Poopie: (1994) The first of two blooper reels, this one featuring outtakes from host segments shot in seasons two through six.
• The first time MSTies saw this reel (or a version of it) was at the 1994 convention. There were several showings, and it also played continuously on one of the hotel TV channels. My first copy was created by another MSTie, who set up a camcorder in front of a hotel TV to get a copy to take home.
• It was officially released on VHS around Thanksgiving, 1995, and was originally only avalible through the MST3K Info Club for $15.
• Rhino re-released Poopie! as a VHS tape, and later included it as an extra on the Manos: The Hands of Fate DVD, released in November of ’01.
• In 2004 it was included on the “Tom Servo’s All Time Favorite Host Segments! Vol. 1” DVD offered by Best Brains.
• What a HUGE amount of fun this was and still is. And it’s fun because they seem to having fun. It’s incredibly charming when a scene is blown, but the performers stay in character and the puppeteers continue to move the puppets’ lips as they comment on the foulup.
• Fave moment: When the Deep 13 wall falls on Trace and Frank. Their reaction is priceless.
Here is a complete list of every outtake (many thanks to Sarah “Bookworm” Heiner and Jamie Plummer, who kept this online for many years), with a few interspersed comments.
Opening credits–planet upside down, Joel goofing around
Opening credits–Frank whacks SOL
Opening credits (Mike)–Mike ‘not enthused’
410- Hercules Against the Moon Men (seg. 4)–Servo falls down
519- Outlaw (seg. 3)–Servo’s head falls off
401- Space Travellers (prologue)–Servo falls down
516- Alien From L.A. (seg. 4)–Crow’s eyes roll up
304- Gamera vs. Barugon (seg. 4)–Crow falls over
610- The Violent Years (seg. 2)–Crow’s net falls off
504- Secret Agent Super Dragon (invention)–Crow burps
520- Radar Secret Service (seg. 3)–Gypsy’s lip falls off
602- Invasion USA (seg. 2)–Gypsy’s lip falls off
614- San Francisco International (seg. 3)–Gypsy’s jaw dislocates
520- Radar Secret Service (inven.)–Deep 13 wall falls over
209- The Hellcats (inven.)–Frank blows line repeatedly
• When you watch the completed episode, you might wonder why they cut away from this scene so quickly. When you see the full version here, you can see that they JUST barely got the line in before losing it yet again.
421- Monster-A-Go-Go (inven.)–Frank cracks up singing
409- The Indestructable Man (seg. 5)–Frank and Mike crack up–twice
317- Viking Women Vs. Sea Serpent (seg. 3)–Joel: “pancakes”
• A beloved bit of tomfoolery from Joel.
317- Viking Women Vs. Sea Serpent (prolog)–Joel flubs line
312- Gamera vs. Guiron (inven.)–Joel flubs line
310- Fugitive Alien (prolog)–Joel flubs line
309- The Amazing Colossal Man (seg. 4)–Mike cracks up
403- City Limits (seg. 5)–Mike kisses Dr. F.’s shoulder
424- Manos: The Hands of Fate (seg. 5)–Frank and Mike crack up
211- First Spaceship on Venus (inven.)–Mike forgets line
608- Code Name: Diamond Head (seg. 3)–Mike practicing Crash-Test Dummy look
617- The Sword and the Dragon (seg. 4)–Kevin flubs line
620- Danger! Death Ray! (seg. 1)–Crow’s eyes come out
608- Code Name: Diamond Head (seg. 4)–Crow’s net won’t come off
• Mike says “shit.” Despite bleeping some of the cursing, they allowed a few of them through. I’ll note them.
201- Rocketship X-M (inven.)–Jim in shot
• Jim clearly thought Joel was going to fall over in the BCG19 and was moving in to try to catch him, not caring if he was in the shot or not. Joel clearly found that touching and funny.
613- The Sinister Urge (seg. 4)–Trace forgets line
502- Hercules (seg. 2)–Joel forgets line
613- The Sinister Urge (seg. 5)–Mike forgets line
519- Outlaw (seg. 2)–Trace flubs line
424- Manos: The Hands of Fate (seg. 2)–long whimpering
424- Manos: The Hands of Fate (seg. 2)–‘sugar for Crow?’
513- The Brain that Wouldn’t Die (seg. 4)–Mike flubs line
308- Gamera vs. Gaos (inven.)–suction cup unsuctions
322- Master Ninja (inven.)–Frank cracks up
315- Teenage Caveman (inven.)–Trace’s Pam addiction
307- Daddy-O (inven.)–Trace flubs line
522- Teenage Crimewave (inven.)–Trace flubs line
419- The Rebel Set (inven.)–Trace flubs line
• Trace says “shit.”
424- Manos: The Hands of Fate (seg. 4)–Frank forgets line
209- The Hellcats (inven.)–Frank keeps missing cue
502- Hercules (inven.)–Trace flubs line
421- Monster-A-Go-Go (inven.)–Gypsy knocks over box
421- Monster-A-Go-Go (inven.)–Freakout not in unison
412- Hercules and the Captive Women (seg. 3)–Dice in Trivial Pursuit
519- Outlaw (inven.)–Kevin flubs line
604- Zombie Nightmare (seg. 1)–voodoo doll leaking
313- Earth vs. the Spider (inven.)–Joel flubs line
202- The Sidehackers (seg. 2)–Joel flubs song
416- Fire Maidens From Outer Space (inven.)–Trace flubs line
605- Colossus and the Headhunters (seg. 5)–Trace’s hand in shot
608- Code Name: Diamond Head (seg. 1)–Trace flubs line
410- Hercules Against the Moon Men (seg. 4)–Joel flubs song
• Joel says “shit.” Others sing it.
