Movie: (1960) Maciste leads his people from their destroyed island to a land of warring tribes.
First shown: 8/20/94
Opening: Tom does Crow’s taxes
Intro: Dr. F. invents Nummy Muffin Coocol Butter, the world’s most adorable pet, and sends it to M&tB, much to Frank’s dismay
Host segment 1: A heartbroken Frank sings: “Nummy Muffin Coocol Butter”
Host segment 2: On the SOL, Nummy’s fur is everywhere
Host segment 3: Nummy is sick, Frank is sick, so Mike sends Nummy back to Deep 13
End: Crow wonders: “What does it feel like to get you head chopped off?”, Mike reads letters, while the Mads have been caught by their own creation
Stinger: Exhorting guy gets shot by arrow
(146 votes, average: 3.88 out of 5)
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• The last time around I was sort of luke-warm on the riffing of this one but, I don’t know, I guess I was in the right frame of mind or something, but I was laughing my ass off this time. Of course the headline of the episode is Nummy Muffin Coocol Butter and I’m more luke-warm about those host segments, though Frank’s song is terrific. When this first aired, the segments caused an immediate sensation among fans. I also remember some people didn’t quite get the ending, something Kevin addresses forcefully in the ACEG.
• References
• This episode is not yet on commercial DVD.
• Having heard of the fans’ growing irritation with CC spokesguy Penn Gillette, they use him in a gag. Folks loved that.
• What’s with our hero’s name? Well, what M&tB are hearing as “my cheesesteak” is actually Maciste. Italians know him well. A strongman character with that name goes back all the way to the 1914 Italian movie “Cabiria.” The character was resurrected when the sword-and-sandal epic Italian movies suddenly became very popular in the late 1950s. Because American audiences were unfamiliar with Maciste, the title character’s name was usually changed to Atlas, Colossus, Goliath, Hercules or Samson (for example, the character Hercules, in the movie in episode 410- HERCULES AGAINST THE MOON MEN, was actually Maciste). What’s odd in COLOSSUS AND THE HEADHUNTERS is that the dubbed English dialog still calls the hero Maciste even though the title says otherwise; nobody (other than M&tB) calls him Colossus.
• Non-Spaghetti-ball bumpers: film canister, bulletin board, beaker, book.
• Callbacks: “Watch out for snakes!” (Eegah!)
• Annoying commercial: Commercial for the now-largely forgotten “Moxy Pirate Show.”
• Interesting commercial: The first “Go to where the cheese is made” contest commercial as the first convention approached.
• I think that’s Kevin as the voice of NMCB in segment 3.
• Mildly dirty riff: “Meanwhile, Sonny’s upstairs with the maid of honor…”
• I’d forgotten the queen’s assistant and her wacky dance just before the third segment. What a great movie moment.
• Once again, no cast and crew roundup. This production is too far removed from any of the other Herc titles we’ve done.
• CreditsWatch: Tim Scott ends his five-episode run on the writing staff. David Sussman ends his 17-episode run on the writing staff (he was also a contributing writer for an ep in season four). Host segments directed by Kevin Murphy. The credit “Video Provided by: Fournelle Video Production Services, St. Paul, MN” is replaced by “Video by Jeff Stonehouse.” This continues for the rest of the season. Stoney also gets a lighting credit for the first time, along with Ken Fournelle and Brad Keely. This is the first time Stoney appears in the credits and marks the beginning of his rise to power at BBI. Jann L. Johnson is back sharing Post Production Coordination duties with Ellen McDonough Thomas. And this is the first time “Info Club Coordinator Julie Walker” appears in the credits (she wouldn’t be “Poobah” until later in the season.)
• Fave riff: “This is history’s first really awkward moment.” Honorable mention: “Uh, what’s following them?”
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Sampo, since when is the “Ontario” jingle old? Being from Detroit (which means I get CBET on cable, awesome station), I can honestly say that they have used it as recently as 2002.
“It’s the greatest place to go, Ontari-ari-ari-oh!!!”
There is some good stuff in that tax opening sketch. I like the callback to Crow selling grit (the dirt not the magazine) back in episode 417. Of course that was actually in 1992 not 1989 as Crow states. But tom is right. Those penalties on $12 of income sure do add. The next thing you know you owe $37k.
Bringing Frank in to quote the seniors with pets study, especially the way he opens with a verbal “quote” and closes with a verbal “unquote” instead of air quotes is great. It’s more of the same stellar delivery he is known for.
I also love the Bots first reactions to Nummy. Crow reminds Mike that the responsibilities of pet ownership include looking at it and then calls dibs on spaying it.
