Movie: (1959) A teen bombshell is sent to a Catholic reform school after she’s framed for a murder.
First shown: 7/16/94
Opening: Preparing for Dr. F.’s big announcement
Intro: Dr. F. unveils the Umbilicus
Host segment 1: Tom “scats” until Mike and Crow have had enough
Host segment 2: Mike explains the “honor system”
Host segment 3: Designing the woman of the future
End: M&TB make good use of the Umbilicus
Stinger: “You tell that boy to go home right now, or I’ll call the police!”
(107 votes, average: 4.71 out of 5)
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Off we go on season six!
• The stretch between the end of season 5 and the beginning of season 6 was 161 days, the seventh-longest amount of time MSTies had to wait between episodes.
• For me, this is one of those episodes where the movie, and riffing of the movie, are great fun, but the host segments…meh. Nothing really catches fire. Of course, the big news in this episode was the introduction of Umbilicus — the physical link between Deep 13 and the SOL — with its umbuliport, umbilipod and other umbili-named things that would come later, which was connected to Gypsy, until it wasn’t. The science of the thing is, of course, crazy (and how does he eat and breathe?) but who cares? The Brains said the idea was to create a way for more interaction between the SOL and Deep 13, and that it certainly did, though I don’t really think it got off to an auspicious start with the pie gag.
• This episode is not yet on home video.
• References One they missed is the reference to the mostly-forgotten TV show “Father Dowling Mysteries.” They also missed “We’re all bozos on this bus,” a Firesign Theatre reference (and one of the first since Joel’s departure).
• There’s a ladies’ room on the SOL?
• The Power Steves are Mary Jo, Paul and writer David Sussman in, I believe, his only appearance on the show. Sussman joined the writing staff for some season four episodes, worked on a lot of season five (including helping to write some of the songs) and the first five episodes of season six, before he dropped off the credits. He remains something of a mystery. If anybody knows David, please let him know we’re trying to find him for an interview. And David, if you’re out there, email us.
• Non-spaghetti ball bumpers: desk calendar, beaker, bulletin board, film canister.
• This episode may have the most Bill Clinton jokes of any show they did, largely because that one guy sort of looked like him.
• Each of the host segments just kind of lays there for me. Segment 1 (“Tom scats”) is pretty much a one-joke bit that goes on too long even though they hurry through it. Segment 2 (“the honor system”) is cute, but we can see the punchline coming down Broadway, and the payoff is nothing special. Segment 3 is just weird.
• As the differs return from segment 2, Mike has to help an engorged Tom Servo into his seat.
• Annoying commercial: My copy is from the ’94 Turkey Day, and featured bumpers featuring Mamie and Adam West. It also features that incredibly irritating (apparently homemade) commercial for a CD featuring comedian Jackie “the Joke Man” Martling.
• Callbacks: “Shut up, Iris!”(Beatniks) “No ,Lupita!” (Santa Claus) “Radar!” (Radar Secret Service) “He’d never touch you, Terry, you’re dirt,” (Teenage Crime Wave) and ”Who’s gonna make, Daddy-O”
• I love Tom’s “..and then he died” bit during Kitten’s confession.
• Cast and crew roundup: Producer Albert Zugsmith also produced the movie in the next episode, “Invasion USA.” John L. Russell was his cinematographer for both movies, and he also worked on “The Indestructible Man.” Makeup guy William Tuttle also worked on “The Painted Hills.” In front of the camera, Mamie, of course, is also in “Untamed Youth.” Dick Contino, of course, is also in “Daddy-O.” Peter Leeds is also in “High School Big Shot.” Gloria Talbott is also in “The Leech Woman.”
• CreditsWatch: New season, several changes: Mike Dodge joins the writing staff (he would stay for the entire season). Tim Scott joins the writing staff (he would stay for five episodes). Contributing writer Colleen Henjum-Williams becomes Colleen Williams. Host segments directed by Trace Beaulieu. Audio guy Brad Keeley and technical supervisor Tim Scott switch jobs. Production coordinator Ellen McDonough becomes Ellen McDonough Thomas. The post of assistant editor (held by Brad) is gone and now both Brad and Tim are editors. Jann is alone in the position of post production coordinator (last season she shared it with Ellie, and they will share it again later in the season). Interns, for this and the next 11 episodes, are David J. Belmont, Shannon McNelly and Peter Ncolai.
