Movie: (1977) A troubled teen finds an alien’s weapon and takes revenge on those who taunted him.
First shown: 5/18/96
Opening: With Mike tied up, Crow and Tom present the “Thunderdome” joke
Intro: Dr. F.’s funding has been cut, so he cuts the SOL loose! But Tom gets the thrusters working
Host segment 1: The SOL picks up Monad, an annoying robot
Host segment 2: The SOL hits a field of star babies — and one of them needs changing
Host segment 3: With the SOL heading toward a black hole, Mike undergoes a terrifying but useful transformation
End: The SOL reaches the edge of the universe and its inhabitants become beings of pure energy. Meanwhile, Dr. F. becomes unstuck in time, has a revelation and is reborn
Stinger: “Faaar out!”
(259 votes, average: 4.62 out of 5)
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• And so we come to the end of another era of MST3K and the departure of MST3K’s powerhouse, Trace Beaulieu. It really is hard to imagine that the show could have become the classic it is without him, and while it did manage to find its footing again after his departure, his absence was keenly felt for a long time. Thanks for everything, Trace.
• As for the episode itself, it’s mostly a winner. As usual when they have a story to tell in the host segments, they do it with brisk efficiency. The sci-fi parodies are everywhere (perhaps preparing viewers — and themselves — for what was to come) and a couple of the segments are classics. The riffing is steady and strong — and they had a LOT to work with. All in all, it would have made a fine farewell episode if the show had not been picked up.
• This episode appears in Shout! Factory’s “20th Anniversary Edition.”
• References.
• Mike writes about the episode and then Paul, Mary Jo and Kevin wrap up the season here.
• Joel Hodgson’s “TV Wheel” was shown immediately following this episode’s debut, so it was kind of a big day for MSTies.
• It had been 10 weeks since the last new episode and, as far as anybody knew when this first aired, there would never be another episode again. As it turned out, we would have to wait eight and a half months.
• In his writeup, Mike explains that the hilarious opening sketch was something that arose from a running gag in the writing room. I actually had an opportunity to use the thunderdome joke recently. Its message is still timely.
• The umbilicus, completely forgotten since about mid-season six, suddenly makes a reappearance and is suddenly a critical connection that determines whether the SOL’s orbit begins to decay or not. (And in the “how does he eat and breathe?” department, what was preventing their orbit from decaying in seasons K through 5?) Mike notices this in his writeup as well.
• I love how Mike does the Star Trek “shirt tug” before he says “Engage!”
• It’s fun to make fun of Kim Milford, who plays Billy, but that becomes more difficult after you find out that Milford died of heart failure following open heart surgery. He was only 37. (Incidentally he did NOT die of HIV, as was rumored.)
• You might recognize some of the background score. It’s the same Richard Band noodling that was also used in the movie in episode 110-ROBOT HOLOCAUST.
• Callbacks: “Roxie!” (Eegah) also “Eegah!” “It was after the Acropolis.” (Robot Holocaust) “Hi, I’m Max Keller.” (Master Ninja I) “It’s the Coleman Francis mountain!” Also a mention of Cherokee Jack. “Robert Ginty” (Warrior of the Lost World). And “Leave the Bronx!”
• I love the riff: “Let’s pop amyls and watch ‘Days.'” I’d assumed he was referring to the soap opera “Days of Our Lives” but a commenter suggested he might be saying “Dazed” as in the movie “Dazed and Confused,” which might also make sense. I previously asked if that line was from something and nobody so far has recognized it.
• Of course that’s Jim as the voice of Monad the perfection-seeking robot. It’s a funny idea but the bit feels a little rushed to me.
• After going several seasons without so much as making mention of it, this episode features not one but two uses of the “hatch” at upstage left. In the past it has been used by Joel/Mike to get to the theater. Now it seems to be a portal into space. Mike also notices this in his writeup.
• The “changing the starbaby” bit is a cute idea (I especially like Mike as the quintessential NASA flight controller guy), but it doesn’t really have a payoff (“put it on a shelf”?).
• The whole “ready for some football” thing became a catchphrase, and long-lived one. it pops up every fall on MSTie social media to this day.