404- Teenagers From Outer Space (seg. 5)–Joel forgets line
411- The Magic Sword (prolog)–Kevin flubs line
410- Hercules Against the Moon Men (seg 4)–Trace flubs line
516- Alien From L.A. (seg. 4)–Trace flubs line
524- 12 to the Moon (seg. 4)–Bridget flubs line
502- Hercules (seg. 5)–Trace flubs line
509- The Girl in Lover’s Lane (prolog)–Joel flubs clothesbasket
309- The Amazing Colossal Man (inven.)–Joel flubs line
409- The Indestructable Man (inven.)–Joel ‘spazzes’
609- The Skydivers (seg. 3)–Mike flubs line
610- The Violent Years (seg. 1)–doors won’t open
614- San Francisco International (seg. 2)–Trace flubs line
602- Invasion USA (seg. 3)–Kevin flubs line repeatedly
605- Colossus and the Headhunters (seg. 3)–Trace gets nummy muffin fuzz in mouth
615- Kitten With a Whip (seg. 1)–Trace in shot
505- The Magic Voyage of Sinbad (inven.)–Trace’s chinderwear falls off
607- Bloodlust (seg. 5)–Trace gets whole pig
512- Mitchell (seg. 2)–Trace cracks up
510- The Painted Hills (seg. 5)–Trace cracks up
520- Radar Secret Service (seg. 5)–Frank flubs line
304- Gamera vs. Barugon (inven.)–Trace cracks up
422- The Day the Earth Froze (inven.)–Frank cracks up
513- The Brain That Wouldn’t Die (inven.)–balloon doesn’t pop
522- Teenage Crimewave (seg. 5)–Trace misses Frank with MaceMousse
610- The Violent Years (seg. 1)–Frank flubs song
312- Gamera vs. Guiron (inven.)–Frank’s mouth full
615- Kitten With a Whip (seg. 1)–Trace flubs line
615- Kitten With a Whip (seg. 1)–Frank flubs line
604- Zombie Nightmare (seg. 1)–Frank forgets line
321- Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (inven.)–Frank cracks up
406- Attack of the Giant Leeches (seg. 5)–Frank cracks up repeatedly
409- The Indestructible Man (inven.)–Frank cracks up twice
616- Racket Girls (seg. 2)–Mike flubs magazine twice
617- The Sword and the Dragon (seg. 1)–Trace flubs song
• Trace says “shit.”
620- Danger! Death Ray! (seg. 2)–Crow on fire
• Another hilarious moment, not really a blooper so much as a just a candid moment on the set.
620- Danger! Death Ray! (seg. 1)–Servo’s head falls off
621- Beast of Yucca Flats (seg. 1)–Crow’s hand comes off
621- Beast of Yucca Flats (seg. 2)–Bridget forgets line
621- Beast of Yucca Flats (seg. 2)–boom falls into shot
624- Samson vs. Vampire Women (seg. 2)–Torgo the White still in shot
Oscar special–Crow’s net shifts
Oscar special–Servo flubs line
616- Racket Girls (seg. 4)–Frank forgets line
622- Angel’s Revenge (seg. 5)–Trace knocks over table
611- Last of the Wild Horses (seg. 1)–Trace flubs line repeatedly
610- The Violent Years (seg. 1)–Trace forgets line
Poopie 2: (1997) The second of two blooper reels, this one featuring outtakes from host segments shot in seasons seven and eight (mostly).
• This was released by Best Brains on VHS around Thanksgiving, 1997.
• A trimmed, 15-minute version, simply labelled “Outtakes,” is an extra on the episode 514- TEENAGE STRANGLER DVD on Rhino volume 10 (and later Vol. 10.2). As near as I can tell, the full “Poopie 2” reel was never released on DVD.
• When the full VHS tape was first released, the reaction of fans was muted to say the least. Openly negative would be a better description. And I think it’s deserved. Of course, the novelty of seeing the cast members goofing up was gone, but it was more than that. There was a very different tone to the clips. The giddy tone of the first tape was almost entirely absent. There is much less laughing from the crew or between the performers. The cast seems more self-conscious and serious. In short, while there were a few funny moments sprinkled here and there, Poopie 2 was as much of a disappointment as Poopie 1 was a delight. Sometimes you just can’t catch lightning in a bottle a second time.
• Fave line: Mike: “NOOOO!”
A listing of the complete “Poopie 2” tape is here but since it is now very hard to find, I put together a listing for the edited version on Vol 10, which is the version most fans have access to.
Season 8 opening–signpost falls down
Season 8 opening–Mary Jo flubs ‘la la la’
Season 8 opening–Crow tangles with his name
Season 8 opening–Earth balloon goes flying
Season 8 opening–Tom falls down
804- The Deadly Mantis (seg 5)–Mary Jo cracks up
815- Agent for H.A.R.M. (seg. 4)–Kevin flubs line
705- Escape 2000 (seg. 1)–door falls off
703- Deathstalker and the Warriors from Hell (seg. 2)–Tom’s head falls off
Infomercial– Trace flubs line
806- The Undead (seg. 1)–Bill cracks up
819- Invasion of the Neptune Men (seg. 1)–Kevin flubs line twice, Jeff not ready 3rd time
810- The Giant Spider Invasion (seg. 1)–Tom’s be-canoed head falls off 2 times
812- Incredibly Strange Creatures… (seg. 1)–Crow has a “booger”
812- Incredibly Strange Creatures… (seg. 1)–Bill flubs line
806- The Undead (seg. 1)–Mike flubs line
817- Horror of Party Beach (seg. 4)–Mike forgets entrance
703- Deathstalker and the Warriors from Hell (seg. 1)–Trace flubs line
804- The Deadly Mantis (seg. 1)–panel on bomb falls off
822- Overdrawn at the Memory Bank (seg. 1)–Tom’s hand detaches from bubble.