• Fave riff: “Do you know ‘White Light, White Heat’?” Honorable mentions: “The last call shall be answered first…” and “We are knee-deep in a Freudian quagmire here!”
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Hey MikeK:
I just find it fascinating when Mike in the early episodes has these little cerebral inclinations, yet now, ten years after the show ended, when summarizes the Mike era, (please I’m not saying everyone does this!) it’s along the lines of his ability to be the every man, a guy at home with the brewski in his hand.
(BTW I used to post as “Mike” but I changed it when I saw you and another Mike.)
It’s from Pod People if anyone forgets…
Faruk Alatan? I went to school with a Faruk Alatan. :mrgreen:
I think has to be both “the guy” and an intellectual.
The Guy:
In his relationship to the robots, he is basically one of them, which is appropriate since Joel was their “father”. It also give the character a certain ineptness when it comes to mechanical things. Joel was the mechanic while Mike was the guy who could change his car’s air filter but would end up destroying the car if he tried to fix it himself. He was also portrayed as a rather dim bulb in his youth, as seen in the Time Chasers episode.
The Intellectual:
Joel was intelligent in his own way, but Mike was always portrayed as a sort of literate man. He has a good knowledge of the theatre and books. He is often shown reading something interesting. In the Touch of Satan episode he is reading “Year of Upheaval” by Henry Kissinger.
I think the Mike Nelson character spent much of his high school and early post-high school years partying and being a dumbass. He then got him self straightened out, probably some community college, kept at the temp work to earn money, and turned into the Mike Nelson that we know.
“Just one question: Could he please solve the MST3K/South Park mystery? He would be the best person to ask.”
Wasn’t there a scene elsewhere in the ep where one of them actually said “They killed Kenny!”? I may be trippin but “Those bastards” wouldn’t be nearly as significant a coincidence.
#51
“summarizes the Mike era, (please I’m not saying everyone does this!) it’s along the lines of his ability to be the every man, a guy at home with the brewski in his hand.”
=================================
Well, he did have a great temp job at the
cheese factory before those meddling
robots from the future came visiting.
(That was before he became not stupid).
#54
I believe the “They killed Kenny!” line was a reference to the creepy Gamera fan-boy, Kenny, from 302-Gamera, not the Kenny from Southpark.
to CK, #55
I know the Time Chasers ep., but I think that that only proves my point though.
When Mike was new, he could be anything, so they had him referencing Demosthenes because who’s to say that he’s not a temp worker with a passion for Greek philosophy.
By the time season 8 rolls around, the Brains have established a decent identity around Mike, so it’s easy to make him a burnout temp at the cheese factory.
I’m just saying it seems Mike was more erudite during the beginning stages of his character development.
Back me up MikeK…
(I know, I should really just relax…)
Re: the no-face Platters. Thank you kathiemoffat, and I’m evil. Perfectly logical explanations. I can sleep now.
I keep meaning to drop a note to annotatedmst… clearly they have done a tremendous amount of good work, but some of the stuff misses the point, sometimes by a lot. It seems like they ran a transcript through an internet search bot and published the reuslts without really understanding them.
but I guess I shouldn’t quibble, it IS ok most of the time. Why did I bother writing this ?
“Girls Town Boys Club Welcomes You To Girls Town”. A great episode and one of the first I taped when I discovered the show. I enjoyed the host segments more than Sampo, and the riffing was good. Not one of my top faves, but still very good. Also, notice the eerie similarities between the deaths in the beginning of this movie and “Tormented” anyone?
Perhaps somewhat unrelated, a must listen is the song Mother Veronica by Checkpoint Charley. MST3K is thanked in the liner notes for exposing the band to the film. It’s just a great song. iTunes link – http://itunes.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewAlbum?i=81942016&id=81942103&s=143441
For me, this is a very good episode, with the host segments’ lack of comedy keeping it from being a great episode. M&TB always seem to have their best riffing when there are plenty of recognizable faces onscreen. The movie itself is a perfect fit for the show, but I do find myself hitting the FFwd button during the host segements. A large part of this is due to the introduction of the Umbillicus; I think Trace in the ACEG said it best when he referenced the Umbillicus as being “introduced and just as quickly ignored”. It was basically just a gimmick, an excuse for changing a small part of the show’s setup.
