Movie: (1959) When a doctor’s fiancee is decapitated, he keeps her head alive in his laboratory and tries to find her a new body.
First shown: 10/30/93
Opening: Mike’s been in training for his first movie
Invention exchange: Mike presents the gutter-bumber-shoot, The Mads demonstrate the dream buster
Host segment 1: Mike tries to get control of the SOL, but nothing doing (that’s not cheese!)
Host segment 2: M&tB first project together: designing hats for Jan in the pan
Host segment 3: Mike, Crow and Tom discuss the movie’s hateful message; Mike shares an embarrassing moment from his past
End: A visit from Jan on the Hexfield; Dr. F. is inspired!
Stinger: “Who’s to tell me to blow if I don’t want to?”
(200 votes, average: 4.47 out of 5)
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• A fair-to-good first show for Mike. Horrible movie, great riffing, but many many changes to the forumla.
• This was one of the two episodes that was first released as singles by Rhino, in April of 2000, their first two MST3K titles.
• References.
• I spent most of October 30, 1993, in Edina, Minn., at the home of a very nice lady named Debbie Tobin, with a lot of oddly dressed people I’d never met before. Thereby hangs a tale.
For the previous two Thanksgivings, Comedy Central had paid Best Brains to create short film segments — called “bumpers” in showbiz lingo — that would link one episode to another in its annual “turkey day” marathon. But in 1993, for reasons that will never be understood, I guess, Comedy Central asked BBI to make the bumpers for free. BBI told CC to pound sand. So, CC was forced to look elsewhere for its bumpers.
Now, at the same time, Debbie, who was a regular poster at MST3K bulletin board on the Prodigy online service, had announced she was throwing a Halloween costume party on the day of Mike’s first episode. Somebody at CC saw her posting and asked her if they could send a video crew to film it and make bumpers out of the footage. Debbie agreed, and was (wisely) told to keep it a secret, and most of the people who showed up had no idea the camera crew was going to be there.
Thus on the appointed day I, and about 35 jolly people from all over the country, were in Debbie’s house, in costume. It was the first time Erhardt and I had met, and there were a couple of other people there who I’m still good friends with all these years later.
(And let me just take time out from this story to say that if you were there at MSTieween, please drop me a line and let me know how your life is going.)
We managed to finish up filming just before 5 p.m. local time, when this episode was to debut. Shouting “movie sign!!” we rushed to the basement and the den, where TVs were set up so we could watch. And that’s where I was when the Mike era began.
• There is a LOT to take in here, right off the bat. New theme song lyrics, a new theme song singer, a new robot roll call and a new door sequence, all in about two minutes. It was breathtaking at the time.
• One of the new doors in the door sequence looks vaguely like a pizza. This was a cute reference to the fact that many fans claimed that one of the Joel-era doors made a sound that sounded like somebody saying “pizza!”
• According to BBI, Gypsy says “I’m not ready!” It sounds to me like “Hi from me!”
• Crow and Tom have been “training” Mike using “The Beast of Yucca Flat” [sic]. I think this is only the second time they mention a movie that they would later riff — the other one being “Marooned.” There’s also a mention of “Night of the Lepus,” a movie they SHOULD have riffed.
• Is Tom wearing a Temple University cap? Sure looks like their “T.”
• Right out of the box, Mike is intentionally different from Joel. In an interview that I did with Jim at about this time, he said (I’m paraphrasing from memory here) “I never quite understood why Joel’s character is so polite and deferential to the Mads. They trapped him in space! Why is he being nice to them?” Thus we have an immediately rebellious Mike, who scoffs at being expected to “hop to.” Radical!
• I love the use of the “Flint phone” sound effect with Dr. F’s invention. The world would later hear it in the Austin Powers movies too.
• Another great “Mike as newbie” moment comes when moviesign arrives — and Mike has no idea what to do. He then fails to carry a humiliated Tom into the theater. Crow explicitly mentions the air grate.
• Segment 1 is our first real taste of interaction between Mike and bots. They seem to be getting along okay, but it’s clear the bots have abandonment issues. Can bots have “issues”?
• I gotta say that this movie is pretty harsh for Mike’s first experiment. It is easily the most misogynist movie they ever did (and that’s saying something). The scene where our “hero” goes trolling for bodies is particularly dark.
