Friday, August 22, 2014

610 - The Violent Years

With Short: Young Man's Fancy
First Broadcast - 7 pm Saturday, Oct 8th 1994


#41 in Mighty Jack's Top 100
Amazing Colossal Grade:  J.D. Power and Associates rates this tops in squishiness
Movie Pain: Low - Preachy lectures are a bust, but the girl gang's a blast
Riffing: Hilarious
Skits: A mix of the wonderful and the wretched


This one opens with a long short about a squishy girl and a guy who is ecstatic about mushrooms. While "Young Man's Fancy" feels (to me) kind of uncharacteristically laid back for a Mike era Msting (Alex exclaims that he's interested in electrical devices, how could the guys let that slip by without comment?) there are more than enough great jokes (and lots of sexual tension) to make it memorable.

Our feature film this week was written by Ed Wood. Ed bludgeons us with a tale of a gal named Paula, a pampered princess who leads a gang of female thugs. The lady's reign of terror ends in violence and tragedy -which was supposed to be poignant, but comes off trite and hokey instead-  The hypocrisy that drips from Wood's pen is truly remarkable. He titillates us with lurid tales of young girls gone bad, then backhands us with leaden speeches about moral decay. I'm confused Ed, why get me all excited about Paula in her pajamas, then weigh me down with guilt?

William Morgan is the other culprit in this crime. His clumsy direction trips over itself in a brilliant display of incompetence - which plays right into Mike, Crow and Servo's hands. From the girls daring escape from a school building... taking place in full view and just a few feet from the pistol-packing authorities- to the shameless edits (which become wormholes in MSTie-speak).

The largest laughs are drawn from the guy who is taken to a secluded area by the gals. Shortly after Paula removes her shirt the camera cuts away... and we hear his screams of terror? The reaction from Mike and the bots is killer. Ahh, Ed, your talent as a glorious goofball is forever cemented here. (And yeah, I know it's not funny in real life, but it is funny within the context of comedy. Poor taste can still give me a laugh, wether in a Buñuel film or the KITH's Brain Candy)

The skits in this episode are stellar (Tom's new head and his dramatic theme song), silly (turn your crank to Frank!) and -in the case of Servo's "Streisand" bit- punishingly bad. Gypsy earns a laugh during the letters when she wonders if a Graduation invite from a "Driller" is dirty.

Host Segments
Intro: Tom's new head. Segment 1: Everyone has a theme song. Segment 2: The Mad's new radio station. "Turn your crank to Frank". Segment 3: Servo does Babs from "A Star Is Born". Segment 4: Mike as Keanu Reeves. End: Mike and Crow reenact the gas station holdup from the movie. Frank keeps plugging his station. Stinger: Paula sez, "So What"



Notable Riffs
Fancy Riffs
"Uh oh! She's getting squishy!..." - Servo
"All the fats are numbing my emotions." - Servo as Judy
"And you want to study this??" - Servo as Judy
"Food?!? Is that all you can think of at a time like this?" - "You mean, lunchtime?" - Judy/Crow as George
"I'm squishy and I need to move on it" - Mike as Judy
"Wow the bacon truck is here" - Servo as Judy
"Thank goodness for my electric dress." - Crow as Judy
"Is mom in the Guardian Angels?" - Mike


Violent Riffs
"Will he ever pump again?" - Crow on attacked Gas station attendant
"Another right turn, Those fiends" - Servo
"Dr. Forrester has sent us a TRULY great movie" - Crow
"I will not tell a lie. God, my teeth hurt - Thank you! " - Crow/Servo as George Washington
"Pajamas, jazz, and communism. This is WILD" - Crow
"See you when I can." - "Is that vague enough for you?" - Mr. Parkins/Crow
"Society owes me a Kit-Kat bar" - Servo as Paula
"So many children in needy families." - "Really bugs me." - Mike as Mrs. Parkins
"Their answer is summed up in two callous words..." "'Bor-ing'." - Judge Clara/Crow
"Booze and Jammies don't mix" - Mike as the Judge
"There is an audible thud every time he tells a joke." - Crow
"I completely condone what you are doing" - Mike as male crime victim
"Oh no, you hit the crew and he's really mad!" - Crow
"She died as she lived; failing algebra." - Crow
"Killed by a tether ball" - Crow
"Hey, pull up you two." - "Hey that's too far" - Cop/Crow
"In a related story, Paula Parkins picked a peck of pickled peppers." - Mike
"No child is inherently bad." - "Except Paul Shore." - Judge/Mike
"You know, a federal indictment may prove difficult to overcome in the student elections." - ??


Riff Explained
"Everyone is forced to write in the Palmer method" - Crow
Said during the opening while Paula and the girls parade in front of a chalkboard: Back in the good old days, students were forced to practice their penmanship; over and over in never-ending exercises. The end results being painful wrist seizures! The Palmer method was a hand writing style that showed one how to letter with flowing, broad loops. 

Stuff and Nonsense
* Paula Parkins (played by Jean Moorehead) was Playboy Magazine's Miss October 1955. 

* I. Stanford Jolley, who had roles in hundreds of westerns (usually as the bad guy), played the strict Judge Clara in this movie as well as the beat poet -"King Invader"- in the MSTed "Rebel Set". Stanford's daughter, Sandra, was once married to Forrest Tucker (The Crawling Eye)

* "Henry, Henry Aldrich!" - "Coming mother." If you're a fan of old-time radio you know that those words were spoken during the opening of a popular show called the Aldrich Family. Featured in radio, movies, and TV, there were a LOT of actors who played Henry over the years. The first on the TV series was Robert Casey, who is seen as Alexander Phipps in this weeks short.



Available on DVD: Volume 22


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