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Weekend Discussion Thread: Most Underrated EpisodeAlert reader Marty K (aka pondoscp) suggests we discuss:
Good idea! My pick would would be episode 315- TEENAGE CAVEMAN. Great shorts, great episode all the way around but you never tend to see it on lists of classic episodes. What’s your pick? 138 Replies to “Weekend Discussion Thread: Most Underrated Episode”Commenting at Satellite News
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I’ll cast another vote for “Moon Zero Two”. Along with the reasons already noted, it’s an unusual entry from Hammer Films. Most of their sci-fi movies were more low-key, Earth-based stories (like the Quatermass series). While this one isn’t perfect, they made a good effort. Hey, Catherine Schell alone makes the movie worth watching, Gumby headress notwithstanding.
’12 To the Moon” comes to mind. As the body count raises, its 10 to the moon. Always bring a cat. Also, I think “First Spaceship to Venus” was produced by the Italian Communist Party, but it might be good to irrigate the Goofy Desert.
Danger!! Death Ray! is one of my top ten MST3K episodes. “Ba da ba da ba da da…DING”, “Special Effects by Billy”, “A Peace-loving Death Ray”, etc., etc. A great episode.
For me the most underrated episode is probably “Revenge of the Creature.” I have a lot of affection for it because it marked the show’s return after being cancelled by the Comedy Channel, but I think it is a hilarious episode in its own right, plus the Creature from the Black Lagoon might be the show’s greatest monster. Plus: all the John Agar jokes. “I can still fit in the same swim trunks I wore in kindergarden!”
I never understood why Touch of Satan never gets the love it deserves. Those truck-size pauses make it seem that this movie was written to be riffed (ala Twilight), and the host segments are some of the funniest the show has produced (Tom’s killer grandma and the wassailing song).
Not sure if it’s truly underrated or not, but I agree about Touch Of Satan. The wassail stuff has made it a bit of a holiday tradition for me.
As for definitely underrated, I gotta go with The Starfighters. A personal favorite of mine (and the missus, who usually falls asleep halfway through most eps) though I’ve seen many accuse it of being boring. Nothing happens? Of course nothing happens! That’s what makes it a great experiment. The Brains had to work extra hard on that one. I especially love the bit where they go through all the dirty refueling references they already made to see if the missed anything.
And at the risk of starting a vicious debate, I love love love Hamlet. Bite me, it’s fun.
My GF and I always laugh hysterically at Horrors of Spider Island but I don’t think I’ve ever met another fan with a high opinion of it.
Completely forgot to agree on Starfighters. Aggressively inert filmmaking.
Starfighters is underrated.
#57: Yes, Horrors of Spider Island is a classic example of an underrated episode. It is also an example of an underrated GENRE–the Hollering Film. (“Gary, Gary, Garrrrry, Gawrrry.” “Cabot, Cabot, Cabot.”) And it has one of the best stingers ever!
I like Moon Zero Two…as a movie. Granted, it’s got problems, but I think the premise is pretty nifty. Colonizing the moon isn’t cool and sleek, it’s dull and dangerous. I’m on another Weekend Discussion Thread, aren’t I? Okay, it’s also a great episode. I sort of back-handed complimented the ep to Josh when I met him at a CT show. It’s the one the turned me around on Season 1.
My wife hates hates hates Starfighters. For me, it’s a Top 5.
I’ll also add Colossus and the Headhunters. Of course, I love all the sword-and-sandal eps.
The Undead. Digger Smolken and Alison Hayes. Mmmm…Alison Hayes.
I don’t honestly know if this one is underrated, but the Million Eyes of Sumuru comes to mind. It features Frankie Avalon, many midriffs, and the best way for a man to die.
I also like the Brute Man, for which the riffing seems pretty strong all the way through. But again, I don’t know which ones qualify as underrated.
It Lives By Night (Too much vapor action!)
The Projected Man (I just found a whole mess of cats. I’m so happy!)
Riding With Death (My patent papers are at a slight angle, Sam. What’s going on?)
For me, the riffing is just fantastic in all 3 of these episodes.
I am going to go with, Hamlet. Sure its a dreary grey film, but it’s a great episode. Some great laughs to be had.
I’d have to say it’s gotta be one of the Sci-Fi era episodes since that whole era is underrated. I’ll nominate Devil Doll (unless it was already nominated). The goofiness is over the top in that movie and some of the jokes are ones that stick in my brain after all this time.
