Movie: (1984) A Texas sheriff winds up on the island of Malta in pursuit of the criminal that killed his partner.
First shown: June 20, 1999
Opening: Tom considers the unexplored implications of the song “Owner of a Lonely Heart”
Intro: M&tB are plagued by Yes orchestra hits; Pearl encourages humor in the workplace
Host segment 1: M&tB demonstrate to Pearl how repeating the same sequence can be annoying
Host segment 2: Crow and Tom encounter cute little Goosio. It doesn’t go well
Host segment 3: Crow’s report on Malta includes a good deal of slander on the subject of Maltese men
End: Having suffered through a really bad Joe Don Baker movie, Mike assumes it’s his turn to escape. He’s wrong, the poor dope. Meanwhile, Funny Dress-Up Day at Castle Forrester takes a horrifying turn
Stinger: “Yew think yew kin take me? Go ‘head on. It’s yer move”
(326 votes, average: 4.30 out of 5)
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• I have to put this one in the fair-to-good column. Unfortunately, there’s no way to avoid a comparison between this ep and the “Mitchell,” episode and unfortunately this one doesn’t measure up to that classic. The riffing definitely has its moments, but they have trouble sustaining a constant level of funny. The movie itself is serviceable and certainly Joe Don’s character is a bit less gross than it was in “Mitchell,” but it’s also a bit less unintentionally zany. In addition, the segments are more miss than hit this time around, but the final segments save the day.
• Mike’s thoughts are here.
• This episode is included in Shout’s Mystery Science Theater 3000 Collection: Vol XIV.
• Callback: “Stop drinking baby oil!”
• The opening features more Yes bashing. My theory: The only way you could be this anti-Yes is by having BEEN a Yes fan at some point and since repented. I’m looking in Kevin’s direction.
• Last time I said I didn’t understand the riff: “Let’s talk loudly about our SUVs.” Commenters explained it to me.
• Segment 1 seems a little picky to me, like they couldn’t find anything else to comment on. The footage reuse is pretty mild compared to similar instances in other movies. All in all, I can’t get behind the premise.
• Segment 2 is a bit better, and it explains why Mike takes the time to pointedly refer to Goosio by name during the riffing–he was setting up this bit.
• Of course that’s Mike as the voice of Goosio; Patrick was doing the rather elaborate “technical puppetry.”
• Mike has the broken Goosio in the theater following the segment
• Obscure reference: Perini Scleroso (a hilarious character invented by SCTV’s Andrea Martin).
• Mike, apparently still channeling Joel after his visit, does a very Joelesque bit in the theater when he stands up and appears to be running from the car in the movie.
• Again, I find it amusing that microbrewery aficionado Mike is seen drinking Bud.
• Also in the theater, Servo twice leaps off his theater seat when somebody says “Geronimo.”
• Segment 3 goes back to the “pointlessly bash a nationality” thing they’ve had some success with in the past, but I don’t think this works as well this time. Also: Mike knows how to rewire Crow?
• Then-still-slightly current reference: “Christian Slater’s gonna fly tomorrow I better get this back to him.” For those who’ve forgotten, Slater stupidly showed up at JFK airport in December 1994 with a gun in his carry-on and was arrested.
• Yet another fun closing credits bit, as Crow and Tom come up with new gluttonous lyrics for the theme music.
• Nice moment at the end of the last theater segment as Mike leaves early and Tom has to figure a way out of the theater by himself. “What do I do??” He runs left as Cambot pulls away. Somehow he manages.
• The final bit, of course, is the best of the episode and brings the entire episode up from fair to good. A lot of nice little touches in a great parody of Joel’s farewell. One small nitpick, though: “…an escape pod SHE hid…”?? Gypsy did not hide the escape pod in the box of hamdingers. I remember immediately after this episode first aired there was a long nerdy Comic Book Guyesque discussion of this goof on most of the web forums.
