So I was watching HORRORS OF SPIDER ISLAND and I noticed something for the first time. When you first go into the castle, Brain Guy is moving boxes. The topmost box just to the left of him is labeled “Pandora’s (NO NOT OPEN!)”. It made me giggle.
Anyone else notice some little visual gags hiding in plain sight?
One of my favorites is the The Mads’ foosball table in episode 205- ROCKET ATTACK USA. If you look at the player figures closely, they’re little Dr. Forresters and Franks.
What have you spotted?
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When Dr. F interviews Torgo for a job position he impatiently hurries in Torgo while his theme music plays faster and then slows to regular speed when he limps around.
#51, YES! Loved that touch! Everything with Torgo was always gold, but that makes me laugh the most.
Not really a “little” visual gag, so much as it is an entire set. The Deep Ape set is my all time favorite. Just everything about it is hilarious. To have it be like a cheesy zoo exibit, complete with tire swing. They even reenact that famous luggage commercial at one point. Just brilliant! Hats off to whoever designed that set, you are a genius.
#37- That’s PUMA MAN. And that brings up another thing I noticed: During the Sci-Fi era, how many times did someone sing “Only Time Will Tell” by Asia?
In PUMA MAN, John Whitaker want’s to join Brain Guy’s party because “They’re singing Asia songs.”
My personal favorite (I believe it’s in “Colossus…”) is the host scene where Mike is brushing Nummy-Muffin Coco Butter (I think that’s the dog’s name, anyway). Crow walks in, crying, with a huge hair-covered sucker, and Servo has a hair on his lip, which he repeatedly tries to spit it off, since his arms don’t work and he can’t remove it manually. Cracks me up every time I see it– being a cat owner and all, I can really really sympathize (sometimes, I rewind a few times…really).
When Crow’s eyeballs burst into flames and he shrieks like never before after Tom Servo hits him with the Death Ray in Danger! Death Ray it will cause spasms of laughter.
#31 Troy Thomas – It was also in “Gunslinger” when Tom warped time and space and “healed” Crow’s lunch. That means that one of the props sitting on the BBI shelf was a “Crow Sammich” with one bite out of it. Hahaha!
I wonder if that ended up in the MST3K Auction and who has that sammich now…?
These might fit into the category of “budget props” and not really a “sight gag”, but in any case…
In the “Cave Dwellers” host segment where they remake the opening titles, Joel’s Zor hat is a hollowed out goose decoy spray-painted black.
In the “Danger to Ourselves…” host segment from “Giant Leeches”, the whiskey jug is a spray-painted bleach bottle.
I always thought it was funny in “Herc v. Moonmen” when the bots run away from home that their food stash includes Pik-Nik potatoes, fish balls, beans, and Pam cooking spray.
In the family photo host segment of “Day the Earth Froze”, the background Joel chooses is exactly the same as the normal SOL background, only a bit blurry.
For the Mads’ U-view invention in “Swamp Diamonds”, Clay and Frank reach an impossibly long distance to grab the remote from each other.
@45 – RockyJones
Unless I’m tripping balls and it’s not a face, it should be (on camera) to the right of the elevator.
#58 JCC – I can vouch for it. After reading your post, I scanned some episodes and sure enough, it’s there! Here’s a link.
http://www.magicmarkerweb.com/easter.jpg
#52
That tire swing in deep 13 is kind of a monument to a classic riff from the ‘Posture Pals’ short in episode 320. It shows kids ‘aping’ around on a tire swing and the riff is “a playground where apes evolved from men??!”
#59 Nice catch. And after looking at the picture, I notice that the gloves are the controlers for the manipulator arm from MST3K: The Movie
#59 GizmonicTemp…
Thanks for the photo! I have honestly never noticed that before.
From The Killer Shrews:
CloseUp of shutters on the house and Joel says “Shutter!” (like shudder)
I really like that when TVs Frank shaves his head, he still has his hair curl left. It was one of the Christmas episodes (Santa Clause vs the Martians, I think), when they were getting gifts for each other. Sampo noted another good one in that review, where Dr. Forrester can be seen trying to figure out how to wind his wristwatch with the keyfob.
Can’t remember which ep, one of the Gameras I think. During the opening credits of the movie a volcanic eruption is shown and giant hot-dog-onna-stick cut-outs are held up in front of the screen. I laugh every single time.
Ah, yes, all those little details that made the show special…
My favorite gag is the “Junior Jesters” sketch in THE DAY THE EARTH FROZE…look at Crow’s baton…it has a little Crow head, complete with jester hat!
#52 Ryan…
I especially love the view of the half-buried statue of liberty seen through the back window.
In MST3k: The Movie, the keys to the SoL’s steering controls have a floating keyring. Made me laugh because if you lose your keys in space, they’ll float regardless of if you have a floating keyring or not.
@64: No, it was Santa Claus.
#67 RockyJones – I never noticed that before, either!! It’s more obvious than the Easter Island (or Lifeforce/Gradius for the NES) face, too.
http://www.magicmarkerweb.com/deepape.jpg
I don’t remember which episode, but Mike tries to climb a ladder down from the SOL and ends up in Castle Forrester. They are all eating their cereal, and their personalities are all reflected in cereals with “crunch” in the name. Bobo = Banana Nut Crunch. Pearl = Cap’n Crunch. Observer = French Toast Crunch.