Movie: (1984) When some alien eggs hatch, it spells trouble for a pair of poachers, a vacationing singer and his entourage and an isolated family.
First shown: 6/15/91
Opening: J&tB are having an arts chautauqua
Invention exchange: After a brief scene from “An Officer and a Gentlemen,” Joel demonstrates his monster chord; while the Mads have invented a public domain karaoke machine
Host segment 1: J&tB record “Idiot Control Now” and it stinks!
Host segment 2: J&tB present New Age music from Some Guys in Space
Host segment 3: “You are magic, aren’t you, Trumpy?”
End: J&tB sing, “A Clown in the Sky”
Stinger: “It stinks!”
(218 votes, average: 4.63 out of 5)
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• People adore this episode. In the ACEG it’s described as a “fan favorite.” But I gotta say this is number-one in my list of “sleeping pill” episodes. Don’t get me wrong: the riffing is great and the host segments are ALL winners (which is a rarity). But the movie just puts me to sleep. Maybe it’s all the fog and new agey music. I did make it through this viewing without dozing off, but I was getting pretty drowsy by the end.
• This movie was originally released in Spain as “Los Nuevos Extraterrestres.” For the American video release it was called “The Unearthling,” but you might also have seen it titled “Extra-Terrestrial Visitors,” “Tales Of Trumpy” or “The Return Of E.T.”
• References.
• This episode was included in Rhino’s “The Mystery Science Theater 3000 Collection, Vol. 2.”
• Kevin croaks out the word “merchant” in the opening bit–they keep going.
• The blowed-up bots are the handywork of newly arrived Toolmaster Jef.
• Dr. F mentions the once-trendy clothing retail chain Chess King. They would be gone in four years.
• Frank addresses Jerry the Mole Person but we never see him.
• Despite the fact that the bots have just been badly blowed up, the regular bots walk into the theater a moment later. Joel covers by mumbling “Good thing we got those re-…um…those new heads on…”
• FVI used clips from a movie called “Galaxy Invader” for the titles. That movie would later be riffed by RiffTrax.
• The last time we had an episode with two songs was 202- THE SIDE HACKERS. We wouldn’t get another one until episode 521- SANTA CLAUS.
• Callback: “Puma? Puma!” (Ring of Terror)
• That’s makeup lady (and occasional writer) Faye Berkholder as the recording studio assistant in Deep 13, her one and only appearance on the show. A lot of people thought it was Bridget for a long time.
• Kevin sort of coughs/clears his throat at one point in the theater. They keep going.
• During the wall of keyboards sketch, Crow has a bit of sammich on his beak. Another nice touch from Jef. Also–Why is Joel staring down at the floor while he’s talking? Is he reading his lines?
• A lot of people had no idea about the origin of that voice Crow does when he does Trumpy. “He’s like a poh-tay-toe!” He’s doing a vague impression of The Elephant Man from the movie of the same name.
• Also, a lot people had no idea who McCloud was. Dennis Weaver, we hardly knew ye.
• That said, they ran the “Chief? McCloud!” bit right into the ground. A running gag is one thing, but sheesh.
• Vaguely dirty riff: “That trunk could come in handy for hard to reach places!”
• Goof: When Joel says “Trumpy, you can do STUPID things!” in the theater, he’s referencing a line by the little kid, Tommy, who says: “Trumpy, you can do magic things!” Unfortunately Joel does that riff about 10 minutes BEFORE the Tommy says the original line. Another example of what happens when you watch a movie five or six times in a week. You can lose track of when stuff happens.
• The house in this movie is MUCH bigger on the inside than it looks like on the outside. It appears to have three or four guest bedrooms and endless hallways (and a door to the outside in the bathroom off one of the bedrooms, though which evil Trumpy escapes after killing the girl in the shower). Is it a TARDIS house?
• Cast and crew roundup: The only person credited for this movie that has a credit in any other MSTed movie is, once again, scoremeister Karl Michael Demer, who was Film Ventures International’s go-to credits music guy.
