe louder when he does it. Must have been a really sensitive microphone!

Joel always liked messing with the screen. It’s fun to see him do it spontaneously like this.

Also, Joel’s Gamera song is adorable.

Movie question: Why does the Eskimo guy have a cross necklace?

Wow, the video quality is so bad that from 18:30ish- to 19:14ish, the screen is almost totally black. Also, the guy speaking there sounds like Mickey Rooney as Santa Claus from those old stop-motion Rankin-Bass Christmas movies.

I betting that “Talk to Joel!” phone number they put up on the screen probably doesn’t work anymore…

Joel seemed in quite a hurry to be out of the theater. Maybe he had to go to the bathroom or something.

Host Segment 1

It seems like programming the bots to answer him with over-the-top praise was something he did as joke, since I don’t think he really needs that kind of affirmation, but he obviously changed it later. Like I’ve said before, it seems like Joel was still figuring out the bots and his relationship to them. I think once he got his head around how sentient and individual they actually were, he didn’t feel comfortable manipulating their actions like that.

Why Punky Brewster? Why not Punky Brewster, I guess?

Why is that person so intent on finding out who does Joel’s hair? It sounds like a joke, but if it was, why did they feel the need to call back and ask again? Did they even call before? I have no idea what I’m talking about . But speaking of hair, Joel’s bangs are very sticky-outy here.

Did they really need to scroll through the entire credits just to get to the one part? Couldn’t they have just taken a shot of it and put that up? *shrug* I guess it did allow them to make some cute/funny comments, which is their specialty.

Movie pt. 2

Joel’s still alone in the theater. Where’s Servo?!

Around 29:50, Joel keeps calling the kid Timmy. Where did he get did that from? Did he somehow combine Kenny and Tibby and then change the n’s to m’s? Maybe it’s a reference to something. Doesn’t matter, I guess.

And at 31:35, Joel calls the turtle Tippy. Can he not hear it properly or did he just misspeak? Also, getting kinda violent and angry there, Joel. Kinda out of character for him. It’s not very threatening, though- the sleepy voice just isn’t intimidating c:

Host Segment 2

There’s a gap between the commercial and the beginning of this host segment where the video is missing. I guess we’ll never know what happened in those 5 seconds we missed…

I think that’s another different vase on the table this time. How many does he have?

Joel mentions working on an impression with Gypsy at dinnertime. I like the image of him and the bots sitting and eating dinner together.

Joel’s such a dad already. I love how he calls Gypsy “honey” all the time.

I can’t tell if Gypsy’s laughing or crying after she does the impression…

I guess the Ted Turner quiz questions are kind of the early version of the kind of write-in contest things they did in like Seasons 1-3.

Joel chuckles at Gypsy’s voice- probably more at Josh doing the voice. Anyway, it’s cute.

Movie pt. 3

Still no Servo. I guess he’s just not in the theater in this one.

It’s kind of cute how Joel tries to warn the people in the movie that their plan won’t work because Gamera can fly.

Definitely sounds like Joel’s eating something. I wonder what it is. Sounds and looks like popcorn, maybe?

Joel full on bursts out laughing at the line about Gamera having organs that function like a hydroelectric plant, at 56:02, and it’s really cute c:

Joel makes up another Gamera song. I guess music, Gamera and MST were always destined to be intertwined.

At 1:02:29, Joel calls Kenny “Kimmy”. This time it sounds like it was a mistake, but still, he’s really having problems with the names this week, isn’t he?

Host Segment 3

No doorway sequence back out of the theater this time. It just goes straight into the host segment. There was probably a commercial in between, and it’s also possible that whoever uploaded the original tape cut out the doorway sequences along with it.

Why a picture of a roast chicken in the sky? I don’t know. Or at least I think that’s what it is.

I also like how they wrote out the coughing noise that the caller made, although I don’t really think it sounded like a “Yeeach”. And I like how they censored the caller’s language to “ship”. And I also like how all of their callers sound super Minnesotan.

It looks like they didn’t rehearse that segment very much, the way Josh talked over Joel and how they both seemed confused. (I don’t know if they rehearsed host segments at all then, actually.)

Clearly, those two callers were in cahoots. Or they could have even been the same guy. Can’t really tell with the low-quality audio.

Their wrestling commentary on the clip from Gamera vs. Barugon is kind of the early version of what they eventually did in Sidehackers and Godzilla vs. Megalon in Season 2.

Movie pt. 4

Yeah, Servo’s still ditching Joel.

When Joel’s talking about beating up Kenny, he addresses “you guys” even though they bots aren’t there. That makes me kind of sad for some reason and I don’t know why.

Joel’s creepy talking to Kenny gets kinda dark at times. They were always pretty hard on the kid, but Joel’s a little extra mean here.

Joel seems pretty unenthusiastic about shooting Gamera into space, but I guess it loses some of the drama when you’ve experienced it yourself.

1:26:03- Joel has a drink now. Movie sign interrupted snack time this week, I guess.

“Kinda reminds me of me.” Aw, sad…

Joel’s weird Gamera voice at the end cracked me up.

When he gets up to leave, Joel clearly walks more towards the camera rather than straight to the side. Just interesting.

Conclusion

Gypsy this time instead of Servo. With both of them being voiced by Josh, you can only have one at a time. I guess they decided to go back and forth in this episode.

Why did they feel the need to show the “Crow getting frozen” clip again? Were they just running short on the host segments? Or did they think people might have tuned in late and wanted to be sure they saw it?

Interesting to hear Joel talk about religious holidays to Gypsy. Obviously, he already explained the differences between Judaism and Christianity at some point, because Gypsy seems to already understand that.

Joel chuckling = always my favorite.

“O Tannenbot” Pffft…

Overall impression

    This is kind of a tricky one for me. On the one hand, the riffing and the host segments are coming together more and more, but I think the lack of the bots in the theater really made this extra slow for me. I like the chemistry of the characters together, especially when they’re improvising riffs. Having just the one person makes it feel kind of lonely and it doesn’t have the same energy. (Favorite riff, by the way- Joel: “He wants to sing!”) But overall, things are only getting better. So, good c:

[paperpennies]

A Long, Long Time Ago, in a TV Station Faraway…

First entry in the Amazing Colossal MST3K Fan Girl Episode Guide is posted c:

[satelliteofmstielove]

K09 Phase IV

                                                          ANTics

General notes

          It’s not a Gamera movie! I’m more excited about that than I thought I would be. I imagine that Joel and the bots (and probably Joel, Trace, and Josh) were glad, too. Unfortunately this movie is a lot bleaker than the past few, but actually the riffing really makes up for a lot of it. Also, a bit of housekeeping- I realized, once I actually added amovie thoughts section for the first time, that it would go a lot better afterthe section notes, so that’s been relocated accordingly. Now for some gross ants.

Prologue/Movie intro

We start off in the Mads’ lab this week, something that becomes the norm all the way through episode 106 The Crawling Hand, except for in K15 Superdome and K19 Hangar 18, for some reason. (104 Women of the Prehistoric Planet doesn’t count because it was actually taped at the very end of the season after they’d made the change.) According to the ACEG, the idea was that the Mads were running the experiment, so episodes should start in their lab. They later decided- wisely, I think- that Joel and the bots were really the focus and it made more sense to start with them.

Dr. F is using a stethoscope on a Mr. Potato Head. Why? Good question.

Though they don’t state it outright, it sounds like Larry’s on the phone with some important Gizmonic Institute higher-up. Apparently their less-than-ethical monetary practices have been found out and it’s not looking so good for their continued employment. Or maybe funding? I’m not really sure how Gizmonic works. Joel’s stated (years after he’d left the show) that it’s like a research and development company that gives money, work space, access to equipment, etc. to people to develop their different ideas and projects. So I’m not sure if the Mads really work for Gizmonic, or just at Gizmonic. Either way, though, it sounds like they’re in some trouble. Although, they’re not actually fired (or whatever), nor does it seem like any specific discipline is being enacted, so it looks like Gizmonic is pretty lax when it comes to employee ethics.

Dr. F can’t even remember what project they were siphoning money from. Maybe because they’ve been siphoning money from lots of different projects, or several in row? Maybe that was all Larry’s job and he wasn’t really involved in it.

I wonder if the guy Larry was on the phone with is really named Leadbottom. It’s probably just an insult/descriptor, but it would be fun if that really was the guy’s name. Mr. Leadbottom would be a good name for a scary uptight executive at a sketchy company.

Based on the ones the Mads mentioned, it sounds like the other projects funded by Gizmonic are largely pointless, silly, disturbing, or highly unethical, or any combination thereof. Splicing the head of a human onto the body of a dog? Kind of makes you wonder why they had a problem with shooting somebody into space and forcing them to watch bad movies (In The Crawling Eye, we find out that Gizmonic kicked the Mads out for doing it). Maybe the human in the other experiment was a volunteer? Still…

The fact that they get kicked out for it later suggests that Gizmonic doesn’t know at this point that the Mads actually shot Joel into space. I wonder if they applied for the grant or whatever and got rejected, or if they just went ahead and did it without asking first. Either way, what does the company think they’re actually using the money for? I assume they have some kind of fake cover project, but who knows?

Also, I’d never heard of Minnesota wild rice, but here’s a picture of some (I got the Minnesota-est one I could find):

Do they have a payphone in their office, excuse me, lab? Or is the change for the phone bill later?

Are Dr. F’s glasses different this week?

Joel’s excited about a non-Gamera film. I can’t say I blame him. I am, too.

This is the kind of car Joel allegedly had- a Dodge Dart Swinger (There were design differences in the different generations, but they didn’t say which it was, so I just picked one that I liked) Apparently it’s a classic muscle car or something (I don’t know anything about cars). I wouldn’t have figured Joel for much of a gearhead, but I guess it’s not really that odd, considering his extensive mechanical prowess.

Wait, if the Mads spent all the money customizing the “Mad Scientist-Mobile” (which I would love to see, by the way), then what money did they use to shoot Joel into space? *shrug*

Okay, 1) where did Joel get $40,000 to have in his car, and 2) why was he keeping it in his car? Maybe he was just trolling, although that’s not really like him to do. If he was serious, then whoever bought the car is going to be really excited. Also, I like the whip sound effect when Larry shakes his head in shock.

It seems like they decide to send this movie as punishment for Joel’s failure to inform them that he had $40,000 lying around in his car that he had no idea they’d sell. That idea of picking out an extra-awful movie as a disciplinary tool crops up now and again throughout the series.

Joel tries to run through the door sequence at movie sign, and seems to get semi-run over by Cambot.

Oh, and there were no bots in this opener again.

Movie pt. 1

Joel starts doing a sort of wavy dance to go with the colorful, trippy imagery at about 5:03.

At 5:34, Servo’s astonished by the size of the ant, and Joel has to explain that it’s just a close-up. Another example of Joel having explain new stuff to the bots as they encounter it.

At 8:00, Crow gets kind of embarrassed about his joke because neither of the others laugh. That’s something he actually does quite a bit throughout the series, and it always breaks my heart a little bit. He tries to act tough and cool most of the time, but little things like this betray an underlying sensitivity and desire for approval.

They all seem grossed out by the egg-laying ants. Hope nobody’s eating rice, indeed. Actually there’s a lot of pretty icky footage in this. Joel says it makes him kind of itchy, and I concur.

At 11:54, Joel actually turns around in his seat and yells at the camera to focus. I assume that he’s doing it as a joke and not actually yelling at poor Cambot.

I really like the whale jokes c:

Tom and Joel call a commercial at 16:05, very clearly. But what do they mean by a “harmonic commercial”?

Wizard of Oz reference #4 at 16:47.

At 17:10, Servo’s mentions that he hopes to go to earth someday. It seems like that was always a possibility in the bots minds throughout the series, but maybe it was a bit more in the forefront in these early days, when Joel was still talking about getting back to Earth like it could happen soon.

Crow seems upset by the dead lamb at 17:20, although he mistakes it for a kitty and Joel corrects him (which seems to amuse Joel). Mistaking various animals and/or giant monsters for kitties is something that Crow keeps doing for a few seasons.

At 17:37, Joel says something about a puppet, and Tom asks what a puppet is. Joel won’t explain it to him.

At 21:51- Seems that all the switches remind Crow of the theme song. Servo teases Joel about it.

At around 23:08, Servo’s stretching out his neck again. Seems like Josh enjoyed playing with that feature of the puppet.

As they’re leaving the theater, Tom says he has to “drain his radiator” again. He said that in the last episode, too. I’m not sure, but I feel like it’s probably related to “load pans”.

Host Segment 1

Joel thinks it’s time to time to teach the bots Isaac Asimov’s Robotic Laws. He didn’t just program those in? That seems kind of important.

Crow’s back on the pirate-ear joke (from K04), if that counts as a joke. Tom’s not having it, though.

Joel’s quite supportive of the bots answers, even though they’re incorrect. Good dadding, there. Although, I don’t know about Tom’s law, there. I think maybe if it’s like, the dystopian future and it’s the dead shell of a giant attack robot, then you definitely should hollow him out and make a fort out of him, because that would be super cool.

Get used to the Isaac Asimov references and mentions, because they persist well into Season 1, not that it’s a bad thing. They probably come from Josh, since they largely go away after he leaves.