• I’m not sure what’s going on here, but it feels to me like something is. Were they pretending the clip was staged or something? There’s a lot of layers to this one.
807- Terror from the Year 5000! (seg. 1)–Crow’s hand falls off
820- Space Mutiny (seg. 1)–Bill’s chains fall off
810- The Giant Spider Invasion (seg. 3)–Mary Jo cracks up
814- Riding With Death (seg. 4)–Bill flubs line twice
809- I was a Teenage Werewolf (seg. 3)–detector falls over
805- The Thing that Couldn’t Die (seg. 1)–Bill forgets line
704- The Incredible Melting Man (seg. 4)–Trace flubs line
807- Terror from the Year 5000! (seg. 4)–Bill forgets line
701- Night of the Blood Beast (seg. 1)–Crow loses trombone
701- Night of the Blood Beast (seg. 1)–Trace’s lip bleeds
• Um, is that a fake blood pack or something? Is it real? If it’s real, some people may find this sort of thing funny, but I don’t. I never heard that it’s not real. Does anybody know? If it’s real, it’s inclusion is appalling.
705- Escape 2000 (seg. 4)–Trace flubs line
701- Night of the Blood Beast (seg. 4)–Trace forgets line
Infomercial–Mike flubs line
• A rare genuinely funny moment, as Mike blurts out a horrified “NOO!” to Trace’s line and everybody loses it.
822- Overdrawn at the Memory Bank (seg. 3)–Mary Jo flubs song
703- Deathstalker & Warriors from Hell (seg. 1)–Mary Jo cracks up
812- Incredibly Strange Creatures… (seg. 1)–Mary Jo cracks up
815- Agent for H.A.R.M. (seg. 3)–Kevin flubs line
815- Agent for H.A.R.M. (seg. 3)–light fails
821- Time Chasers (seg. 1)–Kevin flubs line
814- Riding With Death (seg. 1)–bag won’t open
814- Riding With Death (seg. 3)–Tom gets turned around, Kevin’s hand in shot
817- Horror of Party Beach (seg. 5)–Mike flubs line
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oh… POOPIE!
Ditto on the remark that Poopie II lacked the charm of its predecessor. Everyone seems to be a bit more edgy and impatient in that one. There are a few funny moments, though, as well as several great quotables – I use Mike’s “Words just stopped coming!” all the time in real life, whenever someone I’m talking to just stops in the middle of a sentence.
I also notice the Brains became fond of the phrase “whiz it down your leg” in Season 8; I count at least three instances of it in Poopie II, and I bet the unedited version had more.
But anyway, Poopie! is one of my all-time favorite MST3K things ever. It really does look like this show was the most fun job in the world when even the bad takes have everyone in high spirits. An endless array of memorable moments (“Pancakes – oh, I blew it, I’m sorry”; “AAAA! AAAAAAAAAAAAHHH! …Oh my god, well, I’ll be in my trailer”; “Hi, I’m not in this”; etc.) I always break it out around Thanksgiving, as part of my annual Turkey Day marathon – I watch it in conjunction with the Poopie Parade of Values infomercial, the Turkey Day ’95 bumpers, “Night of the Blood Beast”, and the Scrapbook tape.
Poopie I
In the very first scene, whom is that “floating” past the spaghetti ball? Paul Chaplin? But it doesn’t look quite right for him. Help me out here.
Is there some way we can turn “I don’t fink on soul brother” complete with flubs into a catchphrase t-shirt?
In the second waffles blooper when Joel flubs a line, Kevin does a great job of mocking him by channeling the Muppet’s Swedish Chef.
And then we have the scene where Mike is going to add a “robot neck” to his soup. Sure this one time the Crow is well put together and won’t come apart since this time they want him to.
Poopie II
Here’s another catchphrase shirt. Tom “And then Crow has a line which he’ll say in the next take.”
I find it fascinating how sometimes when a take goes bad Kevin and Trace give up on the puppeteering to do the post mortem razing. Yet other times they continue the puppeteering as they give each other crap.
I love Poopie! so much, I bought it three times! (Okay, not really. Couldn’t they have put something else on the Tom Servo DVD?)
I’d really like to see them release “Poopie Parade of Values”, as that’s some great stuff not seen anywhere else. It’s the perfect condensed bit of MST. In fact, when I didn’t have any other portable video device except for a VideoNow player I had bought for my nephew to use, I burned PPoV to a VideoNow disc so I could watch it on the go…
After I watched the first Poopie tape, I watched Hellcats and as Frank is saying the line you can see Trace startig to corpse and the did get lucky in being able to cut immediately from it, but I always laugh now simply because of Trace losing the battle with the sillies.
Poopie 2 remarks are 100% accurate, there’s a sense of fatique in the episodes here. And Trace’s bleeding lip was not funny. It was downright unnerving.
The puppeteers staying in-character during a line flub and continuing to play it out… well… I can’t not draw parallels to the Muppets there. Ever seen some of their bloopers? They used to run them over the credits of Muppets Tonight, and there’s a “cut reel” of bloopers from a joint interview with Elmo and Ricky Gervais. Funny, funny stuff, the whole thing keeps going and no-one breaks character.
