Here are my top ten, in episode order:
• 204- CATALINA CAPER–“Creepy Girl”–a newly arrived Kevin steps up and shows what the new Servo can do.
• 302- GAMERA–“Tibby, oh Tibby.” Do you realize a robot just sang a love song to a turtle?
• 309- THE AMAZING COLOSSAL MAN–The Plant Guy aka “Robert Plant.” Played with the exact amount of condescending smugness.
• 321- SANTA CLAUS CONQUERS THE MARTIANS–Patrick Swayze Christmas–Kevin’s Tom is the glue that holds this whole classic bit together.
• 406- ATTACK OF THE GIANT LEECHES–Patches The Leech (actually the funniest part is the outtake on the Poopie tape).
• 409- THE INDESTRUCTIBLE MAN–one of the cops. While Mike is busy goofing with Frank, Kevin is deep in character. Great stuff.
• 521- SANTA CLAUS–Santa. And a Santa that kicks ass no less!
• 612- THE STARFIGHTERS–The United Servo Academy Men’s Chorus sing. An overdubbed tour-de-force for Mr. Murphy.
• 903- THE PUMA MAN–Roger Whitaker. Kevin approximates Roger’s folksy joviality and that’s enough.
• 910- THE FINAL SACRIFICE–“I Wish I Was Back in Old Canada.” An immediate sensation when it aired. “Pardon moi! Pardon moi!” “Pardonnez-moi. Pardonnez-moi.” (Thanks, Diamond Joe)
What are yours?
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The very first time I heard him bellow, “He tried to kill me with a forklift…” I was a casual fan of the show before that, but this was probably the moment I became a religious fan.
Great Kevin Murphy moments:
– Servo sounds like a stuttering piece of film in a rickety old projector as the film actually does stutter a bit during the very end of “Circus On Ice” in the Monster A-Go Go episode.
– Servo talks to sound as if he’s a recording being played backwards (can’t remember the episode but that one cracks me up every time I see it, he does it so well).
– Servo sounds truly outraged at the beginning of episode 2 of Undersea Kingdom when we see the cheap way the characters escaped the cliff-hanger from episode 1. “How did they get off the cock-a-doody cliff, this is wrong!” I love that one. Hilarious.
– Servo sings Creepy Girl and Tibby Oh Tibby. Two of the funniest host segments EVER.
– Any segment where Kevin sounds as if he’s losing control and then Servo’s head explodes, falls off, etc. Always really funny.
– Kevin’s puppeteering during host segments where Servo appears to fall asleep. Hilarious.
– Kevin’s ramping up of Servo’s “new” voice during his first host segment ever at the start of Rocketship X-M. He does all kinds of voices before we hear the real one, including HAL 9000 getting unplugged from 2001 A Space Odyssey.
There are so many great moments, I can’t even start to list them all here. Losing a founding member so soon in the show’s run when Josh Weinstein left was a bad sign of things to come later on, but it’s the only time that I feel they were able to compensate in a way that didn’t diminish the show a bit. Kevin Murphy is a talented performer and I found him hilarious from his first moment on the show till the end.
I loved the hell out of Kevin’s early performances as Bobo, when he was struggling to be the one dignified ape among the likes of Peanut and the other stoopid monkeys.
The Digger Smolkem medley is another favorite, and if we’re allowed to step outside of MST3K, I feel “Moon Shine” is a fine addition to his catalog.
It’s “Pardonnez-moi.”
The Canada Song is one of my all-time favorite bits. So is the Monster Action Pack commercial (304-Gamera vs. Barugon). Kevin gives an impressive rapid-fire delivery of the long and complex description. (I know… being under the desk, he could read right from the script, but still, just TRY to say all that at that speed without screwing up!)
On a similar note, there’s his long motor-mouth monologue as the woman near the end of “Manos.”
Just in general, he did a great job of puppeteering. My favorite is how he tilts Servo forward and opens his mouth to give him a “grinning” look. I’m thinking particularly of the Quantum Linear Superposition sketch (511-Gunslinger).
This riff from Monster A-go go:
“Douglas was pear-shaped, very short, and stood the whole way.”
Also, “Oops.”