Who says that last invention exchange had already occurred? I give you Nummy Muffin Coocol Butter. If it walks like an invention and quacks like an invention then it’s an invention.
Boy, Frank really can’t sing one bit.
I get the Penn Jillete joke, but who came up with comparing him to Snuggles???
For perhaps the first time, there is a good reason we can’t see through Tom Servo’s head in the theater: It is obscured by a coat of Nummy’s hair.
Dated reference: Camp Snoopy. The former amusement park within the Mall of America.
Favorite Riffs:
Mike comments on the title “the struggles of a Greek immigrant in a tough job market.”
Crow (giggling) “Isn’t a cute the way they are making a stab at a plot?”
Crow as My Cheese Steak to the blind guy: “You lead the way.”
Mike “It’s not a plot point. It’s not an action sequence. What is it?”
My Cheese Steak holding the girl “Delay the ceremony as long as possible. The breast is up to me.” Tom “It just was.”
Tom imitating a certain Muppet “Hi-ho, Kermes here.” (Remember early in KTMA when Tom sounded like Kermit?)
Mike as the dance drags on and on “So the director has a girlfriend.”
My Cheese Steak “But you must realize my life is nothing but danger and adventure.” Crow “Pha, Yeah right.”
This is one of my favorites.
I am not your cheesesteak.
Years ago, I was flipping around channels, and saw the volcano erupting/cavemen-like people running around sequence. Thing was, instead of being the opening of “Colossus and the Headhunters,” it was the finale of another movie! Unfortunately, I didn’t have a TV schedule available, so I didn’t know what movie it was.
Now, however, thanks to the Internet, I know that it was the finale of another Italian sword-and-sandle movie, “Fire Monster Against the Son of Hercules.” Very thrifty, those Italians.
Usually when none of the host segs concern the movie, they concern the short. Was this the first episode that they didn’t feature either?
Not even close. Even if you don’t think the KTMA host segments should count, host segments having nothing to do with the film or short date all the way back to the Demon Dogs featured in Robot vs. the Aztec Mummy.
One of the many muscle men of peplum (A short overskirt or ruffle attached at the waistline of a jacket, blouse, or dress) who dominated Italian sword-and-sandal epics in the early 60s, Italian Kirk Morris (born Adriano Bellini) was born in 1938 and plucked from the canals of Venice for his go at moviedom. A gondolier when discovered by an Italian movie producer, he was deemed a perfect speciman to showcase their spectacles and a fitting hero to help offset the silly special effects and ridiculously dubbed dialogue. If one must try to distinguish Kirk from the rest of the mythical bodybuilders (Steve Reeves, Alan Steel, Richard Harrison, Dan Vadis, Reg Park, Brad Harris, et al.), he often dyed his pompadour-styled hair blond and he had a slight, sulky resemblance to Elvis Presley. Other than that his stoic posings of Hercules, Samson, Maciste and the others were no better or worse. Once the genre had lost its audience in the mid-60s, Kirk maintained for a few more years in war stories and westerns, but eventually migrated to the United States where he went into the advertising field. Years later he returned to Italy and the movies — this time as a producer.
Favorite lines:
This movie is like a storm raging inside you.
Carnival Cruises were rustic back then.
Man, Hasselhoff can’t suck it in like this clown.
They washed up on a Klingon Language Camp.
Watch out for snakes.
And they’re all wearing Easy Spirit Pumps.
This tribe lives in a gravel pit outside Spooner (Wisc.)
Well the ad said old world charm, but there’s been water damage down here.
Isn’t it cute, they’re making a stab at a plot.
Careful, I’ve got hips like Waterford Crystal.
[Cheesesteak/Maciste] The guy looks like a cross between Spock and Bones…Spock, Bones and a little bit of Elton John.
A steel pinata—that could take hours.
Boy, Italian weddings haven’t changed much.
“You coward, hiding behind a woman.” Like Tom Arnold.
Final Thought: I didn’t like this the first time I watched it. I give this one 2 out of 5 stars.
This episode is another example of MST3K moments I use in real life. When I’m baby talking my dog (70 lbs worth of airedale), I often call him “Nummy Muffin Coocol Butter”.
A very ‘bleh’ episode. This is one I almost never watch. Nummy Muffin Coocol Butter is one of the many achingly unfunny bits that permeate Season 6. Just not funny at all.
But on the other hand, I just got an idea for a double feature. Hercules and the Moon Men and this, since they’re both actually Maciste. Who knew?
“I DON’T WANT COLOSSUS AND THE HEADHUNTERS!!!!!!!!!”
Funny episode. The storyline with Frank and Nummy Muffin Coocol Butter was pretty funny. The riffing is good too. Funny episode.
