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Episode guide: 805- The Thing that Couldn’t Die

805

Movie: (1958) A traysure-hunting family at a dude ranch digs up a severed head with evil powers.

First shown: 3/1/97
Opening: Artiste Tom creates negative images of patron Crow
Intro: We meet The Observers, super-intelligent beings who carry their brains around with them. Pearl and Bobo are their guests
Host segment 1: An irritating Observer arrives and observes
Host segment 2: The Observers enable Mike to materialize anyone from his memory
Host segment 3: Crow premieres his documentary on the Civil War
End: Tom has a plan to make Crow do unspeakable acts; Pearl and Bobo get ready for bed
Stinger: Observers
1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars (217 votes, average: 4.45 out of 5)

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• Check out Paul’s take on this episode here.
• This episode is included in Mystery Science Theater 3000 Collection: Vol XXIX.
• This episode definitely causes me a lot of playsure, but it’s also a bit of a comedown after the wacky fun of “Deadly Mantis.” Some of the segments are more clever than funny, and this is a classic example of a movie that would be unwatchable without the riffing. But it’s there, and it is very good. That’s one thing I have to say about this whole period we’re getting into where some fans began to complain (about the loss of the stingers, about the sameness of the movies (see below), about the new premise, blah blah blah): I maintain that the riffing in all these episodes is as consistently good (and occasionally better) as what we saw in the Comedy Central years. There, I said it, I’d say it again if I had to.
References.
• It was about at this point that the string of black-and-white Universal b-movies began to wear on some fans. In retrospect, the relief that was “Giant Spider Invasion” was only a few episodes away, but at the time the sameness of the movies irritated some. My sense is that Sci-Fi Channel lined these up for them, thinking that these were the sort of movies fans wanted them to riff. (Though, to be sure, there were at least two others reasons: because they were compatible with the channel, and because, at that time, the company that owned these Universal movies was the same one that owned the channel, making them cheap to acquire.) But the complaints were less about each movie taken by itself and more about the sameness of the sequence. Had they interspersed these movie with some other types of films, the issue might never have come up. The moral: a little variety is always nice.
• Of course, the big news in this episode was the introduction of The Observers, characters not directly from any particular “Star Trek” episode, but certainly reminiscent of many of the sort of supposedly omniscient beings that Captain Kirk seemed to encounter often.
• Tom notes that much of the music in the movie is essentially a needle-drop on the “This Island Earth” soundtrack. It’s hard to miss.
• Callbacks: “She’s getting squishy!” (A Young Man’s Fancy); “Old Timer Billy Slater” (Junior Rodeo Daredevils).
• Early in the movie, something called a “trade rat” is mentioned. The writers apparently never heard the term before (neither had I), and so they have a lot of fun with the phrase. Well, the Columbia Encyclopedia says a “trade rat” is synonymous with “pack rat ,” a rodent of the genus neotoma, noted for its habit of collecting bright, shiny objects and leaving other objects, such as nuts or pebbles, in their place; also called trade rat or wood rat … the pack rat stores the objects it collects to decorate its nest.” There, don’t say you’ve never learned anything from Satellite News. :-)
• As Jessica prepares to leave, Crow wonders aloud where the heck she’s going. Pay attention, Crow. She said loud and clear she was going to her cousin’s.
• Paul is hilarious as the Observer. “I hate him, and can take solace only in my own cool detachment.”
• There were a total of 12 “Dale” riffs this season, and there were Dale riffs in 11 consecutive episodes beginning in this episode. (And there were some in previous seasons! For a complete list, visit Ward E.) From this point forward, they will be referred to as “Daleisms.” This episode’s Daleism: Mike the lunkhead (in the movie) looks at his hands and Mike (the lunkhead, in the theater) says “I thought you were Dale.”
• When Kevin’s appears as Hadrian, his helmet begins to come loose almost immediately and eventually falls off even though he attempts to secure it in mid-scene.
• Then Mike shoves Bridget in the face … THAT must have been a delicate rehearsal…
• Obscure references: Larry Wilcox, who played Officer Jonathan “Jon” Baker in TV’s “CHiPs” and Tracy Gold, best remembered as daughter Carol on the TV’s “Growing Pains.”
• One movie complaint: Toward the second half of the movie, the inhabitants of the ranch decide to dig for the coffin containing the head’s body. I have to ask: Why is the oily beat artist guy digging? He’s a GUEST at the ranch! Sure, both the ranch’s hands are dead, but that’s Flavia’s problem, isn’t it? If I were a guest at a dude ranch (an unlikely prospect, I assure you), you wouldn’t catch me doing heavy labor for the ranch’s owner without a serious cut in the room rate.
• There’s a classic moment in this one when the two women crawl into bed together, and Crow and Tom celebrate in great style.
• A lot of fans were very surprised and not many were pleased when the Observers usurped the stinger. It would continue for three episodes, and the howls of dismay grew louder each week.
• In a thread we did a while back, the consensus choice for the stinger was “You’re all evil and I hope you die!”
• Cast and crew roundup: Screenwriter David Duncan also worked on “Black Scorpion” and “The Leech Woman.” Cinematographer Clifford Stine also worked on “This Island Earth,” “The Creeping Terror” and “The Mole People.” Costumer Bill Thomas also worked on “The Leech Woman.” Makeup guy Bud Westmore blah, blah, blah. Same with art director Alexander Golitzen, set designer Russell A. Gausman, sound person Leslie I. Carey, score composer/music supervisor Joseph Gershenson and score composer Henry Mancini.
In front of the camera: Robin Hughes was also in “The Mole People.” Peggy Converse was also in “The Brute Man.” Phil Harvey was also in “The Deadly Mantis.” Thomas Browne Henry was also in “Beginning of the End.
• CreditsWatch: Bill’s credit as “Observer” begins; it will run though the end of the series. Paul and Mike’s credit as “Observer” begins and runs for three more episodes. Jim gets both the producer and director credit this time, and Kevin continues as associate producer. That’s Paul as Finnigan, Kevin as Hadrian and Bridget as Adrienne Barbeau.
• Fave riff: “Oh E.G. Marshall, you ARE a bold one…” Honorable mentions: “Well, there’s that all-night historical society.” “Now I want her more than ever!” and “Here’s lookin’ up your neck hole!”