I remember this episode coming out around the time Mel Torme had some unexplained comeback; he also appeared on an episode of Seinfeld AND a Mountain Dew ad (both on the same night actually, it was definitely set up as a PR stunt). Thankfully his “comeback” didn’t get much further than that; I was never really a fan, sorry to those of you who are. Seeing him get beat up – by nuns, no less – was both funny and gratifying somehow.
Between Mamie Van Doren and Elinor Donahue, this movie did have plenty of eye candy! Even the girl playing Serafina was cute…in a “I-want-to-stalk-you-’til-the-end-of-time” sort of way!
While this is not one of their stronger ones (I’m more a fan of the sci-fi/fantasy experiments) we do get three Wizard of Oz riffs.
Dr. F: “Fly, monkies! Fly” As he instructs Frank to activate the umbilicus.
Crow: “How would you like it if somebody picked your apples!?” As the angry old lady who sounds just like Miss Gulch.
Sliva: “Ha, ha, ha!”
Servo: “Ho, ho, ho!”
Crow: (singing) “And a couple of tra-la-las!”
Faruk Alatan… I just remembered the old days in Rome. Love Oya
I just can’t get into this one very much. Maybe it’s because of all the bad acting but I just find this one turgid and boring. Not the fault of Mike and the ‘Bots as they do their best but this is just one of those movies which for me the riffing just kind of fell flat.
Can anyone help me out with a copy of this epsisode?? Please??
Cash money.
Ah, Mamie! How I love you! Let me count the ways! :smile: I’m with #66, I need a copy of this ep, too. All I have heard about this ep is wonderful things.
Mamie, did I mention that I’m crazy about ya?!
#66 and 67 – check out http://www.mst3kvideos.com
This movie is such a gem! SO much fertile ground for riffing.
I mean…Mel “velvet fog” Torme as the tough guy villain?…and Paul “lonely boy” Anka as the hero? Boy, THAT’S inspired casting! Not to mention that they’re actually expecting us to believe that Mamie Van Doren is a high school student. Yeah…uh-huh.
The only thing that could have possibly made it any better would have been finding an excuse to give Mamie the chance to perform a big musical number of her own. After first being introduced to Mamie in “Untamed Youth”, I was kind of expecting one!
this movie is what made me fall in love with mamie van doren. I can’t really put my hands on why?
I said it when I first saw the episode and I’ve said it ever since: There is no way you can be a tough guy in a movie if there’s a scene where you’re drinking milk. Get it together Torme’.
This is the first episode of MST that I ever saw, therefore it will always hold a spot in my heart and a place on my favorite episode list.
A friend and I where flipping channels, and there on ComCentral were these little weirdos making fun of an old black and white movie. I was instantly hooked.
15 years later, still one of my favorite shows ever.
Makes me want to skat!
Askibitty b-bop-boo, askitbitty doo dop-a-dang!
I kind enjoy this movie on its own merits, although I could do without Mel. Kinda hard to buy him in kind of a tough guy role. The “Honor System” segment was telegraphed, but I laughed anyway. There are actually many MST3K host segs that do this, but are still funny. When Adriene Barbeau (Bridget) appears on the bridge to replace Finnegan, I know she’s going to punch Mike, but it cracks me up every time. (Possible weekend discussion?)
Much of the music is pretty bad, but Paul Anka was young.
Many great riffs in this one.
Four Stars
Mamie…does any more need to be said? :watermelon: :watermelon:
Ah, Mamie and Elinor in the same movie? With Paul Anka, Mel Torme, and The Platters? All that’s missing is Tab Hunter or Troy Donahue, hee hee. Great riffing, good start to the season.
Since I came onto the show beginning with Season 2, I never saw Mamie in Untamed Youth, but when this show rolled around…wow. Anyway great episode for a great start to a great season. I eventually went to Mamie’s website, which was incredibly easy to find and use. I got an autographed photo, which she personalized, much to my wife’s chagrin, and it occupies a place of honor by my Beverly Garland and Christopher Lee “MST Stars” autograph collection.
