Movie: (1957) Exposure to an atomic blast causes an army colonel to become a giant.
First shown: 8/3/91
Opening: Crow and Tom hide out in their super-secret cardboard fort
Invention exchange: The Mads have created a plant that reviews music; Joel shows off his idea for non-permanent tattoos
Host segment 1: Joel helps the bots learn the right thing to say to the relative of a horribly disfigured nuclear accident victim
Host segment 2: Joel agonizes about being a 50-foot man
Host segment 3: The bots wonder what they’d ask Glen, then he visits
End: J&tB suggest other things Glen could’ve done, Joel reads letters, Dr. F. has a giant hypo
Stinger: Glen laughing ’til it hurts
(154 votes, average: 4.58 out of 5)
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• The movie is iconic, and we meet so many AIP regulars in the process (see cast/crew roundup below), that this episode feels very much like a milestone. But in terms of bringing the funny, I have to give it a good-not-great rating. The movie is strangely captivating, and I think the writers kind of got caught up in it. There are some great riffing moments, but it’s just not solid throughout.
• References.
• This episode was released and then almost immediately recalled by Rhino. If you have a copy, you have a rarity.
• Callback: “The HU-man” (Robot Monster). And lots of “No!” (Cave Dwellers)
• The plant guy, aka “Robert Plant,” was Kevin’s first on-screen performance on the show.
• Great moment: This movie has an incredibly long shot with nothing happening and nobody in frame–we just look at a door for a good 12 seconds. J&tB make the most of it.
• As they leave for a break, Crow departs, then comes back for one more riff.
• Naughty riff: “Sorry, wrong bone growth.”
• It was popular back then to call A&E the “all-Hitler Channel.” This was before A&E spun off their massive library of World War II documentaries, mostly to The History Channel.
• Joel is hilarious as Glen, the 50-foot man! “Aah! No!”
• In “Daddy-O,” Crow asks “Do you know the names of lots of fish?” In this ep, Tom asks “How many fish can you name?” Funny both times.
• During that sketch Tom’s arms work! Crow even asks him about it!
• In the lab scene, they do three consecutive riffs hammering the idea that cosmetic companies use animals like rabbits to test their products. It’s one of the few times I can recall them doing three variations of essentially the same joke right in a row. I do love Crow’s great little voice as the rabbit, though.
• The movie’s single strangest idea (and that’s saying something): the notion that the heart is “made up of a single cell.” Did they think audiences were going to buy that?
• We haven’t seen J&tB daydreaming at that window since episode 201- ROCKETSHIP X-M.
• Mike is also great as Glen.
• Joel is still holding the Barbie from the earlier sketch later on.
• Precognition by J&tB: In segment three they mention Glen in Vegas, when we haven’t gotten to that part of the movie yet.
• I enjoy the window fan shadow when they are supposed to be in the helicopters, obviously trying to convey to the audience that they are flying. Pro tip: a real helicopter blade, going fast enough to keep the helicopter up in the air, would not make a distinct shadow like that. If you are in a helicopter, and you see that kind of shadow crossing your body, it means you’re plummeting.
• Tom makes a pun and Crow warns him: “That kinda talk’ll get your arm ripped off.” From one who knows.
• As the movie ends, and the “The End” card comes up, J&tB respond with “Or is it?” Did they already know they were going to do the sequel?
