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Episode Guide: 424- ‘Manos’ The Hands of Fate (with short: ‘Hired!’–Part 2)

Short: (1941) In the conclusion of a two-part short, our sales manager hero gets advice from his handkerchief-wearin’ dad.
Movie: (1966) A hapless family on a car trip in rural Texas takes refuge at a “lodge” that turns out to be the home of a deadly cult.

First shown: 1/30/93
Opening: Joel has programed the bots to agree with everything he says
Invention exchange: The Mads present the chocolate bunny guillotine; J&tB show off the cartuner
Host segment 1: J&tB’s car trip sketch is ruined by Manos footage, Frank apologizes
Host segment 2: J&tB discuss the physical attributes that would make them a monster
Host segment 3: Joel dons a Manos cape, Dr. F. apologizes
End: The bots reenact the lady wrestling scene, Torgo’s pizza arrives
Stinger: “Why don’t you guys leave us alone?”
1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars (355 votes, average: 4.83 out of 5)

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• Whatever else they study, every Civil War buff has an opinion about Gettysburg. Whatever else they grow, every gardener has an opinion about tomatoes. No matter which team they root for, every baseball fan has an opinion about the Yankees. And every MSTie has an opinion about “‘Manos’ The Hands of Fate.” So much has been written about this awful, awful movie, and this justly famous episode, that it’s hard to make a fresh observation, but here are a few thoughts.
• This episode was issued by Rhino as a single, and also as part of the “Essentials” set.
References
• This is one of two or three episodes that I practically have memorized. I can pretty much do all the riffs right along with J&tB.
• There’s been a lot of “Manos” news, including the sequel (featuring cast members from the original movie) that now seems to have sputtered out, the work to restore the movie and create a high-definition version, and the re-riff by RiffTrax. A fascinating recent article in Playboy investigated the bitter legal battle for the rights to the movie.
• Paul Chaplin once noted that many MST3K movies are “made by oily guys who elect to direct the camera largely on themselves.” He was talking about TISCWSLABMUZ, but this is another perfect example.
• At several MSTie parties I have attended where this episode was screened, people handed out napkins, which people unfolded and put on their heads at the moment ol’ Dad in the short does so. Has anybody else done this, or do I just hang out with weird people?
• The opening bit is great, and I suspect every fan of Joel has felt a little like the programmed bots at one time or another. You see this butt? Kick this butt.
• There’s a funny clank as chocolate bunny guillotine falls. I’m guessing it’s the weight that held the blade up falling to the floor somewhere off camera?
• The last issuance of The Cartuner isn’t really that strange: It sounds pretty much like something Gary Larson would have actually done (if he wasn’t afraid of getting sued by the Bil Keane empire). God, I miss The Far Side…
• Joel seems a little touchy when Crow suggests this might be a snuff film! Does Joel really know the limit of the sort of evil the Mads might try?
• Stuff about the movie you may already know: The movie was shot with a camera that could only shoot a small amount of film at a time, making long, continuous takes impossible. Hence the “dissolving to the same scene” Crow observes early on. Also, the long pointless driving scene was supposed to have credits supered on it, but Hal forgot.
• I had the opportunity, a few years ago, to exchange emails with Hal Warren’s daughter, who told me that her brother wore the Master costume on several Halloweens and that the painting of the Master adorned a wall of her home for many years.
• Joel’s looks of disgust and horror in segment two are great.
• As I was watching segment 3, my wife wandered through and said, “You should have worn THAT to the costume party at one of the conventions. I could have made that.” I had to break it to her that about 20 guys were wearing versions of the Master cape.
• Joel mentions Mentos, commercials for which were being seen regularly on MST3K.
• Then topical: “The Tasters Choice saga.” Remember when people cared about THAT nonsense? Also, I’m betting fewer and fewer people remember who Marilyn Quayle is.
• That’s Mike, of course, in the first of several appearances as Torgo. Let me just get your complementary crazy bread…
• There is no cast and crew roundup for this movie.
• Creditswatch: Host segments directed by Joel Hodgson. This was intern Curtis Anderson’s last show.
• Callback: “Torgo, you’re the laziest man on Mars.” (Santa Claus Conquers the Martians). “He tampered in God’s domain” (Bride of the Monster).
• Fave riff from the short: “Gah! Flying elves are back!” Honorable mention: “Seein’ as how we’re salesmen and all.”
• Fave riff from the movie: “And now the Manos Women’s Guild will re-enact the Battle of Pearl Harbor.” Honorable mention: “Yeah, here I go! Vroom!”

