Movie: (1961) When Danish scientists discover a piece of an ancient dinosaur, they dig it up and inadvertantly bring it back to life.
Opening: Jonah Heston, a space trucker/rebellious Renaissance man, returning to Gizmonic Institute with a load of meteors, receives a phony distress call from Moon Base 13 on the dark side of the moon. Jettisoning his load, he lands and is immediately captured and brought to the underground lair of Kinga Forrester, daughter of Clayton Forrester, granddaughter of Pearl Forrester. With her is her chief henchman, who calls himself TV’s Son of TV’s Frank, but whom everyone just calls Max. Kinga announces that she is restarting her family’s greatest experiment, Mystery Science Theater 3000
Intro: Jonah introduces Tom and Crow and demonstrates Gypsy’s new voice and flying rig. Also Tom can FLYYYY … but only in theater. Crow wants an improvement. Kinga introduces herself, Max does as well, and then explains the premise. Jonah shows off his invention: a bubble fan. Kinga introduces the movie
Segment 1: Jonah & the bots sing “Every Country Has a Monster”
Segment 2: Tom Servo clones himself
Segment 3: Jonah reads letters
Closing: Jonah creates a tiny Copenhagen for Gypsy to destroy; Kinga is not impressed
Stinger: Petersen gets nutzoid
(55 votes, average: 3.80 out of 5)
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• The new door sequence, as near as I can tell is:
6—Laundry room
5—Bathroom
4—Kitchen
3— Bedroom
2—Office?
1—Workshop (aka “the fab lab”)
• For the record, MSTies had to wait 6,424 days since the debut of episode 1003- MERLIN’S SHOP OF MYSTICAL WONDERS for the arrival of season 11.
• The new lyrics to the theme song (please correct if I have something wrong:
Har Mar Superstar: In the not-too-distant future, Next Sunday A.D.
There was a guy named Jonah, Not too different from you or me
He worked at Gizmonic Institute, Just another mug in a yellow jump suit
A distress call came in for him at half past noon
That’s when an evil woman trapped him on the dark side of the moon.
[Kinga] I’ll send him cheesy movies, the worst I can find
He’ll have to sit and watch them all and I’ll monitor his mind
Now keep in mind that Jonah can’t control when the movies begin or end
So he’ll have to keep his sanity with the help of his robot friends
Cambot, Gypsy, Tom Servo Crowwww
[Har Mar Superstar] If you’re wondering how he eats and breathes and other science facts
Just repeat to yourself: “It’s just a show, I should really just relax”
for Mystery Science Theater 3000.
Other thoughts and observations
“Turn down your lights (where applicable) returns. The previous episode to have was episode 402- THE GIANT GILA MONSTER, from June of 1992.
• That’s Erin Gray and Will Wheaton as the Gizmocrats. A lot of people saw that opening and wondered if it was going to be a regular thing. It wasn’t. Just a one-off. Thanks to Erin and Will for doing it.
• The little device that taps into Jonah’s ship plays a little mechanical version of the theme song, and Jonah says it “sounds familiar.”
• The little Gizmonic Institute flyover is very much in the style of the old miniature set pieces.
• The giant clown hammer, too, looks very familiar.
• When the doors slide open on Moon Base 13, it is the complete antithesis of the old Deep 13. Deep 13 was a lonely, quiet place with few inhabitants. Jonah walks in one what could be a rave: a full band in mid-song and plenty of henchman to send him on his way.
• It appears that the old Umbilicus has been re-attached to the SOL — interesting that something from post season 5 would appear. Somewhere Mike is smiling.
• Robot roll call is also quite different: No little sayings. Cambot is always shown on Jonah, Gypsy enters from the right, Tom enters from the left and Crow leaps up onto Jonah’s back.
• Joel plays “Ardy,” the “movie in the hole” guy. The whole liquid video thing he controls is a bit baffling to me.
• The riffing begins slowly but eventually picks up steam.
• This movie was cut quite a bit—in fact there were TWO songs, both of which were cut. This one and this one.
• The Carvel ice cream jokes seem overdone to me. There, I said it. I’d say it again if I had to.