The bots aren’t taking the lesson very seriously, but Joel doesn’t seem to mind. He just seems amused by his cute, funny robots. Actually, they’re just messing with him anyway. Turns out he actually did program the Robotic Laws into them. I guess he forgot?

Burnt RAM chips and Canadian bacon? Also, is it weird to eat RAM chips when you have RAM chips in your body? I guess it’s not really any different than eating meat when you yourself are mostly made of it.

Joel’s very smiley in this one. I like it c: I also like how he puts his arms around them when they go to commercial, but I’m a sucker for any and all bot cuddling, so of course I would.

Movie pt. 2

Somewhat famously dirty joke from Joel at 30:02.

At 30:14, Tom’s already questioning whether he really wants to go to Earth, an internal (and sometimes external) debate which never really seems to go away. They’re still having it in the last episode of the series, when going down to Earth is inevitable.

Crow’s comment about patty melts at 33:23 makes Joel laugh.

That British scientist in the movie, at 35:05- “This is really fascinating” in an incredibly bored tone of voice. I can’t help but get a flash-forward to Werewolf (904). “Dis is ubsolutely fessinating.”

At 37: 51, Servo jokes that the group in the shower is the Lawrence Erhardt Fan Club. You wish Josh c; Although I think it was actually a reference to their Larry-like goggles.

Joel cracks up again at Crow (Trace)’s riff about party mix at 42:14.

Tom makes a terrible ant pun at 46:24, and Joel pushes him over lightly in retaliation. Crow makes one just as bad in response, but I guess Joel didn’t feel like pretending to be mad at him.

At 47:54, Joel wonders if maybe the ants built “stonehedge”. Servo questions his misspeaking, but Joel just ignores him.

Host Segment 2

The bots are discussing they’d do if they ever get off the S.O.L. They both agree that the first thing they’d do is kill Sandy Frank, which is essentially how they still feel after Season 3.

Crow’s not much of a forward planner, it seems.

Tom’s got an idea, but it’s more of a pipe dream than an actual plan. He’s really big on the rubbing with mango juice thing, but I still just think that sounds more sticky than pleasant. Whatever, Tom.

It’s sort of hilarious and upsetting that Servo says “party until 1999”, because that’s actually how long the series lasts, and thus also the year they actually do get to Earth.

Looks like Joel was also thinking that he’d kill Sandy Frank immediately upon returning to Earth.

I’m assuming that Joel didn’t leave the water in his apartment running on purpose. Maybe he only remembered after he got to work, that fateful day. He doesn’t seem too worried about it.

Joel also doesn’t seem too worried after giving the bots dangerous information about putting his hand in warm water when he’s sleeping. He might wanna keep his door locked from now on.

The last part of that host segment seemed pretty ad-libbed, with everyone talking over each other like that. Not a bad thing.

Movie pt. 3

Whoa, the camera kind of flips out at 55:27, when Joel comes into the theater.

Crow’s having some trouble with sitting upright when he first sits down. Puppet trouble?

They all get pretty disgusted, especially Joel, when the towers start breaking apart and squishing the ants at about 1:01:00. And I do, too. It’s super gross. Ugh. Tom wonders if humans squirt like that when crushed, but Joel shuts that line of thinking down.

Whaa! A wild COMMERCIAL appears at 1:02:24!  With our own Kevin Murphy, looking rather Rowsdower-esque with the mustache and hockey hair. Kevin and Jim Mallon used to make commercials for local businesses for TV23. I didn’t expect to find one left in the middle of the episode, though. It’s odd seeing Kevin in advertising mode like this, but you can see where his Servo gets it. Also, Kevin, honey, those shorts…just no. Particularly if you’re going to splay like that. Boggy Creek II keeps coming to mind, which is NOT a good thing. I really never wanted to see that much of Kevin’s legs. (Although, actually I have before. In fishnets. But that’s a clip for another time.)

Whoa, and another one right after! This one’s for Joel’s stand-up. I didn’t realize that he was actively doing stand-up shows at the time, although now that I think about it, I should have known that. Obviously this was filmed some weeks before, since he’s got the long hair.

At 1:04:58, sounds like something falls over near Josh. Whatever it was, it was definitely accidental. It was loud enough that they decided they shouldn’t just ignore it. There’s another one at 1:05:25, and then it looks/sounds like Joel whispers something to Josh, probably asking what’s going on.

Wizard of Oz reference #5 at 1:06:26, and #6 immediately after, although in the form of another ant pun like they keep making.

There’s a bunch of weird rustling noises at 1:08:55, but none of them mention it.

They’re running away from the hammy British scientist’s giant fingers as they exit the theater.

And another commercial, this time with the Mads. I wonder if Pizza and Pasta requested that, or if they just wanted a commercial and Kevin and Jim decided on MST for it. Trace really breaks into regular Trace mode at the end there c: (Also, he was using the stethoscope on the pizza there, like he was with the Mr. Potato Head. What’s with him and that thing?)

Host Segment 3

This one comes in from commercial, which is a little unusual. I haven’t been keeping track for KTMA, but in the series proper host segments 1 and 3 always start right out of the theater and end with Commercial Sign, and host segment 2 comes in from commercial and ends with Movie Sign.

Joel and the bots are playing I Spy, although it doesn’t seem like there’s that much to spy in the bridge. But I guess there’s usually all manner of random stuff lying around in there as needed, so maybe there is.

Crow has infrared eyes, apparently. That somehow see through the hull of the ship. Because.

Joel’s reluctant to do the song at first, but he’s not really very hard to convince. It kind of breaks down partway through, but it was a good try.

Movie pt. 4

Crow’s slow into the theater again, and mentions it. It seems to bother him a little.

He also thinks a close-up of a raven is a kitty, 1:16:37.

Crow cracks Joel up again at 1:17:02, though he then explains what a (w)rec(k) room actually is.

And he cracks up again at both bots’ comments at 1:21:49. Also, that must be a sensitive microphone- you can hear him scratching his chin.

I really like Crow’s delivery of “Eat ‘em.” at 1:22:38. Very Crow.

Josh really seems fixated on that “bathysphere in France” thing from Gamera vs. Zigra. He makes another callback to it at 1:25:24.

Okay, I laughed when the old guy fell in the hole. The movie really starts getting goofy, though I don’t think that was the intention.

The guys get pretty annoyed with the ending, and I agree.

Conclusion

Gypsy’s there for the first time in this ep, just in time for the ending. (Joel calls her Gypsum again.)

Joel’s new Robotic Law is…irritating. But I’m pretty sure that’s what he was going for. Crow seems to enjoy being irritating, though c:

Ohhhhh, I finally figured out that Kevin’s probably listed under puppetry in the credits because he’s the cameraman, so he’s basically Cambot. Or maybe not. I don’t know.

Thoughts on the Movie

          This movie is really icky. If bugs give you the creeps, you may not want to watch it. Seriously. I’m not even particularly averse to insects, and I had a hard time with some of it.

          But anyway, so, cosmic event (which nobody bothers to explain to the audience), ants get intelligent, they start killing people and then…what? Step 1- Attack people, Step 2- ???, Step 3- PROFIT!!!...? And what was the point of the girl? To be big-eyed and innocent and have no personality? And WHAT THE HECK IS GOING ON in the last ten minutes?! What even was that!?

          Yes, questions about the plot abound, but what I really wanna know is how many bugs they had to kill to make this thing. Actually, you know what, I don’t want to know that. *shudder* Definitely worse than Gamera.

Overall Impression

          This is a good one. They really are getting better with each episode. The movie is weird, confusing, and depressing, but the riffing really lightens it up. While it’s not nearly as full as a regular episode, a lot of the riffs were similar quality, I think. I laughed out loud several times. (Favorite riff- Joel: They’ve got that kind of Southwestern décor…) They’re really getting into a groove, and we know they only get better. Onwards and upwards c:

[satelliteofmstielove]

K06 Gamera vs. Gaos

                                          All about the baritone

General notes

          Still Christmas on the S.O.L., and Trace is still on vacation, so Crow’s still a Christmas tree. Servo’s actually in the theater this week, though, and it makes a huge difference in the riffing quality and the overall feel of the episode. Also notable- this is the first episode where they mention the Mads. Even though they’ve had them in the theme song intro for the past few episodes, this is the first time they specifically refer to them as characters, and show a picture of them (although it’s just a still from the into).

          And another big thing- Servo’s new voice. It’s still Josh, of course, but they finally make the change to the voice we think of when we think of Josh’s Servo. The Kermit-like one ended up being too hard to riff with. Not only was it painful (at least I imagine it was- can’t remember if Josh ever actually said that), it was just too hard to get jokes across. Also, along with his new voice, is the addition to his name. This is the first time he or anyone else calls him(self) Tom Servo instead of just Servo. So with those exciting things to look forward to, let’s jump in.

Thoughts on the movie

          I decided when doing the last one that I’m too lazy to do these now, so I’ll do them when I get to Season 3. Although, you know, it would probably be better to do them now, when they didn’t cut the movies for time like they did in the later versions. But the laziness has kicked in again, so I’ll just stick with my decision.

Movie intro/Invention Exchange

The way that Joel’s hair flips sideways when he jumps into frame is hilarious and adorable. His hair is extra floofy here, too.

He seems much more awake this week than in previous episodes.

I wonder what kind of scary guys with low IQs were calling in, and what they were saying. On second thought, maybe I don’t want to know.

Heh, Cambot nods when Joel gives him the specs for the screen.

I know this is weird, but there’s something really attractive about the way Joel presses the button to play the calls…

Pointless nitpicking: They missed a word when they transcribed that call.

Gypsy’s scream when they show the picture of the Mads amuses me.

It’s pretty cute that Gypsy recites what Joel taught her about making lemonade c:

It looks like Joel’s reading off of a piece of paper when he introduces the movie. I guess the Mads used to just fax them up the movie info or something, and didn’t start calling them until later.

Movie pt. 1

It looks like Josh is having a hard time getting Servo to stay up. Looks like the puppet keeps falling over.

Also, Servo sits in Crow’s seat. Rude!

The riff about ocean being the source of all Sandy Frank films gets used almost verbatim in one of the later Season 3 riffs. Just goes to show that there were good things cooking at KTMA.

At 11:30, another song. Joel likes to break into song a lot- it’s something I’ve noticed in interviews, too.    

At 12:03, Joel calls a commercial, but it doesn’t actually play one. Heh. And Servo (Josh)’s a smart aleck about it.

Personal opinion here, but their teasing/misreading of the Japanese names in the credits is maybe a little bit too strong.

At 18:16, Joel and Servo start talking about giant turnips. Is that a Mario 2 reference?

When they leave the theater, you can see Joel take a big step over Josh on the floor.

Host Segment 1

Joel changes Servo’s voice, as mentioned in the General Notes. Servo doesn’t seem too keen on the idea at first, but he ends up being very happy with the results.

Servo’s not too keen on the puberty metaphor, either.

Joel says that he’s changing Servo’s voice because he’s getting tired of it. Does that mean that’s what happened with the other couple of voices we heard in previous episodes, too?

Joel making fairly major outward identity decisions for the bots happened pretty often in KTMA. It seems like over time, as the bots began to grow into their own people (okay, so they’re robots, but these robots definitely count as people) he stopped doing that.

And that also includes things like programming them to talk about how great he is, even as a joke, which it mostly seems to be. Servo clearly dislikes it, though Joel doesn’t acknowledge it here. Took him a while to get to that point, I guess.

Manual? Did Joel program a bunch of different voice options into Servo and write them all down in a notebook so he didn’t have to remember them? What else is in that manual? I wonder if that’s the same “E-Z Bot Repair” book that’s Mike’s flipping through desperately in the Season 5-6 intro. Probably not, but I kind of like the idea of Joel making actual manuals for his bots, though I don’t know why he would think he’d ever need them. Besides for keeping track of all Servo’s voices, I guess.

I’m just gonna say, Joel is very swoon-worthy in this segment. With the glances at the camera and the smiling and the being adorable. Not even fair.

Also the tongue touching as he turns the pages of his manual. Does that cross the line into a little too weird? Probably. *noticeably does not apologize*

Servo gets WAY excited about his new big radio voice, which is cute. Joel’s not too sure about it, though. He seems surprised to hear it, so maybe he didn’t program it in like all the others. Maybe it just kind of came to be by itself inside the program (don’t ask me how computers/robotics actually work- other science facts) , meaning that it really belongs to Servo. He does say that it’s the one he’s “always dreamed of”. 

Other voice related thing that doesn’t really belong here but I’m putting it here anyway- when Crow’s voice changes in the Sci-Fi era, Joel says he must have changed his bowling pin (See: Soultaker). So it seems that Crow’s voice is dependent on mouth hardware, whereas Servo’s seems to be more like a dial. At least, it seems that when his voice changes, it’s more like an adjustment to the parts that he already has, rather than a full-on part replacement. And that concludes this edition of “Thinking Way Too Much about Silly Things That Don’t Need to Be Thought About”. (Oh, who am I kidding? That should be the title of this entire blog.)

Servo calls Joel “Hodgy” again c:

Joel’s threat about changing Servo’s voice isn’t really all that threatening. Also, his smile while Servo takes them to commercial is adorable.

Ah, there it is, the first “Tom Servo.” Apparently, the thinking behind it was that the new voice is kind of radio announcer voice, so Tom Servo is like his DJ name. *shrug* I guess it just stuck. It does roll off the tongue nicely.