161 Replies to “Episode guide: 805- The Thing that Couldn’t Die”

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  1. The Toblerone Effect says:

    Oh yeah! That was one thing I REALLY hated about this part of Season 8. I thought that using the shots of the Observers at the end of each episode was a total cop-out; taking a five-second clip for each movie was apparently too much work for whoever makes such decisions, so let’s go in “self-promotion” mode and have the Observers holding brains while the “Best Brains Incorporated” line is flashed on the bottom of the screen. Jeesh! This movie had what I considered at least four stinger-worthy moments. Instead, we get another change that made me question if they’d lost some of the charm that induced me to follow the show in the first place.

    Why do I go on about this? I can’t speak for other MSTies, but part of my enjoyment in watching MST3K was guessing what they’d show as a stinger at the very end of each episode. These next few eps took that simple pleasure away, at least at the time I first watched them. It just seemed like BBI was getting lazy (or just plain bored) with a part of the show I always enjoyed.

    Am I alone in feeling this way?

       0 likes

  2. Sampo says:

    >Now, regarding the “girl on girl” stuff. Who the heck is Amanda Beardsley?

    Thank you Mike K, for reminding me about this! I meant to mention it, but I forgot. It’s the SECOND time in two episodes where “Amanda Beardsley” has been mention as part of a lesbian joke.
    My conjecture: They are actually referring to actress Amanda Bearse, an actress perhaps best remembered from her stint on the Fox comedy “Married…with Children” who has publicly acknowledged that she is a lesbian.
    In other words, it’s a goof.

       2 likes

  3. Cabbage Patch Elvis says:

    She also played the (urp) love interest in Fright Night!

       2 likes

  4. Green Switch says:

    #36 DON3k – “This film is another in the long line of films featured on MST3k where the title is completely inaccurate.”

    Hah, too true!

    #51 The Toblerone Effect – “I can’t speak for other MSTies, but part of my enjoyment in watching MST3K was guessing what they’d show as a stinger at the very end of each episode. These next few eps took that simple pleasure away, at least at the time I first watched them. It just seemed like BBI was getting lazy (or just plain bored) with a part of the show I always enjoyed.