• As if the ending bit on the SOL wasn’t funny enough, that bit is further topped by the appearance of Bill’s in full leatherboy regalia. Classic.
• Cast and crew roundup: Executive producer Louis George had the same job on “Angels Revenge,” as did producer/director/screenwriter Greydon Clark. In front of the camera, Joe Don Baker, of course, starred in “Mitchell.” Bill McKinney also appeared in “Master Ninja I.”
• CreditsWatch: Directed by Kevin.
• Fave riff: “The last thing a sausage sees.” Honorable mention: “I’m glad we skipped the cavity search.”
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Oh, Kermie, take a look at my good stuff!
“Meatballs fried in Laaaard!”
This movie is dripping with palm-kernel oil and makes the whole room smell like bacon … so I don’t watch it often, but once I get accustomed to the constant gurgling, burping an farting it seems like a solid 3 star episode.
It was presumably an ‘actual’ movie but has a very ‘TV cop show pilot’ feel to it. The sets, the pacing, the background music, the ski-boat chase and that awkwardly abrupt ending all scream ‘made for tv’.
Did “Go Ahead On Now” ever become the HUGE catch-phrase they were expecting? Not with anyone I know .. maybe in Texas. ;)
I like to watch this and just pretend it’s called MITCHELL RETURNS. Not much difference in the characters (except Geronimo is even more of a vigilante who grew up eating squirrels and jackrabbits). To me Mitchell was a more enjoyable movie. The afterimages of Joe-don’s mouth close-ups are good nightmare fuel.
I love the Mike’s Tripping & the Mike thinks gets to leave (foreshadowing?) segments! The other host segments are so-so, not annoying but not especially memorable.
Fave riffs:
“You’ve embarrassed the Italian Government”
Mike “… and that’s pretty hard to do!”
During a particularly trippy float at the carnival-
Crow: “Uh … Did you dose me Mike?”
Geronimo gulps a glass of milk
Mike: “Yumm, Alfredo sauce”
the 5th time Geronimo wakes up in the jail cell –
Mike: “Help we’re stuck in a Mobius strip of a movie”
Oh, thank goodness. I thought I would be the only one who found this episode not 100%.
I actually enjoyed this episode alot,but the one thing I’ve found is that EVERYTIME after I watch this one, I have their riffing over the Theme Song..”He’ll eat your luuuuuuuuuuuuuuunch..” in my head for days…
I can take only so much of Joe Don Baker. This episode is best watched in bits and pieces, I’ve given it 2 stars.
The opening is silly fun, Tom taking a ridiculous idea to an extreme. The kicker to the wacky workplace where Pearl just snaps at the end is incredible.
What’s not to love about the, “Mike’s tripping,” segment? Silly all the way through to the incredibly small victory of Pearl agreeing to not send them, “another bad movie with Joe Don Baker in which a dark haired sheriff in a small role gets shot and slides down a wall twice.” The trashing of Goosio is just a nice reinforcement of the relationship between Mike and the bots but otherwise forgetable. Crow’s hatred of Matlese men is awesomely inappropriate. The final segment is precious; the simpleness of Mike, how sympathetic the bots are. “Nothing will ever be funny again.” Truly disturbing. :)
What a disgusting movie. I don’t blame Baker for the role, but he plays the part of a homicidal sociopath with a badge all too well. Seriously, he illegally crosses the boarder, goads a man into drawing his weapon so he can do a full on old fashion gun draw, then taunts the other man all as though giving someone else a chance to pull their weapon justifies everything else. And there is no fall out for him crossing the boarder, killing a man and dragging the other back to Texas? The hell? And all of that started with the genius idea of our villains to steal a car from a police station while they’re within walking distance of the boarder.
Then he continues to murder people in a country where he has no authority. You could probably argue self defense in come cases, but the very first guys he kills are men he trailed and again taunted. And to that point, he seriously does a hip draw on a guy holding a kid (with ridiculously bad dubbed wining) hostage. Why they didn’t lock him up for good and try him for international crimes is beyond me. At the very least they should have kept him locked up until he could be taken directly to a flight home.