Next week we will do the MST3K Scrapbook and we’ll start Season 5 the following week.

262 Replies to “Episode Guide: 424- ‘Manos’ The Hands of Fate (with short: ‘Hired!’–Part 2)”

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  1. swh1939 says:

    I never show this one first to friends who have never seen MST3K before. it’s just too much to digest. But once they’re hooked, then I always bring on the Manos! Consistantly funny … and a perfect season ending episode.

       2 likes

  2. quakeroates says:

    This is a great MST but not for newbies as swh1939 said you have to get used to Joel and his humor, but when you are this one builds and builds. Hired is one of my favorite shorts as well. Torgo became a great running gag showing up in skits later on. “The master would not approve.”

       5 likes

  3. This was the FIRST MST3K episode I watched (and I almost immediately got hooked on it).

    “The Master is always here. The Master will not like it.”

       6 likes

  4. Roswdower17 says:

    Honey, when you look for someone, whaddaya do?

       5 likes

  5. Bob says:

    As others have said, never show this to someone as their first MST3K episode if you want them to get hooked on the show, it’s for experienced viewers only. I was just telling someone about this the other day. The movie is just so terrible and on first viewing of any episode, people have a tendency to watch the movie as much or more than listen to the jokes. I have heard tales of this episode turning first time viewers off to the show. If I want to get someone hooked, I use something that is goofy fun and action packed that is also full of great jokes for their first episode, like Cave Dwellers.

    I was one of the people who wore a “Master” costume to the party at the first MST3K convention as it was something that was not too difficult to make. My wife used an iron-on adhesive to attach the big red hands to the simple black robe. I had great fun getting my picture taken with many of the “Torgos” wandering around at the party. My wife went as one of the alien ladies from a Gamera film. For the second convention we got more ambitious and I went as Xeno and my wife was evil queen Lara, both characters from Outlaw (of Gor).

    No, I’ve never put a handkerchief on my head during this or seen anyone else do so. That might be a bit weird as suggested above.

    I love the first host segment that comes up during the film where Gypsy pulls Joel and the ‘Bots over. When just the footage in the background drives them to tears, it always makes me laugh.

    I don’t know about post-MST3K, but back when this episode was new, Michael Weldon’s Psychotronic Encyclopedia of Film may have been the only film guide on the market that actually had a listing for this film and his book was published before MST3K. It’s truly an amazing and fun book, full of oddities no one else writing a film book could be bothered with back then.

       3 likes

  6. Mac says:

    In response to your question on point three: Yes, and yes.

       0 likes

  7. GizmonicTemp says:

    Sampo
    My mom used to be a manager at AT&T. She borrowed my “Manos” tape and showed “Hired!” at one of her meetings. On the schedule, she labeled it as “Worker Motivation.” At the end of the short, she asked for feedback. One of her employees put a napkin on his head and asked her it she would go along with him on his first few calls that morning.
    In the guillitine segment, I think the “clank” is the scroll that Trace is reading from hitting the floor. When he brings his hands forward to present the bunny head, he isn’t holding it anymore. Perhaps someone missed the handoff or he missed a table.

    Check out my full “Manos” review here.

       5 likes

  8. underwoc says:

    You know, as a person who works in the training and development world, I gotta admit: underneath the goofieness, there’s actually some pretty good leadership advice in Hired. But talk about the message being lost in the media…

    And as bad as Manos is production-wise, at least the story makes a sort of sense, unlike, say, Monster a Go Go.

       6 likes

  9. Cubby says:

    Until I saw a picture of a room full of MSTies with napkins on their heads, I didn’t know the phenomenon existed. But “do [you] hang out with weird people?” I’d say yes.

    Definitely.

    My fave riff is still Joel’s “You know, every frame of this film looks like someone’s last known photograph!” though every time I drive past a Motel 6, I hear Crow’s slogan, “We’ll leave a pyre on for you.”

    I’ve always thought Kevin flubbed his line “It looks like a Frank Frazetta of Frank Zappa,” the way he awkwardly states it – but they kept going. (Again, another great line.) I would love to have that portrait of the Master. I’d put it in a room opposite this.

