Movie: (1955) Sequel to “Creature from the Black Lagoon,” in which the creature is at last captured and taken to a Florida aquarium for “study.”
First shown: 2/1/97
Opening: Mike, Tom and Gypsy reappear on the bridge of the SOL. They find Crow already there, but he seems different. As they are about to crash into Earth, Mike saves the ship but cripples it. They contact the planet, and it’s NOT Dr. Forrester who responds
Intro: After a good scream, Prof. Bobo and Dr. Peanut explain just what’s been happening on Earth lately. Bobo sends a bad movie because it’s “Ape Law”
Host segment 1: Servo tries to repair the SOL’s engines with a little help from the nanites. Crow still seems different
Host segment 2: An irate Phil the alien demands to speak to Servo
Host segment 3: Crow may be different, but he makes a great espresso
End: The bots make an embarrassing discovery about the love lives of Mike’s descendants. Then they learn who The Lawgiver is
Stinger: John Agar swims softly and carries a big stick
(257 votes, average: 4.33 out of 5)
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• When the show was canceled (by Sci-Fi), we learned that Sci-Fi was simply going to delete the MST3K section of their web site including the episode guide entries the cast had written. We asked if we could have them. They agreed, as long as we designed new web pages for the text. We took the stuff and ran. The upshot is that you can still read the episode guide entries they did for seasons eight through ten here. You’re welcome. Bill offers his thoughts on this episode here.
• This episode is included in Shout! Factory’s Mystery Science Theater 3000 Collection: Vol XXV.
•The stretch between the end of season 7 and the beginning of season 8 was 259 days, the longest amount of time MSTies had to wait between episodes (not counting wait between seasons 10 and 11, of course),
• I was incredibly nervous about this episode. I guess I should have had more confidence in them, but, at the time, I really didn’t know what to expect. All that long summer, fall and winter I began to wonder if maybe MST3K was just a ridiculous chance thing, and whether they could catch lightning in a bottle again. And it seemed to me that in the last CC episode the writers had painted themselves into a pretty tight corner. Could they get out of it with their usual aplomb? Sci-Fi Channel sent me a preview tape of the first show, and on the day it arrived I practically dashed to the TV and shoved it into the VCR. I was pleasantly surprised and hugely relieved.
Using the narrative economy this show is known for, it took them less than five minutes to extricate themselves from that corner, set the premise back up and get back into the theater. Was the opening bit terribly funny? No, but it was silly, and that was enough. I think that segment was much more about pushing the reset button than about the big yuks. And once they were back in the theater again, everything started to click into place. Almost immediately the riffs got funnier and funnier, and when Crow sings: “Egrets, I’ve had a few…” I cracked up and said to myself: “They’re back.”
• Of course, with this episode, we have another new version (or verse, as I prefer to say) of the theme song, and all-new visuals. But the new lyrics were a bit of a problem. They set out the new “endless chase” premise, including the Widowmaker space ship, etc. The problem is that in this episode, the “endless chase” has not yet begun, and after coming to grips with that premise, viewers then have to re-adjust to the whole “Planet of the Apes” thing that we are introduced to here. When this show first aired, more than a few viewers expressed confusion at this, wondering which premise the show was going with — the endless chase or the ape business. It would take several episodes before they figured out that the Ape premise was only a temporary sub-plot to the larger endless chase scenario.
• And, of course, with this episode Bill Corbett took over as Crow. Erhardt and I visited the studio the week before the show aired. See our report here.
It was there that Bill forthrightly said to us: “Crow has had a stroke.” And, yes, there definitely was a settling-in period for Bill’s Crow (those with long memories will recall that it also took several episodes for Kevin to settle into the Tom Servo character and voice). But the process was already under way by the end of this episode.
• And there are an array of new characters: Drs. Bobo and Peanut, the nanites and a completely revamped Pearl. I really do give Mary Jo a lot of credit for finding the funny in her character. Even when she was essentially a straight woman, setting up punch lines for Kevin or Bill, she did it well.
• Younger fans may perhaps wonder why one of the apes is playing with a suitcase in the background. That’s a reference to an old American Tourister commercial, in which they demonstrated their suitcases’ strength by throwing it into a cage with an angry gorilla.
• Gone, of course, is Deep 13. In its place (for now) is a set the cast called “Deep Ape” though it was never called that on the show.
• On the SOL, things are, well, darker. Gone for good is the brightly lit SOL of, say, season three. It’s just part of the look of this later period, largely the creation of Jeff Stonehouse, who liked it better. It took some getting used to.
• I have to say that I was never really comfortable with the whole “Crow doesn’t remember Mike” concept and I was glad when it only lasted a few episodes.
• In the opening, Crow is reading George Magazine, a “politics-as-lifestyle” glossy co-founded by John F. Kennedy Jr. It folded in 2001.
• Mike is almost unrecognizable in the ape makeup as Peanut, but the voice is a dead giveaway. That’s Jim and Bill in the background in the ape costumes — the first time Jim actually appeared in a sketch in several seasons.
• Bobo says he is descended from Godo. Unfortunately Godo is a character in “Time of the Apes” who was NOT an ape. Oops.
• There were some complaints, I remember, following Mike’s line: “Crow, this is what we’ve been doing for seven years!” That’s certainly not true of Mike’s character, but then again, it’s just a show, I should really just relax.
