The Ultimate MST3K Thread

Cafe Society
981

[QUOTE=Terrifel]
Okay, I gots me a trivia question for folks with a genuinely expansive knowledge of the series. At some point in (I think) Season 4-- maybe earlier, I dunno-- , Crow started murmuring a little muscical theme during long pauses to indicate boredom:

“Hum de dee dee dee… hoo-ah hoo-ah!”

To cite two instances, the theme crops up during (quick glance at Amazing Colossal Guide) host segment 1 of Episode 421, Monster a Go-Go (Gypsy: “Crow? I don’t get you.”)-- and also during host segment 2 of Episode 621, The Beast of Yucca Flats (Crow: “Is it 11:30 yet, Mike?”). I assume that the theme in question was originally lifted from a particularly boring experiment, but do not recall which one.

Can anyone help me out with this? I’ll be eagerly anticipating any answer.
[/QUOTE]

I’m not aware of the theme’s origin beyond Crow’s demented mind. :wink:

982

[QUOTE=stpauler]
This is funny and I thought I’d share. Here’s a list of RPMs, that’s Riffs Per Minute,of each episode.
(A bad copy and paste sample):

Riff Running Episode / Short
Count Time RPMs Title

406 75:20 5.389 101 Crawling Eye
540 85:47 6.295 102 Robot vs the Aztec Mummy / Short: Commando Cody 1
503 82:16 6.114 103 Mad Monster / Short: Commando Cody 2
523 81:14 6.438 104 Women o/t Prehistoric Planet
488 76:18 6.396 105 Corpse Vanishes / Short: Commando Cody 3
521 83:52 6.212 106 Crawling Hand
547 82:37 6.621 107 Robot Monster / Short: Commando Cody 4
431 73:23 5.873 108 Slime People / Short: Commando Cody 5
521 84:47 6.145 109 Project Moonbase / Short: Commando Cody 6
593 81:49 7.248 110 Robot Holocaust / Short: Commando Cody 7
535 81:38 6.554 111 Moon Zero Two
563 79:39 7.068 112 Untamed Youth
529 83:30 6.335 113 Black Scorpion
[/QUOTE]

Nice!

983

I’m sure at least one of the digital channels in the UK can show this, all I’ve had of the series was the “This Island Earth” piss take. I thought it was great, but it was stuck late night in the middle of the week for us to watch, other than that, naught.

984

[QUOTE=CandidGamera]
I have no idea. Considering the renaissance of MST that’s ongoing - Film Crew, Rifftrax, Cinematic Titanic, the MST movie being on DVD again .. I can see it as a topic worthy of revisitation. I doubt they’ll lock it.
[/QUOTE]

I know you explained why you were skipping the KTMA episodes in the first go-around. Have you reconsidered?

985

[QUOTE=Governor Quinn]
I know you explained why you were skipping the KTMA episodes in the first go-around. Have you reconsidered?
[/QUOTE]

Not at this time - If they ever uncover the missing ones, though, I’d reconsider.

986

MST3K 10.05 - Blood Waters of Dr. Z

Episode Thoughts: This was the final MST3K episode in the project that I had not previously scene - now I have witnessed my last new, true MST. And actually, it’s one of Season Ten’s better efforts.

Movie : Classic Mad Scientist-turns-himself-into-a-fish tale, including his desire for revenge on the colleagues who laughed at him (or, rather, denied his request for human guinea pigs). He’s kind of a clumsy fish monster, and definitely not on par with the Creature. As a bonus, he also wants to take over the world. He does manage to kill 6 or 7 people, so that’s not bad.

Memorable Bits : The Black Fish and Game Guy and his buddy, the White Cop. The Fish doctor’s wheel-shaped calendar with pictures of his goals. A truly (unintentionally) hilarious themesong - about the revenge the doctor seeks - that sounds like something John Denver might write. Sargassum. The Weed of Deceit.

Intro: Crow experiments with smokeless tobacco; Pearl tries depriving the Bots of maternal love.

Host Segments: Crow narrates Mike’s shoe-polishing; Fishing from space; Debating the merits of nudity in film. (Bobo and Observer illustrates with a scene from Glengarry Glen Ross. Naked.)

