|
 |
Weekend Discussion Thread: Riffs You Use in Daily ConversationThis week marks the first suggestion for a weekend discussion thread that I got via twitter. (And, as always, discussion thread suggestions are welcome.)
Alert reader Wes Hanks wrote:
One we use around our house is “Well! Let’s not do THAT again!” (when something bad happens). What about you? 180 Replies to “Weekend Discussion Thread: Riffs You Use in Daily Conversation”Commenting at Satellite News
We are determined to encourage thoughtful discussion, so please be respectful to others. We also provide an "Ignore" button ( Comments are closed. |
|
Satellite News is a fan site for the Mystery Science Theater 3000 television and Netflix series. It is an independent publication written and compiled by Chris Cornell (msampo@aol.com) and Brian Henry (erhardt4@aol.com). Satellite of Love, LLC does not maintain this web site, nor is it responsible for this site's content.
All content posted on Satellite News is copyright © 2026 by Chris Cornell and Brian Henry, except where otherwise noted. This Date in MSTory is written and compiled by Steve Finley, Chris Cornell and Brian Henry. Copyright © 2026 All rights reserved. Please do not reproduce This Date in MSTory items in any form without express written permission from the authors. Items of MST3K news may be duplicated or reposted, as long as Satellite News is cited as the source. The views and opinions expressed herein are not necessarily those of Satellite of Love, LLC. No warranty is expressed or implied that the information given herein is completely accurate, and in fact this information can and will change at any time. So there. Mystery Science Theater 3000, its characters and situations are copyrights and trademarks of Satellite of Love, LLC. Banner image created by Larry Lee Moniz. |
|
) to help our users cope with "trolls" and other commenters whom they find annoying. Go to our
OK. Here is the short list of the ones myself and two of my pals/bandmates use CONSTANTLY:
‘The Hell?!’
‘YOU’RE STUCK HERE!’
and almost EVERY phone call begins with
‘Poopie!’ [John Banner’s ‘Bobby’]
The 3-way “Shuuuut UP!” of Joel and the ‘bots will often gleefully and decisively ring out in my head when I hear someone say something stupid, pretentious or annoying. Crow’s classic slam on Alan Hale in Giant Spider Invasion of “Not a joke but an incredible simulation!” has been used on more than a few occasions by me, my brother and my friends to zing each other after one of us has made a failed attempt at humor. :p
One of my favorites to use is “Join us, won’t we.” Also “the hell?” and “Trumpy, you can do stupid things.”
Oh, this thread was MADE for me. Just last night the house was all dark until someone went into the kitchen and turned the lights on, when I started with “SURPRISE! Happy biiirth-day to YOU….”
I like to drag out “Hi! I’m Satan!” a lot when a snake’s around.
And I’ve often been known to pull the “hamburger sammich and french-fried potatoes!” line.
Oh, a lot of the ones already mentioned are in constant use in our house — “Good old fashioned nightmare fuel!”, “Watch out for snakes!” “This is where the fish lives!” and the ever-popular “walnut ranch” — but the one most commonly heard is when my wife needs something from a high shelf, she’ll ask me to get it down from Koo-ee-tara High! High! High!
Didn’t we do this same topic a few months back? Not that I care…
Paraphrasing a shot at Cherokee Jack: I stumbled across a picture of ex Marvel Comics editor in chief Jim Shooter circa 1992, showed it to a friend of mine who’s a big ‘Fantastic 4’ and ‘Iron Man’ fan, and commented. “Just think: all our favorite ’80s comics were powered by that face.” I guess you kinda’ have to see the pic to get it; his appearance is “hard to describe” at best.
I mean no disrespect of Mr. Shooter: He did the right thing and let “ROM: Spaceknight” continue for 75 issues even after the ROM toy bombed, while his successor Tom DeFalco canned “Transformers” the minute the last US toys trickled out, even though the book was still selling! Just hadta’ make room for “NFL Superpro”, dincha’!?!
