Movie: (1970) Series pilot in which the administrators of a large metropolitan airport must deal with several crises and problems.
First shown: 11/19/94
Opening: Tom and Crow have a political debate on politics
Intro: The Mads are construction workers, M&TB do the old board routine
Host segment 1: It’s Urkel! Hahahahaha!
Host segment 2: It’s still Urkel! Hahahahaha!
Host segment 3: More Urkel hilarity until Torgo has his say
End: Comments on the movie, Tom and Mike read letters, Dr. F.’s ears
Stinger: “My job, my way.”
(222 votes, average: 4.43 out of 5)
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• Ah, the TV pilot: they usually have great riffablilty and the riffing really clicks here. And that’s good because the Urkel host segments are, for me, a long walk to not much of a payoff. As for the other segments, I do like the political debate at the beginning, and Trace and Frank are hilarious as the shirtless contractors, but the ever-increasing ears bit at the end doesn’t do much for me either (though whoever created the ears deserves kudos).
• This episode is available on Shout Factory’s “Mystery Science Theater 3000 Vol XXXII.”
• Callbacks: “Shut up Iris.” (The Beatniks) “o/` Laaaa-da-da-daaaa o/` (The Starfighters), “Megaweapon!” (Warrior of the Lost World)
• Perhaps the ultimate “then-current reference:” This ep was made in the heyday, such as it was, of Jaleel White’s rein of terror as wacky neighbor Steve Urkel on TV’s “Family Matters.” He really did loom large on the cultural landscape at that point, and the segments really do take you through the stages of feelings most people had toward him. But topicality has its dangers and this is a classic example.
• Unlike “Code Name: Diamond Head,” this pilot DID go to series, however briefly. Clu Gulagher was the only cast member from the pilot to be asked back. It started airing in 1970 in rotation on NBC’s “Four-in-One.” (The other three series were “McCloud,” “Night Gallery” and “The Psychiatrist”). Pernell Roberts, as was noted by the riffers, was replaced by Lloyd Bridges, and new characters were added. It only ran three episodes.
• Celebrity dirt: Robert Sorrells, who plays the big-eared thug who kidnaps David Hartman’s wife, pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in 2005. On the afternoon of July 24, 2004, he was kicked out of a Los Angeles bar after an altercation. He returned with a gun and shot and killed one guy and wounded another. Sorrells had reportedly been depressed over the death of his mother and his dog. He was sentenced to 32 years to life, and as far as I know he’s still behind bars.
• Great repeating bit: the kitty noises Crow makes every time somebody jabs a knife into a bag.
• Non-spaghetti-ball bumpers: Beaker, date book, bulletin board.
• Cast and crew roundup: Costume guy Charles Waldo also worked on “Riding with Death.” Makeup guy Bud Westmore did a bunch of MSTed movies, including “This Island Earth,” “Revenge of the Creature,” “The Leech Woman.” “The Mole People,” “The Deadly Mantis” and “The Thing That Couldn’t Die.” Set designer John McCarthy also worked on “Radar Men from the Moon” and “Kitten With a Whip.”
In front of the camera, Clu Gulagher was also in “Master Ninja I.” Van Johnson was in “Superdome.” Walter Brooke was also in “Space Travelers,” and “Bloodlust.” Jim B. Smith was also in “Mitchell.” Frank Gerstle was also in “Atomic Brain.”
• CreditsWatch: Host segments directed by Kevin Murphy. One Tim Paulson, who had worked as an editor for a total of 15 episodes in seasons two and three, returns to the editing booth for the remainder of the season. For the record, that’s Mary Jo as Jan in the Pan, Paul as Huggy Bear, Patrick as Rooster, Bridget as Nuveena (though the credits said “herself”), Kevin as Santa, Paul as Pitch and Mike as Torgo.
• Fave riff: “The answer, my friend, is blow it out your ass.” Honorable mention: “You know, Tab Hunter was Troy Donahue at one point.” “If only I had some thread — oh wow!”