• Obscure riff: “This sucks, I was supposed to headline,” as the characters pull up in a car together. This is reference, as I think I have mentioned before, to the experience many of the writers had as traveling comics working a circuit of comedy clubs in the upper midwest. They tended to travel to the club in one car, with the headliner getting the best seat, etc.
• Over several seasons, they’d established Mike’s bizarre ability to “become” other people at times of stress. He became Carol Channing and Kenny G, for example. This strange notion finally pays off in segment 3 when Mike — in one of the most notorious segments of the series — becomes “Star Trek Voyager”‘s Captain Janeway and saves the day.
• The whole Leonard Maltin thing really does point up the fundamental flaw of his rating system. I was once a devotee of his books: buying a new one every September was an annual rite of the fall. And before the arrival of the IMDB (which pretty much made Maltin’s guide superfluous) it was pretty handy. But I always felt his rating system was completely out of whack. The problem, to begin with, was he used a four-star rating system when a five-star system would have served him better. But the bigger flaw in the system was that, for reasons that I felt were never adequately explained, his lowest rating (other than “bomb”) was 1-and-half stars. No film received a one-star or half-star rating, which created a kind of odd star-rating inflation among bad movies. Had he made use of the half-star and one-star ratings, I believe this sort of problem would not have happened (or at least would not have been so acute) and he might not have let himself in for the well-deserved mockery he gets here.
• By the way: in Ward E we have a list of MSTed movies that have been given 2-and-a-half stars by Leonard Maltin.
• The final bit, of course, is amazing; as Mike notes, that’s Trace’s dad (who has since passed away) as “old Forrester.” The final moment of that segment gives me chills every time.
• Cast and crew roundup: Editor Jodie Copelan also worked on “Ring of Terror” and “Night of the Blood Beast.” Special effects guy Harry Woolman also worked on “The Incredible Melting Man.” “Hangar 18” and “Agent for H.A.R.M.” Score composer Richard Band also worked on “Robot Holocaust” (as noted above) and “Being From Another Planet.”
In front of the camera: Cheryl Smith was also in “The Incredible Melting Man.” Keenan Wynn will be seen again in “Parts: The Clonus Horror.”
• CreditsWatch: Host segments directed by Trace Beaulieu. This of course was Trace’s last episode with the show. In addition to his acting and writing credits, this is the last episode he got “art direction” and “set design” credits. Joel Hodgson’s and Jef Maynard’s “set design” credits end with this episode as well. The “additional original music written and arranged by” credit goes away completely. This was Helen Espinoza’s last episode as prop master. It is Beth “Beez” McKeever’s last show as prop assistant (she would get a promotion beginning with season eight). We also bid farewell to: production manager/post-production coordinator Wendell Jon Anderson, production assistant Michael D. Parker, Info Club poobah Julie Walker (assistant poobah Barb Tebben would get a promotion in season eight) and interns Danika King, Ben Mooers and Kelly Schrandt.
• Fave riff: “So they’re just off County Road C goin’ at it, huh?” Honorable mention: “Look! Everyone was sending a sheet of paper to everyone else.”
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This is an episode I never get tired of watching. It contains my favorite running joke: “Ready for some football.” Never fails to send me into hysterics when it pops up in odd places.
I also love the few instances when the movie just meanders and Mike and the bots just start chit-chatting about whatever. You know that when a group of people whose mission it is to fill up the empty spaces in the movie just can’t work up the enthusiasm to actually mention said movie, your film is dying.
Leave Leonard Maltin alone! (denby call back)
Although I don’t disagree with you, you have to give LM props for poking fun at his rating system and I assume allowing M&TB to do so a few times in other episodes, I think!?
That’s probably “Williams and Ree,” aka “The Indian and the White Guy” — a South Dakotan musical/comedy duo that’s been around for decades. It seemed like they were always on South Dakota Public TV back when they had fundraisers. A lot of folksy self-depreciating humor that goes over well West of the Missouri River and in Reservation Casinos.
My favorite line is the “County Road C” one, too — in part because I lived about a block from it for awhile. They referenced the Ramsey County-Lettered highways often…I remember one from Red Zone Cuba too.
We also like to make fun to Rainbeaux Smith too, and she died from hepatitis in 2002. This movie’s kind of depressing if you think about it too much.