• Callbacks: “I’m squishy” (Young Man’s Fancy), Killer Shrews were mentioned.
• At one point there’s a bit of a drum beat in theater when Jonah does a riff on “Monster Mash.” A bit of a departure…
• The only Trump reference I caught: “Yooge! Yooge!”
• I guess all the coverage of the relaunch led to the arrival of letters, even before the show had arrived on Netflix.
• Isn’t it nice to have Rebecca (the new voice of Gypsy) there for harmonizing purposes?
• Fave riff: “How about Reportacus Shutupacus?” Honorable mention: “It’s just a sign that says ‘Made you look’!” and “…not even attempting to get a job.”
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I like that. I’m going to start using that as a rating: Experiment X feels more gizmonics than Experiment Y. It’s a perfect way to describe the oddball world of MST3k.
I think the random song might be from the last Starfighter. Servo does an all servo choral medley of sky songs, and I think that’s what it is.
We see them come back to the SOL. We see that they are now in orbit around Earth for whatever reason. It’s not much, but it was something. Considering that most of us found that good enough, it probably wouldn’t have taken more than a single line to satisfy our curiosity. “We moved out of Mike’s apartment and back into the crashed SOL and the next thing you know, Kinga’s launching it back into space with us aboard,” probably would have sufficed.
In the 20th anniversary set released by Shout! Factory, there is a disc of Ep. 1004: Future War. One of the extras is “Variations on a Theme Song”. When they (hopefully) release the 30th anniversary next tear, I hope they redo it with the new edition added. Another extra is the reunion panel at the 2008 San Diego Comic-Con, excellently moderated by Patton Oswalt. If you’ve never seen it, I recommend it- very funny and entertaining.
That one line is still more explanation than 801 gives us, though. All 801 actually gives us is acknowledgement that 706 happened–and I feel like in an age where you can easily track down 1013 and anyone familiar with the series knows it exists, retreading its status quo changes just to say they’d been undone would be a gratuitous way to open a new season seventeen years later.
In one of the upcoming episodes, I think Kinga says something about it being easier to reboot the series than trying to tie things together…?
That’s from 1102 – CRY WILDERNESS, yeah.
I just realized that I first saw scenes from Reptilicus on the Green Acres episode “Instant Family.” Lisa and Oliver take some kids they’re babysitting to the drive-in and Reptilicus is playing. Oliver looks nonplussed.
Speaking of Denmark, I was fortunate enough to travel there many years ago. Lovely people. Many of them are not blondes. They have a saying – “There is no such thing as bad weather, just inappropriate clothing”. I can testify to this after spending a lot of time outdoors since I prefer rain to second hand smoke.
Explanations are so overrated.
Has anyone pointed out the continuity error in the intro sequence yet? (I know, continuity in MST3K, but hear me out…)
When we first see Jonah, he’s heading back to Gizmonic Institute with his load of meteors. But while he’s drumming in his backjack, the Mystery Science Theater 3000 moon patch is clearly visible on the right sleeve of his jumpsuit. Then in his next segment, when the show trap is initiated, it’s disappeared. The patch shouldn’t have been there while he was testing the percussive drive; he and we hadn’t heard of Moon 13 yet.
Then, in Episode 2 and all subsequent episodes, when he’s on the bridge of the SoL to start the show he’s wearing his jumpsuit with the mission patches on the left sleeve and the moon patch on the right. But as the tube sucks him up to re-enact the show opening, it deposits him back in the backjack – and the patches have disappeared again. Now, I can believe the tube has special Batman Batpole costume-changing after-the-fact technology to strip the patches off. But the patch(es) in the first episode intro? That is a genuine continuity error, probably left in because they caught it after the sets were struck, if it was caught at all, in the finest MST3K tradition.
I will now resume relaxing.
I think the drum beat at the monster mash riff was one of the boots beat boxing!
does anyone do like me, trying to put the em-PHAsis on the wrong syl-LA-ble, and instead of saying rep-TIL-icus, go REP-tilLI-cus? (of course, never, ever, ever do like me… ;0) makes it sound like a salacious act… “senator bufus t. buford was indicted today for allegedly committing acts of REPtil-LIcus with a congressional page…”
It’s weird to call “Every Country Has A Monster” “Hamiltonian” when it’s just a rap.
