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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Oh, and automatic five stars, because:
“Every Country has a Monster”
While I can’t say if it’s the case for the new MST3K, having performers record their lines separately is SOP for American produced animation. Though having multiple performers in the sound booth does occur (recall the big deal Pixar made about John Goodman and Billy Crystal doing their lines together for Monsters Inc.), it’s pretty rare.
BTW Sampo, Annotated MST3K has references up for Reptilicus.
http://www.annotatedmst.com/episodes/132/Reptilicus
When I first heard the Kickstarter announced I was excited but that faded quickly. You see I’m still smarting from the relaunch of another favorite show: Dallas. When TNT brought it back in 2012 the show runner Cynthia Cidre said all the right things. She said it would be a continuation honoring all the history and continuity of the show. There was one major problem. She never actually watched the entire original show. The continuity errors piled up and I quickly became disillusioned. I cynically came to the conclusion that Cidre wanted to take the fast track to success by reviving something with a built in fan base and thought they wouldn’t notice the lack of homework. I’m a continuity nut so I did. This for a show that took its continuity very seriously in the CBS era. There were surprisingly few error and that says something for a show that had 14 seasons. When the show was finally cancelled I was sad I’d never see Bobby Ewing again but I was not sad at all that botched revival was gone. I sat out the save Dallas campaign entirely.
Now what does this have to do with MST3K? Not much. Continuity has little importance when the classic theme song quickly tells us we should “really just relax” when it comes to such matters. Also this show wasn’t being spearheaded by a brand new showrunner with no ties to the original. We got the creator himself running the revival. Still that Dallas taste in my mouth was so bad I really struggled to get excited. Then I got the impression from some of the early Kickstarter updates this show was going to go in a different direction and change a bunch of stuff up. I’m not talking about the recasting. We’ve been through that before. The impression I got was the formula would significantly change. I also thought there were missteps along the way. It did look like Joel was shoving the old casts aside in the way they all felt the need to make public statements that the revival was a surprise to them and they were never asked to be involved. With hindsight I think the better way to handle it would have been for Joel to give them all a heads up at least so when they were inevitably contacted for comments the tone would have been different.
As a result it took me a couple weeks of the Kickstarter before I actually made my pledge. I finally did so thinking that even though I was nervous about it, Joel still deserved the benefit of the doubt for all the joy and entertainment he provided me 20 years prior. Of course once I did jump in my vanity made me pledge at a level to get me name in the credits. I then continued to watch the rest of the campaign but still with much less enthusiasm that I really wanted to feel. It wasn’t until the telethon that I really started to get excited. It just felt right and I started to think that yes Joel did remember how to do it.
Then came the Netflix announcement. I get it. I really do. It’s just that I live in an area where reliable high speed streaming is hard to come by. So I was stuck waiting for the Blu-Ray release. Now I did manage to see this episode shortly after it dropped at a friend’s house but the rest did end up waiting for my Kickstarter Blu-Ray reward.
Now it’s clear this revival has more budget and effects than back in the day. But I’m really taken on how this show retained the cow town puppet show feel of old despite those better effects. I still can’t put my finger on how they accomplished it, but I’m so glad they did.
The thing I miss the most: Hex Field View Screen.
I too struggled mightily distinguishing the voices in the theater. But for me it is Tom and Crow I can’t tell apart.
I too miss Magic Voice. I missed her when she phased out way back when as well.
I think some people are getting too hung up on the Kingachrome technology. I look at it as just another format like VHS, Beta, DVD, Blu-Ray, etc… though maybe I’m wrong about that. But the Payload on the other hand: the mystery of what is it is killing me.
As for the casting, I have to say my favorite is Patton as Max. He really was born for this series and has long had ties to it. I can remember the time he and Cinematic Titanic were playing Milwaukee the same night and he drove across town from the venue he was playing to appear with Cinematic Titanic. He could have been in the original and does just as well as Frank. In fact he lovingly and respectfully channels Frank without being a cheap knock off. I also love Felicia as Kinga and think those to have a natural chemistry that rivals Trace and Frank.
“Turn Down Your Lights (Where Applicable)” I can’t tell you how happy I was to see this return. In fact I never why this discontinued. This was the first Satellite News catchphrase shirt I bought.
I was equally happy to see the Gizmonics miniatures. Sure it has fallen on hard times but it still gave that warm familiar feeling to see them again.
The new theme song is solid.
Next we have the return of the invention exchange even if it was one sided in this particular episode.
