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Episode guide: 616- Racket Girls (with short: ‘Are You Ready for Marriage?’)

616s

Short: (1950) A pair of high schoolers are planning marriage, until a friendly counselor talks them down.
Movie: (1951) A gym owner who manages lady rasslers uses his place as a front for illegal gambling.

First shown: 11/26/94
Opening: Lisa Loeb visits on the Hexfield
Intro: As M&tB try to discourage Lisa Loeb, there are also security problems in Deep 13
Host segment 1: Crow wants to marry Tom, so they take a Cosmo quiz
Host segment 2: Mike throws Crow a depressing bachelor party
Host segment 3: The wedding starts well but ends in rasping
End: M&tB think there’s been too much wrestling, they read letters, Lisa Loeb gets into Deep 13
Stinger: SNAP! “It’s gone!” “Where’d it go?”
1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars (200 votes, average: 4.33 out of 5)

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• If you can put up with the endless rasslin’ footage, this episode is a lot of fun. The host segments are strange, but silly. The short is another classic. As for the movie, well, as Crow notes. “When Ed Wood saw this, it was like when Truffaut saw ‘Citizen Kane’.” The rasslin’ scenes are a bit like the refueling scenes in Starfighters: It’s amazing to see them do riff after riff after riff on scenes where the same thing happens over and over and over.
• This episode is included in Shout’s “Mystery Science Theater 3000 Collection: Vol. XV.”
References.
• Non-spaghetti ball bumpers: Beaker, book, bulletin board, film canister.
• When this episode debuted, it was the third of three new episodes in the course of four days. It was Turkey Day heaven.
• That’s Bridget, of course, with a hilarious impression of Lisa Loeb. Loeb told me on Twitter that she loved that sketch.
• And of course that’s Paul, Patrick and Mary Jo as the strangers in Deep 13.
• The whole “boing” thing was a source of much amusement in the online forums following this show. I suspect “boing” is somehow related to being “squishy.”
• Mary Jo returns as Jan in the Pan, late-night style.
• Then-current reference: Short-lived TV show “Models Inc.”
• I really love the message of the movie: that you simply cannot corrupt a really clean sport like ladies wrestling, and attempting to do so will bring down forces on your head that will overwhelm you.
• During the wedding, Frank sings the last few bars of “The Wedding Song,” written by Paul Stookey of Peter, Paul and Mary fame.
• Dr. F. channels Prince while officiating at the wedding. Great stuff.
• Callbacks: “Shut up Iris.” (The Beatniks) “No Lupita!” (Santa Claus), “Have you been noticing any odd occurrences? Oh it’s true!” (The Dead Talk Back), “I’m dyin’ in a rush!” (Kitten with a Whip).
• The chase scene at the end, featuring the lovely Ukrainian national anthem, is a very funny few minutes.
• Frank’s “You brute! You brute! You brute” is from “Blazing Saddles.”
• Cast and crew roundup: cinematographer William C. Thompson also worked on “Project Moon Base,” “Bride of the Monster,” “The Violent Years” and “The Sinister Urge.” Makeup guy Harry Thomas worked on “The Mad Monster,” “Project Moon Base,” “The Unearthly,” “Bride Of The Monster,” “Invasion USA,” “High School Big Shot” and “Night Of The Blood Beast.” In front of the camera, Timothy Farrell was also in “The Violent Years.”
• CreditsWatch: Host segments directed by Trace. This was Michael D. Parker’s first episode as an intern. It was also Julie Van Goethem’s last (after only three eps, maybe things didn’t work out.) Patrick’s first name is spelled wrong.
• Fave riff from short: “‘I want to marry a man!’ ‘Heh-heh. No, you don’t.’” Honorable mention: “Sometimes there’s a SHPLOINK!”
• Fave riff from the movie: “‘What are you thinking about?’ ‘Playdoh.’” Honorable mention: “There’s some heroin I’ve had my eye on.”

139 Replies to “Episode guide: 616- Racket Girls (with short: ‘Are You Ready for Marriage?’)”

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  1. trickymutha says:

    Lisa Loeb is still out there- heard a ditty of hers last weekend.

       2 likes

  2. Kenneth Morgan says:

    My favorite riff from this one is during one of the matches: “This’d turn k.d. lang hetero!”

    Oh, and never make light of “boing”.