Movie pt. 2

Joel looks like he almost trips over Josh on the way in this time.

Servo’s still testing out his new voice as he comes into the theater and gets shushed by Joel. Which, when you think about it, is odd, because talking during the movie obviously isn’t something that bothers him…

At 30:57, they start talking about Gamera’s big teeth- how he didn’t have them in the last movie. Servo surmises that he had baby teeth in the last one, but he’s a man now, and uses to opportunity to bring up how manly he himself is. And then Joel shushes him again! I guess he’s really not warming up to the new voice that much yet.

And the award for worst attempt so far to pronounce Gaos goes to…*drum roll*… Joel, when he calls Gaos “Go-az” at 34:12.

34:41 Another Joel laugh. I know it’s a little excessive to note all of them, but they’re just so rare (and adorable) that I feel the need to mark them. They are a lot more frequent in KTMA than in CC, since he’s getting caught off-guard by the jokes, so I might stop after a while. We’ll see.

At 36:52, Servo brings up the voice again. He just can’t get over it! This time Joel says he’s glad that Servo likes it, so maybe he’s coming around to the idea. Also, Servo’s first mention of “babes”. After this, he doesn’t really ever stop mentioning them.

By this point, Josh has interrupted Joel like three different times. Eager 17-year-old rudeness, I suppose.

Tom (hey, I can call him that now) “takes them to commercial” again at 37:42, but I can’t tell if they actually went to commercial or not. The movie cuts to a different part, so there might have been one there, and the��uploader of the video cut it out. It’s hard to tell without the commercial bumpers they had in the show proper.

At 40: 43, when the zoologist in the movie is talking about how Gaos may have been trapped in suspended animation, Servo mentions that Crow is, too. Also, apparently Crow has “demonstrated [his] viciousness” (which I could see happening c: ) Joel makes Servo apologize, though. Hah.

I like the running gag about the mooing grandpa.

At 47:06, Tom starts up a string of terrible cow and dairy puns that makes Joel laugh.

Movie question: Okay, I’m sorry, but how could NOBODY but the 8-year-old notice that Gaos only comes out at night? How long has this been going on? Why are children in these movies more competent than the entire government?

Joel has to tell Servo he can go when they leave the theater. Hm.

Host Segment 2

Apparently Joel modeled Gypsy’s voice after Kim Carnes…or at least attempted to.

Gypsy seems a lot better at talking than she has before. I don’t think it lasts past this host segment.

Joel’s little turn and smile when he presses the button is really dumb and way too cute.

I like how the caller’s clearly talking to his family/friends while on the phone. And I agree! Unfreeze Crow!

This is the third time they’ve shown the footage of Crow being frozen. I have to say, Joel still freezing Crow despite his strong hesitation and even screaming is kind of disturbing. See previously stated theory about Joel’s understanding of the bots as people and how it affects his choices.

Joel does this little hip shift thing at 51:53, and I don’t know why, but I find it hilarious. *Addendum: I just watched it again, a day or so after I first wrote this comment, and actually the hip movement isn’t that pronounced. I don’t know why I even noticed it, why I thought it was funny, or what my problem is.*

Aw, Gypsy stole Crow’s tinsel garland. Apparently it looked like shiny spaghetti. According to Joel, this isn’t the first time Gypsy’s eaten something because it looked like shiny spaghetti. I’d love to hear the stories.

The “Ah!” noise that Joel makes as they’re leaving for the theater is kind of a trademark Joel noise.

Movie pt. 3

At 53:07, Joel starts to say something about Gaos, but pronounces it “Gay-oss”, and Servo (Josh) corrects him (gasp!).

Joel calls Servo “Josh” at 55:29! Guess he forgot what he was doing. I’m sure it’s harder to remember when you don’t have a script. But still!

Geez, Josh interrupts Joel like three times in a row.  I guess in-story it doesn’t make much sense that they never interrupt each other, but obviously that allowance has to be made for the riffing to work. That definitely qualifies as another science fact, and therefore requires no explanation, but it’s also possible that eventually Joel programmed them not to interrupt, at least in the theater. Clearly that function is not present during the host segments c:

Huh, at 59:42, Servo calls that the “Talk to Joel” phone number is there, after it’s been up on the screen for a little while. Josh must have just said it, and then later they decided to put the number up at that time. Did they have the time codes for when they were going to put commercials and stuff like that with them in the theater? I kind of doubt that. I don’t think they were that organized. Hm. *shrug*

Josh KEEPS interrupting Joel! Come on, man, I know you’re excited about your joke, but have a little courtesy. (Okay, I’m done being Miss Manners now.)

Host Segment 3

There’s something really sweet about how this kid invited them to his birthday party. I don’t know why, but it kind of warms my heart.

Haha, I like how Joel just stuck party hats on his arms. What the heck?

It’s also really sweet that they acknowledged the boy’s call like that by decorating the bridge. (I don’t know, I’m just a big sap, okay?) They also had a convenient built-in excuse for why they couldn’t come to the party, which is nice. That way they didn’t have to feel bad about just saying no, and it actually helped them preserve the story.

Servo’s advice for the birthday boy makes Joel laugh, although he’s still making up his mind about the new voice. I wonder if it’s the new voice itself that he doesn’t like, or just Tom’s new cockiness.

Movie pt. 4

For some reason, Joel’s delivery of “He is angered.” at 1:15:29 amuses me.

Servo’s still bringing up the voice.

At 1:18:21, Tom makes a joke, starts laughing at it himself, and when Joel doesn’t laugh, he tells him “Come on, Hodgy, laugh it up!” Joel doesn’t respond.

The way Joel sometimes cocks his head to side while he’s watching the movie is adorable. It’s actually something he does a lot in host segments, and in real life. So I guess it’s just something he does in general.

At 1:33:08, Joel comments that Gaos’s blood looks like Burple (spelling on that?). Servo asked “What’s Burple?” at about the same time I did.

Joel turns his head to the side at 1:35:19, and his hair looks really goofy in silhouette. Also, you can see his glasses, which you usually can when he turns his head.

Conclusion

Looks like Joel has some notes on the table that he’s reading off of.

Tom still loves his new voice c:

In the credits, Kevin is listed under “Puppet Operation and Voices”. Huh? What did he do?

Overall impression

          They just keep getting better. Things are still pretty rough- the riffing isn’t really that funny- but they’re moving along. (Favorite riff- Servo: Maybe he's the Green Lantern.) As I said before, having two people in the theater definitely improves the energy from last week. It seems like the energy and the funniness increase exponentially with each person added to the theater, so I’m definitely ready to get Crow/Trace back in there, especially with the overall concept solidifying.

          With the change in his voice, Tom Servo really starts to form into the Tom we know (so much so that it deserved the subtitle for this entry). They’re getting more confident, and starting to play more with the characters. Every week they’re knocking a few more corners off, chipping the diamond out from the rock, and you can see bits of it shining through. Good stuff.

[satelliteofmstielove]

K04 Gamera vs. Barugon

            I can’t come up with an interesting subtitle because it’s 4 AM

General notes

     This is our first proper episode. Featuring the debut of the first version of the theme song! Since it’s new, I’ll add an extra section this time, just for that. Also, this episode has no prologue, so that section won’t be in there, either. In other notes, the available online copies of this episode are super horrible quality, but we’ll take what we can get when it comes to KTMA.

     One of the most noteworthy things in this episode is the answering machine. Jim Mallon had a good idea (I’ll refrain from making a snarky comment about that)- back then, you couldn’t really get direct feedback in television, so they set up an answering machine, put out the phone number and asked people to call in and say what they thought of the show. That was in the last episode, K03- Star Force: Fugitive Alien II. The story goes that the tape (it was an actual, physical tape back then) filled up within like an hour or something. So yeah, that’s where the calls that they play in this episode come from. They kept it up for a few more episodes at least, playing the calls that they thought were funny or relevant or whatever else they liked.

Thoughts on the movie

     Since we get to do this movie again in Season 3, I think I’ll be lazy wait to give an opinion until we get to the more fully formed episode. I must say, though- the way that Gamera spins around when he flies is unrelentingly goofy.

Theme Song

I’m gonna just say right off the bat- Joel’s singing in this version of the theme song is NOT good. Sorry, buddy, but as a singer myself, it’s a bit cringe-worthy. Especially the “3000” at the end, just painful to me. But that’s enough complaining about that.

The “satellite loading bay” looks a lot like part of a small T.V. station c:

Joel looks so different with different hairstyles. Just a disjointed thought.

Some extra cheap-as-free effects on the Satellite being shot into space. Totally understandable, and actually kind of impressive, considering how absurdly tiny their budget was, but also kind of laughable.

I’ve always liked the line in this version about making lemonade out of lemons (I know it’s a general saying- I just mean I like it’s inclusion in this song). I feel like it sums up Joel’s approach to life on the S.O.L., and how he taught the bots about life.

This early version of the theme sequence already has many elements that stayed in every intro all the way through Season 10. Interesting that they had some parts of the overall aesthetic of the show figured out that early on.

Robot Roll Call comes in a different order! Did that totally mess with anybody else?

Also, does anyone else feel like the theme song sounds strangely empty without the “lalala”s?

Early Cambot seems to be an actually separate robot that worked the camera, rather than actually being the camera. Of course, he could still be attached to it. Hard to tell from the one tiny clip we get of him.

The S.O.L. looks way different. A lot more hoops and sparkles.

There’s a section that features several attacking demon dogs, but demon dogs never showed up in an episode until Season 1. Hm. *shrug*

Movie intro/Invention Exchange

Joel got a haircut! I’ll admit that I’m sad that we got so little of the long hair c: This new haircut is kind of a weird, mullety thing, sort of in-between the long hair and the coming shorter hair. I’m not that big a fan.

Joel calls the movie Gameron vs. Barugon, and thinks Barugon might be an anagram for Gamera(on)? I know he might have been making a joke, but still, really? That has like none of the same consonants…Anyway, they must never have seen the word Gamera written down, because they keep calling him Gameron throughout KTMA.

Ah, the answering machine! (See General Notes section above)

Looks like they were always pretty clear on Cambot’s role. Having him play the recordings is pretty much right in there with the stuff he did on the show as we know it, like putting letters on “still store” or playing music.

That Minnesotan lady who called sure was encouraging c:

“Anatomically correct turtle”? Joel?

Also, there were no bots this time. I wonder what they were off doing. Could have been anything, really.

Movie pt. 1

Takes Joel a little bit to get in to the theater this time.

I can’t see clearly because the video quality is so bad, but it looks like Servo just pops up onto the chair, like he was sitting there already. I guess that answers my previous question about what he was doing before Movie Sign.

Josh is still doing the Kermity voice. He stuck with that one for a couple more episodes after this, until K06 Gamera vs. Gaos.

I love Joel and Crow’s short little conversation about the movie pilot’s reasoning at approx. 8:36. Feels like Joel’s trying to teach Crow logical thinking, but not very effectively.

At about 9:29, Servo starts to freak out when a giant movie screen finger moves towards him. Joel moves him out of the way.

At about 15:59, Servo mentions that the just-introduced female lead is “a babe”, but then adds “for a human”. While is true that Servo fell for non-humans (a blender, Tibby, etc.) with relative frequency, at least compared to Crow (Kim Catrall, anyone?) or Gypsy (Richard Basehart!), he clearly didn’t stick with the “humans are gross” idea for very long.

Joel starts an “echo!” in the cave at 27:00, and Servo thinks it’s fun (which I think is adorable)

At 30:55, Joel tilts his head while asking a question, and keeps it like that for like 20 seconds. Both cute and a little strange. The essence of Joel, I suppose.

Servo and Crow leave the theater early to check the answering machine for messages. This was before Servo had to be carried in and out of the theater. It’s possible, story-wise, that this is before he had a hoverskirt, and was able to move over the air grate (mentioned in later episodes, such a 513). His lower section looked different enough in KTMA that I could believe that. Of course, that’s another science fact, so it really doesn’t matter, but it’s fun to speculate.

The movie keeps playing for over a minute after Joel leaves the theater. I guess they were still working that out, or just didn’t plan that well.

Host Segment 1

The guy who calls in complaining about the interruptions a classic example of “not the right people”. Of course, at that early stage, the riffing premise wouldn’t have been as obvious, and it would be a lot easier to see the talking during the movie as rude and distracting. But still, anybody who actually wanted to watch those movies on their own merits probably wouldn’t ever get MST3K, anyway.

Joel tells the bots that everyone’s entitled to their own opinion, but notice that he doesn’t stop them from heckling the caller c:

The second caller, on the other hand, is ready-made MSTie material, just add water. I suspect all of us probably felt somewhat like that upon first discovering the show. Although maybe we wouldn’t have screamed it into a phone (I wouldn’t have).

Joel seems amused by the bots trying to untangle all the different number-named things. Crow’s enthusiasm about WD-40 makes me smile.

Movie pt. 2

At about 37:29, Joel makes a pun, and Crow tell him he’s really funny. He jokingly assures him that he’s not trying to kiss up, and he snuggles up to Joel’s shoulder. CUTE. Joel seems a little dismissive of the affection, which I would attribute to the fact that they were ad-libbing and he wasn’t expecting it.