Finally we get Joel himself as Ardy. I don’t know if this was leaked or not prior to the season. But I wasn’t expecting him on camera at all so this was a pleasant surprise. I have to say this was the point when the last of fears melted away and I know everything would be okay. Sometimes you can go home again. And we haven’t even reached the movie yet!
Some have expressed surprise at the beat boxing during the quick Monster Mash parody in the theater. I don’t know. Is it that different from the handful of times the Star Trek fight music was “sung” in the theater back in the day?
I love the cardboard cutout props used in Every Country Has a Monster and throughout the season for that matter. This again feels very Joel circa season two and three. And speaking of the song, I absolutely lost it when Crow slips the Def Leppard gibberish opening of Rock of Ages into this song. My first time rolling on the floor of season 11.
The animation of Reptilicus eating people was some of the worst ever in the history of film. I lost it laughing here too without needing a riff.
I love in the closing how Max points out to Kinga that you don’t get ratings on Netflix. I’ve always wondered what the Netflix business model on original series is. Just how do they determine if a new series is driving subscribers and what makes a series successful enough to renew?
Favorite Riffs
Tom during credits: “Nothing says international like a picture of the US Capitol building.”
Jonah during Sidney Pink’s credit. “Poor Sid Pink. He got blacklisted obviously.” (Nice McCarthyism reference.)
Tom in response to General Grayson’s bluster: “I crap countries bigger than yours.”
Reporters get a first look at Reptilicus through the window. Tom: “It’s just a sign that says I made you look.”
Peterson pulls the fire alarm. Jonah: “Fire in an aquarium. It will sort itself out.”
Dr. Dalby dials the phone. Jonah sings “Reptilicus 6-5000.”
Reptilicus sinks a ship. Jonah: “So let me get this straight. They are saying Reptilicus is responsible for blockading the Suez Canal?”
Sven “The destruction will be terrible.” Tom “Hey we’re creating jobs here.”
Some Jeeps drive up and park. All sing “Movin’ right along. Footloose and fancy free.”
Reptilicus is knocked out. Crow “I can’t believe I’m dying and I never got to befriend a little kid.”
My guess would be that they track how many times an episode gets accessed. This would be a more reliable metric than Neilsons, which are based on samplings.
Oh, they track EVERYTHING. Right down to how often, quickly people click the “Next Episode” button vs. letting the timer tick down on its own.
I’m sure they do. But just because someone clicks on something what exactly does that mean? There can’t be a reliable why to know if someone specifically signed up because Netflix started carrying show X. Nor do they know if they cancel show Y that B number of dropped subscribers used that for a reason. And if someone does click on it maybe they did because it was there and wouldn’t mind if it disappeared tomorrow…
That’s what I don’t get about the business plan.
it’s been a year! This is an episode that has aged the worst because of the growth in riffing performances later in the season. The last 30 mins of this is exhausting to listen to since the characters stop talking and the new cast seems afraid of silence. This is a problem that repeats itself in Avalanche. Still it’s a better first try than joel and mike’s first episode. I doubt I will go back to this one much but it was an excellent start to a great season. Besides the next episode squashes any remaining concerns about the return.
Smart movie to pick for the opener and the first half of this is great including the exposition and the song segment that is already an all time classic bit.
Correct. Which is why I watched these episodes TO DEATH last year, waiting for an official announcement about Season 12 (you’re welcome, by the way)
Also, I thought the new episode guides would actually be updated from their rough draft versions from a year ago? Looks the same to me. Even has Wil Wheaton’s name spelled wrong! Twice!
I don’t have Netflix but have been watching S11 at a friend’s house. I’ve only seen these episodes once so I can’t say I recall most of the riffs and segments clearly(other than “Every Country”, which is brilliant)
I’m still getting used to the new voices for Crow and Servo. I can’t always tell who’s riffing in the theater and I really miss Kevin’s amazing singing voice….
Too bad they can’t riff their own credits…
“Listen, nobody’s saying the colorist isn’t a vital part of the creative team, but crediting him above the inker AND the letterer?”
“Legal services? Does that mean we can finally sue the people who make these films?”
(as the long four columns of credits near the end scroll upward)
“Look! The Space Invaders are finally leaving! And they’re trying to spell out a farewell message! May…The…Tors…Be…”
Four and a half minutes of end credits vs. the barely-a-minute end credits from the original. That was one of the things that irked me about the new series. A far cry from the old cowtown puppet show where the same dozen people did everything.
Why did the filmmakers use slasher-font for the title? What’s THAT about?
It’s a little bit self-undermined, though, by the fact that some of the “monsters” it mentions aren’t actually GIANT monsters (Leprechauns are in fact generally depicted as quite short), so in many cases they’re not describing the “kaiju” of other nations at all.