       0 likes

  3. The rasslin’ is pretty tedious, admittedly. Not to mention that the print is horrible, and there are any number of jumps and odd splices, which even Mike and the bots can’t ignore. And, wow, gyms were really depressing in those days.

    Timothy “Mr. Scalli” Farrell was also the psychiatrist in “Glen or Glenda”. Make of that what you will.

    However, the short is fantastic. “It’s gone! Where’d it go?” “We’re gonna die!” always gets a huge laugh from anyone I show the short to. Mr. Hall’s immediate line, “That’s what you’ll be saying about your romantic love,” is lost in the goofiness of the moment, but it’s still a lame way to make a point.

    I also love how Mr. Hall “teaches a class” on marriage and family life, but decides to give Larry and Sue a freebie. No, kids, I’ve got nothing better to do with my day but to show you my dolls tied with string and to flick rubber bands at the wall.

       1 likes

  4. Trilaan says:

    One of my All-Time Favorite Moments is in this episode.

    Frank: “It’s gone!”
    Dr.F: “Where did it go!?”
    Frank: “He’s a sorcerer!”

       5 likes

  5. jjb3k says:

    I believe this is technically the first episode of MST3K I ever saw…back when I was nine years old. I was visiting my grandparents in Florida during the holiday break of 1995, and I have vague memories of catching the last several minutes of an episode while channel-surfing one morning. Looking at the all-time MST3K broadcast schedule on Tom’s Temple of MST3K Stuff, the 8:00 AM 12/31/95 rerun of this episode is the only one that fits my memories.

    It didn’t grab my interest at the time, though. It wasn’t until February 2005, when I was at college, that I’d be formally introduced to the show with a viewing of “Space Mutiny” (but I’ll save that story for when we get there).

    This episode was dull the first time I watched it complete, but it grew on me in a hurry with every repeat viewing. The short, for one thing, is hysterical (“Sometimes there’s a schplurt!”). The movie is a dull ball of bland, even with 45 minutes of gratuitous lady wrestling, but the guys salvage it. Seems like they had a lot of practice with riffing on scenes of absolutely nothing this season (whether it be endless skydiving, endless refueling, endless police interrogations, endless holdups at gas stations, etc.), and it pays off. “I’m being turned on by a woman who is long dead!”

    The Brains didn’t like many musical acts from 1994, did they? If they weren’t ragging on Beck or the Crash Test Dummies or the Counting Crows, then poor Lisa Loeb got trashed. Of course, Bridget’s take on “Stay” is really funny, especially her exaggerations of Lisa’s overactive arm-flailing in the music video. “I thought she was Courtney Hole!” always makes me laugh too. (I am such a ’90s geek.)

    Speaking of musical riffs, there’s a running gag in the movie that I enjoy where they note one of the henchmen’s resemblance to Michael Stipe of R.E.M. It’s usually Mike who points it out (“Andy, didja hear about Elvis?”, “All right, stand in the place where you live”, “Oh no, that’s us in the corner, that’s us in the spotlight!”, etc.). I guess I like it ’cause they never actually say “Hey, Michael Stipe”, they just quote the songs and let the audience figure it out on their own. That’s my favorite kind of running gag – one that isn’t too repetitive or too obvious.

    “I think this director has out-Wooded Ed Wood.” I was especially tickled by this ’cause if you’ve ever seen Tim Burton’s Ed Wood, you know there’s a poster for this movie hanging in George Weiss’ office when Ed goes to meet him for the first time – and it’s under its original title, Pin-Down Girl (a groaner of a pun for a groaner of a film, I guess). “I don’t make major motion pictures, I make crap.”

       11 likes

  6. GizmonicTemp says:

    For my money, the greatest distance between quality of movie and short. This short is tied with Mr. B as my favorite of all time and this movie is one of my least favorite. I’m excited about the DVD release of this simply because we get the host segments concerning the short, but that’s it.

       3 likes

  7. Klisch says:

    This sounds like a good episode, so I’m anxious to view it sometime in the near future when and if, it comes to DVD. Now when Sampo reviews Beast of Yucca Flats, I’ll be able to comment on that one. :grin:

       0 likes

  8. Sitting Duck says:

    Andrew at BadMovies.Org did a review of the short (which was part of a DVD collection of Fifties shorts on the subject of Love and Marriage). An interesting point he made is that Mr. Hall bears a resemblance to horror writer H.P. Lovecraft. This is particularly amusing when you consider how disatrous Lovecraft’s own marriage was.