• Callback: “Back to the ‘Unearthly’ set.” “Mitchell!!”
• At one point, Tom says: “Not with RADAR!” Huh? We won’t get “Radar Secret Service” for seven episodes. Is it a reference to that? Had the Brains already seen it as part of the selection process? Maybe that was a riff that came from Frank, the previewer.
• Segment 2 is fun, a bit a throwback to season 3, when Joel was forever giving the bots assignments and projects.
• Mike is still wearing the lazy susan hat when when they re-enter the theater.
• Tom does a little Flash Bazbo.
• Segment 3 seizes another opportunity have fun at the new guy’s expense, but also has some wonderful assessments of the movie.
• Great running gag in this one: AHH! I’M IN ANOTHER DIMENSION!!
• Cast and crew roundup: Just one item this time: Makeup man George Fiala also worked on “Santa Claus Conquers the Martians.”
• CreditsWatch: Joel’s name comes off the “art direction” credit, leaving Trace and Jef. Skyline Displays Inc. (the company that offered them the space that would become their studio) comes out of the “Special Thanks” credit, as does the credit for Mark Gilbertson. The “Executive Producers: Jim Mallon, Joel Hodgson” credit comes out completely. David Sussman is added to the list of writers for the rest of the season. Host segments directed by Trace Beaulieu. For the rest of the season, the theme song credit says: lyrics: “The Brains.” Jim Mallon is back in the list of contributing writers (his name was removed in last week’s credits) and will be for the rest of the season. And of course that’s Mary Jo, hilariously depicting Jan in the pan.
• Fave riff: “Hahahaha…have you seen Frankenhooker?” Honorable mentions: “…with a Milwaukee Sawzall.” “If Jack Ruby owned a Denny’s.”
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Re: the movie was “repulsive.” I don’t THINK people are saying that it is physically repulsive (though it has a couple of pretty disgusting scenes). I think people are talking about it how psychologically repulsive it is. As Mike points out in segment 3, the doc takes a woman who has closed herself off from humanity, and coaxes her to believe and trust in humanity again — with the ulterior motive betraying that trust and lopping her head off with a bow saw so that he can attach her body to his headless girlfriend and do unspeakable things to it. That’s pretty repulsive.
Thanks for the clarification, Sampo. Nicely nuanced, that. I’ll forever be fascinated by the show’s alchemy. I can actually stand watching the the spying soldiers in Attack of the the Eye Creatures, because of course Joel and the ‘bots manage to make me laugh through it all. (I will confess that I was actually not looking forward to watching Eye Creatures based on the descriptions in the episode guide. They ARE repulsive characters in my opininon, though; then again, so are all of the characters in that movie, although I love the Peter Lorre-esque character. “I ADMIRE him.”) And while many are (understandably!) repelled by the scenes involving Roxy shaving her father in Eegah, I don’t really notice them. (I am NOT, however, saying that I’m “into” those scenes!) It is all, of course, relative.
I almost attributed the following line (from Horror of Party Beach) to this episode: “Do you think most male directors have isssues with women?”
Ah, we enter my (only slightly) favorite half of the series. I am a Mike fan, probably because he takes a more aggressive posture toward the mads. And I like that the show will soon begin to take on a somewhat angrier tone toward the movies. The set will darker almost as if to reflect this.
I had lost cable access when this changeover occurred, so when I returned sometime in season 7, I was in for a real shock!
Great ep, with a dark, cheesy, but watchable movie.
Favorite moment is at the very end, watching Dr F trying excitedly to start the chainsaw. It’s almost like a dance!
5 Stars
Ah yes, the very first episode I ever saw and one of my favorites simply because it opened my eyes to just how bad movies could really be. The “other dimension” jokes are also definitely a good source to trace my love of running gags back to, too.
Favorite riffs:
“So do you think a gaffer is just someone who keeps messing up?”
“Just a normal Tuesday for Cher.”
“I’ve got it: If I walk around the set some more it’ll keep the budget down.”
Servo’s imitation of the dirty, K-PORN, sax lick.
“Well at least he’s not arousing suspicion.”
“What kind of town is this? I want to move their right now!”
“HI~!”
