Movie: (1964) An air force pilot is eager to learn to fly the F-104 jet, and that means mid-air refueling.

First shown: 10/29/94
Opening: Crow tries to log onto the information super-highway
Intro: The Mads have cranial ports; but M&tB have Cowboy Mike’s barbecue sauce and it’s bold!
Host segment 1: While he and Tom reenact the refueling scene, Crow misses a call
Host segment 2: The bots “debrief” Mike
Host segment 3: The United Servo Academy Men’s Chorus performs
End: Crow finally logs onto the information super-highway, Mike reads a letter, the Mads are sharing their thoughts
Stinger: Lady elbows hubby
(229 votes, average: 4.41 out of 5)
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• This episode is especially near and dear to me. The movie is JUST. SO. BAD. The riffing is great, considering how little they had to work with, and the host segments are silly and endearing.
• This episode is included in The Mystery Science Theater 3000 Collection, Vol. 12
• Ah, 1994, the year that most people discovered the “online” world, and we began to hear a certain automotive metaphor. By the way, Al Gore didn’t invent the Internet, but he did coin the phrase “information superhighway.”
A personal story: In 1994 I was working for an electronics retailing trade magazine, and one of the big stories of that year was that some electronics retailers (anybody remember Circuit City?) were just starting to carry computers, though nobody (including my boss!) could really say why, exactly, a consumer would want one. And keep in mind that modems were often not standard equipment on many of the computers that were coming to market at that time. Having been online (mostly on Prodigy and AOL) for a couple of years at that point, I tried to explain that “going online” was going to be the killer app for these things. He had no idea what I was talking about and refused to let me do a story about it. He was fired a few months later.
• BTW — do NOT go to biteme.com. It appears to be doing nefarious things.
• In the comments, several experts explained the “looking for uart at fx1050” prompt–essentially it’s saying that there’s a hardware/software conflict, probably involving the modem.
• I love how Crow starts dancing slightly to the hold music as he waits.
• That’s Kevin as the first tech support voice. The next voice is Jim, I think, then the live voice is Paul.
• “It’s bold!!” became an immediate catchphrase.
• I sometimes note especially “naughty” riffs, but it would be impossible to do for this episode. There are dozens during the refueling scenes. My favorite is: “I think he has whiskey jet.”
• Non-spaghetti ball bumpers: datebook, beaker, film canister.
• I once showed this episode to my brother, who was an Air Force pilot. He hated it.
• There was much discussion in online MSTie forums about Crow and Tom, ahem, “refueling.”
• There’s an extreme closeup on the Crow’s phone at one point, and, based on the spray paint flecks on it, I assume it’s been laying around in the prop room.
• Notable theater moment: Mike and Servo get up and dance.
• Those bouncing bombs looked strange to me but several commenters explained that with low-level bombing you need time to get away and the bouncing is designed to give the pilot that time.
• Art riff: “Christo’s latest installa-[boom]…well, good.”
• Random riff: Crow just blurts out: “I hope they blow up Blossom.” (Glad they didn’t.)
• Callbacks: “Shut up Iris.” (The Beatniks), “People seemed to laugh more then:”(Stranded in Space), “Eegah” and “Watch out for snakes!” (Eegah).
• Then-current reference: Tailhook. Honorable mention: “Marilu Henner is replacing Vicky!”
• The topic of corn de-tassling also got a lot of discussion in the forums.
• Segment 2 is great, and I know that many female fans of Mike enjoyed the notion of him being debriefed (tighty whitey alert!)
• Servo does something they rarely do on the show — he takes note of the reel change alert in the corner of the screen and comments on it.
• As if the previous great segments weren’t enough, in segment 3 we are treated to a performance by the United Servo Academy chorus. Kevin wrote both the music and lyrics and I assume spent hours overdubbing himself into many-part harmony. The commenters explained that Mike is imitating Bill McGlaughlin from the local classical music radio show “St. Paul Sunday.”
• Somebody once dissected the lyrics of the song, indicating where every line was stolen from. This has links to almost all them. By the way, if you’d like to hear/see a very nice live version of the song, check out this now-legendary moment from the first JoCo Cruise.
• We get one of the show’s few Cheech and Chong references as Tom Servo imitates Sister Mary Elephant.
• As soon as the character on screen says “poopie suit,” that’s it. Off Tom and Crow go on a long string of scatology, and there’s no stopping them. Mike’s Joel-esque pleas for them to stop fall on deaf ears.
• The “Boogers” incident actually happened, according to the ACEG.
• There is no cast/crew roundup. Nobody involved in this movie worked on any other MSTed movie.
• CreditsWatch: Host segments directed by Jim Mallon. For interns David J. Belmont, Shannon McNeely and Peter Nicolai, this was the final episode they worked on.
• Fave riff: “You know, it’s all kind of dull until you remember how sharp those wings are.” Honorable mention: “Found him! He was under a pile of blankets in my room.”

