Movie: (1969) In a re-edited version of the movie “Marooned,” various obstacles hamper attempts to rescue three NASA astronauts trapped aboard a crippled space capsule.
First shown: 6/6/92
Opening: The Great Crowdini attempts an astounding escape.
Invention exchange: J&tB demonstrate The Dollaroid, while the Mads show off their “facial” tissue
Host segment 1: J&tB present a list of space race advancements
Host segment 2: Reenacting the movie so Crow can do his killer Peck
Host segment 3: J&tB wonder: If one of them had to sacrifice themselves…
End: Magic fun, letters
Stinger: Hackman, demonstrating that he’s good in anything
(226 votes, average: 3.88 out of 5)
Loading...
• And so we begin the second of four 24-episode seasons BBI pumped out. You can really feel how settled in and relaxed they are. As they said in the ACEG, they were luxuriating in that rarity of rarities in the TV world, job security. We start off with a very good but not spectacular episode. The riffing is comfortable and steady, and we haven’t had a star-studded, very watchable movie like this since the KTMA days. None of the segments are clunkers, either, so it’s a great way to start the season.
• This episode was included in Shout! Factory’s “Mystery Science Theater 3000: Vol. XXXII.”
• The stretch between the end of season 3 and the beginning of season 4 was 133 days, the eighth-longest amount of time MSTies had to wait between episodes.
• “Marooned,” the movie Film Ventures International chopped up to create “Space Travelers,” is the only MST3K movie that actually won an Oscar. It won for Special Visual Effects, and was also nominated for cinematography and sound.
• In episode 201- ROCKETSHIP X-M where Joel asks “Why didn’t you just show us ‘Marooned’?” and Dr. F replies “We couldn’t get it!” Guess they could get it after all.
• The opening bit is a little complicated. You’re supposed to notice that Crow accidentally drops the all-important key and nobody thinks to retreive it for him before he is blown to kingdom come. But you could easily miss it.
• Joel’s invention really doesn’t make sense, but they got a good bit out of it anyway.
• In the ACEG, they tell a story about meeting Dennis Miller, whose only comment to them was that he wished they hadn’t riffed “Marooned.” He likes it. It was an early instance of the response they would get a lot with “This Island Earth.”
• The riffing in this one starts a little slowly, largely because the movie itself starts a little slowly. It seems insane now, but I was alive then and I can tell you: The workings of NASA fascinated most Americans, and just watching them work was captivating enough for a lot of people. I’m sure the filmmakers thought nothing of beginning their movie with 10 minutes or so of random NASA footage. But there’s not a lot you can say about it.
• For a moment, J&tB do ethereal “eeeee” singing bit — a reference to the movie “2001: A Space Odyssey” — that they used to such good effect in episode 205- ROCKET ATTACK USA.
• Then-current reference: Somebody mentions the president, and Servo says he’ll “vomit on some Japanese people.” Here’s a report on the incident he’s referring to. Also: Baby Jessica. Jessica, by the way, is married with kids now.
• Crow’s Gregory Peck is truly killer. Joel also attempts a Peck impression and pales by comparison.
• Servo, on the other hand, does a very good Burt Reynolds laugh.
• This ep has not one, not two, but three Firesign Theatre references!
• Host segment 2 is another “broken sketch sketch” — essentially Joel/Mike and the bots try to put on a sketch and the whole thing goes to hell — that was a MST3K staple throughout the years. Not all of them were that funny but this one is pretty good.
• Callback: Crow recalls that he “called dibs” on the ability to say who lives and who dies, back in season 3. Also, “That was number 9!” (Sidehackers)
• The wonderful “aaaaaaaahhh!” closing bit by the Mads became a great way to say goodbye to MSTie pals for years.
