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Weekend Discussion Thread: MSTed Movie SpinoffsAlert reader G.C. asks:
I see a weekly action series starring Ator, the lovely Lisa and wacky sidekick Thong. He’s searching for, I don’t know, the portal to his own dimension so he can go home, something like that. Meanwhile he travels from town to town righting wrongs and battling his evil enemy Zor. What’s your pick? 79 Replies to “Weekend Discussion Thread: MSTed Movie Spinoffs”Commenting at Satellite News
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@44 – Uh, you do know Project Moonbase WAS a TV pilot, don’t you?
(How about a Diamond Head or San Francisco International serie…er, no thank you.)
Professor Lockhart returns to teach the fall semester only to discover that Boggy is his new TA. Can he and Boggy learn to understand each other? Will Boggy’s pranks, like randomly appearing and disappearing, shooting Lockhart with a dart gun, and completely wiping out Lockharts identity, destroy their relationship?How will he cope when his prize pupil Tanya starts dating Boggy? What will happen when Crenshaw visits? Find out this fall on “Boggy goes to College”.
A new anthology series “Twilight Night Gallery Zone,” with introductions by the master of suspense, Anthony Cardoza.
How ’bout “Waaarwilff” stars Natalie and Paul in “Natalie’s Salon Takeover” – every week Natalie and Paul, who are always in mid-transformation, take over ailing Beauty Salons in an attempt to save them, training hair stylists to “transform” their clientele with crépe hair, aquanet and a little help from their old pal Yetiglanchi the skeleton. By the end of each episode, everyone ends up covered in hair, writhing about the salon… “Ever wanted YOUR hair to have that luxurious sheen of a wheaarwhelff in mid-transformation? Let our lycanthropic duo do-over YOUR ‘do!” – people will finally find you ‘absorelutely faaaasinating!’
“I Accuse My Parents” could have be done in the format like “Divorce Court”. And (my requisite reference) “Late Nights at Jack Taylor’s” — picture it as a Dean Martin Variety Hour.
#51, San Francisco International did go to series. It lasted 6 episodes.
Bringing back the old style TV variety show with “The Zap Rowsdower Comedy Hour”
Also, I see Mr. B as an animated cartoon show on Cartoon Network. (S)he annoys a different struggling kid each week. Of course, “Mr. B Natural” would *have* to be sponsored by Progressive insurance – after all, pitchwoman Flo Mr. B’s kid, right?
An adventure cartoon on the same network would be based on a bit, rather than movie, from MST3K: “Johnny Longtorso, American Hero!”, about a superhero whose body parts fall off in battle. He uses them as weapons to attack the baddies. His parts (not to be confused with the Clonus horror) are easily reattachable.
@21:
I agree.
I’m sure that on some parallel-universe Earth somewhere, ‘The Master’ turned into a successful mid-to-long running series.
I can actually see ‘The Final Sacrifice’ as being a weekly drama.
But as a sitcom, The Giant Gila Monster seems like a good candidate. It could have a Happy Days kinda feel to it.
-or Giant Spider Invasion! It’s already got ‘The Skipper’, why not!
It could have a Married-with-Children meets Deliverance kind of vibe.
“Lay off the booze, Ev!” would become an overnight catchphrase.
Lots of canned laughter.
I could see Moon Zero Two becoming a sitcom, or very similar to a Space 1999.
Gunslinger could definately be a western tv show.
I accuse my Parents: the diner operator is the main character and he meets various ‘hoods’ and leads them on the ‘strait and narraw’ with his ‘sammiches and french fried potatoes’ It could be called. “Fry-way to heaven”
Another vote for Mitchell. It’s almost a TV movie anyway. I read a review of the new DVD of Mitchell and it was written and directed by TV people. When Joel and ‘bots make those Rockford Files references, they’re not far off the mark. Mitchell should have felt like a Dirty Harry movie or something. Instead, it feels like a TV movie pilot for a series that didn’t get picked up by the network.
“Gary’s Island”
The Starfighters. Each week, they would get transferred to a different base and…not do much, really. Refueling scenes would take up 2/3 of the show. Lumpy faces and tepid romances ensue.
