Movie: (1978) Vacationers at a winter resort struggle to survive after an avalanche hits.

Opening: Crow and Tom are working on their “Mad Bots” script
Invention exchange: Ardy in Moon 14 has some concerns; J&tB have the mouth vacuum; the Mads have the Don La Font-aine 3000
Segment 1: Crow and Tom are impressed with Rock Hudson’s romantic moves. Jonah tries to talk them down
Segment 2: As J&tB play Marco Polo, Neville La Roy visits and he and Kinga sing “Our Love Is on Wings (You Can’t See)”
Segment 3: J&TB decry deliberately stupid hybrid B-movies
Closing: Night club singer Gypsy sings a wintry medly
Stinger: Collateral avalanche damage
(86 votes, average: 4.37 out of 5)
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• Several new things in this ep: Joel as Ardy in Moon 14 (other than saying “movie in the hole!”) and the first mention of Kingachrome.
• Movie thoughts: Did Rock and Mia just assume there would be chemistry and not even try to create it? Also interesting and vaguely related: J&tB carefully avoided any riffs on Rock’s, um, lifestyle.
• Jonah’s invention triggered my gag reflex.
• Steve Franken in two out of the first four movies? What are the odds?
• In the theater, Crow and Tom control drones which carefully block the naughty bits of a naked lady, similar to the umbrella bit in episode 403- CITY LIMITS.
• Also in the theater J&tB produce cymbals.
• As the helicopter flies in, they do a M*A*S*H-style description of the movie, one that is taken WORD FOR WORD from the synopsis in the IMDB. I know because I also stole MY synopsis, above, from there, but I rewrote mine a little.
• Neil Patrick Harris pops up out of the blue in a sort of “Dr. Horrible” reunion with Felicia Day. The lyrics by Joel, Elliott Kalan and Robert Lopez. The music is by Robert Lopez, arranged and produced by Stephen Oremus.
• Interesting “Simpsons” reference: “Feels like I’m wearing’ nothin’ at all! Nothin’s at all!” How many Simpsons references were on MST3K, even though “The Simpsons” referenced MST3K several times?
• The credits do not say who wrote Gypsy’s song, so I am guessing it was another great song from Paul and Storm.
• What sort of musical instrument in Jonah playing during Gypsy’s song?
• The TripAdvisor bit is very funny.
• Callback: “We want to hear California Lady!” (Track of the Moon Beast).
• Phrases from the legacy show: “Commercial sign,” “He died as he lived…” and “You look at it, I’m bitter.”
• Cast and crew round-up: As noted, Steve Franken was also in “The Time Travelers.” Stuntman Freddie Hice also did stunts for “Alien from LA.” Behind the camera, producer Paul Rapp was assistant director on “High School Big Shot.” Producer Roger Corman’s other riffed films include “Gunslinger,” “It Conquered the World,” “The Undead,” “Viking Women,” “Teenage Cave Man,” “Swamp Diamonds” and “The Sword and the Dragon.” Editor Larry Bock also edited “Final Justice,” in which he also had a cameo as a drunk. Production designer Sharon Compton was an actress in “Wizards of the Lost Kingdom II.” Special effects artist Roger George also did special effects on “The Human Duplicators” and “The Amazing Transparent Man.” Script supervisor Sandy King also supervised the script for “The Incredible Melting Man.”
• Fave riff: “1978, you have so many crimes to answer for.” Honorable mention: “o/` Rock rock rock rock rock ’n’ roll search team. o/`”