Short: (1952) A family appreciates the modern household appliances electricity makes possible.
Movie: (1956) A neglected socialite leads an all-girl gang on a violent crime spree.
First shown: 10/8/94
Opening: Tom Servo has a new head!
Intro: The Mads unveil their theme music, “Living in Deep 13,” and demand themes from M&tB. Tom is ready
Host segment 1: Now, the Mads are promoting a radio station called Frank
Host segment 2: Tom reenacts a tearful scene from “A Star is Born”
Host segment 3: A rehearsal for Crow’s one man show about Keanu Reeves starring Mike!
End: Mike and Crow reenact the gas station hold-up scene from the movie, they read a letter, the Mads are still turning their cranks to Frank!
Stinger: “So what?”
(212 votes, average: 4.49 out of 5)
Loading...
• I said in a previous thread that I consider this my “desert island” episode. I know, it may seem like a weird choice, but for me this episode has it all: (mostly) great host segments, classic short and great riffing of a movie (reportedly) written by Ed Wood. It all works.
• This episode is included in Shout! Factory’s “Mystery Science Theater 3000 Collection: Vol XXII.”
• References .
• Crow’s reaction to Servo’s new head is just one riotous moment of the brilliant opening bit. This is one of my all-time favorite openings.
• That brilliance is followed by the theme song intro. Frank and Trace are wonderful in Deep 13, Kevin is hilarious and then Trace caps it all off with two more great theme songs. Another classic.
• Tom’s theme song, for those not musically inclined, is set to the famous music of “Carmina Burana.”
• The short continues the fun. The first time I saw this, it took me a little while for me to figure out what the hell its point was. Eventually it’s becomes clear, but it takes its sweet time!
• The short was edited. It was even longer! You can see the full thing at archive.org.
• The term “squishy” immediately entered the MSTie lexicon.
• At one point in the short, Tom predicts the girl will say “oh dear” and then she does, to which he boastfully declares, “Did I call that?” They don’t do that too often and I’m glad, because it feels a little like cheating.
• Coming into the first segment, Tom is teaching mike to singing the “hum-didda-hee-hee” song, made famous in episode 421- Monster A-Go-Go.
• Amazingly there are still several radio stations called Frank. The bit is a local Minneapolis reference to a then-newly introduced country station called “Bob” that had the catchphrase “turn your knob to Bob.” That station was one of the first to have a person’s name. The gimmick has spread throughout the industry since then.
• Non-spaghetti-ball bumpers: datebook, beaker, bulletin board.
• Despite all the talk that Ed Wood wrote this screenplay, his name does not appear in the credits. Apparently the fact that he wrote it is mentioned in his various biographies. One commenter speculated that it may have been a union issue (no director is credited either).
• The “rape” scene was also an immediate sensation on MSTie internet forums. As noted in the ACEG, don’t get your hopes up, guys. This has never, ever happened.
• Segment 2 is really the only clunker in the episode. I remember when it first aired, people were baffled by it. What a parody of a scene from the Barbra Streisand version of “A Star is Born” has to do with this movie is beyond me. Kevin really gives it his all, though, you gotta admit that.
• Callbacks: “He’ll never touch you, Terry. You’re dirt.” (Teenage Crimewave) ”We shot that fat barkeep!” (The Beatniks)
• Stupidest line of dialog (which, even if he didn’t write it, sure sounds like Ed Wood’s writing): “What in the world is a pajama party?”
• Back to brilliance with the end segment. It just gets funnier the longer it goes on.
• Yes, the list of people Frank rattles off at the end is in Ward E.
• Cast and Crew Roundup: Producer Roy Reid also worked on “The Sinister Urge. Cinematographer William C. Thompson also worked on “Bride of the Monster,” “The Sinister Urge,” “Project Moon Base” and “Racket Girls.” Score composer Manuel Francisco a.k.a. Mischa Terr also worked on “The Sinister Urge,” “King Dinosaur,” “The Unearthly” and “Bloodlust!” In front of the camera I. Stanford Jolley was also in “The Rebel Set.” Timothy Farrell was also in “Racket Girls.” Harry Keatan was also in “The Sinister Urge.”