Hey that’s a weekend discussion thread: What stars from MSTied movies have you ever met, made contact with, or have memorabilia from? I also have Dick Miller’s and Adam West’s autographs and they were super nice on their websites too!
i still don’t understand why Mel Torme wasn’t an action hero in more movies.
Mamie Van Doren (birth name Joan Lucille Olander) was born on February 6, 1931 in Rowena, South Dakota. Married five times (during the filming of Girls Town it was to bandleader Ray Anthony) she was best known for her platinum blonde hair, voluptuous figure and her breathless (lisping) voice. Discovered by Howard Hughes the night she was crowned Miss Palm Spring (CA) in 1948 at the age of 15, he dated her for five years and launched her career by placing her in a few RKO films. She was then signed by Universal Studios at the age of 18 with hopes of being that studio’s Marilyn Monroe (over at 20th Century Fox). Another MST3K episode (from Season 1), Untamed Youth (1957) was originally condemned by the Catholic Legion of Decency, but that only served to enhance the curiosity factor, resulting in it being a big moneymaker for the studio.
Favorite lines:
[very white faced woman] He’s dating a kabuki dancer.
A weasel ripped my dress, whizzzzz!
Ah, with Jim Mitchum you can even skip a day.
Why does it hurt when I “P” and “Q”?
Mel’s goiter was smaller back then.
Mel [Torme] always looked fifty. He looked like a youthful Jabba the Hutt.
“Mary Lee you tell that boy to go home right now or I’ll call the police.” How would you like it if someone picked your apples? I’ve got boiling oil.
[girl fight] When did this director look into my dreams?
[Mother Veronica] She’s got a Mother Superiority complex.
[Paul Anka] “…maybe I could do a song or two for you and the girls.” No, they’re being punished enough.
Another successful sexual intervention courtesy of the Roman Catholic Church.
[St. Jude] “Think of him as a microphone.” Jude’s wearing a wire!
[of Gloria Talbot] Romulans.
Sir, I have a table for you and your jailbait. Would you care for the four pound steak or the two pound petit steak?
You just don’t see rhythmic gum chewing like that anymore.
[of Paul Anka] He looks like a young Cher.
Say your prayers blondie.
He’ll never touch you Terry, you’re dirt [nice call back to Teenage Crime Wave]
Ever heard of a Sadie Hawkins dance? Well this is kind of a kd lang dance.
[Saraphina goes nuts] Paul Anka’s beefy security nuns step in.
She blew out a knee. She’s out for the season.
“Understand…understand?” Yes, I’m mental not stupid!
Paul Anka, P.I.
St. Jude’s coming, and he’s packing heat.
An evening at Jake LaMotta’s house.
Now it’s Greco-Roman Catholic Wrestling.
Final Thought: This one is cringe-worthy. I give this one 4 out of 5 stars.
This movie has three moments in it that would make me scream nonsensically at the screen (similar to Joel’s “DO SOMETHING!” from Manos or Tom’s scream from Mitchell’s digressing kid moment) if I were sitting in the SOL theater:
1. “Ok if I use the Alexander Graham?” – I don’t blame the nun for being confused at this, because slang that makes a simple word like “telephone” with it’s already shortened slang “phone” into something longer is just stupid. The fact that she calls it “the telephone” in the next sentence makes the slang useless.
2. Silver’s initial reaction to The Lemming Story – Yes, the whole point of the nun telling the lemming story is to accuse you of pushing Chip off the cliff. /sarcasm If you’re “smart enough” for the Alexander Graham slang, then you should be smart enough to deduce the nun’s easily discernable simile.
3. If I’m not mistaken, the nun saying “There’s no such thing as a bad girl” is a blatant rip-off of a similar line from Spencer Tracy’s “Boys Town.” If so, I’m surprised the MST3K crew didn’t pounce on it.
These three gripes aside, I agree that this is a great episode.
Lots of criticism of the host segments here and I won’t disagree with it, but then my biggest criticism of the show after Joel left was the drop off in consistency of the host segments. They not only lost their guiding theme and atmosphere but they lost their way on comedy as a result. There are some great host segments in the post Joel period (e.g., Toobular Boobular Joy, Wild Irish Ireland), but they are much much fewer and far between than before Joel departed.
