Movie: (1990) A small-town inventor builds a time machine, only to see it misused by a greedy corporation.
First shown: 11/22/97
Opening: Mike explains what’s happened since the last show, but Tom just needs him to say “Lost in Space”
Intro: Mike & Pearl have a nice chat
Host segment 1: Tom sends Crow back in time to convince Mike the dude to stop taking temp jobs
Host segment 2: Crow succeeds and, returning to the SOL, finds Mike’s big brother Eddie in Mike’s place, and learns that Mike’s new future was worse than the old one
Host segment 3: Having seen the future, Crow returns to the past to keep Crow from performing his mission
End: Mike refuses to say what needs to be said, and, during another nice chat, Pearl points out a troubling detail
Stinger: “Matt, it’s time for you decide if you’re gonna be one of my team players or not”
• Another very strong episode, with great host segments (now that the Roman Times stuff has mercifully ended), a baffling movie, great riffing and a guest star of sorts in the theater.
• Paul’s take is here.
• This episode appeared on Rhino’s (and now Shout’s) “Mystery Science Theater 3000 Collection, Vol. 5.”
• Two notable things Mike’s surly, pun-hating older brother Eddie does: most notably he does two theater segments. Also, he pauses to grab a smoke at one point. It’s a very memorable turn for Mike.
• There was something very satisfying about Mike’s two little chats with Pearl.
• This episode got internet fans talking about the number of Crows that are out there — remember you also need to count the one that went back in time in episode 807- TERROR FROM THE YEAR 5000.
• Patrick gives his most powerful performance yet as the cheese factory worker. “Dude!”
• Tom’s “Nicknicknicknicknick” is a Firesign Theatre reference. We don’t hear them as much anymore.
• Nice callback to the old days with Mike’s reference to “chinderwear,” an invention exchange in episode 505- MAGIC VOYAGE OF SINBAD.
• Cast and Crew Roundup: None.
• CreditsWatch: Produced by Kevin. Directed by Mike. An intern named Scott Bowman worked on this and only this episode.
• Fave line: “I’m gonna buy some Liva-snaps and a hosta!” Honorable mention: “Oh, he’s like poo, alright.”
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Perhaps I made my friend’s views on this one seem a bit harsher than they were; He meant that it had more irreconcilable continuity problems than most other time travel movies, not that it wasn’t entertaining.
And if I said they ripped off a bit from Jurassic Park, that’s a minor quibble that presumes we all know Time Chasers as a whole was not a rip-off/cash-in on anything, which is more than most MSTed movies can say. It probably attracted investors by coming on the heels of the Back to the Future sequels, but its content was wholly original, which is honestly risky for an ambitious indie film. If it can’t be summed up in a high-concept manner, it often can’t be distributed. Just look at Lucio Fulci’s “Don’t Torture a Duckling”, which dared to be different from all other early ’70s gialli and was rewarded by barely being seen outside western Europe.
TC does have one other little hokey moment that’s almost self conscious, like they intentionally played by the “Camel, Slow Moving” entry in Ebert’s Little Movie Golossary, when the tractor conveniently pulls out in front of Nick’s pursuers. That makes M&TB’s little subplot about the farmer all the funnier (was it just Tom that did the voice?): “Say, how would you boys like some maple syrup?” “We also raise llamas if you’d like to pet a llama.” “Got a dead alien in the attic–well, okay then…”
I agree with ck about the 2 basic types of scifi movies, and that’s probably what made the final trilogy of S8 work so well: Space Mutiny is type b): a poorly thought out attempt at a Star Wars cash-in; Time Chasers is type a); and Overdrawn At The Memory Bank is a third type, much rarer and harder to sum up: A good scifi story, bastardized not by a big studio, but by a plucky little PBS affiliate who apparently thought they were making it more educational, instead of incomprehensible.
I think Overdrawn at the Memory Bank falls into the “future dystopia” category of sci-fi movies. It includes movies like Logan’s Run, THX-1138, Blade Runner, Brazil, etc.
Well, both my earlier posts DID go in, I had to retype the second one from memory, didn’t quite recall all I had put in the first one. And they showed up AFTER my posts of saying my earlier posts didn’t go in, which draws me to one conclusion: They traveled through time!