• Callback: During segment one, Tom says, “jerking around must have cause a flameout,” a line from “This Island Earth.” I also thought it was interesting that one of Mike’s first segments when he started as host had him on the floor helping the bots who were digging around in the wiring below the deck, and that’s again what he’s doing in one of his first segments on the new channel. Coincidence? Possibly.
• Segment 1, in which the nanites are introduced, is a lot of fun. Of course that’s Kevin and Paul as Wade and Ned, respectively. It’s another tightly written, very funny, spot.
• Segment 2 introduces yet another running gag — the notion that Tom has had all sorts of wild adventures out in the galaxy. They kind of toy with the idea but it never really pays off. That’s Bill, of course, as Phil the alien.
• Again and again in this episode, all sorts of odd fish float into view and the riffers give them all sorts of weird and silly voices. Funny stuff.
• Segment 3 is kinda silly but doesn’t go much of anywhere.
• The final bit is carried entirely by Mary Jo’s energy. Her explanations make no sense, but she makes them with such bravada that it works.
• Cast and crew roundup: Okay, now begins a stretch of Universal B-movies, most of which were created by the same bunch of people. So strap in: producer William Alland also produced “The Mole People,” “The Deadly Mantis” (for which he also got a story credit) “The Space Children” and “This Island Earth.” Director Jack Arnold also directed “The Space Children.” Scriptwriter Martin Berkeley also wrote “The Deadly Mantis.” Somebody whip up some gowns! Jay A. Morley Jr. did for this movie and also did for “The Mole People” and “The Deadly Mantis.” Makeup guy Bud Westmore also worked on “The Mole People,” “The Deadly Mantis,” “The Leech Woman,” “San Francisco International,” “The Thing That Couldn’t Die and “This Island Earth.” Hair stylist Joan St. Oegger also worked on “The Mole People,” “The Amazing Colossal Man” and “This Island Earth.” Art director Alexander Golitzen also worked on “The Leech Woman,” “The Mole People,” “The Deadly Mantis,” “The Thing that Couldn’t Die,” “Kitten With A Whip” and “This Island Earth.” Set designer Russell A. Gausman also worked on “The Leech Woman,” “The Mole People,” “The Deadly Mantis,” “The Thing that Couldn’t Die,” “The Brute Man” and “This Island Earth.” Set designer Julia Heron also worked “The Thing that Couldn’t Die” and “This Island Earth.” Sound person Leslie I. Carey also worked on “The Leech Woman,” “The Mole People,” “The Deadly Mantis,” “The Thing that Couldn’t Die” and “This Island Earth.” Music director Joseph Gershenson also worked on “The Mole People,” “The Deadly Mantis,” “The Thing that Couldn’t Die,” “Kitten with a Whip,” “This Island Earth” and he produced “The Leech Woman.” Score composer Herman Stein also worked on “The Mole People” and “This Island Earth.” Score composer Henry Mancini also worked on “The Mole People,” “The Deadly Mantis,” “The Thing that Couldn’t Die” and “This Island Earth.”
In front of the camera: John Agar also appears in “The Mole People,” and “Women of the Prehistoric Planet.” Nestor Paiva also appeared in “The Mole People.” Robert B. Williams appeared in “This Island Earth.” Brett Halsey also appeared in “Girl in Lovers Lane.” Ned LeFevre also appeared in “The Deadly Mantis.” Don C. Harvey also appeared in “Beginning of the End.” Bob Wehling wrote the script for “Eegah.” Robert Hoy also appeared in “The Mole People” and “Master Ninja II.” Sidney Mason also appeared in “Teenage Crime Wave.” Lori Nelson also appeared in “Untamed Youth.”
• CreditsWatch: The “produced and directed by,” “directed by” and “produced by” credits will change hands all season. This week the show was produced and directed by Jim, with Kevin listed as “associate producer.” Jim is also listed as a contributing writer. Something called “Blue Thumb Scenic” gets a set design credit. Patrick Brantseg — intern in season 4 and “utility infielder” in seasons 5 and 6 (he doesn’t seem to have worked on season 7) — now takes over as “art director.” Brad Keely returns as “technical supervisor.” Beth “Beez” McKeever takes the place of Jef Maynard, taking the title of “prop diva.” Barb Tebben takes the place of Julie Walker as “Info Club poobah.” We say hello to production manager Jill Roozenboom, grip Mike Parker and interns Elliot Cobb and Mytch Parks.
• Fave riff: “Of course, a couple of the chimps drowned…” Honorable mention: “Does he got a thing?”
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5 stars ( easy )
The subject film is classic MST fodder, it is the perfect vessel for their work.
The host segments: Apes in the Lab: great, meeting the Lawgiver: great. Nanites: Good. The Tentacle guy : not so much. Too obviously Bill’s/Crow’s voice for me to get into it. jarring. I Like the idea though.
I’ll say it again ; MJP’s work as an actress is phenomenal.
Favorites:
Tributary to the Amazon running guest list
Egrets, I’ve had few ( KILLER )
Frank Sinatra Newsman ( Scooby ? Dooby ! )
places where the creature has not been
The little statue of liberty outsiode the lab window of Professor Boib’s lab ( host segment ).
and did we notice that there were A LOT and I mean A WHOLE LOT of NAZI / German jokes…. Hogan!