• CreditsWatch: Host segments directed by Trace Beaulieu. This is the final episode with one Charles A. Zimmerman listed as an editor. He started about three quarters through season five. Crist Ballas is back doing hair and makeup. On “Forrester’s Theme Song” (which the rest of the world calls “Livin’ in Deep 13): Music by Michael J. Nelson; Lyrics by “Best Brains.” So I guess that makes them a collaborative effort.
• Fave riff from the short: “Double bag it, son!” Honorable mention: “I’m squishy and I need to move on it!”
• Fave riff from the movie: “Thousands of men flock to crime scene!” Honorable mention: “Rabbits…with…big…guns…and…good…aim…”
) to help our users cope with "trolls" and other commenters whom they find annoying. Go to our
It’s still better than B101 though.
In light of Mike’s recent foray into all-things-bacon, I thought the opening segment was especially funny when Crow said to Mike, “I’ll save your bacon” and created a theme song for him. Granted, it was just a major coincidence that they use this phrase, but it’s still funny.
Wynonna!!
Dies irae…
Crap, wrong piece!
I just realized a couple of things about Frank radio.
1. It becomes the most successful radio station ever as it’s still running 500 years into the future.
2. It obviously wasn’t being broadcast from Earth because Mike blew up the planet, but the station lived on.
I love this short! It has some of the biggest laughs ever. The gang rape scene is pretty damn funny, too.
There’s another brilliant moment in this episode that is so easy to miss it took me about 5 to 10 viewings to figure out what was happening. As movie sign is going off for the first time and just after they all scream, “Ed Wood? NOOOOOOOOOO!” Crow yells, “I have angora-phobia!!!!” It’s hard to hear over the movie-sign sirens, but since I’ve figured out what he’s saying it never fails to make me laugh.
I give them the benefit of the doubt on the “I called it!” thing. I figured that, during the writing of the riffs, one of the riffers actually called it so they incorporated it into the actual riffing on the show.
Just a thought. :-)
This is another in a long line of great Season 6 episodes. Good short, awesome movie, and fantastic riffing. The reenactment of the gas station hold up is far and away my favorite Mike-era host segment that deals with the movie. The comedic timing is perfect when Crow finally hits Mike. I cry laughing everytime.
On the other hand, the “A Star is Born” host segment is one of my least favorite of the entire show. Maybe it’s because i haven’t actually seen “A Star is Born” but the whole thing does nothing for me. It’s long, it’s noisy, it’s not funny. I find it a little ironic that in the very next episode they’ll be making fun of the “Joey the Lemur” skit… :roll:
Loved the short, it’s one of the best they ever did.
“Young man’s fancy krinkle cut pototoes”.
“Hey, it’s the electric phone!”
“Just don’t use his electric razor, he goes bezerk!”
“I’m calling from the White House, Eleanor”.
“I’m squishy and I have to act on it!”
“Mom, what happened to my pet Vietnamese pot-bellied pig?”
As for the feature, it’s the weakest of the Ed Wood trilogy they riffed on the show, with The Sinister Urge and Bride of the Monster being wonderful campy classic to riff on.
This one, while it certainly had its moments, including the scene of the implied sexual assault by the four girls upon that stringy guy, was hilarious for the reactions of Mike and the ‘Bots.
Overall though this one came up kinda flat, probably because the material they had to work with was rather dark. I’ve noted before that the Brains seem to struggle with many of the bad film noir movies and this one is no exception.
I don’t blame them, indeed, I applaud them for their attempts to mines this type of film for comedy gold, but the darker the film the more they seem to struggle.
In summary, great short, ok movie. A good episode but not one of their better efforts.
Oh, and before I forget, I thoroughly enjoyed the host segments, especially the theme songs in the opener:
“Tooooooooom Servo! Tooooooooom Servo”
“Bigger than life, bigger than YOU!”
“Mike-mike-mike-muh-muh-muh-Mike-muh-muh-muh-mike-mike-mike-mike…”
“Bad-da-been,we’re livin’ in Deep 13, nobody knows what we mean. Rulin’ the world with our heads in a swirl and it’s keen! Livin’ in Deep 13”.