• Cast/crew roundup: To begin with, we have producer director Bert I. Gordon, who we already encountered in “King Dinosaur,” and who we’ll meet again in “Earth Vs. The Spider,” “War of the Colossal Beast,” “The Magic Sword,” “Tormented,” “Beginning of the End” and “Village of the Giants.” Then there’s assistant director Jack Berne, who also served that role in “I Was A Teenage Werewolf.” Albert Glasser — “the man who holds you down and pummels you with music” — was one of Hollywood’s most prolific movie score composers. Of the some 200 movies he scored, 11 were MSTed: “Rocketship X-M,” this movie, “Earth Vs. The Spider,” ” Teenage Caveman,” “Viking Women and the Sea Serpent,” “War of the Colossal Beast,” “The Indestructible Man,” “Tormented,” “Beginning of the End,” “Invasion USA” and “Last of the Wild Horses.” Script writer Mark Hanna also served that role on “Gunslinger” and “The Undead,” as well as serving as production coordinator for “Terror from the Year 5000.” Cinematographer Joseph “I am!” Biroc also served that role on “Kitten With A Whip” and “SST Death Flight.” Editor Ronald Sinclair also worked on “Earth Vs. the Spider,” “War of the Colossal Beast,” “Viking Women,” “Swamp Diamonds” and “The She-Creature.” Flora Gordon worked with Bert I. doing special effects for “Earth Vs. the Spider,” “War of the Colossal Beast,” “Tormented,” “The Beginning of the End” and “Village of the Giants.” Special effects/prop guy Paul Blaisdell also worked on “Earth Vs. the Spider, “The She Creature,” “It Conquered the World” and “Teenage Caveman.” Hairstylist Joan St. Oegger also worked on “Revenge of the Creature” and “The Mole People.” Production assistant Henry Schrage also worked on “Earth Vs the Spider” and “War of the Colossal Beast.” Prop master James Harris also worked on “Beginning of the End.”
In front of the camera, Russ Bender, also appears “War of the Colossal Beast” and “It Conquered the World.” Hank Patterson was also in “Beginning of the End” and “Earth Vs. the Spider.” Glenn Langan also worked on “Women of the Prehistoric Planet.” Cathy Downs was also in “The She Creature.” James Seay was also in “Beginning of the End.” William Hudson was also in “The She Creature.” Judd Holdren was also in “Rocketship X-M.” Frank Jenks was also in “The She Creature.” Jack Kosslyn was also in “Earth Vs. The Spider,” “War of the Colossal Beast” and “Tormented.” June Jocelyn was also in “Earth Vs. The Spider,” “Teenage Caveman” and “War of the Colossal Beast.” Jean Moorehead was also in “The Violent Years.”
• CreditsWatch: Collen Henjum, who has gone back and forth between “writer” and “contributing writer,” goes from writer to contributing writer for the rest of the season. Tim Scott is back as online editor. Trace and Frank are still guest “villians” (misspelled) and Dr. F’s name is again spelled “Forrestor.”
• Fave riff: “That, and ‘aaaaaah!'” Honorable mention: “John Philips Sousa’s life is flashing before his eyes!”
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Mostly, I love the “have you seen Glenn?” jokes. The mere thought that they’re having THIS much difficulty keeping track of A 60 FOOT MAN just adds an extra level of absurdity to the whole thing.
And…while the riffing and host segments may not all be gut-bustingly, “hurt yourself laughing” hilarious, it still adds up to what I would call an “iconic” MST3K episode.
I recently transfered my Rhino VHS copy to DVD and watched for the first time in many years. This episode still holds a special place in my heart because It was one of my first MST3K episodes and it was the first one I got on a commercially made VHS. I remember when I got it, I watched and couldn’t believe how cool it was to actually own a perfect quality episode like that. Last year, I got it signed by the Cinematic Titanic crew and next month, I plan to get the Rifftrax guys to sign it at their Nashville show.
I too bought this on vhs as soon as it came out. I really love this episode and think it’s one of the funniest from Joel era. I didn’t like the sequel as much because of the weird effect they put on Glenn Manning’s voice- it was a little shrill and had me constantly pressing the mute button.
This one is laugh out loud funny. One scene where the young kid in shock screams and Crow says- “He said something” made my GF spit her drink across the room. A classic B film that blends wonderfully with their ever evolving clever writing and host segments.
I enjoy this one, but tend to prefer War of the Colossal Beast. I never really thought about my preference, but Sampo & a few others clarified it for me: This movie is “strangely captivating” all on its own. It’s a little dull in spots, but is entirely watchable. And while the Brains did a great job with the riffing & host segments, I just don’t get into it as much. The sequel, however, is perfect MST fodder!
