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Weekend Discussion Thread: Bits in the Theater

You know those moments in the theater when they stop riffing and start doing little comedy “bits?” Alert reader Michael K. does:

Many of my favorite moments in the show is when they do a little something out of the ordinary in the theater like when Crow gets something in his eye during the shower scene in Soultaker or when Mike’s brother Edward gets up for a cigarette in Time Chasers.

I’d have to pick Crow’s departure to and return from his “lifelong quest thingy” in “Magic Voyage of Sinbad.”

What’s your favorite?

71 Replies to “Weekend Discussion Thread: Bits in the Theater”

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  1. Sitting Duck says:

    When Timmy attacks Tom in Fire Maidens from Outer Space.

       15 likes

  2. revlillo says:

    I loved the bit from Red Zone Cuba where Mike tried to relieve the pain by doing the knee test from the short.

       17 likes

  3. bartcow says:

    I like it when the bots try to escape (several times, but Space Mutiny stands out). Also, Timmy ftw, especially since the first time I watched it, I didn’t catch all the stuff going on the left side of the screen until way after; I was too busy paying attention to the movie!

       3 likes

  4. Majorjoe23 says:

    Here’s a topic idea that might be good for the coming weeks: With the success of the Rifftrax/Twilight Kickstarter, what other MST3K related campaigns would you like to see? Cinematic Titanic doing something for their final DVDs, Shout using it to raise money for episodes where the film rights could be too pricey, funding for another Mystie con?

       7 likes

  5. Kenneth Morgan says:

    I’ll go with Crow’s eye problem during “Soultaker”. Crow’s return (“A ROBE?! What the hell?!”) and Tom’s teasing (“I saw everything!”) leave me on the floor laughing.

       7 likes

  6. I love the entire bit of “George Clooney & Robin,” from Pearl heaving Servo across the theater, to the “George Clooney” montage, followed by Pearl standing up and chasing them out of the theater, shaking her fists and screaming “You’re not fit to tie George’s surgical mask!” I still think of that every time I see George Clooney, handsome as he may be, he will always be Pearl’s boyfriend and star of “George Clooney & Robin.”

    I also love Mike having to wrangle the bots back into their seats during the opening credits of “Hobgoblins.” My friend Catch and I used the “If I run out of vomit, can I borrow some of yours?” as often as we could, particularly during department-mandated poetry readings.

       5 likes

  7. Criswell says:

    The Giant Spider Invasion when Mike grabs the scientist’s neck wattle on the screen.

       5 likes

  8. mpc says:

    I liked the bit in Hobgoblins where they placed cardboard cutouts of themselves on their seats.

       15 likes

  9. Murdock Hauser says:

    At the end of “Overdrawn at the Memory Bank” when Mike calls tech support to complain about the movie and at the end of “Godzilla vs Megalon” when Joel leaves his seat to grow just like Jet Jaguar.

       16 likes

  10. Nick Miller says:

    I don’t know if they count but I love the “femmie movie battle” from Alien From LA and the “Next on USA” battle from Outlaw. Simply brilliant ways of getting us through the neverending credit sequences.

       2 likes

  11. I learned a lot from the short visit paid by Pearl and the very kind Mr. Eggelson during the end credits for Delta Knights. I now change my weather stripping every 8 to 10 years and have reduced the pain outflow from my home theater experience by almost 34%.

       9 likes

  12. MarcusVermilion says:

    In “Future War” Mike tries a forced perspective bit with a toy dinosaur and then a giant Servo shows up.

       13 likes

  13. Steve K says:

    @#11
    Cambot J. Nelson, Please!

    Call him Eggs.

       4 likes

  14. Neptune Man says:

    Let me see: during a Commando Cody short, two guys are punching each other, and Joel picks up a POW! sign, moving around, following the punches. When Joel opens an umbrella to cover up a woman’s naughty bits in City Limits. Servo’s head exploding in Fugitive Alien II.
    In Mike Era: the pool cue scene in Girl in Gold Boots, he waited ten years for an opportunity to use it; Mike running in front of a car in Final Justice; the interview with Rick Sloane at the end of Hobgoblins. An adorable moment is when Servo kisses the girlfriend of the Dennis Steckler in The Incredible Strange etc. And last but not least, the forced perspective dinosaurs followed by the giant Servo in Future Wax…I mean War.