Sampo, don’t forget the explicit T.I.E. reference: Give me a needle drop on some This Island Earth Music.
Quibble: In Planet of the Apes, the chimps were the scientists while the gorillas were soldiers. In Deep Ape, the scientists are gorillas. It’s their show and they can do what they want. But given all the P.o.t.A. references I alwayas thought it an odd choice to make.
Oh and Sampo writes : “I was incredibly nervous about this episode “. Sampo sweetie, I love you man, but REALLY. It IS JUST televsion.
I was so excited to see the show continuing. I had no expectations that the host segments would be great because I think they had been declining since tv’s Frank left the show.
But from the opening riffs of the tributary to the upper amazon, I was laughing and giggling the rest of the way. They were back!
I think it’s worth noting Mary Jo sings the verse of the theme song explaining her world domination plan.
While that part of the premise was always integral to the theme song, this was the first time one of the Mads actually performed it. Forrester, Erhardt and Frank just lip-synched Joel and Mike’s vocals.
To this day, the “Chris the Dog” jokes still make me laugh just to think about. :lol:
It took me a VERY long while to adjust to Bill voicing Crow. Physically, it took Bill a while to learn how to manipulate Crow and the voice just wasn’t there for me. Fortulately, that got better and I discovered that Bill, while not a great puppeteer, is a VERY funny man.
Question: Anyone want to opine the switch in Tom’s voice to the switch in Crow’s? Was Tom’s switch the beginning of an era and Crow’s was an end? Did you just not care?
I’m not a medium #1 – Just television? JUST TELEVISION!?!?!?!?! Nooooooooo!!!!!!
I was extremely excited for this episode. All during the Comedy Central run (including re-runs) I did not have Comedy Central in my home; all of my copies were acquired by friends who would record the show for me or (mostly) I got to record them when I was at work.
When the show moved to the Sci-Fi Channel, I already had it in my home so I was able to endlessly record the station for multiple episode showings and promos that aired at various times. As a result, my 8th thru 10th Season episodes are of superior all-over quality when compared to my Comedy Central recordings. Of course the studio-released DVDs put them all to shame.
As for the episode itself, it did take some getting used to the lack of Trace, but I did eventually come to enjoy the show as much as I had in the past. I also didn’t care for Crow not knowing who Mike was. But I was definitely surprised how much I liked Pearl … much better writing for her and Mary Jo’s performance really won me over.
Oh, and Crow’s voice change was so jarring at first, and Bill’s puppetry was so…um….awkward, that I was really upset in the first host segment. Then they hit the theater and Bill’s delivery is so fantastic with the riffs that I abandoned doubt within the first half hour of the episode.
We love you, Bill!
Actually, I didn’t see this one for quite a while after it premiered, since Cablevision hadn’t picked up the network at that time.
Beyond that, this was a good start to the new era, even if the movie did reintroduce us to John (ugh!) Agar. Still, the shot of the Gill Man tossing the (obviously wired) guy into the tree makes it all worthwhile.
A couple more points: It seems like Bobo is a lot more intelligent in this one and other Deep Ape shows than he is later on. And I understand Clint Whatshisname did go one to have a moderately interesting career.
Finally! My beloved Season 8! So much to love here, although, as noted, it did take Bill a while to get the hang of the puppetry. Side note: I never understood the dislike among the Brains about the story arc style of the Sci-Fi eps. I guess it’s because they didn’t like outside interference, but I felt it gave a whole new dimension to the show. I loved the possibilities it opened up for new settings and characters to meet. And I loved the Observer planet. Brain Guy is one of my favorite characters. “I’m Endusting, Pearl!”
Sadly this is one of three Season 8 episodes I haven’t seen yet, but out of this, Terror from the Year 5000, and Devil Doll, this sounds like the best one to see.
I first started watching the show in season 5 when I was in high school but didn’t see any Mike eps. Then for the next three years I lived where we didn’t get CC and so I couldn’t watch it anymore. Late one night in ’95, I happened upon the MST Hour on one of our local channels and while Mike was the host, the only eps I saw were Joel ones. Then in ’97 when I was a sophomore in college, we got the Scifi channel and I saw a commercial for the show and couldn’t wait to see it again. I didn’t have any tapes so it had been years since I had seen a full episode. I was definitely confused to see all the “new people” and I even mumbled to myself upon seeing Mike, “Who’s this guy? Where’s Joel?” It only took a few minutes though and they had me cracking up. We had recently bought a PC and gotten on that new fangled thing called the internet so I looked up what I had missed and then I was all straightened out. From then on, I have been a devoted MSTie. :mrgreen:
Fave riffs:
Does he got a thing?
No grab ass in the kiddie pool.
Milkman down!!
What’s the matter old man, out of cake?
Overall not a bad start to Season 8 with of course the new look, plot and cast additions (Mary Jo taking over for Trace as the SOL’s main antagonist and Bill taking over Crow). I loved the Planet of the Apes parody and Kevin’s role as Professor Bobo. Like Sampo and I’m sure most MSTies I was nervous about this one but as the episode went on I settled down and enjoyed it.
Still, there were some obvious kinks to work out, most notably Bill’s manipulation of Crow. Crow’s new attitude also took some adjusting to and while I feel Trace’s Crow was better Bill’s nevertheless worked out well over time.