I love the song “Air on a Delta Knight” by Servo’s choir, for Quest of the Delta Knights.
Servo’s “Pink” song during “Circus on Ice.” :smile:
The long list of “celebrity” shout-outs towards the end of Warrior of the Lost World.
202- THE SIDEHACKERS: Servo comes across as a natural sportscaster: “An itchy gorilla! AN ITCHY GORILLA!”
212- GODZILLA VS. MEGALON: The combativeness between Crow and Servo in the “Orville Popcorn” skit is gold.
309- THE AMAZING COLOSSAL MAN: “He’ll be the biggest guy by a dam site!” It’s such a horrible, obvious joke that I happen to love.
316- GAMERA VS. ZIGRA: Servo’s beatnik “Gamera” theme groove.
323- THE CASTLE OF FU MANCHU: Anytime that Servo would break down from the stress of the movie. Kevin’s hysterics are funny as hell.
401- SPACE TRAVELERS: Servo’s disgust over Joel’s invention, The Dollaroid: “I mean, WHAT IS THE POINT?!”
402- THE GIANT GILA MONSTER: Servo throwing a hissy-fit when Joel and Crow wreck “Servo on Cinema.” His flopping around at the end is hilarious.
415- THE BEATNIKS: One of my all-time favorite host segments is Servo portraying the life and times of the protagonist of “The Beatniks.”
416- FIRE MAIDENS OF OUTER SPACE: Servo fights off Timmy in the theater and can’t get any help from Joel or Crow.
501- WARRIOR OF THE LOST WORLD: Servo naming everybody in the bleachers at the end. Absolutely inspired. His slot car frustration was a hoot, too.
515- THE WILD WILD WORLD OF BATWOMAN: “Burn him! Burn him! BUUUUUUUUUUUURN HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIM!” Again, Kevin’s great at playing up hysterical moments (also seen when he screams for the movie to end).
609- THE SKY DIVERS: Servo has trouble facing down hecklers as “Tom Starshow.”
704- THE INCREDIBLE MELTING MAN: Servo’s “Ted Nelson” theme songs in the theater help to make this one of my favorite episodes of the entire show’s run.
The Movie- THIS ISLAND EARTH: “Did you notice a peculiar indentation in their foreheads?” “NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!”
805- THE THING THAT COULDN’T DIE: Servo can’t quite get Mike to follow through on his plan to scare Crow.
806- THE UNDEAD: Servo as one of the Observers. It’s a lot of fun to see things degenerate on the Observers’ planet.
807- TERROR FROM THE YEAR 5000: Kevin nails the “When I Held Your Brain In My Arms” song. That’s a voice and a half.
911- DEVIL FISH: Professor Bobo fails miserably at keeping up the “pleasure cruise” illusion and loses his cool over the cereal.
1009- HAMLET: Fortinbras tries to have things his way, but Pearl has a say in the matter. Probably one of my favorite non-Servo/Bobo performances by Kevin.
No one else seems to like this host segment, but it’s one of my favorites ever and my hands-down favorite Kevin moment – The Violent Years, Servo IS Esther Hoffman Howard from A Star is Born and he cries. A lot.
303, “Pod People” – Servo’s narration of “Music From Some Guys in Space” as well as the Windham Hill-ish “songs” he describes during the movie.
311, “It Conquered the World” – Servo’s winter sports narration during the host segment. Kevin was really good at this kind of quick, absurd description.
507, “I Accuse My Parents”- “Hamburger sammich with french-fried potatoes garnish.”
802, “The Leech Woman” – Servo as Irene Ryan.
806, “The Undead” – There’s so much that’s great about this episode, but I’ll add Bobo making a sandwich at the very end. I can’t explain why I love “Mayo-NAISE” so much, but I do.
807, “Terror from the Year 5000” – Servo comfort-rates anything and everything.
On a general note, anytime Servo broke down sobbing.
Kevin was always funny as Bobo, especially when the makes the sandwich at the end of Undead. Why is it so funny? I don’t know, but it’s gold!
Servo trying to be cool when he is dating Gypsy in Swamp Diamonds.
The songs ‘Creepy Girl’ and ‘When I Held Your Brain in my Arms’
Any time he’d performed in a one-man chorus, of course.
