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Episode guide: 1013- Diabolik

Movie: (1968) Super-thief Diabolik performs several daring heists, then sets his sights on a shipment of gold.

First shown: August 8, 1999
Opening: M&tB discover the SOL employee handbook
Intro: Pearl has a new joystick, which leads to re-entry protocol
Host segment 1: Crow and Mike are packed; while Servo disposes of the many extra hims
Host segment 2: In Castle Forrester, everybody is lining up new gigs
Host segment 3: Crow is worried, so Mike sings a reassuring song
End: After the crash, M&tB settle in to their new home with a familiar pastime
Stinger: “Is that stud coming?”
1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars (278 votes, average: 4.47 out of 5)

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• And so we come to the final Sci-Fi Channel episode, and, of course, this is one where the host segments outweigh the movie. Like all the big premise-changing episodes, the host segments are, once again, a marvel of tight, efficient (and funny!) story telling. As for the movie, it’s sort of “Danger Death Ray”/”Double 007” meets “Batman” and, well, yes, it certainly is pretty to look at.
• Last time I called the riffing “steady and workmanlike,” adding that “there’s little that’s memorable.” I’m going to disagree with myself after this viewing. Maybe it was the mood I was in, but I laughed a LOT this time.
• Mary Jo (with an assist from Bill, Patrick and Paul) offers her thoughts.
References. I noticed a couple they missed: “Okay, I’ll go hang with Nova for a while” is a reference to the fact that the woman looks a bit like the female lead of “Planet of the Apes.” Also “Flaming truck at Brixton, 20 minutes late” is a “Fall & Rise of Reginald Perrin” reference.
• While this episode was being made, Jim Mallon stalked the halls with a video camera, documenting the event. The footage was later released on video as “The Last Dance: Raw.” The last time through, I watched it before actually watching this episode, and it is interesting in a couple of respects. First, if it does nothing else, it captures the tedium of TV production. There is a lot of standing around waiting, and this gives us a real sense of that. Second, it gives a brief shot of where I scrawled on the back of the SOL set. Since that object no longer exists, to my knowledge, it’s nice that there’s a record of it. Finally, yes, the MST3K process has been described many times, but there’s nothing like actually seeing people doing it. So, if you haven’t given it a look, it’s worth one. But I doubt you’ll want to watch it again.
• I think a lot of MSTies agree that this was a strange choice for a final movie. We discussed it here.
• But I do have one question for the movie: What is the point of covering your face with a form-fitting mask that doesn’t disguise you at all? As proof of this, I simply have to note that, despite the face coverings, every cop who encounters Diabolik immediately knows who he is.
• There are many, many naughty riffs during the “rolling around in the bed full of money” scene.
• In one scene, the lovely Eva climbs into Diabolik’s car and as she does so we get a very brief glimpse of VERY high (stocking covered) inner thigh. Crow is the only one who reacts, and he does so only very quietly. I wonder if they just couldn’t decide whether to make a big deal out of it or not.
• I assume Esso (now ExxonMobil) paid for the blatant product placement: It feels very phony. Having the service station attendant ask Eva if she wants a tail (Esso stations sold little plush tiger tails that one was supposed to attach to one’s gas intake pipe so that, when the gas cap was in place, it looked as if there was a “tiger in the tank”), and actually say “Tiger’s in the tank, ma’am,” is a little over the top.
• I really like the little explosion sound effect they use in segment 1 as Tom disposes of the extra Toms. It’s a very satisfying little “boom.”
• Callbacks: “Welcome, Dr, Meecham!” (MST3K: The movie) “Ha-ha! I’m useless against your weapons!” (Prince of Space).
• Mike references the “giant fiberglass muskie in Hayward Wisconsin,” a landmark that is also depicted in the movie “Blood Hook,” directed by Jim Mallon.
• Crow’s concern about “traffic accidents” echoes a similar concern by little Akio in the movie in episode 312- GAMERA VS. GUIRON. I wonder who on the staff made that connection.
• During the song, Mike produces Crow’s “mother” from episode 602- INVASION USA. Wonder how much they had to dig in the prop room for that!
• I just want to note that the song in segment 3 is the second time in the series that a song rhymes “Earth” with “Colin Firth.”
• The final bit in Castle Forrester makes a reference to the “Mary Tyler Moore Show” finale, where the cast similarly huddled together and sang “It’s a Long Way to Tipperary.” Or maybe there’s a law that any TV show connected to the Twin Cities has to end that way.
• That’s the voice of Peter Rudrud as the TV announcer.
• The final bit, in which Mike and Bots settle in and start riffing on “The Crawling Eye,” the movie Joel and the bots riffed in the first national episode, is cute and kind of satisfying. But a lot of fans noticed a little goof: We can’t see the screen, of course, but based on their riffing, it seems that the first thing they see is opening credits. The problem is that “The Crawling Eye” doesn’t start that way. It starts with a cold opening, showing some characters mountain climbing (and then one of the characters is killed). The credits don’t begin until several minutes into the movie. Kind of ruined it for some people. But the bit is such a lovely bit of closure I can’t fault them.
• Cast and crew roundup: Director-scriptwriter Mario Bava was cinematographer for “Hercules” and “Hercules Unchained.” Assistant director Lamberto Bava directed “Devil Fish.” Makeup guy Otello Fava also worked on “Warrior of the Lost World.” Score composer Ennio Morricone also worked on “Operation Double 007.” In front of the camera, Marisa Mell was also in “Secret Agent Super Dragon.” Adolfo Celi was also in “Operation Double 007.” John Phillip Law was also in “Space Mutiny.”
• CreditsWatch: Directed by Kevin. “To Earth” — music by Mike; lyrics by Kevin (so you can blame him for the Colin Firth rhyme).
• Fave riff: “Member FDIC…” Honorable mention: “I’m driving with my whipper.”