    Am I alone in feeling this way?”

    You wouldn’t be alone on that.

    Like I said, the stingers represented one of my favorite parts of the show. I tried to predict which clip they’d use at the end of the episode.

    It was a disappointment to have a four-episode dry spell of stingers.

       1 likes

  5. to all my fellow baby boomers, i just turned 55 – my first episode was “The Beatniks” (who were so NOT beatniks!) – contrary to many folks who say your mike-joel preference is determined by who you saw first, i must admit i have a definite preference for mike, although i got hooked on the show during the joel period (and remember being quite worried about the show when i heard that joel was leaving) – for me comparisons of the two are comparing “very good” and “very, very good”!

    as to the thing that wouldn’t die, this is a top ten episode for me – and i echo the sentiment that jessica is hot – definited wone of my MSTed movie favorites :wink:

       5 likes

  6. i mean “one of my favorites” (i guess that’s why they suggest you check your message BEFORE submission)

       0 likes

  7. MSTJon says:

    For whatever reason, this ep really struck a chord with my family. One of us eventually put it on cassette for a road trip and even my MST-hating step mom could enjoy it (since she gets too far into the movie, this simplified it for her). A personal favorite for no real reason. Jessica IS kind of cute…

       1 likes

  8. Colossus Prime says:

    My favorite part of the openning host segment: They had Gypsy of all people point out, “Wouldn’t it be more convenient to keep your brains in your heads?” This would be followed up by her accurately refering to the Observers as the stupid smart guys. Brilliant.

    The riffing in this movie is so solid I can’t pick a favorite, but my brother and I regularly say, “Remember, you walked into a painting of a door.”

    Crow’s horribly innaccurate doc was also classic, which will only be topped in his doc about women in Hobgoblins.

    And let us not forget Mike’s awkward look/stance as he’s waiting for Tom to que him to shove Tom’s head in Crow’s face.

       1 likes

  9. Cliff Weismeyer says:

    Re: The Amanda Beardsly question, I thought that it might be a blown reference also, but weirdly they got her name right in Red Zone Cuba. In the scene where Griffin, Cook and Landis tell Ruby Chastain that they know her husband, one of the guys riff “my husband is Amanda Bearce.”

    Why do I know this?

       0 likes

  10. This episode had some of my favorite riffs which I didn’t mention in the Fave-Riffs thread:
    “Did you maysure the traysure chest?”
    “Now I’ll read my favorite Shakespeare play, ‘Maysure for Maysure.'”
    “Been a playsure, ma’am.”

       0 likes

  11. “He took my traysure and now I feel displaysure.”

       3 likes

  12. ck says:

    Let’s see, Flavia McIntyre or Erica Page (Gunslingers bar/brothel owner), who’s a less sympathetic/female protagonist character? Perhaps they’re sisters. :???:

       0 likes

  13. big61al says:

    Thank you Best Brains for saving this crap movie. Had this not been riffed I think this one would have been better just to rot away in the can. Dull, stupid and mind numbing.

       1 likes

  14. beth563 says:

    Love this ep ’cause it’s one of my favorite types of movies, and I LOVE the Observers. I so wish they could have stayed there longer.

    Regarding the movie, beyond the how in the heck could this happen logistics, how about the cute Professor guy is only interested in Jessica when she turns evil (aka, puts her ponytail to the side and changes her dress from white to black.) Prior to that he couldn’t care less.

       1 likes

  15. Stinger shminger. That’s right, I said stinger shminger.

       3 likes

  16. Nicias says:

    I’ll echo the favorable sentiments for the Sci-Fi era. As someone who started watching toward the end of the CC era, I too had my doubts, but they were easily deterred as Season 8 progressed. While both eras of the show had their charms, I watch primarily for the movie segments, and in the Sci-Fi era the riffing was generally sharper and more tightly-executed. As far as I’m concerned, the show just kept getting better, and was still going strong up to it’s untimely end.

    I also second the love of Observer; he is also my favorite “Mad.” His combination of sputtering indignation, haughty intellectualism and eventual resignation to his situation made for great interactions with his cohorts.