Joel chuckles out loud at riffs- especially Trace’s riffs- a lot more often in the KTMA days, again probably because he didn’t know what was coming. I love Joel’s laugh, so it’s fun to hear.

Host Segment 2

Chapstick brings out your features? *shrug again*

Crow’s putting on his own chapstick. They rarely attempted so much arm movement and articulation with him. Still testing out the limitations, I guess.

Why did that caller want chapstick on the show? Was he joking? Is chapstick some kind of weird euphemism? The world may never know.

Movie pt. 3

Crow’s late into the theater.  Hm.

I don’t know which one of them was whistling at 57:56, but they’re a pretty good whistler! Sounds like it might be Joel? Could be Josh. I doubt it was Trace, though.

At 58:53, Joel takes a second to tell Cambot he’s doing a good job. Aaaw.

Servo and Crow can’t seem to let the chapstick thing go. They keep making riffs about how chapstick would help the situation in the movie.

For some reason, the grumpy old military(?) guy’s dubbed “Be quiet!” at 1:12:07 cracks me up.

Host Segment 3

The chapstick theme continues (sorta).

Crow seems to care a lot about lubricants. And orifices. Maybe he’d been reading a lot of books or something and wanted to show off his newly-acquired knowledge.

“Remember, never stick anything in your ear larger than a pirate.”

Joel actually slaps Crow (lightly) to snap him out of his chapstick-lubricant-orifice-pirate fugue. I’m not sure that was necessary- he didn’t seem to be flipping out that badly.

Movie pt. 4

Joel and Servo are talking about how annoying Crow is as they come into the theater! That actually makes me sad. Poor Crow.

Crow’s still talking like a pirate when he gets into the theater after the other two. Joel has to slap him again. So I take it back- I guess he was flipping out that badly. Sounds like maybe this isn’t the first time this sort of thing has happened.

Servo’s already singing c: Little did they know how big a part of his character it would eventually become.

Conclusion

The bots making prank calls seems fitting, little butts that they are. They don’t seem that apologetic after Joel stops them, either. Then again, he didn’t sound that upset.

Joel states that the bots’ pranks aren’t very funny, but he seems pretty amused anyway. It might just be because the bots are so darn cute.

Crow also seems to know a lot about dogs.

Overall impression

     Not really too shabby! As much as people like to complain about how slow KTMA is- which is true- the hit rate is surprisingly high. They don’t make that many comments, but several of them made me laugh out loud. Considering that they improvised all the comments, that’s not bad at all. Favorite riff- Crow: “Oh good, she had that flower removed.”

     The host segments were interesting. Clearly, they were still developing all the characters personalities. For example, Joel gossiping with Servo about Crow doesn’t sit that well with me. I’m sure it’s because I’m used to dad-Joel from the show proper, who would never do that. They hadn’t established that about Joel’s character yet here, but I don’t think they would have done it later on.

    Obviously, it’s still very early and raw, but it’s a good start C: Laying the foundations for great things down the road.

[satelliteofmstielove]

K12 Fugitive Alien

                                                   Forklift practice

General notes

         Another Sandy Frank outing! The Season 3 version of this riff is a particularly beloved episode, so this version is probably one of the harder KTMA eps to get through. It does have the benefit, though, of showing us a lot of the material that was cut from the Season 3 version (for time), which really helped me, at least, actually understand what the heck was going on. Although it also looks like they cut some of the stuff out of this one that was in the other one, which I didn’t think they did in KTMA. Maybe whatever version they had lying around in their film library was already cut. Shrug.

         Also, Trace is gone again this week, though I don’t know where he is this time. Another exciting development as well- they mention starting up a fan club, which of course became a pretty big thing, to say the least. A good link to this one can be tricky to find, for some reason, so I’ll just stick it in here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7GiwnfcQBao  (As a matter of fact, would it be desirable or helpful for me to just include an episode link in every entry?)

Movie Intro

Dr. Forrester is away this week at the Mad Scientists Convention in Las Vegas (a nice excuse for Trace being gone). Apparently either Larry wasn’t invited, or somebody had to stay home and look after the experiment.

The Room 666 was a nice touch, though I imagine it would be a pretty coveted spot at Mad-Sci Con. Dr. F must have had to book it waaay in advance, especially since he’s not exactly a high-roller in the field.

I’d be curious to know who Bruno and the Creeper are (is?).

I wonder how much of this was written/thought out and how much of it was Josh ad-libbing. It seems pretty complicated to be on the fly, but Josh is such a good improv riffer that I’d believe he could be making it up on the spot.

Dr. F doesn’t seem bothered by the revelation that his new “friend” is/was actually male. This is not really a shock, to be honest, particularly given… certain aspects of his and Frank’s relationship later on. We don’t really need to get into that.

The Mr. Potato Head is still on the desk, only now it’s upside down and all of its features are attached to the head. Heh.

Larry's suggested gambling strategy probably explains why they’re always in need of more money.

Why would poking holes in the suitcase ensure that the cat will die? Is it an anaerobic cat? Does puncturing in the suitcase release toxins which will kill it? So many unanswered questions…

This is probably the most distressed Joel has ever been about being trapped in space. Before this point he had almost never mentioned any friends or family. In fact, throughout the run of the show, he rarely mentioned any family, and then usually only in passing, and never mentioned any friends that I can recall. So this outburst seems rather abrupt. Not that you could possibly blame him- that’s really how most people would feel in that situation- but it’s a little weird in combination with all the other data. Of course it’s possible that he just never bothered to talk about any of his friends/family because it just made him sad, but generally, besides the movies being painful, he barely ever seemed to even be bothered by being stuck in space. Maybe that serenity was just something that came with time, and he hadn’t found it yet at this early point. I’m guessing the IRL reason was just that they hadn’t really figured out how they wanted to play that aspect of Joel yet. In-universe, it’s hard to say.

I didn’t notice before, but Josh (Sorry- Larry. I still usually think of him as Josh.) has a cool scarf. That’s new.

Joel’s really not having Larry’s jokes today, and neither is Servo. Also, I’m sure Crow would be glad to know that he’s strongly associated with the use of the word “dickweed.”

Joel knows what the movie is going to be without Dr. Erhardt telling him. They must have faxed it up earlier or something this time.

They were big into the random singing in host segments in KTMA (and Season 1, come to think of it) I think it’s related to not always having enough written material to fill out the scene. I also think it’s just kind of a Joel thing, too. Also, Joel would not win an air guitar contest.

Movie pt. 1

Servo sits in Crow’s seat again, like he did last time Trace was gone, probably because it was so much easier to get in there with the puppet than the other seat. This time, however, Joel questions it and asks where Crow is. Servo avoids the question until Joel gets distracted, which doesn’t take very long.

Joel tries to grab onto the spaceship at 4:52, a pretty typical move for him.

At 9:33, Joel and Tom start floating around in the fuzzy blue dream sequence.

Joel seems to keep trying to make up a Fugitive Alien theme song. Well, he’d end up getting his wish in Season 3.

Joel calls commercial sign at 16:23. I wonder if they just did that at random or if they had specific intervals at which they were supposed to mention a commercial. Hm.

Wizard of Oz reference #12 at 17:53.

Joel keeps cracking up their “Magnetic Fields Forever” song (starts about 19:30)

Movie note: I love that the speedometer on Bacchus 3 (III?) is labeled “Space Speed".

Host Segment 1

Joel seems to be running out of ideas for new ways to pop up after the doorway sequence, so they’re starting to get a little goofy.

When Joel says Servo and Crow share a bunk, I wonder if that means that they actually have like some kind of a bunk bed, or if they just share a room. Either way, it’s cute c: Obviously they didn’t get their own separate rooms until later on, probably after they asked for them. Also, I wonder if Joel gave them real beds like a person right from the beginning, or if he didn’t think to do it until he realized that they were more than just regular robots.

Joel accidentally calls Servo “Crow”. He really is turning into a dad, not being able to keep all of his kids’ names straight, haha. But really, he is very much a dad in this segment. It didn’t take him long to fall into the role.

Servo’s being difficult today. They claim that they were just trying to install a popcorn popper in Crow’s body, but I agree with Joel- I don’t believe him. They probably got into some kind of fight and he thought it would be funny to turn him off and take him apart as revenge, and he somehow roped Gypsy into it.

Joel doesn’t even make a pretense of hitting the button for this commercial sign. Of course, they also don’t always seem to have to hit the commercial sign button, either.

Movie pt. 2

Joel and Servo’s conversation about Crow when they come into the theater is very cute.

Servo’s riff at 34:58 really feels like a riff from any regular episode. They’re obviously moving that direction.

I can’t figure out what Joel is laughing about at 48:02. Captain Joe’s face? Or maybe Servo’s joke that we can’t really hear?

It’s really hard to watch the forklift scene without singing the song.

Host Segment 2

The conversation in this segment is kind of Seinfeldian. It sounds like it was probably ad-libbed.

Every time Joel cracks up is my favorite time. Also the way he’s got his hand on Servo’s back the whole time is very cute as well. AND THE HUG. I love it whenever Joel hugs the bots for no specific reason, like they’re just so adorable that he can’t help it.

Movie pt. 3

Joel looks like he almost falls down when he sits down.

He and Tom have another conversation about fixing Crow. Why didn’t he bring that up during the movie break? Maybe he did and we didn’t see it. More likely that he just totally forgot.

At 55:52, Joel calls them “sky wolves” which amuses me because they’ve only said “star wolves” like 300 times so far in the movie, and he can’t even remember. But it’s not annoying, actually. That’s one of the things that makes Joel Joel, and honestly we like it c:

Josh seems to be having some trouble positioning the puppet.

It’s also really hard not to add “Meter maid” every time they say Rita’s name.

At 58:30, Joel says he misses his Slant 6 Swinger, which he mentioned back in Phase IV (K09). I wonder if one of the writers had/wanted that car and that’s why they decided Joel used to have one. It’s kind of an interesting tidbit to have picked to be canon, considering all the details they could decide to mention, especially given how nebulous things tended to be in KTMA.

Joel says something about “space food sticks” at 1:00:06? Huh?

Wizard of Oz reference #13 at 1:00:12.

At 1:00:40, Tom prepares to do his Suzuki Samurai impression (another specific car reference). It consists of falling over, though I genuinely can’t quite tell whether it was on purpose or not. Anyway, here’s a picture of one:     

Host Segment 3

Joel decides it’s time for a dance contest. Why? Why not? Servo doesn’t seem optimistic that it’ll be as much fun as Joel thinks it will, but he gets into it anyway.

Joel’s adorable, but he can’t dance. I think he’s fully aware of that, and I think that’s exactly why he persists in doing it anyway.

I’m guessing they didn’t get the rights to that song. Then again, they didn’t get the rights to any of the movies they showed, either. So really, it was only by virtue of the fact that they were tiny show on a crappy UHF channel that kept them from being sued out of existence.

The disco lights and zooming camera are a nice effect, actually. Nice job on that, Kevin (et al.).

More babes talk from Tom, who at this point has never seen any kind of woman in real life, and would not until Rocketship X-M (201) when Valeria visits through the Hexfield. (The fact that it was actually Mike Nelson in a wig and a dress is an entirely different discussion.)

When the camera zooms in to Joel at 1:13:20, it accidentally pans off the set background for a moment, and you can see the empty space behind it.

I don’t know why, but I love Tom’s shout-out to his (non-existent) girlfriend, Debbie. And of course the laughing from Joel.

Wow, I didn’t think about this at first, but was Josh working both Gypsy and Tom at the same time? That’s impressive!

Movie pt. 4

Joel seems bothered by the callous murder of a few of the guards. I’m on his side there.

More blue dream/memory sequence flailing at 1:33:10.

Servo thinks Rita’s a pansy for not killing Ken. Geez.

At 1:40:33, Joel says that he guesses he doesn’t miss Crow that much after all. I’m hoping that’s a joke related to Servo’s pun, Joel’s dislike of them, and Crow’s similar tendency to make bad puns. Because otherwise that would be sad.

Conclusion

UM, so yeah, that thing where Joel leans in close to Tom and goes “rah” in a tiny whisper and then asks if he scared him? Yeah, that’s really, really cute.

As noted above, they talk about getting a fan club started, which ended up being quite instrumental in keeping them on the air for a while, and also helpful in promoting them with Comedy Channel later on.

Also I like the way he flips that pencil.

Joel seems extra tired here, although he tends to have trouble annunciating most of the time, anyway. Josh takes his mistake and runs with it, hahah. Joel also looks like he keeps looking at somebody off-camera.

Review

         I know I say this every time, but they really do get better every episode. Early on, most episodes had long boring stretches with some good bits. As they figure out their technique, those empty sections keep getting shorter and shorter. Even with Trace gone this time, which in the past tended to bring a sharp downturn in quality, they still keep up the energy, and there’s a lot of good stuff in there (Favorite riff- Servo: We’ll turn Ken into a giiiiant mudpit!). It’s no 600-900 riffs an episode- that’s a looong way off yet- but it really is good, and a lot of fun.

[satelliteofmstielove]

K15 Superdome

                                   Are you ready for some FOOTBALL?