-sigh- Greydon Clark seems like a nice enough guy and all, but there is just so much wrong with the story and characters.
Favorite Riffs:
Crow: In the time it takes him to fall the Italian government changes three times.
Tom jumping off his seat yelling, “Geronimo.”
I wonder if the Mike’s Tripping sketch wasn’t one of those things where they realized they could do a bit where they used the same footage over and over and over, and write dialogue just so that it would match the puppets’ action, and they wanted to see how far they could carry it. I admit I find it more clever than I do funny, but I still find it reasonably funny.
I really liked how much Mike got up and out of his chair this season; it wasn’t until this “this is because Joel stopped by, isn’t it?” stuff that it really stood out how they had forgotten to play with the silhouettes. To me, playing with the silhouettes always works, even when it doesn’t.
One of the things bugging me about this episode, as compared to Mitchell, is that the Brains make a lot of fun of “Joe Don Baker” rather than whatever his character was named. In Mitchell, they make a lot of fun of Mitchell, who despite being a determined and reasonably perceptive police officer deserves it. In Final Justice they’re speaking more of the actor and they honestly don’t know anything about the actor. Maybe it would have helped if the movie were named for the character.
I recall someone working out that by the proper count — I think you have to disallow the KTMA episodes but count The Movie — this was the episode where Mike’s episode count tied Joel’s, which makes the Joe Don Baker movie choice a fine little hopelessly inside reference.
I’m not sure why Tom would consider it a problem, since he’s consistently been shown as able to enter and exit the theater from the left side (in “I Was a Teenage Werewolf,” for instance); apparently only the right side has an air grate that he (usually) can’t hover past.
But the right side is where they sit, and thus they always use that door, which requires Mike to carry Tom. In Mike’s absence (beginning of “Agent for HARM,” for instance), Crow apparently carries Tom just past the air grate and then drops him, whereas Mike always carries him all the way to his seat.
I think Servo has, on occasion, been depicted as able to get past the air grate on his own (e.g. he enters the theater alone, on the right side), but it’s probably awkward and for him, so Mike just saves time by carrying him.
Maybe the left side was under repair that day.
this is a good episode but another one where the subject film is hard for me to watch ( so I can only go 4 stars ). It’s just too gross and stupid. But the riffing is excellent (felonius monk !) and some of the host segments are very good as well ( Brain Guy meets “Cruising” ). The Goosio bit leaves me cold, and the escape pod bit could have had a slightly lighter hand.
( Sampo: even though Wikipedia agrees with you, I am certain that the name is Pleurini Scleroso, since using 2 medical derived terms is so much funnier. But I will have to research this more )
It’s definitely Perini Scleroso. There are several official print publications that will verify this.
Okay, not one of my favorites. I do love Goosio, though.
If I remember correctly, the “let’s talk loudly about our SUV’s” line was said during a shot of the well-dressed criminals on the plane. I just always took it as a reference to expensive-suited CEO-type guys who are publicly obnoxious with their attempts to show how rich and successful they are.
“I watch the cowboy buster!… huh?” This movie isn’t one of the best, but the last scene on the docks is totally worth it, every line makes me laugh. I love the bestial-yet-quizzical grunt when Geronimo looks over at the traitor officer in surprise.
“You sonuva–!”
I wonder how many hardened Maltese criminals were prevented from escaping by that odd little gate in the jail hallway.
I have to agree with the general consensus that this movie is overly determined to be unpleasant. Mitchell did have a kind of 1970s zaniness to it that made it much more bearable. The few moments of utter absurdity in this one (like the gratuitous second boat chase scene) just can’t counteract the general ick of all the killing.
And no doubt there is some good riffing as always, but I do agree with #7 that they should have made fun of the character more than JDB.
Speaking of JDB, I wonder how he enjoyed his stay in Malta.
