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1309 - The Million Eyes of Sumuru
Premiere Date: Friday, September 2, 2022, 5:00 PM PST
Host: Jonah Heston
Special Guests: Magic Voice (Sharyl Volpe), joins Joel and Emily in a skit
Writers: Devon Coleman, Tammy Golden, Tim Ryder, Mary Christen, Harold Buchholz, Sarah Morisano, Mary Jo Pehl, Howie Michael Smith, Kevin Sciretta
Great start on this one - Kabahl offers marketing advice, the bots notice that Jonah is grotesquely tall - and the experiments... mug of doom (Patton was in peak form with this), and business skittles (check out the label on "Sycophant Strawberry"), were all funny as heck. Theater-wise? I took a quick 20-minute listen to the other versions and noticed a few riff overlaps (Kill Bill and a baptism were in Rifftrax, and - "Is that Twiggy?" (KTMA) version, vs. "I'm evil Twiggy" - Jonah, which was discussed during the after show), aside from that, the revisit is actually about as relaxed as the KTMA original, and more mature than what Rifftrax dished up - even when they go lowbrow, the work on MST didn't come off as dumb or childish (even Crow's "what knockers", which is a shout out to Young Frankenstein - speaking of which, plenty of movie references for the film buffs in this one - Room 237 and that bad Risky Business slide, for example, were cute)
Great start on this one - Kabahl offers marketing advice, the bots notice that Jonah is grotesquely tall - and the experiments... mug of doom (Patton was in peak form with this), and business skittles (check out the label on "Sycophant Strawberry"), were all funny as heck. Theater-wise? I took a quick 20-minute listen to the other versions and noticed a few riff overlaps (Kill Bill and a baptism were in Rifftrax, and - "Is that Twiggy?" (KTMA) version, vs. "I'm evil Twiggy" - Jonah, which was discussed during the after show), aside from that, the revisit is actually about as relaxed as the KTMA original, and more mature than what Rifftrax dished up - even when they go lowbrow, the work on MST didn't come off as dumb or childish (even Crow's "what knockers", which is a shout out to Young Frankenstein - speaking of which, plenty of movie references for the film buffs in this one - Room 237 and that bad Risky Business slide, for example, were cute)
First impressions? While there are notable riffs that tap nicely into the movie ("Here you go, some champagne, if you want more, I’ll have to get the shop vac"), the work was maybe too playful and easygoing (or loose, see the Q&A)? Some of this is still funny, and I understand that they're not going to give a movie the full "Mitchell" treatment these days, but I'd like a little more bite than I'm hearing, especially with a movie like this. With its sexism and senseless plotting, it's okay to lean into it and throw a few haymakers. (Most of the comments on those topics were closer to love taps).
Primary host segments? Not bad, there are solid ideas drawn from the film (the acronyms bit was sharp) - most provide a moment, a funny line read or reaction, even if they didn't gel in total for me. Saying that, Magic Voice, yay!
Trivia? Sumuru shares the same director as season 8s "Devil Doll". And there's a Bikini Kill reference in the ep... the name of the band was actually inspired by this movie.
Oh, and I'm surprised they cut the "chips" bit from the movie, as that would have been my choice for stinger (see my KTMA write-up). Though to be fair, maybe the edit wasn't theirs, as there are several versions of the film, one that runs 80 minutes, another that runs 95.
Livestream: Growler and M. Waverly introduce MSTs first Halloween cosplay contest - Q&A? guests writers Devon Coleman, Tammy Golden, Tim Ryder, and Kinga herself, Felicia Day, discuss the senselessness of it all, the song and the shared space suit (really, in these Covid days). They compare a clip from this and the KTMA episode and then speak to timing and the looseness of the riffing in the episode. They also address riff vetoes and appeals, and more. So overall, until it bogs down with Monopoly talk, it was a composed and informative session.
Favorite Riffs: "Let's use this distraction to get baby Moses down to the Nile" - Crow | "Security by General Zod" - Servo | "Hu, this page of the script just says, "drinking in despondency"" - Jonah | "You guys, you can see down to the bottom of the lake, it's like a whole new world down here" - Crow | "There were five mistakes in that scene, can you name them all?" - Jonah as Erna | "Sorry Pal Quit Reading" - Servo, interpreting sign | "And you will go to your posts all over the world" - "Some of you go to Akron, I'm sorry" - Sumuru/Jonah | "No one can defeat me on a beach, Frankie go!' - Servo | "Why won't they let the cameraman off the boat?" - Jonah | "The rare schadenfreude" - Servo | "Nobody's that British" - Crow | "Are they escaping into a foxhunt?" - Crow (on music)
Favorite Host Segment: Jonah is tall, let's climb him (also liked Kinga and the Synthia's Supervillainess song)
Amazing Colossal Grade: 3 - Good, mid-level experiment, could have used more pepper.