Oh, and it’s not an exact quote either, but any time I watch Italian horror with a child whose voice is as badly dubbed as Tommy’s in ‘Pod People’, I warm up my best impression and declare “Trumpy, no! I thought you loved me!” or “Trumpy must be doing his MAGIC things!” whenever a particularly brutal death/mutilation occurs. Works especially well in Fulci’s ‘City of the Living Dead’ and ‘The House by the Cemetary’.
I also get some mileage out of “Hahahaha… you’re stuck here!” but my favorite was wishing my school friends goodbye with “So long, odd acquaintance who inexplicably gave us rides in your dune buggy.”
You kind of already did this in the very beginning … Riffs that you say – although not necessarily to other people …
How about … favorite ad-lib (with list) next week … ???
Myself and my brothers have referenced (and re-enacted–don’t ask) the whole “Want some? I WANT AN ANSWER!!!!” set piece from Daddy-O.
“THE HELL?” is a popular one, as well as “My job, my way.”
Coffee is always referred to as reverently as it is in the Coleman Francis epics.
Nice one, Books. I was just watching Skydivers the other day and thought to myself, “Ya know, i’m gonna start using that I Like Coffee line.”
Also:
Forget everything you’ve seen until now! Here come the headliner! (from Godzilla VS Megalon. Perfect way to enter a room.)
This…is this.
Wha happa?
TORCHA! (and variations of the full line)
Goodbye…(this being the grandpa eskimo used in the stinger of Gamera)
Your weapons have no effect against me! (perfect for online video games)
God, there are a million more i’m forgetting.
“Jack’s not getting paid enough to run” is always a favorite when I’m being lazy. (from Angel’s Revenge)
Ahem…”Here COMES the headliner.” :roll:
My favorites always involve my fiancée (proudly turned her MSTie 4 years back).
“Aww…no, I’m huge!” – When one of us is being too whiny after a long day at work or something.
“I demand you set up a delicious buffet” She uses this whenever I’m making dinner.
“SLEEP!” gets thrown around a lot too, in no specific scenario.
…and “Can we talk about Mitchell now??” whenever I’m with someone and I’m bored. (Technically not a riff, but from a bumper). Also from that same bumper…”Uh…uh…The Beatles!!!” whenever I haven’t been paying attention.
I like to use “Wa Happa?” and “Time for go to bed”
The other day when I went to the park on a sunny day, I saw two people sitting on one swing kissing and I thought to myself “Oh no! They’re doing it clown style!”
“The Hell?” is great. And I like “…at first” when discussing good and bad ideas.
I think minute-for-minute, “Home Economics Story” offers the best everyday one-liners. Everything from “the kind of problems you want to have” to “soon you die to; it’s nice, though” to “…for Bozo” and “…struggles with basic motor skills” and so many more.
“X Marks the Spot” is a pretty rich mine, too.
And I don’t think a day goes by without a line from “Mitchell” used apropos of something. You know, like how “Schlitz would listen to me” now or “speaking of logging it”.
I started referring to weedwhackers as “weedwhippers” after seeing the end of 502-Hercules. After Herc breaks out of his chains and starts swinging them around, Joel says something like “He’s invented the weedwhipper!” Now I’ve got my whole family saying weedwhipper instead of weedwhacker, too
Also, from 502-Hercules, I like to use the line “Looks like it’s a big, brawny, hairy, glistening, two-fisted, manly day!”
:wink:
Well, I still hear “Potatoes are what we eat” (with variations) when I’m serving potatoes for dinner.
And one riff that’s become a part of our language is from The Screaming Skull, when Crow mentions how the scene is nothing but a foam peanut. That has been a perfect description of many scenes in different movies; we even refer to “foam peanut” episodes, especially when talking about a series like Lost, which has quite a few foam peanuts.
And my husband likes to say “YOU shove off!” every chance he gets. I try not to take it personally.