• Cast and crew roundup: It probably shouldn’t be surprising that most of the people listed for this movie also worked on KTMA movies, many of which were much more mainstream. 2nd unit director Ralph E. Black was a production manager for “Invasion U.S.A.” Script writer Mayo Simon also worked on “Phase IV.” In front of the camera, David Janssen was also in “Superdome.” James Franciscus was also in “City on Fire.” Tom Stewart was also in “SST: Death Flight.” And Walter Brooke was also in “Bloodlust” and “San Francisco International.”
• CreditsWatch: Additional Contributing Writer: Bridget Jones. Host Segments Directed by: Jim Mallon, but, unlike most of last season, they will take turns as the season goes on. Trace and Frank are no longer “villians” but Dr. F’s last name is still spelled “Forrestor.” Frank is, beginning with this episode, “TV’s Frank.” The new season means a new set of interns, most notably this episode marks the arrival of Patrick Brantseg. Also there was Nathan Devery, Brendan Glynn, Suzette Jamison and Steven Sande. Bryan Beaulieu and Bill W. are gone from the special thanks credit. Added have been Mark Gilbertson, all MSTies coast-to-coast and the authors of the 1st Amendment. This episode also marks the arrival of Bradley J. Keely, as assistant editor. For the entire season, they had the services of Rob “the engineer” Burkhardt in engineering. Clayton James comes in for a two-show stint in hair and makeup.
• Fave riff: “Oh they’re dead. How’s the rabbit?” Honorable mention: “WE’RE ALL GONNA DIE!”
) to help our users cope with "trolls" and other commenters whom they find annoying. Go to our
Space Travelers is one of my favorites, thanks to Crow’s “Killer Peck.”
Everytime I go on a ride here at EPCOT called “Mission:SPACE”, I always say before the launch, “Ok Mission Control, solve your little problems and light this candle!”
A decent film, in a slow, patience-testing kind of way, but there wasn’t enough going on for the Satellite crew to mock.
My favorite riff is the repeated line “Hackman’s good in anything,” which they use even for scenes where Hackman doesn not appear.
My favorite host segment contains Crow doing his excellent Peck impersonation.
My full write-up on this episode is here.
This was the first episode of MST3K I ever saw. As a shy, nerdy 13-year-old not quite sure of who she was or who she wanted to be, I didn’t expect enlightenment to come while channel-surfing and hearing the line “I’m giving Houston the finger!” I laughed, wondered what the hell I was watching, and stuck around to watch the rest. It’s a great starter episode, with a movie that artfully bridges the gap between laughably bad while still being watchable, great riffs and quintessential silly/weird skits. I knew I’d found some kindred spirits in the folks who made this ridiculous program, and I became a die-hard fan. I made friends with fellow closet-MSTies, was active on the BBs of the day, went to conventions, etc. Though I’m all grown-up and MST isn’t so much a central focus of my existence anymore, I have a soft spot for Space Travelers. It’s episode responsible for introducing me to the greatest show ever made, and launching one of the more formative periods of my life in the process.
As a certifiable MST3K fanatic( I own 181 episodes), this is one of the few that I cant seem to connect with, and I know why–“Marooned” seemed like a great movie when I was 10 years old, and when I watch ST I feel like a scorned cast member!! Completeing the episode guide will be a great thing, my home-made copy is wearing thin!!
When one of the Astro-Wives gets taken to the wood-panelled office to call her “dying” husband, suddenly we get what I think is Film Ventures overlaid synth music.
Can anyone consult the original to find out what was replaced?
My observations:
How did the cannon not suck everyone out of the ship when it went off? They mentioned that in Human Duplicators, when the ‘bots didn’t like Joel’s beanie copter.
Joel called the Mads ‘The Great Scout and Cathouse Thursday’ when they called for the invention exchange.
Seems that Sinbad and even Rick Ducomman had better careers than Geechy Guy.
I’m a conservative, but I agree with Frank that Pat Buchanan is evil. :mrgreen:
BTW: Don’t hold it against me that I’m a conservative. lol
Recurring bit: The whole confusing James Franciscus with Tony Franciosa bit, which cumlminated in the final host segment ‘Find the Finder of Lost Loves’ magic bit.