Livestream: Growler and M. Waverly introduce MSTs first Halloween cosplay contest - Q&A? guests writers Devon Coleman, Tammy Golden, Tim Ryder, and Kinga herself, Felicia Day, discuss the senselessness of it all, the song and the shared space suit (really, in these Covid days). They compare a clip from this and the KTMA episode and then speak to timing and the looseness of the riffing in the episode. They also address riff vetoes and appeals, and more. So overall, until it bogs down with Monopoly talk, it was a composed and informative session.
Favorite Riffs: "Let's use this distraction to get baby Moses down to the Nile" - Crow | "Security by General Zod" - Servo | "Hu, this page of the script just says, "drinking in despondency"" - Jonah | "You guys, you can see down to the bottom of the lake, it's like a whole new world down here" - Crow | "There were five mistakes in that scene, can you name them all?" - Jonah as Erna | "Sorry Pal Quit Reading" - Servo, interpreting sign | "And you will go to your posts all over the world" - "Some of you go to Akron, I'm sorry" - Sumuru/Jonah | "No one can defeat me on a beach, Frankie go!' - Servo | "Why won't they let the cameraman off the boat?" - Jonah | "The rare schadenfreude" - Servo | "Nobody's that British" - Crow | "Are they escaping into a foxhunt?" - Crow (on music)
Favorite Host Segment: Jonah is tall, let's climb him (also liked Kinga and the Synthia's Supervillainess song)
Amazing Colossal Grade: 3 - Good, mid-level experiment, could have used more pepper.
Special Event: A Tribute to Secret Agent Super Dragon + Short: Cavalcade
Premiere Date: Friday, September 16, 2022, 5:00 PM PST
Spoilers are a given in my write-ups, so be aware - and I'm only pointing that out because the reveal of who's riffing this short was such a delightful surprise. Who were the lucky duo? None other than Pearl and Larry, that's right, the hilarious Mary Jo and the incomparable J. Elvis, in the theater together for the first time (though yes, they quipped together as members of Cinematic Titanic). And I tell you, while neither wrote on this one, their vocal delivery and personally adds so much to the fun. The short is newsreel style, with pieces about electrical towers, telescopes, lead, ostrich racing ("We eat the winner!" - MJ), and the world's first rotisserie automobile... according to Josh. I don't know that it's the keenest writing they've done this season, but I got laughs, and it lifted my spirits, it might even replace the Penn short as my favorite of the year. Oh, and Pearl makes Erhardt sit a seat away from her... she don't want no shenanigans! LMAO
After the short, Pearl and Synthia set up the movie, striking Bond-like poses. Jonah and the bots discuss the death of jazz, which takes us to this month's tribute, starring the smoothest spy in the biz. I think it's cool that they are spotlighting episodes beyond the usual fan favorites like Pumaman - Dragon might not be as heralded, but it's aces, with riffs that go low ("secret agent super booger" - Crow) and high (Joel's witty observation... "His eyes have a zoom feature").
Live stream originals?
Emily explains the ads and thanks a handful of backers. Crow (Kelsey) reads viewer mail, with stillstore (that was a real treat), later he returns to thank more viewers (Servo does the same - giving shout-outs to backers and reading letters in his way works better than interrupting Q&As as they did in previous eps).
There's a crazy spy sketch with Emily and the bots doing wandering accents.
At the end, Jonah returns and asks for screenplay writing advice from Crow, before sending it back to Pearl and Synth, who are under Minsky's thrall (Dr. Kabahl suddenly pops in and just, stares... creepy).
The show closes with a Super Dragon rap (and it's no Mother Crabber, unfortunately), and, surprise, surprise, Penn Jillette introduces the trailer as in days of old? Lastly...
Tim Ryder (Spymaster) plays DIYSPY with Emily (Missy Livingstone), Conor (Danny Landon), and Kelsey (Miss Chevious). All I can say to this is, "the hell?" Did someone slip me some goofy gum? Nope, it's actually an improv story game using suggestions from viewers - and while all 4 have their moments (Kelsey's line about crunchy pickle children), Emily -cosplaying some kind of Doctor Who/Bert from Mary Poppins hybrid- was the funniest part of this silly play, especially when she makes the others break character.
In total? I'd score it as a win: We had original after show material (rather than an old DVD doc), there were callbacks to the past, a delightful short with an unexpected pairing, and one of the jewels of the Joel era.
September's lineup for Espionage & Intrigue month