So….was there ever a Laserblast II?
“That’s probably “Williams and Ree,” aka “The Indian and the White Guy” — a South Dakotan musical/comedy duo that’s been around for decades. It seemed like they were always on South Dakota Public TV back when they had fundraisers. A lot of folksy self-depreciating humor that goes over well West of the Missouri River and in Reservation Casinos.”
They also made quite regular appearances on various shows on the old Nashville Network, which was still around back when this episode aired. They had their own dessert segment on Florence Henderson’s cooking show on TNN. I used to watch it just to see them.
This episode has a Dixie Dregs reference- one of the better jazz/fusion bands from the 1970’s- good job Brains!
“That’s probably “Williams and Ree,” aka “The Indian and the White Guy” — a South Dakotan musical/comedy duo that’s been around for decades. It seemed like they were always on South Dakota Public TV back when they had fundraisers. A lot of folksy self-depreciating humor that goes over well West of the Missouri River and in Reservation Casinos.”
They also made quite regular appearances on various shows on the old Nashville Network, which was still around back when this episode aired. They had their own dessert segment on Florence Henderson’s cooking show on TNN. I used to watch it just to see them.
Finally. The end of Season 7. “Laserblast” is my favorite of that sad little season. Not matter how many times they say it, ‘READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL” makes me laugh every time. I actually used it as a caption for this town hall meeting pic yesterday with this Hank Williams Jr. lookalike pointing and screaming about healthcare or something(Huffington Post). While I enjoy the episode, I look forward to the phenominal Season 8.
“I am responsible for the lives of 144 crewmen on this ship. 140 which we never see” was a classic Voyager rip. “sheet cake and back fat” pretty much was the basis for the whole movie. the duck/turtles from altair 6 being a close second.
So, when are you gonna sneak in “Assignment: Venezuela”? Or are we only going to be doing broadcast episodes?
“It’s [sic] message is still relevant.”
No apostrophe, Sampo. :)
I’m really looking forward to season 8, thanks for jumping right in on that next week. It’s my favorite season hands down, I sure hope some of the haters will give it a chance!
A few notes:
-Well, any movie that features Huw Morgan and Mandark in the cast is worthy of note. It’s still not particularly good, but it’s worthy of note.
-Mike not only becomes Janeway in this one (great use of Treknobabble, by the way), he also becomes Ed Harris as Gene Kranz, even down to the vest & headset.
-I can’t remember, was this the last time Magic Voice was mentioned?
-Oh, and did anyone notice that the closing music on this movie is the same music used for “Incredible Melting Man” and “Robot Holocaust”? That’s a cost-cutting measure worthy of Roger Corman.
-Finally, I remember taking the studio tour during ConventioCon II and seeing the giant videocassette on display in the writers’ room. Was that auctioned off, too?
Laserblast is an awesome episode. But yeah most of the cast in the movie are quite dead. I had see the movie a couple of times long before it was on MST, and the only thing that came to mind is just how cheeseball and cheap it was. The blowing up of the Star Wars sign, purpose of that was? I guess jealousy cause that film had a bigger budget. Anyway lots of great riffs, loved the host segments too, but yeah the ending was kinda sad!!
For some reason, the riff “Hey Yurtle! You Left your shell in the ship!” cracks me up every time. It’s the perfect comment. :lol:
That’s not Mike as the “quintessential NASA administrator”, that’s him as Gene Kranz, flight director. The Apollo 13 portrayal was remarkably accurate to his real-life body language.
I was at a convention with a friend and one of the Media Room entertainments was this episode. While he liked MST3K — and would one day have an episode of it play at his bachelor party — he was still kind of new to it at the time, and had to flee before the Monad host sketch. And he had managed through over half of The Castle of Fu Manchu, too.
The first time I saw this episode I thought it started kind of slowly and wondered if maybe cancellation was right. But on re-watching I realized, oh, boy, this is really fantastic, one of the all-time best. Sometimes episodes rebound in one’s opinion like that. (Possible weekend topic there, too: episodes that changed most in your opinion in the shortest time.)
What was with that whole Star Wars sign thing, anyway, other than the producers having a little fun at a movie way more better-er than theirs? Did 1978 see a lot of signs merely proclaiming the existence of Star Wars dotting the sides of southwestern highways?