For me, that’s kind of the mark of a good performer.
As for “whiz it down their leg”, it kinda popped up a lot in the episodes proper around that time. Bill influence? Perhaps. Mind you, I find the phrase funny and quite useful.
Dan in WI, that’s Joel with his tomfoolery
GRR, I didn’t know Poopie II was edited. And I think I chucked my VHS copy years ago.
To be fair to Frank’s tendency to get the giggles, I don’t think I could stare at Mike in a cop uniform while he says he’s Danish without losing it.
I think Poopie II would have been funnier if they hadn’t included that god-awful trombone scene which may well be the worst host seg ever imo. And it certainly isn’t funny to watch Trace stand there and bleed.
I, also, do not fink on soul brother.
I reviewed the Poop on YouTube, 1 minute into segment 4 after Mike tears off Crow’s limb, Trace yells “MY BLOODY HAND!” This is in reference to an SCTV sketch based around Dave Thomas’s impersonation of Michael Caine. “I’m just a regular American bloke like you fellers, see?” This was from Beast from YFs, right? Shouldn’t that be Seg 3, not Seg 1 as listed above?
There was always a surprising paucity of references to contemporary TV comedy in MST riffs, it seems to me. Aside from the above for SCTV I can think of scattered references to Edith Prickley, Ed Grimley, Harry the Guy With the Snake On His Face…any others? You could have jammed in a whole paragraph of refs from the SCTV Russian Show into Red Zone Cuba or Invasion: USA; stuff about what fits into Mother Russia, or battery acid drinking Uzbeks. Or a riff about stray beekeepers in one of their Viking sagas, say. Same goes for other 80s/early 90s TV. It was something about the show that was always great, the breadth of reference; for comedy you had refs to vaudeville, the Jack Benny program, etc. Early on I actually wondered if some of the writers were a bit older than the performers you saw. But they were just well-versed.
reading over these makes me realize how much i miss Trace and Frank. of course i miss the whole dang show as far as that goes. i always thought Joel’s ‘Pancake’ bit from the whole waffle episode was staged.
I didn’t know there was a Poopie 2. I guess I didn’t miss much. Would you all recommend I skip it?
My favorite bit has always been the “How about a little sugar for Crow” line from “Manos” but not really because the line was all that funny to me. I just kind of liked it because it also demonstrated how the guys still kept some of that ‘improv, shift-on-the-fly’ spirit to the show as Joel suddenly just decided to cradle Servo and then liked the idea and they ended up putting it in the finished product.
I always kind of like seeing where an actor has an “Ah-ha!” and decides to add something that wasn’t in the original script.
A big thank you to Sampo for identifying which episode each Poopie moment comes from.
Though I’ve already said it in the Hercules Vs. The Moon Men discussion, my favorite Poopie moment is when Trace screws up, “I hate movies where men wear shorter skirts than the women,” instead saying, “I hate movies where women wear shorter… or men.” I particularly like how, during all the laughing, Kevin cracks, “I love movies like that!”
I still use Trace’s ‘Got the whole pig’ line all the time.
One thing I’ve always admired about Mst3k is its ability to be funny without resorting to bad language. That being said, hearing some of the comments made by the Brains as they flubbed lines is hilarious. For instance, when Joel forgets the lyrics to “Sing the Praises of Pants”. Classic!
Poopie I is one of my favorite MST3K releases. It’s everything I love about the show and it features what is BY FAR my favorite period of the show: Seasons 2-6. Not only do I enjoy those episodes most, in general….but, I love every lead performer on the show: Joel, Mike, Trace, Kevin and Frank.
I 100% agree on Poopie II. I love Bill. I still think Trace’s Crow is THE iconic Crow….but, Bill did such an amazing job and I love his work with Rifftrax. His comedic chemistry with Mike and Kevin is terrific. That said, I’ll come back to a theme I’ve beat to death here so I apologize….Pearl. Words cannot describe how much I loathe the Pearl character. Understand that I love MST3K more than any other TV show ever. They’re the Beatles of TV to me. But, taking away Dr. Forrester and Frank and replacing them with Pearl was literally akin to adding overdubs of Yoko’s screaming randomly throughout Sgt. Pepper and Abbey Road. The Mads, to me, were such a critical part of MST’s charm. And even though they were used sparingly, rarely occurring in host segments outside the open and close of the show…I adored them. To replace them with Pearl, an (IMHO, of course) unfunny, shrill, mugging character with a nails on a chalkboard voice and look…AND to include her significantly more in mid-show host segments than Frank And Dr. F. ever were….it’s a nightmare. It really is just a nightmare. And I know I sound overly dramatic…but, let’s face it…this is a fan site and I’m a MST fanboy if there ever was one. All that said….to me, it’s the Pearl effect that ruins Poopie II. Mike, Kevin and Bill make me laugh throughout even though it’s not as consistently charming and goofy as Poopie I. But, Jesus….every time Pearl is involved, whether it’s Season 7 (where her character manages to be somehow worse than her awful Seasons 8-10 version) or beyond….it sucks the joy out of it.
My negative Pavlovian response to Pearl is so strong that it significantly mars my enjoyment of what should be a dream project…CT. Clearly, I must love Mary Jo’s writing b/c she’s one of a select group of writers on my favorite show ever. But, her performance as Pearl was so irritating that I can’t enjoy any of her spoken riffs.
I know Pearl, the character, has her defenders (which honestly baffles me as it seems so contrary to what made MST3K charming and funny)……but, I just can’t get past it. Obviously.
Insane fanboy rant over.