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I love Trace’s bemused delivery when Dr. F. first comes in the room: “Oh no! Not Urkel?!”
lol I love the Urkel bits! Sure they go on, but that’s the point: So does Urkel himself. Something about the sound of the ‘bots over the top, non stop laughter kills me. Reminds me of a war episode of the Three Stooges where they get hit by laughing gas. And seeing Nuveena again was sweet. Movie itself has solid riffing throughout, especially the ones exploiting Davey’s misery both while on the ground and in the air. haha. And ya gotta love the Megaweapon callback. An underrated episode.
Urkel was annoying and not funny. Dressing up and acting like Urkel gets the same results. I have to say, these are some of the lamest host segments not involving foam and/or lemurs.
The movie is great, though. Just watched it again after it sat on the shelf for a long time. What fun. The brutal heart-to-heart between mother and son, David Hartman talking to the kidnappers (“Hang up the phone and high-tail it out of there.” >click< “Hello?”), and the immortal line, “That nose wheel feels mushy.”
Every time I get on a plane, I say to myself, “That nose wheel feels mushy.” It’s an automatic response now.
But my favorite exchange is, “Davey, he’s up there!” “That’s because he’s the flying boy, blblblblblb.”
Huh, this one is in my top 5. 70’s TV movie, plus the over the top skewering of Urkel (which will never get old for me) make this one of my favorite episodes. I also don’t really like Starfighters which was fawned over here a few weeks ago so I must be some kinda mutant MSTie.
Another good thing in this episode happens in the first host segment. Mike finishes his board gag and the bots are all beaten up and in pain. It’s always funny when the bots either freak out, are puzzled by something or are damaged. Another example is Crow sawing himself in half.
I really really like this episode. The riffing is topnotch, the best parts being anything to do with the poor kid. They really get dark with him. Love the hippy scene too. This is my fav TV movie that they did. I love how much fun they have with all the “third tier” actors…the kids’ plane flight…..
As for Urkel. I still don’t know who he is really. I wasn’t living in the States during most of the 90’s and I guess he’s just another part of the pop culture I missed. From what I gather I’m lucky.
A
Ugh. I do not like this one at all. It is my LEAST favorite, hands down. Like one of the other commenters up there, things didn’t even start getting a little amusing until they got up into the plane with the little kid.
I suppose there were a few bright spots in this film, my favorite riff probably being: “I wish this movie was in color.” But all in all it illicits a giant “meh” from me. I’m usually very generous with episodes, even ones that people claim to despise! But not this one. Anyway… that’s all.
Wait a second…is this the one that has the riff “Serum: The new album by Rush”? For some reason, i just love that riff.
I’m sorry, but the Urkel segments wreck this episode for me. One segment would have been enough, but three? Ugh.
The only segments that top this one for pain are Deathstalker’s sick Pearl Forrester repetitions of “Clayton!?! Clayton!?! Clayton!?!”.
The movie and the riffing weren’t bad, but Urkel still hurts. A lot.
Oh . . . San Francisco International, “I made-for-TV love you.”
Loved this one – although after repeated viewings the Urkel bit gets old. The Davey, Tab as a priest, Pernell, David Hartman and the made-for-tv-hippie bits really make it for me.
Talk about dark – I think the reference to the “well at least there’s Battlestar Galactica, that’ll never be cancelled” is about a boy who actually jumped off a bridge (suicide) upon learning that the BG series was being cancelled back in the day.
Fave riffs:
(Tab as “Frank Sinatra” priest) – “that’s why the saviour is a tramp, yeah” – “she get’s to hungry…”
(made for tv hippie scene) – “anyone wanna get high?” – “just wait till we go to series!” “except Jackson Browne”
(Pernell & Davey flight scene) “see all those people down there?…there getting divorced because of you, Davey” “OK tomorrow we’ll go over how to land the plane” and of course “Ahh Ahh it’s Satan I’m in Hell!!!”
Comment #49 reply:
Man, I am SO glad it wasn’t up to you.