“Hey Malta, get a tree!”
“You think you can take me? Go ahead on. It’s your move.”
Worst, most convoluted catch-phrase for an action hero ever.
3 stars. Riffing is fine, but the movie is no fun for me. I like seeing Joe Don again, but the plot is numbingly repetitive and all the editing of the swears (son of a –––––, etc.) creates an awkward viewing experience. This occurs so frequently the guys barely even riff on it.
I do appreciate the Elaine Bennis jokes (“None of them are sponge-worthy”) and Goosio. Mike has some puns that annoy the Bots but amuse me (“Guess he’s a felonious monk”/”The Cabbage Apaches?”). Crow makes a clever Titanic reference after Geronimo’s motorboat blows up: “Don’t worry, his heart will ‘go ahead on.'”
Re: The band Yes – As a fan of their epic 1970’s work I was always a bit embarrassed by their 80’s comeback move with 1983’s 90125 (though I admittedly saw them live for the first time on that tour – pretty disappointing). The digital sample based “orchestra hit” (used to better effect with the also-Trevor Horn produced Art of Noise “Close to the Edit”) always bugged me, and I was glad to see the Brains use it to great comic effect in the opening segment. And yeah, Yes lyrics always had a “surreal” element to them but “Owner…” was more ludicrous than usual. I never really understood what the song was “about”, beyond its highly synthetic production values. Lead singer Jon Anderson was added to the project later and likely rewrote the original lyrics with his own New Age slant, rendering the entire song as vague nonsense. At the time, a real crisis of faith for a Yes fan as it became their biggest hit ever. Kevin Murphy’s numerous passionate vocal renditions of Asia songs suggest he too was a one-time Yes fan (confirmed in recent interviews).
BTW, Why do they connect director Greydon Clark with Hobgoblins?
“Did you dose me, Mike?”
“Dear Lord, please make my hair a tangled, gray mass!”
It’s definitely Perini Scleroso. There are several official print publications that will verify this.
In Dave Thomas’ book it’s spelled “Pirini.”
I’m easy so I rate this as a solid ‘4’. Anytime Joe Dan’s big ole rump roast face appears on the screen I always flash back to the J&TB’s routine of screaming suddenly. I loved when Mike interacted with the screen scene. As a Mediterrano, I found Crow’s cultural rant LMAO funny. Yes Sampo, I am wearing a spouse beater shirt as I am typing this. As TS9 @13 points out, the movie turnstile, with ticket taker, makes for an odd jail indeed. I’m just so thankful that Geronimo Joe didn’t wipe out the poor family that nursed him back to health and laundered his clothes, YUK.
@Finnias ‘Critter’ Jones I was also confused by Greydon Clark reference. He did Angels’ Revenge back in season six, but I don’t think he had anything to do with Hobgoblins (could someone correct me if I’m wrong?)
I saw Yes live just this past spring at the same theater, in fact, where CT played. “Owner of a Lonely Heart” is pretty bad, and kind of the cross you have to bear if you’re a Yes fan. Definitely deserves some ribbing, as do all the great bands who “went 80s”.
I guess my problem with this episode is that it seems lazy. Too many JDB jokes that aren’t really that clever. It’s like the Brains knew it was a JDB movie coming in and thought they could coast through the movie. Also, I kinda like Joe Don. I felt bad for him when the attacks got personal. Same goes for Goosio! The bots could really be cruel in the later years, and it really dragged the show down from season 8 onward.
Mock me if you will, but I always considered this one a LOT more entertaining than “Mitchell”… but, and i’m really gonna get knocked on this one, I always liked Mike a lot more than Joel. Joel’s jokes just never seemed all that funny… too dry for me.
I’ve looked everywhere and I haven’t been able to find a connection between Greydon Clark and “Hobgoblins” besides Servo’s comment. Is this a goof on their part, or is there something I’ve missed?