General notes

          Well, too bad. Because there isn’t any in this movie. This episode features flashback clips, similar to what they did in Hellcats [209] in Season 2. I’m not sure of the reasoning behind the choice. Probably not time restraints, since the new material must have taken just as long to shoot as a regular episode. So *shrug*. Oh, and the last section of this one is missing! I’ve looked around but haven’t been able to find another version that has the ending. If anyone happens to have one, or know where I can find one, please let me know! Here’s your link, so let’s roll: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6_3UTtsazuU

Prologue/ Movie intro

We enter on Servo typing a letter to Uncle Wally (possibly the one from Sesame Street?). How does he type with boxing gloves on without any hands? Science facts.

He states that it’s been nearly 1/3 of a year since Joel invented him. If we calculate from the date the episode first aired, which I tend to do just for the sake of convenience March 12, 1989, that puts his invention around the end of November 1988, which of course fits the timeline, such as it is. (I’m getting the dates from the episode guide at mst3kinfo.com, by the way.) I wonder if he’s measuring from his very beginnings as Beeper or just from when he got Servo-ized, not that it really matters.

Servo comes to the conclusion that because Joel invented him, his experiences are simulated. I don’t really think that’s how it works, but hey, whatever. It also sounds like the Uncle Wally to whom he’s writing might be some relative he actually believes he has.

Apparently, though Joel neglected to provide him with functioning arms, he can still type with his feet…Okay, nobody tell Tom that he doesn’t have feet. He must learn it eventually though, since it’s directly mentioned in at least two host segments that I can think of off the top of my head. In Danger! Death Ray [620] and The Projected Man [901], not that anyone is going to rush off to look them up.  

It sounds like at this point, the bots were pretty enthusiastic about the idea of going down to Earth. I wonder if Joel was selling the idea, or if it was the movies and other stuff they learned that got them excited. It also seems like at this point, it was expected to occur sometime eventually, if not soon. I wonder when they kinda gave up on it. Later on in the series, they talk about it every once in a while, but for the most part, they seem resigned to and even content with life on the Satellite.

Servo and mango juice. Always the mango juice. I can understand the frustration with the dehydrated stuff, though.

“Airheaded white guy smiling up the place” I never really thought of Joel like that, but it’s a pretty accurate description, I’ve gotta give him that hahaha.

It seems that Servo actually almost talked the Mads into bringing them back down to Earth the day prior. His reasons sound a little thin to me, but the Mads aren’t typically the sharpest people. It doesn’t seem very hard to distract them from the original purpose of their experiment. They’ve done it to themselves a few times already.

Crow was always Crow, even from the beginning. His first reaction to seeing the Mads is to slip straight into troll mode. Unfortunately, it screws up Tom’s deal with them. They sure are fickle.

Are the Mads’ glasses different this week? I guess I don’t pay enough attention. I can never remember what they were the week before. That could be easily solved by going to look at the previous episode, but eeeeeeeeeenh *Frank hands*

I’m glad the Mads find the name Dick Butkus as ridiculous as the rest of us must. I don’t think it’s possible to have a worse name than that. Here’s a picture of him for no reason:

Servo’s letter to “Whom it may concern” seems to have evolved into a newsletter or something.

For whatever reason, this episode doesn’t seem to have a prologue- it just heads right into the movie intro and from there into Movie Sign. It’s possible that a cut was in there somewhere, and somebody just edited the video with great expertise, but I don’t know why anyone would bother to do that.

Movie pt. 1

Joel thinks the printing press at 4:21 looks kinda like Servo. I think he might need to get his glasses checked.

At 5:53, does Joel say “He’s creamy”? It kinda sounds like he says “He’s Korean” but that doesn’t seem all that likely. My immediate thought would be the line from Kitten with a Whip [615], but obviously this was a long time before that.

A classic Joel “Oh woooow…” at 9:43.

At 10:05, Crow claims the scenes of the river boat are making him nauseous.

Is it weird that I’m hearing phantom KevinServo singing along to the jazz on the river boat? That’s exactly the kind of spot we’d be hearing it in a Season 2 or later. It’s interesting how ingrained some things become after watching the show so much.

Crow starts to dance about 11:26 and the other two join in. Also, Joel reaches up to grab the bridge, but he’s probably like a foot away.

Somebody makes a cougar sound at 11:42 (to go with the Cougars football team in the movie). I’m not sure who, but I think it was Josh. I don’t think cougars actually sound like that, but you know, whatever.

Tom starts to sing a song at 13:31, and Joel tells him to settle down. Then Tom keeps leaning over onto Joel and Joel keep pushing him back up until he finally just holds him place in his own seat. Heheh.

On-screen at 15:30, a guy’s wife says she needs a little affection, and Servo states quickly that he needs some, too. Crow and Joel tell him not to look at them, and he tells them not to worry.

I like Joel’s film noir narration (noirration?) starting at 16:01.

At 20:16, one of the more famous dirty riffs from KTMA, involving “little cocktail weenies”. Quick work by Josh, there.

First instance of the “rhubarb, rhubarb” thing that they often did with crowds, at 24:20

At 24:21, Joel asks Crow to do his David Janssen impression. I guess that was a thing, because it eventually made it into the opening host segment of Gamera vs. Gaos [308].

Just after 26:37- is that riff what I think it is? Man, they snuck a lot of stuff into this episode.

On the way out of the theater, Tom says he’s gonna go work on his letter.

Host Segment 1

…which he proceeds to do. Has he decided who he’s writing to yet?

We get another flashback, this time of Joel running high voltage electrical currents through Servo for no particular reason that I can see. Unlike the one from the opener, this one’s an actual flashback to a host segment from a previous episode (SST: Death Flight [K13]). We’ve already done that segment when we did that episode, so there’s not a whole lot else for me to say about it here.

When we come back from the flashback, we get a close-up of Servo’s mouth. It’s painted red on the inside, which I never noticed before. Something about that kind of disturbs me.

Tom seems kinda fed up with Joel here, which, going by that flashback, it’s hard to blame him for. He must get better later.

Movie pt. 2

Joel’s the one late into the theater this time, and Crow moves out the way to let him in.

Is it just me, or is Servo sitting a lot lower down in his seat than usual?

Crow’s riff cracks Joel up at 36:40.

39:31- Two “oh wooow”s from Joel in same episode.

Servo’s falling over all over the place at 42:54. He claims robot narcolepsy.

At 44:22, Servo starts singing a song, and Joel questions why he’s doing it. I’m not sure why that’s any different than when he usually breaks into song, maybe because it wasn’t really related to anything happening in the movie.  

Unrelated movie thing: the line delivery at 45:43 is really weird.

Crow’s comment at 46:09- is it ironic that he’d be talking about how big someone else’s beak is?

At 47:21, in their list of things the P.K. in the guy’s name might stand for, Tom submits “peeling carrots”. Not quite, there, buddy.

Host Segment 2

Tom’s still typing up his letter. He mentions them being in decaying orbit, but I guess it wasn’t decaying all the fast, since they stayed there without much trouble till at least Season 7.

We get another flashback. This time it’s Joel berating the bots and generally being domineering and rude, in Tom’s attempt to convince us that the Joel we see on air is nothing like the Joel he gets behind the scenes. It vibes similarly to the “This Boy’s Life” mean-Mike simulation from Code Name Diamond Head [608].

Joel’s smoking in this one (though the cigarette clearly isn’t lit, being a prop and all) to underscore his jerkiness.

Gypsy has a drive train? And it’s a piece of clear plastic or glass? I mean, they’re all made out of random junk anyway, so I’m not gonna question it. Also, what would Gypsy getting her oil changed every week have to do with the shower? Cleaning off afterwards, perhaps?

So, do they have recharge every day, or is it like a weekly thing? I always imagined they just got plugged in at night or something, or maybe charged off of ambient energy from the ship. Maybe recharge is something more specific than that. In these early days, it seems like the bots function somewhat differently than they do later on, so it’s very possible that they used to do it like this and then got upgrades later. Or maybe Tom totally just made it up.

Hahah I like Joel’s line- “I’m not normally this way, it’s just Servo’s perception of me.” which also pretty much states that this didn’t really happen, at least not the way Tom’s presenting it.

I know it’s just Tom’s perception of him, as noted, but it’s still kind of unsettling to see Joel hitting the bots like that. Also, he ashes on Gypsy!

I was about to ask how Tom even stuck his gum under the theater seats, and then I remembered that right now the same bot is typing with feet that he doesn’t have, so it probably doesn’t much matter.

It seems like Tom is a lot better at brushing off criticism than Crow, especially when it comes from Joel. Tom gets upset when somebody points out a weakness that he’s already insecure about, but if it’s something that he’s cool with, he’ll usually just ignore or shrug off such comments. Crow is more sensitive to what other people think of him, and is generally much more dependent on other people’s reactions to him. You can see it here- when Joel gets mad at him, he seems more upset. Servo fights back a little more. Or course, this is his flashback, so it’s not surprising that Crow would be wimpier and he would be cooler, but still, the reactions do fit with their personalities overall.

The flashback ends with lots of famous movie quotes. Servo makes everything so dramatic.

Movie pt. 3

Tom’s already in his seat when the other two come in. Crow brought Jujubes, apparently.

Servo’s attempt at 54:04 to spell “booze” kind of falls apart.

Something about Crow’s line delivery at 55:52 is absurdly cute.

Servo keeps tipping over, and tells Joel that he needs him to adjust his equilibrium function, at 56:58. There must be something going wrong with the puppet.

At 58:05, Crow leans over on Joel’s shoulder, then the other direction all the way out of frame, maybe to mimic Servo’s tipping?

Joel attempts to play the band’s instruments at 1:04:24.

Another past-the-radar type joke from Tom as they leave the theater.

Host Segment 3

Host Segment 3: And the Letter Continues. Servo talks about how he does love his Satellite buddies, even though he’d never tell Crow.

This time the flashback is a montage collection of fun moments, complete with sappy music. I wonder if that came out of the studio’s library, too.

Fittingly, they included the clip of them playing football. There’s also one where Gypsy has a bunch of tennis balls or something in her mouth, which I’ve never seen before. It must be from K03, because Joel’s got the long hair and the beige jumpsuit (he had the turquoise one in K01 and K02).

I also like how Tom included the mirror-verse dream sequence where the Mads are suffering on the Satellite of Loathe in his memories of fun times.

He’s doing his Louis Armstrong impression as we come back from the montage.

Joel comes in and tells Servo that it’s almost Movie Sign. Do they know when Movie Sign is? I always thought it seemed to be at random, based on how much they usually flip out when it happens. Maybe it varies, since sometimes it seems like they have a lot of time between movie sections and other times not much at all, so maybe sometimes they get a countdown and sometimes they don’t? Never knowing would make it a lot more stressful.

Joel seems a little concerned with Tom’s insistence about his lovely montage. He even looks at the letter he’s been typing and seems confused. Also, he handles him very gingerly when he picks him up to take him into the theater. Either the puppet must be kinda fragile, or it was just because Josh still had to keep working him while they moved.

Movie pt. 4

Servo comes into the theater on his own, and stills looks like he’s having a tipping problem.

Crow starts doing goofy things with his seat (or at least pretends to) after he gets into the theater.

Crow asks if we’re ever going to see any actual football in this football movie, at 1:13:08. Good question, buddy.

Movie thing: Oh, the girl who got poisoned was the daughter from before? I can’t keep track of what all these people look like, although the poor video quality is definitely not helping.

Another movie thing: There’s the classic 555 movie phone number at 1:14:30. It’s not really relevant, but I think that kind of thing is interesting.

At 1:15:02, Crow (not Joel, this time, surprisingly) mentions the Fan Club info on the screen (also his voice is adorable when he does) and Servo adds the address. As stated in previous entries, I really want to know how they had all the ads organized, as to how they fit it into the episodes.

Joel questions why the husband’s speech made the wife come back to him, at 1:16:39. I have to agree.

1:17:22- Crow is just throwing the cute inflection all over the place today. I don’t think it’s intentionally adorable, but it’s killing me here.

Joel’s doing his trademark head tilt thing around 1:21:15. He just keeps like that, too.

At 1:21:20, they talk about how they can’t think of anything funny to say, and Tom blames Crow’s behavior towards the Mads in the opening segment that they have to watch this movie at all. Crow can’t come up with a very good comeback, but they almost get in a fight, and again at 1:24:30. Joel tells them to calm down, since the movie’s almost over. Servo tells Crow that he actually loves him like a brother, despite saying in the previous host segment that he would never do so.

At 1:25:25, Crow mentions what a yawn-fest the movie has been, and Tom says it doesn’t matter because most of the viewers have tuned to something else by this point anyway. They didn’t mention viewers or the TV show aspect as often after the KTMA days.

Crow notes again at 1:26:27 that even though we’ve finally gotten to the Super Bowl part of the movie, we still don’t see any football, but he doesn’t think the band and cheerleaders are so bad.

Movie thing at 1:25:57- 25 years old? She definitely looks older than 25 to me. Also this marching band music kinda puts a damper on the drama of this chase scene, as do the small security carts. And then a scaffolding chase? Is this turning into Space Mutiny all of a sudden?

1:30:58- Crow’s still on about the lack football thing, not that I can blame him.

They all stand up for the national anthem when it plays before the credits.

Servo wants to know who won, as they leave the theater.

Conclusion

As, stated above, the last host segment is cut off of the video. (I will not deny that I yelled out “Noooo” when it got to the end and there was no more.) So for now we’ll just have to imagine.

