Short: (1956) Surrealistic fantasy trip to the future, which includes a visit to the General Motors “motorama.”
Movie: (1960) A multinational team of astronauts embarks on a moon mission.
First shown: 2/5/94
Opening: While Crow & Tom play tennis, Gypsy has trapped Mike at a tea party
Intro: While Frank roasts Dr. F., Tom has a tennis tantrum
Host segment 1: Nuveena, lady of the future, pops into the SOL and invites M&tB to come back with her
Host segment 2: M&tB prepare to leave with Nuveena
Host segment 3: Nuveena makes the bots into appliances, Mike disapproves, so she pops out
End: Letters, Nuveena pops into and out of Deep 13
Stinger: “Ahh, ridiculous!”
(173 votes, average: 4.53 out of 5)
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• For some, I suspect this is another case where the short kind of takes over the episode. “Design for Dreaming” has become an iconic bit of off-kilter fun, and since it’s in public domain, you see snippets of it all the time. The riffing of it is nothing short of brilliant. In contrast, the feature is in black and white, and has some pretty static stretches. But, me, I love these old rocketship movies (they are my favorite kind of MST3k fodder, with the giant bug movies coming in a close second) and this one’s a hoot. It’s reminiscent, in some respects, of “FIRST SPACESHIP ON VENUS,” what with the conscientiously international crew and all. And the characters and situations are so strange, there’s plenty for the riffers to work with, and they do a great job. And, of course, there’s the Nuveena story arc in the host segments.
• This episode is included in Shout! Factory’s Mystery Science Theater 3000 Collection: Vol. XXXV.
• I’d completely forgotten about the “invisible” face shields on the astronauts helmets! A brilliant, albeit cheesy, solution to the problem of not being able to see or hear an actor in a space helmet.
• Everybody knows the bots arms don’t work, but that doesn’t stop the Brains from suggesting that the bots play tennis. In the “then-current” reference department, the sketches refer to a couple of pro tennis incidents that I suspect are largely forgotten by most people (i.e. non-tennis fans.)
• I love Dr. F’s Milton Berle-esque giant cigar during the celebrity roast. The premise of the sketch itself (speaker at roast just viciously attacks the honoree without any semblance of the warmth and humor that is supposed to be part of the format) has been done before, but Frank carries it off well, as always.
• What does “Just call me Bobo” mean? (Update: A commenter says it’s a reference to the movie “The Grifters.”)
• Callbacks: “It’s a salute to Mr. B Natural!” “It’s a sampo!” (Day the Earth Froze).
• Non-spaghetti ball bumpers: Shot of blackboard–a stuffed animal that might be Grover from “Sesame Street” hits it; pan to beaker.
• Tom Servo says “Humphrey!” when he sees the dog. Kevin had a cocker spaniel named Humphrey for many years–he appeared in the ACEG and in episode 904- WEREWOLF. Sadly, Humphrey has since, ahem, gone to live at a farm in the country.
• In what seems to be a warmup for SPACE MUTINY, the hunky American astronaut is similarly called many brawny-guy names. A full list is in Ward E.
• Bridget is terrific — it is maybe her finest hour on the show — as Nuveena. After the show aired, she was an immediate sensation on the MSTie internet. Male MSTies declared their love, and quite a few female MSTies immediately adopted the moniker or variations on it. It was also the first time any human female was on the bridge of the SOL, for whatever that’s worth.
• Obscure reference: “Everybody to get from street!” a reference to a throwaway line in a now-seldom-seen Cold War comedy called “The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming!” (Some commenters took exception to me calling the movie “largely forgotten,” so I’ve changed the wording.)
• Cast and crew roundup: Producer and story writer Fred Gebhardt also worked in “The Phantom Planet.” Special effects guy Howard A. Anderson (also worked on “Women of the Prehistoric Planet,” “King Dinosaur,” “The Amazing Transparent Man” and “It Lives By Night.” Set designer John Burton also worked on “The Girl in Lovers Lane” and “High School Big Shot.”