    As for my habitual favorite character pick: tough choice with this film, because all the characters are depicted as either bland or vile, often both due to the whole demon possession thing. Grasping at straws I’ll choose Linda, since she seems genuinely kind when she’s not being hypnotized by a disembodied head. As an alternative choice I might also go with “evil Jessica,” merely because the actress stops whining her lines after she becomes demon-possessed, and comes off more as a woman after shedding her twelve year old girl persona.

    I don’t normally pick a least favorite character, but I feel compelled to this time. Surprisingly it’s not Flavia, although she is spiteful. I choose Hank, the “beatnik” artist. His response to his girlfriend’s demon-inspired rejection is to immediately seduce the underage virginal girl. We later we find him boozing it up with both of the satanic chicks who utterly rejected him. Apparently his soul is so malleable that he fits right in with the damned without any need for possession or coercion.

       3 likes

  17. H says:

    I like it. Again, not great but solid. Movie’s pretty good and so are the host segments. Any Mike and Bridget interplay is much loved by me.

       1 likes

  18. Cornbred says:

    Like this episode (I like everything though) Still didn’t feel as strong as Deadly Mantis, or the next three brilliant ones. I’m one of the people who could exist forever in the black and white films that started season 8 though, so no complaints about the lack of color. and Jessica was strangely appealing, annoying too, but still appealing. More so that most of the women who frequent these movies at least (Beverly Garland being on a whole nother level) and all I will add is
    “Brought to you by the breast council. Buy breasts where you work or bank”

       0 likes

  19. GonzoRedux says:

    As it was for Shinola, this was my first episode, way back in fourth grade…

    I really loved the Observers. I am now surprised that the Brains were able to buy into the gimmick so easily given the fact that neither Pearl (as the evil-doer she is in the SciFi years) nor Bobo are all that well developed as characters.

    I kind of like this movie too. It’s terrible, sure, but it’s interesting. I don’t find the UA movies soul-crushing the way Red Zone Cuba was, or disgusting/smarmy like the color films usually were. And they were a lot better than the Japanese films later in the season, not to mention Devil Doll. They all kind of had a hook, too, even if they were poorly realized.

    None of the UA pictures made me ashamed to be human the way so many MST movies can (part of me will never be back; part of me is gone forever…). I think SciFi must have chosen them because they were so lightweight.

       2 likes

  20. Bob(NotThatBob) says:

    “Wouldn’t it be funny if she actually found ‘Divine?'”
    As a kid I used to catch “The Thing That Couldn’t Die” on “Creature Double Feature” Saturday afternoons back in Boston. I don’t think this movie has ever had an official VHS or DVD release. Boring as many believe it is, I would love to see it released some time. It just makes me feel like a kid again to see it. This is definitely one of my top 10 all time favorite episodes.
    Now I “must go whittle charming old sea-captain figurine.”

       0 likes

  21. Warren says:

    This one wasn’t bad-I should watch it again, it’s been a long time. Incidentally I’ve never heard anyone outside of TTTCD say “tray-sure”.

       0 likes

  22. Bart Fargo says:

    Amanda Beardsly played “Marcy Darcy”, the next door Neighbor on “Married with Children”. Then she came out as a Lesbian. That’s where the riffs come from.

    She was also the love interest in the movie “Fright Night”.

       1 likes

  23. mikek says:

    Bart Fargo #72. Amanda Bearse was the actress on Married With Children. While it is no unusual for the Brains to reference the wrong person, I’m still not convinced that was the case regarding “Amanda Beardsley”.

       0 likes

  24. trickymutha says:

    I thought maybe she was related to our own Mr. Beardsley of Fly Creek, GA.

       4 likes

  25. Titanius Anglesmith, Fancy Man of Cornwood says:

    Oh, this movie wasn’t TOTALLY unwatchable. Sorry Mamie, but to me Jessica is the hottest babe in all of MST3K-dom!

       1 likes

  26. losingmydignity says:

    This one is in my top twenty.

    An absolutely outstanding ep, one in which the riffs never drop off even during the film’s most “empty” (as in the long section of the film where people are just standing around on porches and lounging in bed) sections.

