Of course we’re still interested!
I liked this episode 1) becase of the leg-propping segment and 2) It’s one of the only times I’ve ever heard my family name mentioned other than in reference to my own family.
Keep it coming!
“Hey, don’t drink that! That’s my urine! Even I don’t do that!”
I liked Gila Monster. “We’re gonna party like it’s 1959!” And when the teen idol/mechanic sings, “And the Lord said laugh children laugh” somebody (Joel?) says “I just don’t remember the Lord saying it this many times.” And the kid who looks like Larry Miller. Oh, and the oncoming train that keeps changing appearances: steam, to diesel, to another kind of diesel. 
“She’s trying to wish him into the cornfield.”
It had some solid riffing, but I couldn’t get over the emptiness of the plot.
so what’s next?
I wanted to get two done this weekend, but didn’t have time. Still, here’s :
This was an excellent palate-cleanser after Gila Monster. By comparison, this is a good movie. By comparison.
We begin with Tom and Crow setting up Joel for a ping-pong ball gag, one which culminates (after the commercial break) with Tom stealing Crow’s eyes. The Mads invent special pop-star tupperware, for keeping out of date musicians fresh; we see Mike as Morrisey.
City Limits is one of those 80’s movies that would prove to have a solid cast - twenty years later. Headlining the star power index are James Earl Jones and Kim Cattrall, but I recognized several of the other faces. The riffs fly thick and fast with this one, and right from the start. Our ragtag band of protagonists show up at James Earl Jones’s cabin, right after the title has faded, and a shot rings out, prompting Crow : “Ohhh, AUSTIN City Limits.” Our story takes place in a post-apocalyptic future (inspiring some excellent riffs) where a plague has killed most adults. We flashback after the cabin, to see the events so far, beginning with the hero bathing in a watertank with his girlfriend - Joel amusingly using a prop umbrella to cover up (mostly) some nudity on her part. Our hero wanders off to the city, and meets the various factions - The Clippers, a gang he wants to join; their rival gang, which I don’t seem to have noted a name for; and the government contractors, there to reclaim the city, employing the scientist with the heart of gold, Kim Cattrall. The gangs ride motorcycles, and so we get a few Sidehackers references thrown in.
Host Segment One : Crow performs an ode to Kim Cattrall, and tries to force the others into performing a scene from Mannequin.
We learn that the gangs have quit the comic book … er, graphic novel collections, and base at least some of their “justice system” on them. Since our hero managed to cause the death of one of the not-Clippers, he is forced to participate in a fight contest to win his freedom. We learn also that the rival gang has been dealing with the government contractors, and the Clippers haven’t shown any interest in playing along. One of the Clippers is spying on a scene where the contractors are showing off their firepower (see Signature Riff) and is shot and killed.
Host Segment Two : Crow and Tom show off their graphic novels, Joel joins them in coming up with unusual superheroes.
There’s a big ambush at the dead guy’s funeral; many of the Clippers are taken and enslaved for labor by the contractor guys. The lead Clipper is taken prisoner, but the hero and his pals, including Cattrall, rescue the guy, and head for the beginning of the film.
Host Segment Three : More unusual superheroes.
They regroup at James Earl Jones’s cabin, and fix themselves up, and charge back in, winning the day against the evil government contractors, stopping any chance of urban renewal. There’re some very amusing scenes with James Earl Jones flying remote control planes full of explosives into the battle.
Finale : Joel challenges Tom and Crow to Trivial Pursuit : City Limits Edition; he is frustrated to learn they’ve already blocked the entire movie from their minds.
Signature Riff:
(as head badguy lifts some beer out of the way to reveal guns hidden beneath)
Joel : “That’s not Old Milwaukee, that’s Colt .45!”
I love IMDb. Aaron Lipstadt, director of City Limits, played the pizza boy who shows up dead (which doesn’t stop some of the girls from eating the pizza) in Slumber Party Massacre. He’s also directed a whole bunch of TV shows.
City Limits also features Kane Hodder, the best-known of all the guys who played Jason in the Friday the 13th film series.
And of course Ernie is played by Dean Devlin, who along with Roland Emmerich brought us the wonder and glory that were the American Godzilla remake, Independence Day, and The Patriot, which might be the worst movie I ever saw in the theater (at a free screening though).
One of the hispanic gangbanger types looked very familiar to me while watching the movie - once I hit IMDB afterwards, I discovered why - he was El Guapo’s right hand man, Jefe, in Three Amigos.
Just found this (has audio. Worksafe). Enjoy!
**MST3K 4.04 - Teenagers From Outer Space **
Available on the Volume 6 collection.
Tom and Crow’s numerous NBC Mystery Movie reference of the past few episodes come home to roost as Joel uses electroshocks to condition them to stop.
Our film stars no one; the lead, Derrick, does resemble Harry Connick, Jr. a bit. Basically, a team of aliens from an oppressive culture land on Earth, surveying it for suitability as a planet on which to keep their herds of rapidly-growing lobsters, which they call “gargans”. One of the aliens kills a dog, and Derrick discovers its nametag, which makes him all whiny and rebellious, since its evidence the planet has intelligent life. The alien leader threatens him with “Torcha!” - the leader also likes to point a lot, leading to numerous ‘pull my finger’ riffs. Derrick runs off to find the Dog’s family, and is pursued by one of his crewmates, Thor, who’s a little kill-happy, while the others go report in, leaving behind one Gargan.