I recently watched Mitchell/Final Justice back to back, and while a lot of people say this is just Mitchell in Malta, there is one huge difference. While Geronimo is a gross, terrible, cop that doesn’t play by the rules (like Mitchell), he also has some sort of clear morality system where its pretty clear that Mitchell is just straight up incompetant. Mitchell does all sorts of pretty dumb things constantly, where Geronimo is more of a generic loose cannon.
I can’t find a Greydon Clark / “Hobgoblins” connection either. Sloppy bots!
This is a 2.0/5 episode for me. Just so-so, and docked a notch for confusing Joe Don Baker with the gross characters he has played in some films.
The “Let’s talk loudly about our SUVs” line is one of I and my wife’s most used lines, but we always end up using it in restaurants when someone is talking so loud on a cell phone at a nearby table that it’s interrupting our conversation. Perhaps not the original intent of the line but it seems to fit.
As for the movie itself, I think Mike refers to it as a “mobius strip of a movie,” which is 100% spot on. I really can’t watch it much just because it is so repetitive and the film oozes a sort of fever dream color and what I imagine is the cinematic equivalent of grease. I just find it to be tough to watch, though very funny in some places. More a problem with the film itself than the riffing.
2.5 stars out of 5
Some funny stuff here & there, but the movie itself is so vile that it’s hard to make it fun…
Colossus Prime @ #6 is so right, in this movie Baker isn’t just playing an amiable goof who makes his own rules a la Mitchell, he’s a fascist psychopath. Which I’m afraid is a little too close to Baker’s own philosophy for comfort as he seems waaaay too enthusiastic when espousing his “beliefs” to the Italian policewoman (basically, “as cops we should be judge, jury & executioner”). I mean, Joe Don Baker just isn’t that good of an actor.
Also, this is a very LOUD episode — the constant gunfire & explosions get very wearing very quickly if you try to watch it all the way through.
IIRC, in the comments Mike said this one was really painful to work on, and sadly, it does show. The best MST episodes are effortless, but they really had to work on this one. 3.5 stars, at best.
Am I the only one who is a bit weirded out that the song used in the bar is also used for the end credits? Sure it fits but the effect is that rather than thinking of half nude women dancing when you hear the song, you instead are thinking of Joe Don Baker. Not a really good trade-off.
No, this one doesn’t measure up to the classic “Mitchell”, and how could it given the departure of Joel from the series in that episode. That being said, this one isn’t too bad. You can’t go wrong riffing on a Joe Don Baker flick and the Brains are in good form here, although in my opinion they went overboard on the easy target jokes – weight, gluttony and nationalities. I did however laugh my butt off at Tom and Crow’s song during the film’s closing credits, and it was a good call-back having Mike pretend he could escape the SOL because Joel did the last time they saw a Joe Don Baker film. I’d give this one between 3.5 – 4 stars, so 3.75 stars out of five.
It’s no “Mitchell” for sure.
It has its moments, but I agree with those who feel all of the personal comments about JDB get pretty distasteful.
I also think that, despite some horrible movies, Joe Don is a better actor than some people give him credit for.
There’s no way to really effectively give this a half mark, so I’d lean towards 3 stars (if I could do halves, it’d be 3.5). The movie has some incredibly funny stuff, and the end credits rendition of JDB’s action theme is pretty hilarious. However, aside from the opening skit and the throwback closer, the host segments just feel very phoned-in. The third one is pretty much exactly what people think of when they complain about the “let’s bash the nation where this movie was made” mindset of the Sci-Fi era, and it’s just not funny even in audacity. It’s downright dull. The other two are just sort of dull, stretching a premise a bit too long. So the largely weak segments hurt this one for me.
What does “Let’s talk loudly about our SUVs” mean? Is it a private joke?
It might be, but it also might refer to the rise of the SUV as a (pathetic) status symbol that started around this time. Plus, like others suggested, it might just be a dig at people who talk too loud about stuff that concerns no one but themselves or whoever’s on the other end of the phone.