    It seems to me the riffs in this ep are a bit more subtle than in most eps. Or, if not subtle, inter-connected–that is the humor of many riffs are dependent on little things the characters say and do and at the same time riffs that have been made previously in the ep by Mike and Co. I guess that makes this ep more complex than subtle, but I hope I’m making my point. I think the humor would be lost on a too casual viewing. You really have to pay attention on this one! I might also say the riffs are more “character-based” in this one as well. If you know what I mean.

    The line directed by Crow at Flavia, the one where he says “How WOULD you like the wolf to howl?” is one of my all time fav moments in MST.
    There are a bunch of others but I’d prefer to forget them so they are still fresh the next time I watch this.

    I’m always surprised that they make a Peter O’Toole reference so late in the ep. I mean, the headless fop really really looks like the actor. I don’t catch any references to any of Peter’s films…a missed opportunity if you ask me. Our de-headed “Thing” looks exactly the way O’Toole did in “Lion in Winter”, a perfect chance for them to do some Kate Hepburn.

    The film is of the claustophobic variety. That is it takes place in one limited setting (could easily be a play) like Teenage Crime Wave, et al. Don’t know why but this often works well for riffing.

    This one never lets up (oh how I love the last ten minutes) and is a true classic.

    A+

       1 likes

  27. crowschmo - Registered Trade Rat says:

    Sampo: Not all relaxation at a Dude Ranch, they put you to work, so you probably WOULD have to dig that hole.

    This one wasn’t that memorable. Okay, not great. Not many stand out lines on their own, but, taken as a whole, not bad.

    Lame villain. Why didn’t he just stare at EVERYONE at the end and put them ALL in a trance instead of making a lame speech? Why stand around and wait until one of them tries to stop him?

    Make sure it’s dead – open coffin – it’s already a skeleton. :roll:

    Thing That Couldn’t Die – bahhahh!! *waves hands dismissively*

    Really starting to hate the host segments. Show is losing it’s charm. Paul as annoying Observer was funny though.

    “Everybody – pretend you don’t have blood!”

       0 likes

  28. The Professor says:

    I must also mention that the Werewolves of London reference made after the wolf howl had me laughing so hard I had to pause it. It’s something in the way Mike says it…

       0 likes

  29. ghlbtsk says:

    Another fantastic ep. During the original airings, it was right around this one that I thought the brief adjustment was over and they were back on their game again. Bill’s Crow was hitting his stride here.

    I always found it hilarious when a character was startled or suddenly shown in extreme close-up the riffers would all yell “AAAHHH!!”

    This one took the cake, though, (mostly for Bill’s delivery) when the Professor was startled by the lead guy and Crow fires off: “AAAHH, MY HEART!”

       0 likes

  30. Ralph C. says:

    This episode was fun. I laughed when I saw the stinger was taken over by the Observers. I loved it. It’s sad that there were those who got so distraught over this.

    I was never bothered by the string of black-and-white movies they did. I don’t care if it’s black-and-white or color, as long as the movie wasn’t dull and lifeless, therefore not allowing much room for the riffing, I was fine. I guess the group of movies I didn’t like the most were the Gamera ones, overall. There were funny moments in some, and I liked the one with Jet Jaguar (Gamera vs Gaos? I’m going by memory here).

    I do want to say that I never complained that there were too many Gamera movies. I guess what I’m saying is, well, it was too bad some of the things MST3K did that people didn’t like got them all worked up. It’s all water under the bridge, I suppose, but it’s too bad people got worked up and all upset over such things. Oh well.

    So it goes.

       2 likes

  31. Nicias says:

    #76 losingmydignity – Thanks for reminding me of the Peter O’Toole riff. “The Lion in Winter” is my favorite film of all time.

    Sampo & #77 crowschmo – I always assumed that Hank was digging because he wanted a cut of the gold “tray-sure” that everyone was so sure would be buried with the dead guy. Either that, or as I mentioned in my earlier post, he just dug evil chicks and was ready to do whatever they said without question.

       0 likes

  32. Halomek says:

    #80 Ralph C. – Jet Jaguar was never in any of the Gamera movies. He appeared in Godzilla vs Megalon.

    Although admittedly he was goofy enough that he could have fit perfectly in a Gamera movie. :lol:

       0 likes

  33. The Bolem says:

    While not quite a personal favorite, this is perhaps the most memorable of the first 9 B&Ws, probably because the characters, if nothing else, were better defined and more visually appealing.