Eddie Deezen and his pal got their insurance claim settled really quickly. Just observing.
Just put it on a shelf somewhere!
I love that stoned out van driver. “Torgo on the Road” as I like to call him. And I like to think of Eddie as that little dog always bouncing around that big bulldog in the Looney Tunes cartoon. “Chuck is my hee-ro ’cause he’s so big and strong.”
I too, am ready for some Football, just as soon as we get beyond Thunderdome.
Movie:
* This definitely takes place in either New Mexico or Arizona.
* “Wow, Roddy McDowell AND Dave Allen!” – As a personal callback to Catalina Caper; the only legitimate talent in this film.
* Despite having seen this one no less than half a dozen times by now, I still can’t figure out exactly who the guy in the suit is or why he’s there.
* I really don’t like the stinger for this one. It should have been the part where Billy runs into the side of his van after Cathy places the medallion on him, prompting an, “Oof! That was dumb!” from Servo.
* “Illegal use of a Deezen!” perfectly describes Eddie’s entire role.
* The fat cop’s name is Officer Unger. Did anyone else christen him “Officer Hunger?”
* Called riff: “There’s your camera crew!” – Crow: “Your film crew, ladies and gentlemen!”
* I enjoy the first half a lot more than the 2nd. It just slows down but remains great overall.
* Favorite riffs:
“Now look, just because that mine went off in your helmet…” – Mike
“She’s one of the turtle aliens!” – Crow
“Someone threw away a perfectly good arm remover.” – Servo
And, of course, the “Are you ready for some FOOTBALL?!” running gag. There’s a callback from Bill to it in the Rifftrax short “Each Child is Different.”
Host Segments:
* I’m glad this episode minimized Pearl’s screen time. Given all that Dr. F had to do, she really didn’t need to be in there for longer than she was.
* While the Monad segment does feel rushed, I absolutely love its voice. I’m still trying to perfect an imitation.
* As hilarious as the Captain Mike Janeway segment is, it wouldn’t be nearly as funny without Crow and Servo’s screams when they first see him like that.
* Favorite line: “I am responsible for the lives of 144 crewmen on this ship; 140 which we never see.” – Captain Mike Janeway
Definitely just about the best episode of an all-too-short season. The riffing is constant, and the whole ending sequence is absolutely brilliant.
Favorite movie moment has to be when the two “turtle aliens” are speaking with the “head turtle” via viewscreen…
“Howdy Doo!”
“So get out there and sell, sell, sell!”
and the one that cracks me up every time: “Well…did you?”
Definitely the end of an Era. Trace’s departure was felt. Deep 13 is gone forever as well.
The movie and the riffing are again hilarious. Definitely my favorite of season 7. What an oddball movie. Are we supposed to like or feel sorry for the murderous twenty-something teen Billy? And the purpose of Bill Bixby’s character? I guess before the X-Files filmmakers had no clue how to handle mysterious government types. Not that movie knew how to handle anybody. And poor Roddy McDowall. From ape movie to ape movie to this. Eddie Deezen’s nerd bully was perhaps the most well rounded and defined character of the film.
It was also certainly strange to hear the music in Robot Holocaust show up in this film which means as bad as Robot Holocaust was it couldn’t even afford to have original music.
Should we thank or bash Comedy Central for actually putting MST3K on cable until finally unceremoniously canning it six episodes into this season?
As other have already said, that has to have been a Williams and Reed reference. Weird, though, because I never heard it when I watched the episode. Time to pop in the DVD again!
By the way, a friend of mine who does Youtube Poops (random and/or humorous video remixes, for those not in the know; “the right people will get it,” truly) did a video using footage of one of their South Dakota public TV specials, turning it into he titled “Rilliams and Wii.”
I didn’t know they did anything more than public TV stuff.
The County Road C riff is my favorite as well. I love it in the Janeway host segment where Tom says, in a perfectly baffled and worried voice, “What’s he doing with my toy phone?” I watched this episode with my dad a few months ago, and he mentioned that he actually saw this movie in theaters when it was first released…
“Terrible name for laser eye surgery, scares away the customers!” Top-notch episode to cap off an excellent, if somewhat brief, season. If this HAD been the final show, they would have gone out on quite a high note! Confession: I am so not a Trekkie that I didn’t even know who the sam heck Mike was supposed to be. Sad, really. “Well,I’d better go. All my rowdy friends are comin’ over tonight.”