This wasn’t a failed pilot. It was picked up and canceled after six episodes. I was about 9 at the time, and only remember the advertising blurb: “San Francisco International! Gateway for the jet age of the 70’s!” or something like that.
Don’t ever recall watching it though. My Dad did airfield operations at an Air Force Base-so he certainly wasn’t interested in watching Hollywood’s version.
For some reason, Hollyweird tried again with another “airport” series-that failed. Maybe in 1970 when very few people flew, it would seem interesting; but why anyone would think in the 21st Century someone would actually watch a show about a place they hate-escapes me….then again, it doesn’t.
Interesting….I always thought this was a failed pilot, and one of the few times network execs made the right decision….Now I can’t even give them that! I would love to see the other episodes just to see what they did with it and to compare it to this mess of a pilot. I don’t imagine they’ll ever be available on DVD, which is probably a good thing.
Sampo – there’s a callback from “Eegah” too:
Wowy Wow Wow!
I agree with Captain Cab, Dr. F’s “Oh! Not Urkel!” makes me laugh every single time. I love that delivery by Trace.
Another callback: Crow: “More Reba!” It happens when there’s a close-up of Davey’s mother.
Wow! I didn’t know about the context of the Battlestar Galactica reference. I was a kid when it weas cancelled, and I was a bit bummed to hear it, but not that much.
I’ve never seen Urkle except via Mike, so I didn’t entirely “get it” here, but the assemblage of characters was nice to see, especially Bridget as Nuveena looking all Pre-Raphaelite in her gown.
Anyhoo, I love the piling on Billy, “The faces of those you’ve wronged will be floating on your left”, and the whole cheesy 70’s TV feel of this. I also think that Codename Diamond Head would have made a better series, but not by much.
I really like (but don’t love) this episode. As others have already pointed out, the riffing is really great, truly top-notch, but the movie is just boring, with the same bland characters, bland set decoration, bland plot devices, etc. all over the place. The Urkel bit was a little too long (possibly Frank’s doing?), but still somewhat funny, and it was cool to see the BBI impressions of old movie characters all over again. Most of my fave riffs have already been mentioned:
“The answer, my friend, is blow it out your ass.”
“Insert Tab A into B movie.”
They’re what you young people like to call Bad Asses.”
I would like to mention another fave: “I’ll just have a sip of Tab.”
In defense of the Urkel segments, the whole point is to make fun of the idea that “Urkel = Funny”.
I just remember a kind of dark riff from this episode. When Tab Hunter is in his priest get-up Crow says, with head shaking, “They’ll just move him to another parish.”
I like this episode alot. I’m in aviation myself so I tend to like the ones with aviation aspects.
I don’t think the Urkel thing is horrible but they could have made better use of the host segments. But if you think about it the show did an excellent job of not dating itself. Yes their are individual riffs here and their but they get lost in the mix. Most of the host segments have a timeless quality to them.
I’m watching this episode right now, and man, it gets better every time I watch it! Funny riffs I never noticed before keep leaping out at me at every turn.
“That your guitar? You, uh…”
“…Know any Donovan?”
“Wow, what a mess, you go to Arby’s a lot, don’t you?”
“What’s that car doing out there?”
“Oh, about 30, I guess.”
“Oh man, another sack of hundreds, I just need change for a ten!”
And so on…
“Mommy, look at that man’s ears!”
“My lunch, my way.”
“Ah! The hand of God!”
The idea that someone would kill themselves over the cancellation of a t.v. show sounds more like an urban legend to me. Is there any proof i.e. newspaper articles to back up this story?
Sampo, shame on you! Urkel’s great! (“Hee, Hee, Hee! Snort! Snort!”)
I loved Urkel when I was a kid, so I love the Urkel host segments for purely nostalgic reasons.
I still love Jaleel White and I always will.
well, it seems that Torgo and i have yet another thing in common, i didn’t really get that ‘Urkel’ kid either. was supposed to be a one shot and should have stayed that way. the movie is made for tv greatness. I was surprised there weren’t more ‘MacGyver’ or even one ‘Black Sheep Squadron’ crack at Dana Eclar’s expense but i guess it’s for the best.
