This one is going to be a tough one: Top 15 funniest shorts. The criterion here is the funnyness of the riffing. I tried to get a list down to 10 and just couldn’t do it, so it’s 15.
In order of apperance:
• SPEECH: USING YOUR VOICE — oh and you need a wire rack.
• CATCHING TROUBLE — Ross is no stranger to raping the land.
• MR. B NATURAL — Mom, Dad, please tell me you heard that!
• JUNIOR RODEO DAREDEVILS — And the crowd goes wild.
• JOHNNY AT THE FAIR — The drugs from the Chemical Wonderland start to kick in…
• CIRCUS ON ICE — Vomit sprays out in a beautiful technicolor dream…
• HERE COMES THE CIRCUS — And he’s still eating!
• LAST CLEAR CHANCE — Why don’t they look?
• DESIGN FOR DREAMING — This is a rebuttal to Roger and Me!
• A DATE WITH YOUR FAMILY — The less said about this, the better…
• WHY STUDY INDUSTRIAL ARTS? — I put them in my underwear…
• A YOUNG MAN’S FANCY — Alexander Phipps??!!
• SPEECH: PLATFORM POSTURE AND APPEARANCE — I will not do the knee test!
• A CASE OF SPRING FEVER — Oh and no redemption, either!
• ASSIGNMENT: VENEZUELA — I played it over in my mind–Narrow-wide, narrow-wide…
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A very good list. The only thing I would substitute would be “Century 21 Calling” for “A Case Of Spring Fever”. Spring Fever starts off pretty good, but peters out in the second half. Century, which I’ve always had a soft spot since I’m from the Northwest, is strong throughout and good skewering of the chirpy advertising film.
“Sure, just mow over the old people there, kids.”
HIRED! (Part 2): Flying elves are back!
WHAT TO DO ON A DATE: On my god, Kay’s been missing since last summer!
CHEATING: By the way, have you seen my ribcage?
WHAT ABOUT JUVENILE DELINQUENCY: They flattened him!
LAST CLEAR CHANCE: Oh my god, he’s snapped!
DESIGN FOR DREAMING: It’s a salute to Mr. B Natural!
THE SELLING WIZARD: It’s the Pizza Dominatrix!
UNCLE JIM’S DAIRY FARM: G’bye! We’ll send you that arm if we find it!
ARE YOU READY FOR MARRIAGE?: Marines, we are leaving!
OUT OF THIS WORLD: Beer Wine. Wine made from fresh beer.
THE DAYS OF OUR YEARS: Come over to this side!
ONCE UPON A HONEYMOON: Elton John was here!
THE CHICKEN OF TOMORROW: Boy, eggs are complicated. They should cost like $100 each.
ROBOT RUMPUS: They hung his head! Oh, god, this is worse than Seven!
A CASE OF SPRING FEVER: Guns, huh?
I don’t think you can mention the funniest shorts without mentioning “The Days of Our Years”. I think that not only is that the funniest 15 minutes (or however long it is) on MST3K, but also possibly the funniest 15 minutes ever aired on TV. It kills me every time…
Case of Spring Fever is a classic. NO SPRINGS! *whistle*, Coiley haunts my dreams to this day.
Uncle Jim’s farm is also a great one “Ah, the government pays me to dump this stuff in the water.” Watch for the peeping cow and Mike saying “Hey, back here!” (Classic)
The Truck Farmer is another great one “J. Edgar Hoover goes shopping.”
Cheating is a great one too (RIDDLE ME THIS BATMAN!!)
But the worst shorts were always the serials that Mike and the Bots used to watch. Especially Commander Cody. Uhg, such boring stuff. The Riffs weren’t usually that funny either (Although some of the Undersea Kingdom was funny.. DIANE!)
The two riffs from short that immediately occurred to me:
HIRED (part 2): “We’re gonna have leadership the way my old man told me! You, put a handkerchief on your head! You, swat at imaginary elves! You, rock back and forth on the porch all night!”
THE TRUCK FARMER: (narrator): “Here in Southern Texas, there is an additional problem.” (Crow): “Texans!”