“Mitchell” is loads funnier. I think part of my complaint with this episode, is they seemed “too nice” with JDB this time around. The riffs aren’t quite as harsh, or clever as they were in Mitchell. It’s like they were afraid to comment on him because he threatened to beat them up (even though Kevin thinks he was joking).
Still, “It’s dangerous for Joe Don to go in the ocean. Someone is bound to harpoon him”, is awesome!
I also love, “Please, God. Let me kill a lot of people.”
BTW, at the end, is the lyric that Tom and Crow sing, “Stuff lots of food in your big meaty face”? I can’t quite make it out.
The goof in the final segment where Servo says that Gypsy hid the escape pod could either be written off as Servo misremembering, or him and Crow really did think Gypsy hid the escape pod in there (she definitely never revealed where she got it from in “Mitchell”).
Bobo: “I took a cue from Joe Don Baker! Everyday is Funny Dress Up Day for him!”
Pearl: “The resemblance is uncanny!”
Incidentally, I think this is the last episode where Joel is mentioned.
Servo: “Jon Lovitz refuses a drink.”
Crow: “As does Andy Worhol.”
Servo: “This is to remind the pilot that he’s a failure in life.”
I give it four stars, but only because of the riffing and latter host segments.. This movie always bothers me when I watch it, because it is so stupid. What kind of mob hitman is this Palermo? He angers easily and commits random killings that attract attention to him. If was Don Lamona, I’d give Palermo some cement shoes throw him into the Mediterranean. Palermo is rather selfish too. What does he first say when the Don tells him about his next job “in the far East”? He says, “I like Asian cuisine.”
Then there’s sheriff Geronimo (I’d question the character’s heritage, but obesity is a real problem on some reservations.) Anyway, this guy is worse than Mitchell. All he does is kill people. He even got the Three Inch Taxi Cab Driver killed. Palermo was going to let the little fella go, but then Geronimo wakes up and starts fighting Palermo. This then results in a gun battle that kills the cab driver. He’s also a bit of a cheater too. In the stand-off with the three ugly guys, Geronimo has the advantage, since his gun is a belt holster while his opponents are carrying guns beneath their jackets.
I could go on, but I won’t.
“Look, just stop sinning, all right?!”
Don’t compare it to Mitchell,it just ain’t healthy. I guess I liked this episode more than most here.
Favorite riffs-
“Killing rules.”
“Look how nude I am.”
“Revenge is a dish best served with laughter and giggles.”
“I’m not getting anything done in this hotel room. Well not anything you need to know about.”
“Did you dose me Mike?”
It’s not really a riff,but I love that guy screaming “Tony,Tony!”
I’m glad they fit in a “Packers!”
I also love how the bots get down to the music during the boat chase and it still kills me how Tom just blurts out “MEATBALLS FRIED IN LARD!”.
I agree with Tom in segment 2,I hate cute.
Does anyone know why and if the SciFi channel added those blurry boxes in front of the strippers? Doesn’t seem like you could even see anything without them.
#19 – consider yourself mocked. :razz:
I just rated this a 3, but probably should have gone with a 2. Not a whole lot of fun, for me anyhow. Yeah, he’s fat, but it gets old after a while, except for the end credits song (CHEW CHEW CHEW CHEW!) That’s some good stuff.
Fave riff:
She’s the Miles Davis of strippers.
Brandon (#29): “BTW, at the end, is the lyric that Tom and Crow sing, ‘Stuff lots of food in your big meaty face’? I can’t quite make it out.”
I always heard it as “Stuff lots of food in your meat-baby face.” I just checked Ward E, and the transcribers of the bit also heard it that way. As to what “meat-baby face” might mean, I guess it’s that Joe Don has a round, babyish face by virtue of its being so meaty.
This movie looks like an R-rated tv pilot, which is exactly what I thought about Mitchell. I was always surprised that they waited so long to tackle another JDB film.