“I just…. don’t wanna grow anymore. I’m a Toys ‘R’ Us kid. I don’t wanna grow any MORE!!!!! I’M A TOYS ‘R’ US KID!”.
One of the best riffed episodes ever. I can also watch this classic sci-fi film on its own. I’d love it if Shout could release this one someday.
Haven’t seen this one, but considering I just bought a used VHS copy for under $15 from a reputable seller on Amazon, it can’t be THAT rare (although $15 is more than I’d like to pay for any VHS, I made an excpetion for MST3K). I’d guess the rarity has been overhyped a bit, although it IS obscure. I do remember when this was on shelves for about 10 minutes. Saw copies once at Best Buy, and then never again.
I do find that the riffing in this episode lags here and there, but when it’s good it’s MST3K at its best–witty, obscure, goofy, brilliant. One of my favorite sequences is with the guy who puts his foot in his mouth in front of Glen’s woman, and J&TB keep shoving it back in; “Get you some beef stroganoff–d’ohhh…”
I’m firmly in the GOOD, NOT GREAT camp with this one. Saw it last night on DVD (my 5th or 6th time) and the same thing happened as before: the borderline-earnest, dead-serious way Mr. BIG directs and his actors portray this lunacy (basically a 50’s nuclear “King Kong” on a shoe-string budget) robs the flick of the finely-tuned balance it needs to break out under Joel & The Bots’ assault. “Manos” and “Space Mutiny” also took themselves seriously, but there the incompetence of the filmmakers/actors involved and the goofy movies themselves became airballs for our heroes to riff away ferociously. When Glen clutches his chest because his heart is barely keeping up with his growing body it’s not funny… at all. I’ve never had chest pains or a heart attack (knock on wood) but everybody can relate to that normal fear (from personal experience or from first/second-hand account with friends and relatives). Mr. BIG didn’t portray this ongoing plot point as something to laugh at, and J&TB’s repeated attempts to make light of this fall flat.
Glenn Langan is almost too good at bringing down what should be a gloriously goofy flick with his mopping and close-ups (although Joel’s ‘I’m huge, ahhh’ re-enactment of this is one of the few times the absurdity hits a comedic bullseye… I’ve used that line often in real-life to the delight of my co-workers :razzmad: ) but that underscores the skill of the actor at making the audience sympathize with Col. Manning’s plight. The worst thing I can say about Langan is that, at his most annoying, he reminds me of a slightly poe’d Telly Savalas. The sequel without Langan portraying Manning is easier for me to buy as a ‘for laughs’ monster movie because all vestiges of humanity the actor brought to the prequel have disappeared from the on-screen deformed monstruosity. “Attack of the 50 Foot Woman” didn’t sink into mawkishness and was fun (which I guess proves that man are, indeed, bigger babies! :eek: ) but I don’t think BIG and his actors were making that same type of movie despite basically existing in the same genre. It might have been low-budget and B-grade, but “The Amazing Colossal Man” is one of the few “MST3K” experiments that can work well as a comedy (‘Little Women?’ Come on now… :clap: ) but, when our wise-cracking friends leave the screen and it’s just us and Glenn/Carol/the doctor/shrunk-in-size elephant-&-camel/etc., this flick has a dramatic spell all its own. Try that with “Beginning of the End” or “Village of the Giants,” even the goofy props (big syrynge) or bad effects shots (like Glenn’s giant hand holding Carol that makes J&TB’s break into laughter) only make you forget for a second about the characters. But almost right away you go back to following the narrative, whether you want to or not.