Had a good time with this one. I think it was a solid start to a new season with a new crew in front and behind the camera. The riffing did seem a bit fast at times, but all in all it is a promising start. Check out my full (and admittedly exhaustive) review on my blog: http://romansreviews.blogspot.com/2017/04/reptilicus-1961-mst3k-review.html
Wondering if this is going to top “Yongary” in the big monster category.
I wasn’t sure where else to ask this, but does anyone know if the new MST seasons plan to trim the films for time like they used to, or since they’re on Netflix they intend to run the films in their entirety?
They did do some trimming for time. They actually explain it in a clever way during one of the host segments. I believe Joel felt that keeping the episodes around the 90 minute kept everything a bit more balanced.
Too bad about Servo’s voice. Otherwise seemed good! Nonsensical but fun and light-hearted Forrester segments gave way to Pearl stupidity, finally giving way to annoying bone bunnies (male), and shrew-like Kinga (nintendo?) and Frank 2/Max 1.
For me it’s all about the movie, which was great! Looking forward to the next.
Thanks for explaining. I would have preferred the movies would be at their full length, but Joel’s calling the shots and who am I to tell him what to do.
( I havent read the earlier comments, I’m just sorta clean slating here… )
First off, I like Kinga and Max a lot. I could do without Jonah’s gushing co-workers. Joanh and the bots may well grow on me, I may just have to get used to them.
I think the reboot is wildly over-produced, however, I LOVE the new doorway sequence.
As for the subject film… so many earnest, sincere and just slightly over the top characters. Good fodder for our heroes.
I liked the references to Slugworth, Pennsylvania 65000, McHale’s navy ( yes I’m old ), i liked the press conference.
Are we sure that Werner Klemperer and Judy Jetson weren’t doing some of the voices ? Also, are Carvel cakes a nation-widee reference ? I awlays thought they were an east coast thing.
And the country monster song is rather good…. so good that my wife, no fan of the show in any incarnation, sings it for days at a time, making up her own lyrics…..
The host segmnets are fine, but I guess I prefer less backstory rather than more…..
can we still rate these things ? I will over-rate it slightly and go 4.
I’m also ignoring the previous 169 comments, since I’ve had a year to think about it now.
I really liked 1101. And I liked the season as a whole. There, I said it. It’s different, which I think is good. Trying to recapture too much of the old magic would have been terrible. That said, the “Every Monster” song did set my expectations too high for the musical numbers in the rest of the season. But paradoxically, that’s also what makes it a good first episode. Solid riffing and an instant hit song.
Overall, the episodes I’ve rewatched most have been this, Cry Wilderness, Avalanche, Starcrash, and the two Wizards movies. I guess that makes them my favorites. There’s not one I dislike completely, but for some reason the Doug McClure movies don’t do it for me like I thought they would.
Yep, Reporticus Shutupicus was my fave too. It wasn’t pitch perfect but when I saw the preview live stream, I knew we we’re gonna be ok.
Oh, and also, Gypsy’s first joke was a real winner “Now, you’re MISTER Filing Cabinet!” But the rest of the season, nothing matched that, which gave me more time to wonder just why in the heck she popped in twice an episode to drop off/pick up a briefcase with her mouth. A mystery for Season 12.
I’m another who will ignore last year’s comments since I’ve now watched the whole season and have thought about it probably too much. “Reptilicus” was a great movie to start the new go-round: giant ridiculous monster, idiotic people, enough bad science to choke a goat (or a kaiju), and lots of Minnesota farm family lookalikes. Loved the riffing and the “Every Country Has a Monster” song, but I hate the new Gypsy. Her voice and her attitude are so snarky and patronizing, something that fits, say, Tom Servo, but not her. I miss the old sweet, goofy Gypsy. A LOT.
I gave it 4 of 5 and would give it 7 of 10. It’s a good beginning of the reboot. Bringing back things like Gizmonic Institute does connect the old series with the new. It would take some getting used to having all the riffers’ voices sounding somewhat alike, but by the end, I knew who was who. I did find a riff on a riff, if you will: When the movie switched locations from the drilling site to Copenhagen, the crew sang, ‘Wonderful, wonderful Super Dragon!’ This was a riff on a riff from Secret Agent Super Dragon: when Amsterdam is seen, Tom sings, ‘Wonderful, wonderful Copenhagen!’