Wait a minute, I’m a bit confused. Was that crowschmo 1 or crowschmo 2 who just posted? :???:
Third base!
re TheBolem #98:
A very small point about the credit to H.G. Wells in Riding with Death:
Gemini Man was a back-9 revamp of a series Harve Bennett had produced earlier that season, “The Invisible Man” with David McCallum. I think they only kept the credit to H.G. Wells because of the show’s vague connection to the previous series. It’s hard to imagine them crediting Wells if Gemini Man had been conceived on its own.
I thought that “I don’t drive” comment was funny by itself! And as a bicyclist, I appreciated the fact that the bad guys would choose bikes rather than their car (which, admittedly, would have been the sensible thing to do). Nick’s the man!
Re #98 The Bolem:
That’s … really not likely. I mean, for a start, even Vermont is a very big place and it’s not likely that an Uzi would be found unless someone knew just where to look for it, or if it were specifically sought for. Modern bullet-ridden bodies might stand out as being strangely shot up, but there wouldn’t be much that 1777 Science could work out from them other than that the bullets were of incredibly high quality.
Even the airplane wouldn’t be all that revelatory. Any gasoline in it would soon be burned up or evaporate. The motor might be recognizable to people who understood steam engines, but the designs would be barely recognizable and would just dimly give ideas on how to try building engines. Note that important work like Clausius’s study of the ideal heat engine, essential for modern engine design, lay fifty years in the future. What could be usefully applied to 1777-contemporary engines wouldn’t be at all obvious.
And nobody, not even the British, would have the tooling necessary to make more than dimly crude replicas of what they discovered. The Americans would have the added problem that they didn’t have the tools to study or replicate things and couldn’t afford it even if they wanted to.
If the plane, or a gun, or some other modern technology were discovered, maybe it might be useful as a way of provoking better questions for scientific study, but more likely they’d have to be abandoned as fascinating but inexplicable objects, at least until the time that the engineering and scientific framework would be better able to handle them.
Consider, for example, any of the semiconductors in the electronic systems: to every conceivable test that could be run in 1777, they would be pure silicon. No test would identify what was special about these pieces. And no attempt at duplicating them would work. I’m not sure that the necessary impurities to make semiconductors were even known at the time, and the level of purity needed to make a single transistor work would be unattainable until maybe about 1930 at the earliest. Give the Hessians all the transistors you want; they’re not going to do anything interesting with them.
“Cmon movie I will not except this as our star” …”I left my keys at the Manchu Wok of the future”…”His office is in a branch library”…”It takes a chin”…”For castleton!”. I love LOVE time chasers, it is one of my top 5 favorite epps and it rates high on that list.
“
This is my all-time favorite episode, since the movie was filmed largely in my hometown of Rutland, Vermont. I even went to high school with children/other relations of the cast and crew–not that I knew that at the time.
@Torgo’s Pygamas: Martin’s was never downtown. It was at the old mall on Woodstock Avenue. It closed in the mid-90’s (probably the same time as Montgomery Ward) and was replaced with an Osco. In the early 2000’s the whole place was torn down and replaced with a Home Depot, a furniture store, and a Big Lots.
Woah, coming back 10 years later and finding it replaced with a Big Lots could be considered post-apocalyptic enough to be a starting point for ‘Time Chasers 2′! Whenever I visit my dad’s old home town in Illinois, that crack about a Walmart opening nearby sure hits home, since it actually HAD a downtown until about 1995…aw heck, Michigan’s economy even kills the occasional Big Lots, and my favorite dollar store with all the copies of Santa Claus Conquers the Martians just disappeared, so nothing’s safe anymore. Things are mighty untidy all over…
And thanks for explaining how their reckless temporal littering wouldn’t cause that ol’ butterfly effect, Joseph Nebus@#108. It just always seemed strange to me that no character even expressed a throwaway line of concern about leaving an entire plane lying around 2 centuries before it should exist.
“I’ve got a million of em ah cha cha cha!”…”executive parents, I-I mean producers”
By the way, “Time Chasers” isn’t Rutland’s only claim to fame; it’s been featured several times in both Marvel and DC comics, due to the fondness of several comics writers for its annual Halloween parade. (I know it made appearances in the Justice League, Batman, and Thor.)