Movie: (1948) A cowboy finds himself in the middle of a range war between a powerful rancher and his neighbors.

First shown: 10/15/94
Opening: Mike programs Crow and Tom with regional speech patterns
Intro: Dr. F.. sends a matter transference device to the SOL during an ion storm. It’s “Mirror, Mirror” time!
Host segment 1: The Mirror-Mads sing “Joey the Lemur.” In our universe, Crow and Mike struggle with Mirror-Servo
Host segment 2: Mike and Crow plot strategy, while Mirror-Gypsy and Mirror-Servo do likewise
Host segment 3: Mike and Crow consult The Alternate Universe Manual. In the mirror universe, Mirror-Crow attacks Mirror-Mike while Tom and Gypsy plot strategy
End: M&tB figure out what happened, the Mirror-Mads stop by while a letter is read, the Mads are enjoying their new agony booth
Stinger: Wheelchair Dad laughs
(190 votes, average: 4.32 out of 5)
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• Of course, this is one of those episodes where the host segments WAY overpower the movie segments. Internet MSTies went completely insane for about three days after this episode, which parodies the well-remembered “Mirror, Mirror” episode of the original “Star Trek.” It always amazes me when the host segments completely take over (the “Dark Timmy” segments and the “Joel escapes” segments are other good examples). The segments amount to, maybe, 15 minutes of a two-hour time slot. The Brains have to write lean and tight. It’s a tough assignment, but when they pull it off, as I think they did here, it’s an amazing thing to watch. For what it’s worth, the riffing is actually pretty good, but nobody really noticed.
• This episode is included in Shout’s “Mystery Science Theater 3000 Collection: Vol XXIII.”
• The whole “Mirror, Mirror” thing overwhelmed the opening segment, which coincidentally dovetailed with a whole conversation we’d coincidentally been having about “coke/pop/soda” and other regional speech patterns on the RATM newsgroup. But some people did notice and were amused.
• The mirror Mads’ delight in “the eight of Chris Lemmon,” a reference to an invention exchange in episode 517- THE BEGINNING OF THE END. I may have asked this before, but I’ve always wondered happened to cause Chris Lemmon’s career to tank. He just fell off the radar.
• The mirror Mads enter the theater from the left and sit in seats on the left (or sinister) side of the theater.
• The riffing by Dr. F. and Frank was a marvelous change of pace, and I guess you could think of it as a bit of a preview of Cinematic Titanic and, now, The Mads.
• As I have noted more than once, Mary Beth Hughes was hot-hot-HOT!
• And while we’re on the subject, both the female leads in this movie kept reminding me of Jessie the cowgirl from the “Toy Story” movies.
• Of course, the mirror Mads’ fun friend Joey the lemur harkens back to a wacky segment in episode 210- KING DINOSAUR. It’s clearly a good-natured dig at Joel.
• Mirror Tom is in full Shatner mode as he enters the theater, until he looks up and says, “Oh, hey a cowboy movie!” Then he’s back to normal.
• Non-spaghetti ball bumpers: beaker, date book, bulletin board.
• Crow’s line, “He’s Black Crowes lead singer thin,” surprised me. Maybe they didn’t think people would know who Chris Robinson is?
• Nice to see Gypsy all dolled up as mirror Gypsy.
• Callbacks: Old Timer Billy Slater (Junior Rodeo Daredevils); “Shut up, Iris.” (The Beatniks), “the Milling About Festival” (Black Scorpion), “Again?” (Fugitive Alien).
• We get an early “I thought you were Dale,” which would be a running gag in season eight.
• Cast and crew roundup: I won’t do the Lippert litany again. Special effects guy Ray Mercer also worked on “Lost Continent,” “Radar Secret Service,” “I Accuse My Parents,” “The Sinister Urge” and “The Beast of Yucca Flats.” Costume designer Alfred Berke also worked on “Lost Continent.” I’m not going to do the whole Albert Glasser litany again, either. In front of the camera, Mary Beth Hughes was also the star of “I Accuse My Parents.”
• CreditsWatch: Host segments directed by Kevin Murphy. Andrea DuCane is back for a three-episode stint doing hair and makeup.
• Fave riff: “I’m so sick of gingham I could scream!” Honorable mention: “It’s a plot device. It’s very flimsy, so be careful.”