-Cheating
-Last Clear Chance
-Chicken of Tomorrow
-Radar Men from the Moon, Part 4: “Flight to Destruction”
-Speech: using your voice
-The Home Economics Story — I always get a little sad when Kay’s parents leave her in her dorm
-Posture Pals
-Here Comes the Circus
-Hired! part 1 and 2
-Is this Love? Just because of the 50 year old college student
-Speech: Platform, Posture, and Appearance
-Century 21 Calling
-Robot Rumpus
-The Selling Wizard
The shorts were always fodder for some of the best riffing material, except the serials. Those just left me wanting. It’s hard to pick a list of favorites shorter than all of them minus the serials, so I won’t and leave it at that.
Uh-oh. I shouldn’t have made that wish that lists never existed.
*NO LISTS!* (broing-o!)
Randy
Circus on Ice and Robot Rumpus are my two top shorts.
In no particular order:
Design for Dreaming (524): “Look! Dead raccoon of the future!”
Hired! (423/424): “Good salesman.” “Bad salesman.” “Inka-dinka-doo! Heh-heh-heh!”
Why Study Industrial Arts? (609): “The piercing scream of a fraishman…”
Appreciating Our Parents (320): “Tommy is the Lathe of Heaven.”
A Date with Your Family (602): “Father feigns eating, draws Junior out, then disowns him!” My mother found this short hilarious… in part because she’d had to suffer through the original in grade school.
The Days of Our Years (623): (coy voice) “I had an accident too.”
Mr. B. Natural (319): “Try not to make so much noise when you ‘read.'”
Junior Rodeo Daredevils (407): “Sure! Strip me of my dignity when I’m five years old! WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT?!”
The Home Economics Story (317): “It looks bare and uninviting.” “What, her roommate?”
X Marks the Spot (210): “Stopped a car with my face. My forehead’s all Bondo.”
Uncle Jim’s Dairy Farm (607): “Throw their winter clothes out the window and floor it!”
Catching Trouble (315): “I am deeply ashamed of my race right now.”
Snow Thrills (311): “And ‘sheeing,’ we’re told, is the correct pronunciation.” “Yeah? Well, you’re full of skit!”
Out of This World (618): “Be sure to fill your truck up, so that you don’t– well, you know.”
A Case of Spring Fever (1012): “Well, at least it’s not as bad as the time I said ‘no muscle tone.’ Never did recover from that.”
SPEECH: USING YOUR VOICE
MR. B NATURAL
HERE COMES THE CIRCUS
CIRCUS ON ICE
WHY STUDY INDUSTRIAL ARTS?
ONCE UPON A HONEYMOON
A CASE OF SPRING FEVER
A DATE WITH YOUR FAMILY
ALPHABET ANTICS
CHEATING
DESIGN FOR DREAMING
LAST CLEAR CHANCE
THE DAYS OF OUR YEARS
SNOW THRILLS
What?! No “Home Economics”?!
I don’t want to make a list, but my favorite line from any short has to be in Last Clear Chance- “Can I have your rooooooom”
Sampo, thank you for allowing us 15 instead of seven or ten. It makes choosing alittle easier. My list, in show appearance order, are:
210- X Marks the Spot: Joe Doaks, not a good driver!
311- Snow Thrills: sounds like a load of skit!
313- Speech: Using..: lip and tongue action!
315- Catching Trouble: you can’t fool my b/f!
319- Mr. B Natural: We’re all Happy Kings!!
407- Junior Rodeo Daredevils: we’ll never escape this town!
419- Johnny at the Fair: if only I could get a ride in one of those!
421- Circus on Ice: BRAVELY? the thing was grazing!
422- Here Comes the Circus: More! I’m a Bad Clown!!
424- Hired (Part 2): Live at home until you’re 40!!
503- What to do on a Date: Kate’s worked the killfloor, she knows where to deliver the blow!
514- Is This Love?: How many times was she held back?
515- Cheating: They’re hanging you in effigy.
520- The Last Clear Chance: Don’t tell that to me, brother!
623- Days of Our Years: he died minutes before his time!
I had to improvise on some of the comments, and I now wish we were allowed 20, because there are more that I liked, but I’ll stick with this list.
btw, the least favs would proably be Home Economics Story, Commando Cody, Phantom Creeps and Undersea Kingdom series, and Money Talks.