“Ironically he collapses into an armchair.”
This one is a dismal movie, and a bad memory for me. Seeing the changes in the intro somehow reminded me of Dr. Who where they tweaked the beginning every time they changed actors. I just think this episode is one big clunker though. After Mitchell, it just seems dull as heck. It was a gut punch when I saw it for the first time. And (this will resonate with true hardcore fans) I stopped recording episodes in SP (best quality) mode after this one. Don’t get me wrong, I still taped them all, but the magic was gone for me. Until the Sci Fi years at least. I never watch this one. I have the next episode on DVD and, as I’m trying to watch these as we go through the Episode Guide here, I can’t bring myself to sit and watch it. 5.5 – 6 are the dark times for me. There’s a little to like, but overall it sucks.
I know everyone has opinions on this etc, and I don’t want to start any arguments, so I won’t say any of this again. But just this last time: I hate this episode.
According to the ACEG, both Kevin and Frank talk about trying to do Radar Secret Service in season two. Frank mentions that the writers screened it, but were denied the rights until season five. So, at least four writers, Mike, Frank, Kevin, and Trace, and possibly Jim Mallon would have been there and could have made the comment.
Perhaps the nasty tone of the movie affected some fans’ attitude toward Mike. Probably not, but just a thought. I have no preference personally for either Joel or Mike. They both have episodes I love or don’t love. None of the cast changes ever bothered me, possibly because I used to watch soaps and got used to such changes. I came in at the beginning of Season 2 and at the time saw commercials for some Season 1 episodes. I wondered who that guy with Dr. F was but I figured it out, and I enjoy Season 1 more than a lot of people seem to. I also enjoy Pearl & Co.
Apparently Kurt’s blood doesn’t drip or pool, it just smears. Maybe it was whatever serum Dr. Sleaze treated him with. And I don’t even want to know what the Thing In The Closet did with his arm.
#93- Sitting Duck
Yeah, for some reason Jan has a southern accent in that driving scene. Bill’s voice is also clearly dubbed for that scene too, but it’s still the actor’s voice.
I’ve always assumed they couldn’t record sound while driving (because of wind noises), so they dubbed that dialogue later. But it’s obviously a different actress dubbing Jan in that scene. Seriously, a woman with a southern accent was all the director could find?
This was the first Comedy Central episode I’d ever seen. One thing that used to annoy me when I first saw this was how much Crow’s net wobbled around. I don’t notice it so much anymore (since I later discovered that was common during the CC-era), but man that used to get on my nerves.
I wonder if Joel had seen any part of this film before leaving. I wonder if he contributed any possible jokes. The “Wizard of Oz” nod had to have been his.
As I mentioned about (under the name Invader Pet), the only MAJOR difference I ever noticed between Joel and Mike eras, was the type of words they often used. Joel-era the characters often used 60s 70s-ype lingo. They’d say “kooky” or “groovy” or things like that. When Mike came on board, that kind of talk disappeared. That’s the only real difference I ever noticed.
I think this was the first CC Mike episode I ever saw and man the movie is tough but I liked the segments well enough. Since I started with SciFI episodes (we didn’t even get CC until 1997 here) it was definitely different watching CC episodes with the mads and the different sets. Overall though my favorite MST3K period is from 5.5-7. I love the riffing team of Mike, Trace and Kevin. They are my personal favorites of all the different combinations.
Man, what a movie to start out of the gate! Of course what repulsive isn’t what he does (that’s just disgusting and probably illegal), it’s what he plans on doing; he just leers and our dirty little minds do the rest! I’m glad they used this film instead of, say, Radar Secret Service to start off.
I don’t really have a preference for a particular host anymore. I started watching during the Joel era and (stupidly) lost interest after Mike took over. After catching up via the internet years later, I find that MST3k was a show constantly in flux; the KTMA MST3k is totally different that the “classic” MST3k is different from the Mike-era and Sci-Fi MST3k. They all have different strengths and weaknesses, but watching them all is the best thing you can do; almost every episode has a spark.
That said, I will agree that the Mike shows are alot darker in tone; it makes a movie like High School Big Shot nearly unbearable. The Joel era would lighten up the film with more patter, songs, etc., whereas the Mike era sneaks in pithy comments while letting the film crush your head. They have totally different approaches.