Now this is a pet peeve of mine about the start of “The Amazing Colossal Man” that I’m surprised few people (including the comments before me) make: THE INCREDIBLE HULK comic book premise is pretty closely re-enacted in this flick (before “Hulk” was actually created) and nobody makes a joke about this. Seriously, the first time I saw this experiment (circa 1995) and J&TB’s failed to make a Bruce Banner or Gamma radiation bomb or ‘I’ve got to save Rick Jones’ riff (especially when Col. Manning runs to try and save the plane pilot) I was shocked and thought less of The Brains because of this. To me this is as bad as the “Battlestar Galactica” footage going unmentioned in “Space Mutiny”… but that’s just me. Maybe they didn’t care or see the connection, but everytime I watch this episode it’s the first thing that pops in my mind. Anywho, THREE STARS for “The Amazing Colossal Man” for being goofy-enough to be made fun of (Joel and Mike making fun of the same character on the same experiment? Radical!) but not schlocky-enough to be unmemorable, which is tribute I guess to the actors and director not phoning in their services for a quickie paycheck (even though that’s all this was). FAVORITE RIFF: ‘The army’s best stock footage is called to duty’ (I love Bill Corbett’s Crow to death, but Trace’s voice intonations for Crow sometimes were just goofy-enough to inject a simple line reading with comedy TNT). :cowboy:
Well, it’s just possible that the version of the Hulk’s start Best Brains’ is more familiar with (if they even are familiar with Marvel super-hero origins) is the one from the live action TV series, considerably different from what was in the comics.
I’m going to have to give this one an amazing colossal 4/5.
It’s so close to a 5, but the movie slogs in the middle for me, causes “zone out.”
For my money the sequel to this turkey, WAR OF THE COLOSSAL BEAST, has a better ending.
During the Invention Exchange, the table that Kevin as Robert Plant is sitting on is a prop that the Mads use quite a lot. And did they even try to hide Kevin in the plant?
The Host Segments are all pretty good, HS#1 is solid, HS#2 has Joel hamming it up (I’m HUGE, ahhh), and HS#3 is a classic, one of Mikes best guest spots.
About HS#3, look closely and you notice Mike is wearing blue jeans.
Also, I love the way Mike leaves the scene; he says bye and hops down from what he was standing on and just walks off stage. Awesome.
AlsoAlso, on the Poopie Tape there is a blooper from HS#3 of Mike cracking up numerous times when he picks up that cow and starts munching on it while he’s talking. CLASSIC.
RIFFS AND SUCH:
During the Title screen,
Crow: “Oh, yeah you wish.”
Joel: “We’re at grandma’s, get your shoes.”
unwrapping Glen,
Crow: “Uh. Dark meat, please.”
Joel: “Vandals broke in a put skin on ’em!” ———-BEST RIFF
Joel: “Oh you mean ol’ “peel and eat” Manning.”
Crow reads a cropped newspaper headline,
CROW: “S enters Korean Wa”
Joel: “Hurts don’t it? Tell yer friend.”
Glen takes a drink from a barrel,
Joel: “uh, that’s your chamber pot, sir.”
Joel: “No man is a Three-Mile Island, Glen.”
In response to the tiny elephant and camel,
Servo: “These things could revolutionize Thanksgiving!”
Joel: “Put that pipe out, Rockwell.”
.
Like I said,
AN AMAZING COLOSSAL 4 OUT OF 5!
Well, it’s just possible that the version of the Hulk’s start Best Brains’ is more familiar with (if they even are familiar with Marvel super-hero origins) is the one from the live action TV series, considerably different from what was in the comics.
I don’t buy it John R. Ellis. From a regular TV show and regular people/writers I would expect the Bixby/Ferrigno “Hulk” show’s canon to be easily mistaken for the comic book event that started it all. But from the kings of obscure ‘the right people will get this’ references that date back decades (sometimes history itself)? Not on your life. I guess it just boils down to either (a) not enough comic book nerds in the writing staff to notice the similarities between “Hulk” and “TACM” origins, (b) the writers that did get the similarities wrote lame and/or unfunny jokes/riffs that Mike rejected for the one’s used and/or (c) a combination of the two. :-/
John R. Ellis #47: Newvina (spelling?) and Pitch were -not- played by Bill Corbett.
Neither was Toblerone.
Neither was…well, you get the picture. *grin*
So, maybe the new Lathe (whoever it was) predated Sci Fi era Crow?