What’s left to be said about the original “Poopie”? It was good-enough to pay money for on VHS and made for a killer DVD bonus feature. It’s rare for outtakes to actually be funny (witness the many laugh-free blooper reels that are becoming standard inclusions on DVD/Blu-ray bonus features that don’t get a single laugh) but not only are most of “Poopie’s” clips funny (some more than others, i.e. Joel’s mess-ups except for ‘Pancakes’ aren’t that hilarious) but they actually build a head of steam as the half-hour unfolds. Whoever decided to include “Poopie” with the Essentials’ version of “Manos” was brilliant (a Brain? :goaway: ) because, after watching that God-awful experiment, “Poopie” is like a ‘welcome back to sanity’ cleansing of the funk one gets when watching “Manos.” By virtue of being an on-camera performer as both human and puppet Trace has more on-camera time than all the other regulars, and his goof-ups range from the self-aware (the PAM spraying of his tongue) to the genuinely puzzled (the falling wall) but most of them are just deadpan hilarious. Personally though Frank is my favorite performer to see mess-up in “Poopie” because he seems to get so much into character (the Vodoo dance) his foul-ups have the added feel of pathos on top of the funny.
FOUR-AND-A-HALF STARS (out of five) for “POOPIE.” Wish I could give it five but the last few minutes (i.e. the moment Frank starts singing ‘There is Looooooove…’) are really running on empty and most closely resemble the level of quality that’s all over the follow-up blooper reel. FAVORITE OUUTAKE: Crow on fire (‘I’ll be in my trailer’ :eat: ) F***ing gets me every time.
Up until last week I didn’t even know there was a “Poopie 2” (have the Volume 10 Box Set but it’s still sealed) so I went to the YouTube on the internets (it’s a series of tubes you see…:evilgrin: ) and watched the 15 min. version for the first time a couple of times yesterday. It definitely has more of a ‘we screwed up, let’s get this right because they’re paying us by the hour’ work feel than the loose and free-wheeling ‘aww shucks, wasn’t that silly?’ screw-ups from the first “Poopie.” It’s odd that there’s no Joel bloopers (they probably used them all up the first time) but it feels off that we get both Trace’s and Bill’s Crow bloopers as well as Bill on-camera goofs (particularly as Observer) mixed with Trace’s on-camera disasters in one mash-up. In my mind Beaulieu and Corbett belong to completely different eras of the show (even though Bill was already a show writer when Trace was there) so it takes a moment to get adjusted. For the small-but-intense group of diehard MiSTieS that hated the Sci-Fi Channel’s villains/host segments with Pearl, Bobo and Observer the presence in almost all clips of Mary Jo Pehl (who has such a nice and apologetic way of messing up, I love her even more now after seeing goof-ups :bye: ) will automatically make “Poopie 2” almost unwatchable. The use of Trace’s bloody-lip outtake (as well as Servo’s dull stand-up takes) shows the Brains were really reaching for the bottom of the barrel, but I still mostly grinned and smiled at most of the outtakes without ever reaching the heights of joy given by “Poopie.” There’s something about seeing puppets/puppeteers stay in character during a flub that’s just too cute and endearing.
THREE STARS (out of five) FOR “POOPIE 2” FAVORITE OUTTAKES: They come back-to-back near the end of the 15 min. Mike’s almost too sincere ‘NOOO!’ to Trace during the infomercial plug (Trace totally nails the phony British accent of the ‘experts’ that used to sell their wares on ‘Amazing Discoveries’ back in the 90’s); I was drinking Coke and watching “Poopie 2” on my HP Touchpad tablet and Mike’s ‘NOOO!’ (followed by Trace’s meltdown) totally made me do a spit-take all over my tablet’s screen. No other clip in “Poopie 2” had the same effect. Then Mary Jo tries to hold it together for the ‘Lover’s Love’ song for the PBS pledge drive on “Overdrawn…” (one of my favorite host segments of the Sci-Fi era) and finally screws-up. You see the flub coming about three lyrics before, but when it finally comes it’s both cathartic and genuinely funny. Bill’s ‘go for the line’ encouragement is actually kind-of nice.
We had a Poopie II BETAMAX copy but (like all the rest of the titles) it went to the dump along with the rest of the “last format you’ll ever have to buy” BetaMax recorder….(sigh)
I’ll say it: POOPIE II was put out too soon trying to make a quick buck. Not enough flubs to choose from in the 1 1/4 seasons of 8 and 7.
Poopie 1 was way better than Poopie 2…maybe they had more fun during that era which was Poopie 1 – I always thought something was lacking in Poopie 2
Oh Poopie
Joels Hair
Joels Knees
Joel flubs lines
poopie suit
Poopie Therapy ?
I dont fink on soul brutha “lol” times 4 takes
In Poopie II, it always seemed to me that the “robot booger” gag was staged. Just HOW did that get there? AND what is that?
The only real funny outtake from Poopie II I like is the one where Observer/Bill “breaks” the chains in Space Mutiny.
Bobo/Kevin: “Wow, you’re strong!”
“Pancakes. Oh I blew it.”
I wonder if we could ask Jim or SHout Factory to do a “re-do” of Poopie II, that included outtakes of Season 10, and maybe more unseen outtakes from the first six seasons, if there are any more good ones.
Re: “701- Night of the Blood Beast (seg. 1)–Trace’s lip bleeds
• Um, is that a fake blood pack or something? Is it real? If it’s real, some people may find this sort of thing funny, but I don’t. I never heard that it’s not real. Does anybody know? If it’s real, it’s inclusion is appalling.”