• CreditsWatch: Unbelievable: After two episodes where it didn’t appear, “Special Guest Villians” (misspelled) returns. Starting with this episode and continuing through most of the season: “Host Segments Directed by Jim Mallon.” And an important first in this episode: “Toolmaster: Jef Maynard.” Mike and Kevin get the credit for “A Clown in the Sky.” Trace gets a solo Art Direction credit (no Joel, for the only time during his tenure at the show). A new credit appears: “Post Production Coordination.” It’s Alex (already listed as “Production Manager”) and Jann (already listed as “Production Coordinator”). Sheesh. Another new credit: “Prop Assistant.” This week it’s one Barb Oswald, who will get the gig in two more eps this season.
• Fave riff: “Hi! We’re the cast from ‘Straw Dogs’.” Honorable mention: “Hear that? Sounds like Norm Abrams being killed by a giant chicken.”
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I have great affection for this episode, since it was the very first one I saw…discovered quite by accident. By the time it was over, I was EXHAUSTED from trying to keep up with all of the obscure referrences, but still had enough energy to run to the phone and call a couple of friends to say “Oh my god…you won’t believe what I just found!” I spent the next week counting the minutes until the next episode aired, and needless to say, that’s how it went for the next few YEARS of my life. I’ll admit…these days, the movie does have the ability to lull me to sleep ocassionally, but it’s still a 5 star episode in my book.
303- Pod People
Plot: Aliens land in a forest. One starts killing people, the other is raised by some whiney kid and given the name Trumpy. A rock group is lost, and crashes at the kids’ place. Two hunters run amok.
Host Segments:
Opening: One-Man Shows.
Invention Exchange: Electric Guitar; PD Kareoke Machine
Segment 1: Idiot Control Now.
Segment 2: New Age Space Music
Segment 3: Crow and Servo are Trumpy!
Closing: Song: “Clown in the Sky”. It stinks!
Stinger: It stinks!
Memorable Riffs:
Servo: “Between a rock and a hard planet!”
Joel: “Bambi… humans are basically good.”
Servo: “Even the movie The Fog, didn’t have this much fog.”
Poacher: “Now we can kill us some game in peach and quiet.”
Servo: “Do you realize what you just said?”
Servo: “I know Ringo did some bad songs but this is really embarrassing.”
Tommy: “Do you know what play is?”
Crow (as Trumpy): “Yes, it’s where I break you in half.”
Tommy: “Trumpy! I told you to stay out of sight!”
Servo: “He doesn’t speak your language, dickweed.”
(Tommy pours some peanuts ont he table)
Crow: “Oh, little potatoes.”
(Trumpy snorts the peanuts up his trunk)
Crow: “Now you try.”
(Tommy draws an ugly picture of a human)
Tommy: “That’s my mommy!”
Servo: “EW!”
(Tracy gets attacked by alien)
Servo: “I think she found Trumpy!”
J&TB: “Waa-waa-waaaaa!”
Crow: “Honey, I’m ho– oh I’m alittle kid.”
Tommy’s mother: “Are you alright?”
Tommy: “Hmm-mmm”
Crow: “Well, yes. Relatively speaking. Depends on what the norm is.”
Crow: “Oh Trumpy, gross!”
Servo: “He stepped in some trumpy-dumpy!”
Crow: “And he died as he lived with his mouth wide open.”
Fav. Riff:
Servo: “Steve tastes great! More pelvis?”
Comments:
-A rare instance in which Joel’s invention busts. Hell, Dr. F’s invention is better!
-I think this is the earliest use of the phrase, “Kids today with their…”
-One of the actors who appears during the fake opening credits looks like British comedian Graham Stark… but it isn’t.
-Wizard of Oz reference: “I do believe in spooks!”
-Nice bit: When the poacher guy is smashing the alien eggs, at one point he hits an egg on the right side of the screen, and Crow reacts, “Ouch!” as if he had been hit by the poacher.
-I find the hippie girl kinda cute. Am I weird?
-The ACEG lists Bridget Jones as the music agent in Segment 1, but Bridget has said that it’s Faye Burkholder (what ever happened to her?)
-Shortly after Tommy says, “Keep growing and you won’t fit any clothes”, listen carefully, and you’ll hear the sound of Joel (or Kevin, or Trace) turning the page for their riff scripts.
-WHY is there a Sprite ad on the side of the family’s house?
-Crow’s riff “Time to take off the mask and see who it is” echos for some reason.
-Joel threatens to throw Servo against the wall. Dang, he’s brutal!
Best Segment: The Trumpy segment is wacky and kooky.