I can envision a “Simpsons” style continuation for Mike and his family in “My Master, My Boss, My Manos”(aka Return to Manos island). Mike tries his hardest to serve his codgerly boss, “The Master”, dusting his hideous paintings, carrying luggage pointlessly from room to room, and capturing a new set of victims each week. He’ll develop personal and humorous bonds with his victims before sacrificing them to Satan, all while dealing with his frigid wife, rebellious 9 year old daughter and her devil dog lover. And crazy old Torgo will stop by from time to time asking if anyone has seen a charbroiled hand lying around anywhere…
“Love, Love, Italian Style”, also known as “Return to Spider Island”
Premise: wherein Babs and Company have recurring dreams of dating Gary and return to
Spider Island in the belief that he has survived. Turns out a Spider island bite’s
real effect is a month long pre-Viagra Viagra effect and Gary is just fine. Gary and
the dance troupe buy up Spider Island and make it a romantic getaway to renew relationships
gone stale (one month should do it). The made for tv movie is so popular it becomes
a ScyFy weekly staple, the chief interests being how the weekly spider bite will effect
the bitee (especially hilarious when Babs gets bitten) and which of the dancers will
get Gary (actually, it’s a sitcom, so none ever permanently do).
“Merlin’s Shop of Mystical Wonders.” Every week, our lovable grandfather/narrator takes his Merlin book of the shelf to regale us with humorous takes on such themes as infertility, demonic possession, death, and the futility of human existence.
“Girl’s Town-a-go-go!”
Watch every week as Mother Veronica breaks another wise-cracking, scat-singing blonde. Laughs galore as the Romulan-looking girl judo-whips the unsuspecting milkman who bends over to help up one of the girls.
Special guest star: Mel Torme. Every week.
Have to say this thread is where Misties are at their best!
“Fargo in Fargo”: Super spy Bart Fargo battles international spies in the Upper Midwest
I’d vote for Moon Zero Two as well, but I’d do it as a children’s show set on the moon – mainly because the opening credits look like something out of The Electric Company or Schoolhouse Rock. I’d have the characters from the movie teach reading and writing skills while having goofy adventures with visitors from Earth and maybe some aliens from other worlds. There would also be frequent animated segments with wacky characters, 70’s style music, and lots of words flashing over people’s heads.
@47 – Yeah! Pumaman would be a hilarious weekly sitcom series! They’ve already got the perfect synth-driven theme song: “Pumaman, he flies like a moron!”
In each episode, Tony tries valiantly (and ineptly) to keep his Pumaman identity a secret while chasing down the plot contrivance of the week.
He’s somehow been able to keep his job at the fossil museum, where he and his British boss can engage in some “hilarious” banter, usually involving Tony illicitly jogging during museum hours and using the dinosaur bones to store his jogging clothes. “Ahh, you’re well aware of that, are you?” becomes his boss’s beloved catchphrase.
Next, Tony senses danger, and comes up with a wacky excuse to teleport away from his job so he can go chase down the source of that danger as… The Pumaman!
In each episode, semi-famous aging actors & actresses guest star as the villain of the week, sporting amusingly implausible schemes to take over the world using “futuristic” (i.e., 70s ideas of futuristic) technology from various ancient cultures. The show quickly exhausts ancient Aztec possibilities, and starts poorly stealing hackneyed ideas from other ancient cultures, such as those from Egypt, Easter Island and eventually Atlantis.
The gold Aztec mask from the movie is back, having been returned from its temple in the Andes mountains. However, in the TV series the mask has inexplicably lost all of its mind-controlling powers, and is now little more than an exposition device, providing Tony with background information on the villain of the week (spoken in as over-dramatic a voice as possible, as per the movie’s opening narration).
Vadinho returns as Tony’s ever-dependable sidekick. Aside from providing deadpan punchlines to Tony’s attempted quips and dimwitted questions, he usually handles most of the actual work and fighting that needs to be done. He’s also invaluable as a punching bag for the villain’s goons, and Tony’s “play dead” coach in various life-threatening situations.
Tony’s new girlfriend Jane Dobson also returns, however thanks to all of the mind-bending she went through in the movie, she’s “hilariously” forgetful and scatter-brained. This sets the stage for all kinds of misunderstandings, miscommunications and wacky hijinks. She’s also Tony’s “expert” on examining ancient artefacts with an enormous magnifying glass.