Next week we will move on to season 11.

231 Replies to “Episode guide: 1013- Diabolik”

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  1. touches no one's life, then leaves says:

    Since the SOL crash, I guess Wisconsin is crawling with nannites…

       6 likes

  2. touches no one's life, then leaves says:

    #36: In American movies the anti-hero is typically very textured and more interesting a character than the hero.

    I’m not per se questioning your opinion, but if you feel like citing some examples, that might be interesting.

       1 likes

  3. tamerlane says:

    Personally I think this was a great one to end on, as the film is wacky and doesn’t take itself too seriously, offsetting the sadness that is the end of the show.

    I also think the movie is entertaining on its own, and have seen an unriffed version.
    @11: The version I saw also had different, much better dubbing, but unfortunately “Is that stud coming” was taken out. As often happened, the Brains had (intentionally?) gotten hold of a poorly dubbed copy.

    Fans of good cinema probably shrieked with delight as Michel Piccoli (star of many 60s & 70s European art house films, particularly those by Luis Bunuel) poked his head out of a window to start the film.

    If you enjoyed Diabolik, do check out Modesty Blaise for another 60s mod-spy comic book adaptation, or La Decima Vittima to see Ursula Andress and Marcello Mastroianni engaged in a futuristic mod Most Dangerous Game.

       1 likes

  4. RockyJones says:

    #23: WeatherServo9…I’m speechless. Bravo.

    #41: John M. Hanna…I gotta admit…that’s a HILARIOUS concept for the ending! I was laughing out loud just picturing it in my mind.

    I’m another one who’s not that fond of the way the anti-hero’s selfish, greedy antics are glorified, and while the riffing only has a few high points, the sharp host segments and the incredibly satisfying “full-circle” feeling of the ending scene balance it all out into an enjoyable, if not somewhat bittersweet episode.

       1 likes

  5. Laura says:

    The day my life ended. I never watched SyFy (SciFi) Channel again after that. :sad:

       3 likes

  6. JJK says:

    I’m in the minority again in thinking this was one of the better movies they did in the final couple of seasons. I always liked 60’s movies like this and Modesty Blaise.
    That refence to the giant muskie from Blood Hook brings up why did’nt they riff that movie. Was it because that was to close to home for Jim Mallon?