But in any event, yes, this one is a personal favorite. Pearl’s “Sometimes I think I lie because I’m evil” is one of the best-delivered jokes in MST3K history, and the riffs here are just wonderful. “Children’s Book Circle will be ‘Madeline’s Rescue’ at 4 o’clock.” “You had the misfortune of running into me. I’m a life-wrecking idiot.” “So it’s bicycles, is it? Very well! We accept your choice of vehicle!” And of course, one of my all-time faves, “Oh. Well, thank you, movie!”
Definitely right up there with the best.
“He died as he lived, mud stained and splaying”
#40 JCC – Yes! I’ve always thought the hero guy looked a lot like Jim Mallon. I’ve always kind of liked him, and as others have said thought they were a little hard on this movie. I have 2 completely unnecessary theories about the flick: 1) the entire premise stemmed from the fact that there was a local Revolutionary War reenactment in the area. “Hmmmmm, that would make a good backdrop for a time travel movie….” and 2) the actor who plays the cabbie “Nyu Yawk, Nyu Yawk…” was a friend of the director. Or at least, used to be.
113
John Seavey says:
January 4th, 2010 at 10:08 am
“By the way, “Time Chasers” isn’t Rutland’s only claim to fame; it’s been featured several times in both Marvel and DC comics, due to the fondness of several comics writers for its annual Halloween parade. (I know it made appearances in the Justice League, Batman, and Thor.)”
And, the G.I. Joe arctic trooper Snow Job, a fan favorite, is also from Rutland, Vermont.
http://www.yojoe.com/filecard/83/snowjob.shtml
Pearliemae…I understand about the war site giving them the idea for the movie, but what did the cabbie actor have to do with the idea for the movie?? I mean I know they’re friends but everyone who worked on it was practicaly.
#117 ya’na’glachy!!! – I just meant them as two separate ideas. God forbid that cabbie actor was the motivating factor for this or any movie! And, Hey…ya’na’glachy, baby!
I wonder if it is man’s natural instinct to drive a car? Why else would a man who doesn’t drive automatically run towards a car and attempt to drive it?
And what does Nick do in the winter? Being so far north, I imagine that Vermont has pretty unkind winters. Does pedal through the snow when goes to teach physics at the college? Freeze his nuts off when goes to Martin’s to buy nuts?
Time Chasers is definitely among my top 3 most watched (i.e. favorite) MST3K eps of all time (no pun intended) along with Pod People and Boggy Creek II.
I credit the following:
A) This movie is exactly the type of mid-day basic cable garbage I grew up on, which makes me feel all warm and toasty inside.
2) The host segments are 100% hilarity which makes all the difference for me. Despite great riffing, I often lose interest when the host segs bomb. “Dude!”
For Starters) I enjoy writing/directing my own terrible films and casting family and friends in them. Lisa’s performance is so indicative of the family member who has absolutely no screen-presence but is willing to give so freely of their lack of talent, that you can’t help but love them.
“He’s got a dinner roll taped to his chin”
I am a big MST3k fan who actually grew up in CASTLETON!
Most of the movie is filmed in Rutland but the “future” scenes are in burlington. The line “so 50 years into the future is 3 years in the future” I always thought was funny because burlington is about 3 years more advanced then rutland most of the time.
Great movie, well great riffing anyway, and it’s always fun to see shots of my old hometown.
>>>The real problem with the “deposit money in a bank of the past” idea is that you need period money. I guess the old style dollars that were used for the past 50 years could work, but it’s still a gamble. What if the bills are too different from those at the time you decide to deposit the money?
That sort of implies that the bank tellers will care all that much. Choose a REALLY BUSY bank. ;-)
Anyway, since the theoretical investor would only need a few dollars to start with, he/she could, in the present, buy a few correctly dated bills from a (checking the word) numismatist. Spend a few dollars to make a lot more. Bank-of-the-Past isn’t going to go out of its way to carbon-date the bills; it’s not likely to be on the lookout for time travelers.
If the bills are a little tattered and faded, or even scotch-taped together — meaning the investor might not have to pay the numismatist all that much — so what? You can find money from the last five years in that sort of condition; still useable. Again, what does the bank care? It GETS the money, 100% government-backed, which is recorded and then goes into the vault with millions more dollars. A drop in the bucket, and then once the bills have been whisked into the system and couldn’t be singled even if anyone wanted to (banking technology 50 years ago wasn’t anywhere near what it is now), Investor has the account with his/her name on it, just one of many accounts, no reason to single it out more than another. Heck, why not get MULTIPLE accounts at different banks?