“You know, you only RENT ham…”
603-The Dead Talk Back. It is the single funniest two hours I can spend. Nelson CIGARETTES, Franks spokesman stint, Krasker and their riffs are just great
I’ll also go with “Moon Zero Two”. It’s definitely my fav of season one. I like the movie, the crazy jazz score, and the riffs.
Ooh, this is a tough one, for reasons outlined already. I’d certainly count “Catalina Caper” as a favourite episode that gets routinely dismissed–or at most held as an example of why MST stayed away from comedies. I think it’s a lot of fun, and the comedy is bad enough that they can work it into the riffing. And this was only Season 2.
But I’d also have to nominate “Painted Hills,” which I think is a great episode because the movie is oozing with the same golly-shucks wholesomeness that provided such great material for the shorts. And the Brains definitely rise to the occasion. The villains wears black hats; the good guys wear white hats; the dog wears no hat, but is brainy and loyal and only asks for Snausasges in return. There’s a cute-yet-manly kid and some noble savages who don’t mind giving up their land–what’s not to love? It’s a Lassie movie! And yet it seems unjustly passed over in our discussions.
I’d also include “Night of the Blood Beast”–but I’m not sure if that isn’t more of a fan favourite. My impression is that discussion usually centres on whether the Turkey Day or “regular” host segments are better, and little attention gets paid to the movie or the riffing itself. But correct me if I’m wrong.
The Unearthly and The Screaming Skull. The Dead Talk Back, too, but I can see why each would be a slog for most people.
I’m glad to see some mention of It Lives by Night here. I so agree with that. A great one.
Deadly Bees would be another one. Love that one.
Is Starfighters underrated? Starfighters then. And The Thing that Wouldn’t Die.
Also have to agree with starter post about Rocket Attack USA. I’ve always said that one was the first “classic” MST.
Season 1 – The Corpse Vanishes
Season 2 – Jungle Goddess & Wild Rebels
Season 3 – The Amazing Colossal Man & War of the Colossal Beast
Season 4 – Crash of the Moons
Season 5 – Lassie, Teenage Crimewave, & Operation Double 007
Season 6 – San francisco International & Danger Death Ray
Season 7 – The Incredible Melting Man
Season 8 – The Deadly Mantis
Season 9 – The Projected Man & The Space Children
Season 10 – Track of the Moon Beast
Cinematic Titanic – Wasp Woman, East Meets Watts
Rifftrax Short – Act Your Age, Setting Up A Room
It’s one of those episodes thats neither praised, nor hated. It just exists, gets mentioned every now and again, and then fades back into obscurity :Tormented.
It is in my top 5 mst3k episodes. IS it as funny as pod people? no. is it as dull and boring, yet infamous, like Monster -A gogo? no. But it just has this ridiculous story,thats taken very seriously, and the beach looks like nighttime all the time, and Crow and Servo have a roof fort and I just think it’s peachy and funny, and a good solid episode that is forever being looked over.
If we’re defining “Underrated” as “Obscure gold”, then I’ll join the throngs for “Moon Zero-Two”. The best Season 1 episodes were in color.
If we’re defining “Underrated” as “Unfairly persecuted”, I’ll stand by “Monster a Go-Go”, against the hordes of new-kid fans saying “Geez, that movie was boring!” Boring?–No, it was dead, static, air-space, and watching J&tB get through it is what the series was all about. :)
(And the short was Ice-ing on the cake.)
Over the years popularity of episodes has changed. Back in the 1990s on Usenet I remember Teenage Caveman being brought up regularly, but you’re right, I haven’t heard about it much for years. Same with Danger!! Death Ray. On the LiveJournal group we used to mention it regularly, but that was years ago. (Danger!! Bifocals.)
Gotta agree with The Deadly Bees and Catalina Caper. When I saw it them for first time in reruns I was certain they were fan favorites, but they only have a mid-level rep. Both are favorites of mine.
ETA: I forgot to mention how much I LOVE Devil Doll. Love the unriffed movie, love the riffed version, love everything about it. It’s pure delightful B-movie gold, and as a bonus it’s completely deranged.
#68 mentioned Lassie’s Painted Hills and I’d have to agree. I’ve seen it talked about here and there, but mostly in a negative way. For the life of me, I can’t understand why. I mean, come on, it’s got Pile On Pete in it! Oh course, everyone remembers the short (Body Care and Grooming), but the movie is well worth sitting through. “First thing I’m gonna do is buy me a montage!” … “Whew! Sure glad that montage blew over.”
most underrated? how about The Thing That Couldn’t Die (#805)? a watchable movie, with good riffs. also, a diversity of characters to pick on. who can forget Flavia?