Worst Segment: The new age music segment. It stinks!
Overall: One of my favorite Joel-era episodes. ***1/2
Of course it’s a legendary episode and has some great sketches, it’s FREAKING POD PEOPLE, people!
Something really bugs me about this movie though, and it’s that the dubbed voices all have this weird shaky, quavery tone to them. Bad recording? I don’t know but it makes me not wan’t to watch the movie. I would probably edit the movie down to the singers in the studio, Trumpy looking at all the caged animals and Trumpy doing stupid/magic things.
The Chief-McCloud joke kind of gets annoying (to me) after about the 50th time.<—Hyperbole.
One of many Movies that seems to have the same dub actors for seemingly random movies:
This movie
Escape 2000
Diabolik
Operation Double 007
All these movies seem to have the same dub actors.
It’s an okay episode. The movie is very hard to get through, but the “Idiot Control Now” host segment is priceless.
The very high rating for this episode can be entirely explained if you note the number of posts saying “This was my first episode”, “This turned me on to MST3K”, etc.
Ah yes, POD PEOPLE. A fan favorite, one of the best Season 3 episodes, and one of the best Joel-era eps too! This one is a classic, a 5/5 all the way (in my eyes).
As Sampo said, this one can put you to sleep though, with the endless amounts of fog (seriously!) and the neverending drone of the new agey music. I find the whole thing kind of hypnotic myself; doesn’t hurt that the riffs are legen(wait for it)dary and that all 3 of the Host Segments are excellent.
“Sack of monkeys in my pocket!” ——-> :rotfl:
Real quick about the movie; it’s foreign, it’s horror(ish) , it’s the 80’s, it’s stupid; I love it! Director J. Piquer Simon (the “J” stands for Juan; he died earlier this year) did a couple other notable horror entries, namely SLUGS: THE MOVIE (guess what it’s about) and the awesomely bloody gore-fest with healthy doses of cheese PIECES (you don’t have to got to Texas for a chain saw massacre) which I can’t recommend more, you know, if you’re into that kinds of thing. Ian Sera, you know, Rick the “it stinks” guy, is also in PIECES and I really don’t want to ruin what happens to him in the movie, but it happens at the very end and. ..it. ..is…amazing. Must see for gorehounds.
RIFFS AND THINGS:
During the invention exchange, DR. F: “Oh great. Get Foghat on the phone.”
Frank says, “Hit the roll, Jerry” as they’re doing their karaoke thing. I guess Jerry (and maybe Sylvia) are still working in Deep 13, even though they don’t appear onscreen the rest of the season (I think) .
During the reverse starfield opening, Servo: “Slowly backing away from where no man has been before.”
Crow: “I’ve gone blind! I’m looking at the back of my retinas!”
Servo: “I’m doing my one man show tonight; Leslie Neilsen, Leslie Neilsen, Leslie Neilsen.”
Servo: “Even the movie THE FOG didn’t have this much fog.”
Crow: “Dad?” ——->callback to Cave Dwellers
Mom in the movie: “Tommy?”
Crow, in devil voice: “Just tending to the incubus, mother.” —–> :devil:
Tommy, in the movie: “Do you know what ‘playing’ is Trumpy?”
Crow, in “Trumpy” voice: “Yeah. It’s when I break you in half.”
Joel: “I sure hope Trumpy doesn’t sneeze, he’ll pistol whip that kid with peanuts.”
During the “Trumpy you can do stupid things” scene:
Joel: “This alien makes student films.” ——–>lemme tell ya, as a former film student (grad ’05, SIUC) there was always somebody working on stop motion animation. Very very funny, Joel.
Crow: “Hi. We’re the cast from STRAW DOGS.” ——->one of my fave Peckinpah movies.
Servo: “His last words were, “Huzzah”” .
Servo: “Don’t worry, he’s moody and introspective. He’s in a corner, reading SWIMMING TO CAMBODIA.” ——–>After the needless slam on Spalding Gray in the last episode by Mike (GAMERA) it’s nice to get this shout out here.
Crow: “Trumpage, the Trumpazoid, the Trump-monsterrrr. …stretching the premise.” —–>current riff back in 91, refers to a SNL skit starring one Mr. Rob Schneider as a guy who sat in the copy room and stretched a premise about as thin as it could go. If you are too young to know it, you aren’t missing much.