One last thing, just as an aside and not to change the subject or highjack the thread, but does anyone other than me feel a twinge of sadness every time the music plays for the end credits of the show? :sad:
Just curious.
Here’s a bit of trivia: The Short was used quite a bit in the 1984 YES Concert/Concept video: 9012LIVE.
I sent a letter to Comedy Central when the Movie ED WOOD was released in the theaters telling them to put all three Ed Wood episodes of MST3K in a marathon…They just didn’t get it.
I’m happy to report that BEN FM still exists in Philly. Slogan: “Playing anything we feel like”. IMO, 1 good song in 5 is a pretty damned good ratio these days as far as I’m concerned.
I also live in the south (nashville) and the whole “Turn Your Crank to FRANK” thing is friggin hilarious! Perfect parody of the style of promoting new-pop-country junk after the advent of CMT.
The part where Dr. Forester pops in thru the hex-field viewer KILLS ME! “Brrooks and Dunn? …. BROOKS and DUNN?” .. there was a Brooks & Dunn GIFT-SHOP not far from where i’m living, it went out of biznesss in the late 1990s, lol.
The Tom Servo theme song s awesome! Great example of Kevin’s vocal talent!
The movie is ok for what it is, but the riffing is excellent and the delivery of the lines is priceless. I love Crow’s outburst “IT’S COMMUNISM!!” when the lady says the school destroying job ” … is part of a well-organized ‘foreign plan’ “.
** Love the short – anything about INDOOR MUSHROOM GROWING is a-ok with me!
I like the movie & short in this one. Too bad this is only *written* by Ed Wood and not directed by him too. Still, Shout! should put out this, “Bride of the Monster” and “Sinister Urge” in a box set and maybe get the rights to the Rifftrax “Plan 9” and hire the CineTit gang to do “Night of the Ghouls” or “Jailbait”… A fella can dream, can’t he!?
BUT oh, those host segments… season six boasts some of the laziest interstitial host segment writing of the entire series (I usually like the opening & closing of the episodes). I can only assumed the strains of writing the Movie & the Episode Guide while making the season took it’s strain on the writing room.
I can’t believe Sampo writes “Segment 2 is really the only clunker in the episode”, that “My Own Private Idaho… Potato” scene is A-W-F-U-L. “Turn Your Crank to Frank” squeaks by with my approval because they had Frank & Forrester in the hexfield, a rare occurrence I always liked.
“I can only assumed”!? Jesus…. I’m sleepy.
The radio station variant here in SC is 96.7 Steve FM. Usually fairly decent.
Am I the only one disturbed by the treatment of the victim in this movie? Rape is rape…
To Zee: I half-disagree with you on the host segments. Yes, there were some that were so short, or so strained, you started wondering if they were really trying or were just going through the motions that week. But Season 6 also had some inspired segments: The Tom Servo choir, the “Ingmar Bergman”-esque sketch, and the Film Anti-Preservation Society are among some of the show’s most brilliant. I also liked the fact that Frank and Forrester were incorporated more often in the S-6 segments.
Like Jeff@#2, I’m in Baltimore, and suffer with 102.7 Jack FM, which delights in it’s all ’80’s Weekends, punctuated by Disco Saturday nights *shudders* I didn’t like it growing up, don’t need it now.
Love this episode, short, host segments, and the movie itself all work perfectly for me.
I second the shout out to Ministry. Also check out the music of Rob Zombie. He uses the robot from the Phantom Creeps a lot, one of his albums is called the Sinister Urge, and he’s sampled the “Why don’t you ask me what it feels like to be a freak” line from Amazing Collosal Man as well as others.
I agree, Rotten-as-Brit-Teeth. There are TONS of excellent host segments in this season, “Last of the Wild Horses” alone is evidence of that.But there’s also a lot of lazy ones, like that ‘running gag’ of Servo constantly crashing into Crow. The Zombie Nightmare hot tub. The Bloodlust Murder Mystery Dinner. The Kitten With a Whip in a hexfield. Mike giving the bots bionic noises. “This is your life, Mike Nelson”. Mike as the Fonz. Or stretching the Urkel host segments out for an entire episode (cramming that many ‘guest stars’ into a single host segment would’ve been more striking) or the host segments in “Red Zone Cuba”… It just feels too lazy to me.