Are you kidding? I thought they should’ve used that in the episode (since they cut back to mike and the bots right after that line)! If it was real it’d be even funnier!
Including the clip of Trace’s bloody lip was ‘appalling’? My God, relax.
I find it very interesting that many people described Poopie 1 as having more charm that Poopie 2 because that’s exactly how I feel about the whole show after the Joel/Mike switch.
and I agree with Droppo about Pearl. That’s why I like the DVDs so much because I can just skip past all the Mike-era sketches because 95% aren’t funny at all. And Pearl was never funny, except maybe in the Loving Lover’s song from Overdrawn at the Memory Bank. Okay and it’s funny that she calls Crow ‘Art’.
However, Mary Jo I like much better as herself in CT. Saw them live as well as on DVD and she has a lot of good lines.
As for the Poopies themselves, I always LOVED that the puppeteers kept going even during the screw-ups. Seeing Crow say ‘What the F?’ as his net falls off is one of the funniest things ever.
Two things:
1. Another blooper line that would make a good catchphrase shirt: “Get to the part where you pee”.
2. Man, the bloopers to Hercules vs. The Moon Men were indeed classic moments of MST3K comedy, be it The Pants Song getting a little dirty after Joel screws up or (in a clip that was aciddentally labeled as from Monster A Go Go in the list) Gypsy knocking over the Super Freak Out box, revealing that it’s actually a reused He-Man toy box (SPIDER!!!).
Oh man, I loved the Poopie tape when it first came out. As a kid, I loved any outtakes from my favorite shows, or even from stuff I never saw. I even used to watch that stupid TV’s Bloopers and Practical Jokes show with Dick Clark and Ed McMahon. And truth be told, I still love the outtake reels on dvds today most of any special features (Judd Apatow outtake reels are sometimes better than the actual films). Seeing these guys who I watched every week acting like actual people and still being hilarious was awesome, and still is after watching Poopie on youtube recently. I didn’t know a Poopie 2 even existed (I’m not big on the Scifi era) but I’ll check it out tonight for sure.
@Joe Klemm: I had that He-man toy too, that was fun seeing that at the time as I was just around the age where I still had those action figures sitting around at home (and you’re right about being from Hercules Against the Moon Men). The Demon Dogs were also a He-man toy I believe. I guess someone had kids who were into Masters of the Universe back then or they were just really cheap and easy for the prop people to get. Maybe a weekend discussion thread could be favorite toys used as props if that hasn’t already been done. The ninja turtle in the Captain Joe action figure skit would be another favorite of mine. “Captain Joe, I can’t sit back and watch you cowabunga your life away” always makes me laugh.
As many people have already said, seeing the robots stay in character was the highlight of this, as well as Frank’s constant cracking up. The few times I’ve been in front of a camera I find it impossible to keep a straight face, so I can imagine how hard it must have been for these guys being in the situations they often found themselves in (especially the Mads).
And the “pancake” thing was obviously a staged joke based on it being a one word skit that Joel manged to “flub”. That’s what makes it so funny, along with Kevin’s “you nut, get out of town” reaction. Classic stuff.
Was there ever any explanation as to why Poopie 2 was cut down for the DVD? I do agree that they rushed it, would have been nice to have more s. 9/s. 10 stuff in there (although I don’t know how the mood was on set near the end of s. 10…)
I remember when the VHS originally came out, the AOL message boards were FURIOUS about that Trace bleeding clip. I was shocked that it made the DVD cut – it’s just kind of an odd thing to put on your wacky blooper reel. Oh well.
I bought the Poopie! tape from the Brains back in ’95 as a Christmas gift for my family, and it was a tremendous hit. My son watched it a LOT, to the point where we all almost had it memorized. I have lots of very good memories of it, and still enjoy watching it from time to time. Poopie 2 is definitely not as good, though I’m still glad I have it.
And seeing all the comments about Pearl, I just want to put in a good word for the character. It was refreshing to see a woman as the major villain, and I found Pearl’s transitions from fearsome to whiny to oddly motherly & protective lots of fun. I watched Girl in Gold Boots yesterday, and laughed out loud at her little-kid whiny line to Paul’s mad scientist: “But I have to take over the wooorllld!” Let’s face it, the Brains had to have someone replace Dr. Forester, and Pearl Forester had already been introduced & had a connection to Dr. F. I can understand how her presence might not have worked for everyone, but it did for me.
Droppo @17, I know you never cared much for Pearl (deliberate understatement there). I must say, however, how much I appreciate that, after you stated that fact, I never saw you mention it again in the discussions of the Sci-Fi episodes. As I recall, when you did comment, you focused on what you liked. That is a rare & wonderful thing, to dislike something yet ignore it & stay upbeat. So…thank you; I will respectfully disagree w/you about Pearl, and continue to enjoy reading your comments.
Loved the first one, and was very excited for the follow-up, but it’s like they knew by that point they could package the bloopers into a video so it lost a lot of the spontaneity. Loses the fun when everyone is shouting POOPIE! right after someone messes up.
Oh, and if it hasn’t been mentioned the Deep 13 wall falling on Trace and Frank was shown on some random TV Bloopers Special a few years ago.
Absolutely Poopie 1 is far more entertaining, charming and funny than Poopie 2. But as has been pointed out in other discussions that atmospheric change in charm and playfulness also became much less consistent in finished elements of the show, particularly the host segments. Once the creator and other early founding cast members began to leave the show, funny as it still was, it was still never quite the same and Poopie 2 is another place that is readily apparent to the audience. The “we’re friends having fun making a great show in a warehouse” atmosphere was gone.