Then again, I’m not a economist…
For all of those who keep saying this is a “good movie”:….
SEEK HELP – IMMEDIATELY
Or, at the very least, watch more REAL movies.
This? This was NOT a real movie. I completely share and join in Crow’s outrage from the very beginning of this stink-burger: “This can’t be our STAR – can it, movie?”
The muffiny-chin hero was a wannabe stunt-man with delusions of fame based on a Richard Dreyfuss imitation. Just look at his face in one of the many, MANY unfortunate close-ups of this man: HE CAN’T EVEN KEEP HIS EYES OPEN.
These weren’t actors – unless, as Servo quips about the scary Cabbage-Patch Elvis in the produce department: “See you at Community Theater practice!”
And the Revolutionary War re-enactment scenes were almost embarrasing. Servo: “Gee, our forefathers were dumpy!”
And the villain’s office? It was a stairway landing in some kind of mall or shopping center! They couldn’t even film in a real office somewhere?!?! Sheesh!
When Mike introduces the Rhino release of this and talks about the people who made this turd-of-a-film inviting Best Brains to the premiere – and about how they were all crushed by the MSTie treatment of their “movie”, all I can think is “Good! Maybe you’ll stop this nonsense and get real jobs!”
David Giancola, as far as I’m concerned, falls right into the same category as Coleman Francis, Ray Dennis Steckler and Arch Hall, Sr. – he’s not a real film maker and therefore has never made a real film. Period.
All that bile having been dispensed with – it’s a good episode to watch, but along with 820: Space Mutiny and 822: Overdrawn at the Memory Bank, the end of the first Sci-Fi season was almost unbearable.
And another thing – I’ll bet you ANYTHING that those in this thread who said they thought “Time Chasers” was a good movie are going to say the same exact things when Sampo posts about “Quest of the Delta Knights” and “Squirm.” Let me just cut you off at the pass and say “NO!”
Bad movies are bad movies! Like ’em if you want, but that doesn’t make them good.
It’s thinking like that which led to “Transformers 2”.
>>For that matter, just what the hell was that show Nick was watching before the GenCorp commercial came on? Right after Servo says, “The X-Files goes to Dublin”, it sounds like an announcer calls it “Ten Minutes”. Any Vermontonites here know?<<
‘Ten Minutes’ is a story from Will Eisner’s ‘The Spirit’ comic series, apparently the most famous one from the series’ history. It’s about the last ten minutes of a petty criminal’s life as he is chased by the Spirit after robbing & murdering a store owner.
Eisner gave Giancola permission in 1989 to shoot a short film adaptation of the story, which was later entered into some film festival(winning some award) as well as being cut into ‘Time Chasers’. You can actually buy the ‘Ten Minutes’ DVD at the Edgewood Studio website store.
“Anyway, since the theoretical investor would only need a few dollars to start with, he/she could, in the present, buy a few correctly dated bills from a (checking the word) numismatist. Spend a few dollars to make a lot more. Bank-of-the-Past isn’t going to go out of its way to carbon-date the bills; it’s not likely to be on the lookout for time travelers.
If the bills are a little tattered and faded, or even scotch-taped together — meaning the investor might not have to pay the numismatist all that much — so what? You can find money from the last five years in that sort of condition; still useable. Again, what does the bank care? It GETS the money, 100% government-backed, which is recorded and then goes into the vault with millions more dollars. A drop in the bucket, and then once the bills have been whisked into the system and couldn’t be singled even if anyone wanted to (banking technology 50 years ago wasn’t anywhere near what it is now), Investor has the account with his/her name on it, just one of many accounts, no reason to single it out more than another. Heck, why not get MULTIPLE accounts at different banks?
Then again, I’m not a economist…”
Actually, now that I think of it, wouldn’t it just be easier to go back in time and steal a lot money, like Spanish gold dubloons or something?
RE:Jimmy@#124:
Waitasec, that ties right back into what John Seavey said about Rutland popping up in all those comic books! Let others bash this movie all they wish, but for true MSTie geeks, this one gets just as interesting as any other experiment the more homework you do on it.
