I was inspired by how in the Ray Bradbury book “Fahrenheit 451.” At the end of it, the heroic protagonists are adapting to a world where books are banned. They commit themselves to memorizing whole books, to ensure they are not lost from destruction of physical copies.
Are there certain episodes of MST3K that you have memorized whole sections of, it not practically the whole episode?
Me and my friends in our youth use to be able to recite whole sections of the Invasion of the Neptune Men episode of MST3K.
I was able to recite and act out the Noh Theater host segment without a script in front of me.
Same goes for long stretches of movie riffing segments. I was able to quote the jokes as well as the movie dialog in the order as played out.
What about other MSTies?
Manos and Santa Claus Conquers the Martians– I can recite the movie and the riffing.
Amybody else?
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i know a lot of the riffs from the show.
Boggy Creek II –
Every MSTed movie has its quotable quotes, but a few are almost nothing but. As Sampo mentions “Santa Claus Conquers the Martians” and “Manos” are examples, but how can you beat lines like –
“faster than a gar can gut nine minnahs” and “she’s a man’s kinda woman”?
Admit it. You have ALL used the phrase “I saw the little creature.”
One of my go-to shows before I go to sleep is “Boggy Creek II”. Something about the narrative style of the movie……anyway I can recite it line for line, including Tim’s 3 or 4 lines. When I have to do something I invariably say “gotta tend to my fires!”
Also “To Earth”, the song M&TB sing in the last show. I find myself sometimes on a boring drive breaking out with “the very birthplace of my birth…..”
A kindred spirit!
Skydivers is my top Fahrenheit 451 episode. Great grey movie, with a great bonus short – it’s kept me company through many a long, boring afternoon of work as I replay it in my mind.
‘i accuse my parents’ and ‘girl from lovers lane.’ ‘mom! dad! i won the got the crap kicked out of me contest!’and ‘to be like the e-lam.’ show up frequently in my dialogue.
The Giant Spider Invasion.
Especially the first twenty minutes or so when we are “meeting” the Kesters.
Phrases like “want a piece of milk?”, or “you’ve been hittin the booze again!”, or the ever-lovable “PACKERS!”.
And when we finally see Dr. Langer and Crow quips “a showered person, thank God”, I’m usually out of breath from laughing too hard.
I cannot say that I have entire movies or large chunks of riffing memorized, but I do have a lot of individual riffs from “Danger!! Death Ray” stuck in my mind. As a B-movie fan, I say or think “Special effects by Billy!” quite a bit.
Along these lines, has anyone else watched a movie or short from Rifftrax that had previously been on MST3K and the whole time you are thinking “That’s not the right riff!”?
I have a lot of episodes mostly memorized, but even then sometimes I catch a joke I have forgotten.
Manos I could quote almost word for word.
Only bits and pieces. The closest I get to memorizing a whole chunk is with the psychoanalysis of Jimmy from I Accuse My parents.
Mr. B Natural was one of the first ones I mad memorized. Shortly after that Santa Claus Conquerors the Martians and Manos as well — they’re just so inviting for rewatches!
From Mike’s era, Space Mutiny is probably the top one — gotta get those David Ryder names in order, tho.
From Rifftrax I’m getting dangerously close to having (the live edition, which comes off stronger IMO) Birdemic memorized. Keep flailing!
The top 5 episodes I have memorized the most are: Manos the hands of Fate, Mitchell, EEgha, Red Zone Cuba, and Space Mutiny. There are alot more but these are the ones I remember most.
anytime i watch an old show (or movie) i say (when they show a young kid).
Killed in Vietnam (or whatever the nearest era war was)
I don’t know the entirety by heart, since I had only seen a choppy VHS recorded copy, but I know quite a bit of Robot Holocaust. That was my first exposure to MST3K, and the cop we had was missing host segments, and part of the movie. Having that in it’s entirety was the motivating factor for me to buy Volume XXV.
I can (and will) sing the “Hired!” song until you want to slap me.
Just love it to death.
When Gypsy screeches her ‘lemonade’ line it brings me great joy.
Great song.
In a sort of reverse on this Weekend Discussion Thread I submit to you, Dear Readers, that there is actually an episode with only a single, certifiably quotable quote. We all know it. goalieboy82, help us out with the movie and the quote, please…
Mitchell and Manos are two I know backwards and forwards. They came out on VHS around the same time (way back in the 90s) so they are a couple I’ve seen so many times I’ve lost count.
I know all of The Dead Talk Back.
Oh, it’s true.
I really don’t have a MST3K one but I do have a Rifftrax. The Guy from Harlem I can almost do word for word (with riffing).
Back in the day I used to work at a video store. When MST3K The Movie came out on VHS, I used to play it all of the time at the shop on the store tv for everyone to see. As a result, I can recite large chunks of the movie from memory. It was a great job!
On my blog (http://movieactivist.blogspot.com/2016/07/july-1-2016-movie-activist-movie.html), I used Francois Truffaut’s version of that scene to emphasize why physical-disk and Blu-ray fans should stick together, as the Streaming and Digital-Download movie industries are currently collapsing around our ears. (Which, prophetically, they weren’t yet when I blogged that.)
We’ll still be here, even after the rest of the industry delusionally cannibalizes itself into bankruptcy…And if we’re not, we should be.
Oh, good. :)
Oh, sure, recite the stew ingredients one MORE time, just because there’s no other riff to remember from…oh, wait, it’s not that one?
Then, it’s that “Flag on the moon” one, right? ;)
If you mean the line from THAT episode, that was my pick for a movie I can immediately spot which quarter of the episode is running on PlutoTV, just from the riffs. There is more than one memorable line besides the discovery that there was…oh, you know.