Also, Jor?gumo is in fact Japanese, so including it in a song about non-Japanese monsters throws things off right there…
Still fine, though. :-)
Now be fair. Are there a ton more people working on this than back in the day? Of course. But if all those pesky Kickstarter contributors hadn’t pitched in the credits would be considerably shorter. To be fair one needs to compare the credits less contributors. These credits are about 2:40 without the list of Revival Leaguers. Really go ahead and compare the quantity of special effects artists in Star Wars Episode IV to Episode VIII. The Star Wars credits are much more bloated than MST’s.
Is that who the super-long credits toward the end are? I don’t recall. Did you notice that, if you look at them sideways, you can see the Manhattan skyline?
Anyway, on another note, Crow jumping on Jonah’s back like a little kid playing horsie indicated (to me) that the CC Era FUN CROW is back. A very enthusiastic “Yaaay”! :-)
Of course, there’s the question of which Crow that existed post-Diabolik it is: Crow-Prime, Crow-Ep807, or Crow-Ep821. I’m not saying it’s a question that matters, I’m just saying it’s a question that’s there. I just hope it doesn’t turn out to be Timmy with a paint job…
(starting over)
The first MST3K incarnation has been participating in the ongoing development of my psyche (such as it is) for almost nineteen years. I’ve barely even been using the internet that long. This may be an odd experience for me. Definitely a fun one, though.
I watched this episode just yesterday (my Season 11 DVD set arrived, woo!), so it’s much fresher in my mind than episodes usually are.
Of course, technically, there is no dark side of the Moon; it’s the far side of the moon. Doesn’t really matter, I guess, but there’s something to be said for being accurate just for the fun of it. ;-)
SAMPO • Isn’t it nice to have Rebecca (the new voice of Gypsy) there for harmonizing purposes?
I dunno. IMHO Gypsy having a weird-*ss voice was an integral part of her charm. Well, we’ll see.
Well, with a little luck, maybe they have at least a passing familiarity with the frickin’ THREE DOZEN EPISODES that featured both Mike and Frank (in Deep 13).
;-)
Yeah, that’s a deal they have in the Scandinavian countries. You didn’t know that? That’s a deal they have.
In contrast, your lack of understanding of how the biology of fictional dinosaurs works (i.e. however the filmmakers want it to) is merely…disturbing. Not as disturbing as a lack of faith would be, but still disturbing.
Yeah, Denmark newspapers are different. You didn’t know that? They’re different.
Specifically, a Joel MST3K feel. IMHO. :-)
Maybe that just means she selects the movies herself but monitoring Jonah’s mind is something she mostly delegates to her minions. Y’know, we’ve never seen exactly what “monitoring [a guy’s] mind” entails. And now I’m wondering.
Of course, technically, Kinga doesn’t sent the movies at all. That Ardy guy does it for her. I guess the fact that gives the order counts.
“Monstering his mind” sounds like an interesting concept. And now I’m wondering about that, too.
How can you tell it’s working when you’re not using it? How do you know one way or the other? What, did you borrow Schrödinger’s laptop?
;-)
Like Dr. Bunsen Honeydew, Servo knows that glasses are the windows to the eyes. Even when they’re not there.
Wait, that was hip-hop? They said it was rap. And I’m almost positive that there’s a difference.
If I’m not mistaken and frankly what are the odds of that, “callbacks” refers specifically to riffs from a particular film/episode. Dreezle et al is a kind of generic riff that was used in many episodes. But whatever. ;-)
The general populace of Earth is insufficiently familiar with Denmark for such an approach to be fully effective.
Wasn’t that one of his daughters, not an assistant? Ah, who cares.
I have no idea who Hamilton is in this context. And I’m fine with that. ;-)
Well, now… I had not analyzed it to that degree. To be fair, though, the setup for the song does not specify that they are talking about giant monsters, just the “great array of monsters” associated with different nations. True, it mentions a “gargantuan panoply”, but grammatically here gargantuan could be referring to the panoply OR to the monsters; given the context I presume the former.
Nor does “Not just in Japan” necessarily indicate that Japanese monsters would be excluded from the song entirely, so inclusion of Jorogumo does not violate the song’s premise.
Finally, while the term “daikaiju” is used, it clearly is there simply because it rhymes with “impundulu”. So I give them a pass on this one for poetic license.
Or, perhaps we should just relax? ;)
All I know is, we’re only 1 episode in to the revival and they’ve ALREADY switched Tom Servos on us! Does Tom’s clone do the rest of the show after that? I mean, he has two arms back in the theater, but maybe like Reptilicus, he can grow another one?