       1 likes

  9. Joseph Nebus says:

    The short is one of those transcendent moments where the inherent goofiness of the source matter blends with absolutely perfect treatment by the Brains. If someone does not understand what there is to like about Mystery Science Theater 3000, show them this, and either they will understand then or be doomed to never understand it.

    The host segments, as well, are pure delight: silly premises treated with reasonable care and formed into an engaging, weird storyline, chock full of things to laugh at. Rarely have they done better.

    The movie … well … I just can’t get into it. Every time I watch I end up feeling like I’m trapped in a swamp where each riff is miles away from the next, and the movie itself longer than the actual Kefauver hearings. I can’t even point to a slow segment: pull up any random minute from this and it’s doing as well, maybe better, than average for Mike and Crow and Tom. It’s just somehow it doesn’t stick together to my mind. (It’s one of three episodes I’ve seen which I can’t get into.)

       1 likes

  10. jjb3k says:

    @ #7: It also gives new meaning to the riff “I worship Cthulhu!”

       0 likes

  11. BigZilla says:

    I’ve only seen it once (almost 15 years ago) but I recall it being both rather funny and also unrelentingly bleak. THIS is a Black & White movie! I’m looking forward to the DVD release as the only 2 things I clearly remember is how odd the wrestling and Peaches were (and if I remember correctly, not quite as funny as Samson v. Vampire Women) and the very funny Ukrainian national anthem. My sister and I used to run around the house singing it.
    Even more than the movie I want to see the short. That rubber band “SNAP” scene is one of the funniest things I had ever seen. I tried to find this short 5-6 years ago when my wife and I were engaged. Along with the “let’s go talk about our superior relationship” short – can’t think of the name – this is one of their funniest ever.

       0 likes

  12. LL says:

    Last time I saw Lisa Loeb she was running around the set of her E! reality show in her underpants. Thankfully Joe Don Baker’s career didn’t take that path post-MST3k…

       5 likes

  13. happy says:

    Glad its coming to DVD on the upcoming set

       2 likes

  14. Cliff Weismeyer says:

    This is a good solid episode, not a classic, but certainly not bad.

    You have to wonder (actually, you don’t, but I do) from watching this film, though, about exactly how much a negative impact George Weiss had on the train wreck that is Glen or Glenda. Ed Wood’s movies are all pretty terrible, but none of his others are as incoherant or nonsensical as the one he did with George Weiss. If this film is any indication, random insertion of footage with no regard to plot continuity was as much a Weiss trademark as a Wood one. We know that Weiss did insert some really crazy footage into Glen or Glenda. Could his role in that movie be greater than is currently recognized? Could Wood + Weiss have been the movie industry’s perfect storm of incompetence? Should anyone even remotely care?

       4 likes

  15. MattG says:

    Everyone remembers the Boing! moment, but where’s the love for Kay looking off blankly into the distance as Crow calls out “Marines, we are leaving!”?

       9 likes

  16. MikeH says:

    I love this episode too, the wrestling parts were hard to deal with though, on and on forever with the same audience sounds being looped. At least with refueling and rock climbing we had music to listen too.

    Peaches plain ol looks odd. She’s well built and the film seem to take advantage of this during the outdoor exercise scenes. But I never ever wanted to see Ethel Mertz in any kind of two piece outfit. I’m scarred for life. I liked the bookie character, don’t know why, just creepy and mean.

    The short is a fave, though Professor Hall looks like he’s a moving wax figure, did he make those charts himself?

       2 likes

  17. jade says:

    I haven’t seen this episode, but I’ve seen the short and it’s awesome! I love the ‘We are leaving’ joke, too. Such a good one.

       1 likes

  18. Ransom says:

    I saw this ep close to when it first aired (I was in junior high) am still a bit confused over some of the host segments, mainly by the presence of the rainbow scarf around Dr. F’s neck. That combined with Dr. F and Franks ever increasingly effeminate behavior makes me wonder if the Brains were trying to say that the mads were 1) homosexual, and 2) a “couple” Refrencing other episodes, esp Beginning of the End.

    I know this might be a bit of a “hot topic” but I’d really like to know some other fans take on the Mike era portrayal of the Mads.

