Alert reader Rick suggests:
What is your Peabody episode? Longtime MSTIES know that episode 519- Outlaw was the experiment that was submitted, and, won the coveted Peabody award for. As a long time viewer of the series, I have my own “Peabody” episode, along with runner ups: My episode is: #805 The Thing that Wouldn’t Die – a nearly flawless blend of a quickie black and white B movie and crisp witty writing. Host segments are well framed and hilarious.
Runners up include: Hercules Unchained, I Accuse My Parents, Leech Woman and Boggy Creek II.
Yes, I know, this is a little like the “Desert Island Episode” WDT, but what the heck.
Well, from the Joel era, definitely “I Accuse My Parents” (runner up: “Magic Voyage of Sinbad.”) From the Mike era: “The Violent Years” (runner up: “Incredibly Strange Creatures…”).
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I Accuse my Parents’ with ’12 to the Moon’ as a close second.
I would go with Time Chasers – a really silly sci-fi flick with some of the best riffing the series ever did. The time travel story that runs through the host segments is also very well done. The only issue with submitting this episode for an award would be that it might rely too heavily on the viewer knowing the show. The Mike/Eddie swap and the part where Brain Guy cuts into the credits are hilarious, but they might not be accessible enough to novice viewers.
It can only be Time Chasers, where he and Sherman use the WABAC to go back to the American Revolution, and his superior intellect is used to defeat both the British and Bob Evil.
Oh, wait. Wrong Peabody.
I’ll throw in another vote for I Accuse My Parents for the Joel era. For the Mike era, I’d go with Jack Frost.
From the Joel Years, I would go with “How the Earth Froze.”
From the Mike Years, I would go with “Jack Frost”
I throw in the Short: “Snow Thrills.”
Now I have a global cooling Trifecta!
As one who lives in the Ozarks, I never tire of Boggy Creek II (some of their riffing is even region-specific to Arkansas). My runner up would be Time Chasers for all the reasons Son of Peanut gives in post 2.
Daddy-O. It has a great short, good host segments, a really solid movie that’s watchable on its own but is much improved with the riffing, and it’s topped off with all the non-ending endings.
Then, Skydivers, for the short, and then the introduction to Coleman Francis’s finest work.
For the Joel era, Tormented, The Beatniks, or Bride of the Monster
For the Mike era, The Creeping Terror, Girl in Gold Boots, or Soultaker
For the CC era I’ll go with “Wild Rebels”. I think it’s a great all-around episode.
For the Sci-fi era I’ve always liked “Horror of Party Beach”. To me the quintessential 50’s-60’s b&w monster movie.
I figure that any of the Russo-Finnish films would be a home run with the Peabody people. Personally, I’d probably pick either The Magic Voyage of Sinbad or Jack Frost.
Outside of those, I’d pick Eegah for the Joel era or The Creeping Terror for the Mike era. Both episodes feature strong host segments and razor-sharp riffing worthy of a Peabody.
At Comic-con, Brian Ward revealed the next set due out in November:
317-Viking Women and the Sea Serpent w/Home Economics Story
319-War of the Colossal Beast w/Mr. B Natural
805-The Undead
808-She Creature
2 classic episodes (319, 805)
1 good episode (317)
1 mediocre episode (808)
“Yes, I know, this is a little like the “Desert Island Episode” WDT, but what the heck.”
Also, I think I would have to disagree with this statement.
The Desert Island Episode question is a matter of personal taste and preference. It’s a question about which episode makes the viewer the happiest and most entertained, which could be for a number of different personal reasons.
The Peabody submission episode question is a matter of writing/performing strength. It’s a question of which episode could make the strongest impact on Peabody board members.
Case in point, San Francisco International could be someone’s Desert Island Episode because of all the fun of the Urkel host segments, but it’s possible that the Urkel host segments might not make it the strongest or best written episode in the eyes of the Peabody board members.
Another episode – let’s say Gunslinger for the sake of argument – might not be a MSTie’s personal favorite episode, but that MSTie might decide that the variety/complexity of the writing could make for a suitably strong Peabody submission.
I think it’s a good question.