1. Mr. B. Natural — “This time, don’t make so much noise when you read.”
2. Johnny at the Fair — “Then Johnny transmogrified; he’s a shapeshifter!”
3. Hired! Part One — “Now get back on your side of the desk!”
4. Hired! Part Two — “You! Put a handkerchief on your head!”
5. Body Care and Grooming — “An entire day spent grooming!”
6. What to Do on a Date — “Ice cream? I love this party!”
7. Design for Dreaming — “Somebody invent rock and roll, please!”
8. A Date with Your Family — “Brother runs a boy-cleaning service on the side.”
9. Uncle Jim’s Dairy Farm — “Mmm, good hearty white bread for white, white people.”
10. Keeping Clean and Neat — “So clean yourself in alphabetical order.”
11. Young Man’s Fancy — “Yes, teens love lush orchestral arrangements.”
12. Are You Ready for Marriage? — “BUT WHERE’S THE RUBBER BAND?!”
13. The Chicken of Tomorrow — “There’s no driver! The chickens are escaping!”
14. Century 21 Calling — “I’m in the phone pavilion and I’m wearing a fright wig.”
15. Assignment Venezuela — “So where’s Daddy? D’OH!!”
Assignment Venezuela gave me one of the biggest laughs in any short ever. The Narrow river riffs are so great. “Hey, it’s Lake Man everybody! Are you sure you can wedge into our narrow office Mr. Big Lake?”
Hired Part 2: “Work…booze…work…”
Circus on Ice: “The girls with the bruised legs have to wear pants.”
Keeping Clean and Neat: “Hey, don’t say ‘underthings'”
WORST was The Selling Wizard. It was mostly boring.
God, I love shorts – they’re perfect for my non-existent attention span and for those moments when I need a MST-fix and don’t have time for a whole episode. My favorites:
1. Snow Thrills: “Embarrassing? You bet! That guy never had a chance!”
2. The Home Economics Story: “Shut up, grandma, you’re lucky to have a job!”
3. Mr B Natural: “That hurt! I’m all messed up inside! If only that androgynous man would come and visit me!”
4. Here Comes the Circus: “Here Comes the Devil!”
5. Hired: Part II: “Agh! Flying elves are back!”
6. What To Do On A Date: “Oh, Nick, you take me to the best places!”
7. The Truck Farmer: “Don’t see many of these trees anymore. Well, down it goes!”
8. Body Care and Grooming: “Skin sucks.
9. Last Clear Chance: “You know, I’ve got a feeling that one of these characters is about to see their own intestines.”
10. Design For Dreaming: “I want a Corvette!” “I don’t give a tin sh….”
11. A Date With Your Family: “Father, I had a feeling today.” “Well, don’t, son.”
12. Why Study Industrial Arts: “Because you’re bad at math?”
13. A Young Man’s Fancy: “I’ve never felt so comfortable with a woman before, Mrs Adams.” “Don’t do this to me, Alexander….”
14. The Chicken of Tomorrow: “Man, eggs are complicated! They should cost a hundred dollars each!”
15. Robot Rumpus: “Pokey left a big surprise in your begonias!”
Not a bad list; I would probably agree with your number one choice, and most of the rest; the only glaring omissions seem to be “Hired!” (the sight of the grouchy old guy with the hankey on his head is wirth the price of admission alone) and “X Marks the Spot” (the guardian angel saying “I couldn’t get to first base with him” is a highlight).
The Selling Wizard…when Crow notes the scab on her knee.
Also the frozen boxes of cotton.
In Chronological Order:
01 – Catching Trouble
02 – Mr. B Natural
03 – Posture Pals
04 – Junior Rodeo Daredevils
05 – Johnny At The Fair
06 – Hired! part 2
07 – What To Do On A Date
08 – The Truck Farmer
09 – Cheating
10 – What About Juvenile Delinquency?
11 – Why Study The Industrial Arts?
12 – Progress Island U.S.A.
13 – Century 21 Calling
14 – A Case of Spring Fever
15 – ASSIGNMENT: VENEZUELA
I don’t think I can separate 15 from the rest. Some of my favorites are “Hired, Part 2”, “Days of Our Years” and “Out of This World”.
My all-time favorite, though, might be “Design for Dreaming”. It just has everything. I love when they introduce one of the cars, and I think it’s Tom who says “The closed-three-plants car!”
“I call no way” has become something I say anytime something implausible happens in a movie – it’s a great line.
I think this short has the perfect riff, though. When the woman is dancing above a crowd and they’re clapping rythmically, the riff is “Give us Cyd Charisse!” It’s perfect, and economical. Two insightful and hilarious pop-culture references in four words.
Not really in any order, but here’s what I would go with (numbered mostly so I could keep track of the number I had listed):
1) Mr. B Natural (Mr. B, you’re HOT!)