To me it appeared the riffing was a tad rusty given their long layoff between the Comedy Central cancellation and the pickup by Sci-Fi. At times I found the riffing dragged in places and sometimes fell flat (“Lovely Rita, meter barge”? I know Mike was riffing on an old Beatles song but that one was a reach and fell really flat).
Still there was also plenty of funny moments, especially early in the film with their recurring “Tribute to the Amazon” bit. Crow excitedly saying “Gowns, there’s gonna be gowns!” during the opening credits always makes me chuckle, and Servo’s observation that we’d seen the last of that guy (Clint Eastwood in a bit part) in movies was laugh out loud funny.
Not a bad start though, 3.5 stars out of five for me, and there would be much better episodes to come in Season 8, some of which I believe rank among the very best in the show’s history.
I am going to make the black lagoon a little more blacker. This is the begiining of all of these universal movies from the 50’s they would do. for some reason back in the 50’s univeral only made b movies. when lori nelson and the dog are in the hotel and mike says what is a taboo. I didn’t get that at all when i first saw this episode. after being on the internet off and on for 10 years, i now fully understood that riff. I think this was a great episode.
I remember not being neverous with this episode, but really excited! At the time I had moved from outside the D.C. area to the country in PA and we didn’t get CC. For some reason we did get Sci-Fi, and I had missed most of season 6 and all of 7. It wasn’t until the show moved that I could finally watch it again!
That was a good day…
Though I’m not exactly sure why, one riff that cracks me up is, “Look what we found, a sand dollar!” I think it might just be the way Crow said it.
Sampo
“That’s Jim and Bill in the background in the ape costumes—the first time Jim has actually appeared in a sketch in several seasons.”
Didn’t Jim participate in the Monad sketch in Laserblast, the episode directly before this one?
:?:
I was so glad it was back, I gave the new show a lot of leeway. I was actually intrigued by the new ape subplot, and was curious as to where it was going to go. I also didn’t know it would only last four episodes; the whole season would be full of surprises.
I think the riffing got sharper and more acerbic in the SciFi era, and this episode was a good example, with the constant ragging they gave old John Agar an indication of things to come.
Just thinking about the premiere of this episode gives me good memories. I was excited about TV again, and it was good to have this show back with a renewed energy.
Bobo would also become an instance of the Brains engaging in the practice of Flanderization.
SJ: Yes, but he didn’t APPEAR. :smile:
Like many others, the move to Sci-Fi was the first time that I would have regular access to MST3k, so I have a lot of fondness for those seasons…
I haven’t watched this episode since the 90s (yikes, was that really ten years ago now?) so I don’t remember too much. I do remember being confused by the lines in the theme song not matching the (new) premise…
I SAID, THE NEW WINCH IS QUIETER!
The two letter-perfect riffs in a generally very good episode:
The scene where the Creature sees the pretty girl in her underwear, and he makes the “mouth opening and closing” motion like a fish out of water…and Crow adds, “BRRRRRAA…BRRRRAAA…BRRRAAA…” Oh, that was just seamless.
And really, what can you say about this scene other than, “Oh, no, please don’t tie me to a block and tackle and swing me over to that tree!” Because sometimes, you just have to openly point to what the movie did. :)
I have noticed over the last year or so that there are a number of people here who do not like the Universal horror episodes that the bots did. I am surprised by this. These are great episodes.
I just recently obtained Revenge of the Creature from http://www.mst3kvideos.com and really enjoyed seeing it again. My only problem, as others have pointed out, was the whole “Crow forgets who Mike was.” Didn’t work for me. Otherwise, who can complain when you have John Agar, Lori Nelson, and the hauntingly sublime performance of Clint Eastwood.
The beginning of a golden age for the show.Bill Corbett will always be my Crow.Dr Bobo is a new twist on t.v.s Frank and it works wonderfully.Mike is superb,a perfect timing machine.
Who doesn’t love Flippy the dolphins cry,”I don’t accept my slave name!”
“This isn’t going to become an aquatic Mandingo, is it?”
This one is a bit shakey for me but that’s not totally surprising. The Brains had a lot on their plate this time around; new theme, new Crow, new characters, new sets…new everything! The riffing starts off rather slow, (including one of the worst riffs ever, just a few minutes into the show: “He’s got a crack team…’cause they bend over you can see their cracks.”) gets really good towards the middle but kind of dies out near the end. It’s got plenty of good laughs but no where near the heights they’ll reach…well, next episode. :cool:
Finally! Great episode all around. I really like how they handle Crow’s new persona – Just let it lie, Nelson! Bill deserves serious props on this one. You definitely see a surge (Oops! I mean “SURRRRGE!!!!”) in cynical riffage, and the utter loathing for John Agar seems at times a little heavy, but I support it for the most part.
Well, time to go make the lagoon a little blacker… :smile:
This is a big one. Mike replacing Joel seemed like the biggest change the show could possibly make…until Season 8.
There was so much to digest even before the episode started…I’m with Sampo. I was definitely anxious.
My main concerns were:
-No Trace…obviously.
-Specifically, would I like the “new” Crow and would Mike, Tom and Crow still have a great comedic chemistry and dynamic?
-Would the riffing still be funny?