While I think Time Chasers is a good Peabody candidate (even without its visiting the Tyranical Austrian Governor Gessler—oh wait, wrong Mr. Peabody) Peabody standards would more likely apply to The Crawling Eye (aka The Trollenberg Terror). The movie is not without artsy aspects, and almost a film noir atmosphere). Granted it’s early in Mst3000 and the riffing is tentative but as a movie with the concept of riffing it gets across the concept.
From the Joel era, I would go with THE REBEL SET, from the Mike era, THE DEADLY MANTIS. The movies are watchable (even “good,” on a certain level), but still very cheesy, the writing is consistently and incredibly alert (“I read Lolita, and I liked it!” — that entire sequence is incredibly funny), and the host segments are excellent (in my opinion). (And as an added bonus, both episodes feature hilarious shorts — that is, if the long map-related sequence at the beginning of THE DEADLY MANTIS counts as a short, and I think it does.)
But it’s the writing, it’s the writing. There’s a transparency to the writing that allows the riffs and the movie to merge seamlessly, which was obviously what the show was all about.
Bwahahaha, well played! XD
LIBERAL!!!
Sword And The Dragon. The ‘Joke By Ingmar Bergman’ sketch alone deserves all the awards.
The Magic Sword
The gang has really good energy through it, especially Crow’s song. Solid riffing, enjoyable yet obviously goofy movie.
Manos- Do I really need to say why?
Bride of the Monster for the Joel era (you can’t go wrong with Ed Wood, Bela Lugosi, and Tor Johnson), though the Peabody committee might be displeased with being left hanging by the Hired short (what advice is dad going to give his car selling son)? For the Mike era, I’d go with Werewolf. Mike and the bots doing their version of Leader of the Pack is worth the price of admission on its own.
Magic Voyage Of Sinbad or Cave Dwellers
I’ll have to cast my vote with Bride of the Monster with those above. Why Bela’s Ed Wood inspired soliloquy is worth something on it’s own. As an added bonus you have the stellar performance of Harvey B. Dunn as Captain Robbins. The bird should have an Oscar too.
I’d go for “Amazing Colossal Man” It’s one of the first I saw more than once. It’s unusual because you have a “monster” who talks. We have Mike as Glenn. It’s a good sampler of what this show does
Agree with #11. Best move might be to submit a TV “movie” episode, which could be spun as not just mere comedy but an insightful meta critique of the medium. Sort of thing. Therefore,
“Code Name Diamond Head”
(which is one of my favorite episodes anyway).
Gamera vs. Guiron for the Joel era, Jack Frost for the Mike era. Both have in my opinion some of the strongest riffing ever.
I’m thinking maybe “It Conquered the World”. The movie itself isn’t boring (one could probably watch it without the riffing), but it’s also dumb enough without being overly ridiculous. The effects are laugh-worthy, of course, but with Peter Graves, Lee Van Cleef, and Beverly Garland, you also get decent actors giving good performances. So there’s enough for them to riff on (and the riffs are really good, I think), but it’s also not a movie that would make someone unfamiliar with the show say “what the f*** is this nonsense?” like, say, the Gamera flicks or all the cheesy sci-fi/fantasy cheapos (Cave Dwellers, Space Mutiny, Robot Holocaust, et. al.).
Also, he learned almost too late that man is a feeling creature, and because of it, the greatest in the universe. (I love that bit, it’s still funny every time they replay it in the episode, and I’ve had the speech memorized for over 20 years. There’s something wrong with me, isn’t there?)
“Do you know, Sherman, just on the strength of those American Revolution scenes, that episode was internationally exported, and Crow and Servo’s riffing was heard in over 65 different countries?”
“Gee, Mr. Peabody, I never heard that!”
“Why, Sherman, you’ve NEVER HEARD people talk about ‘The Bot Heard Round the World’?”
(wahh-ump!) :)
(eye twitch)….It DID?? 0_o
Thought it was more of a series lifetime-achievement thing (individual specials/TV-movies have their own Peabody category), and that was the episode submitted that year. Although why they picked that one over almost the entire Season 5 is one of the great mysteries of the universe.
Always pictured the Peabody as more of an academic Tom Shales-like thing where the mainstream gets all gushy over first discovering the concept of riffing, and of seeing iconically strange movies found-humored, and proclaims it as the groundbreaking spiritual successor to 80’s David Letterman and Garry Shandling.
