Post by XerxesTheCat on Mar 6, 2007 15:49:05 GMT -5
I originally had this in genrally chat, but Hugh pointed out it should be here. apologies to everyone.
101- The Crawling Eye.
Movie plot: A monster appears in a tiny town of Trollingburg. A giant eye with tentacles. Stars Forrest Tucker.
Host segments:
#1. Invention Exchange- J&TB’s Electric bagpipes; Dr. F. presents a shot that makes humans lose sweat glands.
#2. Joel explains to the bots that for humans, if they lose their heads they die.
#3. Gypsy has an itch and uncoils herself.
#4. J&TB discuss the plot, and the flaws in the film.
#5. It’s time for ram chips.
Memorable Riffs:
-Character in Movie: “His head! It was torn off!” Servo: “You say that like it’s a bad thing.”
-The “Directed by” credit appears over J&TB. They say in unison, “Directed by us!”
-Servo: “Trollingburg. Home of the Crawling Eye. All stops lead to a horrible death.”
-Servo: “Dang. I’m just too fat to be climbing a mountain.”
-Joel: There’s only one bed! Guess they’ll have to flip for it.” Servo: “He’s too fat to flip.”
-Crow: “Dear Diary, once again, the fat guy got the bed.”
-Crow: “Why’d they bring so much licorice?”
-Girl is twitching around in bed. Crow: “She’s chasing rabbits in her sleep!”
-Guy opens bag with dead body in it. Joel: “All right? S’alright.”
-Servo: “Someone with a really big butt, sat there.”
-Servo: “Am I gonna have time to change my pants when we get there?”
-Joel: “What’s a giant eye going to do to you anyway? Pick you up and wink you to death? It’s just not practical.” Servo: “Well, we’re all eyewitnesses.”
-Crow: “Saved him in the blink of an eye!”
-Servo: “Whoever cast this movie had an eye for talent.”
Stuff I noticed:
-First of all, it’s odd how Dr. F. warns Larry that “No one must know we’re down here doing this.” He’s referring to the people of Gizmonic Institute. But, later it’s revealed that Dr. F is selling these experiments to cable television. Don’t you think SOMEBODY at Gizmonic Institute would turn on the TV, flip to, say Comedy Central and notice their former employee Joel Robinson stuck in space, and Dr. F sending him bad movies? Oh, it’s just a show, I should really just relax.
-Unfortunately, at this early point, the host segments are more clever than the theater segments. Dr. F’s invention section is quite well done. I’m amazed Josh could catch that doggie treat that Trace flips in the air. How many tries did that take? Or is it a talent of Josh’s?
-In the theater, during the boring drinking scene, watch carefully, the address to the Info Club flashes on for maybe 2 milliseconds. I wonder what happened there.
-I’ve often wondered where the gag of calling Crow a reindeer originated. To me he doesn’t look like a deer, but according to Mike Nelson, a viewer upon seeing this episode when it first aired referred to Crow as a reindeer in a letter. Well, while watching this episode, and looking at the bad shadowrama effect, and Crow’s badly positioned net, Crow does look kind of like a deer almost.
-During segment #2, Servo remarks, “Julie Andrews Quality? Isn’t that a contradiction in terms?” Now surely, a joke like this would seem funny back in 1989, but today, the joke seems very tasteless. One of the first examples of a joke on MST3K aging terribly.
-Interesting bit when they return to the theater. Servo asks Joel to carry him in and out from now on. Joel tells him he’ll put wheels on him. I find this interesting, since, Joel obviously never got around to doing that.
-Wizard of Oz reference: Joel riffs, “It was all a dream, and you were all there…”
-A few things I want to say about segment #3. First of all, on the Satellite News guide, it says you can see the puppeteer’s shadows on the walls. I’ve watched this segment over and over, and… well… you actually don’t. The shadows that you see are Joel’s and Gypsy’s being casted on both sides of the set, due to poor lighting. SN also mentions this is the only time we see Joel remove Gypsy’s eye. But, it’s not the last time we see her without it. In 320-The Unearthly, she briefly has a video camera in it’s place.
-SN comments on how weird Gypsy acts in this early episode. I don’t know what the Brains’ original idea on Gypsy’s persona was supposed to be either, but I get the feeling that Gypsy was intended to have an autistic quality. Obviously something that would be scratched by season two.
-Joel tells Gypsy she’s supposed to use the service portal to enter the bridge. What the heck is that supposed to be? Some kind of “doggie-door” for Gypsy? Also, Joel reveals that Gypsy’s stuck in the bridge door. But, what irks me is that the bridge doors are closed all the way. If Gypsy’s body was stuck in there, wouldn’t the doors be open a little? Unless… well, Gypsy does say she has “an itch.” Yeah, I’ll say.