And thus begins the flame wars? I wasn’t on the internet back then but man, it sounds crazy.
I went ahead and watched this last night thinking I’d worn this one out, but it felt really fresh and remains in my top ten if not top five.
Everything is working in this ep. The host segs are really well written and just perfect for Mike’s intro. The bots are pretty mean to him, aren’t they? But he’ll soon take control. The touching story he tells and their ruthless mirth…wonderful. I have never minded the changes in the show. Kept everything fresh.
The riffing is the highlight here. I’m a sucker for a dark movie and this one is borderline pathological. How could they not have fun with all those creepy elements. Riff after great riff, my favorites being “honey-roasted” and the long radio announcer thing Servo does over the sleezy music(Kporn through the night, etc). I don’t think I stopped laughing for the entire ep. A Classic.
This comes in the middle of a long run of great eps with only a few so so ones. I’d say that run began with Eegah! and carries through almost to the end of season 5. A lot of that is great movie choices like this one.
A+
I started wondering what might have happened to Doris after the final fade-out. Since The Thing In The Closet was evidently acting under Jan In The Pan’s control he (it?) might have taken her to safety. Once she woke up she probably would have had a complete mental breakdown after all the trauma, especially if her rescuer was still around. She didn’t exactly have it all together even before she met up with Dr. Sleaze. Or once Jan In The Pan was dead and there was no longer a psychic link between them who knows what he could have done with or to her. *shudder*
I know, I know, just relax.
This episode is not completely without merit, but it’s not very good either. Especially after the brilliant “Mitchell.” Most of the blame goes towards the hideous movie. The first few Mike episodes are like his own KTMA episodes; it takes a few for him to warm up. Mike starts to hit his stride towards the end of this season, with great episodes like “Beginning Of The End,” “Outlaw,” and my favorite Mike episode ever (just narrowly beating out “San Francisco International”), “Village Of The Giants.”
I’m kinda glad I wasn’t on the Internet back then (it would be another 3 years!) to see all the arguing. I’d been watching since the first season and with this episode I remember having a sense of relief that MST3K was going to continue being great. It must be the smoothest change of a TV show’s main character ever.
Two favorite riffs:
Servo – “21! You’re over 41!” (about the blond stripper)
Mike – “A wildly fluctuating nothing”
I saw this movie on a local independent station about 15 years ago. They were so lazy they left the leads on the beginning and end of the reels on over the air. Each lead had audio of prayers (Our Father and Hail Mary) – and it’s a movie that needs all the help it can get.
This was the intro for Mike, and nothing really else
The movie was morbid, Mike’s invention exchange I thought was clever, but you can see he was awkward in front of the camera for the 1st couple of shows.
I’d give this one a 3…not horrible,couple decent host segments, like the Kporn and Servo’s old time radio serial voice (when they get into the car accident) plus the Other dimension…everything else is dated references that I don’t really get, much like the Joel era
MVP: Kevin Murphy…Kevin is always the Middle reliever to me…good, not great…has the singing bits but usually was the guy to get you from Joel and Mike (who were consistent Starting Pitchers) to Trace and Bill (the flashy closers)
Ok, enough baseball metaphors
Kevin owned this episode, which is rare to me…usually it is Trace or Bill and a riff I can’t stop laughing at no matter how many times I see it
One armed scientist comes down stairs
Servo: (in faux exasperation) Was going to make a Souffle, but YOU have the pan…
I agree that Dr. Corbin had a strong Herbert West vibe going. This story also reminds me of one of H.P. Lovecraft’s revisions that I think was called The Disinterment where the main character whose death had been faked eventually escapes from a mad surgeon in the middle of the night and digs up his own grave expecting to find the corpse of a stranger. What he finds explains why his body has felt wrong and disproportioned since his operation. His own headless body is in the grave. The surgeon had sawed off his head and put it on another body. Just like Dr. Corbin wanted to do.
Conceptually there’s a pretty good story in this film. What’s bad about it lies in it’s cheap execution. Like High School Big Shot, this film does a good job of negatively portraying both genders. Here is a world where women are whores, gold diggers, and shrews, and men are pervs and psychos. Somebody behind this movie had some issues.