Host Segment One : Comparison of “Reel Life” to “Real Life”
Derrick falls in with a good crowd - an old trusting landlord type with a ripe granddaughter to serve as the obligatory love interest. She brings Derrick to a friend’s pool party, discovers the whole ‘dead dog’ thing when Derrick drops the tag, and she and Derrick start to play detective. Meanwhile, Thor follows their trail and kills everyone he meets except Grandpa, who’s apparently too stupid to murder.
Host Segment Two : Concession Stand Ad parody.
Thor is wounded in a shootout at City Hall while trying to get Derrick; he later succeeds in abducting them and forcing them to help him get medical care, but they escape after his surgery. He kidnaps a nurse for a hostage, and heads out towards the Gargan cave - but a nosy reporter and his pal have gotten their first, and the pal is eaten by the Gargan, giving it enough juice to grow out of its restraints. The nurse escapes with the reporter, and Thor passes out while chasing them, wrecking the car. Suddenly, the monster is the talk of the town and everyone seems to know about it. Derrick decides to go after Thor’s weapon, left behind when Thor was taken to the hospital after the crash, since it can be used to defeat the Gargan. Derrick and the girl share a blissful moment in the grass, and then the bad lobster effect shows up and ruins everything. They do find the gun, though, which is damaged, and escape the bad effect.
Host Segment Three : Crow waxes philosophical, crew is visiting by a cheap skeleton puppet that just falls down.
Derrick straps the gun into some powerlines, and takes out the monster. He has a seeming change of heart about staying on Earth, and forces the reporter to drive him to the hospital, where he picks up Thor, and they head to the landing site to meet their returning pals. Ultimately, Derrick’s change of heart proves to be a ruse (gasp!) and he uses the remote guidance system for the gargan transport ships to crash them all, ending the threat to Earth.
Finale : Duct Tape Fashion Show.
Signature Riff:
(as Derrick and Betty wax eloquent while laying in the grass)
<Crow> : “What is this, a Bergman film all of a sudden?”
And incidentally, it takes too much setup to use as a signature riff, but there’s a great moment when two guys investigate the landing site and discuss the goings-on there, and one of them points out a nearby tree that he suggests was used as target practice for the gun that killed the dog. The crew’s interjected reply there made me snort pretty hard.
This was one of the 1st eps I ever saw, and one of my faves. Definitely my favorite Joel episode.
I actually saw this one un-MSTed, 30-odd years ago on my local Creature Features. (shudder).
And then…
TORTURE!
It was pretty funny how they included the word “Teenagers” in the title simply to climb onto the bandwagon of all the “Teenager” films.
That’s TOR-CHA!
**MST3K #4.05 -Being From Another Planet **
Welcome to the 80’s - hope you survive the experience.
Our invention exchange this week is amusing - while Joel and the Bots have Jack Palance impersonation kits, the Mads invent ‘Tragic Moments’ figurines.
This is a Film Ventures International assemblage, so it has credits featuring no footage from the movie. It’s okay, because at least the images relate this time. We have a bevy of D-list talent here - Ben Murphy (who will go on to amuse us in Riding With Death); Shari Belafonte; and two gents I would not have recognized, had I not seen John Carpenter’s Assault on Precinct 13 just the week before : Darwin Josten and Austin Stoker - the two leads from Assault, here in smaller roles.
A mysterious sarcophagus is taken from Tut’s tomb, and brought to the California Institute for The Sciences. There’s some mold inside, and thanks to a goofy X-Ray tech, it gets reenergized - along with the occupant. The X-Ray tech also notices some hidden jewels, and makes off with those - you can bet the mummy will want them back later.
Host Segment One : Tom and Crow as Mummies, ruminations on the career of Bill Mumy.
The tech finds out the spheres are worthless, but fobs them off on his friends and creditors anyway. We learn, thanks to a clumst student, that the mold eats flesh. The mummy dramatically has disappeared when the press conference starts, and we’re treated to Mummy-Cam : Green-tinted basement footage that freaks Crow right out, and later has Tom all twitchy,
Host Segment Two : The Bots lead Joel through the ‘Haunted Boiler Room’.
We learn that the mummy is hunting the spheres to reassemble a small device, as our hero translates a scroll that tells of the Egyptians’ encounter with the creature. A girl is killed as they learn of the mold’s positive reaction to X-Rays. Crow and Tom grow more twitchy with the Mummy-Cam. (Crow : “It’s not easy seeing green!”)
Host Segment Three: Joel and Gypsy try to cheer up Crow and Tom.
It all starts to come together as the hero discovers the X-Ray tech’s theft, the mummy gets most of the spheres, and the transmitter is completed. The mummy then transforms into a Grey; the hero takes a bullet for the alien, and they both beam out. And then the snivelling wormy guy we’re supposed to hate touches a crystal left behind and gets mold on his hand. It’s not quite poetic justice, but at least it’s kinda funny. During the credits, Tom asserts this is the worst movie they’ve ever done, prompting Joel and Crow to list dozens of previous movies, all of which Tom dismisses as ‘not as bad’ until ‘Castle of Fu-Manchu’, which is noted as ‘equally bad.’
Finale : TV’s Frank Shopping Network - Joel almost tricks Frank into bringing them down.
So…was there actually anything from another planet?
Heh. I guess the producers figured Being from Ancient Egypt just wouldn’t excite audiences. 
Well, like I said, the Mummy becomes a Grey at the end, so it was definitely not a native sort.