2) Cheating (For depressing phone sex, dial 1-900-ALFALFA)
3) Why Study Industrial Arts? (Help me get this thing back in my pants, Earl.)
4) Circus on Ice (These two ladies make quite a pair! They are part of your worst nightmares!)
5) Assignment: Venezuela (Then I was kidnapped by some badass Columbian drug cartel. I realized I was sitting on a kilo of coke.)
6) A Date with Your Family (The salad needs more butter, mother!)
7) The Truck Farmer (Then the carrots are shipped back to the farm and put back into the ground! It actually makes no sense whatsoever!)
8) Design for Dreaming (“I want a Corvette!” “I don’t give a tin sh-“)
9) The Home Economics Story (Look! It’s Prince back when he was a chubby white kid!)
10) Body Care and Grooming (Hi, I couldn’t help but notice that you look like everyone else!)
11) Junior Rodeo Daredevils (Jim Henson’s Last Picture Show Babies)
12) Hired!, pt. 2 (We’ll do things the way my old man told me! You, put a handkerchief on your head! You, swat at invisible elves! You, rock on the porch all night!)
13) Johnny at the Fair (“Jiminy,” thinks Johnny, “if only I could get a ride in one of those.”)
14) What to Do on a Date (With each dial he comes closer and closer to the most humiliating moment of his life.)
15) Once Upon a Honeymoon (Sir, should we get onto wars or starvation or something?)
Gotta have Once Upon a Honeymoon :!:
What would Liberace do? Uh, better not do that :???:
Knew your father, I did !
Ah, these are all good.
“Speech: Using Your Voice” has a special place in my heart since it was filmed at KU, my alma mater.
The one about pre-marriage counselling, with the rubber-band — “Where’d it go?!!!!”
“Tap-ta-tap-tap… I keep Popular Mechanics under my mattress!”
I’m surprised that more people didn’t mention “Is This Love?’ That’s one of my favorites. “If–if my demands aren’t met, the shrieks of all who have wronged me and the smell of blood will fill the student union.” I love that they reference it later in the episode (Teenage Strangler), when the fathe ris yelling at Jimmy-Didn’t-Steal-No-Bike and Mike says, “Is this love?”
Every short mentioned I like. It’s a cruel despot who decides everyone in the kingdom has to only choose 15 favorites!
Did I mention I like everyone’s choices? :razz:
So many great ones, with classic riffs … some of my favorites:
Mr. B Natural: “Forget music, I wanna DANCE!”
Design for Dreaming: “Do you have it in red?” “That’s a six-week delivery, ma’am.”
A Case of Spring Fever: “More gray asses!”
Robot Rumpus: “That squares my breasts!”
Keeping Clean and Neat: “Ah! Shift into another time dimension if it helps.”
A Date with your Family: “The Woody Allen Story!”
Ah, makes make want to watch them all again now!
In no particular order.
1. Junior Rodeo Daredevils “Texas style, smothered in gravy”
2. Hired Pt. 2
3. Speech: Using Your Voice
4. Body Care and Grooming
5. Speech: Platform Posture and Appearance
6. Money Talks
7. The Days of Our Years
8. Once Upon A Honeymoon
9. Chicken of Tomorrow
10. Keeping Clean and Neat
11. Cheating
12. What to do on a Date
13. Snow Thrills
14. Circus on Ice
15. Appreciating Your Parents
I would have put Mr. B on here but I think I have over-watched that one to the point where I don’t laugh as much at it.
Re: Central Scrutinizer says:
May 25th, 2008 at 9:16 pm
Knew your father, I did !
Hey, you leave his father out of this!
“Are You Ready for Marriage?” is my favorite short.
We love popular songs!
But never make light of ‘boing’ son!
“The Home Economics Story!”
It’s my favorite of the longer shorts (yeah, I know, like “military intelligence…”)and fits in perfectly with “Viking Women,” making a pretty classic episode.