Finale: Odd-shaped food containers; Bobo as a Mer-Monkey.

Signature Riffs:

<Tom> (regarding the Title) Guess Dr. Z had a little kidney problem.

<Crow> Theme music, anything you want to throw in at this point?

<Mike> Please enjoy a fish anus.

<Mike> Sounds like the Indigo Boys.

<Tom> (as Doctor) I need to simplify my masturbation ritual.

<Crow> Underwater photography by Zapruder…

<Mike> Listen to that - this movie needs a whole new exhaust system.

<Crow> The swamp is filled with corn flakes…

<Mike> He’s a Cop-a-Feel-acanth! (Best. Line. Ever.)

<Crow> Soundtrack by the Alan Parsons Project…
<Tom> I hear they lost their funding.

<Mike> Just like Bela Lugosi, he’s creating a Rice of Pipple. (Riffback!)

<Tom> (as Monster) Think I’ll head over to Party Beach and see how the Horror is doing.

<Crow> (as Monster, after drinking some kind of drug) I had such a pretty miiiind!

<Tom> This movie was the winner of Canne’s ‘Palm D’Huh?’ award.

Next:

10.06 - Boggy Creek II. (Lotta Southern movies this season…)

987

Only 8 more episodes to go. So sad.

I just watched Giant Spider Invasion again and one line really killed me:

Tom as wife: How was your day* at the whore*?!

It broke me up so much that I went and ordered seasons 7 and 9 on DVD to replace some more of my VHS tapes.

Ahhhh.

988

Ugh … Doctor Z is a trial for me to sit through. Boggy Creek II I could watch again and again.

989

Ah. Boggy Creek II. Charles Pierce seems to be one of those directors that the Brains take a particular set against. They describe him as creating and playing a character who is especially hard to take. A character who is always right and insufferably pompous and always has to win every confrontation in the movie.

For all their cheesiness, certain bad directors are enjoyed by the brains. Ed Wood and Bert I Gordon seem to fall into this category. But other directors are loathed. Roger Corman seems to be especially despised. What makes a director, writer, producer, etc the target of the brains hatred?

990

I’d heard talk of episodes with Mikey vs episodes with Joel, the Joel episodes don’t have much chatter do they?

991

I don’t know about that. Season one was a little slow. But after that, the Riffs per minute seemed comparable to the Mike era.

992

There were lots of things wrong with Season 1, but they got it together by the time the second season started. (I never did like Dr. Erhardt)

993

[QUOTE=jayjay]
(I never did like Dr. Erhardt)
[/QUOTE]

Apparently, neither did they.

994

[QUOTE=Pushkin]
I’d heard talk of episodes with Mikey vs episodes with Joel, the Joel episodes don’t have much chatter do they?
[/QUOTE]
One argument I hear consistently is that the riffing in Joel’s era was more winsome and less heated, whereas in Mike’s he and the bots would often get quite personal in picking on actors or directors. I think there’s some truth to it, but I think it’s more a natural growth in the way the writers worked than anything specific to either host. I’d think after enough years of making fun of bad movies, you’d start to amp it up a little bit, if for no other reason than to keep the process fresh and stave off boredom.

995

Woo! I got my special standalone copy of Giant Gila Monster from Rhino today.

Boggy Creek II has been watched - probably will write it up tomorrow.

996

[QUOTE=CandidGamera]
Woo! I got my special standalone copy of Giant Gila Monster from Rhino today.
[/QUOTE]
I got mine today! I am happy!

me-> :slight_smile:

I have to say, I’m uncertain exactly how this new Joel/Mads segment fits into the show timeline. Weinstein-voiced Servo clearly suggests a Season 1 provenance; yet this hypothesis is obviated by the SOL interior detailing and the presence of TV’s Frank. Then too, it goes without saying that the bit couldn’t logically precede Episode 402: The Giant Gila Monster. But this also establishes that the Mads and Joel have access to MST3K Volume 10, which means that it couldn’t precede any of the other episodes in that volume, or indeed any episodes in any previous volume! And yet many of those episodes occur well into the Mike years! This is going to require a major revision of my MST3K Wold Newton branch, if I had one.