And neither was Jan in the Pan, or Ilya Muromets, or Ortega.
62= For what it’s worth, I believe Mike is on the record as not being into super-hero comics, due to bad experiences from his sporadic previous attempts at reading them at his younger days.
And you’ll note that even in the glory days of obscure references on the show, most of these arcane references were to music, literature, vaudeville, old Hollywood, and the more esoteric branches of pop culture. Only very, very rarely to graphic novels, and even rarer still to super-hero stuff.
Super-hero comic references tended to be (if made at all) more towards the DC and Marvel characters that got into movies and television, which leads me to believe they were only familiar with those super-hero stories that entered the pop culture osmosis. (“The Dark Knight Returns”, the USA Network “Swamp Thing” series, etc.)
Lately, whenever I step on a bathroom scale, I find myself wanting to shout “I’m Huge! Ahh!”.
I don’t really know about this episode…. I think I might have chuckled once or twice when I watched it.
5 stars.
Favorite Psychic Lawn Dart:
(opening shot of long dusk highway, ominous music)
All: o/` “Scare-crowwww…Scare-crowwww…” o/`
Crow: “Scare-me?”
EricJ— MCGOOHAN!! (/JackBlack>
As a huge Monty Python fan, love it when the guy gets the knife in the back and we get the classic ” MESSAGE FOR YOU, SIR”!!!!
Haven’t watched this one in a while but laughed throughout. I have a Rhino VHS, I think it was the 2nd or 3rd episode that I bought. Didn’t know it was a rarity (maybe).
I saw War of the Colossal Beast on TV first, I seem to remember Mike’s portrayal of Glen as a much nicer fellow than when we meet him here.
I too was shocked, but also laughing, when Joel did his Big Bopper for a plane crash. So much for sensitive Joel. Speaking of which, I love the sketch with the Bots telling Joel how sensitive they are to him.
The film was actually interesting for a bit, until Glen begins to mope and go mad. Cathy Downs reminds me a lot of Vera Miles.
Ah, yes, Glenn’s single celled heart.
CROW: You’re not a real doctor, are you?
One of the great episodes – and one of the few films I saw before MST. Mike’s turn as Glenn is one for the ages, but I think he’s a little more interesting in the sequel.
Then, the infamous slip: “Paging Dr. Fine. Dr. Howard. Dr. Fine.” Um, guys, you got the names mixed up. And they keep going…
But boy, are the guys really mean to Carol in this one!
CAROL …he still ribs me about my driving.
JOEL: RIBS! That’s what I’m hungry for!
The reporter won’t shut up.
REPORTER: Don’t hold out much hope for him. Quite a mess when they got to them.
SERVO (as reporter): … yep, real pile of goo. You know him?
REPORTER: You know, I was there covering the test…
SERVO: I didn’t run up next to the bomb!
CAROL: Please…
REPORTER: You a friend of his?
CAROL: Fiancee.
REPORTER: Oh, I’m sorry. What a dope!
JOEL: But he really was a mess!
REPORTER: Anything I can do?
SERVO: Get you drunk, maybe?
CROW: Get you some beef stroganoff?
CAROL: Why does this have to happen to him?
SERVO: Cause he’s rock stupid, honey!
Carol walks in and notices Glenn appears to be healing
JOEL (as Carol): Hey, you guys really are doctors!
CAROL: His skin! It’s not burned! He’s going to be all right now, isn’t he?
SERVO: Yeah, right, Dorothy. You can go back to Kansas now.
Carol is driving.
SERVO: Susie thinks she doesn’t need a seatbelt. Watch Susie go ballistic through the windshield.
DOCTOR: It’s the bone marrow!
SERVO: We need your bone marrow, Carol!
then, a little quietly: Carol Merrill?
Evil, guys…
“Scarecrow! Scarecrow!” Wow, “The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh,” starring Patrick McGoohan. I missed that riff when I first saw the episode, now I can’t help singing the theme when that scene plays: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WMKOBko6_PU
Classic episode. Looking forward to “War of the Colossal Beast!”