512 Mitchell – Servo’s frustrated “AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!” in the scene with that damn kid.
819 Neptune Men – Servo’s song about stock footage. “EAT IT MOVIE!!!”
904 Werewolf – Bobo get’s ‘eaten’ by Humphrey the were-spaniel. :)
1001 Soultaker – Bobo and Frank play catch with Bobo’s soul.
Lots of good Bobo references already! I like the theory that the character could have gone in a much different direction had Peanut stuck around for a few more episodes.
I liked his performances as the Roman Emporer (name?); he constantly has a smile on his face in those sketches, you can tell he had fun running around in a toga.
I understand he operated the little red puppet too? That was one funny robot!
Oh, one more from 804, “The Deadly Mantis.” I love the joy in Bobo’s voice as he says “let’s get some sweet corn!”
My favorite Servo moment of all time is his breakdown near the end of Invasion of the Neptune Men “I know a little song about stock footage.” No one else on the show could properly vent anger like Kevin. When everyone else did it, they sounded silly or wimpish. But Kevin could really sell the rage.
As Bobo, he got to play the dufus. And he played it well. One moment that comes to mind is Giant Spider Invasion. “Shall we assimilate the monkey? No. You wanna know why? Cause the monkey isn’t good enough. Again!”
Of course, no one ever bothered to mention that Bob wasn’t really a monkey. And I respect them for that.
(Pemmican #13): The Roman emperor played by Kevin is called Callipgyeas, which (I swear this is true) means “beautiful @$$”.
That itself is a great Kevin moment. There’s also “ENNNNND!” from the Batwoman movie, Servo as the candy-striper of Crow’s disturbing dreams (Bride of the Monster), and Professor Bobo Defending himself against Pearl and her deadly double-bladed Karanku with a sea snail in Terror from theYear 5000. I always laugh when Bobo can be heard to shout “My sea snail!”
#2 (Bob) Losing a founding member so soon in the show’s run when Josh Weinstein left was a bad sign of things to come later on, but it’s the only time that I feel they were able to compensate in a way that didn’t diminish the show a bit. Kevin Murphy is a talented performer and I found him hilarious from his first moment on the show till the end.
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I don’t quite agree. After a while I think
I prefer Mike to Joel, and Mrs. Forester
and friends were needed as a change from Dr. F.
and TV’s Frank.
As for Servo songs while Patrick Swayze Christmas has justly become a Holiday Classic
for me there is the deep metaphysical
implications inherent in Creepy Girl.
Loved at the end of “Escape 2000” when he sang, “Leave Bronx, leave Bronx..” and turned it into “Separate Ways” from Journey. I crack up every time.
agree with lots of what has been said… one i didn’t see listed was from Overdrawn at the Memory Bank. After Brain Guy and Pearl sing, Kevin as Bobo leaps in with a song of his own: “and then you find yourself in ’82…. (muffled yelp as he is beaten)”
Actually, some of my favorite moments from Kevin Murphy is his candid honesty throughout the Amazing Colossal Episode Guide.
Kevin as Bobo acting as Mike’s defense lawyer saying “Panties panties panties” over and over again. Can’t remember which ep that was.
Any time he ate food while acting as Bobo.
Shoebox princess – ‘Kevin as Bobo acting as Mike’s defense lawyer saying “Panties panties panties” over and over again. Can’t remember which ep that was.’
Great choice! That was 815 – Agent for H.A.R.M. Kevin was so funny in that episode.
ck – I don’t quite agree. After a while I think
I prefer Mike to Joel, and Mrs. Forester
and friends were needed as a change from Dr. F.
and TV’s Frank.
Blasphemy! I agree that we were lucky to have such great people to step in when a cast member left, but I could have watched Frank and Trace forever!
The canada song is “the” funniest song on the series for me. I like the refueling gag from The Starfighter”, The slits/peir joke. Finally the time Tom spoofs “Alien” and gets stuck on the alien goo and starts crying….That’s funny stuff!
#17 ck, I’m guessing you didn’t start watching the show till later on, much later on, after it started I’m guessing.
Anyway, you have your opinion and I have mine. I don’t see any need to connect the two as you did, they definitely don’t.
