First Broadcast - December 1989
Amazing Colossal Grade: Glenn thought this movie was going to be about Charlie Chaplin, but no...
Movie Pain: Low - Strange, campy charm
Riffing: Spars with a couple of big laughs
Skits: Solid, good humor
Armed only with a smelly Orchid, mad scientist Bela Lugosi kidnaps brides on their wedding day and uses their neck juice to revitalize his witchy wife: Why Bela takes these risks for a woman with the personality of sandpaper is beyond me. Even with the neck juice she still has this pinched look; as if she's been constipated for a month. And why focus on Brides, wouldn't any old gal do? So okay, the plot is as illogical as they come. But the film's invested with a certain campy charm which makes it fun to watch.
As for the MSTing? The invention exchange was funny, with Joel demonstrating the "Chiro-Gyro". And after a game of tag, the gang runs through the doorway sequence (something they brought over from a KTMA episode). Theater sight gags include J&TB ducking so that a character in the movie can't see them, and Joel grabbing a push broom to dust off the actors.
Josh is hammy in his Dr. Larry role (He smooths this out by show #113) but his Servo is very personable. The skit with Tom & Crow reading "Tiger-Bot" really brought the two to life, and I enjoy the way Servo attacks the movies lack of logic: "Of course it's not steady", he has a dying, shaky handed Bela say, "I've just been stabbed by a second rate character actress!" Ha, Ha, great line! Still, an anemic riff count leads to yet another low grade.
Note: The production numbers are off, Women of Prehistoric Planet is called 104, but it aired last. So I'm bucking tradition, and am listing season 1 in the proper order. There might be other instances where production numbers are off, but none are so obvious as it is here.
Host Segments
Invention: Joel demonstrates the "Chiro-gyro" and Clay presents the "Flame Throwing Flower" Segment 1: Crow and Tom read "Tiger-Bot" magazine Segment 2: A game of tag on the SOL Segment 3: Crow's barbershop End: Good thing/Bad thing No Stinger -But if I chose one? A casket is opened and there's Bela; wearing the goofy, wide-eyed expression of the dead.
Notable Riffs
Cody Riffs
* "Let's get over to the car!" - "Yeah the bullets don't hurt over there." - Cody/Servo
Vanishing Riffs
* "We want protection." - "You should have discussed that with your daughter earlier" - Mother of the bride/Joel as cop
* "Look at Me!" - "No thanks I just ate" - Mrs. Lorenz/Crow
* "well, she's a quart low" - Crow
* "Oh great Tony, you shot a midget. Hope you sleep well tonight" - Joel
* "Come on you guys. It's not a real wedding, don't cry." "We know. It's the script that's upsetting us!" - Joel/Crow
* "He's been injecting her with young and pretty, now he should start injecting her with smart and nice." - Servo
* "Now you might feel a little sting..." (Woman screams LOUDLY!) "Okay, a big sting!" - Crow
* "May I take your skirt?" - Servo as Toby
* "No one could hold a candle to him in this role. Well, maybe they could douse him in something flammable and then hold a candle to him." - Crow
* "Our minds play strange tricks on us sometimes." - "Yeah, like that wiener- between-the-fingers trick!" - Dr. Lorenz/Joel
* "Toby will show you to your rooms. You'll be sleeping with the monkey-boy tonight." - Servo as Dr. Lorenz
* "You may now bury the bride" - Servo
* Crow sings... "I'm getting buried in the morning!"
* "What a peculiar sweet odor?" - "Oh that's just me" - Reporter gal/Joel as photog
* "This is much better than my old passage through the sock drawer" - Servo as Bela
* (As the doctor enters the secret passage in the wardrobe cabinet) "I've got to go back here and talk to the Lion and the Witch." - Servo as Bela
Invention: Joel demonstrates the "Chiro-gyro" and Clay presents the "Flame Throwing Flower" Segment 1: Crow and Tom read "Tiger-Bot" magazine Segment 2: A game of tag on the SOL Segment 3: Crow's barbershop End: Good thing/Bad thing No Stinger -But if I chose one? A casket is opened and there's Bela; wearing the goofy, wide-eyed expression of the dead.
Notable Riffs
Cody Riffs
* "Let's get over to the car!" - "Yeah the bullets don't hurt over there." - Cody/Servo
Vanishing Riffs
* "We want protection." - "You should have discussed that with your daughter earlier" - Mother of the bride/Joel as cop
* "Look at Me!" - "No thanks I just ate" - Mrs. Lorenz/Crow
* "well, she's a quart low" - Crow
* "Oh great Tony, you shot a midget. Hope you sleep well tonight" - Joel
* "Come on you guys. It's not a real wedding, don't cry." "We know. It's the script that's upsetting us!" - Joel/Crow
* "He's been injecting her with young and pretty, now he should start injecting her with smart and nice." - Servo
* "Now you might feel a little sting..." (Woman screams LOUDLY!) "Okay, a big sting!" - Crow
* "May I take your skirt?" - Servo as Toby
* "No one could hold a candle to him in this role. Well, maybe they could douse him in something flammable and then hold a candle to him." - Crow
* "Our minds play strange tricks on us sometimes." - "Yeah, like that wiener- between-the-fingers trick!" - Dr. Lorenz/Joel
* "Toby will show you to your rooms. You'll be sleeping with the monkey-boy tonight." - Servo as Dr. Lorenz
* "You may now bury the bride" - Servo
* Crow sings... "I'm getting buried in the morning!"
* "What a peculiar sweet odor?" - "Oh that's just me" - Reporter gal/Joel as photog
* "This is much better than my old passage through the sock drawer" - Servo as Bela
* (As the doctor enters the secret passage in the wardrobe cabinet) "I've got to go back here and talk to the Lion and the Witch." - Servo as Bela
My riff...
"Look, once again Lucy has moved the football
before that idiot Brown can kick it. Ha Ha... Ha!"
Stuff & Nonsense
* The hunchback "Angel" was played by Frank Moran, an ex-boxer who had a right hook he named 'Mary-Ann'. Frank twice fought for the Heavyweight championship, losing once to Jack Johnson in a 20 round decision! The other to Jess Willard, you can find clips from both matches on YouTube.
* This is the first time Servo's head explodes, as the movie was just too much for the poor bot! Also, the silver beak makes its appearance
Riffs Explained
"And his hair was perfect" - J&TB
This is a line from the Warren Zevon song "Werewolves of London"
It's a Wham O Magic Window!" - Joel
Produced in the '70s, the Magic Window was oval-shaped and filled with colored sand. You moved the window to create different designs.
Available on DVD: Volume 16