I think Corbin is one of the better mad scientists in MST’ed movies. Maybe it’s just me, but, Oh No! I’m slipping into another dimension…
Maybe Jan could speak without lungs because she was talking telepathically and moving her lips out of habit. I know, it’s a reach.
I like this episode. Its a above-average episode, but not great, a good 4 stars. Speaking of 4 stars, the rating system still doesn’t work. Any chance of changing to one that does work or fixing this one? Thanks
Favorite(and naughty line: “It’s a sleazy morning out there. You’re listening to K-PORN, Holmes and Reems in the morning… sleazy, slutty music all morning long. Here’s one from Skinny and the Sweat Beads.”
And along comes Mike! :) I really have no preference between Joel or Mike – they’re both incredibly talented guys. But man, is this ever a harsh experiment to subject a new captive to! This has to be one of the sleaziest movies they ever did. And yet I find the ending rather uplifting, in a weird way. The monster bursts out of his cell, kills the creepy scientist, leaves Jan to end her misery like she wanted, and saves the girl. If you think about it, he’s the hero of this picture. :D
It’s a decent episode, but it’s not a home run. You can kinda hear Mike settling in to being one of the guys in the theater here. He’s sort of timid in these early episodes, and whenever he has to yell, he does that weird whisper-scream thing like he doesn’t want to get too loud. I kinda get the sense that Mike was sort of nervous to take over for Joel at first. But by the end of this season, he’ll be completely at home in front of the camera, and it shows. :)
I want a Gutter BumberChute. I’m surprised that doesn’t exist yet in some form.
“Meanwhile, at Kurt Cobain’s house…” This episode aired in, what, October 1993? It didn’t take very long for that riff to develop dark undertones, did it?
As respectable as this episode is, it does have its moments that just sort of lie there. Segment 2 is definitely one of those. These little craft experiment sketches worked fine in the Joel era, but it’s weird to see Mike doing them. The Brains seemed to realize it too, judging by the ending where everyone just kind of stands there awkwardly.
“And now, Mel Blanc makes his move.”
“Yer goin’ out with ME, varmint!”
That mannish stripper has traumatized me for life. Even worse, if you squint and tilt your head, she kinda looks like Mike in drag. Aaagh!
Frank’s “Oh well!” take to the camera as Dr. F prepares to chainsaw his head off makes me laugh like a monkey every time I see it. :D
@105 Rowsdower: As someone who taped all the episodes, I agree with everything you said. I would tape all the episodes in EP but I would retape my favorite episodes on SP speed and there were only a couple of Mike episodes I ever did that with. Season 6 killed my interest in the show as I think the quality went way downhill, I never even watched the Sci-Fi era until 3 or 4 years ago when I discovered this site and figured I would finally get around to watching them.
As to this episode, I agree with most of you that the movie is just vile and the riffing is good in spots but has a hard time overcoming it. I think Radar Secret Service or Alien From LA would have been much better intro episodes for Mike.
I really like how in this episode and the next couple, the brains show Mike and the bots adjusting to each other. Most shows would have the new guy settle in to quickly.
I love the movie and love the episode, the introduction of Mike Nelson, one of the funniest persons in the American continent. I’m not going to write a wall of text analyzing the episode and the different styles and complex dynamic of the hosts of a puppet show dedicated to mock b-movies, because I want to maintain the illusion that I have a life.
My favourite part is when the camera gives a close-up of one of the girls at the pageant and Servo shouts “HAI!”. Hilarious.
Another dated reference: The “Jack in the Box” joke was around the time they had a bad E. Coli outbreak. We don’t have any JitBs in Minnesota, so I doubt they’d throw that one out for much other reason.
Great to watch Mike flail around in the first few episodes. He really did look out of place doing the intention exchange, tho. Glad they dropped that soon after — it’s a decidedly Joel thing to do.
“Do you make you’re own gravy?”
In addition to Re-Animator and Frankenhooker, the last X-files movie continued the head transplant theme with a Russian surgeon keeping his lover alive by putting his head on a series of kidnapped peoples bodies. Sadly a lot of what was in that film was inspired by real Russian experiments on animals that had limited and short lived results.