       3 likes

  10. Brandon says:

    A couple of my own observations:

    -In segment 3, Crow and Tom panic when Joel prepares to lift up his Manos cloak to show inner pockets. Like they’re afraid he’s naked under the robe. But at the beginning of the segment, when Joel raises his arms, you can clearly see, he has his jumpsuit on underneath.

    -After one of the wives walks away from Hal Warren tied to the tree, Servo hums the Sandy Frank song!

    -The footage of the snake that Warren shoots at is from a Disney nature film. How did Warren get his hands on that.

    -Most disturbing moment EVER is in this film. Little Debbie becoming on of the Master’s wives. One of the many urban legends surrounding this film, is that after the premier, when Warren was heading back to his car, an angry mother started whacking him with her purse because of Debbie’s fate.

       3 likes

  11. Burke says:

    “I’m thinking of having that tattooed on my face, dear.”

       5 likes

  12. You know, as a person who works in the training and development world, I gotta admit: underneath the goofieness, there’s actually some pretty good leadership advice in Hired. But talk about the message being lost in the media…

    Absolutely true. In fact, I was hired once for a middle-management supervisory position, and I was inundated with advice much similar to the points “Dr. Giggles” lays out at the end of the film.

    However, I hated that job, and I couldn’t watch “Hired! Part II” for a long time because of it. “Inspire your workers! Be a leader!” Bleagh. As funny as the handkerchief-wearing drunk old guy was, the whole message of the film sent a shiver down my spine. I was never born to be an office manager.

       4 likes

  13. mst3m1 says:

    I agree with Bob. The first time I saw this I wasn’t real impressed just because the movie is so bad it took me down with it but as I watch it again and again, I like it more and more. It is a classic.

       0 likes

  14. Oh, yeah, and as for Manos:

    You know, oddly enough, the movie’s only effective moment for me was “I am Michael. I take care of the place when the Master is away.” Even though the father was an incompetent dork, there was something creepy about the idea of an average person having his soul taken away from him to eternally guard some immortal demon.

    With a much better script, better acting, better production values and more sympathetic characters, the idea might have hit home a lot harder. But it’s all sabotaged:

    1) I mean, why is Torgo a satyr, anyway? (For those of you who don’t know, that’s ostensibly what he’s supposed to be. His feet are supposed to be hooves, though you can barely tell.) It makes absolutely no sense at all. Did satyrs once roam the Earth and Manos trap one? Was it a real human who’d transformed into a satyr? If so, why wasn’t Michael one at the end of the film?

    2) Why the heck would ANYONE suggest staying at a dismal shotgun shack in the middle of nowhere, with a creepy bearded goat-man satyr thing standing outside it? This is the single-most “what the hell” moment in the entire film.

    3) When Debbie wanders off the first time, Maggie puts in “a thorough search of the first room,” as Crow puts it. What was that all about? The first time she looks through that door, she peeks in, and then seems to remember she wasn’t supposed to look there, because later (AFTER they’d found Debbie) they go through that door. But then they panic that there’s nowhere for Debbie to have gone. Yeah, except for through that door you just opened and barely peeked through. There’s no way you can watch this scene and even remotely take the film at face value. It utterly wrecks the already threadbare internal logic.

    4) Maggie apparently has lost the use of her legs when Torgo starts fondling her. Did he superglue her feet to the floor or something?

    I always felt the riffing wasn’t up to what they could have done with a film like this, because as they admitted, during the writing sessions, they were stunned at how godawful the thing was and couldn’t really come up with too much to add to it. This is probably true, but the fiftieth time they say “MANOS! The Hands of Fate,” it just looks desperate. They really were in over their heads at this point. Coleman Francis, Del Tenney and Rick Sloane were still in the future, and by that time they were seasoned enough to handle the real utter crapfests.

       6 likes

  15. Sampo says:

    Thanks to several folks who noted that is NOT a beginner-level episode. I meant to mention that. In fact, I discovered that first-hand when I showed this episode to my sister. I was her first episode. By the end, she was saying she would NEVER watch this show again.

       4 likes

  16. Cabbage Patch Elvis says:

    I agree with others that this movie is so bad, it can really depress a person the first time around. But once I learned to let that go, it has become one of my all-time faves. My fave riffs are when Crow is speaking for Torgo-“Don’t patronize me, sir.” “Left…I’m going…” Also it has possibly my favorite line from any host segment: “Ziggy had Garfield neutered! Now THAT’S FUNNY!”