I have always been a fan of “Mike’s tripping,” and am surprised others didn’t enjoy it. Oh, well. Notice at the end that Observer’s brain has a cap, too.
Lots of solid, but not spectacular riffs. The “toll bridge” jokes are fun and because I love religious references, “And here’s Thomas Merton piloting the Miss Budweiser.”
I have been waiting for Sampo to cover this episode because I was hoping for some info on Servo’s comment that Greydon Clark was the producer of Hobgoblins. And all that waiting gets me nothing. I assume this was just a very lazy goof by the Brains.
Well, I had better go ahead on.
This not good as Mitch but It good episode. I like How Mike tries to escape. And Crow Malta report. I’m sure very nice place as long JDN not there and not festival time. I mean what gave with Goosio.
2 Stars for me. The movie is awful, heavily edited by the Brains. The riffing seems a bit sub-par too…kind of a snoozer all the way around.
I like this better than Mitchell. Geronimo, although a sanctioned serial killer like Mitchell, is a lighter, more likable character. He treats the Elaine Benis character with a certain amount of class, plays slingshot with kids (instead of telling one of them to buzz off) and doesn’t drink- less opportunities for bad judgement and dark behavior. Better music too, love the chase scene with the fake Priest (which is an on going theme in MST films- #419 and 608 come to mind) Go go Goosio and eat eat eat, chew chew chew.
Hold on a sec, Mike’s tripping. Okay, you think you can take this movie? Go ahead on, it’s your mov(i)e!
The Good: Awesome host segments, good (not great) riffing, and the leather cap on Observer’s brain
The Bad: The editing, screenwriting, acting, execution, just about everything to do with the actual film selected. It’s bad and not in a WTF laughable kind of way.
The Ugly: Joe Don Baker. ’nuff said.
Favorite riff “You’ve embarrased the Italian government!” “And that’s hard to do!”
Final Justice in no way measures up to Mitchell. Considering what was happening on the show during Mitchell alone makes it more memorable; but even if there wasn’t a Joel-escaping-the-SOL subplot, it is far more an impressive ep based on the riffing. FJ is just an okay episode: good jokes and riffs here and there, but it isn’t consistently funny like Mitchell is.
I will disagree with Sampo about Segment One. I’ve always been a fan of the repeating joke/riff, and I think adding Pearl’s aggravation with watching Mike repeatedly tripping makes the joke work. (Mike does a great job making his tripping motion look identical from shot to shot, too. It really looks like he’s caught in an endless loop of falling over himself!) The end of the sketch is alittle predictable, but overall it’s my favorite segment in the show.
Transversely, Mike trying to escape from the SOL was a sketch I saw coming from a mile away. In fact, once it was revealed that they were doing a Joe Don Baker movie, I knew they’d devote a segment to Mike trying to find an escape pod. It’s one of the few times I actually knew what one of the segments would contain ahead of time.
I’d argue that Final Justice is every bit as funny, riff-wise. It’s hard to notice because, unlike Mitchell, the movie itself is a lot less enjoyable. The film is darker and more violent, it’s even more formulaic and repetitive, and Joe Don’s character has gone from a mostly unlikeable jerk to a COMPLETELY unlikeable jerk.
I feel kind of bad for Joe Don Baker, but I can’t bring myself to actually defend him; he’s the one who decided to be in two of these awful movies, after all. By this point, Mike and the Bots were hurting, and it was only fair that they hurt Joe Don back.
I think I come from a different universe than the rest of you. I think Final Justice is far superior to Mitchell. And you don’t get to claim there are too many fat jokes and still think the credit sequence is funny.