I’d just like to add that Dr. Corbin has got to one of the worst human beings in any MST film. This might be a topic, but I think it might have been covered in a “most unlikeable character” thread. I think Corbin’s abhorrent combination of lucidity and absolute inability to appreciate the suffering of others is part of why so many people respond so strongly against this movie
Let’s not forget the time Dr. F put his own head on a saxophone.
And MST version 2.0 begins…
Gotta say, this is only a so-so, good but not great episode. The Invention Exchange falls flat and the Host Segments are….meh.
The riffing is pretty good, and the movie is really bad, but if this wasn’t Mike’s first experiment, then this would be an unmemorable episode.
Something to admit: in the new opening credits and theme song, during robot roll call, after the announcement of Croooooow!, I’ve always always thought it sounded like he says “catch a porno” after his name. Even years later, after looking it up and confirming that that is NOT what he is saying (he says, “that’s one ‘o’.”), I still hear it every time. Weird, huh? ….
–
RIFFS and Such:
Dr. F : “I’m your mother now, Frank.”
Mike: “These people will be exploring teen issues.”
Crow: “Sylvia Plath, RN.”
Mike: “He’s at the 20, he’s at the 10, no one will catch him!”
Mike: “This is the most complicated beer bong I’ve ever seen.”
Servo: “Boss, you’re breaking the goofy meter again.”
Servo: “It’s nice and all, but I wanted something sleazy..”
—
Welcome to the SOL, Mike.
Things get better,
I promise.
3/5
–
I thought Crow said, “Bat Guano”, in the credits as some sort of Dr. Strangelove reference.
#125
I assume you meant “invention exchange”, not “intention exchange”. Intention exchanges always confuse me and leave me not knowing what to do or why.
intention exchange?!?? Oh good grief — stupid auto-correct :)
I always thought Gypsy said, “Hi bubby!” at the beginning. I also thought Crow was saying, “bat guano”…
Don’t worry Kenotic, I trust your inventions. D’oh!
Just an okay episode, nothing really memorable. Felt like the reset button was pushed again.
The one thing that bothered me was every few riffs Mike would do, one of the bots would say “That’s pretty good!” Got really old and seemed as if they were patronizing Mike.
Thankfully, things picked up later in the season.
I miss Joel, but I like this episode a lot.
BTW Having throat surgery on Friday. Shouldn’t be a big deal, but I might be recuperating for a while and not posting much. I’ll be back. Unless I get stuck in another dimension…
My original copy of this one is on VIDEOCASSETTE. Tells you how long I’ve had it. “He’s at the fifty, the forty…..” Lots of fun this one is. Good way to get Mike indoctrinated.
This was one of those movies I loved on MST3K because I grew up with it. Like “Earth Vs. the Spider,” these were the movies, almost always shown Saturday afternoon or late Saturday night with a “Creature Feature” host, that formed my youth. For that reason I may forgive a little more than I do with, say, “Wild World of Batwoman.” But M&TBs do a good job punching this dark sci-fi meolodrama.
I do wonder now about the nature of “strip” and “dancer” clubs in the 1950s. You see one here, in “Incredably Strange Creatures . . .” AND in as part of the day in New York montage in “Breakfast at Tiffany’s.” Did guys really bring dates to these places then?
“Hey babe, throw your coat on. We’re going to Platnum Blond for the evening.”
“That souds great honey. We haven’t had a couples night out in weeks.”
I just don’t see it.
As for Mike. He is Mike. The show changed when Joel left. It did not get better abd it did not get worse. It changed. THe talent was still there and there are great Mike era shows just like there were great Joel eera ones. Each brough their stamp to the show and I never understood the hostility that accompanied the change.
It was a trip for me when I first saw this as I was shell shocked by the loss of Joel. It was at a time when I was very much into the show and identified with Joel on the show. Even though I wasnt too fond of the 180 degree turn all the characters did I maintained loyalty to the show and enjoyed it until the end. And its about watching cheesy movies, this one being a film I can watch with or without the riffs.
On that note I cant do the Joels Hair, Joels Knees anymore since its the Mike era and his hair never really changed much. I hadnt been doing it with the Joel episodes for the past 6 – 8 week as sadly my mother passed away from cancer. Between the time and sorrow I didnt very much feel like clowning around in forums. Now I see we up to the Brain that Wouldnt Die and it brought back a lot of 1993 memories watching the show. I remember really missing Joel. But Mike was alright !