Be back with more.
My comment:
In segment 3 Joel presents the hypothetical question that one of them may have to leave the ship. It’s possible that around this time, behind the scenes, Joel was toying with the idea of departing from the series.
My scattershot observations:
– The Great Crowdini says “I saw Teller do this.” A reference to one half of Penn & Teller. The other half being Penn Gillette, who was at the time the voice of Comedy Central and perhaps the most hated man in mstiedom, because of his voiceovers being played on top of mst’s closing credits. Crow’s position does resemeble Teller’s in their Casey at the Bat trick, which features him chained and straight jacketed over a bed of spikes.
– Joel’s “Roger on that glory hold” line in host segment 2 might rank amongst the most suggestive lines in the series. Or I may have an overactive imagination.
– The Peck as Travis Bickle “Are you talking to me?” riff in response to Peck saying “are we talking about the same thing?” may just be a meta reference to Joe Flaherty’s also killer Peck as Bickle on SCTV. Or it could just be that Peck as Bickle (Pickle?) is inherently funny.
– They riff on James Franciscus sounding like Chuck Heston at one point. The following year, he’d go on to play “Heston light” as the lead astronaut sent to rescue Chuck in Beneath the Planet of the Apes.
Random, Useless Facts:
Before he joined the cast of “The Real McCoys”, Richard Crenna portrayed teenage boys on several radio shows, including the characters Oogie Pringle (A Date with Judy), Bronco (The Great Gildersleeve), and, most famously, Walter Denton (Our Miss Brooks). The last show also starred favorite MST3K punchlines Eve Arden and Gale Gordon (Mr. Mooney). Crenna played Walter Denton on TV for a few years, even though he was pushing thirty.
Observations, Part 2(Electric Boogaloo):
Tom makes a reference to Walter “Big Train” Thompson. This is actually supposed to be Walter Johnson, the baseball pitcher that was nicknamed “Big Train.”
Favorite riff:
Network Commentator: “This is Mission Control, Houston…”
Crow: “We’re all gonna die!!!”
Misspelling correction: It’s Rick Duccomen (I think).
Thought to ponder: Did the writers know that Dan Fogelberg was a fan when they mentioned him here?
The fourth host segment provided a bit of foreshadowing(though it may be unintentional). Joel is looking for cameraderie when he asks what would happen if they wound up like the astronauts in the movie, but the ‘bots are more practical. His statement at the end, “I’m already alone, aren’t I?” shows his intent. This also popped up in the third host segment of Mitchell, where Gypsy asks Joel if he would leave the ship to escape his eminent death. Joel says he wouldn’t leave without the bots: “All for one and one for all; that’s the Robinson way!”
Personal Observations: Like others who’ve posted here, this was one of the first episodes I saw and also one of the first I taped. I’ve always thought season four was the best of the Joel seasons and one of the best of the whole series. It may be because of the cast or the production values, which are much better than most of the movies shown, but it shows the crew at their best. I voted 5 stars.
Great episode, especially the host segments! I still can’t see why the movie won an oscar… was it the only “special effects” movie released that year?
In the list ““Advancements from the Space Program” Basset hound is has been spelled with an extra ‘t’. :wink:
Thora the Basset (with a little assistance from her owner)
Another point about this movie is it actually had some modest influence on actual space history: the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project got a good bit of support from the existence of this movie, which first let everyone on the United States’s side understand what use there would be to providing a way for United States and Soviet Union spaceships to dock in an emergency, and then provided evidence to the Soviet Union that the Americans were taking this possibility seriously.
The docking hardware created for the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project was itself ancestor to the hardware created for the Shuttle-Mir and then the International Space Station projects as well.
Granted the logic of international cooperation was there and compelling already, but the details of just how it worked out would have been different had Marooned not been made. This is therefore the rare experiment that actually shaped history.