Gotta love it.
@36: I’ve always imagined that the characters visiting the SOL were actors visiting the ship. That’s why “Glen” talks about later playing the Jolly Green Giant, for example. Of course, they do get visits from the “real” characters themselves, like Nuveena and Krankhor.
Either way, the MST3K universe IS a weird place, but that’s why I love it so much.
We’re deep in classic MST territory. Fantastic riffing on a classic sci-fi movie that’s cheesy but serious too. When I saw this as a kid I got a bit bored with all the talking and complaining, but I get it now.
BTW: The ,”Why don’t you ask me what it feels like to be a freak”, line was sampled at the beginning of a Rob Zombie song. Demon Speeding I think.
This is the one that started it for me. I didn’t have Comedy Central in those days, but I had heard of MST3K. I struck me as a dumb idea for a show. Then I wanted to purchase a VHS copy of The Amazing Colossal Man (one of my favorite bad sci-fi movies), and it was only available as an episode of MST3K. I bought it with great reluctance, took it home, watched it, and was instantly hooked. I was an instant MSTie (insty MSTie?), and have been ever since.
I still think it’s a stupid idea for a show, though. For me, the genius is not in the concept, but in the execution….
As for the single-celled heart, I believe it has something to do with the fact that cardiac issue is comprised of syncticial cells, in which several cells do away with some of their internal cell membranes to form large mutlinucleate cells. So I sort of understand what Dr. Chad Feelgood was getting at, but “single-celled heart” is still a gross over-simplification… :-))
One of the great ones. In my top twenty if not my top ten. This one zings and sings. It’s one I pull out for firstimers (if I don’t choose a Mike).
It seems likely to me that one’s reaction to this episode depends on how much one likes black humor. The riffing is dark, dark. The film gives generously toward this end. Glen’s situation would be deeply tragic if not so goofy and full of overamplified pathos (he was acting on steroids, I guess), not to mention implausibility–all delivered with a straight face. The Brains take that ball and run with it (a ball the size of Glen’s head, maybe it was Glen’s head). There’s something about operating rooms and hospitals that really lend themselves to this kind of humor (see Brain that Wouldn’t Die). Plus they have such great “characters” to riff on: Glen’s histrionics, an oddly dispassionate heroine, Dr. Insensitive from the Twilight Zone, crusty military personael, and an elephant and a camel in the corner of the room. The host segs are great too.
“The seaweed was my idea!”
“Have you seen Glen?”
A+ classic
I just dont see how rare the VHS is. Yes it was recalled, but it seems after everybody got thiers. When it hit the shelves, it seeemed to sell well.(Everyone burning it to DVD including myself). Yes, this Episode holds a special place for me too, but if it only commands $3-$15, how “RARE” is it really? And remember, its on a aging VHS.
While i would pick MANOS as the best episode, AMAZING is the one I would recommend to someone who hadn’t seen the show already. it’s an entertaining movie already, and the riffs &host segments are funny and not too esoteric. btw, if anyone has Sirius/Xm satellite radio, the classic radio station plays many dramas starring Collosal man Glenn Langan.
pride of my MST3K episode collection, the rhino video club VHS release still in original shrink-wrap….never opened it….item arrived during the hectic full-time student/full-time job stage of my life. sounds like an episode i need to see though.
Ah, Bert I. Gordon produced and directed – he did EVERYTHING – all right, you win, he’s King of the World.
“S” enters Korean “WA”!
I like this one. :)
To anyone who is looking for Amazing Colossal Man, it is sold on Amazon. Used copies (which is how I got mine, in great condition) it’s available for around 8.00.
This episode is non-stop laughter for me, even in the dull slogging parts. I LOVE when the doctor’s doing lab work for like 15 seconds with no dialogue, no sounds, no nothing…and J&TB just sit there and go with it. This experiment also gave up one of my favorite lines in the entire series when Crow said, “Poor bum’s screams were muffled by a throat full of his own blood.” I’m laughing hysterically just typing that out.