       6 likes

  17. Brandon says:

    Old man: “The first thing Harry drilled into me…”
    Crow: “Was Harry!”
    Joel: “Ohhh…”

    Joel: “Every frame of this film looks like someone’s last known photograph.

       9 likes

  18. Kenneth Morgan says:

    One of my fondest memories of ConventioCon I was seeing “Manos” in a screening room with an SRO crowd. It was the first time I’d managed to get through the whole thing. Probably the biggest audience laugh was when Torgo and the Master just stare at each other for over a minute and Joel shouts in dispair, “DO SOMETHING!!”

    At one point, someone noticed Frank walking down the hall outside and invited him in to watch. He politely refused; he had to get ready for the live show that evening.

       5 likes

  19. Nick says:

    You know, this movie is so notorious it makes me wonder why no DVD company has put out an official release. Just proclaim it the worst movie ever made and rake in the cash. Imagine this is the Criterion Collection. :shock:

    And I agree with most people’s consensus: this is not a good first episode for newbies. Even though the riffs are stellar, the movie itself has nearly nothing going for it and is actually a little painful. Frank must’ve felt REALLY sadistic forcing the other writers to watch this and Monster a Go-Go almost back to back.

    My favorite lines:
    “We’re gonna have leadership the way my old man taught me. You, swat at imaginary elves. You, put a handkerchief on your head. You, rock on the porch all night.”
    “Manos was filmed on location in a vacant lot.”

       5 likes

  20. Michael Hoskin says:

    I only got into MST3K 2 years ago, and this was the 2nd episode I watched. I loved it then, I still love it now. This “not for newbies” thing is an urban legend from where I sit.

       7 likes

  21. Cubby says:

    Huh.

    I posted something a couple hours ago.

    Must have gotten eaten.

    Ah well.

       0 likes

  22. Bobo (has a red butt) says:

    Someone said that Manos is the true anti-film. I don’t agree. As bad this film is, Manos does have ‘film sincerity.’ Film sincerity to me is when someone or some people make a film because they truly wish in a deep sincere way to make a film for its own sake. Obviously, sincerity does not make up for skill and talent.

    To me, the anti-film is The Starfighters. When I see Starfighters, I get deep hurting. This film was made because a group of Air Force pilots are so full of themselves that they just had to share all the flying, drinking and women with the rest of us poor slobs.

       8 likes

  23. Mark Shields says:

    This was my first Joel episode. At this point I had only seen a handful of Sci-Fi era episodes when it briefly ran in the UK. So not only did I have to get to know Joel, Dr F and TV’s Frank, but I had to get through such a horrible movie as well. Thankfully I survived it and remains as one of my favourites, my sister can’t stomach it at all though.

    Mike’s appearance as Torgo still has me in stitches especially when he starts stroking Franks face. Brilliant

    If I really feel like annoying everyone in the house, I put the DVD on and let the main menu with Torgo’s theme play continuously.

       4 likes

  24. Sampo says:

    Cubby–You were jammed deep in the spam folder. I have no idea why. But you’ve been released. :-)

       2 likes

  25. Joseph Nebus says:

    This was something like the 25th episode I’d ever seen, after roughly four months of watching on Comedy Central, and that after such training as “Skydivers” and “The Beast of Yucca Flats”, and I still had to stop the tape in a couple of places and pace around my apartment making loud noises of pain then lie down before I could finish watching it.
    So let me talk about Hired a bit: there’s some dispute about whether Best Brains or someone else chopped it into two segments, but of more note to me is that except for the really obvious example I’m overlooking and will think of right after posting this, this was the last of the `serial shorts’. Obviously the longest `serial’ or semi-serial they ran was in the first season with Commando Cody, which probably seemed like a good idea because they had to get the rights to one enormous block of content and they had a reel whenever they needed it, but turned out to flop because it was all Cody grabbing his nipples and flying. In the second season they tried The Phantom Creeps, probably for similar reasons, and that sort of puttered out when nobody had any idea what anything was supposed to be (and the episodes were too long for half-segment fillers). Then in the third they started on Undersea Kingdom, and then finally gave up on science fiction serials and tried running episode clips from General Hospital.
    Hired seems to be when they gave up trying to have a running short, either consciously or just because with the show ten minutes shorter they needed fewer shorts to fill out the movies. I wonder if the scrambling of episodes for reruns might have been a factor too; while it doesn’t seem to make much difference what order you watch Commando Cody in it probably annoyed them that average viewers couldn’t follow the story if they wanted to. I remember that episode scrambling annoyed the Brains in the continuing-stories of the Sci-Fi Channel years.