Thoughts on the Movie

          There is a decided lack of football in this movie, which you’ve probably noticed because I’ve mentioned it like six times by now. I guess nobody ever said that there would be, but when you hear it labeled a football movie, you kind of expect to see people playing football. Anyway, this movie is… really pretty bad (not shocking, given the context in which we’re seeing it).

          I didn’t ever really know what was going on or who anyone was. There’s at least five different story threads we’re supposed to be following, and I kinda knew what’s going on with like three of them at any given moment, but not enough to care. Additionally, the crime scenes, or scary scenes, or whatever those are supposed to be, are totally disconnected from the rest of anything. I could see what it was going for, but it really didn’t get there. Very much in the same vein as San Francisco International [614] and SST: Death Flight [K13], although I think those two were slightly better because they were easier to follow, and a lot more amusing in their badness. Was there really that much of this in the 70s?

          An assorted collection of other thoughts about it that I can’t be bothered to expound on: I just can’t buy the P.K. Jackson guy as having been a huge football star; he’s just way too scrawny. The villain, Lainey is pretty much the 70s incarnate. Um, also, could a Whirlpool actually explode like that? I’m not electrician, but…well, whatever. That’s one of the lesser problems this movie has. So yeah. Not a good movie.

Review

         This one was a pretty smooth watch. Not that many laugh-out-loud moments for me (Favorite riff- Football dude: “You’re going to a shrink? What for?” Crow: “I wanna be smaller.”), but that can depend on mood. Still went down pretty easy, even with me getting annoyed with the movie for being so hard to follow. (Also, no Wizard of Oz reference, again, not that anyone besides me cares.) It seems like, with the riff quality and character interactions steadily improving and becoming more interesting, the long empty stretches are more noticeable. I’m not really complaining about it (for one thing, they make it easier to finish these because there’s less stuff to go through), but they do stick out a little. But overall, good. Fun, Servo-centric host segments, and decent riffing for the era. All good work in progress.

[satelliteofmstielove]

K10 Cosmic Princess

                                                    Space Oatmeal

General notes

          This episode originally aired on Superbowl Sunday, and consequently features a lot of football in the host segments. Well, more than the usual “none”, anyway. It was also the first episode to feature a “movie” that was really episodes of a TV show spliced together. (Okay, technically second, since K03 was Star Force:Fugitive Alien II, but we didn’t get to see that one.) So let’s watch.

Movie intro/InventionExchange

3-D and football. They have to turn their transmitter to watch different TV? They have to use the same one that they use to beam stuff into space? Maybe they just use their fancy space transmitter to steal TV from the neighbors. Also, they seem to be losing track of their experiment a little- Larry says they don’t really have to send Joel a movie because nobody’s watching him anyway, but when was that part of their experiment? Aren’t they trying out bad movies on him for science? I thought that making it into a show for income was just a secondary bonus. Shrug.

I love the No-D glasses. Very clever.

Nice recovery from Josh on knocking the football off the desk, calling it a fumble (Not that it really needed a recovery, but still, well-played. Heh, played. Sorry.).

I looked up Sandy Duncan, but I can’t really figure out why she’d be sponsoring No-D glasses…

Also regarding the No-D glasses, it sounds like they made some money on them, which they apparently desperately needed in the last episode, but it sounds like Dr. F. spent it on an auxiliary transmitter. Was that smart? Well, maybe they had enough for whatever they needed it for last time and some extra for the transmitter. Or maybe they just buy things impulsively, considering that last time they said they blew all their grant money on their sweet ride.

According to Joel, the little aux one doesn’t work as well. Not really surprising, I guess, being little and all.

Joel’s being super polite again. I guess that is normal for him, but later in the series he’s not always quite so submissive.

Movie pt. 1

Is it just me or do they seem farther to the right than usual, and also closer together?

4:14- Crow’s been called a cosmic princess before? By who? Servo? Sounds like it.

At 4:48, Crow corrects Joel’s pronunciation of the name “Reg”. Hee hee.

By 5:00, Joel’s already bored. Hey, he said that during the opening credits of Guiron, too.

At 5:45, Joel asks why the people in the movie couldn’t just use aluminum foil to fix their thingy- I know it was a joke, but actually Joel probably could repair it with aluminum foil. 

Crow sounds REALLY excited about the lion at 9:59.

Crow’s comment at 12:32 made me laugh a lot. He’s definitely the most likely of the three to just be bluntly rude, and for some reason coming from him it’s extra funny and even kind of cute.

At 12:36, Joel makes a weird joke that’s kind of a stretch, and Crow turns to him and asks “What color is the sky in your world, Joel?” Hahaha. Sometimes the bots seem to lose patience with Joel’s floaty cloud mind.

An off-color joke (referring to phallic design of one of the spaceships) from Servo at 14:26.

They call a commercial at 15:34ish, (Servo calls it a harmonic commercial again, whatever that means) but they don’t go to one until 16:00.

Wizard of Oz reference #7 at 16:18.

A rare inversion- Joel cracks Crow up at 16:35.

At 17:34, Crow says a line that turns out to be exactly what a character on-screen says a second later, which seems to amuse all of them.

At 19:26, Crow riffs about the guy getting a haircut, and Servo says “You could do that, Crow.” – a call forward to the upcoming host segment. I guess, in-universe, it inspired them. In real life, I wonder if the host segment actually was related to that, because they’ve always said they didn’t preview that much of the movies before they riffed them in the KTMA days, and also that the host segments were shot before the the movie part. This isn’t that far into the movie, so they could have previewed up to that part, I suppose. It seems more likely, though, that it’s related to the “Hair Designs by Mr. Crow of Beverly Hills” credit in that’s been in the end credits since at least K04.

At 23:39- A giant McChicken Nubblets? Chicken McNibbler? Are you okay, Joel?

Crow says that the bubbling tubes at 24:46 make his stomach woozy, though Tom asserts that he doesn’t have a stomach. But they must have some kind of stomach equivalent, since they can eat actual food- some kind of energy converter? Of course, I don’t know if we’ve seen or heard of them eating food at this stage of the show, so maybe that doesn’t come until later. I know it doesn’t really matter, other science facts, but still…

The room at 25:13 looks more yellow than orange to me, but it could have looked different on their monitor.

At 27:05, 38 degrees at 6:30- actually not too bad for January in Minnesota.

Servo’s reluctant to leave the theater because the lady on-screen is “a babe”.

Host Segment 1

It seems more like they’re playing a game than Joel getting his hair cut for real. Crow doesn’t really seem to be cutting any hair, and I probably wouldn’t trust him to do it, either, at least not this early on. His motor skills aren’t really up for that. Crow’s scissor movement is actually fairly impressive, though, considering how limited the puppet is. But I would still never trust him with scissors. Joel is a brave soul.

If this is a game, I guess that brings up the question of who actually does cut Joel’s hair. I guess he probably just does it himself. He could also definitely invent something to help with it. Plus, uh, well, sometimes it really does look like he cut it himself.

Crow “cuts” Joel’s ear, but his scissors are nowhere near either of his ears, which reinforces the game theory. In real life, I’m sure they just didn’t want to the put the scissors too close to Joel’s ear, for safety.

It’s probably just the lighting, but Joel’s eyelashes look very prominent here. The profile really emphasizes the unique curve of his eyebrows, too (sorry, artist talk). Also he keeps pursing his lips a little, which I cannot truthfully say I don’t find kind of attractive.

Tongs? What the heck is he going to do with those? Do I want to know?

I love his delivery of his line as they go to commercial. Trace’s inflections are my favorite thing.

Movie pt. 2

Crow admires his work on Joel’s haircut when he comes into the theater (which is adorable).

At 37:51, Servo, Joel, and the guy on-screen all talk at once. Heh.

At 39:40, they comment on some banging sounds which could either be coming from the movie or somewhere in the studio- I can’t tell. Tom says it sounds like Gypsy’s “getting in the grub kitchen”, which is apparently different from the "food kitchen" that he mentions afterward? What’s that supposed to mean? What’s the difference between them? Why would they have one called a grub kitchen and one called a food kitchen? Does the grub kitchen contain actual grubs, and if so, why?! (Kidding.) Or is one more like a pantry and one is an actual kitchen? The real life answer must be since Josh was making it up on the spot, some things just didn’t end up making much sense. But in-universe, it sounds like they have kind of an odd kitchen system. But the S.O.L.’s an odd ship, so hey, whatever.

At 42:31, Servo comments that the princess’s face (she is the eponymous cosmic princess, right? It hasn’t been made all that clear) looks like an ostrich butt. A comparison. (Hm, kind of.):

Calling commercial again starting at 43:58.

At 51:32, as they transition not-so-subtly in the next episode that makes up the second half of the movie, Joel notes it, but he keeps calling it new series, instead of episode. They also all bounce along to the jolting and spinning on-screen.

This isn’t really attached to any particular moment, but I have to say, it seems like Trace had Crow mostly figured out pretty early on. The voice would get a little lower and little less child-like and robotic over time, but the basic style was there almost from the beginning. I guess a lot of it is just Trace being Trace and I just interpret that as Crow, but regardless- Crow is already here.

This time on the way out, Servo mentions his “drip pan”. I’m guessing that’s related to the radiator and the load pans mentioned in previous episodes. Joel also says (in relation to a riff about beans) “Speaking of beans…”. I don’t really know what that means, and I don’t think I really want to.

Host Segment 2

Crow is such an older brother in this segment, tricking Tom into doing something dangerous that he’s not willing to do himself, but still wants to see. Also I love his little “Yeah!” at Servo’s suggestion of using Gypsy, although he doesn’t actually go for that idea.

Lots of giggling from Josh after Servo jumps off the table. (Is it really a jump with a hoverskirt? More of a fall-off.) Tom seems pretty amused at the loss of his head, but Crow freaks out a little. Joel doesn’t seem upset, just a bit confused.

The bots are confused about evolution, so Joel re-explains it. They seem kind of disappointed that they can’t learn to fly that way, and also that they can’t be humans. They were definitely more into the “learn to be human” thing in the early days, but it still seemed to be running as a background program throughout the show, because it still comes back up occasionally, like in the ending of Mitchell (512).

The bots shoot down Joel’s lesson on the importance of character vs. molecular structure for being too cheesy and sitcom-y, but obviously they do actually listen in some way.

The second time Tom’s head falls off definitely looks like an accident. Lots of that in the KTMA days, but it’s fun rather than irritating. I love how Crow goes to pick it up. And Servo just goes off without his head! I guess it’s not that important to his functioning.

Movie pt. 3

Tom’s still headless when he comes into the theater. Apparently it is important after all, because he keeps tripping. Can you trip without feet? Anyway, Joel brings it in, and tapes it back on, hahah.

Crow asks if Servo is okay, and apologizes, which for some reason surprises me, and watches Joel patch him up.  He also calls him “bud”, which is way too cute. Tom still blames him, though.

At 1:00:33, Crow makes a comment about the woman in the movie not coming out of her tuck in time, like Servo falling off the table, and Servo doesn’t take it well. He tries to attack Crow, but Joel stops him, of course. He just thinks it’s funny. Crow also throws out the “You’re lucky my chick’s here” line, which became a standard riff later in the series.

A mysterious death shadow appears in the seat next to Tom at 1:01:46. I’m guessing it was Josh-related, but it also looks like maybe the camera did something weird.

Wizard of Oz reference #8 at 1:01:56, and #9 just a few seconds afterward.

1:03:27- Movie thing: Those are the lamest stun/kill switches I could imagine. I’m actually impressed by their lameness.

Another bot fight at 1:04:38, this time pretty extended. Servo actually sneaks past Joel to try to get Crow. Joel doesn’t seem too bothered by any of it, but for a while afterward he keeps kind of giving them both looks.

At 1:08:15, Crow apologizes for fighting (and probably for the whole head thing in general), and then leans his head against Joel! I am dead. I’m such a sucker for the cuddling, it’s ridiculous.

Abrupt coughing fit from Josh at 1:08:41. Crow thinks Joel screwed his bubble on too tight.

Hey, it’s that Mads Pizza and Pasta commercial from before. Yummy noise.

Host Segment 3

Servo’s still mad about the desk-jumping thing, mostly because he looks silly with tape on his head. Babes, again, I guess.

Joel’s making the bots do his taxes? Lame, man. I guess it might be easier for them in some ways, since they probably have built-in calculators, but still, dude. Why does he have to do his taxes anyway? Maybe so the Mads can prove (read: lie) that he’s still living on Earth.

The bots are pretty upset that Joel’s claiming them as business expenses. I guess he can’t really claim them as dependents (although that’s pretty much what they are) since, as he says, they don’t have social security numbers. Still, they clearly see themselves as sentient, and they're hurt that Joel would treat them like they weren't. (At least that's how it looks to them.)

Joel’s argument that they’d throw him in jail is kind of weak. Does he really think that or is it just an easier answer to come up with? Sort of a parental "Because I said so." sort of answer?

Movie pt. 4

The guys are groovin’ to the funky 70s music as they come in.

1:15:35- Such a Crow line.

1:19:36- Oh, geez, movie. I think Tom’s a little harsh in his description, but still, come on.

Another almost word-for-word line prediction at 1:21:48, this time from Servo.

