Saturday, August 16, 2014

414 - Tormented

First Broadcast - 10 am Saturday, Sept 26th 1992

Amazing Colossal Grade: While crestfallen to discover that this Bert I. movie was not about giants, my spirit soared upon seeing Vi's large, disembodied head floating in a photograph.
Movie Pain: Medium - Slow pacing, with some laughable FX
Riffing: Solid, good humor
Skits: Wildly funny for the most part



Bert I Gordon gives up the giants and tries his hand at ghosts. Jazz Musician Tom wants to break up with Vi, so he can marry Meg. Vi threatens him and then falls to her death. Ahh, but even death doesn't end Vi's harassment as her annoying, seaweed encrusted spirit, haunts Tom in an attempt to spoil his wedding plans. What a pain.

Great dark riffs -"Have you seen my 'Kill Waldo' books"- Funny dark skits (The guys throw singers from a lighthouse) experiment exchange (Aunt Catherine Wheel & the Drinking Jacket) and memorable characters (Bert I's daughter as Gilligan) are all highlights in a solid experiment.

Of Note: Joel tosses Tom into the theater and Kevin makes a nice catch (You can hear him say "Ouch")

Host Segments
Intro: The bots play in their really cool fort. Invention: Joel presents the Aunt Catherine Wheel. Frank wears the Drinking Jacket, complete with the DTs. Segment 1: Joel hangs from the ceiling. Segment 2: Throwing singers from a lighthouse. Segment 3: Crow & Tom's heads haunt Joel. End: Singing a happy song. Stinger: "Tom Stewart Killed Me!"

MST Hour Segments
Part 1: Jack enjoys his coffee and donut and mentions that when he was a teen the lighthouse was where all the kids went to make out. He proudly states that he was 36 years old and married before he ever ‘went to the lighthouse’. Seg 2: Ghosts are no laughing matter – Perkins admits that he is visited regularly by a salty old spirit named "One-eyed Jack". During credits, Jack hides his head and tries to scare a crewman. Part 2: The host plays with a lighthouse and provides a recap. In the second he talks a bit about the films of Bert I Gordon and later chokes on seaweed during the scroll of credits.

Notable Riffs
* "Put her down Jerry Lee" - Joel
* "She's wearing today's paper." - Servo
* "Speak to me magic pendant" - Crow as Sandy
* "You're assuming I liked you in the first place." - Crow, as Tom
* "Oh I see another corpse turned into seaweed." - Crow as Sandy
* "Nothing like an invigorating swim with a corpse in the morning." - Servo, as Tom Stewart
* "They lived in that last house on the beach..." "On the left?" - Joel as blind woman
* "You know, a pair of pants would feel real good right now" - Joel as Tom Stewart
* "Of all the lighthouses in all the world, she had to fall off of mine." - Crow
* "I've never loved anyone more in my life..." - "Not that survived anyway." - Stewart/Joel
* "hey, that's a 'St. Pauli's Girl', put that down" - Joel
* "Go to bed dear, you look tired." - "And stay there for 10 years." Mom/Servo
* "I seem to be having a memory problem. Uh grease my palms with a sawbuck." - Crow as Sandy
* "Sandy how'd you like to bungee jump, "without" the bungee?" - Servo

Riff Explained 
"Meg" - "It will come back to you" - J&TB. 
The actual name in the lyric of this "Steely Dan" song is "Peg".

"Coincidence? Read the Book!" - Servo. 
This line is from a commercial for a series of Time-Life books on the paranormal.

Stuff & Nonsense
Susan Gordon was a child star who performed frequently on TV in the '60s, from "Gunsmoke" to "My 3 Sons". Sci-Fi fans might remember her from the Twilight Zone episode, "The Fugitive" (pictured). She left the business after going to college but recently made a return to acting on stage.

During the scene where her character sets the dinner table, If you listen closely you can hear her say "What's wrong with being a Jazz Magician?" Susan had problems getting "Musician" and "Magician" mixed up and after flubbing her line through several takes, Father Bert decided just to keep it in.

Available on DVD: Collection Volume 11

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