Tuesday, August 26, 2014

814 - Riding With Death

First Broadcast - 5 pm Saturday, July 19th 1997

#13 in Mighty Jack's Top 100
Amazing Colossal Grade: Glenn says..."You wouldn't know it to look at me (being a lumbering, colossal man), but I was considered quite elusive back in the day."
Movie Pain: Low - Easy to watch TV silliness
Riffing: I laughed so hard I wet 'em!
Skits: Solid good humor


This experiment is actually 2 episodes from that 70's show titled, "Gemini Man", which have been poorly merged into a film. Ben Murphy stars as Sam, a mellow government agent who can turn invisible whenever he fiddles with his watch. Sam's allies in the quest to right wrongs include his boss - Played by William Sylvester of "Devil Doll" & "Gorgo" fame- His obsession with dirty glasses and Robert Denby are riffed often and well. Then there's Abby, who's quite a gal. She must have received a concussion during the first part of the movie, because spends the second half of the show in a slack jawed trance. To top it off we have king ding dong -Jim "Ham with extra cheese" Stafford- who chews the scenery with a zeal matched only by the bald bad guy in the MSTed "Deathstalker". With this great cast, the MSTing can't miss.
     
And it doesn't. The signature of this episode are the running gags: The "Turkey" lines at the start are solid, but the humor quickly shifts into overdrive with lasting classics such as the... "writing my patents" gags. The whooping "cracker" jabs directed at Stafford. And the "Elusive Robert Denby" & "Cupcake" quips. All of these drive this episode toward one laugh after another.
     
As to the Host Segments, they are a silly bunch. In the opening, Mike tries to cook Crows hand, blows up another planet (which ends with Crow and Mike reenacting a scene from "It’s A Wonderful Life") and we get to see Observer dressed up as a nurse! Crow made me chuckle when I saw him in his Super Hero getup -Turkey Volume Guessing Man- and the guys trying to figure out the film using a cardboard cutout at the end was cute. All told -skits, film and riffing- it's another classic season 8 experiment..

Host Segments
Intro: Donning a chef's hat, Mike goes chop happy and serves Crow his own hand. Segment 1: Pearl's under attack so Mike blows up another planet. Segment 2: Servo is stuck in the 70's, then the 50's. Segment 3: Tom's a trucker. Segment 4: Crow is "Turkey Volume Guessing Man!" End: M&TB try to understand the movie using a cardboard Abby, and Pearl receives many awards. Stinger: Jim Stafford whoops it up!


Notable Riffs
* "The long... and winding... road" - Crow
* "Damn corporate rough housing!" - Crow
* "Just between the four of us" - "My glasses are filthy!" - Driscoll/Mike
* "Sam, are you in position yet?" - "This is Sam, I am" - Driscoll/Crow
* "She has exploding boogers!" - Servo
* "I sure hope he remembers to pick up death"
* "Winged bear? Oh My God it's the end times!" - Crow 
* "I may have to investigate the professors bag" - Crow as Sam 
* "Sam, I'm blown to several thousand bits, but I've got to finish these patent papers" - Mike
* "Man I hate being badgered by pharmacist" - Crow
* "The rare male camel toe" - Crow
* "I need to get my shirt to a hospital" - Crow
* "I pooped my drawers I'm so excited" - Crow as Buffalo Bill
* "Come on, make a burning tire fly into us" - Mike
* "Okay, driver needs a blanket and another pillow" - Servo
* "All units" - I have an owie" - Driscoll/Crow
* "I will rule the world... Emperor Cupcake" - Crow
* "We disguised a bottle of Tripolitane as Junior Samples - Crow
* "I'm on the air, well I'm on the air" - "Well get off the air ya cracker!" - Buffalo (singing)/Crow as Sam
* "Cupcake, get Twinkie the Kid and Fruit Pie the Magician!" - Mike
* "Hurry, the time is increasing" - Crow

Riff Explained
"That's right Chiefy" - Mike
Mike is doing his imitation of Captain Quint from the movie "Jaws". The guy with the hat looks a bit like the character.

"Kelly Flynn, on her way to another tryst" - Crow
Lt. Kelly Flynn was the Air Forces first female B-52 pilot. In 1997 she was discharged after disobeying orders to end an affair she was having with a man who was the husband of a woman in her unit.

Stuff and Nonsense
* The guys who brought us the "Six Million Dollar Man" (Harve Bennett) the original "Outer Limits" (Leslie Stevens) and "NYPD Blue" (Steven Bochco). All inspired by a story from H.G. Wells... and THIS was the best they could come up with?

* Singer/Songwriter Jim Stafford was responsible for the 1973 hit, "Spiders and Snakes". He was briefly married to singer/songwriter Bobbie Gentry (Ode to Billie Joe).

Released on DVD: Volume 36 (XXXVI)

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