       13 likes

  15. MSTie says:

    Anything with Gypsy who, bless her little robot heart, could never quite seem to get the concept of riffing.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X9DBID1bHcQ

    “Gypsy, I weep for you.”

       9 likes

  16. Crow T. Robert Denby says:

    After seeing the movie, Quest of the Delta Knights was the first episode I caught and it left me wishing they could have found more excuses to get Mary Jo in the theater. The Touch of Death bit, where Mike is dead in the theater until Crow Touch-of-Deaths him again is a good bit (considering what’s going on in the The Projected Man at the time). Also going with Neptune Man’s suggestion of the POW! signs Joel holds up during C Cody.

       8 likes

  17. Jason says:

    Nobody gets up, but the guys arguing over the likelihood of a “happily ever after” epilogue over the end credits of Soultaker slays me.

       6 likes

  18. agent mom says:

    Joel standing up during “Gamera vs. Baragon” and making it look like he put his hands on the bowl of the valley in the scene where Gamera destroys the dam and saying “There’s really a lot going on down there.”

       2 likes

  19. ToolAssist says:

    When Mike starts playing pool in Girl in Gold Boots. I love how slowly he does it, like he’s trying not to wake someone up.

       15 likes

  20. Diablodog says:

    What movie is it where Mike gets up and leaves and comes back with popcorn?

       3 likes

  21. ToolAssist says:

    #20 That’s from Batwoman during the title sequence.

       7 likes

  22. Canucklehead says:

    Crow pitching “Final Sacrifice: The Series.” Just brilliant.

    When Mike comes into the theatre for the first time and Crow has to tell him to pick up Servo. “There’s a grate, he can’t get over it.”

       12 likes

  23. chinderwear model says:

    Joel sending the Judge Wapner cut-out flying with a “Fly Judgie, Fly!” in Time of the Apes.
    Crow’s interesting We Will Rowsdower song in The Final Sacrifice always cracks me up. SING IT!

    My favorite is the multiple escape attempts at the beginning of Hobgoblins. Mike proves he is an excellent robot wrangler!

       7 likes

  24. monoceros4 says:

    “Every cough syrup…”
    “Cough syrup…”
    “…mouthwash…”
    “…mouthwash…”
    “…decongestant…”
    “…decongestant…”
    “…that you drink…”
    “…drink…”
    “…is red…”
    “…red…”
    “…or green.”
    “…green.”

    And so forth.

       3 likes

  25. Steve K says:

    So you could argue this one both ways, but I love the bit as the credits are rolling on Time Chasers, when Brain Guy breaks in with promos for “Which is Witch” and “Observer Witness News”.

       18 likes

  26. ck says:

    In the Robot vs. The Aztec Mummy, when a Demon Dog
    comes into the theater and attacks one of the bots.

       8 likes

  27. Droppo says:

    In a word….Timmy.

       5 likes

  28. Trilaan says:

    My favorite bits have always been the silhouette jokes.

    Top 3:

    3: Mike running in front of the car in Final Justice
    2: Mike with the pool cue in The Girl in Gold Boots
    1: Forced Perspective Dinosaurs, featuring Giant Tom Servo duplicate(must’ve gotten that big feeding off other Servo replicas scuttling about the theater between The Human Duplicators(S4E20) and Future War(S10E04), I.E A LOT!

       6 likes

  29. Pemmican says:

    Woot woot #’s 20 and 21! Mike was still debuting in “The Wild Wild World of Batwoman,” and he and the bots still hadn’t gotten to know each other.

    Crow: “You can’t have popcorn in the theatre!” Durned classic, in my book.

    Props also to the “Forced Perspective” bit, or any bicep squeezing or face tickling during the entire series.

       2 likes

  30. One of my favorites is in WARRIOR OF THE LOST WORLD, where Joel stands up and acts like he’s running down the highway. Simple, but effective.

       13 likes

  31. ck says:

    #28

    Come to think of it, it’s a miracle the SoL wasn’t overrun with
    Servos, Giant Servo, the United Servo Men’s Academy Choir, Tom’s
    grandmas (I assume the non-crazed one at least visited him on occasion).
    And then there are the spares apparently hanging out somewhere in the SoL.

    Of course, there’s also that extra Crow wandering around 20th Century Wisconsin.