-One thing that Servo/Josh does that’s a bit annoying is how he keeps “predicting” what’s going to happen, and then lo and behold, it does! Like when Servo says, “Cut to another scene,”, the movie in fact does. Or when the psychic girl leaves the lab, Servo says, “She’s going to run into Forrest Tucker.” Guess what? She does! It’s really obnoxious, and is a total giveaway that they’ve seen the movie before, during writing. Thankfully they’d eventually stop doing this. Joel also mentions during the movie that a commercial is coming. They’d eventually stop doing this as well.
-The child in the movie crying when the monster attacks her, is quite obviously, an adult male imitating a girl whimpering. This poor, case of dubbing is a common theme in most B-movies of this era.
-When Forrest Tucker reaches for the letter opener to stab his attacker, Joel tries to get the joke in, “It’s a letter opener!” An obvious joke like that would come to be known as a “state park joke” (see the entry for 420- The Human Duplicators in the ACEG). The Brains would heavily try to avoid these kinds of jokes in later seasons.
-Towards the end of the film Servo/Josh and Joel try to one-up each other with bad “eye” puns. It’s actually quite funny.
-I wonder what a “barium power flush” is. The bots don’t seem to care for it, though.
Favorite riff: -Forrest Tucker: “These blankets are frozen stiff.” Joel: “He must have slept with his hand in lukewarm water.”
Best segment: I’ll pick segment 4. I don’t know why. I think I just like Crow’s comment at the end a lot. “Joel, I think we spent more time examining this plot then the writers ever did.”
Worst segment: Segment #3. I don’t know why. I guess because it’s such a clumsy introduction for the character of Gypsy, and the whole bit is just one big, failed, lead-up to a bad Fibber McGee joke. Something most viewers won’t even get now.
Overall: I used to find this to be a weak episode, despite its milestone status. But after rewatching, I’ll just say, that it actually does have some decent riffing. It’s very slow moving the first hour, but after segment #4, the jokes do pick up. The segments are a little bland, but the invention exchange is kind of funny. Also, a rare instance where Dr. F’s invention is slightly better than Joel’s. No offense to Joel, but I don’t see the appeal in electric bagpipes.
Rating: **
NOTE: I have decided to add star ratings. i figure it'll make things easier. I will be rating on a scale of 4 stars.
101- The Crawling Eye.
Movie plot: A monster appears in a tiny town of Trollingburg. A giant eye with tentacles. Stars Forrest Tucker.
Host segments:
#1. Invention Exchange- J&TB’s Electric bagpipes; Dr. F. presents a shot that makes humans lose sweat glands.
#2. Joel explains to the bots that for humans, if they lose their heads they die.
#3. Gypsy has an itch and uncoils herself.
#4. J&TB discuss the plot, and the flaws in the film.
#5. It’s time for ram chips.
Memorable Riffs:
-Character in Movie: “His head! It was torn off!” Servo: “You say that like it’s a bad thing.”
-The “Directed by” credit appears over J&TB. They say in unison, “Directed by us!”
-Servo: “Trollingburg. Home of the Crawling Eye. All stops lead to a horrible death.”
-Servo: “Dang. I’m just too fat to be climbing a mountain.”
-Joel: There’s only one bed! Guess they’ll have to flip for it.” Servo: “He’s too fat to flip.”
-Crow: “Dear Diary, once again, the fat guy got the bed.”
-Crow: “Why’d they bring so much licorice?”
-Girl is twitching around in bed. Crow: “She’s chasing rabbits in her sleep!”
-Guy opens bag with dead body in it. Joel: “All right? S’alright.”
-Servo: “Someone with a really big butt, sat there.”
-Servo: “Am I gonna have time to change my pants when we get there?”
-Joel: “What’s a giant eye going to do to you anyway? Pick you up and wink you to death? It’s just not practical.” Servo: “Well, we’re all eyewitnesses.”
-Crow: “Saved him in the blink of an eye!”
-Servo: “Whoever cast this movie had an eye for talent.”
Stuff I noticed:
-First of all, it’s odd how Dr. F. warns Larry that “No one must know we’re down here doing this.” He’s referring to the people of Gizmonic Institute. But, later it’s revealed that Dr. F is selling these experiments to cable television. Don’t you think SOMEBODY at Gizmonic Institute would turn on the TV, flip to, say Comedy Central and notice their former employee Joel Robinson stuck in space, and Dr. F sending him bad movies? Oh, it’s just a show, I should really just relax.
