Teenage Caveman was the episode I remember laughing at the hardest, but that was also when I was pretty new to the series. Oh, the lines like, “Brought you some dinner. Hope you like sticks.” And the “running cavemen” chant. Priceless.
Favorite line from Boggy Creek II:
convenience store clerk: “Can I help you?”
Crow: “Yes, do you sell turquoise plastic pith helmets?” (there’s one hanging overtly in the background)
My suggestions are: Teenagers from Outer Space, The Magic Sword, The Beast of Yucca Flats, Samson vs. The Vampire Women, and one of my favorite unsung episodes, The Dead Talk Back.
We watched *Tormented *last night. That one had a lot of funny jokes (“She sounds like a seal,”) and the movie, while not very well executed, actually has a plot that holds together rather coherently. It was probably considered a banal but not particularly bad movie when it first hit theaters (1960).
I’ll add a fourth (fifth? sixth?) vote for The Day the Earth Froze (SAMPO!). Laughed so hard I suffered an asthma attack, and I don’t even have asthma!
“They’re roasting Bullwinkle!”
“…and practiced slash-and-burn agriculture”
“Heyyyyyy, no boat!”
“Oh dead, bloated carp…”
“Ma’am, the multicolored dome is an option you did not order.”
“So, are you with the Bride, or the FAILURE”?
“He’s a failure, la la la
Total Failure, tra la la
What a failure what a failure
Failure failure la la la…
he failed to bring back the sampo;
we will die of starvation, la la la…”
(the dancing and prancing around just *makes * this scene)
I was worried about you folks for a while there. Nice to see more love for The Day The Earth Froze. I think I’ll pull my sampo out of storage tonight and play with it for a while.
As others have indicated, I think that Space Mutiny has the most crossover appeal. The “Big McLargeHuge” run is fantastic, the movie is super-cheesy and pitiful enough to be a worthy foil, but not confusing or boring.
I’ve never been a big fan of the interludes so I tend to disregard them when making a recommendation.
Slim pickings among the single title commercial releases, most of the really good stuff is in the collections, dammit. Here’s what it looks like I get to chose from:
Manos, the Hands of Fate
Santa Claus Conquers the Martians
The Brain That Wouldn’t Die
Mitchell
Eegah
The Wild World of Batwoman
I Accuse My Parents
The Crawling Hand
The Hellcats
The Beginning of the End
Catalina Caper/Skydivers
Sidehackers
Red Zone Cuba (which is out, I couldn’t even sit through that one)
Hey, how come MST3K: the Movie costs almost $100? :eek:
:smack: Opps! Well, so much for that idea. Sorry, I thought it’d be one of those titles you could pick up at Wal-Mart for like 4 bucks or something.
In that case… based on the above list, and excluding Red Zone Cuba– oh come on, why not? How can you not love that one scene where the “Tungsten Trio” hurl that bizarre-looking, apocalyptically downbeat frog-leg vendor guy down the well? Plus John Carradine sings!!!
But if you must eschew RZC, I’d go for either Mitchell or The Brain That Wouldn’t Die. As Joel’s last episode and Mike’s first episode respectively, either one would be a good jumping-on point.
Somewhere I recall seeing a 2-DVD set of the episodes **“Manos” The Hands of Fate ** and Santa Claus Conquers the Martians. But it would probably cost a million billion dollars by now.
Given your options, I’d say The Brain * or HeadThat Wouldn’t Die*. But Space Mutiny and Overdrawn at the Memory Bank, which are in the same box set - Volume 2, I think - would be my top choices. I remember loving Jack Frost, but things being the way they are, I haven’t seen it in 10 years or something.
It’s not a Mystery Science Theater episode, but I feel like I should recommend Mike Nelson’s commentary on the DVD of Reefer Madness. I wanted the 'bots to be there, but he’s very funny on that one and I think it will keep your friend’s interest.
I’ve introduced quite a few people to the show. If I can get a VCR, I go to my VHS of The Final Sacrifice or Gamera, and if I’m limited to DVD I go with Eegah! or Mitchell.
In my experience Manos is an effective introduction if you are watching it with a large and enthusiastic crowd that will riff along. The Coleman Francis films test the will of even the most veteran MST3K fans, so I’d stay away from those.
/the “charge!” scene of RZC, while one of the funniest MST3K moments ever, does not atone for the rest of that film
Update: the die is cast. I sent him the 2-DVD set of Manos: The Hands of Fate and Santa Claus Conquers the Martians. I also threw in a VHS of Pod People.*
Hope I get a convert out of this – thanks for all the advice.
The choice has been made, but I would have seconded this. Dopey movie that’s already funny but isn’t horribly dull to watch, some recognizable cast members, and some utterly inspired riffing.