In the three years since, this one has risen through the ranks to become one of my favorites. I’d even put it above the Season 4 Hercules movies as the best of the Italian sword-and-sandal nonsense the show ever did. Mike and the bots just seem to be having a lot of fun with this one. :D
The whole taxes thing in the opening floors me. Crow snaps “Wait a minute, eight times seven isn’t four hundred!”, and the way Servo just casually remarks “Fair enough” is hilarious. As is Crow’s excited “Really?” when Mike says “Willie Nelson and Redd Foxx are calling.”
“It outdoes the kittycat, runs circles around the Easter Bunny, and makes Snuggles the fabric softener bear look like Penn Jillette.” Another endlessly quotable MST-ism :D I love this whole Nummy arc, especially Frank’s whiny tantrum. “I DON’T WANT COLOSSUS AND THE HEADHUNTERS!” Frank did that whole man-child thing so damn well. This thing also gave us two of my favorite moments from the Poopie tape, both of them involving Trace (“Sorry, got hair in my mouth, I wonder where that came from?” and “Oh, you saw that, huh?”)
There’s a moment near the beginning where the movie just shows us a static shot of the island going up in smoke, and Mike, Crow, and Servo all lob a non-stop barrage of brilliant riffs at what’s basically a still photo for almost a full minute. It’s the Brains at their best. “I see a turkey!”
“Land! Land!”
“It would be really great if we found some land!”
Words can’t describe how much I love the riff “Luckily, this was before death was invented.” It’s sort of the spiritual successor to that bit from “Cave Dwellers” – “Why is she limping?” “Because she’s got an arrow in her chest.”
The meeting of Maciste and Faberge Egg Queen Amoa is wall-to-wall with great stuff. Even an unabashedly stupid riff like “And we had peace” “And carrots” makes me fall off the couch laughing. “Then what happened?” :D
“It’s a daring…leisurely escape.”
I always get a kick out of those moments where the guys try to riff on something and then get their expectations turned back around on them. Examples include Crow’s “riffback” from “The Human Duplicators”, or Servo turning out to be right about baby chicks being able to survive a three-day car trip without food in “The Chicken of Tomorrow”. In this episode, it happens when those two guys are fighting on the rope bridge. They flip over the side and Servo yells “Oh no! It’s a horrible drop into — ” and it turns out they were only like two feet above the river. Servo’s sheepish little laugh is great. “And thus, synchronized swimming was invented!”
“Oh, don’t hop over the bodies, it’s so glib.”
With certain movies, there’s some riffs that you know they have to make at some point, and the fun comes from the anticipation. With Amoa, you know eventually someone had to say “A lawn moa?”, and with Kermes, you’re just eagerly awaiting the moment when someone says “Hi-ho, Kermes here!” When it finally happens, it’s just that much funnier. :)
“Colossus parts ferns with his bare hands!”
“Wait a minute, they’re headhunters and they’re squeamish?” Crow, those guys aren’t the headhunters, they’re the ones who got captured. But since this is a confusing Italian mythology movie, you’re forgiven for getting mixed up.
Oh God, the dancing scene. “For the first time, people don’t know where to look.” It’s almost funny all on its own, since all the characters in the movie look just as uncomfortable as you’d expect, accentuated by Mike’s remarks like “Okay I’ve been polite up till now, I really think we should stop this.” Servo’s “Now GET OUT!” is the perfect capper.
“Aw, poor guy doesn’t have a fighting partner!” I can’t tell you how much I was laughing the first time I noticed that. :D
“I caught you, you bitch!” The riffing on Kermes during the final fight with Maciste is absolutely hysterical. Even just little stuff like Servo’s laugh that falls apart (“Hahaha — oh…”), it’s all brilliant. “Have you stopped fighting?” “Yes!” “Are you afraid?” “Yes!” “…” “Yes — Oop!”
Just great fun from beginning to end. Another one of those Season 6 episodes I can put on any ol’ time and guarantee a solid 90 minutes of laughs. :)
I used think the sword and sandal films were not the right match for the show but now I feel they are some of the most solid episodes. I felt the same about the Finnish/Russo episodes. At first not so good but now I love them all.
As I rewatch the show here and see many episodes for the first time since their original airing, I have realized that some episodes were better than I remembered. Unfortunately this isn’t one of them, I didn’t even finish watching this one after halfway through. I think #21 has it right, they just liked to say nummy muffin coocool butter a lot. I may be biased here though, I never really liked the Hercules genre with MST anyway.
I got the humor of torturing Frank with the loss of NummyMuffin, but what really sells the song is the ‘straight’ delivery until he gets to the name Nummy Muffin COOCOOL Butter.