In front of the camera, Ken Clark also appeared in “Attack of the Giant Leeches.” Anthony Dexter also appeared in “The Phantom Planet” and “Fire Maidens of Outer Space.” Richard Weber also appeared in “The Phantom Planet.” Tom Conway also appeared in “The She Creature.” Francis X. Bushman also appeared in “The Phantom Planet.”
• CreditsWatch: Host segments directed by Jim Mallon.
• Fave riff from the short: “This is a rebuttal to ‘Roger & Me.’” Honorable mention: “Holly-Go-Weirdly!”
• Fave riff from the movie: “You know you can only apply one-sixth the tongue on the moon?” Honorable mention: “Hey, go stink up your own area!”
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Not a great episode, but Id still like to have it released on DVD at some point…
…a now-largely-forgotten Cold War comedy called “The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming!”
Largely fogotten by whom may I ask ?
Click on my name for a FULL review!
Can anyone shed light of what the “Jewel of Mydia” is? The navigator refers to it when they dig up the “Mydia Stone” on the moon.
Was this the first show that they started using hunky names to describe the alpha male? Chunk Manmusk!
This show is a guilty pleasure of mine. I LOVE this episode and it’s quickly climbing my list of favorites!
I think that the tennis incidents were already pretty dated when referenced — McEnroe and Lendl at Wimbledon for the most part. I’m also pretty sure they’re Mike’s handiwork, as I recall him writing about tennis in the old newsletter.
Sampo – Apparently, Bobo is a character in a novel called “The Grifters” who beats a woman with oranges wrapped in a towel after he realizes she is a con artist who scams him. I haven’t read the book, but it’s actually a very dark reference.
Ah how I loved this episode, both the short and movie.
Short:
* Called riff (meaning I thought of essentially the same thing M&tB did at the same time when watching for the first time): “It’s a salute to Mr. B Natural!” – “Oh God she’s acting like Mr. B Natural!”
* Called riff: “The Shick Electric Razor car!” Though I just called it the electric razor car.
* I’m surprised there weren’t any Phantom of the Opera jokes, but the “Atomic batteries to power” made up for it at the end.
* Favorite riff: “My sword and magic helmet!”
Movie:
* Having seen Space Mutiny before this one, the names for the American Captain just sent me to the floor laughing, especially since they say ’em in a more casual fashion. I wonder how long it took them to come up with those names because I can never think of any good ones for these beefy guys.
* Lawn chairs for the win!
* The bland guy who played the Jewish guy was also Lt. Ray McConnan in Phantom Planet. From the last time I checked imdb those two movies make up 2/3 of his career.
* A conniving cowardly Frenchman? Never!
* I get a laugh at the scene where the Jewish guy gives his dog to the African guy mostly because of the poor dubbing job with the dog’s crying. Dogs can’t cry/whine and pant at the same time.
* This movie had some effect on the space program, I think a probe/satellite from early in the Apollo program was named after the ship in the movie.
* Favorite riffs: The names for the beefy American captain, of course.
While Bridget’s very good in this, her finest moment is probably as Flavia in the “Roman Times” segments in Season 8. Still, her duets with Mike are pretty funny. (“Well, get bent you robot-loving turd!”)
Another facet of the movie that provides hilarity is being able to see the cyc lights during the landing, as Mike pointed out. Also, who was that strange, huge person walking through the set in the background? Such a sloppy movie.
Richard Weber, who plays the whiny Dr. Ruskin, would go on to play Lt. “Good and the Beautiful” Makonnen in “Phantom Planet.” It seems that guy had a penchant for cheesy over-emotive dialogue. Also, there’s ANOTHER character named Makonnen in THIS movie, which always confused me.
#5: Thank you for explaining that. They must have assumed everyone had read that novel (or seen the movie).
And just as I was typing that fact up, Dyne beats me to the punch. Oh well. ;)
Favorite riff: “They can perform Heimlich on Dr. Heinrich!”
The Tennis bit….
McEnroe is still getting mileage out of the ‘grow some hair bit’ in 2008. Hardly forgotten.
The out of order bit is either from ( I think ) a few good men or scent of a woman, each from 92.
The accenty bit could be lendl i guess but it rings a different bell for me, must research.