And remember ‘the answer, my friend is blow it out your….’
At the risk of staring a big political fight right in this discussion thread, I really feel the need to re-emphasize, “You refuse to even learn about Wink Martindale.”
There is a lot of good stuff leading up to the opening of the movie. The political debate on politics really drives home the funny with great delivery and tight timing. The fact that they are saying nothing of substance or in the least bit political has nothing to do with it. It’s all in the presentation here.
The construction workers are also fun albeit a bit out of left field. Here we get cliché after cliché but again it is sold in the delivery. The little touches I like: Clayton’s Deep 13 lapel emblem tattoo and (I don’t have the best copy of this one but it looks like) Frank’s sun burnt form.
The board routine is great as well. I love the mangled bots we see just prior to movie sign.
I have that Wham album from the first host segment. It is likely one of the most out place albums in my collection as there is nothing else remotely like it. (I’m heavy on blues, rock, hard rock and metal.) Who knew that Wake Me Up Before You Go Go was about Vietnam?
Complete lists of visitors appreciating Urkel:
Jan in the Pan
Santa Claus
Huggy Bear (not THE Huggy Bear, A Huggy Bear)
Rooster
Pitch
Nuevena
Torgo
My take on the Urkel host segments: I’m an Urkel hater. I see some value in these sketches. I definitely like how Torgo single handedly ends Urkel’s 15 minutes of fame and wish Urkel’s fame had in reality lasted only 15 minutes. That said it was a long walk to a short punch line. I’ll agree with the people who previously stated this could have been accomplished in just one segment but I’m not suggesting it shouldn’t have been done at all.
This was the second straight week where the riffing was not all time classic but instead very solid and fun. On the whole it is a good episode.
Favorite Riffs:
The fire trucks roll out: Crow “This is alarming.”
After the safe emergency landing: Tom “I hope I’m dead because my pants are full.”
Tom “I think this is the restored second unit director’s cut.”
Crow about Tina Scott “Hey more Reba”
Kid “My mom and I are going away and my Dad isn’t coming. You know what I mean.” Mike “So your Mom’s available?”
Tab entering the elevator “Aren’t we going down?” Mike “Mr. Tyler?” [great riff on the intro to Love In An Elevator!]
After Davy lands: Crow “Let me introduce you to these Federal agents. They are what you young people call bad asses.”
Controller during the hostage situation “How do I know you got her?” Tom “Hold her face up to the radio.”
Holy smokes – Tom got away with a very dirty riff – “that was a tres bien merde” tranlates to “that was a very good $#!+”
I prefer not to think of the urkel skit as a lame then current joke, but how for one brief shining moment, Mike Nelson was the funniest man in the universe! Cosmic forces balanced in such a way that no one could resist his hilarity.
Also, I’m not surprised that Clu Gulagher was the only one asked back for the series. He was cool and most fun to watch! CLU CLU CLU!!
#4: I always knew Torgo was smarter than he let on…
He’d almost have to be…
Favorite lines:
You can cut the tension with a dull object.
Is this any way to run a TV movie?
Insert Tab [Hunter] A into B Movie.
You know she’s got a nice Republican cloth coat.
So, do the Jesuits carry guns too?
So, this is Denver’s new baggage handling system.
Ah, Davey, I need to know where your dental records are.
No one told Pernell Davey had the IQ of a box turtle.
Final Thought: The running Urkel joke was worse than the movie. I give this one 2 out of 5 stars.
# 82
#4: I always knew Torgo was smarter than he let on…
He’d almost have to be…
of course he was, he ran the whole show at ‘Valley Lodge.’ Bill Buckner/Master was just eye candy to bring in the luaayydeees.
Hey, I think this is the first ep I commented on the first time around! I think the only thing I’d add is that if the band Rush had any sense of humor at all, they’d have released an album called “Serum” by now. Alas.
Still too many segments wasted on Urkel. One, maybe two would have been funny.