       7 likes

  32. MSTie says:

    Another one that never fails to crack me up is in “Space Mutiny” where Mike reaches up and appears to feel Slab McChunkHuge’s biceps. I guess I just have a sophisticated, highbrow sense of humor. ;-)

       5 likes

  33. John M Hanna says:

    The song at the end of ‘Final Justice’ makes my brother and I laugh every time.
    “Meatballs fried in LAAAAAARRRDD!!”
    Also at the beginning of the movie where the bots keep trying to leave, not wanting to sit through another Joe Don Baker film.

       3 likes

  34. StarDustMaiden says:

    When Joel peeks over the half screen on the opening credits of “Cave Dwellers” and says “Wow, a lot going on back there, you guys should check it out!”

    Joel’s forced perspective at the end of “Gozilla vs. Megalon”

       8 likes

  35. Flying Saucers Over Oz says:

    Okay, fine. I’ll be the one to mention the ‘Toss!’ song contest bit at the end of, I think, SOULTAKER.

       2 likes

  36. PTomreeves says:

    What movie does Crow say, “I’m on the edge of my seat!” and Mike responds, “You should move back. You’ve got plenty of room.” ?

       2 likes

  37. Gary Bowden says:

    When Joel opens up an umbrella when the naked girl is in the water tower in CITY LIMITS..

       10 likes

  38. Depressing Aunt says:

    “The Crawling Hand”, I love when there’s a close-up of the girl, and Tom says, “Hi. I’m Tom Servo.” Then, the girl screams. I just thought that was a neat bit of comic timing, with a nicely laid-back delivery on Josh’s part.

    The cue cards on “Project Moonbase.” Yes, dude, your speech really is that dull–I’m grateful for Joel’s help to get us through it.

       5 likes

  39. Fred Burroughs says:

    It’s a tense moment when Servo contracts Roji-Panty complex in the theater and goes down.

       11 likes

  40. John H. says:

    The “Toss” singing contest is actually riffing on the Fleetwood Mac song Tusk. (I remember this because I made the same mistake the first time I heard it.)

       5 likes

  41. porp0ise says:

    The time when Tom Servo’s head explodes – wasn’t that in the theatre or was that on the bridge of the SOL?

       3 likes

  42. Jason says:

    City Limits, where Tom keeps thunking his head against Ator’s strong chin.

       3 likes

  43. Neptune Man says:

    40# You should go the Youtube video with the Werewolf end credits, it’s a war zone! People fighting over if it’s TOSS or TUSK. Really sad, but it’s Youtube so I guess it’s normal for them.

       5 likes

  44. Vicki says:

    #36 it’s Space Mutiny during the floor buffer chase scene.

    My favorite theater bits are Mike getting popcorn in batwoman, mike playing pool in gold boots, and the eye thing with crow in soultaker.

       3 likes

  45. Stoneman says:

    In “Sidehackers”, I always liked when Cambot puts up the scoreboard during the sidehacker race, indicating how badly Joel and the bots are beating the movie.

    Also, in “Devil Fish”, when Stella asks Peter where is he going, and he replies “To the mountains!”, and Servo and Tom start laughing and get louder and sillier as the credits roll on- somehow that always gets me going too. It helps a lot that Mike sits there, shaking his head etc., and when they are done he says, “All right. Thats good you guys”, having patiently endured their shtick.

    Man, I miss this show. But, to paraphrase John Lennon when asked about the Beatles’ breakup, “You always have the episodes on DVD to watch”, i.e. no need for maudlin nostalgia.

       7 likes

  46. Smiling Pepperoni's Girl says:

    Mike as a puppet in Prince of Space.

       11 likes

  47. radioman970 says:

    Many, but this one always comes to mind…
    Agent for HARM. Mike pointing out the length of that woman’s thumb.

       4 likes

  48. ServoTron3000 says:

    Commando Cody Chapter 5 as J&TB are starting their 2nd Commando Cody of the day:

    Crow: Hey Servo! Let’s ditch him!

    Then Joel has to chase them down.

       2 likes

  49. Cornjob says:

    How about Joel pretending to grab the top of the black bar during the Cave Dwellers credits and then pretending to look over and comment on “all the cool stuff back there.”

       4 likes

  50. Sitting Duck says:

    @ #42: Ator was in Cave Dwellers.

       2 likes

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