I remember seeing this on a re-run shortly after the original airdate and not being that impressed. I had just gotten into the show about a year prior and really enjoyed it and had seen Mitchell and I thought that the show was over now that Joel had left so I just didn’t tune in at regular times and continued to watch reruns, many of which I had not seen. When I caught this one, I relaized that the show was continuing and was really excited but felt that the episode was a bit of a let down and I thought it had “Jumped the Shark” so to speak. Of course this term had not been created yet, but the feeling was that the show had passed its prime. This was a movie that I had seen uriffed prior which should have made it even more enjoyable since I knew the story line, and that that allows me to concentrate on the riffing and not have to follow the movie so closely. It took a few more Mike episodes before I really was convinced that the show was still as good as it had always been, just a little different. It was “Alien from LA” that sold me on Mike, and I still think that is one of the great episodes. After that I revisitied this one and it was a lot funnier than I remembered. There are some great lines in the show and after seeing it the second or thid time I realized that it has one of my all time favorite MST3k riffs ever in “Luke, join me or you’ll star in Corvette Summer.” This was one of those riffs that the “right people will get” since it was such an obscure movie that most had probably never seen and been exposed to its awfulness. It should have gotten the MST3k treatment. I think it was a good indication that there was still the same spirit involved in the writing of the episodes and some of the best were yet to come. Good, not great episode, but worth checking out. And who doesn’t love Jan in the Pan?
When you think about it, the plot to this movie is actually really grisly. I’m glad the Brains chose a shot of Jan smiling for the opening sequence, at least.
This episode’s an okay debut for Mike but I think the first truly great Mike episode was “Teen-Age Strangler”.
Thoughts:
I think the character of Mike Nelson really did give them more freedom with the host segments. The bots didn’t have to show him respect and he didn’t have to show the Mads respect. And he certainly had more sides to him than Joel Robinson. That’s not saying he was necessarily a better host, but I think it was refreshing how much they were able to mix up the formula with him.
It was quite some time before the opening featured clips from any episodes other than this one.
I’ll agree with the Brains that Mike just didn’t feel right doing an invention exchange. I’m glad they moved on, since that helped give more freedom with his opening host segments.
I enjoyed the special features that Shout Factory added to their re-release of Mitchell. The Brain that Wouldn’t Die, not so much. If the best you can do is interview someone who was on camera for 5 seconds, you might as well not bother. And if you’re going to interview Marilyn Hanold, people are probably going to be more interested in what it was like to be a Playmate of the Month back in the early days.
The Brain that Wouldn’t Die passes the Bechdel Test. The two strippers exchange insults. Also, Donna and Minnie briefly talk about the beauty contest.
Personally I think the moment Kurt got his arm yanked off would have made for a better stinger than what they actually used.
According to BBI, Gypsy says “I’m not ready!” It sounds to me like “Hi from me!”
I thought it sounded more like, “Hi, fruity.”
I gotta say that this movie is pretty harsh for Mike’s first experiment. It is easily the most misogynist movie they ever did (and that’s saying something).
Perhaps the most misogynist they had done to that point. For the Ultimate title, I’d think The Atomic Brain and Horrors of Spider Island would give it a run for its money.
I’m not a medium, I’m a petite: Didn’t amazing Radar play a big part in the Commando Cody shorts?
The title of the serial was Radar Men from the Moon. However, I don’t recall radar being especially prominent in the narrative.
@ #65: There was also an El Santo riff in Wild, Wild World of Batwoman.
Favorite riffs
“Stop massaging the heart.”
You’re enjoying it too much.
You’re not my dad! You’re Hitler!
“And the aftereffects? What about them?”
What about them? They’re fun!
He shouldn’t have eaten at Jack-in-the-Box.
They saved Sister Bertrille’s brain!
“What you see is real.”
What you smell is unfortunate.
It’s nice and all, but I want something sleazy.
Hey gang, there’s a snuff film playing over at the Rialto!
Hi, I’m Casey Kasem. This one goes out to a heartsick lover with a severed head.
“Together we’ll wreak our revenge.”