3 Stars
#9
Still haven’t seen this one.
I get the feeling most people don’t want to say anything bad about any episode. The Urkel skit may be the low point for the entire series for me. Crushingly unfunny. Jay Leno – unfunny. I remember watching this episode as it first aired and thinking the show had hit the ground and was just skidding to a halt. Skydivers, Starfighters, then this. It was a bad time.
But I guess it just made it all the more magical when MST3K got picked up by SciFi and I couldn’t believe how hilarious it was again, and how much I liked the ‘new guy’ doing Crow!
But this mid-season 6 stuff just depressed me.
‘I made for tv love you” and the ripping on the kid for being the reason for his parent’s divorce was funny, I’ll give you that. But there wasn’t much else for me. But you have to have the bad to know the good. This episode was not good.
5 stars and one of my favorite episodes of the entire series.
Now, let’s first discuss Urkel. I agree that 3 segments was way too much Urkel. But, it did have one priceless moment:
Frank: “Oh, Urkel?!? That is DELIGHTFUL!”
That gets me every time. That said, Urkel only takes up a few minutes of an otherwise outstanding episode. I’m a huge sucker for TV movie eps (Master Ninja I and II are my favorites ever) and this one has it all….I could not get enough of the Pernell riffs: everything from his arrogance to his hairpiece. Crow’s David Hartman voice “well….buh-bye!!” Every single second of Davey screentime was off the charts hilarious. “It’s your fault.” Van Johnson: “if perhaps we had a child.”
Oh my God. Might be my favorite riffing of any Mike episode and that is really saying something.
Look past Urkel…if it was one segment, no one would care. So, it’s 2 segments really in an otherwise classic episode.
This episode was better than I remembered but not enough to get all the way through it again. Seems a lot of people didn’t like the Urkel segments, I loved them but I am a special case as I used to work master control at an ABC affiliate and unfortunately I worked when Family Matters was on so I had to see Urkel every week. He was never funny and I found these host segments hysterical but then I really hate Urkel.
There was some good riffing here but the padding and overall slowness/ridiculousness really take its toll on me, I am not a big fan of the TV movie on MST. I was in San Francisco International last month and it wasn’t that exciting either. Loved the opening segment political debate too, unfortunately that will be timeless, the opposite of a then current reference. Everybody else already listed my favorite lines, curse you cheaters of 4 years ago!
Mitchell “Rowsdower” Beardsley says:
January 24, 2013 at 11:12 am
I get the feeling most people don’t want to say anything bad about any episode.
I take it you haven’t read the thread for Hamlet.
“I remember watching this episode as it first aired and thinking the show had hit the ground and was just skidding to a halt. Skydivers, Starfighters, then this. It was a bad time.”
#87, I must agree with you on this. Almost all of Season 6 was a major disappointment for me. Then, along comes Season 7 with only six episodes, and then cancellation. Fortunately the move to SciFi was a good fit and their last three seasons were great. (Mind you, there were a few clunkers–I’m looking at you “Hamlet”.)
Not Urkel!
I don’t exactly know why, but I love this episode! Maybe because the movie has so many different things going on? Definitely one of my favorites.
Tom Carberry #91 – thanks for convincing me I’m not crazy. My mind boggles when so many people not only say they like these eps, but that they’re in their top 5. Hu-wha? Compared to what other episodes exactly?
I dare say I almost prefer Hamlet! (ducks and covers)
While I respect “Rowsdower’s” opinion, I could not disagree with it more. One of my all time favorite eps. How many of these lame-ass movies-of-the-week did we all slog through as kids just because we didn’t want to go to bed yet and the only other options were, like, “Barnaby Jones” or the “Mac Davis Show”? I love how much fun they have with it. Some of the riffs on Pernell (“Dig me…), David Hartman (“a neck with teeth and eyes”) and Davy and his family (“But they need you in Vietnam…”) are classic. On top of that, I happen to think the 3-part Urkel bit is great! I love how it brings this bizarre cast of characters together (“Santa, you’ve gotta see this!”) I love how Mike tries to stop but Tom makes him keep going. I love how Torgo just sticks a pin in the whole thing and Nuveena checks out of there angrily, like she’s pissed the party suddenly got lame and resentful she showed up in the first place. If you paid much attention to Urkel back in the day, I guess it might seem dated, but if you look at it more objectively, it’s just a wonderfully bizarre, raucous, silly, fun and quite logistically impressive sketch.