So where did Dalby get that pistol? Doesn’t seem to be the sort of thing you’d find lying around at an aquarium.
BTW Birthe Wilke (appearing as herself) was not the electric eel. According to IMDB, her role in the film was as a nightclub singer.
Strictly speaking, the appropriate place would be the Piano Bench over at Ward E. Just e-mail them to Sampo and I’m sure he’ll get around to adding them.
Favorite riffs
Pole Dancing 101. First, get familiar with the pole. Make friends with it. Shake its hand.
“There’s blood on the drill.”
And an aching in my heart.
“Makes sense.”
For complete gibberish.
They scouted so many DMVs before they had the perfect location for this lobby sequence.
This is my life’s work, and even I can’t stay awake.
Brigadier General Military Industrial Complex, this is Miss Doctor Woman.
“And General Mark Grayson, well known for his exploits at the Battle of the Bulge, has been placed in command of the protective forces.”
Why do they always mention my bulge?
And Jethro discovers that he is the half-brother of a piece of cheese.
Only God may play God. And sometimes Morgan Freeman.
There’s no way this evening ends without Petersen covered in pufferfish spines.
Bingo! Yahtzee! King Me! I really don’t know how to play backgammon.
Are you saying growing a monster in a tub was a bad idea?
Screeching sounds on a dirt road? That Jeep’s got its own Foley artist.
The calls are coming from within the aquarium! Get out! Get out!
“Where is he now?”
In my head!
What a day to have to borrow Mom’s car.
They’ve already unveiled the Reptilicus Memorial. That was quick.
It’s back, baby!
For anyone who didn’t listen to the Nerdist Podcast (now Id10t podcast) in the year proceeding this episode, there is a moment that seals how much Jonah loves MST3K as much as any of us. During a recording of a Hostful episode (one where the three hosts don’t have a guest, and sorry I don’t remember which episode) Jonah accidentally leaves his phone on and has to not take a call from Joel, who he’d met when Joel guested on a previous episode. As he started turning off his phone, Jonah started to get choked up at how amazing his life had become to be at a point that he had to hang up on one of his heroes, now friends. This was only a few months before the official announcement of the return and of Jonah’s casting, so one can assume the call was related.
What a solid return. The longer opening segment seems to be done to accommodate modern audience tastes (back in my day all we got was a theme song to explain what was going on!), and I’m ok with that. It feels pointless to join the chorus praising Every Country as an immediate Best Of song. The cloning segment has some great banter and really helps show the new dynamics between Jonah and the bots. I really hope they do more letters this next season. And tiny Copenhagen is cute.
The movie is such a great choice to start with, and one I used to sit around and riff by myself often when I was younger and dreaming of being in Jonah’s place when I grew up. Silly effects, squishy women who serve no other purpose, an absolute earnestness, and a disgusting military general. Really, really disgusting military general. I mean, man, just the way his mouth moves is pretentious.
Also echoing what I am sure filled the 150+ previous comments, the riffing is very fast in this. But it’s solid, and as we learn it gets better paced as they go. This isn’t like when Mike took over for Joel, where he’d been a writer for years and was still surrounded by veterans. So the learning process for new performers, new writers, and even Joel who had been out of the game for a long time, is understandable. And again, it’s still great riffing.
Favorite Riff (would do a few but I’m tired and can only recall one currently):
The whole crew commenting on the repeated shots, each containing either no change or a very slight one.
Assuming they release a 30th Anniversary set next year, I wonder what the heck they would include on it. I initially thought that they would hold off on the Out Of Print Rhino singles for this purpose, but they are releasing them this year under the banner of “The Singles Collection”. Maybe they’ll pull off a miracle and somehow get the rights to a few more unreleased episodes.
I haven’t seen this episode and won’t be able to until after the 23rd…
Feel free to start the scene anytime!