Favorite riffs: John Lovitz refuses a drink. Why am I not getting any business? Elaine Bennis disaproves. I also love the host segment where they kill Goosio. (?not sure on the spelling there)
#29, #34 – I think the meat/baby face line is just Bill and Kevin singing different lyrics. Someone was just so into the song that he flubbed the line. It sounds like the words are sung over the top of one another a bit. At least that’s how it sounds to me.
re: the whole Hamdingers thing
I think they really didn’t care much about continuity in the Sci-Fi era… even during the year it was supposed to be a continuity-based show. Early in Season 8, practically every sketch about Crow’s memory had a completely different take on what the memory problem was (and that didn’t even seem to be the point– Mike and Tom didn’t seem to notice that the premise had changed, either). Later on in the season, they do essentially the same joke in two consecutive episodes about how to explain why changing the past is a bad idea, only the roles of who needs it explained by whom are reversed.
And as soon as they’d set up the new Castle Forrester format in Season 9, the Brains seem to have decided to forget about the whole “500+ years at the edge of the universe” thing (“Your voice will change every seven years or so”; the S.O.L. was designed to fall apart after ten years). And in “Girl in Gold Boots,” they’re so far from caring about internal continuity that we have the joke about Mike saving a gag for eight years, which only works in regards to Mike the writer, not Mike the character.
None of which bother me much; I’m just saying. Next to these, I never even noticed the Hamdingers discrepancy.
I’m wondering if we all saw the same movie. I think that “Mitchell” as a film was much darker and more the character more repuslive than Geronimo in “Final Justice”. Joel and the bots go after Mitchell with guns a blazing and he deserves it. Especially compared to the bad guys in that movie – Mitchell seems even worse than them.
“Final Justice” is a more traditional cowboy rights a wrong type of story. Geronimo doesn’t come across as dumb or as mean as Mitchell. He’s just stubborn and trigger happy. But he’s a much more likable character than Mitchell. And the villian he faces is much nastier. You actually want that jerk to die.
I think that actually affects the riffing in this show. The guys go after Baker full bore, but the character doesn’t really deserve it. And that’s the other thing, they go after Baker instead of Geronimo. I know the sci-fi years were more aggressive in their riffs, but this is one of the few times it doesn’t work for me. The best stuff in this episode is when they actually make fun of the movie itself and not Baker. I love the stuff around the carnival and even the Catholic jokes during the monk scene work.
I think the shadow of “Mitchell” loomed large over this episode (pun kinda intended). Best Brains knew people loved it and decided to try to mimic the feel of that episode instead of really writing for the movie they had in front of them.
All in all it’s not a very good episode, only two Goosio’s out of five.
I’ve noticed occasional comments about how edited the movie is. To that end, has anyone seen the unedited version? And if so is there any hint that there’s someone in the US Justice Department getting paid off? I am constantly weirded out by that scene at the end where the guy shows up only to point out that he’s been corrupt the entire time. It just comes completely out of nowhere and is entirely superfluous outside of having him be the guy shot with the flare gun.
The thing that always kills me about this episode is JDB’s atire. He wears the same cowboy/sheriff’s get-up through out the whole movie. That suit has to be a sweat stained, stinky mess. Plus, to quote Joel from ‘Eegah’, “He looks like a toy.” Watching him throw his ugly American weight around in this movie made me want to puke. Thank goodness for the food gorging song at the end.
Cabbage Patch Elvis (#44):
I just went back and listened to it. It sounds like only Kevin sings “meat” while Bill sings nothing, but both of them sing “baby face.” I’m apt to think it’s Bill’s mistake, though, because “meat-baby face” fits the meter. But maybe it’s just that I find it an amusing expression.
My next-favorite part of the song:
Song: You’d better ru-uu-un.
Mike: ‘Cause he’s got the runs.
Here’s a thought. Could the monk Joe Don chased
have an albino relative? Say sayin’…
Actually, this JDB flick did seem to have more effort and location
planning in it then Mitchell,
Malta parades, boat chase scene topping Mitchell’s ;-) ,
a less strange bad guy motivation then Mitchell (in Mitchell Martin
Balsam being absurdly churlish to the other dons, etc.).
Anyonje know if the strip dances in this one were significantly cut/
blurred for MST3000? It seems so.