       0 likes

  19. rcfagnan says:

    One of my favorite eps, can’t wait for the dvd (my vhs copy is really worn out.) Favorite riff fromt the short: “Can I see the raw data!” from when Mr. Hall is showing them his ridiculous charts. From the movie: “Music? Why here? Why now? Why us?” Trace’s delivery of that riff keeps me in stitches.

       5 likes

  20. Kris says:

    The actors in the short just fascinate me. What the hell were people smoking in the 50s?! And rubber bands? Dolls? Hand-drawn charts detailing nothing? Really? This is how pre-marital counseling went down back in the day? Thank God we currently live in much more stable, far less silly times!

    Speaking of silly, wow, what a movie! And I gotta agree with Sampo: Peaches was just an odd, odd-looking woman.

       1 likes

  21. The Professor says:

    Personally, i think the movie is a parade of strange, odd looking people. :roll:

    This one was really hard for me to enjoy first go around. The wrestling scenes really, really, really hurt me. So boring and so incredibly LOOOONNNNGGGG. It makes The Starfighters look like Bullitt…or, at least, Death Race 2000. Repeat viewings have made me come around, though. As Crow says, “This movie is refreashingly itself.” Now this episode i’m looking forward the most in the new box set.

       0 likes

  22. Ryan says:

    I haven’t seen this one. Looking forward to it on Vol. 16 from the description.

       0 likes

  23. MitchellRowsdowerBeardsley says:

    Wow – this is deep in the turgid season 6 abyss. So many dull, dull movies, Starfighting, Skydiving, women wrestling, porn making , plotless, ugly films. And not only are the Mads suddenly obnoxiously gay, instead of subtly and humorously so, now Crow and Tom want to get married. Ugh. I must be alone, but I find so many of the season 6 eps groaners. Especially the host segments.

    This is one of those I’ve seen a couple times, but never want to see again.

    The short however, has GOT to be the greatest of the Mike era. Whoever said to show this to a newbie in order to show them what MST3K is was right on. Hilarious!!

       1 likes

  24. bigdaddy320 says:

    @ #10 Bigzilla

    I believe the line “let’s go talk about our superior relationship” is from Ep. 514 Teenage Strangler. It was in the short that was also featured with it called “Is this Love”.

    As far as Racket Girls is concerned. I’ve never seen the episode. So, I have no comment at this time. It’s been taken off of Youtube and I haven’t made it that far on my DAP list yet.

       0 likes

  25. Miqel says:

    “Whoa .. is this me in my head trying to cope with this movie, or is this actually happening on the screen?”

    “Well, when you wrestle Clara Martinsen you’re gonna get some whisker burns”

    “Can’t we just throw a drop-cloth over them?”

    In spite of the multileveled horrendousness of this film I really like this episode, although the wrestling sequences are painfully long. I’d give it a solid 4 stars.There’s some truly bad acting in this film, in particular Peaches and Rita Martinez deliver a couple of zingers.

    For example, my favorite scene in the whole film is when Rita refuses to throw the match and declares “You think because i am mexican you can take advantage of me …. im champion of all mexico! In this sport it takes hard work to get there and guts to stay there.”
    .. but the way she reads this line is incomparably weird and funny. Apparently she actually was a Mexican wrestling champ, but spoke perfect english, so the director (or someone) told her to try to speak with an accent – hence the hilarious proninciation of “Meeey-ster Scalli”

    Peaches reads her lines so bad that the guys don’t even need to comment on it, they just chuckle & snicker every time she speaks. As Crow says in her last scene “Ya’know, Peaches has a fresh natural stupidness that isn’t forced or contrived”

    This movie is wretched but the episode is saved by good host segments and good riffing considering what they were working with. The random family wandering in to Deep 13 is a funny skit. I love how they just meander around and the younger one is messing with the computer terminal. “HAVE YOU BEEN HELPED?”

    Nice to see Bridget, but the Lisa Loeb imitation grates on my nerves after 10 seconds. The wrestling scenes on the SOL and in Deep 13 are damn funny. AND the kooky wrestling COSTUMES Mike & the Bots are wearing at the end …. yowza … Tom Servo aka “Sir Slams-a-Lot” & Crow aka “-
    Professor Hurtz”, lol.

       8 likes

  26. Cabbage Patch Elvis says:

    Like others, I’m really excited about this one on dvd. I’ve only seen the short, but it’s B-o-i-n-g with me (am I using that word right?). Call me sadistic, but I take great pleasure in Sue struggling to comprehend what the hell is going on. What does young Larry see in her, anyway?