Oh dear. The shorts…my favorite part. This is going to be hard. In no particular order:
1. Mr. B Natural “You gotta inspect your horn, boy!” “And wash it everyday!”
2. Appreciating Our Parents “Tommy’s the Lathe of Heaven!”
3. Junior Rodeo Daredevils “Fortunately, Bobby didn’t need his spine.”
4. Johnny at the Fair “Johnny can’t read the words ‘Chemical Wonderland’…” “Oh, we’ve all been there.”
5. Here Comes the Circus “And here come the freaks now!”
6. Hired! “I just bludgeoned my husband, I don’t really have the time…”
7. Last Clear Chance “Would you identify this bucketful of your brother?”
8. Design for Dreaming “Future may not be avaliable as shown. Not available in Africa, India, or Central America.”
9. A Date with Your Family “Junior seats Dad, and Sister seats the dog, and…”
10. Keeping Clean and Neat “You are now officially obsessive-compulsive.”
11. Progress Island U.S.A. “Resorts blend old world charm with modern convenience.” “Aww, that means no hamburgers.”
12. Once Upon a Honeymoon “Aim high, sister!”
13. The Chicken of Tomorrow “40 piece chicken nuggets to go!”
14. Century 21 Calling “Monorails have a one-track mind.”
15. Robot Rumpus “Hey, don’t! That’s Wallace and Gromit’s yard!”
Can’t choose fifteen too much effort and I rode roller coasters all day.
What to do on a Date-“Look, how many ways can I say no.”
Catching Trouble-“Do not bring your evil here.”
Home Economics Story-“Kegs were tapped, men were used.”
X-marks the spot-“You see Joe had kids at that school, and if his wife ever finds out…”
Johnny at the Fair- Jiminy thinks Johnny If only I could get a ride in one of those.
Last Clear Chance-“With Betty there, he wasn’t taking any chances, but when he’s with Cindy he don’t care.”
Junior Rodeo Daredevils-“And the crowd goes wild,(very bland) yeaahh.
and much , much more but I,m too tired.
I really like your list, Sampo and many of my choices are the same. Even where I’ve made some changes for the sake of keeping the list to 15 choices, I can’t disagree with anything on your list. Keeping to 15 is difficult when there are so many great ones. Shorts generally shine as bright spots even on some of the weaker episodes of the show. Here’s my list of favorites in no special order:
• CATCHING TROUBLE
• MR. B NATURAL
• JUNIOR RODEO DAREDEVILS
• JOHNNY AT THE FAIR
• CIRCUS ON ICE
• HERE COMES THE CIRCUS
• SNOW THRILLS
• DESIGN FOR DREAMING
• CHEATING
• CHICKEN OF TOMORROW
• IS THIS LOVE?
• POSTURE PALS
• SPEECH: USING YOUR VOICE
• A CASE OF SPRING FEVER
• TRUCK FARMER
It seems that episodes of serials used as shorts were not meant to be part of this discussion based on the original post and the comments that follow, but I have to say that I think episodes of serials used as “shorts” on MST3K were some of the funniest things they did with high quality dense comedy throughout. For example:
• UNDERSEA KINGDOM – “How did they get off the cocka-doody cliff, this is wrong!”
• PHANTOM CREEPS – “How fortunate, this simplifies everything!” “If chauffeurs ruled the world…”
• COMMANDO CODY – This is some of the best material from Season One, extremely funny stuff! “What’s that he’s cranking?”
Perhaps a future discussion here on Satellite News could be favorite specific episodes from serials? There’s some great stuff to talk about there!
The Home Economics Story MUST be on this list! When Kay gets a thrill from putting that letter in the mailbox I nearly died laughing from Crow freaking out and Joel saying “Shhh, be cool! Be cool!”
I really can’t do much more than repeat those that have already been listed here. I’ll just say I’m glad that Rifftrax recently did a group of shorts and hope there is more to come from that bunch. Whenever I’d download one from them a smile would break out on my face from the nostalga factor alone. But the even better part is they delivered every bit as good as MST3K did back in the day.
My fovorites:
Cheating: How It Can Help You at Home and On the Job
What About Juvenile Delinquency? That’s a viable career option.
The Truck Farmer: Offer him bird sacrifices because he makes DDT safe and abuses Canadian migrant workers.
Hired (both parts): Maybe the reason Jimmy is having so much trouble selling Chevys is because he’s subconsciously a Ford person.
Appreciating Your Parents: Tommy is such a dumbarse.
Robot Rumpus: Robot slave labor is fun!
Though I’m going against popular opinion here, I really hated A Date with Your Family. The short by itself was unpeasant enough. But I found that the riffing made it more painful.
Aside from my #1 pick, the rest are in random order.
1. Mr. B. Natural (naturally)
2. Truck Farmer (A dark, Dark, DArk, DARk, DARK short! I LOVE IT!)
3. A Day at the Fair (I grew up in cow town USA, and they do a good job of having some fun with rural life without outright mocking it.)