In earlier episodes a robot might explode as part of a larger joke. But from this point on it seemed like a robot exploding was supposed to be THE joke. Does that make any sense?
Zee,
It makes PERFECT sense.
You should really just relax…
Cornjob!
If you happen to like geeky sci-fi samples incorporated into industrial music…you owe it to yourself to check out Circle of Dust…AKA…Celldweller
Overall, I think this is another strong Season Six effort. The only host segment that I was not wild about in this one was the Keanu bit, but Crow’s pretentious director shtick saves it for me. Likewise, the enthusiasm Kevin puts into the “Star is Born” segment makes that one funny for me–even when I didn’t get the reference.
The theme songs segment is one of my absolute favorites, and spending most of my life trapped in the south, Frank’s name lists of artists (and onto miscellanea in the credits) for the radio station makes me chuckle.
The movie and the short are good stuff, although I had all but forgotten about this episode. I agree with one of the earlier posters that the last few minutes of the film dragged…then again maybe it is the parent in me that is rebelling. Okay, not the best parents in the world, but the judge seems like he’s kind of laying it all at their feet.
Also I feel like Ed Wood might be getting a bit too much criticism/ credit on this one. Beyond writing it does anyone know how involved he was?
I like the ongoing discussion of who’s picture that might be up on the wall. I’m going with Sting.
From the short: it seems like they’re trying too hard.
And back to MattG’s question from number 1–anyone know who this Sally girl is? I saw that as well and wondered if the short was edited down for MST purposes or if poor Sally was simply cut from the original and left in the credits.
COMMUNISM!
I have yet to see this episode. Is it on one of the DVD packages?
Klisch: not yet, but it could very well be on an upcoming set, according to Travis Hosey’s list of probable releases (found in Ward E).
Thanks RABiT, when Kris (posting #5) said she’d go and watch it again, I had thought they were in circulation.
One more thing about “Young Man’s Fancy”. Isn’t it odd that the expects her older brother to bring home a boyfriend for her?
Yet another . . .
I am ashamed at not having mentioned some funny riffing from Tom regarding Paula’s dad, the newspaper man. I really like the muttering of neo-Nazi nonsense that Tom does as the dad writes on a piece of paper. “And so it is the Teutonic races that are fit rule and yet the others continue to breed like the mongrels . . . ” or “Oh, why has the Lord chosen me to do his will?”
Before we start you have to ask yourself: Am I out of Reba? Do I need more Reba?
I much preferred Tom’s cylindrical head from that handful of season 2 episodes to this new head.
I do believe this is my first ever viewing of this episode. So I was reading the comments from four years ago and pretty excited for Living in Deep 13 but it kind of fell flat. I guess I was expecting a parody of James Brown’s Livin’ in America. But it would have been hard to top “Weird Al’s” Livin’ With a Hernia.
But the themes on the SOL were great. I love the grandeur of Tom’s theme and the way he sells it. But Crow’s themes for himself and Mike are just goofy lazy enough to ellicite a chuckle as well.
I’m really not familiar with A Star is Born so that second host segment really goes on too long for me with no real punch line.
Favorite Riffs:
Short:
Crow “Yeah if you’re named Alexander Phipps it’s over for you.”
Judy “Food, is that all you can think of at a time like this?” Crow “You mean lunchtime?”
Judy snaps her fingers. Mike “That’s what I need: an idea.”
Movie:
Two people “make out” in a parked car.
Mike drably “oh the passion, I find you so acceptable.”
Crow “oh your smoldering averageness, stop me.”
Mike “you are acceptable as a mate. Take me now.”
Gang Member during gunfight “They’re shooting back.” Tom “Them bastards.”
With one or two concerns, this is an episode that is at the top of my watchability list. While many of the younger and/or more *forward thinking* set run around the room screaming while the judge recites his scripted manifesto on closer families and values being important in societies well being, i have different point of contention. I realize it’s been explained before on here, but can ANYONE please tell me what the hell is the deal with the Babs impersonation?!? EVERYone and I MEAN everyone who i show this to becomes so confused by this segment that they just have to sit down and scratch their puzzler until the credits are running and have no clue how thw movie ends. sighh.. ok i’ve said my piece.. otherwise i love the short and the movie. big thumbs up all around. why streisand…why…why… going to lie down now….