       0 likes

  27. The Toblerone Effect says:

    I hadn’t seen this episode in quite some time, perhaps over a decade, because I’d remembered how the wrestling scenes had been brutally long and almost senseless. Watching fresh yesterday, I still feel that it’s a middle-of-the-road episode due to the wrestling scenes, but it’s actually has some good riffs here and there.

    The short is beautifully bizarre. The Reverend Hall character is particularly odd; one of my fav WTF moments is when, after the girl says, “I thought you helped people get married”, he pauses, walks by the young couple, gives first the girl, then the boy, a dead-serious look, then does a 180-degree turn by smiling and saying, “Of course I want to help you get married!” It’s just so WEIRD!

    The movie itself has some laugh-out-loud moments. I like the riff where, as the girls in cat costumes are wrestling, Crow says, “The winner drags the loser to the front porch and displays it to its owner!” My fav riff is the shot where, as the older female trainer is walking to the phone, Crow sings, “Strut, pout, put it out, that’s what you want from grandma!!” in an old lady’s voice. I literally fell out of my chair on that one, it just struck me that funny.

    This episode seemed chock-full of “then-current” references. One that stuck out was, “I knew other sports would gain popularity if baseball went on strike.” Probably because the baseball season just started about a week ago, sometimes you forget that the sport was in major trouble during that strike of ’94. Another was a reference to the very short marriage of Shannen Doherty and Ashley Hamilton.

    While Bridget’s take on Lisa Loeb wasn’t dead on, I enjoyed it nonetheless because it poked fun at someone I always found undeserving of a record deal.

    “And never make light of BOING!, son.”

       6 likes

  28. H says:

    This is a good one. I love the short. I always associate this one with Is This Love?, to the point that I forget which one had the Romulan. You have to admit, it’s an extremely similiar concept. And who could forget ‘Boing!’?
    The movie is so crazy that M+TB can’t help but hit a home run. The host segments are a lot of fun as well. Bridget looks and sounds so much like Lisa Loeb that it’s eerie. Needless to say, looking forward to the release.

       3 likes

  29. The Toblerone Effect says:

    One more thing: I’m taking bets on Shout Factory’s pic of Servo and Crow on the lobby card in the Volume XV set. I’m guessing Crow will have Servo in a full-nelson….

       0 likes

  30. MikeK says:

    Sleaziness has never been this dull. This movie really is the Starfighters of its genre.

    Four stars. Overall, it is a good episode, with good riffing under the circumstances.

    The host segments are a little weird, what with Crow and Servo getting married. It was done better with Servo and Gypsy going on a date. Like Torgo’s appearance at the end of the the Urkel bit, the performers themselves decide to kill the sketch, this time with wrestling.

       0 likes

  31. Another episode where I’ve only seen the short and not the movie. So I’ll just note my favorite riffs again.

    Mike: “You saw my boing?!”
    Crow: “Marines! We are leaving!”
    Servo: “Their tepid embrace tells me they’re ready for marriage.”

       1 likes

  32. Thrifty says:

    Look! Bradford II thinks he’s one of the Models Inc.

       0 likes

  33. Daytripper says:

    I watch this one a lot. I think me and Frank Conniff have similar sensibilities when it comes to dry, boring, talky entertainment choices.

    “Some guys are so ugly they have to become thugs…”

       4 likes

  34. crow -Professor Hurtz -schmo says:

    Oh, the pain. :shock:

    Movie, I can barely make it through ye.

    A few lines here and there are good. The car chase scene at the end is the best part, the only time I was really laughing. And a few lines in other parts that were good – when the crowd is going wild during the wrestling scenes (read -annoying, endless screaming), Crow says, “Is there a midway nearby?”

    When the character of Beverly is being subtly asked to become a hooker to pay off her debts, she says, “Oh, I couldn’t be…” and Crow adds, “An actress?”

    I’ll also throw in my vote for liking Crow’s, “Music? Why here? Why now? – Why US?”

    The short on the other hand is great.

    “Cupid is anal.” – Crow

    “Bobby Orr’s Electric Marriage – real marrige action.” – Crow

    When that Hall guy (“Huntz Hall?”) says it’s not always a boing, Crow adds, “Sometimes it’s spplurt.” :lol:

    When the guy is showing his wonderful charts (???!!!!WTF!!!), Crow says, “Remember – I made this all up.”