4. Cheating (Great riffs, quite avant-garde cinematography)
5. Junior Rodeo Daredevils (And the crowd goes wild…yayyyyy.)
6. Catching Trouble (Helps to watch this with the “Catching Ross” host segment afterward for a great catharsis.)
7. The Days of Our Years (DARK! I LOVE IT!)
8. Last Clear Chance! (See #7, also some pretty cool cinematography)
9. A Date With Your Family (Another Eisenhower-era Propaganda piece that M&TB just obliterate!)
10. Robot Rumpus (Hey, It’s Gumby! I love Gumby!)
11. A Case of Spring Fever (Ridiculous concept makes for hilarious riffs.)
12. The Home Economics Story (Admittedly sexist by today’s standards, the concept of even *letting* women go to college at that time was unspeakable!)
13. What to Do on a Date (Sad, but funny. I was that guy, and you could argue still am. Kay *did* seem like a swell gal!)
14. Out of This World (See #11)
15. Once Upon a Honeymoon (What the hell *was* that about, anyway?)
Honorable Mentions:
The Chicken of Tomorrow
Century 21 Calling
Alphabet Antics
Posture Pals
Uncle Jim’s Dairy Farm
So many of the shorts are so good — a quick pick-me-up any time.
I notice that everyone has forgotten the short episodes of “General Hospital,” and with good reason. Dreary, pointless, almost impervious to even the best riffing. Worst shorts ever.
My fav has always been A Young Man’s Fancy
I love all the shorts, but I’ll put in an extra word for “What About Juvenile Delinquency?” with its “teens” rushing off to address the City Council meeting. The ancient teacher who interrupts the delinquents in the hallway is priceless (“You boys aren’t moving the stuff!”).
I also have a special fondness for “The Home Economics Story” which is almost as long as a semester of college. (“What is home economics?” “Jeez, you think they would have told us by now!”)
Oh, and can’t forget “A Day at the Fair.” (“Watch the boy on the left…his heart is about to explode.”)
Posture Pals was robbed!
In order of episode:
1) X Marks the Spot (210 – King Dinosaur): You can’t see it fwom here, but my towso is fused to a bwock of gwanite.
2) Speech: Using Your Voice (313 – Earth VS The Spider): This man is wearing a push-up bra. Now he is pleasing.
3) Catching Trouble (315 – Teenage Caveman): Chasing rabbits on a mini-bike until their hearts explode?
4) The Home Economics Story (317 – Viking Women VS The Sea Serpent): Listen to the flowers, they will tell you sweet secrets.
5) Mr. B Natural (319 – War of the Colossal Beast): You know, I think Oscar Wilde only wished he was this gay.
6) Johnny At The Fair (419 – The Rebel Set) :Visions of the Mekong Delta flash before Johnny’s eyes.
7) Here Comes The Circus (422 – The Day The Earth Froze): No, no: they’re doing it clown-style!
8) Body Care and Grooming (510 – The Painted Hills): Jezebel!
9) Last Clear Chance (520 – Radar Secret Service): 40% of accidents are caused by women’s hinders!
10) A Date With Your Family (602 – Invasion USA): Well, do you!? Better say yes, damnit!!
11) Young Man’s Fancy (610 – The Violent Years): It’s like the Three Days of the Condor: I trust no one in this short!
12) Are You Ready for Marriage? (616 – Racket Girls): MARINES, WE ARE LEAVING!
13) The Days of Our Years (623 – The Amazing Transparent Man): The main causes of accidents are joy, sex, and old age?
14) Robot Rumpus (912 – The Screaming Skull): Crackers! Wow! Maybe they can have white rice later!
15) A Case of Spring Fever (1012 – Squirm): No springs? I don’t care: there’s still butter and meatloaf.
My favorite riffs on the shorts:
(In episode number order. Some have more than one riff listed)
[1] #107 Radar Men from the Moon chapter 5: Joel: “All cops be on the lookout for a 1935 Murder Car!”
[2] #203, 205, 206 Phantom Creeps chapters 1,2,3: Joel & Bots: “FordBeebe! FordBeebe! FordBeebe!”
[3] #311 Snow Thrills: Narrator: “…and She-ing is the correct pronunciation…” Joel: “Well, you’re full of skit!”
[4] #415 General Hospital short: J & TB (singing): “B-double O-Z-E…BOOZE.”
[5] #422 Here Comes the Circus: Servo: “Hey, it’s C. Everett Kook!”
