Sunday, August 10, 2014

111 - Moon Zero Two

First Broadcast - February 1990


Amazing Colossal Grade: Glenn thinks the music has a good beat and is easy to dance to... especially in a diaper
Movie Pain: Low - I enjoyed it
Riffing: Chuckle-Fest
Skits: Solid, good humor



Mod outer space caper involves murder and an asteroid made of sapphire, Groovy! That's Warren Mitchell (Professor Crevett in the "Crawling Eye") playing the part of the evil, Hundred Percent Hubbard, and the Lady Clem also starred as Maya in KTMA's "Cosmic Princess". The FX team on this flick would go on to win Oscars for movies like "Alien" and "Super Man".

That's the trivia, how about the riffing? It's tough to give any season one episode more than a B grade due to the many sparse moments. But there are some real good quips sprinkled throughout -especially the ones aimed at Clementine's hats and hairstyles, and the many that made fun of the big dumb English guy (great voice Crow).

Plus, Joel makes like a Go-Go Dancer in the theater and plays 'Rock 'em Sock 'em Robots' with Tom and Crow during a Host Segment. The inventions were cute; the Mads celebrity toothpaste was very evil and very funny.

Fun, yeah that's what this was, fun. Not a bad movie either and it has a great '60s pop theme, sung by Julie Driscoll.

Host Segments
Intro: Joel explains the premise. Invention: Joel demonstrates the food transporter while enjoying some milk and cookies. The Mad’s present ‘celebrity toothpaste’. Segment 1: Space program pageant. Segment 2: A look at games that will be played in the future. Segment 3: A zero gravity fight on the SOL. End: Good thing/Bad thing. Viewer mail. No Stinger -But if I chose one? 100% Hubbard apparently Moo's, then sez -"Would you stop fiddling with that thing!"

"I'm here for the Gumby wedding." - Crow

Notable Riffs
* "Hey look at that, he's beating the titles out of him." - Servo
* "It must be cold." - Servo
* "Look, there is a man on the moon!" - Servo
* "Anti-gravity, It's not just for breakfast anymore." - Joel
* "Hi. I'm intrinsically evil, and I've got a new jogging suit I'm showing off." - Joel as J.J. Hubbard
* "Hey Thumbelina."- Servo
* "I wonder if you know my brother," - "Gary Larson?" - Clem/Servo (Clems brother lives on "Far Side")
* "Wow, they're so versatile, it's like Swan Lake A-Go-Go." - Joel
* "See that? It means absolutely nothing" - Servo
* "I know it's rough now, but it'll get better when we fall in love later in the picture." - Joel
* "Hey is there air coming out of your suit, or are you playing a trumpet?" - Crow
* "How much farther!?" - "Ah, well the script says a few more miles" - Kemp/Joel as Clem
* "If I'm going to stay down here and thump Number Three again--" "--I'll need a magazine!" - Kemp/Crow
* "If we don't die, you want to catch a movie or something? I mean, if you're not alive I'll totally understand, it won't hurt my feelings or anything..." - Joel as Kemp
* "I know a Wiener Man..." - Crow
* "I'm sorry, that's my gall stone." - Joel
* "Aww it's all shot to hell."- "What, the plot?" - Kemp/Crow

Riffs Explained
"He's from Barcelona" - Crow
This was a line said by John Cleese in the show "Fawlty Towers".

"This is me playing Breakout" – Crow
"Breakout" was an arcade game created by Atari in 1976. The object was to hit a ball towards a wall of bricks (knocking them down one by one). Several versions of the game have hit the market since then.

Stuff & Nonsense
Lead actor James Olson, garnered positive notices a year before "Moon Zero Two" was released; for his role in Paul Newman's directorial debut, "Rachel, Rachel". Olson also starred in the "Andromeda Strain" and has built quite an extensive television resume, taking parts in shows like "Maude" and "Battlestar Galactica"


Available on DVD: Volume 28