So it wouldn’t be just a matter of “funniest riffs” (“Oh man, all those Space Mutiny names”), it would be more a case of what episode you would put in a vault at the Library of Congress to symbolize what the show was about.
In which case, yes, for the Joel era, it would be Magic Voyage of Sinbad for merit and Bride of the Monster for pop-culture iconography, although for the Mike era, clearly Wild World of Batwoman–If only Mike had watched that episode, he’d have known what they got the award for. :)
@ #14: As it happens, the Peabody Award was used in the final line gag of an episode of Peabody’s Improbable History (naturally the one where they meet Alfred Nobel).
SST-Death Flight
My Joel-era Peabody would go to Tormented – a watchable B.I.G. production and solid riffing throughout.
The Mike-era one (for Comedy Central) goes to The Brain that Wouldn’t Die and
for the Sci-Fi era, it’s Final Sacrifice.
“That’s right, Mr. Peabody!”
“Quiet, you!”
-The Simpsons
‘Attack Of The The Eye Creatures’ for me. It’s a perfect mixture of unrelentingly bad and great riffing.
Green Switch makes a very good distinction between this question and “desert island” eps. But this topic is much closer to the age-old “What would be the best episode to introduce the show to a newbie” debate, which I was just pondering recently.
For example, somebody suggested Skydivers, which in my opinion is an almost-perfect episode: a very odd bad movie, yet one with a (microscopically) thin plot that can be followed, decent enough sound and picture, and a brief runtime allowing for the added bonus of an A+ Short. (Why Study Industrial Arts?) The only real demerit would be the B&W movie. Color is always an easier sell.
But then I started to consider the host segments. Every episode is a mixed bag, of course, featuring at least one off-the-wall sketch that hinges almost entirely on our familiarity and affection for the characters, but Skydivers has what might be the king of them, and right at the beginning: the Swing Choir competition. Can you imagine that being the one of the first examples of MST3K you exposed to a new acquaintance? Personally, that’s a very, very, very long way to go just to see Frank in a clown nose. Okay, and Dr F’s disturbing victory dance.
But conversely, Skydivers still comes out way ahead in the sketch department compared to, say, Space Mutiny, which would be a perfect episode for the uninitiated if not for the Roman Times host segments which are completely impenetrable to anyone who hasn’t been following the Season 8 “story arc.” (And aren’t that great either way.) As I said, I was giving this quite a bit of thought recently.
Well that got a bit off-topic. Anyhoo… I never knew it was Outlaw that earned them the Peabody, or that a single episode was submitted at all. I had assumed that someone at UGa brought candidates to the award committee. Just my own ignorance, as I look at Wikipedia. (It seems a little arrogant to suggest yourself for “distinguished and meritorious public service” in the media. But hey, it is still showbiz.)
I wonder why that particular experiment? They wanted to submit a recent one, obviously, but why 519 Outlaw over 514 Teen-Age Strangler? Or 507 I Accuse My Parents? (In that case, I’m guessing they felt it should be a Mike-hosted episode.) Well, whatever the reasoning, Outlaw turned out to be the right choice. I’m sure it was the Tubuluar Boobular Joy song that sealed the deal. That’s highbrow entertainment right there.
Seriously? It won the Peabody Award with OUTLAW?! Oy. Maybe it was what the writers did with the material they had to riff. I would pick “Tormented” or “Gamera vs Gurion” from the Joel years and “Racket Girls” or “Werewolf” from the Mike years.
The Peabodys tend to be more in “unique achievement” for enlightening programming concept, whether Captain Kangaroo, House of Cards (either version), Jeopardy, or the Daily Show’s Indecision coverage:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Peabody_Award_winning_television_programs
Which, again, takes it out of “Desert Island” or “Fanboy quote” favorites, and more into the area of how we want the show to be culturally remembered on Museum of Broadcasting retrospectives fifty years from now. (For those who look at the list and don’t remember “Make A Wish”, Kukla Fran & Ollie or the ABC Afterschool Specials either.)