The whole Maciste/Colossus thing is both boring and confusing, which makes this a more forgettable episode, movie-wise; the riffing doesn’t lag, however. “Welcome to Trojan Burger, may I take your order.” and another subtle Willie Nelson dig when the decrepit old blind man is stumbling in rags and filth, “To all the girls I’ve loved before…”
Nummy!
Frank is brilliant in this episode. Every Frank/Nummy moment is gold.
The movie….could never get into it.
Oh, I love Frank’s singing here! Before he begins, he gives a little nearly inaudible “gulp” noise, like there’s a lump in his throat already. His voice cracks on the high notes–I get that, so does mine. But as mentioned at entry #37–what the devil is coocol butter?
So, I was kinda hoping that queen might be a good fighter, but no. Oh well.
This has one of my favorite riffs of the entire series.
Enemy king (or something): My men are ready for battle.
Mike (as opposing general): Oops, uh… mine aren’t.
Mike’s delivery is perfect. Such a simple joke and he nails it.
I also really love the riffs whenever Maciste attacks someone (looking very much like he’s play wrestling with them). M&TB do this wonderful, “rascally” frat boy, “Hey buddy-boy!” thing that cracks me up every time.
I’ve only seen this one a couple times and it really doesn’t do it for me. This my least favorite of the sword and sandal films, it really feels like a “been there, done that” kind of thing.
As for Nummy Muffin Coocol Butter, I don’t see the big deal. Frank’s song is nice, but the Segments are limp, don’t offer much. I do like the bots doing taxes, however…
Also, I thought it was COCOA butter… What the Sam Hill is Coocol??
RIFFS:
Mike: “Another Italian government collapses.”
Servo: “WATCH OUT FOR SNAKES!”
Crow: “They’re being forced to join the Rainbow Gathering.”
Mike: “Look at all the pot.”
Servo: “huh..uh”
Crow: “Colossus parts ferns with his bare hands!”
Mike: “And now the traditional viewing of Berlin Alexanderplatz.”
–
Not a colossal episode,
until further notice:
2/5
One of the small selection of episodes I never watch. I just can’t get into it and the riffing is subpar. The Nummy Muffin host segments are also very unappealing to me.
It just proves BBI are humans and not perfect. I’m happy for anyone who likes this one, but I sure hope they never put it out on DVD and waste a chance for a good episode.
pbbbt on Maciste, pbbbt on Nummy Muffin Coocol Butter…just pbbbbtt..
Always liked the line, “Skinny extras make Colossus look bigger.” (Or close to it.) It’s funny, ‘cuz it’s true!
Well, three years on and still an either love it or don’t really like it much ep.
I DO hope Shout will put this out soon.
A favorite moment from Poopie! involving this episode comes when Crow complains about the pink fluff ruining his sucker and Trace accidentally gets some in his mouth.
Nummy really isn’t all that cute, is he? :-P
I enjoy this one, as I do all the sword and sandal type episodes. Nummy? I can take him or leave him.
Rex Dart, Eskimo Spy #70 – Isn’t it amazing, watching movies like this and then seeing the Geico commercial with the bodybuilder directing traffic? Colossus couldn’t lift that guy’s gym bag!
I can’t really listen to Frank’s song without cringing. Otherwise a Passable to Good episode.
Mike: “That guy looks like a combination of Spock and Bones!”
Tom: “Dammit, me!”
I still can’t figure out why the guy was named Colossus. When you see him around other guys, he’s obviously not all that colossal. He’s just as tall as all the other guys, and compared to the likes of Steve Reeves, he just looks like your standard-issue gym rat, really not that impressive or intimidating at all, really.
Colossus, huh? M’eh.
• Mildly dirty riff: “Meanwhile, Sonny’s upstairs with the maid of honor…”
I love that riff. What man hasn’t had a fantasy about the maid of honor in his wedding? I know I did. Great catch guys.
I can see why this one is not rated terribly high. I had fun watching it, but it’s nothing exceptional. Definitely the weakest sword and sandal experiments with way too much B.I.G.-type filler scenes. Frank steals the show in tbe host segments. 3 stars.
One of the last episodes I got a chance to watch. The “director’s girlfriend” dance might have been monotonous, but it’s a lot better than the dance for the Gods in The Mole People. I think the director’s girlfriend would fit in with the Fire Maidens of Outer Space if she didn’t mind giving up her shoes and playing tie up games on a Hibachi.
I didn’t at all care for the host segments because, darn it, I just don’t like to see any character despondent like that. That’s why I didn’t care for the “The Unearthly” invention exchange, too.