Oh, and the Thunderdome joke has been around for a while… “Alien From LA” has a riff that is pretty similar.
The one riff that gets me every time:
“Won’t he be surprised that it doesn’t go POW, but SVWISH!”
This is the only MST’d movie I ever saw in the theaters. Dad took us to it because it looked vaguely like “Star Wars.” I remember thinking two things: the kid did look something like Mark Hamill, and that once the movie was over, I couldn’t remember a thing about it other than the kid’s repeated “laserblasting.”
That’s why it’s so ironic that I never knew this episode ever aired. I’d heard that MST 3K had been cancelled but I never knew about this particular episode. At the time, it seemed like CC was determined to repeat “The Giant Gila Monster” until I was dead sick of it. I was thrilled when I found out SciFi was taking up the slack… but even then I didn’t know that Trace wouldn’t be a part of it until I heard Crow’s voice and thought “Hey…”
That might be a good idea for a weekend discussion… “What were your thoughts when CC cancelled MST?”
Anyway, my favorite riff:
“Put a pin spot on Mr. McDowell’s right ear, please.”
#3: “So….was there ever a Laserblast II?”
Believe it or not, there had been talk of one. Charles Band was going to produce it, but I think it morphed into “Deadly Weapon.”
Hate to be the downer this time, but this is one of the rare episodes that I don’t care for. The movie is such a big slab of nothing that the riffing suffers as a consequence. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not their fault, but what is there to comment on when the movie just hangs around at a party for twenty minutes? The repetition of the “ready for some football” riff seemed aimed at filling up space in this void of a film. As for the sketches, each host segment seems dedicated to mockery of a different sci-fi franchise, of which I must be largely ignorant because I didn’t get most of the references.
I can’t help it; this one leaves me cold. To each his own I guess.
I am, however, greatly looking forward to the coverage of the upcoming seasons. Sad to see yet more of the team depart, but after their adjustment period, season eight takes off, showing some of the MST crew’s best efforts.
still pretty funny, but probably my least favorite of season 7. some of the bits with the crazy old codger are pretty good, but most of the rest doesn’t really hit home for me. not sure why… just sort of lame.
Laserblast = 2 and a half stars
Taxi Driver = 2 stars. ONLY 2 !!!
Laserblast rated above Taxi Driver. Let that one sink in.
” Somebody references “Williams and Reed.” Google turns up nothing.”
A Google search for “Williams and Reed” yielded that Robin Williams and Jerry Reed worked together on the movie “The Survivors”. I’ve not seen it. Don’t know if that’s helpful.
“It’s fun to make fun of Kim Milford, who plays Billy, but that becomes more difficult after you find out that Milford died of a young age from complications due to AIDS. RIP Kim.”
According to both IMDB and Wikipedia:
On June 16, 1988, Milford died of heart failure following open heart surgery several weeks earlier. He was 37 years old.
Rainbeaux Smith was also in “The Incredible Melting Man”
Evan, I support you in your love of Season 8. The ratio of great episodes to bad is fantastic. So many of my favs come from that year. Bill is a great Crow(although by his own admission the puppetry took him a while to figure out), and an ever better Observer. Finally, Pearl comes into her own. Evil, threatening, and hopelessly incompetant, she almost equals Clay for her colossal failure rate.
Super Agent Icky Elf: Thanks so much for the correction. I believe that his IMDB file used to give different details of his death, and they stuck in my head. I foolishly did not check for updates. My apologies.
What character did Rainbeaux Smith play?
I heart this episode. I’ve seen it a dozen times.
Obligatory Favorite Lines Collection:
– “Personally, I can never get enough sheet cake.”
– “Sometimes I worry I’m not shallow enough!”
– “Why did you open all the cans of soup, Grandpa?”
– “Isn’t that doorknob abnormally high?”
– “Oh, Billy, between you, and the motor oil, and your B.O., and the scabby hole in your chest…. I just love you.”