.
OH! and in Host Segment #3 when things are going GOOFY/CRAZY and the bots are floating around and stuff, YOU TOTALLY SEE CROW’S LEGS AS HE’S FLOATING IN THE AIR. —Is this the first time we see Crow’s legs? I think it is . . lemme know if I’m wrong. Otherwise, mark it down Sampo!
.as stated before,
A 5/5 EPISODE!
I’m glad to know that the “it stinks” guy was also the guy in pieces. Too bad the same thing didn’t happen to him in Pod People. How would you think about Trumpy then?
Wow, 106 posts, I thought for sure my comments would all be used up. But that’s Pod People for you, the episode that keeps on giving. I actually have a few things to comment on that haven’t been said yet.
Like all classic episodes (RiffTrax and Cinematic Titanic included, for that matter), it starts out strong, lags in the middle from some deep hurting, then picks up for a strong finish. This was not the first episode I ever saw (I actually saw it after seeing about 60 other episodes), but it sure did make an impact. Every host segment is iconic, which I can’t say for certain if that happened again.
Observations and favorite riffs:
Trumpy, you can do stupid things! (how can you not mention that?)
Life gives you lemons, you make lemonade – Crow references the KTMA theme song!
We see more of the glitter that was dropped on Tibby in the last episode in the opening segment
I got nowhere else to go!
Jerry is asked to start the roll on the karaoke machine in Deep 13. We don’t see him, but he’s mentioned at least.
*On a side note, I always liked the Turkey Day introduction to this episode, with Dr. F presenting it, in his own unique way, as an alternative to watching E.T. during Thanksgiving dinner.
Pod People got no reason…
It was a dark and stormy night, I had taken a creative writing course.
Daktari!
Football practice!
Puma?
With a name like Smuckers…
-Then all of the sudden, the movie cuts to a recording studio? That’s some abrupt editing!
Shotgun shack! (there’s that Talking Heads riff again :)
“It Stinks!”
That’s not Kenny, we like this kid.
This is Morrissey (who we’ll see in a few weeks…)
Now hold it down until you get a Windham Hill recording soundtrack-Another amazing host segment!
Hey what gives, I’m on the milk carton!
It’s called evil, kid.
Third host segment is genius, of course.
Darkone mentioned during a McCloud rant (Robot Holocaust callback)
-When Trumpy wears the jacket he reminds me of the first Star Wars movie, the part where the elephant looking guy rats out the Falcon.
She’s “Zestfully” dead! (You’re not fully dead until you’re Zestfully dead!)
John Bonham, Moby Dick!
Buddy Rich on drums (who’ll be riffed on in a much later Cinematic Titanic host segment)
Time to take to mask off and see who it is. Do you at home know?
During “Clown In The Sky,” Joel’s putting away Tom’s charred head from the opening segment! I never noticed that before.
Yes, a classic. What MST3K and movie riffing are all about. In agreement with Sampo, not in my top 10, but top 20.
My top 10 are still coming up (some very soon…. ;).
This is easily one of the best of the series.
107 posts! In the time it took me to type my post up, another was posted! That’s how popular Pod People is! ;)
Wait, there are two Trumpys?
I missed that, too. Probably because this episode always puts me to sleep.
“Good?” “It’s the best.”
The pandemonium trumpy sketch is my favorite of the entire run of the show. It worked so well, since by the time it comes, you are brainwashed by the dullness of the movie, and then BAM!
What exactly did Tom say when he riffs: “Go play with you ______ hell beast.”? What was the word in the blank space I’ve had trouble hearing?
“We could be in a shotgun shack, we could be on the other side of the world, (fog-bound shot) we could be….on top of Old Smokey!”
@61 – As far as the “Chief? McCloud?” riffs. I don’t think it’s too overdone. I think it’s just the Brains’ way of pointing out that much of this movie is taken up by people looking for other people.
Exactly: It’s supposed to be a guys-in-the-theater running gag, in the spirit of “And the crowd goes wild: ‘Yay.'”