One question: when they leave Glenn in that weird tent/shower thingy overnight, Joel starts to make a sucking sound, and Tom hums something almost audible but not quite, as if imitating an old record player. What’s the sucking sound for? What’s Tom humming? Are they related?
5 out of 5.
These guides have been a great help in keeping track of actors/actresses that have appeared in both Joel and Mike episodes.
As for the episode itself, it’s definitely one of the more fairly watchable movies even without the riffing, but find it to be slightly above average overall.
Is anyone here old enough to remember the “Amazing Colossal President” sketch (said President being Jimmy Carter) on Saturday Night Live? I remember seeing *part* of it as a child but, beyond knowing who the President was, I had no real context for understanding it.
About mid-way through the film, there was a definite vibe that Dr. Linstrom (aka Dr. Feelgood) didn’t really WANT Glenn to recover, because he wanted to move in on Carol. He wanted to revoke her security clearance so she couldn’t be around him any more. He kind of refused to believe that Glenn’s growth could be reversed until he saw the shrunken animals, and even then he didn’t seem any too pleased about it. I’m sure the Brains picked up on that, but I’m not sure if they riff-erred to it. So it’s kind of too bad that, at the end, Glenn needled the other doctor to death instead of Linstrom, leaving us with the implication that Linstrom and Carol might have ended up together after all. Yeah, THERE’S a “how we met” story you won’t see in “Dear Abby”…
27 (me): “So, if “Glen” (as seen in the host segment) is tall enough to stand with his feet on Earth and his head at orbital height, how big would that make the cow he ate? Has anyone been geeky enough to work that out?”
Anyone? Anyone?
I know the sketch you are talking about. I’m a bit young for it but I first encountered it during the SNL clip show done for the 1992 election. Dan Aykroyd played President Carter. He was touring the Three Mile Island nuclear plant during it’s 1979 accident. That was something the real President did at the time. In the sketch Aykroyd goes into the reactor room and that radation turns him into the Amazing Colossal President.
“What made him grow like that?”
“Wonder Bread.”
For some reason I’m always thinking the ‘No!’ lines came from this episode (until I watch Cave Dwellers & am reminded), simply because of how much Joel uses it here (which is fine, because his delivery of it makes me laugh every time).
Mike is fantastic as Glenn.
So Glenn was planning on heading right off to get married as soon as he was done with the whole ‘experience a nuclear explosion’ thing?
I like the nuclear scientist who is completely and incredulously clueless of the effects of radiation. ‘What does being burned to a crisp in a nuclear explosion have to do with Glenn’s new super regeneration?’
I don’t know how many times I’ve seen this episode, but I never noticed until this time that the TV news reporter is supposedly named ‘H. Wells’ (there’s a name plaque on his desk).
I remember seeing the Disney movie Monsters vs Aliens, and laughing hard at the ACM reference near the beginning, with the giant syringe. Though instead of the giant person throwing the syringe into someone’s gut, it goes into someone’s toe.
The sketch was called “The Pepsi Syndrome” and was done not long after the movie “The China Syndrome” came out about an accident in a nuclear power plant. Someone in the control room spilled a Pepsi on the controls (D’oh!) and the plant went into melt down, which Jimmy Carter toured and they had an old cleaning woman (Garrett Morris) go in and mop up the mess. In the end, a colossal president left his wife for the colossal cleaning woman!
There is a cute bit near the end, when the newscaster says that he thought the colossal man was a joke, but now realizes he is real. Tom makes a statement about “eating crow” and Crow gives him a look as if to say “watch your language”. I don’t know if that was scripted or if Trace ad libbed it; but it always gives me a smile.
I have not seen this episode in over 20 years, but i still remember the giant searching the landscape for food and the line, “Glen just passed a truck on the highway. No, Glen just PASSED a truck on the highway!” I laughed and I am not really into bathroom humor.