This is one of my top 10 favorite episodes! The short is HILARIOUS, although I’m the only one in my family to love it. The host segments is top notch! I didn’t get the “Star is born” skit for a while and at first it sounded to me that Servo was laughing hysterically not crying.
One of the best episodes they ever did!!!
I used to love this movie, but it gets harder to watch over time. Ed Wood’s dialogue, the wooden acting, and the insane idea that Paula’s crime spree was entirely her parents’ fault begins to grate on my nerves after a while. (So, what, if Paula had gotten that heart-to-heart talk at the beginning of the movie, she would have called off the gas station heist she scheduled the minute her mom left the room? I mean, what?) The whole movie doesn’t make sense from beginning to end, all the teenagers look like they’re in their mid-thirties (again) and the judge’s spiel at the end of the movie makes me want to throw rocks at him. (His constant pauses, as if he’s reading from a slow cue-card holder, which he probably is, don’t help.)
“Young Man’s Fancy ” is AWESOME, though, and I only wish they’d done the whole thing, including the bit that Yes included in their live video. (“The rhythm of big generators…”) Granted, it’s just more “electric is wonderful” dialogue most of the time, but it does explain that Judy was originally supposed to GO with Alex to that mushroom lecture. Really, why is she interested in that guy? He’s as dull as she thought he’d be. The fact that he looks like Henry Aldrich doesn’t change that fact.
I’m guessing that the gay subtext between Alex and Bob in the short was unintentional.
Does it strike anyone else that Paula and her friends are a bit old for slumber parties? I get the impression that they’re seniors and slumber parties have always struck me as being more of a junior high thing.
Their surprise at the return fire from the cops was hilarious.
Host segments this week were really uninspired, with the A Star is Born one being especially painful.
Favorite riffs:
Why, what are all these gin bottles doing in here?
She’s squishy. She’s got the reds. What’s going on around here?
Don’t wag your finger at me, pink boy.
“Something about growing mushrooms under artificial conditions.”
And avoiding the narcs.
Oh, your smoldering averageness. Stop me.
Well goodbye, my suffocating little ice queen.
Not Old Glory!
Now there’s a girl who takes squishiness and does something about it.
She died as she lived. Failing algebra.
Hey everybody, welcome to Tuesday’s sentencing! Be sure to tip your bailiff.
How’s our little gun-toting trollop?
I sentence you to my Toastmasters meeting.
5 stars, a classic.
The short is the highlight, possibly second only to Mr. B in the pantheon of shorts, and definitely Mike’s best ever. The whole premise of the short is so forced….it’s hilarious. And man, are the boys in top form. I enjoy every second of that short.
Totally agree with Sampo….I enjoy every host segment a lot with the exception of “A Star is Born.” But, that’s not enough of a knock to deduct from the 5 star rating.
Honestly, the short was so good that as long as the feature wasn’t a stinker, this would still be a classic. But, it’s really strong. The mud butler stuff kills me and for some reason I’m a fan of the bleak, overly-serious heist films they did (see: High School Bigshot). It’s a perfect genre for riffing.
Far be it for me to Monday morning quarterback the Brains, but the stinger for this episode is kind of meh. I personally would have gone with the bit where one of Paula’s gang whines, “They’re shooting back!” That one perfectly captures the inanity needed for a good stinger.
This has become one of my fave episodes, partly because anything from the mind of Ed Wood has that “It’s crap, but I can’t look away” trainwreckiness. The short cracks me up too, but I don’t understand why so many people don’t get the original point of the short — it was to encourage people to buy electric appliances, because they didn’t use to be as common as they are now. Growing up, I didn’t know of any family that had an electric dishwasher, for example.
Fave riff: “Is she in heaven?” when it looks like her hospital room is on the 400th floor.
I haven’t watched it in a while, but isn’t Ed Wood listed in the writing credits as Edward D. Wood Jr.?
P.S. Wynnona…..