The humor is in their constantly adding to it with other TV characters: “Buffy? Mr. French?”…A good running-gag riff should be like a drinking-game. :)
There’s a scene near the end where they re-dub one of Crow’s lines, but the timing is off (where he says something about “Have you folks at home figured it out?”). I think this is one of the most obvious cases where Crow’s mouth is moving but the line is missing. It wasn’t until the DVD came out that I realized that you can very faintly hear the original line in the background (probably picked up by Joel or Kevin’s microphone)…
@99 – Probably: It means “OK”. (As in, it doesn’t stink, but he’s using it ironically because it does. Or at least in the TV-dubbed version.)
@102 – Crow’s riff “Time to take off the mask and see who it is” echos for some reason.
Meddling kids and their dog, perhaps?
Psychic Lawn Dart Alert #2:
(cheap magazine posters on cabin wall)
“Posters by Dynamite Magazine”
(There are some here who were in 4th-grade during the 70’s, who will know the magazines and cheap kids-magazine fold-out posters in question.)
And if there is one riff so literarily classic it may outlive the series to quote-immortality out of context:
Joel: “He died as he lived…With his mouth wide open.” :)
While the film -does- become a dreadful slog by the end, this one remains a favorite of my family. So many of the jokes in it are still quoted by us to this day.
And, yeah, the skits are golden.
I love Pod People, it’s funny, relaxing, a time machine back to my youth, and there’s absolutely nothing better to have on for a rainy afternoon nap.
(Here’s a good weekend thread topic: which 10 movies do you need to see to get most of MST jokes?E.g.: Its a Wonderful Life, Christmas Story…) I didn’t realize til lately that Officer and a Gentleman has so many appearances in MST lore. I can’t quite remember how often you hear “Don’t you do it!” or “I’ve got nowhere else to go!” or the classic “Mayo-NAISE…mayo-NAISE” over many episodes.
>I love Joel’s lyrics to “Idiot Control Now.”
Am I nuts? I seem to remember that it’s “Hideous Control Now”; was this mentioned in the Episode Guide?
AJB
I gave this episode four stars. I’ve never had a problem getting through the movie, the host segments are fun-knee and I really think the guitar Joel is playing in the invention exchange is grooverific! I’ve been trying to find that on eBay for awhile in a decent condition at a decent price. I can’t play guitar but why should that stop me…. right?
Oh, I remembered another great riff:
“And he died as he lived, with his mouth wide open.”
“Meanwhile, a few miles away…”
What a great episode. Pod People was the first non-godzilla ep I saw and it remains a favorite for me. The riffing is consistently hilarious and the host segments are terrific. I’d say top 3 for Joel era, top 10 for the series overall. The movie itself keeps recklessly jumping from subplot to subplot. It’s like watching 3 different things on TV by switching the channel every 5 minutes.
-Was this the first instance of Tom Servo’s “3M today!” jokes?
-The house reminds me of 16 bit RPG houses. Tool shed on the outside, endless labyrinth on the inside.
-Frank’s reaction to “get foghat on the phone” is classic Frank.
-Tommy finds a dead guy out in the woods near his home. What does he do? He plays Simon.
Favorite Riff: “To change I hope.”
A nostalgic favorite. One of the earliest eps I watched and with friends to boot. Pizza, beer, and friends makes a viewing all the more fun.
But does it hold up? At the time this was aired it was the best they’d done yet but there would be better eps. It is slow at times compared to later classics but nostalgia can be as great a pleasure as laughing. Still, it’s fun enough to stay in my top twenty or so.
And whoever (sorry lazy today) mentioned the riff about “flannel”–a good one indeed.
A+
And my wife came down the stairs…her face was SPLIT! *rizzlerazzle*
Oh, Wrong thread. :-P
Still funny, Castle Monster. HUZZAH!
Ain’t nothin’ but the Cos’. :-D
I’m with Sampo,this episode just puts me away. Trumpy and his kin are funny to be sure, and the whole movie is just painfully bad, but I don’t find much to hold my interest here. I do enjoy the Clown in the Sky song at the end but I rarely make it that far.
Don’t think I have anything new to add. A five star episode that seems as though it was made for MST. This was an early one for me, plus this might have been my first VHS. Love the Chief/McCloud running gag, the songs, the AMC line, back when AMC was like Turner Classic Movies.
Thanks for clearing up the lady in the Deep 13 studio. I always assumed that it was Bridget Jones. Notice she keeps snapping her fingers even when the music ends. There is a Rifftrax skit on youtube for Birdemic where they make use of a lady in a non-speaking role with Mike and Connor and she provides so much humor just standing there.