I really wish I could remember which episode it is, but it’s during a scene in a movie that doesn’t make sense, and/or has a lot of chaotic things happening in it. Kevin says kind of haltingly “This is great and all…but what THE HECK IS GOING ON ANYWAY!?”
the dashing Irish cop at the end of Ring of Terror (I think?)
the screed against Rutland VT at the end of Time Chasers
Bobo begs Brain Guy not to leave with the other Observers “Don’t go, I … love you.” so sweet
And the Easter egg moment in “Home Economics” when Joel gently leans Servo’s head into the meat grinder .. I didn’t catch that one until recently
I always thought Servo laughed a little too hard at his own jokes and his songs were a little femmy .. but everytime I see a bubble gum machine I feel warm and gooey inside.
I gotta second (or third, maybe) Servo crying. That always kills. Also, my all time favorite Servo moment…
Ep. 618: High School Big Shot, Giant Servo in the begginning is one of the funniest moments ever on the show. “Servo hate movie!”
TOM SERVO…REAL LIVE BOY!!!
Kevin is basically my favorite person ever, I’ll just say that now. I agree with every thing everyone else listed…I know that’s kind of a cop out, but hey, I got here a little late and I’m not going to repeat everything :)
One more thing, though: (almost) every time there’s a dog on screen, Servo says “aw, puppy, puppy!” in a cutesy voice and it makes me very happy. In 12 to the Moon (I think?), there’s a spaniel and he goes, “puppy, puppy! Humphrey!” and I loved that.
Oh, thought of two more:
-In Manos, the film print slooows down then gets fast again (near the beginning, it’s a shot of the father at the wheel), and Servo is doing dialogue and slows down and then speeds up perfectly with the film. It’s hilarious.
-The little Catching Trouble song he sings at the beginning of that short. He sounds like an old record, it’s great.
#4 My favorite is how he tilts Servo forward and opens his mouth to give him a “grinning” look.
That reminds me of the time-displacement sketch from Prince of Space. Everyone, but especially Tom, does perfect time-displaced acting in that one. And Tom merrily strolling in front of the camera with the puppet at the end caps it off perfectly.
I would like to echo the sentiments from last weekend that the “best of” discussions should have been broken up by character, as there is more than enough material for a both Tom and Bobo.
In the Land of the Giants, when Tom recognizes a gumball machine as his mother and is horified to see her giving out a gumball for a quarter. His performance is histerical.
Kevin Murphy is probably the best performer of all the MST guys. He almost never messes up, and pulls off nearly everything he tries. All the Brains are awesome, but Kevin really seems blessed with a higher concentration than even the others.
Especially his singing voice. Can you imagine how long it must have taken him to put the United Servo Academy Men’s Chorus song together?
Servo (singing): “They’ll-die-in-the-va-cuum, burn-up-on-re-en-try…”
Santa Claus Conquers the Martians
I can’t choose…. I am a shameless Kevin fan ( you magnificent son-of-a-b****, I read your book, TWICE ).
Any time he gets to singing I’m all grins. ‘When I Held your Brain in My Arms’ comes to mind most often. And Roger Whitaker. And the various choruses ( chori ? ). Creepy Girl, The Canada Song, The Observers Leaving Song….
Spoken word as Tom… quantum linear superposition, the SOL Flag speech ( Give me Liberty or Kill Me ! ).
Spoken word as Bobo : may-O-naise. With the omnipotent kids : Sex talk & tanta bobo goes to the reconstructive urologist.
I do like the ‘When I Held your Brain in My Arms’ song, but does anybody know why Mike is mouthing the words to Kevin’s singing? Why couldn’t Kevin just have been one of the Observers for that scene?
I love Servo when he channels Steve Perry on the “Leave the Bronx” song in “Escape 2000″.
He is also cool as the Kitten With a Whip on the Turkey Day special.
Oh, Yeah…”Meatballs fried in LARD!” from “Final Justice”.
My favorite tom moment would have to be the funky 70’s song. I also like how in time chasers you see that with a more assertive person like eddy on the ship he kinda turns into a yes man (but still gets carried into the theater). As bobo his did i miss it on the projected man (rock and roll hey rock and roll) always made me laugh. course mayonese has entered me and my friends lexicon since the moment we saw it.