@76 That is exactly what i am doing right now. I have been getting trading cards of the main actors. I am trying to get at least one card for each episode. Some are easy like Bela Lugosi and Lon Chaney. Some are hard to impossible to find. I have hundreds of them. Sometimes I’ll substitute a signed 3×5 card or a post card. Sometimes I’ll get a signed card from another tv/movie card. Star Trek has a lot of key actors on their cards. I’ll have to review my collection. A most unusual card – USS Catalina post card from the 1940’s – that’s right the ship from Catalina caper. It was scrapped after being abandoned in shallow water for years. I would have loved to have a piece of that. occasionally I’ll get a post card of some place featured in a movie or short.
I’ll have to go back and look my collection over and point a few of my favorites.:eek:
So, Paul rejects her and Seraphina gets the calling to cut her hair and become a nun? Could happen, I guess.
When I was a kid I lived literally across the street from a convent and Catholic church and next door to a Catholic school, but I’m not Catholic. All we ever saw the nuns do is walk their dog around the block, which was quite a sight when they were wearing habits.
In this Elinor Donahue doesn’t look a lot like she did in the “Metamorphosis” episode of the original Star Trek, probably because of the blonde hair. In ST she reminds me more of Peggy Webber from The Space Children and The Screaming Skull. She even has the worried look down.
If I remember correctly I think there’s a quick snippet of “Johnny’s Theme” from The Tonight Show at some point when Paul enters a scene. Appropriate, since he wrote it.
I do enjoy this episode a lot, although I do tend to FF over the host segments sometimes.
@80: I agree that the overall host segment quality dropped after Joel left. As to this episode, it just didn’t seem as good as it could have been and I’m not sure why, although the lackluster host segments are part of it. As Sampo says, you can see the ounch line of host segment 2 coming down Broadway. Usually I love when they do old ’50s movies, I loved Mamie Van Doren in Untamed Youth which I thought was a much better episode than this one and I am not a huge season 1 fan. 3 stars for me. It was nice to see Elinor Donahue in her youth back before she became Chris Petersen’s mom on the awesome Get A Life show.
I really kind of wanted Chip’s father to get a comeuppance of some sort for his determined labor on behalf of unproven and false allegation. Oh well.
Probably my favorite Season 6 episode. Mamie Van Doran, and I don’t know if anyone has mentioned it but Sampo – a brief appearance by Dick DADDY-O Contino!!! Yeah!! On the other hand, we’re about to get into the deepest, dreariest part of the series, to me, Season 6. Lots of hard episodes to get through, starting with 602. This is the only season I really don’t like that much. Umbilicus was dumb. Frank and Dr. F become prancing gay roommates, and it was just depressing watching it for the first time. And why are so many of this season out on DVD?! Ugh.
Elinor Donahue! She was still beautiful during the Get a Life show. And good acting too, in the middle of some very flat performances. (insert Mamie V joke here) I too loved the phone booth scene the best, it even has a capper (“Girlsville, girls-r-us, girl-a-rama…Earl’s Town!”)
This is one episode I saw a snippet of when it aired then finally got a copy last year. The one riff I remember from watching it on TV was when Mamie asks if there are any men at Girls Town: “No, none… except Father Fabio.” I chuckled at that for years.
I have to agree this starts a run when the host segments get a little juvenile in their humor; that said, I LOVE the honor system bit. I think as soon as Mike introduces the honor system snack bar, we all know where it’s going. I think they telegraph it on purpose, so they can revel in the delivery: Mike in his persistence and passion for extolling the higher aspirations of the soul, while the great visual comedy of the flying debris and feral devouring noises from off-camera. At the reveal, Mike is not too surprised, either, like when Joel allowed the bots to destroy and burn his toothpick sculpture.
I second the weekend discussion thread nomination for telegraphed host segments. The honor system sketch is well done for what it is but that ain’t saying much. Am I the only one who thinks this ep could use a different stinger? What about the mean girl’s squawk when Mamie pushes her into the locker?
As Crow once said, “the human body is neat.” Mamie Van Doren’s body is way more than just “neat!” :blush: I might be alone on this; after seeing Untamed Youth, I’m glad she didn’t sing in this one!