I often use “It’s fun to be psychotic!” From Mr B. natural whenever my co-workers look at me funny. Also when giving someone something from Catilina Caper “Here’s yer stick mista Luthor!”
Another good thread!! I use the most MST-based riffs on my wife, best friend, and dad, since they’re the only people I know who know what the show’s about. These would include:
-“Wha happa?” When my wife reacts to something on TV, I’ll say this to her if I’m out of the room or not paying close attention.
-“I don’t want to do it…it’s gonna hurt and stuff!” I use this priceless jewel whenever my wife wants me to perform a strenuous activity, like taking out the garbage. :roll: It gets her temporarily annoyed, which I admit I enjoy doing to her.
-“Mitchell, do you want to come in?” I got my friend with this line when he knocked on my door one day. He got me back; when I went to visit him and knocked, he yelled out, “No! I don’t want a Chevrolet!”
-“That’s a number 9!” I shout this out at any time I see a “9” on any sign, wall, or shirt. I usually explain why before they send me to Looney Bin! :razz:
-If I’m in a good mood while getting dressed, I’ll sing the “Ode to Pants!” song from “Hercules Against the Moonmen”.
I’m sure there are other examples, but those come to mind first.
whenever i talk to a person named lisa or i’m introduced to a new lisa… i always say it in the richard keil voice from ‘human duplicators’
amazingly, that’s the only one i can think of right now.
oh, crud… i say, “I like it very much” on almost a daily basis.
can’t believe i forgot that.
Oh wow, there are so many MST riffs that have made it into my lexicon!
Whenever things are good, I’ll exclaim “I like it very much!” or “HUZZAH!”
Whenever things are looking very bad, it’s either “D’ohhh poopie.” or “It stinks!”
When the situation calls for a patronizing laugh, Phantom of Krankor’s “Ha. Ha. Ha. Ha. Haaaa.”
Whenever my actions or a friend’s actions result in something unfortunate, “That was dumb, can’t believe we did that!” or “The-Master-would-not-approve!”
Whenever my actions or a friends actions result in success: “Cedar lattice. Works every time!”
And then some others that I randomly throw in when the situation is appropriate: “Hmm, little potatoes!”, “Oh no! They stole his/the…” from Sidehackers, and lastly, “HAHAHA! YOU’RE STUCK HERE!”
It Stinks!
Whenever my family gets together for dinner, the one line that almost always pops up is from “Young Man’s Fancy”
“Great meal dear.”
“Thats what you should have cooked!”
Not a riff, but I always use “How many fish can you name?” as a generic question.
whenever someone calls out to me, and im like “yes?” or “what?” and I get no response I allways quip “nothing, ok.” (from poopie)
when rough houseing with my girlfriend we both often say “Your weapons are useless against me, it’s my considerd advice that you dicontinue use of said weapons.” not all of this line will allways make it out but most is uttered.
oh and when some one say no something IE no smoking, no parking, so swearing, ect. I useually say “no ___ not allowed.”
like in crawling hand.
“no dancing, not allowed”
These were lines that they turned into riffs, so I guess they count. I say them every now and then.
“We’re on our way!”
“How fortunate, this will simplify everything!”
Both have to be spoken like the characters originally said them too.
“Smootchers!”
When one of my kids takes a tumble, “and she floats gently to her death”
“Watch out for snakes!”
“We can’t have nice things”
“Well, that could have gone better” remains my favorite for discussion of current events, or history, or just about anything. For a while in the 90’s I would interject, “But what about torture?” in almost any discussion. Fortunately I’d mostly gotten out of the habit by the time Abu Ghraib hit the news around 2003
“STAYYY!!”
“SLEEEEP!”
I used “Ahahaha… you’re STUCK here!!” just today, and baffled my brother.
“You’re WELCOME” every time someone says thank you.
I remember saying “Oooh, my were-tummy” constantly for about two hours. (Also, “That’s absolootly fussinating” and “Where you live is inchrrEDiball.”)