(References: The Partnership: A History of the Apollo-Soyuz Test Project, Edward Clinton Ezell and Linda Neuman Ezell, NASA SP-4209; Deke! by Deke Slayton and Michael Cassutt, and Two Sides of the Moon, David Scott, Alexei Leonov.)
Another point is that the book Marooned by Martin Caidin — whose Cyborg would become The Six Million Dollar Man — went through two versions. In the original, published around 1964, the stranded ship was the planned-but-cancelled three-day Mercury mission, and were rescued by a Soviet Vostok and the not-yet-tested Gemini capsule.
By the time the movie was done, Caidin had written a new version of the novel, closer to the movie, where the stranded capsule was an Apollo coming back from a “wet workshop” space station (one of the late-60s plans for Skylab), rescued by a Soyuz (the movie producers had to guess what one looked like) and a lifting-body craft much like the actual X-24A.
Jim Lovell (and many astronauts) loved Marooned, although Marilyn was less happy with it.
Some remembrances of MST3K ep 401 from me: Joel, Crow and Servo seem to have a little fun confusing James Franciscus, one of the astronauts in the film, with Tony Franciosa, star of TV’s Finder of Lost Loves: “James Franciscus…wasn’t he in Finder of Lost Loves?” “No, that was Tony Franciosa.”
Also: I found this episode on YouTube not long ago, and in the Film Ventures version of the film titles, they showed the earth rotating west. What idiots FVI must have – our planet rotates east.
Somewhat obscure reference:
During the blast-off sequence, Joel mentions the Residents, everyones favorite huge eyeball mask wearing, deconstructionist rock group.
YAY!! I have alway felt a little let down by not having a write up of each episode available just prior to re-viewing my copies of MST3K. Thanks for picking this back up again. With Cinematic Titanic, The Film Crew, Rifftrax and Best Brains releasing the DVD four packs, all in full force the interest in the show that started it all is getting larger every day. Thanks again for keeping the faith.
AL
I hadn’t watched this in at least 10 years (probably more). I don’t know why, but I never liked it.
Having watched it twice now, I have no idea why I used to always skip it.
My favorite riff is a reverse riff. Instead of delivering a punchline, they do the set-up and let Peck give the punchline.
Crow (as Peck): “…’see, try to get the BB in the bear’s eye … I love these pocket puzzles! … oop, almost, yep … ”
Peck: D’oh!
I think they also made a reference to Marooned in 310- Fugitive Alien, but it’s been a while since I’ve seen it. Can anybody back me up on this?
This is one of the first episodes I ever saw back during the show’s one year existence in the syndication market. Those were the days.
FordPrefect: There is indeed a Marooned reference in 310, in the scene where the Ken is rescued, Servo says “Oh, I remember this; this is just like in ‘Marooned’ when David Jansen goes to save Gene Hackman and James Franciscus in their derelict spaceship before the Soviet…”
(Yeah; I kinda cheated by checking it out on YouTube, but there you have it! :smile: )
The thing about this particular episode, looking back 15 years later, is how topical it was. There are references to the ’92 primaries (including a sketch involving Pat Buchanan), baby Jessica, and the original American Gladiators, to name afew items of the day. Most MST3K episodes I remember avoided such traps that dated any given show. I also remember reading in the ACEG that Dennis Miller thought the show had “lost its touch” when it did “Marooned”, which he thought was a good movie appartently! In regards to ern2150’s question: I have the original copy of “Marooned”, and that scene’s soundtrack is silence, other than the sound of Lee Grant picking up the phone to talk to Gregory Peck. And before anyone asks, I only bought a copy of it in the first place because I knew it had been spoofed on mst3k….I don’t go out of my way to collect bad movies!!!!
I think this film was first mentioned in the show 201 – Rocketship X-M. In the post movie host segment it is mentioned as one of the films NOT to show to a crew marooned in space, just like airport disaster films should not be shown on commercial flights.