@85 – The International Space Station orbits about 400km, so I’d say the SOL is about the same. That would make Glenn just slightly above 400km (since he took the SOL in the gut, but I’m going to call him 400km anyway). Average hand size is about 10% our height, so that’d put his hands at about 40km long. The cow looks to be about slightly above 1/3 the size of his hand, so that would put the cow at around 13.5 km (8.39 miles)long, and weight about 4430 tons. That’s a prize winning cow if I’ve ever seen one!
This is the one that I would always recommend to someone seeing the show for the first time. The movie is actually fun and entertaining on it’s own. The riffing is funny without being too esoteric.
My favorite line is during the Korean war flashback, when Glenn shoots the NK soldier in the face- Crow shouts: “Hurts don’t it…go tell your friends” When someone tells you the Joel era had kinder, gentler riffing, this one debunks that completely.
Okay I just looked this up. It turns out the movie China Syndrome was released a scant 12 days before the Three Mile Island accident I reference in my post #86. The SNL sketch aired after both the movie and accident. So it’s my guess that both The China Syndrome (which inspired the name of this sketch) and the Three Mile Island accident (which again Carter actually toured) were mashed together to write this sketch.
Continuing from #63, other characters from the post-Joel movies that appeared in the host segments include:
* The voice-over guy from The Atomic Brain (when he sexually harassed Magic Voice)
* The priest and the king from The Mole People
* Lydia from The Undead
* The Terror from the Year 5000 from… I can’t remember
* Bowler Guy from The Deadly Bees
* The Holy Blob from The Space Children
In the opening, the bots are at their most childlike and innocent, yet they become harsher in host segments 1 and 2. Just demonstrates how sometimes there’s a consistent theme to the non-movie segments and sometimes there’s not, I suppose.
I’m not sure if they were ever similarly childlike and innocent during Comedy Central’s Mike years — what works for Joel-the-father-figure might not necessarily carry over for Mike-the-bemused-older-brother-figure — but I find it downright hard to believe that they were ever like that during the Sci Fi Channel years. I can’t, in my head, hear Bill Corbett speaking in a “sincerely” childlike voice, as Trace did so easily. A *sardonic* childlike voice, yes.
I saw the sketch back when it was originally broadcast. The funniest part is when they need to explain the situation to Mrs. Carter, so they bring in that noted science authority…Rodney Dangerfield.
It’s amazing (colossal?) how many people say this was their first, because I’ve thought long and hard and I’m pretty sure it was mine, too. I was only about 10 at the time. My mother knew I liked sci-fi movies and found an article about some comedy TV show with robots who watched sci-fi movies. “Uh…okay,” I thought. Cut to:
“AAAAAAGH! My husband’s a sumo wrestler!!!”
That’s the first joke I remember being absolutely floored by. I also remember the sketches cracking me up: “He’s known around the ward as the Great Jelly Man!” “How would you like to go out with a NORMAL guy?” “He’s just upset because he’s a freak.”
This is also an important episode in my life because it was the first time I discovered they could lose the rights to movies they watched when the guy at Suncoast Video explained why they no longer carried that particular VHS. Since then, I’ve made it a point to buy any MST movie immediately upon release. That’s why I still have a DVD of G_DZILLA VS M_GALON. Sorry, T_HO.
My VHS copy of Amazing Colossal Man is rare…because it’s autographed by Joel. It was at a convention in San Jose many years ago
I have the VHS of this too, though I don’t have a VCR to play it on anymore (I should get one), so hopefully one day Shout can clear this one for the royal treatment on DVD (imagine, a box set with this, War of the Colossal Beast and the two Godzilla films!) because this is an episode that deserves it.
Beyond the amazing cluelessness of that nuclear physicist, and the equally clueless declaration of “they never even found the plane or the pilot he was trying to save” (after seeing the footage of what a nuclear bomb actually does? No kidding!) I find myself wondering what happened to the rest of the troops Manning was leading. It gave me the most memorable riff from this episode:
“That’s a chance I’ll have to take, lieutenant. Now you get out there!”
@ #95: Rewatch the “To Earth” host segment from Danger: Diabolik.