Amusing hair floof from Joel at 1:23:48.

That moon buggy is kind of ridiculous.

At 1:28:09, Joel remarks that the device in the movie kind of looks like Crow, but personally I think it’s more Servo-y than Crowlike. Also, Crow’s thank you is cute.

The movie made me burst out laughing at 1:28:41.

Servo gets sick of Joel talkin’ ‘bout Shaft at 1:30:06, and actually tells him to be quiet! He needs a time-out, haha. (He seems to be kidding, though.)

Enthusiastic dancing from Crow at 1:32:08.

1:34:24- Whoa there, Crow, hahaha.

Wizard of Oz reference #10 at 1:35:24.

On the way out the theater, Servo asks to be carried. I think that’s a first. Well, he eventually got his wish, for the entirety of the series after KTMA. Crow asks to be carried, too, but I think he only gets it once, at the end of Robot Holocaust (110).

Conclusion

Gypsy’s back only for the ending again.

Bot football looks like it requires some planning, and some BSing, to make it work. Nice catch, Crow. He looks very excited about it. 

Joel has many talents, but singing isn’t really one of them. Sorry, buddy, but it’s true.

Gypsy doesn’t sound like she enjoys being tackled nearly as much as Crow enjoys tackling. And tickling. It seems like it would be hard to tickle with those little claws.

Thoughts on the Movie

          Pretty boring, pretty dumb, and very 70s. I never saw the T.V. show, but I have to say, based on this, it doesn’t look all that interesting. Not to mention the many astronomical problems with having the moon get flung out of Earth’s orbit and across space. It has a Doctor Who-ish quality, but maybe all space shows were like that in the 70s. Oh, and the bad guy with the dumb hair was played by BRIAN BLESSED, so I was kind of disappointed by the lack of yelling. Alas.

          Overall, pretty blah. It just kind of repeats the same thing over and over. Not very good, but not in a super funny way, at least not on its own. Except for that moon chase scene -that was pretty great. The slow motion moon effect…wow. You know, I kind of hated the past few movies after watching them like this, but this one, not really. I guess that’s because it is so bland. Doesn’t incite much of any emotion. That kind of sums it up. Rated B for bland.

Review

         They’re getting pretty consistently good by now. Obviously we won’t reach peak quality for a quite a while, yet, but they’re still pretty funny. Several laugh out moments, although for me they were kind of clustered around the first and last quarters of the movie. (Favorite riff- Servo: “Perhaps you could bring your neck.”) The bots are getting more rounded every week as they add more material. And they’re also getting cuter as Trace and Josh build up their characters more. Joel’s falling into his robot parent role with relative ease. Yes. Good. I like it.

[satelliteofmstielove]

K14 Mighty Jack

                       Almost makes some kind of sense in this cut (almost)

General notes

         It always comes back to Sandy Frank, doesn’t it? This uncut version of the “film” helps clear up a lot of the confusion of the Season 3 hacked-even-more-to-bits version. Well, I say a lot… Anyway, we’ve got no major news to mention here, so let’s get right to it, I guess. Episode link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MR9HpOpcQXU

Movie intro

Uh-oh, looks like the Mads are having some domestic problems. Josh looks like he’s having a hard time keeping a straight face.

I wonder if the Mr. Potato Head serves some kind of purpose, or if Dr. F just likes to play with it.

Apparently the source of the argument is Larry’s disbelief in their own madness, insisting that they are, in fact, only angry scientists. Dr. F’s objection to the idea seems to stem mainly from not wanting a lame, touchy-feely partner, though he says it’s because it would cost too much to change the letterhead. What letterhead? Do they have official stationery? Also, didn’t Dr. F win a gajillion dollars in Vegas in the last episode? Have they already blown all of it (which I would believe, actually), or is changing a letterhead a lot more expensive than I would have thought?

Larry suggests that they need a change, like more colorful outfits, maybe. Obviously Dr. F eventually took that idea to heart, though Larry must have either changed his mind about his outfit, or Dr. F didn’t let him choose his own.

Joel interrupts their argument to ask if they’re still doing an experiment that week. I wonder if it was one of those instances where the Mads call the Satellite and then seem to immediately forget that they did, since I’m not sure if a) the S.O.L. can call the Mads at this point, or b) Joel would actually want to. (That feature was definitely installed at some point, because Mike calls the Mads in Beginning of the End [517] just to see if he can.)

The Mads don’t seem very happy that Joel was listening in on their conversation. What do they have to hide? I guess that’s a dumb question.

I feel like Joel might have been trolling a little when he said he’d been listening since Thursday. Then again, it’s also pretty possible that the Mads knocked the receiver off the hook, as it were, and accidentally left the feed on for a few days (assuming these take place on Sunday, not, again, that it really matters). I can imagine Joel and the bots hanging around, popcorn in hand, watching the Mads do whatever they do. Even if it’s not that interesting, they might not be able to turn it off from their end. I guess if it has been on since Thursday, that also answers my earlier question about whether they called Joel and then forgot a second later.

I don’t want to know the state of Dr. Erhardt’s casserole.

The last part where they both rush off feels more like the Mads segments from the show proper. I feel like we get our first glimpse of Dr. F as we eventually come to know him.

Also, just as an update, Joel is still adorable.

Movie pt. 1

Crow is yet again a slowbie. Do they have to cue Trace when to bring him in or something, and it’s a bit delayed?

Movie thing: okay, I’m sorry, but what is up with this music at the beginning?

At 5:01, Crow opens his mouth to catch some of the streaming water. Looks like Tom is reaching up to get some, too.

When the people in the movie unlock the gate at 5:21, Joel tries to “unlock” Crow’s net (wiggles it around). Crow seems a little bit ticklish, maybe.

At 5:39, Joel says that the Mighty Jack ship looks like Crow’s brother. I assume he means it looks like it could be Crow’s brother, and not that Crow has a brother who looks like this ship. I don’t really see how it looks all that much like Crow, though.

Crow seems to think the ship is pretty sweet. He keeps saying “cool” and “awesome” when it does stuff, though he might mean it sarcastically. It’s hard to tell from his inflection.

The bots start to return to base at 7:37, until they realize the guy wasn’t talking to them.

Tom’s attempts to quickly pronounce the Japanese names in the credits are…well, he tried.  

8:22- Actually, it was 1987 (the Sandy Frank version; the original TV show was 1968), but that was super impressive if Josh just read off the Roman numerals like that.

Joel reminds everybody about the existence of the fan club, and the upcoming fan club newsletter, at 8:37, seemingly without any particular prompting. It kind of sounded like he just happened to remember it, so he wanted to mention it before he forgot again. Also, Tom tries to add a little announcement, but messes it up and then mumbles something about his head not being screwed on.

“Kitty!” at 9:50.

Joel whacks one of the movie guys in his giant face at 16:17.

At 17:04, it sounds like Joel says “Strap on your Mighty Jack crotch cages.” Um…what…? Also, Crow’s biting various things on-screen around the same time.

At 18:30, Joel asks Mr. Atari about the secret to Mario Bros. That’s Nintendo, not Atari, but I’ll give him a pass on that one, since it was released on Atari platforms, as well.

Host Segment 1

The bots somehow welded themselves together. I would have loved to see how they accomplished that. They’re worried about telling Joel, most likely because they’ll get in trouble. Crow says something about “the book” saying that Joel will just laugh. What book?

Joel doesn’t seem bothered or even surprised by the bots welded-together state. I guess this may not be the first time something like this has happened, knowing them.

Oh, apparently the book Crow was talking about was “The Boy’s Life Book of Safe-But-Naughty Practical Jokes”. I feel like that book may not actually be that safe, if it tells kids how to weld themselves together. That would be okay if it were specifically marketed towards robots, but if it’s supposed to be for human kids, parents may want to pick out a different Christmas present.

Aw, Joel pretty much shoots their enthusiasm right down, hahaha. But that’s probably a good thing, since it was pretty dumb thing to do, and if he doesn’t react to it, they’re not likely to try it again for attention.

The fact that Crow wants to know what Joel actually would think is funny tells you something about him, I think. He’s always seemed to be the one who really wanted Joel’s attention the most. Servo loves attention from anyone, but Crow seems to want Joel’s specifically.

Welded together and wearing women’s foundation garments? Would that be funny, Joel, really? Apparently the bots think so, at least enough to try it out. Or maybe they just want that badly to please him.

Did Joel drop that pen(cil) on purpose? Kinda looked like it.

[ ^Edit: It was pointed out to me that he probably dropped down under the table so they could make a smooth cut in the tape, since they probably couldn’t actually put on the “foundation garments” that quickly. So, yes, probably dropped it on purpose, heh.]

I was about to ask why they had bustier/dress forms lying around within quick n’ easy reach, and then I remembered that there really could be any reason for that in this show.

Movie pt. 2

Tom jumps for joy at the movie guy’s suggestion at 31:56. He insists that he’s practicing to be a bouncer.

At 35:07, Servo points out that the lady made a lot of assumptions based on not a lot of information. He has a really good point, I think.

Crow thinks the ship is cool again at 35:13, though, as before, it’s possible he’s being sarcastic.

At 36:20, Crow’s question about the lack of lightbulbs in the film leads to Joel mentioning prime rib, and Crow says that Joel’s been on some kind of “prime rib kick.” Wonder what he means by that. Probably that Joel’s been bringing it up a lot lately? *shrug*

There’s something really adorable about Crow’s delivery at 38:10.

Joel puts on a weird voice while talking about biscuits at 38:23. He also karate chops the guy’s neck at 39:49.

At 40: 19, Servo asks Crow to pass the pork rinds, and he does. It’s kind of funny to me to see them eating in the theater, because they seem to get mad about Joel and Mike doing it later in the series. (In Wild World of Batwoman [515], Mike brings popcorn into the theater and they tell him he’s not allowed to have it, and in Monster A-Go Go [421], they get mad that Joel has a soda, though that may be because he blatantly lies about having it, and/or won’t let them have one.)

At 44:43, Joel makes another reference to just eating Gilligan, like in the previous episode (although it was Servo that time). Was that a thing, generally, or just something they talked about a lot? Crow says something about working it in again this week, so I don’t know what…

Joel has to yank Tom out of the theater at the end of the segment, very much like he does at the end of Gamera [302] with Crow.

Host Segment 2

The bots try to decipher what humans find funny. They don’t get Punky Brewster. They do, however, think that the robot from Lost in Space is funny. (It seems like they never really stop, if the opening host segment from Time Chasers [821] is any indication, though again, they might have been purposefully trying to be annoying.) Because I forgot to shoehorn in a picture in the last entry, here’s a pointless picture of The Robot: 

I’m not sure why the bots seem so confused about human humor (humanor?). They seem to have been doing fine at gauging it for several weeks. Yes, they’re mostly amusing themselves, but they’re also amusing Joel. Then again, Joel’s not exactly your average human. Maybe it’s just not something they thought about a whole lot before now.

Now they’re questioning Joel’s sense of humor, though. Admittedly, the examples they cite do kind of call it into question.

I like how when Servo suggests perhaps they ought to destroy Joel, and Crow’s not into the idea, he immediately assumes that the reason that Crow doesn’t want to do it because it wouldn’t work, and not because it would be a bad thing to do.

Also, where did they get that episode of Punky Brewster? I guess it was probably pilfered from the studio’s library like everything else. It also looks like they used the same chroma key technique that they use for the movies in the theater to put it on that little TV.

Movie pt. 3

When they come into the theater, I can’t tell whether the seats are really squeaky or it’s the movie making that sound.

At 49:55, when the missile fires, Crows accidentally drops his Dots (lots of snacks this week). Servo volunteers to get them off the floor, but ends up becoming a sticky mess. Crow also jumps off his seat to help, but Joel makes them get up. Tom says the dirty floor gives him an idea for a Halloween costume. Eventually his idea makes it into the Invention Exchange in Godzilla vs. Megalon [212].

Joel is a meanie at 50:40, reminding Crow of how he was frozen into a Christmas tree for a few weeks. Crow has flashbacks and doesn’t want to watch everything being frozen. Poor baby!

Tom gets majestic at 50:52. Very him. He doesn’t usually apologize for it later on, though.

More waterfall drinking from Crow at 52:25.

The guys dance to the snappy spy music at 53:10. Crow gets especially into it.

At 54:38, Crow takes offense at the word “flocking” for some reason, perhaps because of his time as a treecicle (although it might be partially so he can sneak in another pun). He even nudges/bites Joel’s shoulder to underscore his seriousness.

Joel makes a note of the fan club information being on the screen at 55:46. I’m really increasingly curious as to how they did all that. Maybe they had somebody cueing them when to call commercial or the phone number or whatever, since Joel seems quite deliberate this time. He also mentions the newsletter again. Did he forget he already did that, or did he just want to make sure anybody who had tuned in part-way through would hear about it, too? I have a feeling it’ll get mentioned at least one more time before the episode is over.

At 1:01:25, the bots get mad at the movie guys for hitting a woman. That’s a trend that continues through pretty much the whole run of the show.

Movie thing: …They bother to roll the “r” on Perez, but they pronounce “Manuel” like an instruction booklet? I can’t even with this dubbing…

At 1:03:00, Josh accidentally mentions himself. Oops.