-And of course, as anyone who has read any of my Pearl-related comments would suspect….PEARL. The same Pearl that in Season 7 broke my heart b/c it was the first time in MST3K history that rather than loving every main character, I actively loathed one of them.
On to the actual episode:
The new theme song:
I was so excited as it started. The new space set looked cool. The lyrics were different. This was exciting! And then, like a swift kick to the groin…the unthinkable: Mary Jo started singing. I couldn’t believe it. The show had been on for 7 years and NEVER did anyone sing the theme song but Joel or Mike. Not Trace (as important as anyone in the history of the show), not Kevin (who has a terrific singing voice), no one. This was not only upsetting b/c who doesn’t love the MST3K theme song and now that felt partially ruined for me…but, it also scared me that for some reason, even though Pearl was pretty universally disliked in Season 7, she was going to be a MAJOR part of the show moving forward. Elevated so high that she was now singing the theme song with Mike.
The opening segments: I really liked it. I thought the Planet Ape stuff was really funny. It was so great to see Mike and the bots again…and although it was definitely jarring to not have Trace performing as Crow, I was still thrilled to see the character again and was anxiously awaiting how it would play out. There was no Pearl, which I was immensely grateful for, and we just got right to the movie.
As soon as the Tributary to the Amazon jokes began…I breathed an enormous sigh of relief. They still had it. I knew it was still MST3K.
And I thought Bill did a great job riffing. He had an enormously difficult task. If he was the funniest human being in the history of civilization, I don’t know if he could have ever surpassed Trace’s performance in my mind (and I still think Trace is THE definitive Crow, without question)….but, I thought right from the very start, he did a terrific job. It wasn’t the same dynamic and it wasn’t AS strong or familiar…but, I knew immediately that I could and would enjoy Bill’s performance as Crow. And that was HUGE for me. I really didn’t think I’d be able to ever accept anyone but Trace. I think part of what helped (and is evident from the fact that they’re still working together all these years later) is that Mike and Kevin seem to genuinely get a huge kick out of Bill and vice versa. It’s obvious that Bill made Mike, in particular, laugh a lot. And that was infectious throughout their riffing together in the Sci Fi years.
The Nanites: Eh. Fine. Nothing great, nothing objectionable and I wasn’t disappointed when they were eventually phased out.
I didn’t think the Tom/alien host segment was particularly strong either. But, again…nothing objectionable.
As the movie was concluding, I was very, very happy with the product.
Then, the final segments. The “Lawgiver” reveal….Pearl.
Now, again, Mary Jo’s performance as Pearl in Season 7 is (for me) akin to Jar Jar Binks in Star Wars….I absolutely, unequivocally, with every fiber of my being, despised it. I found literally no humor in it. It felt completely opposite in tone to everything I loved about MST3K. And I was baffled that the rest of the Brains thought she was good enough to elevate her role. Was I missing something?
I’m also an enormous Beatles fan and I liken it to my feelings about Yoko as a singer. Like him or not, you have to acknowledge that Lennon was one of the most talented musicians in the history of popular music. And yet, he thought Yoko had musical talent and frequently collaborated with her. How could John not hear how bad Yoko’s singing was?
That was my thinking here. The Brains were The Beatles of comedy in my eyes. How could Mike Nelson not see how painfully unfunny Pearl had been?
So, the dreaded moment arrived and Pearl made her entrance. I immediately noticed that she looked (costume, hair, etc.) less offensive than her Season 7 incarnation. It was almost as if they did everything they could to make her the most irritating and unattractive presence possible in S7. I think that was supposed to part of the joke. They clearly made an effort to improve on the visual aspect. It was also clear that her performance was a bit different in style. Radically different? I wouldn’t go that far. But…different and better.
However, please understand this. Marginally better. And better in comparison to my least favorite TV performance in history.
So, when the episode ended…I was left with a ton of mixed emotions:
I was thrilled MST3K was back.
Bill had done well.
The riffing was still top notch.
While Pearl’s role and altered persona was still a bit unclear, I was massively disappointed that she was now going to figure into the show so prominently.
But, the good outweighed the concerns and I was still very much, firmly a MSTie.
I was just struggling with the fact that while I used to be able to press play and watch an episode, start to finish, loving every element of the show…I now knew that was unlikely to ever be the case again.
Just a show? Really should just relax? Fair point.
I don’t think I had seen #801 until AFTER #1013 aired. It’s weird seeing how stiff Crow was in this early going. The voice that Bill used during the host segments was unsettling. Thankfully Bill started just using his real voice.
I think the SOL was made “darker” because the tunnel that was made at the start of the Mike era was darker, and they wanted that consistancy. I remember when I first saw a CC-era Mike episode, I couldn’t help but think how awkward it looked that the SOL set was bright and shiney, and then the tunnel was all dark.
For a brief moment the CC-era font for the MST Info club is displayed, and then later they use the Sci-Fi era font.
One of my favorite B-movie moments in Revenge of the Creature is when the car bumps the camera. Love Servo’s concerned comment, “Geez, watch out for the camera guy!”
Clint Eastwood’s first role in a film! I love Crow’s “This guy is horrible, this is his first and last movie.” Eastwood HAS to be the biggest name actor to appear in a MST’ed film.