Yeah, McEnroe stuff never gets old. Hell, all that stuff happened before I was born and I still love it. It’s great when he pops up in TV and movies playing himself, and I loved that commercial he did where he goes to the line judge’s house and admits he was wrong.
The references aren’t really that dated considering he’s still playing tennis.
“Design for Dreaming” is one of the best. Apparently, it’s also culturally significant, as clips of it are frequently seen on the upscale ARTS cable feed. (By the way, doesn’t it seem like Mr. B, Nuveena and the wife in “Once Upon a Honeymoon” must be siblings?)
As for the movie, I love movies like these that assume first, that we got to the moon about twenty or so years later than we actually did, and second, that we sent an international crew. (What space race?) And I also loved the African navigator’s Dudley Do-Right voice.
One of my favorite riffs is from the dog, after the cats get handed over: “You’re going to sell me down the river, too, aren’t you?”
By the way, any plans for a “Favorite Bridget Jones Moment” discussion?
There is no steam in a vacum. this one of those forgotton episodes. only remembered for the short. I thought the movie riffs were great. look like they spent 300 bucks to make this movie. I like the one scene where you see one of the crew walking on the set. Mike says who is that.
Have not seen the full episode, but really dig the short. One of my very favorites. I’d watch this one with or without riffing. Fave riffs: “oooh…Black Diamond!” “Look, dead raccoon of tomorrow.”
Thomas K. Dye #7 – I seem to remember another riff in another episode that mentioned “The Grifters”. Apparently there was a critically acclaimed movie adaptation in 1990 with a pretty good cast, FYI.
Also, “the court’s out of order” is from “And Justice for All” starring Pacino. (I hate that I know all this Hollywood stuff.)
The short is definitely stronger in my mind than the movie. Movie’s okay but not great. Short’s definitely good and makes for some nice host segments. I agree with Thomas K. Dye that Bridget’s best moment was Flavia but this was still great too.
@ #5
I’m surprised there weren’t any Phantom of the Opera jokes, but the “Atomic batteries to power” made up for it at the end.
Actually, Dyne, there is a “Phantom of the Opera” reference in the short. At one point, in the midst of all the nonsense at the car show, one of the guys (I believe Servo… been a while since I’ve seen the short and I’m too lazy to call it up on YouTube) makes some crack about how “this is what you get when you go to a car show with Michael Crawford”. Michael Crawford was the Phantom in the original production of Lloyd Webber’s ubiquitous musical.
http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=1E383F72C6B5A0EC
This is also one of my favorite episodes! Mike and Trace saying anything in a French accent never fails to make me giggle, as well as Tom’s increasing level of fury of “THERE’S NO STEAM IN A VACUUM!!!” And I love the interaction between Mike and Bridget in all the host segments, especially the first one; the big goofy grin on Mike’s face is just priceless.
There is one riff that’s driving me crazy though – right after the moon people send their first message and the overacting flight recorder guy speculates it could have been sent by other earth people already on the moon, Crow says something that sounds like: “Seems that Jerry’s already dickie-birded into the cheese factory, sir.” Does anyone know what he’s saying and/or what that’s from?
Favorite riff:
Crow: Now I’m activating my wings – and I’ll FLY!
I love Trace’s swedish voice right before Nuveena pops up. Kills me everytime. :lol:
I also find the “old rocketship” movies to be among my absolute favorites. Rocketship X-M is still my favorite episode of all time and I love First Spaceship On Venus too. 12 To The Moon is one of the best written post-Joel episodes for me. The movie is terrific goofy fun all on its own and the writers did some great work with it. The lawn chair acceleration couches and invisible face shields still make me laugh.
As for the short, Design For Dreaming also has some of the best writing and performances on the show in the post-Joel era. Inspired jokes like “dead racoon of tomorrow”, “I call no way” and “look out, the bridge to the future is out” are now staple catch-phrases around our house.
As an aside, these old rocket space exploration type films still work extemely well for Joel Hodgson and crew. Doomsday Machine is a great episode of Cinematic Titanic.