       2 likes

  7. bearshark says:

    Just glad to see other people caught the Monty Python/Reginald Perrin mix up. “Flaming truck at Brixton, 20 minutes late” was definitely from Perrin.

       0 likes

  8. MPSh says:

    The Montgolfier Brothers riff was a Monty Python referene, hover…

       0 likes

  9. #52 Snake Plisskin vs any cipher hero role ever played by Van Damme, Swarzenegger or Chuck Norris. And villains are almost always more complex than the hero in American movies. In Stone Cold Lance henrickson is developed far more than the hero and is almost likable until the script (unfortunately) calls for him to be iredeemable scum. Wheras Diabolik is cool because he has a hot chick and a nice car from the start and is so ruthless because ???, Plisskin would piss all over that Yurpeon fancy pants and steal that hot chick and car and wreck them both for fun and the reasons why are etched into his one-eyed face. How’s that for a start?

       1 likes

  10. sauron says:

    sometimes the worst thing about fansites are the fans.

       4 likes

  11. Commenty the Comment Sprite says:

    Can somebody clue me in on what “Member FDIC” means? I’ve no idea.

       0 likes

  12. trickymutha says:

    #61- FDIC- Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation. I believe it insures one’s deposit for up to $100,000- it might be higher under new Bush/Obama regulations now. Came out the depression when people lost money when their bank defaulted.

       1 likes

  13. tamerlane says:

    @61: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FDIC

       1 likes

  14. #55 I’m pretty sure you haven’t missed anything.

       1 likes

  15. tamerlane says:

    #59: I wouldn’t generalize and say that American anti-heros are always more psychologically complex than their European counterparts. Shallow villains permeate the cinema of countries across the globe. To give an example of a more complex European anti-hero, how about Jef Costello, the hitman in Jean-Pierre Melville’s Le Samourai? Or the characters in any of Melville’s films for that matter.

    I agree that the plot of Diabolik is pretty contrived, but the film deliberately chooses style over substance. No matter what your feelings on the structure of the plot, you have to agree that the scene where Diabolik and Eva roll around in a rotating bed of money is a great example of the masterful creative vision of Mario Bava. With the addition of a suave, very 60s, backing tune from Ennio Morricone the scene becomes iconic.

       1 likes

  16. Commenty the Comment Sprite says:

    Oh, okay. But how does that work in the context of the joke?

       0 likes

  17. PrivateIron says:

    #55, you missed Farscape and the better seasons of Battlestar. Otherwise (crickets)

    #59 Maybe I am not reading you right here, but Arnie, Van Dang and Norris are not European anti-heroes…one of them is American and the other two play in American type productions. Also, at the same age in a fair fight, Arnold probably could tear Kurt Russell in half, though maybe Snake could make sure it was not a fair fight. I say this as someone who worships KR in Big Trouble and The Thing, but the whole point of those movies was that he was not a perfect superhero type.

       1 likes

  18. Iggy Pop's Brother Steve Pop says:

    Has only one person (besides me, now) mentioned the “Goin’ off to the store” lyrics so far, or did I miss one/some? In any event, I expected to see metric tons of references. To me, there’s something brilliantly twisted about taking that insistent, driving guitar lick, and giving it mundane, little-old-ladyish lyrics. One of my all-time favorite riffs.

    Second favorite riff: “You know, if he’d stolen just a little less money, I could see her ass now.”

    ***

    Stefanie (#13): “Anybody else notice how WEIRD it was for Crow to say “The Crawling Eye” looks familar when NONE of the guys sitting there are the ones who saw it in the first place?”

    The thought did occur to me on watching it. But I like it. The idea that different people are playing the bots who saw the movie back in 101 (and that they’re with a different human) kind of contributes to the “the more things change…” vibe of the moment for me.

    ***

    Colossus Prime (#34); “For those of you not born and bred in the Milwaukee, WI area, how did the call letters of the channel hit you?”