I remember watching this the first time because the day before was the day the Special Edition of Star Wars was released. I saw the movie Friday night and watched this the next day.
Some people here might remember that Sci-Fi used to have a show called SF Vortex that would supply news about upcoming SF movies and TV shows, and interview writers and actors. Sometime before Revenge of the Creature aired, SF Vortex did a special episode in which they talked to Mike and some of the other MST3K writers, and showed clips of the first four or five episodes. I guess for me that was when I knew MST3K was back, because they showed a lot of great jokes (including, yes, the “tributary to the Amazon” jokes). Of course, I personally hadn’t been worried that the show would go downhill, it had just been a long time since I’d seen a new episode.
During the discussion, there was also some magazine writer or something who said that the people who made the old movies on MST3K were really trying to make something good and it was wrong to make fun of them. Mike just replied “When someone puts carpet on a dog’s back and calls it a giant shrew, you can guess they weren’t interested in making a good movie.”
The MST3K writers might have been on SF Vortex another time, I don’t remember. It was a good show but I think it got canceled fairly quickly.
By the way, one of the kids who’s attacked by the Creature on the beach is the actor who played Big Stupid in The Girl in Lovers Lane. Unfortunately I don’t think it was the guy who gets swung into the tree, it was the other one.
I didn’t want to give this five stars because it was the first episode on Sci-Fi and I wanted them to go upwards, so I made it four. I’ll give more thoughts when I get a chance, but I did want to make two points:
First, Pearl’s explanation about why she continued her son’s experiments totally made sense to me. She wanted to prove that she loved her son; I never thought she really did because she wanted a daughter(remember, she had names ready, and kept them as Clayton’s middle names). As he died, he asked her to keep the experiment going, so she, instead of blaming him, blamed Mike and the bots, because all they had to do was go crazy and Clay would have been a success. So, she tracked them down and forced them to go through it all again. It made sense to me that she was the Lawgiver and the apes were her minions, because she was so bossy and could scare them into doing what she wanted.
Second, The darkness of the bridge was just the culmination of what was going on since season six. I could see the set getting darker and darker throughout the season and then even darker in season seven. I always thought that this was Jim’s influence; the set was pretty bright in seasons 1-5, I thought, because of Joel, it was a reflection of his(or his character’s) personality: always looking on the bright side, even to a fault.
I just have to say, one of my alltime favorite gags in this show was the design of Deep Ape! Makes me laugh so much, I wish they had spent more time there. Whoever came up with the idea to make it look like a bad zoo exhibit, just genius!
I’ve been waiting for the SciFi episode guides. I had been watching MST3K since season 3,but for some reason I didn’t start taping them till now. :cry:
I watched the SciFi episodes so much it was actually strange to watch a Comedy Central episode for a while.
Agree with Ryan (#31).
I was actually disappointed when they left Deep Ape in subsequent episodes. I thought it was hilarious. And I like Bobo’s personality best in those episodes…his condescension towards Mike cracked me up.
A solid episode. I actually didn’t see this one until they had already left Deep Ape so the theme song wasn’t as jarring for me. Bill did a good job but he definitely grew a lot over time. He’s no Trace but he did a good job anyway. The SOL looked fine, prefer it in its brighter days but it works for me. I’m pleased with what they did with Pearl. The original look does Mary Jo no justice. The premise was decent, a bit jarring but they handled it well.
Oh, and the movie was good. Lots of great riffs.
Holy crap! I really didn’t think that was ACTUALLY Clint Eastwood in that role! I thought the kid just bore a heavy resemblence. Ya learn something new everyday! :shock:
I noticed that MST3Kvideos has a copy of this from it’s original airing, which apparently has a riff that was cut out in subsequent airings. Anyone know what that’s all about?
I’m sure I’m in the minority on this, but this was a bittersweet one for me. Sweet because my favorite show was back, but bitter because this episode, and the first nine episodes of the season, didn’t make me laugh much. My impression at the time was that they had either gotten rusty during the layoff, or that their writing had declined severely in the absence of Trace.
On the plus side, I remember liking the host segments, and Bill’s work in the theater. The problem for me was the movie riffing from Mike and Kevin. It seemed inconsistent and uninspired. Combined with all of those turgid Universal movies with John Agar, it was a formula for a good nap.
While these episodes had their moments, for me they were pretty disappointing through Teenage Werewolf. I was seriously considering giving up my MST habit at that point. This would all change with the “Giant Spider Invasion of savings at Mennard’s,” of course, and the rest of season 8 was awesome. The first few just left me flat, though. Needless to say, I have not watched this one for a while (maybe I should take another look).
When the show was canceled at the end of S7, I was upset. I was overjoyed when I found out it was coming back on SciFi, but then when I heard that Trace wouldn’t be back, it was just too much for me to take.
Losing Frank, and then losing Trace killed it for me. Watching Trace and Frank interact was almost as important to me as the movie itself, and when they were no longer there, I was upset.
It took me a long while before I gave the SciFi era episodes a chance. Even to this day, I don’t see Bill’s Crow as an equal to Trace’s. I enjoy Bill’s work on the series, don’t get me wrong, he’s just not Crow. I really wished they’d retired Crow when Trace left, and come up with a new robot, even to this day. But they didn’t.