       3 likes

  26. Ang says:

    I started watching around ’93 and this was one of the first few episodes I saw. My friend and I were watching it and we laughed so hard I’m surprised we didn’t bust something. My fave line is still ‘That’s not how you wear your depends Torgo’.

    This episode never gets old, a true classic :smile:

       6 likes

  27. Rowsdower42 says:

    Ahh, Manos. What can be said? The thing that angers me the most concerning Manos is that every year new films come out that are truly horrible, yet don’t hold a candle to the magic misery of Manos. However, people will attest that this newest atrocity is “the worst movie ever made,” as can be seen by looking at IMDB’s Bottom 100. Manos deserves that top spot for eternity. And I will agree – this isn’t the episode to start people on. I think the best episodes to start newcomers on are the Russo-Finnish films, myself. Got all my friends hooked after Jack Frost.

    Favorite riffs?
    “…cut it out, you clown…”
    “Oh, a shot it the face, thank you very much.”
    “What is that, a symbol of the their love?” “Well, it’s not framed very well.”
    “And now, the Manos Women’s Guild will reenact the Battle of Pearl Harbor.”
    “Okay, everybody pick out someone you wanna punch.”

    Oh, and Hired? My favorite bit is the quick shifts from scene to scene before the very end with Dr. Giggles. “What? You can hurt me?”

       4 likes

  28. -RCFagnan says:

    While there are some later that come close, “Manos” is, in my opinion, the worst film the Mads ever subjected us to. Hired! 2 (Electric Boogaloo) is a delight though. I love that last riff “Good night, stay pink, soft, and oily.” As for the movie, “Torgo, that’s not how you wear your Depends, dear!” is one of my all-time favs.

       1 likes

  29. adoptadog says:

    After watching some of the other eps like Hobgoblins, Wild World of Batwoman, Beast of Yucca Flats, etc., I had begun to think that maybe Manos wasn’t really the worst movie they’d done. I mean, it does have a plot, as someone else pointed out, and some of the music is not earsplittingly horrible.

    Then I watched it again; sat down and really paid attention to it. Urk. It is transcendently awful in every possible respect. The “plot” is supermodel thin, and every single element of the actual film is atrocious.

    Love the riffing. Makes it possible to get through this nightmare, at least for me.

    I like Joel cracking up during the opening segment, when Crow says, “See this butt? Kick this butt!” There’s a great scene from Manos, when Margaret has collapsed in the desert, and is chewing the scenery at an alarming rate…while the bored little girl has her hands in her pockets and is kicking at a tumbleweed. And Servo’s monologue over the interminable driving scene at the end is worth the price of admission.

    Fave riffs: “Oh my god, my pants are on fire.” (Crow’s deadpan delivery gets me every time.)
    “Smoke on the weirdo!”

       9 likes

  30. MattG says:

    I’ve found myself using the riff about “someone’s last known photograph” in casual conversation.

    My favorite riff from this episode has to be “Manos: The Hands of Fate was filmed on location in a vacant lot”. The line itself is great, but it’s Joel’s delivery of it that gets me laughing each time. I also like “Visit beautiful Ground Zero”, but that’s not as hilarious as it used to be (for obvious reasons).

       2 likes

  31. Yaanu says:

    Hey now, folks, this was my first episode of MST3K, and I loved it! Although I watched enough times that repeated viewings now give me an eerie sense of nostalgia or whatever… Deja vu, maybe. I dunno.

       2 likes

  32. GizmonicTemp says:

    Rowsdower42 – “The magic misery of Manos”. Those are beautiful words, friend! You said more with five words that I could say in an entire post.

    What really cemented this movie in Mst3k history for me was all the stuff that happened in it’s wake; namely, the actor who played Torgo committing suicide because of an addiction to pain killers he developed after suffering knee injuries from incorrectly wearing the knee prostetics he needed for Torgo’s character. (I think that’s correct.)Freaky.

       2 likes

  33. Roswdower17 says:

    Visit beautiful Ground Zero.

       4 likes

  34. Roswdower17 says:

    Faded photographs……..