Then again, Weinstein-voiced Servo alongside TV’s Frank suggests the possibility of a Dr. Forrester/TV’s Frank/Dr. Erhardt collaboration, which is remarkably similar to the MST3K prequel movie that I once dreamed I was watching. But it was definitely a Murphy-voiced Servo in the dream. I’m pretty sure he had the shiny arms.

997

[QUOTE=Terrifel]
I got mine today! I am happy!

me-> :slight_smile:

I have to say, I’m uncertain exactly how this new Joel/Mads segment fits into the show timeline. Weinstein-voiced Servo clearly suggests a Season 1 provenance; yet this hypothesis is obviated by the SOL interior detailing and the presence of TV’s Frank. Then too, it goes without saying that the bit couldn’t logically precede Episode 402: The Giant Gila Monster. But this also establishes that the Mads and Joel have access to MST3K Volume 10, which means that it couldn’t precede any of the other episodes in that volume, or indeed any episodes in any previous volume! And yet many of those episodes occur well into the Mike years! This is going to require a major revision of my MST3K Wold Newton branch, if I had one.

Then again, Weinstein-voiced Servo alongside TV’s Frank suggests the possibility of a Dr. Forrester/TV’s Frank/Dr. Erhardt collaboration, which is remarkably similar to the MST3K prequel movie that I once dreamed I was watching. But it was definitely a Murphy-voiced Servo in the dream. I’m pretty sure he had the shiny arms.
[/QUOTE]

Listen again. I think you’ll find Tom is voiced in the excerpt by none other than TV’s Frank. I thought it was Weinstein too, but my second listen made me doubt the hypothesis.

998

[QUOTE=CandidGamera]
Listen again. I think you’ll find Tom is voiced in the excerpt by none other than TV’s Frank. I thought it was Weinstein too, but my second listen made me doubt the hypothesis.
[/QUOTE]
Hm, I think you may be right about that. The voice sounded familiar, so I just assumed it was Weinstein. And as the saying goes: when you assume it’s “Weinstein,” WE end up IN a STEIN.

I wonder what sort of legal hoopla had to be hoopled just to put that segment together. The “Gizmonic” logo belongs to Joel if I recall aright, which is why they dispensed with it when he left; whereas I guess the “Deep 13” logo remains the property of Best Brains-- which is still run by Jim Mallon, isn’t it?

Now I begin to understand the appeal of supermarket tabloids-- this sort of thing makes me hypothesize all sorts of seething grudges and ego-jostling at work between the various post-MST gangs behind the scenes.

I notice also that Crow has more plausibly articulated hip joints these days. That’s a handy upgrade. No wonder he never bothered to learn unicycling before.

The Don Sullivan interview was a neat little extra. He seems like an amiable guy.

999

[QUOTE=Terrifel]
Hm, I think you may be right about that. The voice sounded familiar, so I just assumed it was Weinstein. And as the saying goes: when you assume it’s “Weinstein,” WE end up IN a STEIN.

I wonder what sort of legal hoopla had to be hoopled just to put that segment together. The “Gizmonic” logo belongs to Joel if I recall aright, which is why they dispensed with it when he left; whereas I guess the “Deep 13” logo remains the property of Best Brains-- which is still run by Jim Mallon, isn’t it?

Now I begin to understand the appeal of supermarket tabloids-- this sort of thing makes me hypothesize all sorts of seething grudges and ego-jostling at work between the various post-MST gangs behind the scenes.

I notice also that Crow has more plausibly articulated hip joints these days. That’s a handy upgrade. No wonder he never bothered to learn unicycling before.

The Don Sullivan interview was a neat little extra. He seems like an amiable guy.
[/QUOTE]

I’m suspecting that Joel, Frank, and Trace’s appearance in that bit had something to do with Cinematic Titanic - whether they needed Mallon to sign off on it, or they were just promoting it - I can’t imagine why they’d schlep back in otherwise.

Boggy Creek II notes are done, I’ve just been preoccupied with Smash Brothers..

1000

what segment are you guys talking about? Is it some special feature or part of a regular episode?