Re #20 Danni. I’ll have to view it again tonight, but in general ‘dickie-birded’ is usually a dead give-away that they are riffing off the ‘RAF banter’ sketch from Monty Python’s Flying Circus. Cabbage crates over the briney and all that. Bally ten penny ones sir, dickie birded, over the hows-your-father etc etc.
here it is….
youtube.com/watch?v=5rKYL0tW-Ek
Sampo, you cannot possibly consider “The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming” as forgettable, since it was not only an odd little Cold War comedy, but it featured a very young John Phillip Law. He was quite a cutie.
LOVE the opening segment with Mike floundering his way through Gypsy’s tea party; his talking about Delta Burke, and the beat Gypsy gives before telling him she’s not on the show any more, is just fantastic (and I should have listed this as one of my favorites in the Host Segment discussion for this season!).
As others have said, the short is great, the movie is okay. I did like the beach chairs…though they probably weren’t as comfy as the recliners in Doomsday Machine.
Count me among the chorus of people who found Bridget the best thing about the episode.
I only saw this one recently, but I’d seen the short lots of times before from one of the MST3K Shorts collections. As a short, it’s one of the show’s better ones, but I had no idea that the actual episode featured so much parody of it. So the host segments wound up being automatically funny to begin with, and they were livened by Bridget’s all-singing, all-dancing (well, if you can call that organized flouncing she did “dancing”) performance as Nuveena. It wound up being by far my favorite role she’s had on the show.
And on the subject of Bridget, it was interesting to see her in the MST3K documentary in the 20th anniversary boxed set. Seeing some of the performers, you realized, “Wow, looking at him you can tell twenty years really *have* passed”, but she wasn’t one of ’em. Maybe it’s the different hair ‘do, which suits her so much better. Or maybe she and Mike keep each other young; who knows? I hope she gets a chance to do more with RiffTrax or even maybe CT one day.
favorite riff: “I wonder what Freud would make of that sunhat?”…”sometimes a sunhat is just a sunhat”
Design for Dreaming is one of the most hallucinatory little films I’ve ever seen. Lots of excellent riff, though. “Just because it’s futuristic doesn’t mean it’s practical,” “Future may not be available as seen,” and my favorite, “It’s the extension of my manhood car!”
12 to the Moon was really, really cheap, but I enjoyed it once it stopped preaching at us partway in.
Picture the movie made with Dr. Srangelove as
the German scientist astronaut and Buck Turgisdson and Miss Scott the couple left on the moon.
#23 – thank you – I had a feeling it might be them as Crow said it in a slightly British accent. Geez, and I thought I was a Monty Python fan. I think I need to go re-watch all my Flying Circus episodes again to refresh my memory.
I agree that Bridget was the best thing in the episode, closely followed by the funny names for the hero. When they did the name bit again in Space Mutiny, it just seemed like a rehash to me, and I never understood why people went gaga for it when they’d done it before.
Lendl’s “Why now I am having hard enough time!” whine has become a household favorite thanks to the MST3k crew.
I noticed Frank says something prophetic during his roast of Dr. Forrester. His line about Dr. F dying a slow painful death came true by the eighth season (since Pearl actually murdered him after growing up from that Star Baby form).
I used to have a Jaguar. I forget what I did with it.
an under rated episode…I too love the old stupid spaceship movies. I wished they would have done more of them….Are you listening CT?
I’d like to see this as an official release, my dvd sticks quite a bit and I am sure I have not seen the entire episode…Are you listening Jim?
#35
I’d like to see this as an official release, my dvd sticks quite a bit and I am sure I have not seen the entire episode
============================
Until it’s releaed you can see it on Youtube.
The only problem is it has to be seen in 9 or
10 segments.
#26- I too was pleased at how well Bridget held up. Then again, she is one of the younger cast members.
Not by much though.
I havent seen the episode,although i plan to watch it on youtubebut i have seen the short,and there were places where i literaly rewound it and laughed as hard the third time as the first
for example
“hi honey,is dinner r OH MY GOD”
and since youtube is being s pain in my side,i couldnt get a good glimpse of nuveena,i just saw like 15 seconds
“the kitchen of tomorow the cake”and tom and crow are being used as ovens and a mixer
This looks to be a good ep from what ive seen
Especialy when it pans over the astronauts
“Stupeed amereecens”
“I’d rather be knitting
“I feel tingly”
And
Danni,you never need an excuse to watch monty python :P
wow, just watched straight through for the first time since broadcast. One wacky movie ( the short speaks for itself ).
fave riff : Can I eat you when your dead ?