    I thought it might be another reference to the joint disorder TMJ (as in “Werewolf”). Now that I think of it, the sound of “WTMJ” is a little reminiscent of “KTMA.” May just be coincidence, or maybe it helped suggest that station to them… the closest they could come to referencing their first home, considering a) it no longer existed by that point, and b) the bit is set in Milwaukee. Or, not knowing anything about Milwaukee, am I missing something about WTMJ, like a reputation as the local station most likely to show an old, cheap-to-acquire movie like “The Crawling Eye”? Every city tends to have one. (If it were Chicago, say, they’d have been watching WCIU.)

    ***

    I thought this was a good choice for a last movie. Elsewhere in the season, they’d taken advantage of their impending cancelation to do material they wouldn’t/couldn’t have done in earlier days (“Hamlet”), or had decided not to do in earlier days (“A Case of Spring Fever”). But for the actual series finale, it was nice to see them go off on a cheerful if unchallenging note, sort of a casual victory lap, with one of their more overall good-natured riffings, continuing on into a final host segment that charmingly dramatizes the MST3K philosophy that, I think, contributed to the show’s success: the story of the series may be about people and robots trapped in space and forced to watch bad movies, but it was seldom about hating the movies. So, freed from the captivity of the Forresters, what do our heroes do? Choose to watch bad movies on their own time, and riff on them. Of course. Consider that they could have used their last episode to take an angry poke at Sci-Fi, similar in tone to their working out their frustrations with Gramercy in “The Incredible Melting Man.” I think they made the right choice, tonally, going out with a smile.

    All in all, I found this a much more satisfying conclusion than “Laserblast” because it definitively WAS a conclusion, which, of course, “Laserblast” couldn’t be. In terms of how they handled the end of an era, I think this one ranks with Frank’s departure in “Samson vs. the Vampire Women” because both of them were really about how the characters reacted to the change. By contrast, I felt that, until the charming final host segment, “Mitchell” was more about the mechanics of explaining the imminent changeover (with the weird result that, in his own finale, Joel probably appears less than in any previous episode of the cable series). And the host segments in “Laserblast,” while funny, were primarily about kidding SF tropes, until we get to an ending that’s interesting, but a little disquieting because the tone is so unusually up-in-the-air for the show (which, granted, was part of the point of the thing: putting all of the characters into a sort of limbo from which, depending on the future of the series, they may or may not ever come back).

    So, not one of their most brilliant individual episodes, but a very good finale.

       6 likes

  19. I'm not a medium, I'm a petite says:

    hmmmm the TV station in The Mary Tyler Moore Show was WJM. Does that help ?

       0 likes

  20. Thingy says:

    Hope you guys are strong enough to handle season 0.

    It’s actually quite good, provided you don’t watch it after season 10. :twisted:

       0 likes

  21. Yeah, Diabolik isn’t the best example of European cinema. And it’s captivating visually, like all of Bava’s films, but rather incoherent at times (also like all of Bava’s films) and ludicrous in it’s physics. Anyway, Rich, handsome, greedy and remorseless isn’t really a winning combination from this backward cheeseburger-eating American’s perspective. I like to know where the character is coming from. Look at Riddick in Pitch Black, born in the dirt to a lifetime of incarceration and escape, versus…who was the hero in the prequels, again? Forget the prequels, in the original Star Wars all we know about Luke Skywalker in the beginning is that he’s kind of a whiny little dweeb. Probably wouldn’t have cared much about Obi Wan if Alec Guinness wasn’t delivering his dialogue and he becomes several magnitudes less interesting when his background is filled in in the prequels. And Han Solo, well he’s basically set up as sort of an anti-hero scoundrel. His character comes through in his abundant personality. He only becomes heroic in the traditional sense when he starts falling for Leia. Someone who doesn’t play by the rules gives you more to work with. Morality makes a character rigid and hard for the average person to relate to. A writer/filmmaker who can’t make his villain/antihero three-dimensional is in the wrong line of work. MO.

    Speaking of Morricane (a degree of separation) The Good, The Bad and The Ugly is very visually arresting and while it’s also kind of silly and stilted at times (in a good way) you buy the antihero character thoroughly and the hero is so cool that it doesn’t matter if he has no background/motivation whatever (unlike villain and antiheroes). Clearly Leone had a better story to work with but that movie really showed how an anti-hero could be done right.