I never saw Laserblast until the DVD release (hmm…at time of episode airing I would’ve been…four), which is surprising since it’s such a notorious episode. Even then, it was the last one I actually watched. I have a hard time watching the “departure” episodes (Mitchell, Samson, Laserblast, and Diabolik), but after viewing, I realized it’s one I could watch a lot. And…I did. A lot.
Favorite line: “She undercut the subtly nuance of my wiener joke!”
The host segments are probably my favorite combined set, which is saying something because they’re disjointed and aren’t really telling a story (as opposed to Timmy, bomber Frank, etc.). Mike seems to be channeling his early fatherhood days with the “put it on a shelf somewhere”. =P (Oh, I kid because I love.) But hands down…the most memorable and yet horrifying sketch is Mike as Janeway. The first time I saw it? I was reeling in terror. The second time was a mix of horror and laughing, and now I’ve gotten over it with minimal horror flashbacks.
I guess I’m lucky for not being the age I am now in 1996, because I’d be frothing at the mouth and having panic attacks. What a terrible way to end the school year and spend your summer and then first semester, wondering what the fate of your favorite show was…
Cheryl Smith, aka “Rainbeaux” Smith, was Cathy. Kathy. Whatever. The blonde chick.
We have a theater here that shows odd shorts and bits of strange films before the movies and one time my friend and I walked in and I looked up at the screen shocked to see a scene from Laserblast. We sat down and I started going through the riffs and she was cracking up. She doesn’t watch the show but knows how much I love it so she was picking on me for having the riffs memorized.
Fave riff:
“That’s $5 for the butt nudge”
I’m also looking forward to season 8 – love the old b+w crazy sci fi films!!
Leonard Maltin must have been a really good sport to appear on the show later (episode 909 “Gorgo”) after the brains trashed his movie rating system.
Did anyone notice in the last scene where Billy is shooting up a city street, there is a shot of a store window that says SMC Cartage Co.? That was the name of the business that was a front for gangster Bugs Moran. It was also where the St. Valentines Day Massacre happened. They must have been filming on a studio lot where a movie about Al Capone had been made.
It’s nice to see all of the love for this episode! Pesonally, this is one of my favorites, particularly the host segments. In addition to all of the awesome riffs mentioned above, I love how they cap off the “ready for some football” string. Just when you are getting sick of it, they hit you with “all my rowdy friends are coming over.” It is a beautiful thing.
A few more favorite riffs:
“This forced perspective is so phony. He’s not really that big.”
“I was getting into my ape role…”
“Sheet cake and back fat.”
“The Army of the Potomac has us on the run, sweetie.”
“Ever since the Colonel got back from the Spanish-American War.”
Great episode and a fun way to bring the Comedy Central era to a close.
Trace Beaulieu had a LOT of great riffs this episode as Crow. Be it the skits or the movie jokes, he went out on a high note here.
Interesting that (compared with Diabolik) this episode had no finality to it, apart from the first and last host segments. Granted, the crew had the notion that their future was up in the air at the time, but I just find it funny to look at what could have been their last episode and see Mike & the ‘Bots carrying on as if it was business as usual.
Applause goes to Jim for making the Monad skit amusing with his whiny, argumentative performance.
And of course, Mike looks like he had a real hell of a good time making this, judging by the starbabies skit and the whole Janeway thing.
As for the movie, it’s wall-to-wall goofiness. The riffs on Eddie Deezen were all pitch-perfect. Even in a film in which there are aliens and a large laser cannon and everything, Deezen’s presence here seems so surreal and the riffers really latch onto that.
Count me in among those who found the “ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL?!” riffs to be hilarious. Probably the best one was when the big cop chided the Jamie Farr lookalike cop for eating the tamale, causing Crow to say downheartedly: “I think that you might not be ready for some football.”
The crew’s treatment of the aliens was very funny, too. There’s one moment in this film that gets me every time. When one of the aliens has his back turned to the camera, it looks as if he’s playing his detection device like a guitar, causing Servo to imitate some guy jamming out a guitar solo (the name of the song escapes me, though).