-Unfortunately, at this early point, the host segments are more clever than the theater segments. Dr. F’s invention section is quite well done. I’m amazed Josh could catch that doggie treat that Trace flips in the air. How many tries did that take? Or is it a talent of Josh’s?
-In the theater, during the boring drinking scene, watch carefully, the address to the Info Club flashes on for maybe 2 milliseconds. I wonder what happened there.
-I’ve often wondered where the gag of calling Crow a reindeer originated. To me he doesn’t look like a deer, but according to Mike Nelson, a viewer upon seeing this episode when it first aired referred to Crow as a reindeer in a letter. Well, while watching this episode, and looking at the bad shadowrama effect, and Crow’s badly positioned net, Crow does look kind of like a deer almost.
-During segment #2, Servo remarks, “Julie Andrews Quality? Isn’t that a contradiction in terms?” Now surely, a joke like this would seem funny back in 1989, but today, the joke seems very tasteless. One of the first examples of a joke on MST3K aging terribly.
-Interesting bit when they return to the theater. Servo asks Joel to carry him in and out from now on. Joel tells him he’ll put wheels on him. I find this interesting, since, Joel obviously never got around to doing that.
-Wizard of Oz reference: Joel riffs, “It was all a dream, and you were all there…”
-A few things I want to say about segment #3. First of all, on the Satellite News guide, it says you can see the puppeteer’s shadows on the walls. I’ve watched this segment over and over, and… well… you actually don’t. The shadows that you see are Joel’s and Gypsy’s being casted on both sides of the set, due to poor lighting. SN also mentions this is the only time we see Joel remove Gypsy’s eye. But, it’s not the last time we see her without it. In 320-The Unearthly, she briefly has a video camera in it’s place.
-SN comments on how weird Gypsy acts in this early episode. I don’t know what the Brains’ original idea on Gypsy’s persona was supposed to be either, but I get the feeling that Gypsy was intended to have an autistic quality. Obviously something that would be scratched by season two.
-Joel tells Gypsy she’s supposed to use the service portal to enter the bridge. What the heck is that supposed to be? Some kind of “doggie-door” for Gypsy? Also, Joel reveals that Gypsy’s stuck in the bridge door. But, what irks me is that the bridge doors are closed all the way. If Gypsy’s body was stuck in there, wouldn’t the doors be open a little? Unless… well, Gypsy does say she has “an itch.” Yeah, I’ll say.
-One thing that Servo/Josh does that’s a bit annoying is how he keeps “predicting” what’s going to happen, and then lo and behold, it does! Like when Servo says, “Cut to another scene,”, the movie in fact does. Or when the psychic girl leaves the lab, Servo says, “She’s going to run into Forrest Tucker.” Guess what? She does! It’s really obnoxious, and is a total giveaway that they’ve seen the movie before, during writing. Thankfully they’d eventually stop doing this. Joel also mentions during the movie that a commercial is coming. They’d eventually stop doing this as well.
-The child in the movie crying when the monster attacks her, is quite obviously, an adult male imitating a girl whimpering. This poor, case of dubbing is a common theme in most B-movies of this era.
-When Forrest Tucker reaches for the letter opener to stab his attacker, Joel tries to get the joke in, “It’s a letter opener!” An obvious joke like that would come to be known as a “state park joke” (see the entry for 420- The Human Duplicators in the ACEG). The Brains would heavily try to avoid these kinds of jokes in later seasons.
-Towards the end of the film Servo/Josh and Joel try to one-up each other with bad “eye” puns. It’s actually quite funny.
-I wonder what a “barium power flush” is. The bots don’t seem to care for it, though.
Favorite riff: -Forrest Tucker: “These blankets are frozen stiff.” Joel: “He must have slept with his hand in lukewarm water.”
Best segment: I’ll pick segment 4. I don’t know why. I think I just like Crow’s comment at the end a lot. “Joel, I think we spent more time examining this plot then the writers ever did.”
Worst segment: Segment #3. I don’t know why. I guess because it’s such a clumsy introduction for the character of Gypsy, and the whole bit is just one big, failed, lead-up to a bad Fibber McGee joke. Something most viewers won’t even get now.
Overall: I used to find this to be a weak episode, despite its milestone status. But after rewatching, I’ll just say, that it actually does have some decent riffing. It’s very slow moving the first hour, but after segment #4, the jokes do pick up. The segments are a little bland, but the invention exchange is kind of funny. Also, a rare instance where Dr. F’s invention is slightly better than Joel’s. No offense to Joel, but I don’t see the appeal in electric bagpipes.
Rating: **
NOTE: I have decided to add star ratings. i figure it'll make things easier. I will be rating on a scale of 4 stars.