#72: Agreed–Tormented is one of the great neglected (read underrated) episodes. Susan Gordon (RIP) steals the show, and Tom Stewart can’t play jazz to save his life. The “Sessions presents” jokes are enough for me, and of course there’s the great skit involving infamous singers getting hurled from the lighthouse. And there’s the Lou Reed guy, too. Just very solid.
Starfighters…for me is in my top 10 list…..
Swamp DIamonds, definitely. People always mention the short and say that the movie is dull, but I think it’s well worth watching. The riffs are plentiful, the colors are over-the-top, and the dialogue has that cheesy Roger Corman feel that just makes the whole thing a lot of fun. It’s one of my go-to episodes. On the same subject of “great-short-but-dull-movie”, I feel like War of the Colossal Beast is unfairly maligned. It’s been a while since I’ve seen it, but I think the movie is just hilarious even though, of course, Mr. B Natural takes the proverbial cake.
Also, The Wild Wild World of Batwoman will always be one of my favorites. The movie is terrible, but that’s what the show was ABOUT, and the riffs they provide crack me up every single time. It was one of my firt episodes and I haven’t been the same since.
First Spaceship On Venus. One of my all-time favorites and my son’s favorite episode, it’s a lively movie that is also full of enough goofiness and cheap effects to keep you entertained by the movie and laughing at the same time from start to finish. I can never figure out why it’s never near the top of fan favorite polls, I absolutely love this episode. It’s light fun and funny from beginning to end. Space travels movies always worked well on MST3K and this is one of the best.
THE SCREAMING SKULL
Season 9
It’s never talked about. I have seen every episode, this is one of the funniest.
Glad to see so many throw in votes for the first season in general, and The Black Scorpion in specific-when I first started watching the show, sometime around the beginning of the third season, season 1 was still in heavy rotation, so Commando Cody was as welcome a sight as The Phantom Creeps or Godzilla Vs. Megalon. And, The Black Scorpion has the distinction of being the first episode to really crack me up, hard, with the line “Looks like a surreal Chuck Wagon commercial.” If you never saw one, I’m sure they’re on youtube, and they were surreal all on their own for dog food ads. What I’m trying to say is, you never forget your first real crack-up from this show, so this episode will always have a place in my favorites. Re-watching it recently, the whole episode is pretty solid.
Radar Secret Service is unjustly neglected-grey fedoras grey cars grey skies greyt episode-
Watched two last night that are overlooked, under rated:
The Creeping Terror.
Fire Maidens of Outer Space.
I’m glad I’m not the only one who thinks Starfighters is underrated. I know it’s fairly tedious, but that’s part of the fun. And what other film features poopy suits AND refueling?
I agree about Hamlet. It’s not as bad as people say it is, in fact it’s actually pretty good. You just kind of need to be Shakespeare savvy is all.
I’ve been rediscovering the SciFi episodes lately, and they’re so much funnier than I used to give them credit for. A lot of episodes people don’t talk about much, like “The Projected Man”, “The Space Children”, and “Gorgo”, make me fall off the couch laughing. And I’ll echo the sentiment that “Hamlet” is not nearly as bad as people make it sound – I watched it the other day and I was surprised at how often I was laughing out loud. :)
Also, one of my all-time favorite episodes is “Danger!! Death Ray”, and I don’t hear that one praised much either. There’s just this great vibe throughout, where it feels like the guys are really having fun with the movie and how relentlessly goofy it is. I can put that episode on any old time and laugh myself silly for 92 minutes. :D
I’ll also agree with “The Painted Hills”. There were quite a few people knocking it during the episode guide discussion a few months ago, but that’s gotta be my favorite Joel episode ever. Again, like “Danger!! Death Ray”, they’re having fun with this one, and you can tell.
Well, I am a pretty faithful reader of these weekend threads and have read all the entries of “Daddy-O’s Drive-In Dirt”, “Episode Guides” (original and revised), although I have read only a few of the many comments accompanying the link to the episode reviews/guide, which would certainly give me a better sense of which episodes are underrated. Having said that, an episode that I rarely see mentioned, but is (I feel) a shining example of just how hilarious MST3K can be, is season eight’s “I Was A Teenage Werewolf”. Featuring a couple of very popular and well known TV actors and a really dumb song (“Eeny Meeny Miney Moe”), I consistently laugh out loud through the whole episode. I think it would be one of my main choices for another discussion thread, “which episodes would be good to introduce MST3k to a newbie?”
I feel the same way about “Women Of The Prehistoric Planet”: aside from the iconic “Hi-Keeba” moment, that one doesn’t get mentioned a lot, but there are a lot of other goofy things in that movie and really good riffing.