Just off the top of my head… the very first scene between tommy kirk and creepy girl in Catalina Caper, servo begins to swoon over CG…”She’s beautiful”… and at the alternating closeups of kirk and CG on the screen, servo begins to kiss CG on her lips as they are just above him… but the second time, I think, he attempts to kiss her…the closeup changes and he actually kisses tommy kirk on the lips! Always cracks me up.
#36: Ryan, good question that. Thought about it myself. I think part of the reason might be Kevin’s facial hair. A bearded Observer wouldn’t have looked right, and Kev may not have wanted to commit quite so much to a one time role. Just a guess.
The table dance from Girl in Gold Boots, where Servo exhorts Crow to “Shake your money-maker!” and lambasts Mike “Taliban” Nelson re body issues, is a classic.
My wife and sister-in-law (former cheerleaders) loved Servo’s “Mrxyl” cheer and “UUGA-SHAKA” from Giant Spider Invasion, while I liked his unduly skeptical Professor Bobo (same ep) as he dismissed Mike’s concerns about the fate of the Galaxy.
In Final Sacrifice, where Bobo demands that Carl “Give me back my food!”
And who could forget his rendition of “Tonight” (West Side Story) while accompanying himself on cattle prod?
Thank you Kevin.
I’m a kitten…with a whip! It’s a joke that relies solely on the delivery, and Kevin pulls it off wonderfully.
I also enjoy the SHEBELOS bit. I’m gonna lose some geek points by not being able to name which episode it’s in, and I’m too lazy to look it up.
Bobo’s inexplicable love of the band Asia was a great running gag.
Servo has Mike shrink him down so he can bully the Nanites, but he ends up on the bad side of town.
Air on a Delta Knight is an amazing piece of music. And it’s probably the only song in the world to contain the line “They look pretty good in fake hair.”
#18 crowschmo: “Loved at the end of “Escape 2000? when he sang, “Leave Bronx, leave Bronx..” and turned it into “Separate Ways” from Journey. I crack up every time.”
I can’t believe that I forgot this – good call!
I think that because J. Elvis Weinstein left the show so early, many of the fans who started watching after that only knew Kevin’s portrayal of Tom Servo (plus the fact the KTMA and Season 1 episodes were rarely rerun).
Kevin as The Kitten with a Whip had to be one of the most unexpected moments in the history of the show. Even Kevin had trouble believing that he had actually worn that cheesy costume but boy did he sell it. I hope I’m not the only one who loved every time Servo lost his head (and judging by the Poopie reel it happened quite often).
Most of my favorites have been mentioned, but I’m going to have to add A Child’s Christmas in Space (Santa Claus Conquers the Martians).
#42 – It’s from Boggy Creek II
And now, getting into my answers. Going to do with things in general since all of my specific ideas have already been mentioned:
Anytime Servo explodes in frustration at the movie (Mitchell, Batwoman, Neptune Men are great examples).
The ability to give Servo “expressions.” My favorite example is in The Screaming Skull when M&tB stare Bobo down at the end. Servo’s angry glare is even better than Mike’s.
Any and all of his songs. I’m also a tenor and always try to emulate his voice on those.
Overall favorite specific moment:
Wild Wild World of Batwoman Host Segment 4 – Servo goes back and forth from calm demeanor to complete rage multiple times and does so flawlessly.
I love it when Kevin/Servo starts doing the “waka-chika” during songs in some of the 70s-era movies. I watched “The Touch of Satan” the other day, and Servo’s “waka-chika” during the opening credits kills me every time :)
Agree with the votes for the ‘naming everyone in the crowd’ at the end of ‘Warrior Of The Lost World.’ To add something new, I’ll go with the opening theme song from “Girl In Lover’s Lane.”
Two come directly to mind:
From “Neptune Men” – Da da da da da da…EAT IT, MOVIE!!!
And from the “Truck Farmer” short in “I Accuse my Parents” – “Where else are people exploited? Dow on the Southern border!” Also, “Yes, the South starves while the North eats healthily!”
If I were to list them all, we’d be here all day