Which probably favors the iconically kitschier Joel-era B-genre movies with the sillier found movie-based riff/segs–I’ll second the vote on Gamera vs. Guiron, but Manos is still hard to beat, just for the whole episode, riffs and segment, revolving around the “We can’t survive this movie!” concept which the series was meant to be about all along.
It was right after the breakup, so I’m guessing the Brains had a lot of their own reasons for not choosing an episode from the Joel half of S5 (which would have been prime pickings right there). After that, it’s likely just a question of movie rights, timeliness, and how brilliant the Mike-era Brains thought they were at the time.
I’ll nominate “Pod People” for Joel era. The skit parodying the tape session from the movie was terrific in both writing and execution. Gypsy’s reaction to Joel/Tommy threat of firing and Franks’ “He’s the BEST” shirt and line are fine examples of what I mean. The movie is pretty dopey (got to love those Perdue chickens and slime from the eggs). I thought the riffing was very good as well. Just a well balanced effort with first rate writing and execution, “It Stinks!”.
For M&TB nomination I’ll opt for “Final Sacrifice”. Great host segments, hockey hair and Tom/Kevin’s “O Canada” song are good examples of top notch writing and execution. Great stupid movie with consistently high caliber riffing. Last but not least Rowsdower!
Attack of The The Eye Creatures –
This is prime Peabody fodder, in my opinion. You’ve got your low rent sci-fi angle. You’ve got your smoochers with hornet nest hairdos. You’ve got your half a costume and sneakers wearing creatures. You’ve got your smoochers hating shotgun toting old hermit and last but not least…
You’ve got your bizarre bedclothes wearing perverts reflecting very badly on the American military. Actually, on America in general. Actually, on the entire planet Earth. It’s the total “they just didn’t care” package; the archetypal representation of the MST premise.
PS – If they gave Peabody’s for shorts alone…? What else; Mr. B Natural. “and find out why they call him… Buzz.”.
Outlaw rules and is completely deserving of any and all accolades. In conclusion, ya’ll Sour Graper’s can suck it.
The Toobular Boobular Joy song from “Outlaw” is more than enough to win any award, IMHO.
Anyway, outside of “Outlaw”, I’d go with “The Day the Earth Froze” for the Joel era. The movie is really goofy but not so bad as to be unwatchable, and the riffs are topnotch all the way through.
For the Mike era, I’d probably go with “The Final Sacrifice” — silly movie, lots of great riffs, and the hilarious Canada song. Runner-up would be “Zombie Nightmare” or “Space Mutiny”.
Great question.
Outlaw is a fantastic episode, I’m not at all surprised it won. I’m surprised that some folks in the comments have taken any issue with it. I though it was generally regarding among MSTies as a classic.
I agree with those who have said desert island episodes come down to personal preference. For example, Master Ninja I is without question my desert island episode. But, I totally understand that it wouldn’t make sense as a selection here.
Hmm….ok, let’s narrow it down.
Joel era finalists:
Pod People, Manos, I Accuse My Parents, Eegah!, Mitchell
Mitchell is a really interesting one. I believe it’s actually the “best” episode ever. The riffing was never better. However, Joel leaving and the Gypsy-led host segments might be really jarring for a newbie.
I’m going to go with Pod People. It’s got everything. All-time classic host segments, all-time goofy movie and hilarious riffing throughout. Runner-up: I Accuse My Parents (which would unquestionably win if not for a so-so short IMHO.)
For the Mike era, I’m going to go with Santa Claus. I’ve shown it to several newbies and it always makes them laugh.
Runner-up: Village of the Giants (the host segments would benefit from knowing who Frank and Torgo are….but, they’re still really funny and the riffing is outstanding).
Seeing as the above two Mike eps are CC, I’ll also add Sci Fi eps:
Time Chasers.
Runner-up: Track of the Moonbeast
#36: See http://www.angryflower.com/247.html for help with your apostrophes. :)
But I’m with you on Outlaw, man.
Amazing Colossal Man. It’s everything an episode should be, goofy, funny, witty. The movie is also noteworthy as a B movie classic. I consider Season 3 to be the sweet spot for MST3K, and this is my favorite Season 3 episode.
Completely agree with you. Absolutely love all of the 70’s made for TV movies. With Codename Diamondhead being my top choice to submit. San Francisco International is a close second.