I love this episode, I couldn’t stop laughing when I first watched the ep and realized like others here that I had heard the judge’s speech before in Ministry’s classic song So What?, too bad the Brains must not listen to that type of music as a joke about it would have been great. While Ed Wood isn’t in the credits as Sampo says, I completely buy that he wrote this movie, it has the right mix of sincerity, creepiness and all around weirdness that I think are his hallmarks.
And the short was the softest appliance sell I have ever seen until the very end. As with many of these old industrial shorts, I really wonder who was the target audience here. Were these shown before a movie? Were they early infomercials on late night TV? Why would anyone watch a half hour advertisement?
While I love this episode, I think the host segments dragged the episode down a star to 4 stars. I totally agree with Zee and others that season 6 had a lot of lazy host segments but there were some good ones like we will see next week. And yet somehow, turn your crank to Frank is still timely as a radio station here calls itself Bob. And since my real name is Mike, a coworker greeted my appearance at work with the Mike theme song for quite a while after this episode came out. It’s cool to have your own theme song!
Here’s a link to the complete unriffed short: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A1gMdUZz9Wg There was a LOT cut out for the episode, including a scene with Judy and her friend Sally rhapsodizing about Sally’s mother’s electric dryer. Also a few more scenes of Judy attempting to get Alex Zander to notice her. And we do get an explanation as to what “the reds” are. Funny stuff.
I love this episode, although I do tend to FF over the host segments. I don’t have a FRANK to listen to, although I do get The HOG and The EAGLE.
How many pickled peppers does Paula Parkins pick?
This is one of my favorites from the Mike era and on Comedy Central.I love how Dr.Forrester and Tv’s Frank are trying to sell their radio station to Mike and the bots by saying “Brooks and Dunn” and Frank chiming in with “Wynonna” each time..I like the short,but not sure if it’s for electrical appliances or what a girl should do to get a guy’s attention like cooking.Or maybe it’s both.I don’t know..The movie was typical Ed Wood and it didn’t disappoint.The riffing was top notch…The only problem I have is the “Star is Born” host segment,which when I first saw it,I didn’t know what it was.Then,after realizing Servo was doing Streisand from “A Star is Born”,it was like “Oh,ok..” Not really funny,but Kevin did give it his all.When that comes on,I fast-forward it when Mike and the bots are in the theater.Still,a classic episode…..Brooks and Dunn! Brooks and Dunn??…Wynonna..
‘Livin’ in Deep Thirteen’ is fantastic! But the Streisand skit strikes me as one of the least funny things the show ever did (along with the Urkel skit and the Season 8 Bobo makes a sandwich skit). You really get the feeling they didn’t want to do sketches anymore, but felt like they had to because they didn’t want to change the show.
Oh the dark insane world of Ed Wood.
I really need to dig up copies of some of his porn novels.
#92:
“I really need to dig up copies of some of his porn novels. ”
I have to start posting that line on the face-book and twitter account of every writer in the world. Just for the goof-factor alone!
i agree with Sampo…this is definitely a “desert island” episode which grew on me….
the short get funnier every time i watch it. “I get to soap you first! Wheeee!”
and the movie, even though i would never think i would ever type it, the “rape” scene is hilarious! “Remember honey, I’m doing this for you!!”
#84 – “Does it strike anyone else that Paula and her friends are a bit old for slumber parties? I get the impression that they’re seniors and slumber parties have always struck me as being more of a junior high thing.”
My take on it is that our pal Ed was doing his mightiest to convince himself he knew what slumber parties were all about (e.g., their demographics). And, as was so often (gloriously) the case, he put one over on himself.
God how I love this episode. FANtastic short (and for the record, I HATE electric ranges, although I notice the heating coils tend to heat up a lot faster than the ones on the 1970s oven I grew up with) and one of Ed Wood’s underrated best. Frankly, the parents in this movie are, like, the IDEAL parents for any halfway intelligent and independent-minded kid.
Oh, and as far as the whole gay subtext thing regarding the short…
I wasn’t around in the 1950s, and I haven’t read anything scholarly on this topic specifically, but I would imagine that there has been a gradual change of consciousness among American males (and females?) regarding collective nudity since the early-mid 20th century. If I had to venture a wild and untested theory, it might have something to do with rising incomes and standards of living which have = more opportunities for privacy (e.g., bedrooms / showers for individuals rather than facilities shared by groups), coupled also with increased awareness of alternative sexualities which then leads to more sensitivity (read: reactionism), etc. etc.