Dark Grandma of Death @ 29:
Thanks so much. I appreciate that. Even when I go on my rants, I always try to stay as positive as I can for a few reasons:
1. I love MST3K and am so genuinely grateful to EVERYONE affiliated with it. And I’m positive that Mary Jo must have written countless lines that made me laugh over the years.
2. Mary Jo seems to be a nice person by all accounts.
3. I would never want to ruin anyone else’s enjoyment of the show in any way.
4. It’s just a show and I should really just relax.
Thanks again, and should I rant again at a later date if it’s relevant, I’ll always try to do it with respect for the performer and fans.
Sampo I believe you made a mistake.
The Clip in poopie 2 you believe is from Angels revenge is actually from Escape 2000. Its the segment with Timmy Bobby Rusty.
I think people might be reading too much into these Poopie tapes as far as gauging the behind-the-scenes vibe (I’d wager that for every jovial, charming blooper on the Poopie 1 tape, there were dozens of outtakes during the first half of the show’s run that were just as mundane as anything on Poopie 2). But even as someone whose favorite era by far is the Sci-Fi era (the riffing was at its sharpest and funniest in its last three years, IMO), I think Mr. Hardcheese is talking a lot of sense when he says that the less grounded rationale for sending the movies made the tone of the show feel a little bit underdeveloped, and the mandated story archs seemed to force the sketch writing into cartoony hijink territory a little too often. It’s frustrating, because I think they kicked off the Sci-Fi years exactly where they should have stayed. The ape lab would have been a fine substitute for Deep 13, and Bobo was actually a pretty funny character in the first few episodes, when Kevin plays him more as a grumpy, pompous scientist surrounded by dimwitted Peanuts and henpecked by Pearl. When they took to the van and Bobo devolved into a cutesy buffoon, the Mads segments never really recovered, except for the occasional highlight (e.g., the folksy chat between Mary Jo and Mike in Time Chasers).
I liked both Poopies,esp when the puppets stay in character long after the flub. My sweetie was watching it with me yesterday and particularly liked Mike’s early shorter spiky hair. (a lot.) And I’m not so disturbed by seeing trace’s blood; I tend to think it’s a actor thing. Whatever it takes to get the shot right, we’ll worry about bandages later. It’s hard to keep so many outtakes when much of the main show is a blooper reel. I love that they always went for the funniest take, not the most perfect.
This is totally an outside observer’s perspective, so those who know better can correct me, but I suspect the malaise in the season 8 bloopers comes from their having to do the story arcs unwillingly, and that they don’t really care for the Bobo and Observer characters that much either. It’s as if they know that these segments are lame, and not their best work, but are making the best of it.
I will also say that Trace’s departure was a much more radical change for the show than Joel’s. That’s not a Joel/Mike thing–I love them both equally–but with Dr F. gone, a lot of the context for the show simply evaporated. I know the Mads segments weren’t the heart of the show, and I still think seasons 8-10 provided some of the most interesting and funniest theatre segments of the entire series, but I’m one of those people who really grits my teeth through the Pearl/Bobo/Observer sequences, and am supported only by the fact that the real gold will come once M & TB enter the theatre. Moreover, the whole idea of the mad scientist experiment, though never developed as a narrative, provided a rationale for the “experiments” that grounded the whole thing and gave it an anchor. It’s not just Pearl–I actually think she comes into her own in seasons 9 and 10–but it’s the loss of the Deep 13 environment, which was one of the brilliant ideas of the series. When Joel left, Deep 13 was still intact, and Mike could fill in relatively easily. With Deep 13 gone, the Brains had to reinvent the whole concept of the show, and they couldn’t come up with anything better. And they knew it. And that’s why the mood changes between Poopies I and II. So says I.
As an addendum:
I don’t mean to slight Frank’s contribution to the Deep 13 context–the interplay between TV’s Frank and Dr F was one of things that made the series so wonderful, and you casn tell that the chemistry between Frank and Trace was a large part of that. Frank’s departure was lamentable, still didn’t compromise the basic Deep 13 context (just lessened its force).
There’s not much for me to add, except that there’s one moment that I always expect to see on Poopie that’s actually from the Scrapbook: They’re working on the set and Trace is up a ladder rigging lights or somesuch. Whoever’s behind the camera (Jim, maybe? My memory’s a little hazy.) asks “Hey, Trace, whatchadoin’ up there?” and Trace responds “Ah, just tying a noose to hang myself. Standard hangman’s knot – thirteen loops.” “Oh, okay. Is there anything I can help with?” “Actually, yeah. If the fall doesn’t snap my neck, can you, y’know, pull down on my legs, speed things up?”
I know it’s not an outtake, and so doesn’t belong on Poopie, but I’m always disappointed when it doesn’t pop up. I lost my copy years ago, and that exchange is the only thing I remember from the Scrapbook.
I’ll be in my trailer.
The “Poopie” reels are a true delight. They crack me up as much as the best stuff they performed. Just nice to see the human side of their performances. I’m sure these were the “best” outtakes, and many more probably were, as one posted noted, pretty mundane, but it’s clear during these outtakes they were having a good time, and not taking themselves too seriously.
Just to ditto what most have already said – the reason these aren’t just standard bloopers but are enjoyable as their own often brilliant entertainment is because the players (mostly) stay in character through the mistakes. It almost makes you forget for a second that you’re even watching a puppet show. It’s not Trace/Bill or Kevin goofing up, it’s Crow and Servo. Joel and Mike are already themselves, so even when they go off script they’re not actually dropping out of character. So it doesn’t feel like mistakes so much as just stuff they left out of the show. Plus it looked like such an awesome job. What a lucky group of people.