    Pretty funny through the whole thing. (The short, that is – definitely NOT the movie).

       0 likes

  35. crow -Professor Hurtz -schmo says:

    Oh, yes, and let’s not forget Mike’s, “Welcome to the only action you’ll ever get.”, when the couple in the short are making out on the porch in the beginning.

       0 likes

  36. Rowsdower42 says:

    Music? Why here? Why now? Why us!?

    I love this episode.

       4 likes

  37. Spector says:

    Love this one! Another great short combined with a horrid movie ripe for riffing.

    The short is definitely one of their classics. So many great lines but being a hockey fan my favorite:

    “Bobby Orr’s Electric Marriage! Real Marriage Action!”

    But so many others, some of which have already been noted:

    Mike (upon reading the title “Are You Ready for Marriage”): “Yeah, I’m sick of sex”.

    “I like to sleep with my head in a catcher’s mitt”.

    “In the car, Sue!”

    “Honey, this is man talk!”

    “Never make light of ‘boing’, son”.

    “Hey, it’s the Hitlers!”

    “Herr Oberst!”

    “But where’s the rubber band!”

    “Sue, your woman’s point of view…

    “…is wrong!” (Crow)

    The movie itself is so bad it has an Ed Wood quality about it even though he had nothing to do with it but yeah, he was obviously influenced by it!

    Bad acting, (especially from the women wrestlers)stereotypical characters and ridiculous situations throughout which makes this one a treat and gives Mike and the ‘Bots so many targets and so many great lines.

    “Is this one of my dreams come to life or is this really happening on the screen?”

    “For those of you who wondered what your great-aunt looks like naked, here you go”.

    “Strut, pout, put it out, that’s what you want from grandma”.

    Crow (watching the endless opening scenes of women wrestling: “Well no wonder the British Invasion went so well, this was all there was!”

    Mike and the ‘Bots signing along to the chase scene music at the film’s climax: “Ukrania, my bitter homeland”…

    “So on Joe’s description he writes, “I like to take women out into the country and watch their breasts”.

    Five stars. Funny, funny stuff that I never get tired of watching.

       4 likes

  38. fireballil says:

    I made this five stars because it is closer to five than four for me. Some rememberances:

    The grating of Lisa Loeb was the whole point of the intro, I think; along with the whole confusion on who she was: ‘I thought she was Courtney Hole!’ ‘No, Courtney Hole was in Pearl Hole…’

    Did the family ever say what they wanted down in Deep 13? Just another part of the whole kooky vibe of the episode.

    The short was great. Fave riff: Mike: ‘First Federal Church, member FDIC.’

    The movie riffing was excellent. Fave riff was between Mike and Crow: ‘You have to wonder what the rejected footage looked like.’ ‘What rejected footage?’ Runner up: Crow yelling ‘The Beatles!’ after yet another scream from the audience.

    This is another example of the short overwhelming the movie in the case of host segment material. The whole Crow-Tom wedding scenario was funny, especially Jan-In-The-Pan doing a striptease with a gold lame’ bandage(but who was taking it off?!?!) At least they did wrestling in the last two segments.

    The Poopie! tape has a blooper where Frank, after singing ‘The Wedding Song’ just stares at Trace instead of launching into ‘Lemon Tree.’ Trace has to prompt him, then he comments on it: ‘You’re just staring at me, I’m just staring at you…’

    Also Mike and the ‘bots kept calling Ukraine ‘Ukrania’ during the ‘national anthem.’ I know this seems like a little goof, but I thought that they might have looked it up before using the name.

       2 likes

  39. Smog Monster says:

    What I love about Season 6, as opposed to many other seasons, is the large quantity of artsy movies that you chose to do, finally, after Seasons of mainly 2 themes: 1) Horror & 2) Gangster movies. In this season you had so much more going on — an air-force-base movie, the third entry for the “Russo-Finnish troika”, voyuerism, etc. etc. etc. If only it was like that earlier on, but that didn’t happen, so I’m glad this season is here. Compare that to the next full season, in which they did 13 Universal horror movies in a row … what was that about ? Couldn’t you at least space ’em ??? Hmmmm …

       2 likes

  40. Smog Monster says:

    This episode is a prime example of the way the season is, is something I left out. Hilarious sounding episode, Racket Girls !