Now I feel like heading back to Edgewood’s site for the first time in over a decade. I hope “Woodhead Saves The Farm” finally got released on Blu Ray, along with that one where Burt Ward fights an evil Miles O’Keefe…
Did it seem to anyone else that they gave Eddie some jokes that wouldn’t have worked for any other riffer? Specifically, when someone announces that Lisa’s going to, “…drop short of the runway”, prompting Eddie’s, “Hey, everyone, she’s gonna’ drop shorts on the runway!”, it would just seem cheap if a regular had said it, but because of Eddie’s personality, and his timing synching up so perfectly with all those guys charging out of the hanger, that part doubles me over every time.
His standing over on the left smoking was also reminiscent of “that tired-eyed guy”, who possibly had a cigarette in The Robot vs. The Azec Mummy, and stood in that same spot in Robot Moster, right? Yes, time travel abounded on many levels in #821…
>>>wouldn’t it just be easier to go back in time and steal a lot money, like Spanish gold dubloons or something?
Well, yes, [Crow from “The Thing That Couldn’t Die”] “I could do that but it would be WRONG.” No law against time travel investment. :-)
Besides, stealing money from the past would prevent people IN the past from doing things with the money (spending, investing, giving away, whatever) that, in the original history, they DID — in the past — and thus it would change history. Which rarely works out.
I have to concur with Nick Miller being considered one of the worst “heroes” in MST3K history.
The scene where I really, really loathed him was the ‘climactic’ scene where he pretty gratuitously deceives Matt (Pink Boy). Why didn’t he just talk to himself before he had the idea to call Gencorp? That way, no harm, no foul, life goes on. He basically left Matt stranded at the airport, and the guy never did anything to him.
That really left a sour taste in my mouth. Otherwise, this episode was hysterical…it’s one of my faves. My fave lines:
“He’s got a bucket of crotch-flavored popcorn!”
“Look! A lesbian! Of the future!”
Tom’s evil laugh applied to ‘Bob Evil’ – I giggle every time I think of it.
“We don’t brook backsass from OUR fillies, Nick.”
“Did he just slip some microfiche in her mouth?”
“Loser status: Confirmed.”
So many more, really. This episode is a majorly hilarious one.
#124: And see, because “Ten Minutes” is Giancola’s film, and Nick calls it “a crock!” it proves Giancola has a sense of humor about himself! Amazing, isn’t it? ;)
Watch for Giancola’s next film where someone demands that they turn off “Time Chasers” because “it’s not something you want to see.” If Rick Sloane can steal the Hobgoblins song, then anything’s possible.
I like this naughty riff:
Lisa (looking down as Nick finishes kissing her): “Nick, what’s that?”
Crow: “That means I like you.”
i enjoy this episode because of eddie and the multiple crows mucking around with time. also this movie richly deserves the ripping it gets. chock full of Vermontonian liberalism, this movie truly reeks like a 3 week old dirty diaper. our *ahem* hero rides a bike because cars are EVIL! the antagonist of course runs a huge corporation in *ahem* NYC because huge corporations are EVIL! and the whole world in the *ahem* future goes to hell in a handbasket because Bob Evil brings a few handguns along and of course handguns are EVIL! reading too much into this *ahem* movie? prove me wrong.
“Drew Carrey’s nemesis Mimi survived the apocalypse.” “Movie, I will not accept this as our hero. Let me speak to your supervisor movie. Movie?” As much as I like this episode, I still have to say it’s sandwiched between to far more superior episodes. ‘mi nuts?
You know that building in the future? The one completely made out of recycled materials? Why is Pink Boy so impressed with that? The recycled materials are probably reused bricks, concrete, glass and steel. Not exactly impressive if you ask me. Pretty sensible actually. It’s certainly nothing to make a man question the structural integrity of the building.
As Servo’s riff says: “Made completely of animal feces.” That pretty sums up Pink Boy’s amazement at the building. It really is like he thinks the building is made up of ground up garbage that was molded into an office building.
This was my first ever episode of MST3k. Ah, the memories.