Having had to wait a year for the blu-ray set release to finally start watching this new season, I can’t describe how excited I am to see this. A goofy movie to start things off, and lots of fun changes to look for. It’s going to be a great couple of months!
Fave riffs
The lights are out, the fish must have chewed through the wires!
The Island of Sodor, nooo!!
Bad movie. Great show. Quintessential MST.
Sure, the riffing seems fast paced when compared to the original and it does seem hard to differentiate between the voices of the three main riffers but by “The Time Travelers” you’ll notice a more comfortable riffing pace and you’ll begin to recognize each distinct voice. It gets better.
That said, this is a pretty strong opening episode. I enjoyed the whole season. (Except for the two “Wizard” movies which seem to be too self aware of their own silliness for my tastes. Kind of like “Sharknado” and that ilk)
Happy for this season and look forward to many more to come.
Rave on, Joel!!!!!!!
Looking back, I suppose I must have commented on the very first reaction thread rather than this “episode guide,” so I’ll try to sum up my recalled first reaction as pleased relief bursting through apprehension this revival might feel like “bringing up familiar modern fan targets to put them down” (the apprehension of which, I fear, has held me back from Rifftrax from its start to the present day, and kept me away from Cinematic Titanic as well). I’m sure it helped that we have a “high concept” (“Danish monster”) movie to start with.
Not that long after seeing this episode, I went with my family on a trip around northern Europe, and along the way we stopped in Copenhagen and got to the city centre, which is still recognizable from the climax of Reptilicus. I paid particular attention to the “Reptilicus Monument”; my brother said he recognized the lift bridge that had featured not that long before…
Denmark – Small, surrounded by water on three sides, rains a lot, people are happy.
Japan – Small, surrounded by water on all sides, rains often, people are reserved.
Reptilicus – Product of spontaneous cell growth due to a mistake by a comic relief janitor.
Godzilla – Product of nuclear radiation from nuclear weapons. No comic relief involved.
Season 11 – Small show set on the Moon. No rain involved. People are happy it finally got here.
I think the premiere was better than we could have expected. It had flaws, but considering it was done by people who had never done it before, in a new format, it was quite impressive.
On the other hand, it was (and the whole season) was massively overproduced. Gone is the cowtown puppet show, in its place is Hollywood Squares, compete with B celebs and phoniness.
None of the riffs particularly stood out, but the song was memorable and clever. It also reminded me I really don’t particularly like rap and found myself wincing during it, despite it being cleverly done. And slightly related, the white people jokes actually made a little more sense since they actually have a non-white cast member (while the old MST3K was as white as anything they made fun of)
One thought when I started watching the movie: MST is back! Reptilicus was a good choice to start off the new era – a big goofy rubbery monster movie was perfect to start the bowl rolling.
But now, to grab a tradition from the earliest days of MST: Good things and bad things about the episode.
GOOD:
— The theme: very well done by Har Mar Superstar and Felicia Day.
— Movie was a perfect choice. A kaiju monster movie NOT from Japan.
— Gypsy played by a woman? Long overdue.
— No major special effects; no fricking CGI — just our favorite cowtown puppet show the way it should be.
— When they dropped Jonah into the theater, we got preview shots of the movie of the week. Cool.
— Invention exchange. Qualified approval: Kinga didn’t even present any this time around.
— Joel as Ardy! Yay!
— The bots being more active in the theater….BUT ….
— Loved the theater doors.
— Gypsy in the theater! And even contributing to the riffs!
— “Every Country Has a Monster!” One of the great MST songs. It was THIS that sold me on the new cast.
— Jonah was pretty good as the new test subject.
— JH&TB worked well together in the theater and, given time, developed great chemistry together. Yes, the riffs were a little too fast too furious, but that would improve.
— Always liked Felicia Day, and I like her as Kinga.
— Patton Oswald. Okay as Max aka TV’s Son of TV’s Frank, but a little too frenetic this first outing.
— Har Mar’s takeoffs on the classic musical themes from the original. Sampo: you may want to consider listing that in the episode guide.
— The Skeleton Crew. Kind of reminded me of a medieval chorus. Could have been used better, though.
— “Push the button, Max.” Missed that so much.
— A little cheat, but, loved the soundtrack. Got the CD the minute it became available.