Great riffing means great movie references…. Casablanca, 2001, the Birds, Dr Dolittle, Savoir Faire is everywhere ( well that’s TV ), Hans Christian Anderson, The Pink Panther.
Also: Looks Like a NORML meeting ( are they still around ? )
And actually Ron Codpiece was directed at Dr. Asmara ‘Blackstronomer’ Markonen and his prominent at the moment package, no ?
The Crowsinart Stand Mixer is inspired.. very trippy.
I gave it a 4, maybe should’ve given it a 5.
The prediction of Doctor Forrester dying secure in the knowledge that no one loves him would appear in the season six finale too, in the fortune cookie at the start of Samson vs The Vampire Women.
Design for Dreaming has got to be the MiSTing Thing Most Often Used In Other Projects. It seems to get called into service whenever any documentary needs footage of The Shiny Fifties, or Old Visions Of The Impractical Future, or just something weird. I suppose it has got all the essential features to be a much-used clip: it’s in color, it’s got lots of odd things in it, it’s in the Prelinger archive where everyone knows they can find it, everybody’s seen it in other documentaries already so they know it’s usable.
A clip of it is even featured in one of the movies at The Rock And Roll Hall of Fame, to demonstrate what life was like before rock and roll. This is despite the fact that as the short shows off the January 1956 Motorama it does postdate several of the events that have to be considered part of rock and roll, such as Alan Freed’s Moondog concert, Little Richard’s first albums being released, and Rock Around The Clock, Shake, Rattle and Roll, and That’s All Right Mama being out.
Hmm, guess I’m the only one who didn’t care for the Nuveena sketch. Ah well, de gustibus non est disputandum . . .
There is a 1967 Peter Sellers film called THE BOBO.
“When they did the name bit again in Space Mutiny, it just seemed like a rehash to me, and I never understood why people went gaga for it when they’d done it before.”
Probably because
– the movie was openly cornier
– the beefy guy stood out more and was more memorably silly (*screams like a woman*)
– the names were generally more over-the-top and goofy the second time around (Crunch Buttstreak!)
– there were many more names total, 39 vs about 12.
Overall, I’d say 12 to the Moon is neither a great nor a terrible episode, with the short and host segments pulling the bulk of the humor load.
re 43 & 31 etc. When it comes to epitomizing the ideals of Lunk Manmeat, the Captain in this movie, original inspiration though he may be, simply can’t hold a candle to the glistening muscle-porn of… Reb Brown is Dave Ryder as Pansy Girlshriek in Space Mutiny.
Re #3 The Jewel of Mydia / Medea / Midian.
This one is shrouded in mystery for me as well.
My best guess would be that it refers to the poisoned jewels that it says here Medea sent to her rival Creusa ( from various classical sources ).
My runners up would be that M*d*a ( however the heck it’s spelled ) is a corruption of Midian or Medina, but I can’t really get from there to anywhere else.
the nyuk nyuk suggestion is that it is the Jewel of Media ( as in TV, Radio etc ). it is attractive and glowing warm at first, but once you accept it it becomes a dangerous fuming menace.
I forgot how dull this picture is. TWO lame meteor showers and a ridiculous ending. Yawn.
Mike’s ill-fitting jacket in the Gypsy tea party bit proves that the man looks good in anything!
“Design for Dreaming” is a great time-capsule embodiment of post WW2 musings on the Future, where cakes frost themselves under shiny domes “Uh-uh- I call no way!” and gorgeous cars practically drive themselves on electronic freeways. If I had to pick, I’d take the Oldsmobile “Golden Rocket.” Wonder where all of those cars are now? The Design for Dreaming gal resembles Carolyn Jones, though not as quirkily beautiful.
The elderly announcer at the beginning of the film is Francis X. Bushman, who in his younger days portrayed the muscular Messala in “Ben Hur.” Apparently he was quite a skilled chariot driver. He was also Sessom in “Phantom Planet.”