Tom Carberry #91
Mitchell “Rowsdower” Beardsley #93
ok guys, just so i understand and have a mutually agreed upon point of reference, i want to know if the criticism of season 6 is truly based on the episode in it’s entirity or just the movie? because in my humble and probably meaningless opinion, i think ‘Skydivers’ and ‘Starfighters’ are gems because of the deadly accurate riffing of a horrible movie. and while i am grateful beyond words that SCI/FI channel picked up, fouled up and finally cancelled MST3k, i believe there were a fair share of clunkers during the 3 year run. just sayin’ is all.
@95: I think season 6 was a low point for the show, I attribute this to poor host segments and a lot of the movies were just devoid of action and hard to get through, a complaint I would also make with early Cinematic Titanic episodes. For instance, I love about all of season 4 with the exception of Monster a Go Go and Space Travelers, which I thought were extremely boring. A lot of the movies in season 6 fall into that category for me and really needed good host segments to save them, which for the most part they didn’t get.
This is one of my favorite episodes and season 6 is my favorite season. I thought the show took a slow slide downhill after the move to Sci-Fi, although it was still enjoyable. Frank and possibly Trace seem to have been the sources of the “right people will get it” pop culture references, which mostly disappeared after the move to Sci-Fi.
Any TV-movie or bad series they did is golden for me.
In this “is Season 6 great or terrible” debate, I fall on the “great” side of the fence. I think Season 6 is one of the strongest in the show’s run, and it only gets better with time. Even now, watching episodes like “Invasion USA” and “High School Big Shot” that I didn’t think were that hot the first time, I find myself laughing like a lunatic. Yes, the movies from this era are often punishingly awful and mind-numbingly boring, but that always seemed to give the Brains the opportunity to shun stuff like plot and character and just lob eighty-bazillion hysterical observational riffs at the screen. Movies like “The Starfighters” and “Racket Girls” and “The Beast of Yucca Flats” where nothing happens for an hour and a half resulted in some of my all-time favorite episodes. And then there’s the goofier stuff like “Zombie Nightmare” and “The Violent Years” and “Danger!! Death Ray” that really brings out the best in the Brains – not to mention those sleeper episodes that grew on me with every repeat viewing, like “Colossus and the Headhunters” and “Code Name: Diamond Head”. Admittedly, there’s a couple of clunkers here and there, but they’re few and far between (I’d say the only outright lame episodes this season are “Bloodlust” and “Angels’ Revenge”). Overall, it’s a delight. :)
Of course, I’ve always had some unorthodox opinions about MST3K – I don’t care for much of Seasons 2 and 3, and I don’t think the show really hit its stride until late in Season 4, ’round about “The Beatniks”. So your mileage may vary as to the validity of my praise.
Probably the strongest riffing Mike episode ever. The Urkel segs are a drag (I do love the debate opening), but the movie is HILARIOUS. Tied with Village Of The Giants for my favorite Mike episode. So many good lines in this one. He’s a made for tv hippie!
Too bad I will most likely never know a guy named Tab, those were some clever innuendos. I enjoy the head cold voice for Hartman’s character (“I hope they kidnap your wife!”) and the goofy “Hi there!” and laugh Crow does when the kidnapper appears.
Is diet gum the same thing as sugar free gum? How would it help anyone lose weight? What is a good republican cloth coat? Wasn’t Clu Gulagher outta sight? He had a kind of world weary yet good natured charm in this.
If I had to grade this one I’d give it a “B”.
And now Jaleel White hosts a game show about people screaming while they touch things in the dark on the SyFy Channel. ;)