Wednesday, August 27, 2014

909 - Gorgo

First Broadcast - 5 pm Saturday, July 18th 1998


#79 in Mighty Jack's Top 100
Amazing Colossal Grade: Glenn mentioned that he and Gorgo are great pals, you can frequently find them fishing off the Irish coast.
Movie Pain: Low - Not half bad viewing
Riffing: Very good - several big laughs to be had
Skits: Solid, good humor


The Brits try their hand at a "Godzilla" style movie, complete with city stomping action and a little annoying kid. His names Sean, and thankfully he wears pants.

I agree with guest Leonard Maltin, Gorgo isn't a half-bad flick and the riffing it receives is pretty darn good - Odd, I don't remember being that impressed the first time I saw it? But there is a wonderful side effect to MST, that being; many of its episodes get better with age. As I watched Gorgo again, I had to be honest... This was one funny experiment, especially during the first hour.

Host segments were solid (Trivia Pursuit, Waiting for Gorgo) and I laughed when Mike chastised Crow for making a lame joke ("Driving Miss Dummy"). It was nice, in an inclusive "we're all pals here, enjoying a bad movie" kind of way, it's the type of funny bit that makes the fans feel like they're one of the guys. With knocks on Irish food, a mundane version of the song "Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald" and lots of 'Dorkin'... Gorgo's the best of season nine's British invasion.

Host Segments
Intro: Crow's head is being used as a nest. Segment 1: Pearl and Leonard Maltin discuss bad movies. Segment 2: Waiting for Gorgo. Segment 3: Mike's all excited about his 'William Sylvester Trivial Pursuit' game. Segment 4: The horrors of the Nanite circus. End: The women of Gorgo and more with Leonard and Pearl. Stinger: Fisherman speaks in tongues.


Notable Riffs
* "McRoar! O'Growl!" - Mike as Gorgo
* "Am in... Ireland... send real... food." - Crow
* "Kid, could you salt yourself and come over here... Maybe lay in some marinade?" - Crow as Gorgo
* "You know what's great though Sam? I'm wetting myself in terror but it doesn't really matter down here" - Crow (during the diving scene)
* "I didn't know elephants exploded on impact." - Crow
* "Pacifist or not, Gandhi's got to be chuckling about now." - Servo
* "People running through the streets yelling, 'This simply isn't done. You'll be hearing from my solicitor.'" - Mike
* "Go play on Gamera's back kid, I'm not into it." - Crow as Gorgo
* "The infant." - "the outfant." - Professor/Crow
* "The legendary treasure of Captain Crunch." - Crow
* "The poor Irish, you know, if they aren't being invaded by Cromwell or infested with leprechauns, they've got this guy." - Mike
* "We're out of fresh water." - "We'll have to drink concentrate, then." - Sam/Mike
* "Then we got into port and everyone was okay, they went out for lunch and felt better." - Crow (signing to the tune of the "Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald")
* "Gorgo" - "The Vice President's unimaginative campaign slogan." - Mike
* "Gone?" - "Yes, it's a word meaning Not here anymore." - Joe/Crow
* "But you missed my point, despite our new familiarity with names." - Mike as Sean
* "There's a skeleton of a little French guy in here!" - Crow
* "Don't bother the man, he's Dorkin." - Crow
* "Insulation on a stick." - Crow
* "Whoa, he's got Betty Davis eye, real bad." - Mike
* "Capsized?" - "I've got to have my cap sized!" - Some Guy/Crow
* "Ah, General Sean, glad we found you." - Crow
* "Hey it's Large Bob!" - "Uh, it's Big Ben." - Crow/Mike

Riff Explained
50% of the gross" - "50% of Mary Gross I mean" - Sam/Crow
Comedian Mary Gross was a cast member of "Saturday Night Live" from 1981 to 1985. She was very funny as "Alfalfa" in the "Our Gang" skits.

"Let's swipe the Captains Strawberries, that's always fun" - Crow
References the novel & movie "The Cain Mutiny". Humphrey Bogart plays Captain Queeg, who goes a little nuts searching for his missing Strawberries.

Stuff and Nonsense
* Martin Benson, AKA the beloved Dorkin, is most noted for his roles as Kralahome in "The King and I" and as Mr. Solo in the James Bond thriller, "Goldfinger".

* Vincent Winter (the young lad Sean): As an adult, Vincent worked as a Production Assistant on notable films like The "Color Purple" and Kenneth Branagh's "Henry V". Sadly, Vincent died of a heart attack on November 2, 1998, at the age of 50.

Available on DVD: Volume 28