Maybe CT needs to do Galaxy Invader. I loved the Alien Factor, it was perfect for a live show as the film was quite inept that the audience burst out laughing a few times when no riff was supplied.
Fave riff: “Hear that? Sounds like Norm Abrams getting killed by a giant chicken.”
I too have used POD PEOPLE to introduce the series to newbies. I find it to be quite relatable for modern folks that had never even heard of the show. I have only added to the fandom.
I give this experiment 4 1/2 stars.
If you’re wondering why? Just read the other 130 comments. ;-)
The riffing in this is brilliant, but the movie is just spoiled for me by the obnoxious kid. I can’t watch it.
Anyone know why the evil Trumpy left a Big Dipper pattern in gems on the foreheads of his victims? Did his homeworld have a similar constellation?
Like many, this was the first Joel episode I ever saw. I was late for the MST party, seeing my first episode on Sci-Fi (Terror from the year 5000) in 1997.
Two years later, at my local FYE, I noticed VHS tapes with Joel, whom I first met through “Soultaker”
What a great episode, a must watch on a regular basis, and what a strange long trip MST is.
I’m surprised no one has mentioned yet (unless I’ve missed it), with all these entries, the classic lines:
Joel: “I love you, Tom Servo.”
Servo: “I love you, Joel.”
Joel: “I love you, Crow.”
Crow: “You’re not my real father!” :-)
This is another ep that I love, though it can drag at times. And I’ve seen it so much, that it’s not quite fresh anymore, so that also adds to the draginess. But it’s definitely a classic, one I fell in love with on the first viewing, and I still love the host segments.
I never thought the Chief/McCloud thing was overdone. Like others have mentioned, it seemed they kept doing it because the movie kept showing us people looking for other people in the fog. It certainly wasn’t as overdone as, say, the “Are you ready for some football?!” line they did in Laserblast. Now THAT got annoying.
I always thought the other Trumpy creature was the mother of all the eggs that got smashed. And that’s why she went on a killing spree, looking for the last egg, and she realized Tommy had taken care of her last remaining baby, so that’s why she didn’t kill him.
A lot of good lines already mentioned here. I won’t keep listing more, you’ve all seen it. Heh.
Oh, just one:
“Morning comes to cheap white trash.”
I’m way late to the party, but I just had to add: This was the first MST3K episode I ever experienced, on the night it was originally broadcast. That one night changed the entire course of my life.
“Coffee?”
Let me just add my voice to the echo chamber and say this is indeed a classic episode. \
The riffing is pretty much 100% excellent throughout the whole movie, and a great example of the heights of genius the writers reached when they got right to the heart of the movie. I’m always at a loss as to how to explain it properly, but the best MST3K episodes are born out these conditions; it’s the difference between really creating an ongoing comedic arc and rhythm, and merely tossing out desultory jokes on what’s happening on the screen (which is usually what happens in lesser episodes).
My last observation, at the end of the thread:
One of the bits that makes me go “WHAT?!” is when Mr. I.T. Stinks shoots a bottle off the bar. When Molly comes in, her brother says the guy with the gun is crazy, and she seems to blame them BOTH (“What is the matter with you two?”) Lady, the old guy is your brother, and the guy with the gun is someone you’ve NEVER SEEN BEFORE. He could well be the Charles Manson of this group for all you know.
Definitely a classic. More than watchable despite the downcast, foggy look, it won’t make me drowsy unless I’m sleep-deprived in the first place, something I could say about most episodes. Lots of classic bits, the whole “potatoes” bit really killed me the first time I saw it. Though the electronic music is far below the standard of, say, Vangelis’ BladeRunner score, it’s decent enough and works for this movie. The Chief-McCloud bit gets slightly annoying but not to the point where it really bothers me. Excellent host segments, TV’s Frank isn’t just good, he’s the BEST. Good memories for me, despite the fact that I didn’t see this episode until 2003.
@ Graboidz #5: That was kind of my point. I simply brought up a couple of examples of combining two unusual elements which worked to emphasize how Pod People utterly failed at same.