Beginning of the End with all the Peter Graves jabs.
The Thing That Wouldn’t Die for the two hilarious ranch hands (and Flavia).
And since no one mentioned it, Phase IV, which had generally good riffing for a KTMA episode.
I suppose “underrated” is such a subjective term. It depends on ones own experience with watching the episodes, and the comments they read. I don’t really think MERLIN’S SHOP OF MYSTICAL WONDERS gets nearly enough love. Everything about that episode just works for me, including the skits. (“Slow Bears Woodland Picnic? Wow, that Borgnine is DARK, man!) The riffing seems different somehow, it seems intended for more mature audiences, I guess you could say. “You stupid bastard, I could stab you in the eyes right now so help me God!” and “Leave it alone, it’s nothing more than a rock. Like your womb.” come to my mind right now. I have the Rhino collection DVD of it, but the color seems off somehow. It’s extremely dark, and the black seems to evertake the colors a bit. Anyone else have the same problem? I would love for SHOUT to rerelease that one.
I second Stoneman’s suggestion (#88) for a discussion thread on which episodes would be good to introduce to a newbie.
And while I’m here, Stoneman, I Was a Teenage Werewolf is one of my very favourite episodes, and I most definitely agree with you about its status. The movie is just so watchable (it pretty much nutshells the kind of thing I lived to watch when I was a kid), and the riffing is spot-on. (My problem is that whlie my wife enjoys the episode, she doesn’t enjoy it quite as much as I do [she thinks it’s a little on the slow side, while I’m too busy laughing at the milk-tossing to notice]. It’s one of our Halloween episodes, though, so my turn is coming up. :) )
#90: Good call on Merlin’s Shop! Yes, my copy is dark, too, and I’ve come across many references to its sub-par quality.
Speaking of quality (“Enjoy our movie; it’s really quite quality”), I must confess that the recent Shout releases of the out-of-print Rhino (individual) releases strike me as not very good. And I swear their dub of The Atomic Brain comes from a tape source. I don’t mean to complain, though, and the last thing I want is for Shout to stop releasing individual episodes! I’m curious to know if others have noticed this as well, though.
For #88 and 91, there has been a discussion of which MST eps to introduce to a newbie. In fact, it was rather recent IIRC.
Furthermore, I don’t think Touch of Satan, Time Chasers, or Merlin qualify for underrated. They are generally considered in a positive light, at least here on this site. I do agree with Screaming Skull though, it is hardly ever brought up and it is pretty great. Like other eps, it is upstaged by the short that precedes it (GUMBY), but it stands on its own.
#93: Well, there you go. And you’re probably right about Merlin’s status. I guess I got caught up in other stuff. It’s relative, but it’s not THAT relative. Or something.
Matt D (93)–I’ve been contributing to this list for about a year, and I remember that Weekend Discussion topic, so you’re right, it was rather recently.
While we’re on that subject, I seem to remember once finding a list of Weekend Discussion topics that had been covered, but can’t seem to locate it now. I sometimes have ideas for topics, but think they’re so obvious that they must have been covered at some point. Sampo, am I right that such a list exists, or, if not, is there any way to get an archived list of covered topics? Maybe even with links to the discussions themselves (maybe even to see if there are any worth revisiting?)
I’d say 521-SANTA CLAUS, very funny, but is always overshadowed by on the boards by Santa Claus Conquers the Martians. This episode’s portion where they make fun of the different countries (Including the U.S.A.) working for Santa, is hilarious!
Blast Hardcheese (#95): I am a firm believer that we must have a keen eye for the obvious. I highly recommend that you share what you think might be obvious with Sampo, because my guess is you’ll nail something that HASN’T been done.
Funny but a lot of the ones I’m seeing ARE very popular episodes. Jack Frost? Riding With Death? Puma Man? Time Chasers? THOSE are the underrated ones?
My favorite underrated episode is The Touch Of Satan. I think it’s hilarious and watch it over and over. I was thrilled when it was released on dvd because it really wasn’t a “priority” episode with fans. The Projected Man is another underrated classic- “I think he’s implying POOM!”
Professor Gunther: Y’are too generous by far :-). I might just take your recommendation, and hope that Sampo is as kind with my inherent and incurable dullness.
Lost Continent and Squirm are very good episodes that most don’t consider among the best. I bought Squirm unMST’d on DVD because of it and it was quite creepy even with the Riffs. Lost continent is just plain goofy despite trying to be serious and that is usually the recipe for a good episode.