       2 likes

  35. daltysmilth says:

    Has anyone else noticed this? At one point in the movie, someone, I think it’s supposed to be Crow, although I don’t remember seeing his mouth move, says (as Torgo), “wEll I’ve gOt tO gEt gOiNg!”. Only it doesn’t sound like Trace. It actually sounds like Mike. I know that there have been more than a few times when Trace flubbed a line in the theatre and had to re-record it later, and I guess there were also times when they added jokes AFTER they shot the theatre sequences. But did Mike record that line for some reason? And if so, why? Was it literally done at the last minute and Mike was the only person available to record the line?Or what? Maybe it’s just me.

       2 likes

  36. fireballil says:

    A point on the ‘never show Manos to MST newbies’ point: If that was the case, then why was Manos pulled as a standalone DVD and put with Santa Claus Conquers the Martians in The Essentials DVD set? After all, putting it in an ‘Essentials’ set implies that this is one you WOULD want to show to newcomers. Perhaps this was because at one point, Tom sees Torgo laying down and says, ‘Torgo, you’re the laziest man on Mars.’ (There’s a callback you missed, Sampo. :lol: )

    My fave riff was said already; the ‘last known photograph’ line, so I’ll add another one. After the Master tells Torgo he has to die, Joel says, ‘You can’t fire me, I quit!’

    My review at TV.com can be found here.

       1 likes

  37. Steve Knox says:

    My favorite riff from this one was always

    “HONK HONK Way to go Steve!”

    I like this kind of drive-by riffing, especially when they’re making fun of what is essentially a non-sequitor in the movie. Honestly. It has nothing to do with my name. Really.

       6 likes

  38. Daniel says:

    Like you said, not a lot I can add–

    Fav Riff: “The Amazing Technicolor Poncho”

       2 likes

  39. Mac says:

    Re Rowsdower42’s comment: I checked the IMDB Bottom 100, and every movie listed there from before 1989 is an MST3K film. Even Plan 9 isn’t listed.

       1 likes

  40. GizmonicTemp says:

    daltysmith – I think it’s Trace, albeit a very closely mic’d, poorly EQ’d Trace.

    I also forgot to mention how Joel can barely contain laughter in the “Driving Sketch” when Gypsy starts her cop routine. Great!

       3 likes

  41. Mike says:

    “MANOS!” “The hands of fate?” “Yessss…” :wink:

    What to say that hasn’t already been said? This is one of the few movies that MST did that I find truly, truly depressing and grinding. The nihilistic plot, the plodding “action”, the washed out color (is everything in this movie either black or some shade of brown??). Watching without the riffing… ugh. I can only imagine that you’d need a week’s worth of soul-scrubbing the likes of which little Johnny in “Keeping Clean and Neat” never dreamed of.

    A few favorite riffs that I haven’t seen anyone mention yet.

    — If I’m not mistaken, Crow not once but twice makes reference to the resemblance between the Master and John Cleese in Fawlty Towers. At one point, he has the Master calling out for Manuel and Polly, and the riff, “Oh, a shot in the face, how nice” (done in Cleese-ian, posh British accent) seems to be a reference as well.

    — Crow’s riff over the closing credits, in which he helpfully provides the “Girl Making Out In Car”‘s muted dialogue gets me every time: “No, I don’t want to be in this movie!”

    — Maggie (when Torgo is pledging his undying, um, greasy lust to her): “What kind of talk is that?”
    Crow: “Why, it’s oily, sleazy talk!”

    Incidentally, my copy of the DVD has, I think, a flaw in the opening sequence, right before (I think) Mike and his family pull up at the Motel 666. Servo starts to say something like, “Pretty soon now…”, but the audio warbles and slows down, then picks back up as he finishes with, “… we’ll find ‘Manos, the Hands of Fate’.” Is this only my copy? And if not, was this a flaw in the print of the film itself that the Brains got (and they subsequently played with by letting Servo’s dialogue go slow-mo), or a flaw when they filmed the episode?

       2 likes

  42. Dames Like Her says:

    I actually DID show this episode to two friends of mine who had never seen MST3K before. one sat there with a ‘WTF?’ expression, while his girlfriend began laughing immediately. what made it even funnier for her was that she was working at a Lancome counter at the time, and so the Lancome/exfoliating/’can’t just buy the cleanser, you have to get the whole package’ comments made her double over in pain from laughing. as I recall, I had to pause the tape a few times so she could recover. perhaps Manos is a ‘litmus test’ episode?
    I had not before put a handkerchief on my head during ‘Hired!’, but I shall do so now, everafter.
    fave riffs: ‘DOES-THIS-BUG-YOU DOES-THIS-BUG YOU? I’M NOT-TOUCH-ING YOU’
    ‘I left a piece of chewed gum on your pil-low’
    ‘I’ve never seen her so happy, dearest’
    [‘man- that poor kid!’] indeed!
    Tom’s desperate narration at the end while the two women drive in silence seems to get funnier every time somehow. watching Joel and Crow exchange puzzled glances in the dark during Tom’s frantic attempt to provide some meaning to this sequence just unleashes torrents of giggles anew. the scene makes me want to give Tom a big hug.