       0 likes

  41. Geode says:

    Such a great episode, with my favorite riff of all time: “Oh, man, CROTCH slapping!”. The perfect marriage of riff, onscreen action, and sound effect.

       1 likes

  42. smirkboy says:

    As far as movies with women wrestling go, it’s ok…but it’s no Manos.

    The outdoor training scene with Joe’s unabashed leering at Peaches…peaches was the best.
    “Usually when I run with a big breasted jogger I’m shy and awkward.”

       0 likes

  43. Miqel says:

    Future Discussion Topic Suggestion
    (idea came from thinking about the recent call for academic research papers on MST3K)

    The Taxonomy of Riffs: Listing of Types of Riffs

    (here’s a few that came to mind while watching Racket Girls)

    Title & Credit Riffs
    – mostly puns, name juxtapositions/combinations or pronunciation jokes

    References
    – literary, cultural, film, religious, historical, musical, political

    Ironic Humor
    – “it’s the music that makes this scene come to life” – in a scene that is starkly silent

    Observational Humor
    – non-joke factual references to things about the film, example, “this film has certain flaws”

    Advertising Related
    – product related jokes, sketches or jingles

    Music Riffs –
    – song lyrics, “Hey Joe” – “Where ya goin’ with that gun in your hand”
    – hummed or sung melodies – examlpe, humming batman Tv show theme, refueling music from skydivers
    – Musician riffs – examlpe: singing REM songs when character onscreen resembles Michael Stipe

    Jokes
    – Ironnically lame or old jokes “take my wife, please”
    – “inside” jokes relating to regional or cultural beliefs

    Puns

    Line Finishing
    – example; ‘I’m not a medium’ – – “I’m a petite”

    Drug, Hippie & 60’s
    – allusions, sight gags, puns & Jokes

    Alcohol & Drunk jokes

    Oblique Sexual References
    – including crossdressing, GLBT and gender jokes

    Crass Humor
    – jokes that are sorta cruel and mean

    Juvenile Humor
    – timeless fart, pee and poop jokes

    Playground Humor
    – really simple childrens jokes

    Micro-Specialized Humor
    – such as JFK riffs only meaningful to well read assasination conspiracy researchers

    Synonyms and Homonyms
    – Fun with language riffs.

    Ruthless put-downs

    Repeating Riffs
    – Callback lines taken from riffed films,
    – Callback jokes or lines taken from previous episodes
    – Callback lines taken from non-riffed popular films or culture

    Non-Film Related Non-Riffs
    – when they discuss stuff amongst themselves while in the theater,
    – Also times where they ‘loose it’ and go crazy, try to escape or bawl during ruthlessly bad films

    etc …

       5 likes

  44. smirkboy says:

    Hey Tolkien, I think you’re on the wrong thread.

       2 likes

  45. My favorite moment in the short, where the girl spaces out and Mike and the Bots have her flash back to Vietnam (ratatatatatat! BOOM! Marines! We are leaving!).
    They were right about the movie in the Episode Guide. The women in this film were frightening to behold. I swore some of them had Adam’s apples.

       2 likes

  46. asimperson says:

    I just started watching the short again and I think my favorite riff is right at the beginning:

    Mike: Uh, Professor Hill, sir?

       0 likes

  47. torgover says:

    This is my absolute favorite episode. The riffs are great. The short is great and the host segment is superb. I even have this movie unmistied and enjoy it way more than I should.

       1 likes

  48. jimmy says:

    “UKRANIA! UKRANIA! UKRANIA! MY BITTER HOMELAND…”

       6 likes

  49. bartcow says:

    Five stars, but it would be only 3 or 4 if not for the short. This was my #1 short, until I saw Once Upon a Honeymoon. Aw, heck, it’s a tie.

    The rasslin’ scene at the end is interminable. I can’t even enjoy the riffs, because it just drags on. At least the refueling scenes in Starfighters shifted perspective every now and then.

    I mean, seriously, how long is that scene anyway? It has to be around 15 minutes.

    And yes, “Stay” was overplayed, but I still kinda like Lisa Loeb. Her later albums are pretty solid. Plus, I held the door open for her once at a record store in Durham (not too far away from Professor Hill’s old stomping grounds at UNC).

       1 likes

  50. omega2010 says:

    Lets not forget the great outtake on the Poopie reel.

       0 likes

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