       1 likes

  22. Brandon says:

    The only KTMA episode I’ve ever seen entirely is SST Death Flight, and I thought that one was okay, but there are STILL alot of missed opportunities for good riffs.

    You got Peter Graves on an airplane…. hmmmmm what movie could they POSSIBLY reference, but don’t?

       1 likes

  23. #67 Okay but I wasn’t comparing American antiheroes to European heroes, but American antiheroes to American heroes (on average). Ironically, I used a couple of examples who were actually Europeans in American movies. Oops!

       0 likes

  24. Roman Martel says:

    #48 Mike, I don’t see how fewer pre 1975 references make the later seasons less special. The years were passing and the writers decided to move the references to pre 1985. ;)

    I agree that a real shift in riffing style kicked in for the final three seasons, but it was still the same show, just as special as it used to be. Just because you more people got the references didn’t make it any less special.

    Sorry, but your comment rubbed me the wrong way. And this coming from a fan who enjoys the Comedy Central shows just as much as the Sci-fi era.

       6 likes

  25. Sampo says:

    Thanks for the corrections on the Python/Perrin mixup. To me it sounded like a moment from “Cycling Tour of North Cornwall” sketch. It’s now fixed.

       0 likes

  26. #48 Yeah, that *was* maybe a little condescending. I understand most pre-1975 references and I don’t see how that makes the Comedy Central eps much more rewarding. Lucky for me I like both the CC and SciFi stuffs virtually the same, quantitative differences aside.

       4 likes

  27. Sampo says:

    #66 Commenty: Tom says the line when the Diabolik and Eva are rolling around naked in the bed full of money. Tom emphasizes the first word. (If you get my drift.)

       0 likes

  28. Jamie says:

    since the last thread was about bad comercials, I was watching Squirm (taped in full) and enjoyed the “Final MST3K Episode” preview. (“…And, every TV show…..gets canceled!”)

       0 likes

  29. Commenty the Comment Sprite says:

    #66: Oh, thanks. I only got into MST3K a few years ago, so I haven’t seen all the episodes. Catching up though!

       0 likes

  30. Iggy Pop's Brother Steve Pop says:

    The Castle Monster (#71): “Anyway, Rich, handsome, greedy and remorseless isn’t really a winning combination from this backward cheeseburger-eating American’s perspective.”

    I dunno… reading those words, I had an immediate “George Clooney in ‘Ocean’s 11′” flashback. Not that I liked the character. Quite the contrary– I preferred to think that the somewhat ambiguous ending meant that, just after fade-out, the two large guys caught up with Ocean and killed him. It’s just that that kind of “hero” is hardly unique to Europe.

       1 likes

  31. GonzoRedux says:

    I have to admit that DIABOLIK might get my vote for the best movie they watched. The soundtrack’s a blast, the women are attractive, and the action’s not too bad. It’s goofy at times, but it’s still fun for me. It might be worth mentioning that Leonard Maltin gave both DIABOLIK and SQUIRM three stars.

    That being said, I still like the riffing a lot, though I agree with some that a cheesier movie would have been nice.

       0 likes

  32. Well, yeah, but I bet George Clooney had some actual dialogue and character development (because I haven’t actually seen Oceans 11).

    BTW, funny that the guy who plays Diabolik was actually born in Los Angeles. In most of the roles of his I’m familiar with (Diabolik, Sinbad, The Russians are Coming) he plays foreigners. The IMDB says he fluent in Italian, Spanish, French and German and that he was a fovored guest at the Playboy mansion. I’m guessing that by the time Space Mutiny came out they weren’t as thrilled to see him.

       0 likes

  33. Cornjob says:

    Did the animated ID machine remind anyone else of the “Identigraph” from For Your Eyes Only (the 007 film)?

       1 likes

  34. darthservo says:

    Since MST3k, the SCIFI (oops, SyFy) channel has become a haven for bad movies like Mega Shark vs Giant Octopus and pro wrestling. What a loss.