       6 likes

  43. Burke says:

    “Ok. Wetnaps, flashlight, revolver. Good.”

       4 likes

  44. RPG says:

    To Mike: Actually, that’s just Tom making fun of the sudden slow-mo in the movie itself. It’s like with Devil Fish. “Sloooww daay, huuuh?”

       6 likes

  45. Bat Masterson says:

    My favorite part of Manos is actually one of the Poopie outtakes, when it takes Mike 20 seconds to deliver the pizza, then he laughs the second he tries to talk.

    Favorite riff: “Well done, my wives!” “Now get the potatoes!”

       5 likes

  46. Ralph C. says:

    This is not an episode I’d show someone as their first episode. The one I would show is “Angel’s Revenge”. Good riffing, a 1970s/”Charlie’s Angels” feel-like thing going on, very accessible, in my opinion.

    “Manos: The Hands of Fate”, otherwise known as “Hands: The Hands of Fate”.

       0 likes

  47. Ezra Pound says:

    I wish my life mirrored this movie, or the short, or both, or probably they both did but I wasn’t aware.

    This is truly an inspiring film, and after about 5 or 6 years, I think I am finally ready to watch the movie without the warm comfort of Mike and the Bots. What the hell is that noise? I’ll be back. It went away when I went into the kitchen. I like the music. There is too much in this movie to comment on, so many great moments. HE WANTS YOU BUT HE CAN’T HAVE YOU. She shoulda got with Torgo. God, Torgo must be a cultural zeitgeist. How could he not be.

       1 likes

  48. Brandon says:

    So… so I told Gary that I was GOING on this weekend vacation, and he said, “Well then I’m going hunting with Jeff next weekend”, and that’s when we were at knife, Bo Derek sang Fernando, and Gary, oh he sings so good, you should meet Jeff sometime. This is a pretty country isn’t it? Do you like Barry Manilow songs? I know the farmers need rain, but when it’s damp like this, my hair explodes! Just Ex-P-LODES! Oh…. I’m feeling kinda gassy. McNuggets you know they make me all gassy, all that grease and all. It really helps if you drink 8 to 10 glasses of water each day, did you know that? Sometimes I drink 5, sometimes I drink 9 to make up for the other 3 I didn’t drink. Coffee and diet drinks don’t count either. This is a pretty country. You know I think it’s a blessing in disguise I didn’t get into college. You know I’m gonna have to revise my 20-year plan. Have I told you about my 20-year plan? We’ll listen here, in year 1, this is the year I plan to take off those extra 7 pounds, you kn ow that’s equal to 7 pounds of butter. So it’s like I’m WEARING 7 pounds of butter! Uh… where was I? Oh yeah, so my aunt and uncle want me to sing “Sunrise, Sunset”, he wanted ME to sing that, and I haven’t sung that since Cyndi’s wedding, and, well, she never thanked me for that… cause, well she’s probably really busy and all.

    Still kissing, six straight days.

       12 likes

  49. MPSh says:

    Torgo makes this movie in the same way that the Hanky Dad makes the short…..

       1 likes

  50. The Professor says:

    Maybe i’m just a sick and twisted person but this usually the FIRST epsiode of MST3K that i show to people. Granted, i foreworn them completely beforehand about what they’re getting into but i feel that people HAVE to see this film. True, the movie itself plays a close second for my choice of worst film ever (that honor goes to The Creeping Terror. It’s impossible for me to watch both riffed and un-riffed) but with few obscure references and consistantly funny riffing, i feel that it makes for a good starter episode for the strong willed. But hey, that’s just me. I also like to show my friends Mad Foxes (don’t know it? Look it up.)

    I remember at least two Frank Zappa jokes in this episode and it made me think, who was the resident FZ fan at Best Brains? I have a feeling it was Kevin, seeing how most riffs and bursts of song came from Servo but i could be wrong.

    “Silence!” “Is golden!” :!:

       2 likes

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