Always great when there was a reference to a movie they eventually riffed. Cant really think of another one right now if there is any more, aside from the mention of Beast of Yucca Flats in 513. Unless you count weird coincidences in the movies themselves.
I knew it had been spoofed on mst3k….I don’t go out of my way to collect bad movies!!!!
Hey, we’re not here to judge, Sean. :-)
Well, there were a hell of a lot of references to The Mole People long before the SciFi era, in the form of those 2 mole persons visiting Deep 13 in seasons 2 and 3, and the Mole People stock footage in Batwoman.
CALLBACK: Near the end of the list of technological advancements made possible by the space program, Tom Servo adds “SPACOM,” a reference to the host segment from 109 PROJECT MOONBASE where the NASA-analogue SPACOM was presented as a mail order miracle product.
Three items:
-One thing I’ve wondered about this movie is the way Pruitt (Richard Crenna) commits suicide. He goes outside the ship, which involves equalizing the pressure inside the capsule with the space outside. Which involves VENTING A LOT OF THEIR BREATHABLE AIR INTO THE VACUUM, thus leaving a lot less for the crew. Who knows? If he’d stayed put, there might’ve been enough for them all to survive. Didn’t any of the technical advisors pick up on this?
-This episode features one of my favorite riffs in the whole series, when Lloyd (Hackman) goes nuts after talking with his wife: Servo’s “Oh, no! He thinks he’s Shatner, for cryin’ out loud!”
-I once did an article on the scenes that BBI had to cut for this movie to fit into the time slot. It’s a shame they couldn’t do the whole movie, like a scene where Keith (Gregory Peck) is speeding down the highway and gets pulled over by the highway patrol. (SUGGESTED RIFF: “Sorry, sir. We thought we were in New Jersey and you were black.”)
When I first saw this movie, I thought it looked like a bad ripoff of the Apollo 13 mission. Then I noticed Marooned was released in 1969, one year before the Apollo 13 mission.
Very funny, Cubby!!! :smile:
A project I’ve been working on is to count the riffs in each episode to find out which ones had the most riffing. I list the count in riffs per minute (RPM). This episide had 638 riffs over 1:16:59 for an average of 8.288 RPMs. That’s a ranking of #128 all-time.
You can find the full results here.
I’d really like to know who the Simon and Garfunkel fan was on the staff – I counted three references to S&G songs or albums in this episode.
Also something I forgot – when Gene gets handed the oxygen bottle, you can see on the gauge that there’s zero pressure in it.
Oh my god….crow’s peck impersonation almost made me pee my pants twice..”You guys don’t mind if I play a little Super Mario?” & “What about two midgets?”…..Classic episode..
Not the best start to Season Four, as quite frankly I didn’t think this was a bad movie. Sure, the SFX are dated by today’s standards but I actually, for the first and only time watching MST3K, found myself more interested in the movie and less in Joel and the ‘Bots riffing.
I did enjoy Crow’s Gregory Peck impression, the “Great Crowdini” bit, their ragging on Gene Hackman’s over-acting (rare for him) and I love the scene where one of the astronauts emerges from the capsule with his arms outstretched and Tom sings “There’s a bright golden haze on the meadow”! Cracks me up every time.
Otherwise, though, this is not one of the better episodes for me.
The first time I heard “…and then he’ll throw up on some Japanese people”, I literally blasted root beer out of my nose.
Observation: When Joel and the Bots are returning from the first host segment, you can see Kevin’s hand reaching up for Servo. It’s really noticeable.
So… what’s the deal with Joel and Jeff Dunham? Were they rivals? Enemies? Friends? The MSTie landscape is littered with references to ventreloquism in general and the woozle named Peanut specifically. Inquiring minds would very much like to be informed!
To two of you, good luck.
To the other…good-bye.
And so begins season 4. For my money this is their finest season. It is a well oiled machine at this point firing on all cylinders. Plus this is the season when I discovered the show.
What kind of Film Ventures International movie is this? I want credit with scenes that in now way relate to the film!