One of my favorite bits in this one is Kevin’s medley of horrible pop tunes when Nick and Lisa go out to the 1950s for dinner. Lost in love, Christopher Cross, but I can’t think of the third song. I think it goes “every night I’m lying in bed, holding you close to my dreams…” Anyone know what that one is?
# 135 – that was “Best of My Love” by the Eagles.
Ick. Thanks, I guess.
Was one of Kevin’s songs
“Arthur’s Theme ‘Best That You Can Do’ (1981).
If not, it should have been. Great elevator
music.
I wholeheartedly agree with several of the posters here, this is one of my favorite episodes. The host segments are great, the riffing is outstanding, and I can watch this episode over and over again and still laugh my ass off at “Bucket of crotch-flavored popcorn”. Love it!
One of my favorite Sci Fi episodes. The movie choice is perfect. It’s meant for MST3K and Mike, in particular, is hilarious every time it’s pointed out lame and cheap the director’s vision of “the future!” was. Although I think Bill might have the funniest one-liner: “so, in the future kids become gay agents?”
Also….and I know this is shocking given my well documented dislike for the character….this features the one and only time I actually enjoy Pearl. No hamming it up. Not affected, in your face or over the top. That would have been such an interesting way to go with her character. A pleasant, low-key midwestern mom who happens to be evil. I wish they had explored that more instead of whatever they went for with Pearl.
5 Stars!
The conversation between the 2 Crows in the cheese factory is classic MST3K!
Need one more reason to respect the makers of Time Chasers? The last time I saw this, when Nick’s Time Transport first appears, I found it odd that “The plane looks like it can’t think of anything to say” acknowledged the light plane looking like it had a face, but wasn’t a “Petey the Plane!” reference. Granted they largely avoided CC references this season, but then it dawned on me: Despite how much this movie fixates on small planes, and even goes so far as to have their occupants shoot at each other, this thread has had little or no posts mentioning Coleman Francis! The only explaination is that the filmmakers, despite having all the right elements, did not invoke his desolate, misanthropic (albeit, genius, IMHO) vision. Laserblast sure did (“Red Zone Cuba III: The Destruction of Cherokee Jack”), but TC actually had an engaging story (despite the plotholes making it temporal swiss cheese) and characters you sort of cared about, even if some were cliched and unlikeable, successfully fending off Coleman’s massive shade.
Oh, and on behalf of everyone else whose seen #821 but not “The Usual Suspects”: Gee, thanks Mike.
And during the closing credits time filler, I like the mention of pouring molten gold down someone’s throat, since in hindsight, it foreshadows the experiment that would make next season roar to life!
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loved Eddie. truly funny bit by Mike. hated this movie with the deepest passion a human can acheive. if i could, i would take his crappy time machine and systematically kill off each generation of Nick and his family until i got to the Jurassic period. then i’d set up a nice little split level somewhere east of Bedrock.
Time Chasers passes the Bechdel Test. The redhead survivalist asks Lisa if they still have their time transport and she replies. Lisa and her boss talk about covering a plane crash.
Do they even have half dollar coins anymore (let alone in 2041)?
I remember when floppy disks were actually floppy. Jeez I’m feeling old.
I major issue I have with this film is how it completely fails to properly portray an evil, soulless corporation (though this sort of thing happens all the time). By that, I mean Gen-Corp only acts evil and soulless and not like a corporation. To elaborate, the primary motive of your typical corporation is to make a profit by providing goods and/or services. If a fictional corporation committed evil, soulless actions that would result in a profit (even if it’s just in the short term), I could buy that. I could also accept an individual within the corporation using the company’s resources to commit evil, soulless acts for more personal motives (like Dick Jones in RoboCop). However, being evil and soulless for its own sake is only plausible if the corporation is a non-profit (like Public Pearl). What really got me was the bit where Bob Evil sneers at the idea of using the time machine for history field trips. That is probably one of the better ways to employ time travel to make a profit, especially if you’re the sole possessor of the technology.
@ #119: Dave Barry once pointed out that everyone believes themselves to be an above average driver, even if they’re from an isolated Amazonian tribe unfamiliar with the concept of the wheel.
Favorite riffs:
The X Files goes to Dublin.
So Mike, no skydiving grandma, huh? Man, they lead you up to something great and then they just shoot it down. Stupid grandma leaver outers!
Food Courts of the Future!