And I recall one time when my family was eating dinner and my father said, “Take that napkin…”
“And shove it!” I finished cheerfully, which got a lot of horrified laughs and then probably a lecture. I suppose I was thinking of the bit in Space Mutiny. “Take a chair…” “…and ram it.” Oh, the memories.
Okay, there’s a bunch:
Watch out for snakes!
We are Ken!
Baby oil? Nooooooo!
I sing whenever I sing…
Paul? Is you at this place?
That’s absolutely fascinating.
Toy boat, toy boat, toy plane..
I use “Whee!” at random times and Crow’s “Kitties!” whenever I see a cat.
Whenever a button needs to be pushed, or some device or machine otherwise needs to be turned on or activiated : “Push the button, Frank”.
( often followed by “I AM the button” )
As circumstances call for it : “Sleeep!” ( often with “in heavenly peace”.
“white male reality” because that’s kind of what my life is.
“Good old-fashioned nightmare fuel” can come in handy as well.
And “time for go to bed” has been pressed into service more than once as my facebook status.
I reference MST3K pretty regularly. Here are just a few phrases I can think of now…
“What do you think, sirs?” – Joel (not actually a riff, but still MST3K)
“I like it very much.” – Prince of Space
“Oh, this potato has long ears…” – Pod People (I don’t know why I say this because it usually doesn’t make sense.)
“No one should have to see the little creature!” – Boggy Creek II
“I’m an icky elf!” – Girl in the Gold Boots
Ooh, I almost forgot.
“I’m the God, I’m the God!”
Not a riff, but comes in handy when directing a play.
usually..”oh GOOD one(fill in name)
the hell?
you have GOT to be kidding me!
and of course during my commute to work “dickweeeeeed!”
I’m always doing quips in real life, usually under my breath unless I have an accepting audience. (My whole family likes to do this, but with different works. My youngest brother does Monty Python; my middle sister does “The Man with Two Brains”; my youngest sister loves to quote Kathy Griffin’s routines.) Just a few MST3k quips that I recall offhand:
“We are Ken!” — muttered when talking about a Ken
“Absolutely fascinating” (with Natalie’s accent), anytime I’m intrigued
“Time for go to bed” — to myself at the appropriate time
“toy boat, toy boat” — when I fumble some words
“no (whatever), not allowed” whenever someone objects to something
When I’m trying to “hurry” my slow computer, I’ll yell “Watch out for snakes!”, “Hi-keeba, Captain” (Star Force: Fugitive Alien II), “I’ll hurl my skinniness at you!” (Danger: Diabolik), or “Zut alors! Je suis mort!” (Final Sacrifice), because these are my startup, shutdown, login, and logout sounds, respectively.
Sometimes I recall a very specific riff at just the right time, like the one I mentioned in last week’s discussion:
Friend (looking at framed photo): “I wonder who they are?”
Me: Oh, that’s the Came-With-The-Frame family.” (Final Sacrifice)
I also managed to blurt out “Your mother flosses in Hell!” (Dr. Erhardt, “Moon Zero Two”) once, but I can’t remember the circumstance.
“Two bad things that go worse together” feels like an appropriate response far more often than it should (from, of course, the “Circus on Ice” short in “Monster A-Go-Go “).
From the beloved ‘End of Season 8 Trilogy’, I also find myself using variations of “_______…of the FUTURE!” a lot.
Ex: Commenting on the ‘Spiral Zone’ logo: “Dirk Courage has a cell phone attached to his face; this can only be, THE FUTUUUUURE!”
Mike’s dry “that’s really interesting” gets a lot of mileage whenever we speak of uninteresting things.
“…At first” is another regular.