    Thanks to only seeing MSThour eps before the SciFi switch, and missing #s 801 and 804, I’d only seen the stingers for Leech Woman and Mole People prior to this, so I didn’t even know that such a regular feature was being disrupted! So no complaints from me. After careful deliberation of the fill-in stingers on Youtube, I decided on the moment where the 3 surviving men declare, “Let’s get ‘im!”, and make their dramatic charge of about 12 feet. It just seems so funny in hindsight, because they cut their rush short the instant our re-capitated Englishman pulls a knife, making any and all heroics in the film even lamer than said lamest villian of the season.

    As for why Sir Drake and co. didn’t just execute him with the pendant in the past, there’s 3 possibilities:

    1. They didn’t know if the pendant would kill him, or if his evil power might contaminate it upon contact, so they decapitated him in hopes that dividing his body would diminish his power, and future generations would finish him off, as was the case.

    2. They buried him alive as a more sadistic punishment than death.

    3. They feared killing him would send his soul to Hell and make Satan’s army more powerful (or does that logic only work in ‘Spawn’?) If that’s the case, then our heroes really screwed up, and the devil just got his victory 3 centuries later.

    I also agree with whoever mentioned the ending being too rushed/cramped. The best example of this is how he just throws out that he needs to start drinking blood, and he has to be fussy about it, in the last 30 seconds before he dies. Were they just assuming that people associated vampirism with selling your soul to Hell? Or with being buried for hundreds of years and getting all dehydrated? One of H.P. Lovecraft’s longest works does something similar: The first 2/3 of ‘The Case of Charles Dexter Ward’ deal almost exclusively with the title protaganist unearthing evidence that his ancestor found a way to reconstitute the dead using special powder and was torturing them in some vague quest for ultimate knowledge and immortality, but then the third act just tosses in, “oh yeah, Curwen was also responsible for some vampire attacks, because he needs fresh blood. Did I forget to mention how that ties into all this? Ah, we’ll move on, story’s long enough already…” (It’s still a good novella, though)

    Maybe I’m just a sucker for big-dumb-guy riffs, but my favorite has to be when the head disposes of Mike: “Me have element-surprise on you.”

       1 likes

  34. @#80 Ralph C.

    It’s not just that the movies in this part of the season were in black and white, it’s the dull grayness of all of them (regardless of the visual color spectrum). I would posit that The Giant Spider Invasion was every bit as gray as these Universal B&W outings. This stretch of season 8 is the grayest since season 1. Season 9 has a similar stretch, with the dull British movies like The Projected Man and The Deadly Bees.

       2 likes

  35. Sitting Duck says:

    One of my favorite riffs in this one comes near the end, when the talisman is being used to ward off the Big Bad and, as he behaves like Dracula having a cross shoved in his face, Crow says, “AAAHHH!!!!! It’s so tacky!”

       0 likes

  36. Ralph C. says:

    #82: You’re right. In my head I have lumped Gamera with Godzilla. Anyone can make that mistake, right? Right? I really am a big fan of the show… honestly.

    #84: I can see what you might mean by that stretch of movies being “gray” but I was referring to an actual comment that some didn’t like the string of black-and-white movies being shown. As to my own personal opinion, I didn’t find all of the movies in the b & w stretch as being gray. I have watched “The Undead” again recently and found it funnier than when I first watched it, not as dull as I originally thought. “Terror From The Year 5000!” wasn’t dull, and it was funny, too, and I have watched “I Was A Teenage Werewolf” a few times and not found it dull. “The Projected Man” and “The Deadly Bees” were dull, I agree.

    Perhaps I am not as sullied by the down quality or the grayness of some films as others might be (maybe some part of me basks in “greyness”). “Hamlet” was what I would consider “gray” due to it being truly dull with no room for riffing. Would anyone disagree with this statement, or should we wait for the write-up of episode 1009 to discuss it?

       1 likes

  37. Tim S. Turner says:

    Love this episode. It introduces my beloved Observers, and the segment with Paul “observing” Mike is hysterical. And, is it just me, or are both the young women in this thing really, really hot?