Thinking back on those days, I remember how upset I was that they were ruining this show that I loved. I’ve been able to get over it since then, and enjoy the episodes for what they are, and many of the movie segments are better than a lot of the CC ones. After forgiving the new show for what it wasn’t, I was able to get back to what it was, and enjoy it again.
This and other early season 8 episodes were ok to me at first (despite the rough edges) but as the years have gone by, they seem MUCH funnier to me. (same thing goes for Mike’s first ep) The new lighting I thought was a bit much. I don’t mind the different lighting of the scifi years, I just thought it was better when it became more “subtle” eventually. All that blue made things interesting but I didn’t miss it once gone.
The two things it’s still hard to forgive them for is the lack of variety in the movies early on in 8 (not that big of a deal), as well as many of the mad host segments after getting going a bit. Especially stuff like the Roman Times. I understand it from the writer’s point of view and I hate to say it, but many times it was VERY cringe-worthy. It makes it especially unfortunate when the rest of the episode is terrific. :( Through all the years, they DID have segments that weren’t really that funny. But i never found myself actually embarrassed while watching it, except in season 8. It really pains me to even say that but it’s true. Most of that subsided once they were in Castle Forrester, where they stayed till the end thankfully.
Boy, was I happy to see my MST3k again! The whole roller-coaster ride, from CC cancellation to the SciFi move, the Convention 2 experience… It was a great time to be a MSTie!
Sampo, there’s yet another TIE earth ‘reference’ in this episode;
When Mike is talking to the Alien on the viewscreen, Mike’s wearing the TIE Showercap of the Metalunan alien who was showering.
I SAID, THE NEW WINCH IS MUCH QUIETER!
Four stars, but only because the movie is so boring. The one bright spot is the appearance of the young Clint Eastwood, a man who could now buy and sell every single person and animal in Revenge of the Creature. He wouldn’t, of course, because he’s a nice guy. :grin:
As someone who found MST3K just as it was canceled on Comedy Central, this was the true start of my viewing of MST3K. I will always be fond of the Sci-Fi Channel era of MST3K.
I lament the decision to use so many Universal movies. One, they are gray and dull and very much of their time. It’s also made it hell to get these episodes on DVD.
I forgot another one of my fave riffs that I actually use quite a bit: “Would you like some chiggers?” and of course you have to say it with the accent :wink: .
I love those old Universal films on their own so this is one of my fave seasons and I’m looking forward to the rest of them. :smile:
Boy, was I happy to see my MST3k again! The whole roller-coaster ride, from CC cancellation to the SciFi move, the Convention 2 experience… It was a great time to be a MSTie!
Sampo, there’s yet another TIE earth ‘reference’ in this episode;
When Mike is talking to the Alien on the viewscreen, Mike’s wearing the TIE Showercap of the Metalunan alien who was showering.
I SAID, THE NEW WINCH IS MUCH QUIETER!
The “Charlton Heston fish locator” riff after the dynamiting of the lagoon had me stop the DVD for several minutes since I was laughing so hard.
I’ll be honest, when I first saw this episode back when it premiered, I didn’t care for it too much. Maybe it was all the changes, but the whole thing just didn’t click for me. At that point I hadn’t seen any of season 7, so I didn’t understand the whole pure energy thing. I didn’t know Trace had left. I’m pretty sure I had the ACEG at that point, so I knew Frank was gone, but I had never seen Pearl before. Needless to say the host segments just left me feeling a bit flat. Then there was the new Crow. His voice was different, he didn’t remember Mike and he just seemed to be snarkier than the old Crow. On top of that, his puppeteering was off.
The movie itself seemed to have promise. I had never seen, “The Creature from the Black Lagoon”, but I was familiar with the monster and seen clips of the film. So I expected this to be a similar vein. Instead the movie seemed to move at glacial pace, and the creature wasn’t in it enough for my tastes. The riffing seemed to start out pretty strong but petered out around twenty minutes in. For me, this was not a good sign, and while I stuck with the show for a few more episodes, I actually lost interest in the new incarnation of MST3K for a while.
Oh, how the years change things. Now I really appreciate the new dynamic that Bill brought to the group. His take on Crow is different, a little angrier, a little snarkier, but still completely funny. I really enjoy the way he plays off Tom and Mike in the sci-fi episodes, and once Bill got up to speed with the puppet, things really took off. I even like the running joke of Crow being influenced by the movie and turning into something from the film (a bear, a Valerian). I also enjoyed Crows bitter tirades, when he’d just launch an all out attack on the movie – something I don’t remember Trace doing.
To top it all off, the Sci-fi Channel episodes are some of my favorite episodes of the show. Obviously I accepted the new look of the host segments, as well as Pearl. I do have to say that Bill as Brain Guy did a lot to help my acceptance of the new direction of the series. When I saw episodes like “Overdrawn at the Memory Bank”, “Final Sacrifice”, “Jack Frost” and “Space Mutiny”, I was drawn back to the show, and enjoyed it’s new aggressive nature.
I hadn’t seen this particular episode since it was shown. Thanks to DAP, I’ve been able to revisit some of these early Sci-fi episodes. I was surprised how good this episode was. First off, the host segments are funnier now that I’ve seen a good portion of season 7, and I’m familiar with where the character of Pearl and Bobo would go. Crow still seems a bit stiff, but Bill’s take on the character is pretty consistent with how he develops the character over the rest of the show. Still not sold on Crow not remembering Mike, but they dropped that element after a while..