The last time an episode ever caught me by surprise and grabbed me in a case of the uncontrollables, was when I could recognize the last quarter of Monster a-Go-Go from the jeep sing-alongs and the radiation-suit riffs (“In the world of nuclear physics, there is one dangerous word:” “…’Oops’.”), but somehow up until now, I’d never caught the riff where, as the team is putting on their hazmats, Trace’s Crow makes a small farty sound and riffs “Mmff, take off the headpiece, take it off!” Just when you think there are no surprises left…
Besides Monster or the usual Manos/Sinbad/Santa suspects, by accident or design, Rocket Attack USA, Pod People and Eegah aren’t committed to memory yet, but they’re certainly close.
A concise and straight-to-the-point statement. The world could use more of those.
Ray Bradbury — “Life is trying things to see if they work.”
a few days ago (at work) i said (i forget why) Watch Out for Snakes.
The Movie (This Island Earth) and Deadly Mantis. I don’t know if this counts, but we sometimes watch either movie unriffed and then supply the riffs ourselves. We have gone for very long stretches with both where we have basically nailed them riff for riff. That said, we have also noticed that our delivery often leaves something to be desired. Doing our own riffing has actually sharpened our respect for the show. To put it another way, there’s delivering a line, and there’s delivering a line.
Prince of Space, partly because it’s the episode I’ve seen the most and partly because it’s just so darn quotable, including the host segments.
well, Laserblast, Monster A-Go Go and The Giant Spider Invasion are the ones that I can ‘see’ in my mind entirely. Others almost there are Earth versus Spider, Space Mutiny, Human Duplicators, The Amazing Colossal Man and War of the Colossal Beast and Godzilla versus Megalon.
Fugitive Alien 1 and 2
I don’t have any individual episodes anywhere close to memorized, but I have lots of bits and pieces in a kind of processed MST3K memory loaf. I use them spontaneously in appropriate places in conversations, and am always surprised when the person I’m talking to doesn’t recognize them. (“How can you NOT know ‘Watch out for snakes’?”) I have a lot of the songs memorized; for some reason, the other guys in the little band I play with don’t want to do “Toobular Boobular Joy” or “The United Servo Academy Hymn”. Everyone likes hearing the many Dave Ryder names used to describe other men in the room, too . . .
I could quote huge swaths of Monty Python and the Holy Grail (don’t get me started), but I’m afraid I can’t say the same about MST3K episodes. A lot of individual riffs or short bits are stuck in my head forever (and come out of my mouth frequently), but nothing that would qualify for this discussion.
But that’s not necessarily a bad thing. Indeed, one advantage of my age, and of my self-diagnosed EOML (Early Onset Memory Loss) is that every time I watch an episode its like seeing it for the first time! ;)
As complicated as the “time delay” sketch from Prince of Space was, I can watch that segment in my head.
In fact, I can piece together how the dialogue *should* go, if the characters were speaking normally and no one was behind the other.
I have large chunks of City Limits and Daddy-O memorized
Strangely, Hangar 18 from Season 0. It’s always been one of my favorite movies, combining UFOs, Gary Collins, and Darren McGavin.
The Deadly Mantis and Earth vs the Spider are close. I love 50s giant monster movies.
I’m in awe of anyone who can memorize a whole show. Every Halloween I try to memorize the Master’s soliloquy so I can perform it in costume. I have “Oh, Manos, thou of primal darkness” down cold, but can’t seem to hold onto any more than that for more than a few days.
I should at least learn the lyrics of “Idiot Control Now”.
Having just finished watching that on Netflix–since I can’t ever remember whether I did see it–I concur with J&tB: You remembered ANYTHING from City Limits??
Or were you being ironic about Daddy-O as well?
(J&tB’s “City Limits trivia game” segment sort of sums it up: Ten minutes after the end, I couldn’t tell you any of the names, plot, riffs, or which character Dean Devlin played.)
“Godzilla vs Megalon” and “Hercules” are two that I can recite verbatim. I’ve long since lost count of how many times I’ve seen both of those.
City Limits plot? Easy…
The Chippers, who emulate Erik Estrada, are fighting the Kim Catrall gang for possession of comic books written by James Earl Ray.
They all ride time traveling motorcycles and wear beaver skull helmets.
Easy….
I totally agree about the 50’s giant monster movies. My favorite genre of Mst3k movies.
I told you to go out and find adventure, not bring it back home!
Oh, yeah, I easily have at least the first 30 minutes of City Limits committed to memory. Perfect stretch of riffs. It’s probably my favorite episode. I’ve got Master Ninja 1 pretty much memorized, too.
Honestly? I have most episodes memorized.
Pretty sad, really.
Lately I’ve been watching “Being From Another Planet”, “Attack of the Giant Leeches”, “Fire Maiden From Outer Space” (one of my absolute favorites), and “Crash of Moons” pretty much daily.
I usually have MST3K playing in the background as I do other things so yeah, I can quote most episodes verbatim. Line by line, scene for scene.
Pretty sad, really.
The Dead Talk Back. The little butt of a film, the short, the riffs, the host segments. If I ever have the chance to play “I can name that MST3K in 4 seconds” this would be the episode.
The Girl in Gold Boots – …We start with tin Hershey bars and whaddya mean Daddy pleassse??? into wow! they got bomb pops! We’re thinking of adopting. I’m back! don’t forget your Roman Gabriel collectors plate! Hey! why don’t you look under the tire? Little afternoon delight? ahh forget it. Yup, that’s how you do it. Beat my skull in with a tire iron. …and end with Way to play the harmonica with your ass!
I know all the other riffs too. You just gotta believe me.
Critter and that dune-buggy guy really made a cute couple, didn’t they?
Odd acquaintances who inexplicably give free rides in their motorized beach bath tubs are hard to turn down.