Wow- we just watched this last night in tandem with “Mole People”- it was “people night”
Pod People works on every level for Joel and an evolving series. Tommy asks Trumpy to work on a jigsaw, well, this movie is a jigsaw that doesn’t fit- until J&TB bring the pieces to the table. Truly, Pod People delivers the laughs and unique feel that created MSTIES.
As for Mole People- a drab B movie rescued only by M&TB and their astute observations on Shatner lite Agar, a throw away cast, stock footage and music and our own inner downness.
I also watched this again last night on Netflix streaming.(59 episodes available including the movie as far as I know.) I don’t know,after seeing this movie so many times it’s starting to grow on me. It’s strangely relaxing,the music and all the fog. I would still LOVE to find the soundtrack to this movie.
Has anyone mentioned the callback to Gamera? When Tommy is walking in the woods Crow says, “God I hate Kenny.” Joel responds to Crow, “That’s not Kenny. We like this kid.”
@143 Yeah I forgot about that. Excellent callback.
I was thinking about where in America this was suppose to take place. They talk about going to “Cinder National Forest”,but I couldn’t find anything about it. Guess they made it up for the movie. It looks like Tommy has Boston Bruin and Red Sox pennants on his bedroom wall so I guess it was suppose to somewhere in New England.
@AtorInFlight – It looks like Tommy has Boston Bruin and Red Sox pennants on his bedroom wall so I guess it was suppose to somewhere in New England.
—> Um wouldn’t Massachussets have mountain/forest areas to film in too or were they too expensive?
Other questions that bugged me about “Pod People”:
1. Why did Evil Trumpy (or Trumpy’s Mom or Dad?) kill the girls? I know why it killed the hunters but what did the ladies have to do with it?
2. How the heck did Evil Trumpy/Trumpy’s parent get in the shower and the RV?! Also did it race ahead to the hunters’ cabin and kill them there or did it kill them in the forest and then just dump ’em in the cabin?
“Oh great, now we’re in Gumby.”
This one’s a winner from start to finish. The riffing starts a little slow and drags a little right after the band hops in their RV, but once Trumpy shows up the laughs just keep coming. Trace’s “John Hurt as the Elephant Man” voice kills me every time and has moved into my vocal repertoire. The stop motion kookiness is the highlight of this one with killer joke after killer joke just layered on top of one another. The only bad thing I can say about the riffing is that Kevin is still doing that weird little chuckle after half his lines, and worst of all, he blatantly tries to sell a joke that doesn’t need selling (“Time to start camping. You dress up as Oscar Wilde and I’ll sing Noel Coward songs. Heh, heh – CAMPING, heh heh.” ). I have no clue why he does that, because it’s a pretty clever joke, and the added forcible sell ruins it.
This is the rare early episode where EVERY host segment is a riot. The bots’ respective one-man-shows are a bit of a mixed bag (I love Tom’s and am mostly indifferent toward Crow’s, though I doubt the CIA has ever been compared to C.P.O Sharkey anywhere else), and Joel’s invention exchange is kind of lame, but everything else is gold (Gypsy’s being intentionally late throughout the whole of “Idiot Control Now,” the fact that their “Trumpy, you can do MAGIC things” moment didn’t look that much worse than the movie’s despite being able to see all the strings, the shots at Yanni, Servo’s Anthony Newley, Joel for reasons unexplained dismantling Crow, etc.). This is one I rewatch fairly often, and it probably won’t be coming out of my rotation any time soon.
Again, Sampo said this is a “sleeping pill” episode. Most of us think it’s top notch. Go figure.
I see a lot of people think the Chief? McCloed was run into the ground. The reason I like this bit (and Beef McLarge Huge) so much is that (unlike “are you ready for some football?”) is that it is changed up each and everytime. So I guess you could say it is repetitive but really it isn’t.
#116 In spain, where the movie was filmed, supposedly the OK symbol is the same as giving someone the finger.
Chris Lark #145 – “Evil” Trumpy’s first encounter with a human was Norm Abrams swinging a stick AND he was raiding the hatchery, ergo he didn’t exactly do the human race any “peace and goodwill” favors.
I imagine that Evil Trumpy (or, E.T. for short… WOW!) got into the house through the door with its telekinetic eyebeams. Either that or it pretended to be the good Trumpy, ate some peanuts, and then killed the girl in the shower.
The hunters were resting in the cabin, E.T. found them and killed them.
It’s just a show, you should really just relax.