Explain something to me here. If oxygen is in such short supply, how is someone suppose to exit it without losing what is in the chamber?
Callback to Sidehackers: That’s a good one. That’s a number 9.
Overall this was a pretty dull episode. The invention exchange was cut but still nothing special. The host segments were blah as well. The movie was definitely a downer. I guess the riffing was good but for me this is another one that is too dark to help. But then again I liked SST Death Flight. Go figure.
Favorite Riffs:
Gene Hackman “Uria 1 this is Ironman, how do you copy over?” Crow “On a Xerox machine. You?”
Tom “Oh no, he thinks he’s Shattner for crying out loud.”
Controller “Now listen Jim we’re still working on that engine.” Tom “Oh you got the engine down there. No wonder it doesn’t work.”
I have a really old downloaded copy of this. It might be early DAP but there’s no image stamp. In any case there’s some really weird background noise on my copy. I have noted the following times and notes of what I heard:
0:11:17 – cough
0:17:29 – cough
0:31:35 – laughter
0:34:01 – two sneezes
1:05:31 – laughter
1:07:43 – laughter
1:10:19 – laughter
1:12:39 – “And how are you?”
1:15:14 – laughter
Does anyone else have this or an explanation of how it could have happened? I’m assuming it’s whoever was encoding it but have no idea how process could pick up outside noise even with early 2000 tech.
I noticed several things about this one….
* It’s almost a proto-‘Disaster Movie’ of the type Irwin Allen would become famous for. I mean think about it — wikipedia’s got a rundown here http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disaster_film and this film check off nearly all the boxes.
* I noticed only part of the way in that the guys were using a LOT of song references on this one. They usually threw in a few but there just seemed like a ton and really diverse ones. I’m tempted to go back and watch this one again to make a list.
* When watching I like to note some favorite riffs but some of the episodes have some great riffing but it’s almost impossible to separate out the riff from the larger context of the film This is one of THOSE episodes. There are very few riffs that you can pull out as one-liners or use a T-shirt slogans (wink). I found this one funny in many places but it’s the humor wrapped in either the film or Trace’s Peck and David Janssen impersonations which cannot be captured outside the performance.
* Yes, Trace’s Peck is “killer” but does his David Janssen get no love?! He was doing Janssen since KTMA… In fact, one of my favorite riffs is in regards to Janssen: “He has a voice like a body being thrown through a bus window.” I wonder if the gang was aware of Trace’s Peck-ability beforehand or if it’s something that came up in te writer’s room and they decided to run with it?
* Okay. I do pretty well on most of the guys’ TV and movie references. Thanks to age and syndication I’ve actually seen stuff like “Quincy” and “Mannix” and “Love American Style” so I GET those references but here the constant “Finder of Lost Loves” stuff had me bewildered. Never seen the show, never HEARD of the show and after awhile the references to it got annoying because it started to feel like I wasn’t in on the joke.
* Oh, and I noticed Joel had some problems with his “magic trick” at the end. The ‘Ben Gazara’ figure got stuck pretty much giving the game away. I’m kind of surprised they didn’t reshoot that.
@11 Travis–no, but the only other nominee for Best Visual Effects was “Krakatoa, East of Java”. Look at a map and it’ll be pretty clear “Marooned” was a better choice, if not necessarily a good one.
This movie is twice as long as the show itself – which is funny, tons must have been edited..
Yes Dr F “did get it” but under the FVI Space Travelers title
I wonder if they used it for ratings in their Season Premiere episode.
Im curious as to how much time went by between 324 and 401…
I did watch Marooned and its really boring – the episode itself was average, this is one that felt lethargic to me
But with the next episode they were back on track ! :)
Joels hair
Joels knees
a lethargic mst3k episode ?!?!!?
therapy in space !
#39 The early DAP copy of this episode was encoded by two MSTies who accidentally left their computer microphone on while they were watching it. It’s caused much confusion over the years.