I have the complete Poopie II, and while I’ve watched it several times it…well, everyone has already said enough about it. Poopie I is a great thing for anyone to watch, even if they don’t really know what the show is. Poopie II is fine, but it’s really for the completists. I like Poopie II (and The Last Dance Raw) mostly for the behind-the-scenes aspects of seeing how they made the show, and a couple of the bloopers elicit a good chuckle.
> Mike says “****.” Despite bleeping some of the cursing, they allowed a few of them through. I’ll note them.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but I believe they bleeped all the S-bombs in just the “Poopie II” tape (as a nationally-broadcast TV show is accustomed to doing). This is just a hunch, but I think they would have bleeped them all in the original “Poopie” tape as well… but if they did that, then the blooper in the “Pants” song is ruined. So they left in that instance of the word, and if they’ve already left the word in once…
> Um, is that a fake blood pack or something? Is it real?
I’m almost positive it’s fake. I remember noticing Dr. F.’s lip bleeding when the host segment originally aired. I thought it was real then, but once “Poopie II” came out and I saw that blooper, I realized, “Oh, it was scripted that Dr. F.’s mouth is supposed to bleed. And after multiple takes, the trombone started to fill with fake blood.”
> I’m not sure what’s going on here, but it feels to me like something is. Were they pretending the clip was staged or something? There’s a lot of layers to this one.
My hunch on this one: As we know, “Poopie II” was put together after season eight concluded. By the time they had gotten to taping episode 822, everybody on the staff had already been told, “Hey, we’re putting out another blooper video. If anything funny happens during the rest of the season, we’ll put it in.” So when that mistake happened, Mike, Kevin, and Bill made a big sarcastic show of how they knew this clip was going to be on the next “Poopie” reel. (And while I believe that’s the case, I still love Bill holding up his hand instead of the puppet as a pseudo-blooper.)
The problem with “Poopie II” is that, as Edge pointed out, it was produced too quickly to make a quick buck. The performers didn’t make enough funny mistakes in 29 episodes’ worth of host segments to justify putting out another 30-minute blooper reel. So they had to include any mistake they could semi-reasonably justify, including a lot of general line flubs, which in any TV show, usually don’t spark a wave of hilarity. (I’m sure a lot of line flubs were left on the cutting room floor for the first “Poopie” because nothing all that funny happened after the flub. For “Poopie II,” they left them all in, resulting in a perceived change in tone by the fans.)
Also notice that while the two tapes have roughly the same running time, there are noticeably fewer clips in “Poopie II.” They padded the tape by unnecessarily leaving in a lot of scene-as-planned before the blooper occurs. Especially egregious is the medal-awarding blooper from “Riding with Death,” which shows us way too much of the scene as scripted with little payoff.
Servo calling out “Web wrangler! Web wrangler!” when Crow’s net falls off. Classic.
City Limits: Mike as Morrissey kisses Dr. F.’s shoulder, and Trace goes “Later, later!” 8-)
Frank scratching under his chinderwear, and Dr. F gets his finger in there…
You know, I never did figure out what Frank was trying to say in “Hellcats.” It always sounded to me like he was trying to say “I don’t think so, brother!” but it kept coming out weird. Watching everyone crack up as Frank absolutely lost it has got to be one of the funniest moments of the series.
Pants?
I don’t fink on soul brother, was what Frank was trying fo say. Apparently this is a link Link would say on the Mod Squad.
“****! ****! Sing the praises of ****!”
Never fails to bring a smile to my face.
So I finally watched poopie 2. Not as funny as the first but after the way everyone described it here I expected it to be a depressing mess. It wasn’t that bad.
What #29 says. I love Pearl Forrester’s character… going from the friendly neighbor in “Time Chasers” to the kid-punishing mom in “Hobgoblins”, in the Sci-Fi era she became a female Moe to Observer’s Larry and Bobo’s Curly. I thought their chemistry was great.
And I laughed at the fifteen minute Poopie 2 excerpt several times. If it doesn’t seem as giddy as the first tape, it might have SOMETHING to do with the lighting and the intensity of working with all-new people.
#39: My favorite bit from the Scrapbook was Kevin’s improvised “level your bevels” speech. I just crack up at that.
Nice balanced, rational, even-handed, etc. thoughts there #42/MSTieScott I agree with it. I have to admit, I haven’t watched Poopie 2 in about ten years. I’d probably give it a go but there’s an American Ninja 2 cassette jammed in the tape deck.
Don’t you dare judge me. AMERICAN NINJA. 2.
As far as bleeping the curse words, they only bleeped the F-bomb. Everything else was fair game.
I love Mary Jo. Both in CT and MST. Her introduction as Pearl- when she walked right past Forrester and hugged Frank- set the tone for her character. She had big shoes to fill and a tough job ahead of her but I think she pulled it off. I always felt bad for Mary Jo because, clearly, there wasn’t much fan support for her which culminated in her being completely absent from the show for a few episodes. I really don’t think a lot of fans were fair to her. Also, if you think about it, Pearl had to be more grating than Clay because she’s obviously the reason he turned out like he did.
As for Poopie 1 vs. Poopie 2: I like them both. I never particularly noticed a change in “tone” between the two but if there was one, I’m sure being on a whole new network that was actively messing with the show may have had more to do with it than that they’d simply lost interest.
Are the “Clowns In The Sky” cd’s going to be reviewed too? Because if ever there was an argument for “first one was great, second one was disappointing” it was those two cd’s.