Hey, why don’t you just shut the f*ck up?
(yes, once in a rare while, even I can just get Fed Up; sorry about that)
Well, now THERE’S a thought…
I don’t mind the extra-long credits at all. Always good to see more MST3K fans out there!
I just wish I had some money to contribute back when the KS was active…
BTW, that lead singer skeleton-skull guy, the one with a face, does he also have a name? Because, really, isn’t a name even more important to one’s sense of individuality than a face?
• SAMPO: Fave riff: “How about Reportacus Shutupacus?”
Sub-genus Unimaginativicus.
Hm. I don’t tend to look at a lot of people so I don’t tend to notice stuff like that.
Besides, I’d think that TV’s Frank’s son would almost by definition be a fanboy practically from birth.
I think that “sirs” is an outmoded male-centric form of address, that’s what I think.
;-)
It’s not a spaceship, it’s a graphic, I mean, it’s a satellite.
I was just wondering if that skittering bug-thing from the hallway is still around. Seriously, what WAS that thing…?
The more self-assured response to “No one calls him that” would be something like “But I am encouraging it!”
Ah, that would be because Max has Frank’s personality and Synthia has Pearl’s personality and Pearl basically *HAS* no personality. IMHO.
Notice how, although I don’t much care for Pearl, I don’t tend to HARP on that. Maybe someone else should try that approach…!
Incidentally, should that be “a robotic Frankenstein Monster? Or not? Or…?
Maybe Max should try to get hold of Frank’s spare head…
Anyone else here ever read “The Tin Woodsman of Oz”?
Too bad they couldn’t get Penn Jillette back for those.
I’m sure that was corrected a long time ago. I’m sure Joel was able to fix that right away.
Didn’t that call a rapid-fire Chinderwear riff in return, though?
Is there really that much of a distinction? Is there really any distinction at all?
You’re forgetting that she (presumably) has a MATERNAL set of ancestors, too. Who knows what THEIR deal was?
On another note (it’s possible to just relax and still wonder about stuff), the fact that moon bases and spaceships traveling to and from the moon appear to kind of business is usual (“Oh, our old future.”) seems to indicate that theme song aside, the show is set in a noticeably distant future.
Furthermore, if it was supposed to be the very, very near future, and if Kinga is in her late thirties (as her actress is), that would mean that she’s been somewhere in the MST3K fictional universe background ALL THIS TIME, and I suspect that that’s not what the show’s creators are trying to infer. So, you know, there’s that…
Kinga describes the MST3K experiment as having been the work of her “ancestors.” Well, I suppose that technically one CAN describe one’s father and paternal grandmother as “ancestors” but the word is usually meant in a more distant connotation.
Reminds me of how Spock, in “Where No Man Has Gone Before,” claimed that one of his ANCESTORS was human…and it turned out to be his mother. Which meant that in fact fully HALF of his ancestors were human. These future events are all in the past, of course.
So, do the workers at Gizmonic Institute engage in invention exchanges every day? With each and every one of their co-workers? Wouldn’t that get kind of time-consuming?
Well, y’are gonna lose a few…
“That’s not evil doing that, they’re just a bunch of spazzes…”
They have no time for us corn-shucking slackers!
I thought the inference was supposed to be that Pearl got the Apes to drag them back to the Satellite. Somehow. With technology.
Because she wanted to avenge Dr. F’s death after holding a pillow to his face. And entering suspended animation. And stuff.
Of course, Pearl herself noted that what she told us was the SHORT version, so…
Am I really the only one who recognized Petersen as the Ultimate Kramer Prototype that he was? Oh well.
Now that Joel no longer works at Gizmonic Institute, he’s just another NON-face in a contamination suit. Does it chafe, Original Eric? Where’s your Joel now, Flanders?!
“I remember that thing from the news a few years back. Someone made a MOVIE about it…?”
Yeah, if nothing else, at least rain is FRESH. :-)
Did anyone send in a big banner declaring I HATE TOM SERVO’S NEW VOICE like they did the last time? Of course, the internet offers so many more options in that arena now.
Well, it was from Minnesoota, doan cha know…
Yes, but they were counting on the fact that no one outside of Denmark’s elite would know that.
What about Josh, though? When is it Josh’s turn again?!
Kind of like pushing the gun forward makes the bullets travel faster.
;-)
Comedy about nuclear radiation is a very tough sell in Japan.