Watched this one the other day, and I must say it grows on me with every repeat viewing. I’m still surprised that they were able to get away with two uncensored “goddamn”s in this one – must have been a shock to all the five-year-old letter-writers who watched MST3K so religiously.
Speaking of letters, that’s a really awesome drawing that Joel holds up at the end. I love his rather bamboozled reaction, too. “It’s a picture of us in…clothes…”
DSMan–ep 324 debuted on Jan. 25 of ’92. This ep debuted on June 6. So, 132 days.
I love this episode. Been watching it again for the past week and it really holds up for me. Crow’s Peck is amazing, as many have noted. All the Hackman riffs are hysterical. The slow pace of the film and the relaxed riffing makes for one of the most watchable eps for me. It’s also fun seeing bona fide movie stars in a MST experiment for a change.
The scene with the wives gets me every time. Particularly Joel’s riff…”Cilia, does he know about us?”
Also, Host Segment 3 is simple but I love it. It captures everything about the Joel and the bots dynamic that I love.
I love Joel’s invention, as well. Particularly Tom’s associated breakdown into Joe Pesci over it.
While this site is great for getting me to check out old episodes I haven’t watched for up to 20 years, I’m not going on the Marooned ride again and this is from someone who gave Fu Manchu another chance a couple of weeks ago. I remember this episode as being extremely slow and dull, although after reading the comments I might have to check out the host segments at least. And who here knows the first time the “Hackman is good in anything” line was used, that is a line me an a fellow mstie use a lot to this day. See you all next week as season 4 gets a lot better and is tied with season 3 for my all time favorite season.
Absolutely love this episode. I saw Marooned in the theater when I was a small child and loved it because at the time I loved anything to do with NASA and the race to the Moon. I also remember how weird it seemed that just months after this movie was in the theater we had a real life incident that resembled it a little too closely. Marooned was released December 1969 and the Apollo 13 incident occurred in April 1970.
The first joke of the film if I recall has to do with “self cleaning ducks” and oil companies polluting the water in the area of Florida and I laughed hysterically at it the first time I heard it on the day this episode first aired. Any doubts about them riffing on a large budget “good movie” with good acting and direction quickly vanished. One of my favorite scenes in the movie is when Mission Control is letting the astronauts speak with their wives because the jokes from Joel and the ‘Bots during that sequence are so dark and so funny and so contrary to the solemn mood the film is trying to establish, it’s maybe some of the best writing on the show ever.
Some of my favorite jokes:
– Self cleaning ducks.
– Hey, check it out, I’m givin’ Houston the finger.
– Now that that one guy is gone they’re really cutting loose on the oxygen.
– We suggest you start breathing in shifts. (said by Crow in his awesome Gregory Peck voice)
– You know that insurance bill? I suggest you find it and pay it.
– I need a nap, just a little winky-dink.
This may be an episode that never makes it to DVD because of the film used, which is a real shame because I think it’s one of the strongest episodes of the show. They really nailed the film with unique skill in this case, deconstructing everything the movie makers were trying to accomplish in hilarious fashion. 5 stars!
I have a really hard time imagining someone unable to get the key bit in the opening sequence – it’s a huge key, Crow makes verbal reference to it, etc.
As mentioned above, there are a lot of Classic Rock references in this one, more than usual. Off the top of my head:
“Wednesday Morning, 3am” – Simon and Garfunkel
Joel sings a few lines from “Roundabout” – Yes
Someone sings a few lines from “El Condor Pasa” (I think it was that song) – Simon and Garfunkel
“Breathe deep, the gathering gloom” – Moody Blues (They use this riff several times throughout the series)
Someone sings a few lines from “Coming into Los Angeles” – Arlo Guthrie
During the instrument checks, someone says “E.L. Off” and Joel responds “E.L.O” – Electric Light Orchestra.
What am I missing?
Oops, forgot: “Riding the Storm Out” – REO Speedwagon.