As Sampo notes, his name isn’t Colossus, it’s Maciste.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maciste#The_1960s_film_series_.28in_chronological_order.29
Were there any X-Men riffs? Or at least some with a Russian accent?
(as most people here probably know, Colossus is a Russian member of the X-Men; not from the movies (which didn’t exist back in the nineties, anyway, the REAL X-Men)
She might not have been the director’s girlfriend. She could just as easily have been his sister-in-law or favorite cousin or next-door neighbor or, well, lots of people know lots of other people.
“Sonny and the maid of honor” isn’t a generic thing, it’s a Godfather riff. It was used in “Quest of the Delta Knights” too.
http://godfather.wikia.com/wiki/Lucy_Mancini
I suspect that if this episode were to be done today, there would X-Men references, due to the Deadpool movie.
That’s a Godfather reference (but you probably knew that…)
…and #80 already pointed that out. Sorry, I’m usually better about catching those…
I didn’t care for the host segments because we went from episode-long running gags that sort of had to do with the opening shorts, to the episode-long running gag in “The Dead Talk Back” that sort of had to do with the title, to an episode-long running gag that was just made-up crap because they didn’t know what the heck to do with the movie.
(Unlike S4, which had to go through THREE entire Steve Reeves Hercules movies, not counting the original in S5, and still found scene-specific host-segment material to work with. Slackers.)
I hate going to the farmer’s market and THIS is why…
This episode feels like a throwback since it’s the first real swords n’ sandals epic we’ve had for a while. However, I think the ending with Dr. F becoming obsessed with his own adorable creation presages the rest of this season and into season 7 where he and Frank become progressively less evil.
That being said, when we cut to Frank staring longingly out his window (while still in Deep 13) I was already laughing before he even opened his mouth. Why hasn’t that song become as well loved as “Let Me Be Frank about Frank”? It was hilarious!
Fave riff:
Kermes: My dream of years is about to be realized!
Crow: I’m gonna guest on ‘Blossom’!
The Nummy Muffin storyline is inspired by The Trouble With Tribbles, no?
Then what happened?
Say what you want, at least MyCheeseSteak is attentive to Queeny when she talks about her day.
In any event, I just love this episode. So full of goofiness, and the Nummy segments are just great, in my opinion. Also fun is Kerme’s big reveal.. that You will be Queen, and I will be… your *advisor*!! (Dun dun DUNNNN!) Wait… huh?
Gare
Interesting possibility.
Well, they’ve done every OTHER episode-specific nerd-bashing TOS Trek-geek joke…
Yeah, positively DREADFUL that they’d do anything like that. I retroactively declare myself unamused. ;-)
Just to clarify, that’s not meant as a slam or an accusation or suchlike.
It just seems so obvious – fluffy creature bioengineered to make humans helplessly obsessed with its cuteness.
YAWWWNNNNN….. get some new material, will ya? The constant, not-so-subtle dislike of our favorite show just wears thin after a while (read:from day one).
Gare
I don’t know if it’s just the poor quality of the video available on youtube, but this was the dullest of the sword & sandal epics that i can remember. Poor charisma lead, relatively uncreative, no monsters, meandering story; overall disappointing especially since the imaginative H vs the Moonmen was another Maciste. (The riffing and host segments are okay, admittedly). And Steve Reeves really is my favorite now, even Film Crew’s Giant of Marathon was pretty good by comparison.
Sampo’s law holds as well as ever, as i see many of you quite enjoyed it!
I typically avoid watching this one and forced myself to check it out again. It’s good! Great riffing and goofiness in this one, love the sloppy battles. The highwater mark will forever remain for me “History’s first awkward moment” “For the first time nobody knows where to look”. Classic stuff. I’ll definitely watch it more often.
Waffles!
(speak about an episode where the skits have no relation to the movie…)
Let’s get this to over 100 comments! We’re fanatical enough that every episode should have over 100 comments, released officially or not.
I appreciate the work the guys have done here over the years but man their favorite riffs are usually ones that I never even remembered hearing.
;) i -think- ej was mocking those who did not notice the explicitely-mentioned “tribbles” mention in the post-titles/skit-0 sketch… one could always assume he is misfiring though in random directions, as we should assume any right-wing christian republican terrorists would. ;0 (ooops! ;) too political? ;0 well he’ll just hafta check for bodies later after he’s unloaded his stock;0…)
i think nummy-muffin was 1/3 tribbles + 1/3 E.T. + 1.3 joel’s mst3k pilot episode – although they did a few “got sick” episodes (you can’t shoot in MN and not get sick!), it still seemed unusual for them to do such a thing again!