[6] #422 Here Comes the Circus: Crow: “High above the crowd, Dag Hammarskjold takes to the trapeze!”
[7] #422 Here Comes the Circus: Crow: “Heeeere comes the Devil!” Servo: “Beelzebub the Clown.” Joel: “Would you try to be a little less dark?”
[8] #422 Here Comes the Circus: Joel makes a dark comment himself and Servo replies: “NOW who’s getting dark?”
[9] #424 Hired! Part II: Servo: “…and the sequel is Hired! II: Electric Boogaloo.”
[10] #424 Hired! Part II: Salesman: “…in fact, we want you to buy our next ten cars from us.” Joel: “TEN CARS??”
[11] #507 The Truck Farmer Second Edition: J&TB: “Hail, Truck Farmer! Hail, Truck Farmer!”
[12] #515 Cheating: Clock strikes the hour in dark room. Mike: “EBENEZER SCROOGE!”
[13] #609 Why Study Industrial Arts: Narrator: “I like the smell of wood chips and sawdust…” Crow: “…and I puts it in my underwear.”
[14] #610 Young Man’s Fancy: Girl in short: “Say…” M&TB: “Si…Sue…”
[15] #619 Speech: Platform Posture and Appearance: Mike: “I will NOT make the knee test!”
Honorable mentions (without necessarily mentioning specific riffs): #319 Mr. B-Natural; #421 Circus on Ice (Servo’s dark song when the ice dancers appear, opus: “And now/When you see pink/You’re gonna think “We’re doomed!”; #912 Robot Rumpus (a Gumby Adventure).
Bread
Railroad Highway safety
Railroad Workplace safety
Catching Trouble
A Date With your Family
Springs
Using Your Voice
Home Economics
Is This Love?
Here Comes The Circus
Hired
Freezers
What to Do on a Date
Aquatic Wizardry
GET PORKY SOME PANTS
Cheating is one of the best and one of my all time favorites. It actually fools me into watching the Wild World of Batwoman from time to time (oh the horror.)
Snow Thrills is probably the last one I saw, and it’s a classic simply for the manic recreation of the sports in the SOL by Crow and Joel in the first host segment.
The look on Joel’s face as he calmly snaps cats in half is out of this world.
Okay, I’ll bite (though I’ll stick to the traditional ten):
1 – Keeping Clean and Neat
2 – Mr. B Natural
3 – Hired!
4 – Junior Rodeo Daredevils
5 – Robot Rumpus
6 – Cheating
7 – A Case of Spring Fever
8 – Last Clear Chance
9 – Assignment: Venezuela
10 – Radar Men from the Moon
I will give my DEFINITIVE 15 *in order* of my favorite:
1.- Days of Our Years – “Now he wont be going to college this year”(…because he’s dumb!)
2.- Out of This World – “and that means plus volume for me” (And that means money! Money I can cover my naked butt with!)
3.- Progress Island USA – (Even people from Mars are here!)
4.- What to do on a Date – “Where’s my racket?” ( I should spank myself!).
5.- Money Talks – “What Money?” (Dont smart mouth me, boy!)
6.- Last Clear Chance – “Burying young Joe Dixon is too hard to take” (Besides, I hate to shovel).
7.- A Case of Spring Fever – “forced out of shape” (By anti-spring extremists).
8.- Hired 1 – (Maybe I should not have dressed as the angel of death).
9.- A Young Man’s Fancy – “Just call me Alex…” (xander Phipps).
10.- Century 21 Calling – (…At the Annie Sprinkle show!).
11.- Are you Ready for marriage? – “You’re eighteen?” (Thank you).
12.- Chicken of Tomorrow – (These chickens were smoking in bed).
13.- A Day At the Fair – (No one can explain why father is 85 years old).
14.- Why study Industrial Arts? – (I cant get this thing back in my pants, Earl.)
15.- X Marks the Spot – (…with his skull clutched in his hands)
These all have multiple classic great riffs in them. Way too many to even catalog. Days of Our Years is, to me, the richest with classic riffs, and Out of this World & Progress Island are in that boat too.
I love the music in Progress Island as well.
I can watch every one of these over & over and yet still break out in laughter – and I’ve seen these well in excess of 20-30 times.
Happy Memorial Day everybody
My favorite is Industrial Arts…and my favorite line is…
“Of course, when the house began slidin’ downhill, that there’s a different story”