Well you already reek.
“People would turn away from me in disgust.”
And then I’d show them my hand.
Well at least he’s not arousing suspicion.
Stay tuned for the obscene call of the day on K-PORN.
I’ve just had a great Kodak moment.
Can I chain you to my radiator?
Look lady, I’ve got a girlfriend with her head in a lasagna pan. I’ve seen it all.
“What makes you think I’m afraid of what’s in there?”
Maybe that stain on your pants.
“Kill him!”
I can’t! He’s tearing my arm off!
Lucy I’m Home. LUCY, OHMYGAWD!!!!!
Oh, I get it. It was a comedy.
“An American in vitro.”
I watched this again recently. It’s not one of my go-to episodes, because the movie itself is pretty awful. The good doctor leering at all the women – strippers, bathing beauties and models alike – he’s thinking about murdering, is pure squick.
The K-PORN score makes it that much worse for me, it’s so inappropriate to the horror of what Dr. Sicklove is planning to do. Or maybe it only reflects the doctor’s motives and true personality, and is therefore entirely appropriate, I dunno.
Of course, when the movie opens in an operating room and the senior doctor tells his son, “Very well, the corpse is yours. Do what you want to do,” I should realize ethics and morality are not part of the plot. (And the younger doctor mentions the “cerebreal” area, so it’s not too concerned with accuracy, either.)
Overall, I think M&tBs handled it very well. The riffing was strong all the way through, which is the one thing that made this worth my time.
A while back, Cracked featured an article that mentions The Brain that Wouldn’t Die (it’s at #4). I particularly like the concluding sentence: “We assume the audience sat in total silence for several moments before gently setting their tubs of uneaten popcorn down and shuffling out of the theater, never to speak of this again.”
#141 – Agree. Teen-Age Strangler is a blast; this one… It’s pretty good, assuming you can stomach the film’s skeezy tone, and I like the way they introduce Mike to the routine, but film becomes a bit too meandering for my taste once our “hero” goes looking for bodies for Jan.
Richard the Lion-Footed:
As for Mike. He is Mike. The show changed when Joel left. It did not get better abd it did not get worse. It changed. THe talent was still there and there are great Mike era shows just like there were great Joel eera ones. Each brough their stamp to the show and I never understood the hostility that accompanied the change.
At this point, and like his bringing popcorn into “Wild World of Batwoman”, he was intended to be the Likable Chuckleheaded New Guy Who Doesn’t Know the Ropes Yet, like when Woody replaced Coach on Cheers, or when That South African Guy We Keep Forgetting The Name Of replaced Jon Stewart on the Daily Show. Nelson’s boyish Archie Andrews good looks would have had him play a lovable minimum-wage temp, playing into Mike’s own act of jokes about minimum-wage chain-restaurant temps, his facetious-cheery delivery of riffs would be the new deadpan, and Crow and Servo would be promoted up to his “senior” foils, who knew more about the ship and how to riff a movie than he did.
At least, that’s what the new theme song told us. Oh, was that idea about to CHANGE….
Well, er, yes, but although Cracked and Mike do tend to share the same humor (even though he didn’t stay at Cracked.com for very long), most B-movies of their day were shown in double features, and the teen audience–no one else would have gone–probably laughed it off and stayed for the lesser second feature.
This would have been the cooler, more sellable first feature.
Not a bad episode, but not a great one, either. It didn’t take too many episodes for Mike to get into the swing of things. By Outlaw of Gor he’d be completely set in his role.
Never did see this one on TV (not sure I saw Mitchel, either), so I was a little confused seeing Mike in later episodes. First time I saw this one was the VHS release.
This was the second episode I ever saw, right after “Pod People,” both rented on VHS. As Pod People had us rolling on the floor, this one made me wonder if I hadn’t stumbled by chance on the best the show had to offer, and everything else was downhill.
I’m happy to say I later found that not to be the case.
Watching this one in episode order, I enjoyed it more this time, if only for the host segments.
I, personally, find this a capital episode. In his first outing as host, Mike takes this movie head-on.
But in the hope of heading off any potential conflict here, let me just say: I know that severing ties with Joel as the host surely was traumatic for many of us, but I sure hope no one loses their head in this discussion.