I love Mike’s PBS shill riffs during the film’s beginning voice-over. He nails the tone of these network pledge drives. Tom assures us that we’ll “get the tote bag.”
The ‘bots tease Mike about Nuveena- “Why don’t you marry her?” Cute.
The international sniping at the beginning of the movie goes on endlessly and the film is draggy, but the SOL crew do a good job making a silk purse out of this sow’s ear.
Tom Servo mentions several times that “there’s no steam in a vacuum!” What about the geysers of the Jovian moon Io, or the eruptions of Enceladus, moon of Saturn? Is there steam of some sort involved in either of these phenomena? Or how about the outgassing of comets, as they approach the sun? Perhaps there is enough of an atmosphere on the moons to allow steam… I don’t know enough physics, etc. to speculate. But I’m enough of a wanna-be science nerd to mention this stuff! [Anybody out there work at JPL?]
I love the shot that showcases the lights on the soundstage as they disembark from the “rocket” to the “lunar surface.” Lame!
Tom’s panicked cat riffs are funny.
Fave riff: “Hey the schmaltz is on fire!” And Tom’s nod to the Clash.
The rocket on the stick, clearly visible during the gripping sacrificing astronaut sequence is another lame moment.
Not one of my fave eps but any MST3K is always great!
“Just call me Bobo” could also be a jazz reference. Famous jazz musicians in the 40s on always had snappy nicknames (“Bird”, “Satch”, “Cannonball”. In ‘Gamera vs. Zigra’, Joel said “They/Just call me ‘Bags'”, a reference to vibraphonist Milt Jackson). I don’t remember the riff setup, but there was a percussionist named Willie Bobo. Although, I’m sure it was a Peter Sellers reference based on the other riffs in the ep.
I remember the Jaguar 64 along with the several others next generation consoles in the mid 90s that flopped). I recall that commercial and how “Doom” was put on every console with fewer levels/features. And speaking of which…”SEGA!!!!”
re#45
The story of Midian can be found in the biblical book of Numbers, chapters 25 and 31. I don’t think it relates to the movie at all, but it’s a great kid’s story with beheadings, virgin slavery, impalement of an interracial couple, genocide and other fun stuff
Sledge Riprock! :mrgreen:
I missed this episode on its first run, and never saw any reruns, so this was my first time seeing this. Don’t know how THAT happened. Anticipating this discussion, I got this and a few other eps from Sky about a month ago.
Pretty cute. Funny in parts. There were parts where it dragged, but overall, I liked it.
The short was :shock: .
Were they sniffing glue in the fifties?
I liked that Olds Golden Rocket. Want to drive one.
I can’t name all my favorite lines as there are too many to list. I’ll save some for “The Chain Game” over on the Discussion Board side. :smile:
But here’s a few:
For the short:
“I had a near-death experience like this.” – Crow
“Looks like her mother’s little helpers kicked in.” – Servo
“Someone invent Rock-n-Roll PLEASE.” – Mike
For the movie:
“Tonight on Space Court!” – Crow
(And in his Closeau voice) – “How did I knnnoow there were monkeys on boa-rd?”
(And in his Scotty voice) – “There’s a crack in the dilithium crystals – I’ve got to have two hours, Captain!”
And Mike in his (sort of) Scottish accent: “The old course at St. Andrew’s and it’s unforgiving sand traps.”
“There was clearly a stick involved.” – Mike
What I thought was pretty stupid in the movie -when the astronauts are able to get a London station and the announcer talks about how horrible it is that the world seems to be freezing, (or at least many parts of it), then says we now RETURN to our regular PROGRAM?!!! :shock:
Yeah, the world’s freezing, but no one should miss their precious regularly scheduled programs. Uh, I’d think they’d stick with the news on that one.
I liked Servo’s admonition at the end to always bring cats.
Tank Concrete!
The “Bobo” reference even has a sort of back door MST3K connection. Pat Hingle played Bobo in “The Grifters” and who could forget Crow pointing out the gravitas he brought to “Batman and Robin” in the Summer Blockbuster Review of ’97?