At 1:04:32, Crow says that one of the guys on-screen looks like Frank Conniff. Frank was a part of the Minneapolis comedy scene, along with most of the people who eventually became part of the show, particularly the writing team/cast, so I guess they probably knew him or at least knew of him. It’s kind of fun to hear him mentioned so long before he became TV’s Frank. But, which guy was Crow saying looked like him? None of them really do, but I guess maybe the one on the far left? I can sorta see that.

1:06:24- I never thought I’d see the day when Crow steered somebody AWAY from the word “booger”. But I guess that happens with early character development phases.

Tom starts up a round of that game where you say you saw something gross- in this case, a worm- and then say “I one it” and then somebody else says “I two it” and then you go through until somebody has to say “I eight (ate) it” and that person loses. Does that game have a name? Has anybody else ever played that? Anyway, the others aren’t that eager to join in, and both try to subvert it so they don’t have to eight it. Eventually Joel gives in, though, and Tom’s giant “BAH!” is kind of hilarious.

Is Tom’s bottom half falling off as they leave the theater?

Host Segment 3

Crow is bowling, and Tom commentates. This sketch gets repeated almost verbatim in The Crawling Hand [106].

Joel’s surprised that the bots have the ability to smell, so he must not have programmed that into them. For some reason, the bots act like it was a secret. Maybe it was their own project to program that sense into themselves, or something…?

Here’s another example of Joel not quite getting that whole “free will really means free will” thing. It seems like sometimes he thinks, because they bots usually listen to him at this point, that they will about everything. Clearly that’s not the case, but it seems to take Joel a while to adjust to that idea. Still, he’s being kind of a butt here, and the bots aren’t having it.

It amuses me that Servo calls him a dweeb.

I like Joel’s petulant-7-year-old button press at Movie Sign. Also, I’m kinda liking the popped collar on the jumpsuit. I wonder if he put it up like that deliberately. Probably not, knowing him.

Movie pt. 4

When Joel comes into the theater, he directly calls the bots jerks for running off! For whatever reason, that kind of shocks me, in a slightly amused way. Servo’s not having that, either, and they get into a bit of an insult-off for a moment.

Crow’s gentle correction at 1:17:55 is absurdly cute.

Movie thing: I literally yelled out “Nooooo” when they’re talking about the “portable sychroton (sp?) unit” and how it turns water into ice instantly by accelerating the molecules. And somehow that device also allows you to alter molecular structure of anything anywhere? Did anyone even try a tiny bit to make up any science for this that was not utter garbage? No? I mean, I get that it’s a genre thing and it doesn’t all have to be 100% perfect, but this…

At 1:21:15, the guys dance to the snazzy tunes again.

Crow’s afraid of the freeze-ray again at 1:25:40 and talks about it again at 1:27:55.

As they’re leaving the theater, Joel says “Open the bay pod doors, Sarvo.” Oh, Joel. We do love you.

Conclusion

Looks like the viewer mail is already becoming a regular segment. Obviously, that trend continued for quite a while- all the way through their time on Comedy Central.

Wow, the quality on this is so low you can't see anything but white when Cambot shows the letters on stillstore.

Crow seems very excited about reading letters, until it says that Servo is the letter-writer’s favorite. He stills maintains most of his enthusiasm, thought.

I love Joel’s little bounce when he asks Cambot to put up the next letter, and I love Crow’s “Yay!” when it contains a drawing of him and his little happy bounce when it says he’s the best. He’s not as happy with the description of his appearance, thought. I can’t deal with how adorable Crow is all the time.

Servo got a fan letter from a guy telling him that some girl he knew was in love with him? Interesting.

It’s kind of fun to watch Joel look at people off-camera when he’s on set. He can’t seem to keep from doing it. It happens a lot, though I think the frequency decreases over time.

Thoughts on the Movie

          I was mostly following what was going on, basically, until about 50 minutes in, and then the Mighty Jack blackouts started setting in, and nothing seemed connected to anything else anymore. Also, what was with the violent news stills at the beginning? But I’ll leave it at that for now, and do this one along with the other Sandy Franks in Season 3. Hooray (?) for laziness!

Review

          Another good one. I kinda don’t know what else to say about it. Pretty much the same thing I’ve been saying- the riffing is getting better, the characters are developing, the show’s really finding its groove. (Favorite riff- Joel: Well, that all depends on what you mean by politics…) This episode is not especially remarkable, but it’s good. That’s kind of my mantra for these, I guess. Good, getting better.

[satelliteofmstielove]

K11 Humanoid Woman

                                             From Russia with love

General notes

          Sandy Frank returns to pain us! Turns out he didn’t just import movies from Japan. This one is Russian, although our guys are under the impression that it’s Czech. (The official unofficial episode guide at Satellite News suggests that perhaps they got incorrect information from Leonard Maltin’s film guide? Maybe. Either way, it’s not like they could Google it to check in 1989.)

          I guess this doesn’t really matter, but the host segments are extra weirdly-placed in this episode. During the series proper in Seasons 1-10, the host segments almost always fall within 5 minutes of the 25, 45, and 70 minute marks (these are 95-ish minute episodes). It was less consistent during KTMA, but still usually fairly predictable. In this one, though, the host segments fall around 17:30, 1:08:20, and 1:21: 45. Not important, really, but interesting. I wonder if they just couldn’t find good places to cut the movie? Anyway, let’s watch.

Movie intro

So um, Elvira cutout…I’m not going to think too hard about what they're doing with that. Also, are those the No-D glasses from the last episode? And if so, then what- never mind, I said I wasn’t going to think about that.

As stated above, the movie’s not actually from Czechoslovakia, so who knows where the Mads got that info.

“Even Joelie’s mother”- I’m guessing that’s just an generic insult and they don’t actually know Joel(ie)’s mother. ‘Cause that would be extra weird.

Joel has major mad scientist hair/bedhead in this episode. I don’t know how it got that way, but I thoroughly approve of it c:

Joel specifically mentions that the last week’s experiment was just two episodes of Space 1999 edited together. Did he think the Mads didn’t know, or did he just think that the viewers needed to be informed of that? Makes me wonder if they had people asking about it on the answering machine or something.

As Joel notes, last week the Mads were angry that the ratings were low, and this week they’re angry that they’re too high. They don’t seem to know what they want, or why. How much do the ratings really have to do with their actual experiment, anyway? Do they need good enough ratings that they make money off of it, but not so high that they get noticed by the higher-ups at Gizmonic and get in trouble? Who knows? Well, as the Mads themselves say, they’re mad scientists, what do we expect? They don’t have to make sense.

Trace calls the movie “Humanoid Women” on accident.

Joel does a weird face-in-front-of-the-camera thing at movie sign.

Movie pt. 1

Servo is immediately skeptical of a Czechoslovakian (Russian) Sandy Frank movie, as they’re coming into the theater. Also, Crow’s kind of a slowbie again.

At 9:13, Crow says “Kitty!” again, this time about a grasshopper. I wonder if he actually does have a difficult time differentiating between various animals, or if he just doesn’t care.

Joel points out the weird, white robot to Servo at 9:34. Servo thinks it’s “a babe”.

Wizard of Oz ref #11 at 13:43.

Movie note: The sound effects when Hazel the robot cleans up the smashed watermelon are kind of unfortunate.

Host Segment 1

Playing (very quiet) tag on the S.O.L. It looks like Josh was moving both the Servo and Gypsy puppets at once, which must have been kind of hard.

Also, wouldn’t Gypsy’s tube get looped around the desk? That is, assuming they’re going around the desk behind Cambot, which I think they’d have to be? But whatever.

Joel is a dirty cheater, haha. Also, he tagged Servo, so they must not have a “no tag-backs” rule.

Oh, interesting. Joel and the bots get chased down the doorway sequence by Cambot. I believe this is the only time this ever happened. Joel did it a few more times in the series, and even Mike did it once, in Soultaker (1001) (possibly as a tribute to Joel returning for that episode), but I think this is the only time any bots ever ran down the door sequence.

Movie pt. 2

The bots are still playing tag as they come into the theater, and Joel has to declare it a free zone to get them to stop.

At 18:56, Joel starts imitating the eponymous humanoid woman’s movements, telling the bots that he’s also being controlled by the computer on-screen.

21:03- Tom makes a really terrible pun (“Corn Czechs”) which Crow thinks is hilarious.

I notice that Joel’s more likely to kind of point out aspects of the movie, or make conjectures about what’s happening or going to happen, than the other two. Trace and Josh seem more joke focused, which fits with what Joel has said in interviews and things, that they were the ones who really got the riffing idea rolling.

At about 34:40, Crow keeps leaning back to look at Nia on the screen. Is he trying to look up her shirt or something? That doesn’t seem like it would work very well. Maybe just trying to get a better view, since he’s so close to the screen.

There’s something painfully adorable about Crow’s delivery of “So tiny.” at 39:25.

At 45:22, Crow finally gets to say “Kitty!” about an actual kitty.

Movie question: Why does that spaceship robot have a logo thing directly on his lower butt?

Servo’s having fun bouncing up and down at 49:25.

At 59:29, Tom notices that the people in the movie, in their bubble-headed spacesuits, look kind of like him, and he gets all excited that he’s found his people.

Host Segment 2

Tom hits on a blender. This was one of the KTMA host segments that was repeated with minimal changes in a Season 1 episode (103, Mad Monster). This sketch has a lot of clever stuff in it, and it’s really a nice showcase for Josh.

It looks like the stuff in the blender is clear, or mostly clear. Is it just water, and if so, why would they put just water in a blender? A great mystery of the universe.

Oh, it’s juice in there? I guess that makes more sense than water. But why would they put just juice in a blender? Even if you were mixing different juices together, you’d just have to stir it, right? Oh, well, whatever. Anything could be happening for any reason on the S.O.L., really, so there’s not much point in questioning it.

Tom sure likes listening to his own voice c;

Wait, then when Joel turns the blender on, the juice (or whatever) gets all frothy. Does juice do that? Is that a common juice characteristic that I’m somehow not aware of? Maybe it had other ingredients but they were just hiding at the bottom. Not that it matters for the sketch in any way whatsoever, but I’m curious. Also, can I mention again how much I love Joel’s hair like this?

Movie pt. 3

A Joel laugh at a Crow joke again at 1:15:41. Also, he’s acquired kind of an Alfalfa cowlick.

After they leave the theater, and the movie keeps playing- what on earth (or, well, Dessa, I guess) was that? This movie has almost Time-of-the-Apes-level weird jump cuts.

Host Segment 3

Nice effect, Cambot.

Salvador Dali was mentioned in that snippet from K03, too. The writers must be must be fans, or at least interested.

I looked for a screenshot of a dream sequence from the Monkees T.V. show for you guys, but I couldn’t find one, and I would have had to wade through a bunch of episodes on YouTube looking for one. Unfortunately, I’m not quite that dedicated. Sorry.

Movie pt. 4

You can see some major puppeteer movement and cords as they’re getting settled in to theater. I wonder who we’re seeing. Trace, maybe, though I don’t know why he’d be so far to the left, so maybe it was Josh.

Why do so many of these movies seem to get suddenly ultra weird and confusing right in the last like 10-20 minutes? Well, I say so many, but I guess it’s really just this one and Phase IV. But I feel like there are others…

At 1:27:58, Joel remarks that Nia looks like a negative image of Arsenio Hall. Kind of, actually!

Conclusion

Joel seems to like popping up from below the desk like that.

It sounds like they’ve had kind of problem with people calling and suggesting movies for them, or even complaining about the movie selection, since they felt the need to explicitly ask people not to.

Joel seems even sleepier than usual. I guess this experiment tired him out. Can’t really blame him for that.

Crow leans against Joel’s arm there at the end. I can seriously never get enough of that c:

Thoughts on the Movie

          This movie… is weird. Apparently this is kind of the (Sandy)Frankenstein version- fans swear the full original Russian version is a great piece of sci-fi cinema. Well, I haven’t seen that one, so I can’t really compare, but I guess I can see how that could be, sort of, maybe. It feels very chopped up, rushed, and confusing, which I think we can safely assume is at least partially due to the Sandy Franking. But still…it’s really weird. It had a fairly normal section in the middle, at least by science fiction standards, but the beginning and especially the ending were…strange. It gets all bizarre and conceptual and symbolic at the end, like Phase IV. Actually, a lot like Phase IV. It’s even in the desert, too. Weird.

          The actress who plays Nia (spelling on that?) is very interesting-looking. Not exactly beautiful, though not not beautiful. Very unique. Also, what the heck is up with the side-mole-beards and the super pointy Astro Boy widow’s peaks on the Dessans? And what the HECK was going on with the attacking engulfing foam? Weird, man.

Review

          I feel like this episode was not as funny as the past few have been. It definitely got fewer out-loud laughs from me (Favorite riff- Joel: “Rabbit pellets nourish the globe.”), but somehow it didn’t really feel like it was less good than the past few, either. Maybe the movie was just more entertaining on its own. I'd say this one just feels a little more like it’s coasting- mostly short simple host segments, no complicated antics in the theater, just rolling along steadily rather than ramping anything up. But that’s fine. There’s episodes like that in every season, and they’re not necessarily a bad thing. I wonder if they were just more worn out this week. So, I don’t know, in some ways this ep was objectively not as good as the previous three or so, but I found it about equally entertaining, regardless. Our boys are always fun to watch.