       1 likes

  35. Wow, there’s a Hugh Hefner reference in the riffing. “Hef taught me that move.” I wonder if that’s a coincidence?

       0 likes

  36. Roman Martel says:

    #83 My wife and I said the same thing! “I said a nose Q, not a banana.”

       1 likes

  37. MikeH says:

    Movie and riffing, I give a solid 4 stars. Not the best but was pretty good. I kind of wondered how Diabolik was able to maintain suge a huge underground lair without any kind of detection. Does he have his own power source? Is it structurally sound? And where do you have those materials built and who built the place? My thinking is, somebody is gonna get suspicious.

    Me and my wife’s favorite line, “Is that stud coming?” Who the heck thinks of these lines? We generally use if we are expecting company over or calling the cat.

       2 likes

  38. WAIT, I’M JUST THE POSTMAN! Unghh… *dies*

       1 likes

  39. Laura says:

    Yeah, I’m well aware of SyFy having NXT. At least they got rid of that crappy ECW. (I am a wrestling fan, and yes, I KNOW IT’S FAKE!)

       1 likes

  40. Kali says:

    Still think they should have done “The Green Slime” as the final episode, but boy was this film weird. It’s already making fun of itself, so it didn’t look like they could get a good riffing on it. They did do a great job here.

    MIKE: Wow, the Two Fat Ladies have their own gang now!
    (I always liked that show, so this was a good riff)

    Valmont: “Is that Stud coming?”
    The crew couldn’t believe this line!

    Ginko: You’re a diplomat? Look sophisticated!
    CROW: Sophisticated! Not GAY!

    Valmont’s man: We’re over the target sir.”
    CROW or SERVO (I forget): Anyone want any discount items?

    Girl (who saw Eva before the theft of the emeralds – why is she panting in this scene?): Want me to describe her?
    SERVO: Now, who’s straight in this scene?

    And Mike looking at the stairs right as Eva’s about to disrobe. Wow, MST sure was tame at times…

    Actually, John Phillip Law (RIP) said in the commentary on the Diabolik DVD that there were in fact two separate English tracks, and the one the Brains used (before the DVD was released) had all the women talking like bimbos. The DVD’s English track is different, with the women talking reasonably intelligently. It’s almost a pity (since one of the lines lost is the one about the Target.)

       2 likes

  41. StumpBeefKnob says:

    I have a copy of this one, but have never watched it. Too painful. My plan is to watch this one and TLD-Raw on my death bed, though the logistics of making that happen may be a bit more difficult than I presume. I’ll let you all know how that works out! ;-)

       0 likes

  42. Spector says:

    I agree with Sampo, this is one of those episodes where the host segments overshadow the movie, but for good reason, and not just because the riffing’s just ok or the movie isn’t particularly memorable. It’s the end of the road of one of the greatest shows in television history and we all want to see how they were going to close it out.

    Have to admit, I’ve only watched this one three or four times since it originally aired. I find this one just too hard to watch. It’s the end of my favorite show, the end of an era, and it’s like saying goodbye to old friends who’ve been with you for a long time.

    Sure, I know, Joel, Frank and Trace had left and took their beloved characters with them, and Josh wasn’t around long enough to really get to know (though the more I watch the first season they did for Comedy Central the more I like his work), but I’d grown to really like Mike and got used to Bill’s version of Crow (but more thoroughly enjoyed his more delightful turn as Brain Guy). Kevin WAS Servo, having been the longest serving member of the cast, and his character of Professor Bobo grew on me. Mary Jo evolution of Pearl Forrester from Dr. F’s annoying mom into her own wicked funny evil gal who pursued and tortured Mike and the ‘Bots made Pearl one of my favorite characters. And I loved the evolution of Gypsy from a seemingly brain dead ‘bot into a sophisticated character with her own spirited personality, becoming almost a mother figure to the ‘Bots, played well by Jim Mallon and later Patrick Brantseg.

    They were the best family ever on television. I welcomed them into my home every week, delighted in their adventures, skits and of course the laughter they brought me by riffing on cheesy movies.