I’m wandering a bit, but I guess what I’m saying is, I doubt very much anyone who made this short thought anything was funny about a couple of college guys co-occupying a bathroom.
Jean Moorhead (born Barbara Jean Moorhead on February 4, 1935 in Los Angeles) who played Paula Parkins was Playboy Playmate of the Month October 1955. She was seen in another MST3K feature as the woman in the bathtub in ‘Amazing Colossal Man’.
Favorite lines (Young Man’s Fancy):
“Hi Mom.” I’m back from the 20’s.
[Alex shaving] You can hardly see where you bit me.
“I thought you said your sister was just a little kid.” She must be forty.
He’ll never touch you Terry, you’re dirt. [They have gotten a lot of mileage out of that line.]
[Lunch is served] You got a claw hammer or something I can work on this with?
Is Mom in the Guardian Angels?
This is like ‘Three Days of the Condor’ I trust no one in this short.
Favorite lines (The Violent Years):
I think I’ll throw pig’s blood on the wall.
Benazir Bhutto is holding him up.
[Mercury brand automobile] They arrived in a U-Boat.
[Sheila] Sal Mineo entertains at home.
Isn’t it Harpo [Marx] on the right?
When a woman that top heavy falls, look out.
Well, how’s our little gun totting trollop?
She’s got a room on the 400th floor.
[Sheila] Count Jugula.
This was the feel good movie of 1956.
Final Thought: Ed Wood, you’ve done it again. I give this one 3 out of 5 stars.
Random thoughts- my, such a crush have I on Judy, she makes me feel squishy. This episode contains my all time least liked host segment. The Star is Born skit does nothing for me, and, I generally fast forward through it- which is RARE for me. Finally, the lead babe in Violent years can take me out back anytime.
Isn’t the fact this is available on one of the boxed sets now supposed to be included in the guide?
The opening to this one, with Tom’s horrific ‘Howdy Doody’ head, is one of their best. Crow’s reaction is appropriate, as is Gypsy’s. “I feel ill.”
The short is one of those “why does this exist?” sort-of-things, but it’s very funny, sister’s reaction to Alexander Phipps being in the house is hilarious, I love her “oh dear..” plea for help.
I like Host Segment #1, “Turn your Crank to Frank” just sounds funny to me, even though I grew up without radio stations with first names (although we did have “The Bear”). What kills me is the repetition of Frank’s “Wynona” and Dr. F’s appearance on the hexfield view screen, proclaiming “Brooks AND Dunn!” Unfortunately, HS#2 is awful, I’ve never seen A Star is Born, but I doubt it would help to enjoy Tom’s shrill, frantic performance… HS#3 is one of those simple, one joke skits, and it doesn’t overdo it, and I like Mike’s wig, so I approve. The ending, with Crow and Mike’s reenaction of the gas station holdup scene during the letter reading is great stuff, Mike really goes for it.
The movie itself is pretty watchable (for at least one scene, everyone can agree with that sentiment) but it does screech to a halt during the end with the judge laying down his overlong judgement. Absolute bummer of an ending, but “SO WHAT?”
RIFFS:
–
short:
movie: “Hi, Mom!”
Mike: “I’m back from the ’20s!”
sister opens fridge,
Servo: “Here you go daddy.”
Mike: “Thanks, kitten.”
Mike: “Hash brownies look good. . .”
Mike: “‘Shrooms!”
The Bots: “Woooo!”
Mike: “Double bag it, son!” —-naughty riff: refers to using two condoms, to clear that up.
–
movie:
Crow: “Let’s just let the scene peter out. . . .”
Servo: “Third date in a row this has happened. . . .I’m beginning to get suspicious..”
Crow: “Penthouse Forum: The Motion Picture.”
Mike: “By the way, we’re all pregnant from the guy we attacked.”
Mike: “They’re gonna bring the 5th grade to it’s knees.”
Servo: “We shot that fat barkeep!”
–
This episode makes me feel squishy.
4/5