Episode Guide: 418- Attack of the the Eye Creatures

Movie: (1965) Multi-eyed aliens try to frame a pair of smoochin’ teens.
First shown: 12/5/92
Opening: Crow and Tom quickly go through their “best friends” stage
Invention exchange: Tom is mocking Crow; The Mads demonstrate the router Ouija board, J&tB show off the funny gag fax
Host segment 1: Tom wants learn how to make out
Host segment 2: J&tB present their tribute to Earl Holliman
Host segment 3: J&tB are the Rip Taylor Trio!
End: The case against the film-makers (they just didn’t care!); Larry Buchanan visits Deep 13
Stinger: Greasy drifter in sweater dress
(211 votes, average: 4.55 out of 5)

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• I enjoyed this a lot more this time through (I called it “middling” last time). The biggest drawback is that the movie is sort of a comedy in parts — a failed comedy to be sure, but the film is intentionally trying to be funny, and, as we saw with “Catalina Caper” and a few others, that’s always a bit rougher to riff on. Still, the team slogs through pretty well, just as you’d expect at this point in season four. It’s a good example of what they were capable of by this point. In season two, this movie might have gotten the better of them. In season four, this is a movie they could successfully take on. The host segments help somewhat; even the Earl Holliman sketch — a “wtf” bit if there ever was one — somehow comes off.
• This episode has not yet been released on DVD.
• References.
• This ep was number 10 on the summer 1995 countdown Comedy Central did.
• Doesn’t it seem like this episode ought to have a short?
• Crow’s arm (which was apparently taped to Tom) comes off during the opening. They keep going, and it’s still taped to Tom’s back in the next segment.
• This movie, believe it or not, is (with some minor changes) a scene-for-scene, line-for-line remake of a movie called “Invasion of the Saucer Men.” That movie also stinks. Larry Buchanan did a number of these remakes for AIP.
• Do you think the presence of somebody (or some THING) named Ethan Allen in the credits sparked the idea for the Mads’ invention?
• I can’t find anything definitive, but I think Homer Formby IS dead. But I found an interesting tidbit: when he hit it big with his furniture refinishing products, he bought an entire island in the Florida Keys. He later sold it.
• “Dern smoochers!” and other variations became an immediate catchphrase.
• For those who don’t know, the double THE in the movie title occurred when the movie was re-released. It was originally titled just “The Eye Creatures.” Somebody decided to jazz up the title and slapped ATTACK OF THE on the title card, not noticing that there was already a THE. They just didn’t care (which also became a catchphrase).
• Wow, it turns out that MST3K invented rickrolling! Tom breaks into a chorus of “Never Gonna Give You Up,” at one point.
• Joel kinda has to lean over the puppet trench to smooch Servo, but he covers well.
• Literary reference: Joel invokes Ignatius Riley from John Kennedy Toole’s Pulitzer Prize-winning novel “Confederacy of Dunces.” I PRESUME everybody in this audience has read it. If you haven’t, go and do so before Lady Fortuna spins the wheel of your destiny downward.
• The Earl Holliman sketch is silly and pointless, but I do like the line “…who would have been William Shatner had there not already been one.” How true that is.
• Call back: “…sing whenever I sing whenever I…” (Giant Gila Monster)
• I used to love Rip Taylor when I was kid. Glad to know he still with us.
• Note that the giant handkerchief is monogrammed “KM.” Hmmm…
• Mike scores again as “Larry Buchanan.”
• Cast and crew wrapup: screenwriter Robert Gurney Jr. also wrote “Terror from the Year 5000.” Production designer James Sullivan also worked on “Invasion USA.” Score composer Ronald Stein also worked on “It Conquered the World,” “The Undead,” “The Girl in Lovers Lane,” “Gunslinger” and “The She-Creature.” In front of the camera, Warren Hammack was in “The Side Hackers,” and “The Hellcats.” Jonathan Ledford was in “The Amazing Transparent Man.” Peter Graves was in a bunch of stuff, Tony Houston, who has a small part in this movie, wrote the screenplays for “Sidehackers” and “The Hellcats” and Jody Daniels was in “Girl in Gold Boots.”
• CreditsWatch: Host segments directed by Joel Hodgson. Additional music written and performed by Michael J. Nelson and Kevin Murphy — I assume they’re referring to Rip Taylor music. And good news: the “Ammendment” mistake has been corrected.
• Fave riff: “And don’t be alarmed if it suddenly becomes 2 in the afternoon.” Honorable mention: “She’s a female. They have less plumage.”