    Sure, I still can watch the old episodes and do so on nearly a daily basis, and still get plenty of laughs from them. But in a way it’s like watching old home movies taken of the best moments of your life. You enjoy them, you smile at the warm memories they bring, but you’ll never recapture the actual moments, the immediate joy and laughter they brought you, the wonderful moments of surprise.

    Yes, the show was starting to show its age by that point, and it’s probably for the best that it was cancelled lest it deteriorate into a parody of itself. But it was hard to say goodbye. I know, it’s only a TV show, but dammit, I loved those characters, and I loved this show, and I loved looking forward to the new seasons and new episodes. When this went off the air, it was like a death in the family.

    To this day, I still miss them all.

    Thankfully, we have RiffTrax and Cinematic Titanic, and in my opinion the latter is closer to the spirit of MST3K, so it’s wonderful now to get a new riffing fix, but they only come infrequently now, rather than an episode per week, and it’s just not the same without Crow, Tom Servo, Gypsy, the Satellite of Love,Deep 13 or Castle Forrester.

       4 likes

  43. mjmiller18 says:

    Colossus Prime says in #34:
    “For those of you not born and bred in the Milwaukee, WI area, how did the call letters of the channel hit you?”

    One of our local major stations used to show movies at 4pm every M – F afternoon and another local station used to show movies on Sunday afternoons. So, the reference reminded me of those stations filling up time with old movies, kind of a nostalgic flashback when the final segment played.

    bchat says in #39:
    “Not sure about anyone else, but it isn’t the scene in Mike’s apartment that bums me out, knowing that this was the last of the new episodes, but the end theme afterwards. The final chord always left me with a “that’s it” state-of-mind”

    Yes, yes, that’s when it hit me too! I thought the last segment was a great reference to their first national episode and then the fade out and the music and then… gone.

       0 likes

  44. MiqelDotCom says:

    Wow, here we are at the end!
    It’s sad that the show didn’t last a few more seasons but I think they did a great job with the final show. The host segments are fantastic (though the song about Earth isn’t one of their best efforts) and the last scene closes the show beautifully, with the guys still riffing away at whatever is on TV (& the choice of ‘The Crawling Eye’ is a nice bookend)

    Hard to believe Diabolik is the same guy who played “Kalgon” in Space Mutiny!

    Favorite riffs:
    “Reverse Raccoon man”
    “Help, my leg is turning one dimensional”
    Every time … “I’m about to close, some jerk want’s to be cremated”

    Other funny moments:
    Tom using the remote detonation device to get rid of all the extra copies of himself.
    Pearl discussing Brain Guy’s job prospects.
    Mike’s bowl of white rice at the end.

    The next phase should be an interesting contrast between the sophisticated riffing of the last season and the unscripted stream of consciousness riffing of the KTMA season! Also it’s cool to see the characters develop into the personalities we know and love.
    I’ve watched all of the KTMA episodes and for those who haven’t seen them … get ready to sit through a lot of missed riffing opportunities and long periods of silence! These episodes have a lot of charm and some great moments too!

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  45. mjmiller18 says:

    Spector says in #92:
    “I know, it’s only a TV show, but dammit, I loved those characters, and I loved this show, and I loved looking forward to the new seasons and new episodes.”

    Exactly. How many TV shows get you that interested in the characters that you dread the last episode when it airs.

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  46. H says:

    Good times, good times. As much as I hated to see the show end (well, except for the whole Merlin’s Shop of Mystical Wonders thing), they did a good job with it. Movie’s decent and the host segments work mostly.

    Oh, and I know I’m gonna get “Just repeat to yourself it’s a tv show”s, but didn’t they dump Crow’s mother in the sixth season? You know, the one where the guys have a really dirty console so they just space everything? I think it was Code Name Diamond Head.

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  47. Aw… This is actually a pretty good episode. I should have given it 4 stars.

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  48. trickymutha says:

    #92- you said it best- I still remember that night, August 8th, 1999. It was sad- we still had Merlin to look forward to. Hard to believe 11 years have passed. :sad:

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  49. MiqelDotCom says:

    Eva “I was expecting you inspector”
    Servo “I was inspecting your expecting when I expectorated your injector inspector”

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  50. “We’re beautiful, you’re a loser!”

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