       3 likes

  38. Manny Sanguillen says:

    This episode and the next one represent kind of a lull in my opinion. I thought this one was so-so and the next one fair at best.
    809 was the beginning of the turn-around, and it really blossomed from 810-812.
    813 and up is pure excellence.

    I could use some more viewings of this one. I’ve only watched it all the way through once, and every time I’ve attempted to sit down and watch it I’ve been too busy with other things to give it my full concentration.
    I’ve been saving it for a rainy day, and next time I have the opportunity I’ll pull it out (and the episode) and give it my full attention (and the episode).

       2 likes

  39. Manny Sanguillen says:

    Actually 806 & 807 were very good. It’s really this episode and 808 (the she creature) that I thought were the low points….so uh…nevermind then, I guess.

       0 likes

  40. MFifer says:

    Personally, I found that this episode, and SHE-CREATURE, brought me tons of playsure. They’re traysure. And I WAS A TEENAGE WEREWOLF. I’m bummed they haven’t become part of the DVD canon yet… Funny how some folks consider this a “low point” or “lull”. Personally I love the fact that MST3K went through so many “phases”. And these episodes had riffing that holds ground with the best of episodes. Not to mention the quiet weirdness of the Observer segments. Keep ’em coming Shout Factory.

       4 likes

  41. Cornjob says:

    Great episode, my favorite part is where we see the hole that the dumb guy is digging, with it’s perfectly flat sides and 90 degree angles. He may have been stupid, but no one could shape earth with his kind of precision. Imagine the ice sculptures this guy could make.

       3 likes

  42. Fred P says:

    I love this episode. It gave me so much playsure to watch I hope it is released soon. I’d call it a top 20 all timer.

       3 likes

  43. sregner says:

    My favorite part is when the head is in the closet and the door is shut and Mike makes the sound of the head falling off the shelf and says the same thing (I guess you have to be there). The first time I saw this my son and I were sitting on the couch and we literally fell off of it laughing. :mrgreen: This is one of my very favorite movies

       1 likes

  44. creepygirl says:

    I have to admit that I’ve stayed away from the early Season 8 episodes because when they first aired, I really did not like them much. I agree with the *grey* comments. I have been watching them lately and in order and I have changed my mind, they are way better than I remember.

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  45. Kali says:

    One of the great episodes, but that Civil War sketch was SO dumb! Sorry, Crow, but you’re better off doing movie scripts than miniseries. :evil:

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  46. Kali says:

    “You’re all evil and I hope you have snacks!” :evil:

       5 likes

  47. DamonD says:

    Drags a bit but still a good one, with an entertainingly goofy plot.

    The bit I remember striking me funniest was Tom doing muffled laughter when the head was hidden in a box.

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  48. Sitting Duck says:

    @ #32: Mike’s facial expressions definitely take the segment from merely being just good to gut-busting hilarity.

    # 45: -Flavia: “Gold, it must be gold!” Yeah, the great Nevada pirates buried it.

    Guess they never saw that one episode of The Adventures of Brisco County Jr.

       1 likes

  49. Creeping-Death says:

    A above average episode, 4 stars. Plenty of weird moments for M&TB to riff, like the peepin’ ranch hand, Boyd, being a obvious lowlife(but still nice enough to stop peeping on Jessica before she gets down to her bottom layer of undergarments. Isn’t the point of peeping to at least see those?)

    The running gag riff of Servo doing the opening riff(A riff thats a riff!) from the Allman Brothers song Jessica.

    The jokes on Flavia’s(Aunt Flatula?) name and her pronunciation of “Tray-sure”.

    Crow: [singing] There’s a thick yellow stain on my back brace!
    Crow: There’s a big greasy stain on my pillow!

    The famous shot at the end:
    Crow: The whole movie was leading up to this shot.
    Mike [as Announcer]: Brought to you by the Breast Council.
    Servo [as Announcer]: Buy breasts where you work or bank!

       4 likes

  50. ToolAssist says:

    Average episode. While some of the segments are funny, especially the second, this movie is friggin’ boring as hell. The riffs as Mike are hilarious, and the others are pretty good, but generally the movie just brings me displaysure. 3.5/5

    I have to say one of my favorite moments is Gypsy’s casual “Yeah. What the hell?” in the opening segment.

       1 likes

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