BAD:
— Sorry, guys, but Wil Wheaton and Erin Grey were SO stilted in the opening sequence. Yeah, it’s the only exposition we’re going to get for the new framework, but this could have worked out better.
— Dang, sure were a lot of people on Moon 13! It was a lot more comfortable with just the Mads and maybe a mole man or two.
— When the bots moved in the theater, I could only think, the bots must weigh a LOT less than the original versions.
— Only two riffs from Gypsy? Come on! And what was she bringing into the theater and taking out of it?
— Agree with several of the posters: just a little hard to tell which bot was speaking in the theater.
— One problem with the opening, but that issue only developed in subsequent episodes, so hold off for now.
— Disliked the commercial breaks; Max’s short-attention-span catch-up comments got REALLY annoying after a while.
— Balsa wood props? Really?
— I really miss Frank Conniff as TV’s Frank.
— What the heck was Synthia there for anyway? I didn’t figure out she was a clone until much later, but I don’t understand why she’s there in the first place.
REALLY BAD (and hopefully not TOO spoilery):
— When I learned that the puppeteers were NOT Hampton and Baron (like how Trace/Bill and Kevin did in the original), and that the theater lines were recorded separately. Once this becomes clear, it just doesn’t look right in the theater.
— Closing theme – original: little over a minute. Closing theme – relaunch: Almost 4 minutes? Yeah, it was nice seeing the Kickstarter people recognized (although I never saw MY name :pout:), but there sure were a LOT of names compared to the old days.
— Still cutting the films to fit the time slot. Guys, it’s Netflix. Surely, we can get a first run of the ENTIRE movie and THEN cut it for syndication, can’t we?
— Have I mentioned how much I miss TV’s Frank?
Now, where’s our ram chip? :-)
This is something I think might keep this reboot from becoming as good as the original iterations. It’s just very obvious that they aren’t in the same theater like they used to be. It’s something you never really thought about, but part of the fun of the original was the interplay between the 3. The banter, the conversations, even when they’d occasionally make each other laugh. That’s all missing in this season. I mean, God bless Baron and Hampton, they can still both be good in the roles. But are they really both SO busy they can’t work their schedules to work with Jonah? Or is Jonah’s schedule what’s keeping the three from working together? Since he’s (frankly) the most in-demand of the 3. Whatever it is, I hope they get it worked out. It can still be good, joke quality above all is really what will make or break the show, but there’s a reason Rifftrax isn’t still only Mike doing the jokes
Pretty sure that it was confirmed that while there are other puppeteers working the bots, Hampton and Baron are always there giving their lines in person. I thought I read somewhere that Hampton and Baron have a remote control for just the mouths of the bots.
For the record, all of the riffers are present for the Shadowrama shoot, but they are miming to their own pre-recorded audio track. So they actually record the riffs in a booth, Rifftrax style, then do the silhouettes after the fact. They do this not for scheduling reasons (I presume it takes longer this way), but to accommodate the more sophisticated puppetry Joel wanted for the new series. As Colossus Prime points out, Baron and Hampton are controlling the heads and mouths, while separate puppeteers (of The Jim Henson Company) are handling the more complex stuff to give the bots independent movement. Having to worry about the timing of the riffs and the physical gags at the same time would have been impossible, hence the two-step process.
I agree that you lose something intangible as a result. Watching the classic show, particularly the Sci-fi years, there is a real immediacy and naturalism between the riffers that the rigid feeling of the new episodes cannot compete with.
The impact of the tight schedule was on the host segments, which had to be shot in one day, apparently. There wasn’t time to do multiple takes, which is ridiculous and explains the insulting bubble effect that they were forced to use to paper over broken takes.
Hopefully Joel can figure out a way to fix both of these issues in Season 12. I think he did a lot of things right and laid a great foundation, but they need to surmount the handicaps that they have imposed on themselves with this new production style if The Return is going to achieve its full potential.
What was it actually meant to memorialize?
Oh really? I’ll have to rewatch/watch again, but it just really seemed like there wasn’t a ton of interaction between the three. Plus I thought I read they recorded separately, but I could of course be mis-remembering.