Tony’s fireman friend from the movie, Martin, is now inexplicably a local London policeman, and Tony’s liason with the local law enforcement. Martin still doesn’t take him very seriously, calling him “Sandwich Man” and other “hilarious” misnomers, and asking what comic book series he’s from. Despite this, Martin continues to hand over various electronic surveillance devices which allow Tony to track down that week’s villain.
Eventually, there are fight scenes, all accompanied by either the groovy 70s disco music or the Pumaman theme. Tony’s “powers” are on full display: “flying” clumsily in awkward poses against rear-projected backgrounds, “leaping” around pointlessly, and teleporting himself to various locations (resulting in “hilarious” traffic accidents, “accidental” arrivals in womens’ locker rooms, etc.). His red-tinted “night vision” is continually being modified and abused by various scriptwriters to allow him to see red-tinted visions of whether or not people are carrying concealed weapons, hiding ancient technology or (with attractive female characters) what kind of underwear they’re wearing, much to Jane’s “hilarious” annoyance.
Occasionally, when the events of the week’s episode become too wacky for even Vadinho to sort out for Tony, the gods will appear in their Christmas tree ornament spaceship to perform the “deus ex machina” resolution for the plot, prompting an unfunny quip from Tony and a more legitimately amusing deadpan remark from Vadinho.
Once the evil plot of the week has been thwarted, Tony and Jane engage in some off-putting banter about needing to start having little kidlets to carry on the Pumaman legacy, before Tony has to teleport back to his job in the fossil museum for some final banter with his boss there.
Think a version of the Pumaman story combining elements of the 60’s Batman TV series and Greatest American Hero, with the usual sitcom-style mistake- and misunderstanding-driven wackiness.
How about Fugitive Alien? No, wait. Time of Apes? No, no. Master Ninja? No, no. Rocky Jones, Space Ranger? No… Code Name: Diamond Head? Riding With Death? Prince of Space? San Francisco International? Hmm. All my ideas are taken.
Oh, wait, here’s one! Sinbad(He’s not Sinbad!) goes on various voyages to different beautiful countries and helps people.
Or there’s Squirm. Mick, Geri and Alma go on all sorts of adventures when searching for antiques. To increase tension, Alma can reveal her crush on Mick!
One is a messy cat-eater from Melmac! The other can do magic things! You’ve heard of “The Odd Couple”? Well, meet the oddest couple from out of this world! Watch “Huzzah!” with ALF and Trumpy, Tuesday nights on NBC!
I imagine the vehicular safety short subject “X Marks the Spot” from the King Dinosaur episode re-done as a Night Court-style sitcom with a wacky cast of angel public defenders, demon prosecutors, and various other religious types in legal roles.
Starring Joe Doakes as a recently deceased reckless driver, forced to repay his debt to society by becoming a court clerk. Will he find redemption as he watches and learns from all the people who pass through the court? Tune in to find out, Thursdays at 8 on ABC(Angelic Broadcasting Company) in….Purgatory Court!
I could DEFINITELY see Pod People transforming into “A Boy And His Alien”. Imagine Tommy and Trumpy’s wacky weekly adventures as they try to avoid Trumpy’s evil kin on a desperate search for potatoes.
And who wouldn’t tune in every week to watch “The Adventures Of Troy And Rowsdower”????
I just came across the ULTIMATE spinoff… The App Store has an 8-bit video game version of Manos! Screw Candy Crush!
I agree with number 58 about the Final Sacrafice, but as a sitcom with the plotline that Mike and Crow discussed. You know, “the kid’s a girl, everyone’s a girl. Heck, even the beefy guy is a girl.”
Dan, Ev, and Terry star in the reality show “Keeping up with the Kesters”. Watch in horror while Ev goes shopping for booze, Terry has her drama filled relationship with Dave, and let’s not forget Dan and his cousin Billy selling diamonds at the rock shop. Then we get the occasional guest spot for the doughy sherriff, or Dr. Langer or VAAAAAAAANCE!!!!
Teenage Strangler with Mikey, Tormented with Vi’s head and/or hand, and of course the Further Adventures of Torgo. ;-)