Saturday, August 30, 2014

K18 - The Million Eyes of Su-Muru

First Broadcast - 6 pm Sunday, May 7 1989

Su-Muru (Shirley Eaton of "Goldfinger" fame) and her army of female agents plan to take over the world, and only Frankie Avalon and the guy from Robot Monster can stop them. (The earth is doomed). Very funny at the start, though it slows down a hair when Servo leaves to bake brownies. Despite rough patches and a few cringe-worthy riffs (the slanted eyes line), this is one of my favorites from KTMA. MST is starting to show signs of its bright future; as the guys let loose with a vast array of pop culture references: From quoting an old ad ("Who's that behind those Foster Grants?") to the 70's series Kung Fu ("Take the pebble from my hand"). And where else in comedy will you hear a joke that refers to the '80s alternative rock band, the Dickies (Stuck in a Pagoda with "Trixie" (should be Trisha) Toyota).

Host Segments
Intro: The Mads discuss Joel's cheeks and introduce the movie. Segment 1: Joel gets back at the bots for locking him out of the ship last week. Gypsy is stuck in the "Spiral on down". Segment 2: J&TBs play a strange Courtroom/game show. Weird. Segment 3: Joel and the bots perform an acoustic version of the MST theme song. End: Servo's mouth is broken so Joel moves it for him. No Stinger: But if I chose one... Wilfred chortles over the chips joke. Then the camera zeroes in on Col. Matika, who chuckles as he says, "Chips"


Notable Riffs
"She must have used at least a thousand eyes blowing up that bridge" - Joel / "The Harper Valley death squad" - Servo / "This is a hard role for Frankie, he's working without a net" - Servo / "I'll give her my approval" - "Thumbs up!" - "Not just thumbs"- Servo-Joel-Servo / "She kind of falls short in the eye count" - Servo / "She's got a swing on her back porch" - Crow / "They were right..." - "You do look like the quarter" - Su Maru/Servo / "Uh-Oh, they're gonna T-P the house!" - Crow / "Another example of good cropping... nice door though" - Crow / "Tender to a fault, Frankie grows up and goes to Hollywood" - Joel / "Good one Frankie, we'll make fun of the movie if you don't mind" - Joel

Riff Explained
When Wilfred Hyde-White pops on screen, Joel asks,"He's a clean old man, isn't he".  This refers to the Beatles film, "A Hard Days Night" -where Paul's grandfather is often spoken of as a clean old man.

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