Loved all the callbacks to previous episodes here. Let’s not forget my favorite, which would be Crow’s “Hi! I’m Max Keller!” (from the Master Ninja episodes) over a shot of Billy’s van. The Robot Holocaust callback (“it was after the Acropolis…”) wasn’t too bad, either.
And just as I really enjoyed the end credits riffing throughout the season, I got some big laughs out of the Maltin skewering at the end. Fine way to bring the movie riffing to a close.
Like Smoothie of Great Power said in comment #16, I probably would’ve chosen a different stinger for this episode. I might have gone with the two stoner cops causing the one car to flip over and their subsequent reactions.
Some of my favorite riffs:
-Starsky and Hutch have been together a little TOO long.
-Stephen Stills and Bill Gates!
-Someone threw away a perfectly good arm remover!
-Here’s my Merle Haggard Visa, I assume you take that.
-Nature videos of big spiders goin’ at it are more appealing.
-This is how advanced the aliens are, they can edit the scene down!
-His horn is caught in some kind of bebop rhythm.
-I think they were going for a “Touch of Evil” feel, but they got a touch of something else.
-It appears to be growing into a “Wizard of Oz” commemorative plate.
-Isn’t that doorknob abnormally high?
-Michael Caine’s puffy sister!
-Well, goodbye, Mrs. Joe Don Baker.
-Red Zone Cuba 3: The Destruction of Cherokee Jack!
-Is this one of those movies based on a Jane Austen novel?
-Hey, Eddie! Hey, Chuck! I like the flames you painted on your… ohhhhhhhhh. (Best riff of the episode.)
-A Miss Hathaway alien!
-This is really where he hits his stride as an actor.
Awww. And another era comes to a close. This one hurts me a bit to watch because Trace was far and away my favorite performer on the show. Hell, I could fill up this whole page with reasons why was my favorite but i doubt you’d want to read that. Let’s just say the show was never the same without him and leave it at that.
As for the episode itself, it’s great closer to a great season. They do a good job at simultaneously ending the show but keeping it open-ended enough to return. Lucky for us, they do…Season 8 contains many of my favorite episodes. It gets kinda shaky after that, though.
Oh, and I must make a mention of the two pot smoking cops. I was mighty surprised that they let that scene through. Usually, movies with pot smoking scenes are hacked to death (just TRY and watch Half Baked on tv…it’s just silly). I can only imagine that by this time Comedy Central wasn’t paying any attention to the content of these episodes… :roll:
“I think it’s the ‘stermun’… does that sound right?”
“OK, thunderbucket, get ready to meet your match!”
“Bike rack!”
I figure that the destruction of the Star Wars sign was due to a misperception that people would be so tired of the hype surrounding Star Wars that they’d cheer or something when the sign was destroyed. Either that or the filmmakers were even more deluded and thought that their movie really “blew away” SW in terms of quality.
Watching this episode first-run back in ’96 was bittersweet; yes, it was a great episode…but also the last–or so it seemed. But, I thought at the time, at least they went out on a very high note. I liked the host-segment send-ups of various sci-fi films/shows/tropes, the kind of thing I wish they had done more of (and one of the many things I liked about season 8).
Of course, a “Prisoner” reference (“It’s Rover from ‘The Prisoner’!” during the pool party) is always a plus in my book.
And I still have tremendous pangs of guilt whenever I find myself not ready for some football.
All of the riffs where M&TB’s put words in the turtle aliens mouths have me on the floor “…well, did you?” “Hey, read between the lines!” “That’s me! I did it!” “But sir, we’ve already SEEN Laserblast!”
“Did I fire six gorlocks or only five?”
“Just let me Deezen by ya!”
“Are you a woman?”
“I saw a Woolman drinkin’ a pina colada at Trader Vic’s” – My favorite riff of someone’s name EVER!
“Don’t ever make fun of my ass again!” – This movie kind of wears me out, and I feel just so lost and confused by the end. Maybe it’s the exhaustion, but that riff just seems extremely satisfying.
“He’s Deezening!”
This and #701 were actually my least favorite Season 7 episodes when they premiered. I don’t know – something about the tone put me off. I have since warmed considerably to both of them and Laserblast is now one of my favorite go-to episodes for late night laughs.
“Just when I was considering NOT committing suicide, it was finally coming together for me…”