Aaaaannddd. . . . .we’re back! It’s been almost 4 years to the day since I last reviewed an episode of MST3k here at Satellite News (DANGER: DIABOLIK), back when I watched the whole series in sequential order, one episode a week to keep up with the Episode Guide here, a project that took… nearly 4 years. By-the-way, I’ve been good the last 4 years, thanks for asking. When Joel announced the show was relaunching and the Kickstarter campaign, I was over the moon excited, and when we got access to the first episode, I’m gotta say, I was INTO IT! To me, this looks/feels/sounds like MST3k, with some minor tweaks and adjustments, for sure, but nothing I overtly disliked. Well, maybe some of the cameos come off flat, but we’ll get to that… I’m going to talk about each episode individually the next few weeks and then maybe talk about the whole season when we get to episode #1114, the season finale. For now, let’s talk about REPTILICUS!
-Right off the bat, the “Please Turn Down Your Lights Where Applicable” logo comes up and I have a huge smile on my face. Like seriously, this almost brought a tear to my eye the first time I saw it.
-Cool model work, all the miniatures give this a very “This IS MST3k” feel, dig the lo-fi nature of it. Also, I like the Will Wheaton cameo at the Gizmonic Institute. Also dig all those puppets sitting in front of him to fill the room, those little dudes reminded me of Joel’s THE TV WHEEL (obscure reference, also can we please get that as a DVD extra, plz).
-Love the new theme song, Har Mar Superstar does a brilliant job, Felicia too! Also, I like the little bumpers they do in lieu of commercial breaks, trying to identify the songs is a fun challenge.
-The bridge looks good and I love the redesign of Gypsy. Her new voice is quite the welcome change, those Midwestern women really do “have music in their voices.”
-Kinga and Max make a good first impression. Over the course of the season I don’t love everything with them, but this introduction is good stuff. “Nobody calls him that. His name is Max.”
-Love that the invention exchanges are back. BUBBLES!!
-Host Segment #1 is great, “Every Country has it’s Monster” is quite impressive and also a heck of an ear worm. Easily the best song of the season.
-HS#2 sees the return of multi-Servos and we already get one swapped out. I love how Crow insists there is all this scientific equipment “right off camera.”
-HS#3 sees the return of LETTERS! YAY! Where did they come from? Who cares! They’re fun and integral to that “MST feel.”
-The cap on the episode is short and sweet, gotta say I loved this first experiment. The long credit sequence threw me for a loop at first, I prefer it to just be the melancholy outro music, but hey, I understand, lot more people on the crew, I get it. Plus all us pesky Kickstarter backers (admittedly it is a kick to see my name up there, I’ll tell you what episode when we get there). Gotta wait a long time for that stinger, tho.
RIFFS:
Servo: “They building a Wicker Man?”
Crow: “CUT! C’mon, Ralph.”
Jonah: “With a name like Schmuckers..”
Gypsy: “Now you’re MISTER Filing Cabinet.”
Crow: “The arrows are meant to confuse you.”
Crow: “Did that lightning knock the movie out of focus?”
Servo: “How about Reportacus Shutupacus?”
Servo: “I like to get high and eat.”
Servo: “Puppeteers have gone mad with power!”
Crow: “Ok, screeching sounds on a dirt road, that Jeep has its own foley artist.”
Crow: “Reptilicus is destroying the film stock!”
movie: “He’s heading for the beach.”
Jonah: “On a weekday? Must be nice..”
Crow: “Whoa, now I’m in awe of this movie!” ——me too, this was when Reptilicus was eating the animated people, which is crazy!!
movie: “Nature went through a long period of experimentation.”
Servo: “In college.”
Crow: “Finally found a shade of lipstick I can die in.”
Servo (in robo voice): “Ib Melchior is my hu-man name. Whyy?”
–
Overall, a great first episode. The riffing is a little fast at times, yes, but not always, and they get much better as the season progresses. REPTILICUS is a great choice for a first episode, goofy giant monster movies are perfect MST3k fodder. Having MST3k be back is great in and of itself but having it be back and be GOOD is mana from heaven. THANK YOU JOEL (& EVERYBODY)!!!
I give REPTILICUS 4 out of 5 Petersens.
This is the third time I’ve watched this episode. TBH it’s growing on me. The first time, last April, I was at a viewing party with some other MSTies specifically to watch this. I remember spending a fair amount of mental energy just adjusting to all the stuff that was different. There’s still some stuff that’s kind of off-putting, especially in the host segments, and some clunker callback riffs that felt forced, but it’s a lot easier to keep up in the theater now. I’m laughing a lot more than I remember doing the first time, anyway.
I like the stop-motion animation.
Servo’s new voice doesn’t have what it take to be *Tom* Servo.