Not really a riff, but Mary Jo’s scene from “Beginning of the End” gets a lot of use as well. “Hold on, my bacon’s on fire.” “MOMMY’S ON THE PHOOOOOONE…”
One of the funniest references was when I was walking down a hallway at work to a conference room where I was to do a presentation and the attorney I worked with (also a MST3K fan) who was walking with me suddenly stopped just outside the conference room and began to do the “knee rotation” pre-speech exercise from the “Speech” short.
“_______, no!”
“Well, I don’t see what could possibly- WHAT?!”
“The hell?”
“Think about it, won’t you? Thank you.”
“I REGRET NOTHING!”
“Why don’t they look?”
“Man, I am SO lost.” (from Mitchell)
And if things go wrong, I’ll let out an annoyed “I’m Doctor Ted Nelson!”
I don’t tend to use them alot, because I’m the only person (besides my family, but they aren’t as addicted as I am) that watches MST3K within a thousand miles of my house.
I tend to use the following.
“Dickweed” -Derived from Pod People’s “He doesn’t speak your language, dickweed.” Though not completely MST3K.
“Watch out for snakes!” Was casually directed at a friend when he went to the bathroom. My teacher, either didn’t care, or thought I was quite concerned that he would meet a snake.
“..rusted ’58 chevy appala” is often used by me, I don’t understand why.
“Can I eat it?” I do a dynamite trumpy impression.
Overall, though, MST3K has completely influenced my personality, I tend to be riffing on things all the time. When we watch a film in class i’ll shout out lines from MST3K that fit or my own comment, same with movie theaters, lectures, public shows, everything. (Though sometimes I don’t shout them, I enjoy golden silence so i’m not one of those people at the movie theater)
God I love MST3K.
Industry, science, making the world better…
..McCloud (randomly); Huzzah
I Hate to shoot a butt like that, to my wife, always gets a good response.
I sing whenever I sing whenever I sing whenever I sing.
My most oft repeated MST3K things,
” If you’re like me, and I know I am”
And I sing Patrick Swayze Christmas. Alot.
When they show a clip of a serious press conference on the news, I sometimes do a fake call-out of “You’re not funny!”
Three from Speech: Using Your Voice:
“Think about it, won’t you?” (That one might originate somewhere else, but that’s where I first learned of it.)
After the professor says, “keep your voice low and pleasing,” Crow (or is it Joel?) says, “I like it like that.” We say that around our house all of the time in a variety of contexts.
“Do I please you? Do you find me pleasing?”
As shorthand among myself and my friends, whenever one of us thinks that a movie twist is predictable, we’ll just turn to each other and say either, “And his eyes open,” or “And she’s a werewolf.”
It tends to sum up a lot of movies. :)
Sometimes I think 50% of what I say during a given day is either from an MST3k’d movie or a riff thereof. This is a SHORT list.
“The hell?”
“I like it very much!”
“Pudding!”
“The MAsteR woulD nOt aPProvE.”
“‘m I nuts?”
“You’re welcome.”
“Food!” (especially if it’s on the floor)
“We’re on!” (whenever a light turns on unexpectedly)
“Watch out for snakes!” (translation: goodbye)
“Little winged potatoes.”
“Trumpy?” (during movies, whenever a child’s voice is dubbed by a grown woman)
“Torcha!”
“I’m huge!”
“Thass abzolutly fahsinating.”
“Paul? Is you at this place?”
“GoodBYE, Davie.”
“What was THAT?”
“We can’t have nice things.”
“McCloud!”
“I did not appreciate your lawyer’s tone.”
“(insert anything here,)Mista Lovejoy!”
*Inane giggling whenever mailing a letter.
*Fries are always a french-fried potato garnish.
*Unending variations on muscular names.
*The I-WILL-have-that-tea routine.
*Jack Palance voice.
*Sand, ruining everything. (I live near sand. It’s appropriate. But not really.)
*Songs. Hike your pants up. Canada. Forklift. Killer Shrews. Etc.
And on and on and on and on….
I use Dr. F’s “look at me when I’m talking to you” with my fiance and also “it’s fun when it’s fun!” a lot, love the thread!