“You just wait until there’s nuns and croquet mallets!”
This is one of my all-time favorites and tops my list of episodes I’d love to see come out on DVD someday.
@ #89- I like Mamie’s singing. Her Calypso number at the end of Untamed Youth- “I would have baked a cake (hips shake) if I knew you were coming” OMG.
My favorite of the Mike episodes, by a country mile. My wife’s too — there’s a reason her Twitter handle is @silvermorgan. :)
Best line: “Uh oh! Romulans!”
One of the very great episodes, AND it features Mamie and Elinor Donahue. :-)
Interesting fact (or not): the year after this movie was made, Torme released Mel Torme Swings Shubert Alley, a great recording, featuring scores by Marty Paich. (#8: I’ve always sort of assumed they couldn’t afford to pay Torme to sing, whereas Paul Anka was obviously desperate for the exposure.)
A favourite line: “Hit him, he’ll cry.”
Notice no one complains about Mamie playing a teenager when she was 28 at the time of the filming.
#16: Are you SURE nothing sticks out for you in this movie? ;-)
I’m not sure why some people ridicule the science of the Umbilicus. After all in the press conference Dr. Forrester did mention he was going to shatter the laws of physics. Oh and it is just a show so you should really just relax.
When Mamie and that other girl have the “what is holy water”, “It’s plain ordinary water with the hell boiled out of it.” I thought the movie was riffing on itself.
At one point Mamie’s sister is silent and Tom riffs out “line” and what would go on to be the great Twilight running gag is born.
Anyway, I think Clayton summed things up well “Frank I’ll give you three seconds to stop licking my face.”
Favorite Riffs:
Tom “Hey Dick Contino wow… oh boy.”
Father “I’ll never understand what my son saw in you.” Mamie “Oh no?” Crow “Do these explain anything to you?”
Mamie: “Tijuana?” Tom as Mary Lee “Maybe I could push Herb Albert over the cliff.”
Girls Town. I love everything about this flick.
To think, Paul Anka would much, much, much later go on to record a cover of “Smells Like Teen Spirit.”
In 1959, the very notion that 53 years later, Mamie would be on a “computer site” called Facebook would be completely ludicrous. And Dick Contino would still be occasionally performing!
And I suspect, 53 years from now, Girl Town will still have an audience.
Why does the “end” of Gypsy have a male connector, hmm?
Sol Survivor (#82): I’m glad to see I’m not the only one who was bothered by Serafina’s “conversion” at the end of the movie–what’s the message here? A teenage girl who goes wonky for a boy singer should reconsider ever having any kind of relationship with men, period? Geez, sounds a little drastic to me. I’d like to see how many crazed Bieber fans would ever consider taking the veil once they’d gotten over their “Bieber fever.” And heck, Serafina actually gets to talk to Jimmy (sorry–that name forever belongs to the messed-up anti-hero of “Quadrophenia”), and I would imagine ten more minutes with him in person would evaporate the magic pretty quickly. He’s no Mel Torme, that’s for sure. Oh wait–maybe that’s not a bad thing.
Unrelated trivia: One of John Lennon’s many pseudonyms on recordings was “Mel Torment.” Maybe he came up with that one after seeing this movie.
Fred Burroughs: I’m also going to defend the “honor system” segment. Of course the punch line is obvious, but that’s part of the point. It’s more about process than payoff, and it works because Mike and Crow are so earnest while the candy wrappers come flying at them. It’s not the greatest host segment they ever did, but it works in its delivery. And it’s much, much better than the scat segment, which just seemed rushed and sloppily executed.
Since we’re on the subject of host segment quality, I think Segment 3 is an attempt to do the kind of thing Joel used to do, where the segment wasn’t so much a narrative skit as a chat session around a movie-related topic. I haven’t studied this systematically, but I’m pretty sure they stopped (or greatly reduced) doing that kind of thing after Joel left, in favour of more narrative (or punchline) based segments. These chat sessions weren’t supposed to be funny, necessarily, but thoughtful or charming or something–and that’s not really Mike’s relationship with the bots. Hence the “weirdness” (Sampo’s term) of Segment 3. Does that make sense to anyone else?
I remember those Jackie “The Joke Man” Martling ads well. So annoying.