The movie segments are pretty good. I’d say an average grade for this one. The movie does slog a bit, but Mike and bots do a pretty good job keeping the momentum going, mostly thanks to John Agar and his smug scientist character. I still wish there was more creature action, mostly because it offers some prime riffing, but what we get is pretty solid. All in all, I find it to be a funny episode, but not as good as some of the classics that come later. I do remember that most of the Universal episodes seemed to be pretty slow and not very solid with the riffing. It’s been a while since I’ve seen most of them, so maybe my opinion will change. But the primary reason I got back into MST3K was because of the non-Universal film riffing.
I didn’t get SciFi when the show moved, so I missed a lot of these early eps. I actually never saw this one until after the show had been canceled, and in taping it, completed my collection of the SciFi eps. So, in short, I’d already become acclimated to Bill, Mary Jo, the new themes, etc. So for the episode itself: like most of the Universal films, this one is terribly dull and I’ve always found the terribly dull movie eps harder to watch. If I had come into season 8 from the beginning, I may have lost interest in the show entirely…fortunately the first season 8 ep I ever saw was one of my all time favorites: “Jack Frost”. But I LOVED the host segments in this one. “The apes cured my freezer burn and THAT’s why I’m the Lawgiver” never fails to crack me up. And to those who’ve never been able to really accept Bill as the new Crow, here’s a theory: It’s really Timmy. He came back to the SOL while everyone was away, went insane(er) waiting for them to come back (i.e., his desire to replace Crow became so intense that he began to actully believe he WAS Crow and repainted himself etc), and the real Crow managed to escape the summons back to the SOL and is still off prancing at the end of the Universe somewhere, blissfully unaware that an imposter has assumed his mantle. Or maybe I’m just reading too much into it and should repeat to myself “It’s Just a show, I should really just relax.”
Even today, I use one of my favorite riffs from this episode: When someone asks me “what are you doing for dinner tonight?”, I say “Eating not with you.”
#32 – Ator: You know, the brains HAVE written episode guides for Seasons 8-10. Look around on this board, it’s out there, and for free!
Cliff Weismeyer #36 – I totally agree. In the first half of season eight, #810 is the only “top tier” episode. In the second half, there are six, and four of THOSE six I consider legendary in the series. (Click on my name above for my review site.)
I’m surprised Sampo doesn’t like segment 3 – I know, each to his/her/its own. However, I chuckle every time I see it, and that’s saying something, because in general I find the Sci-Fi host segments to be generally stupid and grating. But Crow’s pleasant demeanor in the face of such trauma is a riot. Plus, his wild flailing covers up for Bill’s, uh, lack of experience with the puppet. The tiny cup payoff is meh, but it’s the journey here that matters, not the destination.
Indeed Bobby 23 Skidoo, “It’s the Charlton Heston fish locator” has always been my most fondly remembered riff as well.
My parents finally got cable IMMEDIATELY before this one aired, and I’d seen enough of seasons 3 and 4 on The MSTHour to get hooked and read ACEG cover to cover…but I guess I just wasn’t quite enough of a MSTie to obsessively hunt down and remember the date of the relaunch (no internet until college graduation), so Leech Woman ended up being my first SciFi ep. I don’t think I saw 801 until the fall. Even in the early days, SciFi didn’t seem to rerun this one often, and when they did, it was usually not near any of the other Deep Ape eps.
The new song does seem a bit off, but mostly just for this experiment, since Pearl being the Lawgiver is essentially a secret saved for the final host segment. They could have had the intro be a rectangular monolith with the logo on it float by, carrying over the 2001 motif from Laserblast, and once it’s passed we see the SOL, then cue the screams of everyone rematerializing.
Well, not everyone. Magic Voice never reappeared–I mean, spoke up in the SciFi era, did she? I guess the Nanites were basically a replacement that M&TB could have more interaction with. And Mary Jo playing Pearl and MV regularly would’ve been too confusing to newcomers, who’d have thought she was some program Pearl made to control the Satellite.
I actually liked Crow forgetting Mike. It showed that they weren’t just pretending he hadn’t changed that much, and I somehow sensed it wouldn’t last forever. The show was being relaunched, which meant they had to throw in a lot of minor new elements to propel it out of the gate, instead of just picking up where they left off. And of course many elements wouldn’t stick, just like RAM chips, and Frosty Chocolate Milkshakes, and the idea of the Autobots ever repairing the Ark and flying it back to Cybertron in the Transformers cartoon, and Dan building his own boat in the garage on Rosanne. And it gave some “oomph” to segment 4 in The Mole People.
And speaking of lackluster recurrences culminating in a worthwhile payoff, while the first 9 eps of season 8 did indeed get a tad monotonous, seeing the Universal logo so often at that time made the opening of the season 9 premiere with the squished logo truly hilarious. “It’s a Faberge Earth!” might actually be my favorite quip in Projected man.
Another part of the new theme song that didn’t make sense was Pearl’s stated desire, “…to rule the world”, since she never mentioned that until she got to Castle Forrestor. Crow mentions here that the Nanites have a similar goal, but that absolutely never came up again. Maybe they just had dreams a million times bigger than their combined abilities.