Hi, I’m Bob Evil.
You’re evil and that’s okay.
I wonder if I should have held out for more than sixty-five dollars.
Ben & Jerry’s was the key of the Armageddon.
Chimney sweeps took over the future!
Sixteen men on a dead Dodge Dart.
The Adventures of the Average People!
“What would McGuyver do?”
Get cancelled.
I leave for twenty minutes and EvilCo is in shambles.
Those dead grandma pictures, they bring in the readers.
Yep. Grandma came back from the dead, built a duplicate plane, and crashed it.
A Pillsbury corporate retreat goes bad.
But I chased you on a horse! I’m suppose to win!
Forty-seven Keebler elves were killed today when a light plane plunged into their tree. E.L. Fudge remains in critical condition.
He died as he lived, mud-stained and splaying.
You had the misfortune of running into me. I’m a life-wrecking idiot.
I see there are some that cast doubt on the story Mike tells in the Rhino intro. I sure don’t know where the truth lies but if true it is a fun little tale.
“Knocking about in time and space” I’m currently shopping a pilot by that name to SyFy.
We really do get to see another side of Pearl when Mike sits down to chat with her. Now that I think about she might be right about how evil gets a bad rap sometimes.
We have a return of the Art reference. I find it odd it is Mary Jo who always mentions it on screen when she wasn’t around for the genesis of it.
For my money the Commodore 64 is the star of this film. This was the first home computer our family bought when I was about 5th grade in 1983. That really was an amazingly flexible machine in its day and its games totally blew away the Atari machines of the day. I do find it odd how he can take a 5.25” floppy from the Commodore and use it on his IBM desktop though.
And always remember. The cheese ain’t going to cut itself.
Favorite Riffs:
Crow “Hey wait a minute. This isn’t our star is it? I will not accept this as our star. Sorry.”
Characters walk the dystopian streets. Tom “Ah see they open a Wal-Mart across street just the week before and this is the result.”
The plane begins to go down and the camera pans across the instruments.
Tom “They’re running out of Alt.”
Eddy “And they MPH Knots are going down.”
Crow while multiple Nick’s are interacting with Minutemen. “So history is just circling the drain at this point.”
Crow about the Revolutionary War re-enactors: “You guys see the game last night? Um? I mean liberty!”
Mike “I wish uncooked liver would have been the star of this film.”
Favorite Lines:
Two different plaids. Even I know that’s a fashion no-no.
[Nick] Did somebody tape a dinner roll to his chin?
[Time travel to 1957] Hey, we rented three vintage cars and dammit we’re going to use them.
[Guy with eyepatch] Aargh, 16 men on a dead Dodge Dart.
The throaty roar of a “K” car.
Ted Nugent’s family reunion.
Forty-seven Kiebler elves were killed today when a light plane plunged into their tree.
Final Thought: I just can’t get into this one. I give this one 2 out of 5 stars.
Favorite episode.
Because I actually like time-travel plots, and actually enjoy trying to figure out the science of things, here’s my addition:
Crow-A would NOT be hanging around permanently (he could for a while, I suppose, since he does still have a time machine). If Crow-A never returns, Crow-B (who experienced Eddy’s timeline) would not exist. After encountering Crow-B, and setting Mike back on the temp path, Crow-A would have had to return (eventually), thus merging the 2 Crow’s timelines.
Crow would retain both memories, of the Eddy-verse, and of his time on Earth. Being a robot, he’d likely have no trouble sorting between the two. Humans though, may not. It could be that the feeling of Deja vu is actually our perceiving an alteration to our timeline.
HOWEVER!! The real question remains unasked: What happened to the Eddy-verse Crow? Both Eddy & Eddy-verse Tom (henceforth known as E-Tom) know who Crow is, so there must be a Crow in that timeline/universe. In theory, Mike-verse Crow (M-Crow) could have ‘overwritten’ E-Crow temporarily. More likely, E-Crow was beaten up & trashed by Eddy somewhere, and perhaps THAT IS WHERE THE LOANER CROW COMES FROM!!! (913- Quest of the Delta Knights)
Pretty much said it all back in ’09. One thing I noticed on this go-round, is that if you watch closely when Nick (or more likely, a stunt driver) flips the car, you can see the ramp he hit fall over. Dude.