If them doing it the old fashioned way is being inhibited because of the Joel’s want to do those (sorry to say) dumb physical bits then ditch those, bring back the old puppets, have the guys doing the voices actually work the puppets, and let them sit in the corner like God intended. I guess it says something about him that he invented the perfect TV show and he wants to try and improve it, but some things just should be left alone
Or maybe people love the physical gags and I’m wrong. Who the hell knows
That was what I heard. I don’t know if that’s an availability issue or not, and it is hard to tell, if Hampton and Baron are in fact using remotes for the bots’ mouths, whether they are trying to match the prerecorded voice track or not. They are definitely NOT reacting to Gypsy’s lines in the theater, which might be a symptom of this. Of course, the bots are — and presumably remain — very unweildy. It took Bill some time to master his puppeteering skills when he took over as Crow, and it does take time to master getting the lip movement in sync.
One thing that appears more obvious than possibly intended was the fact that there must be at least two sets of bots used in the theater: one set in the theater sets, and one set of, shall we say, “stunt bots.” Remember, whenever a stunt sequence begins, It is clear that the bots disappear below the seats, and then, the stunt bot takes action (away from the others). I am not sure whether the stunt bots have functioning lips, but that would allow the puppeteers to concentrate on moving them rather than how they speak since they have to reverse the procedure for the regular bots to return. I might be wrong, but I wondered if anyone else noticed this.
They definitely don’t have a lot of interaction in the first episode, but just like the riff pacing it gets better as they go along.
I’m not pro or anti physical comedy bits in the theater. It’s clearly something Joel wanted to do, so more power to him for trying something different. Plus, Jim Henson studios are involved so it’s hard to suggest they wouldn’t know the best way to do this sort of thing.
…OHHHhhh!! THAT’S why Jonah’s obsessive in-joke preoccupation with Muppet references throughout the entire series! D’ohh!!
Well, they coulda told us that before we watched “At The Earth’s Core”.
Here I was, coming up with all these theories about “Cowtown-puppet-show in-jokes”, or “Millennials for whom the Muppet Show is the only symbolic good ‘ancient’ pop-culture reference they remember from an entire decade of 70’s TV”.
At the time, I was just amused to be next to the statue, and didn’t look for plaques. A quick search (and the awareness what I found is only as correct as however accurate Wikipedia is these days) turned up an explanation that the “Dragon Fountain” was public artwork installed early in the 20th century and didn’t seem to memorialize anything.
When Mike was doing Rifftrax by himself I was cringing. I was like “Don’t do this to yourself man! Better to burn out than fade away!” I really thought he was going to head the way Micheal Winslow does with his sound effects nonsense, doing the same old shtick over and over in places like morning local TV, like riffing on the weatherman, and then promote a DVD.
The celebrity ones were kinda bad. The Jurassic Park one was killing me every time Weird Al spoke. This is all really a little tongue-in-cheek. I really mean no ill will at Mike.
But when he got Kevin and Bill into it it really paid off. Just light years of difference in little time at all. I like that they are starting to concentrate more on things they can license. Trying to sync things up to mega big budget films is just frustrating. All around it was intelligent thinking for them to get together. Even better when Bridget and Mary Jo joined up.
Now if they can get Trace and Frank to cross over for good that would be excellent. Too many cooks in the kitchen, two franchises would be just fine.
Yeah, I have a couple of Mike-solo Rifftrax DVDs and I only keep them because they’re signed. Lonely riffing is no way to go.
…Oh, so RT fans do have a sense of shame and embarrassment about stubborn fading careers, then. Have to admit, I was worried. ;)
Sigh. The Desolation of Smug.
Look, it’s really easy to just NOT say a thing. Here, I’ll demonstrate:
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I’m clicking “like” hundreds of times in agreement. ;)
I think my favorite riff here is “the time is ___; the temperature is ___; the door is ajar!” bit, repeated with increasing hysteria. This has become a recurring one in our household.
Agree with many of the comments here, now having watched and rewatched season 11. I like that it is familiar enough to be comfortable and well-loved from the get-go, but still different – they did not try to replicate the original to a “T”, but put a spin on it. So happy its back. Can’t wait to hear news on Season 12.