Movie: (1993) In medieval times, a young boy comes under the protection of a wizard, and they plot against a malevolent ruler.

First shown: 9/26/98
Opening: Crow’s in the shop, but the loaner Crow has a radio!
Intro: Worried about a lack of results in her experiment, Pearl trades places with Mike!
Host segment 1: Pearl completes her observations, while Mike, Bobo and Observer enjoy a guy’s night
Host segment 2: The Sir Thomas “Neville” Servo Consort of the Middle Ages Just After the Plague Singers performs an ancient Air on a Delta Knight
Host segment 3: Leonardo Da Vinci visits, and he’s a good fella
End: The bots mourn the loss of Pearl; the annual Delta Knights pancake breakfast is a success
Stinger: Even his co-star is embarrassed by Mr. “I’m Comeeeng!!”
(237 votes, average: 4.21 out of 5)
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• A pretty good but not great final episode of the season, complete with a switcheroo in the theater, more workmen coming and going as they please, another choral treat from Sir Thomas, an almost TOO goofy movie and solid riffing throughout.
• Paul’s thoughts on this one are here.
• This episode is not yet available on DVD, and Shout officials despair that it ever will.
• Of course, the highlight of this ep is Pearl taking a turn in the theater, where she seems a little more Mary Jo-ish than Pearl-ish. But I think it works better that way. I’m not sure sustaining the Pearl character AND doing a good job riffing could really be pulled off. Yes, Mike did it with Eddie, but even that wore thin after a bit.
• I love the loaner Crow sketch. It may be one of my all-time favorites. Maybe it’s because that’s pretty much how my car runs.
• In the Intro segment, Servo says “No movie, no Mike.” I think he meant that the other way ’round. That was the best take they had? Or did nobody notice? Or am I missing something?
• Nice callback: “My boat.” a reference to a classic bad movie moment from “Waterworld,” referenced in episode 808- The She Creature.
• One drawback of this movie choice is that we get a rare foray into attempted comedy here, especially the scenes with Richard Kind. As expected, the riffing suffers a bit during these moments. Indeed, the whole movie really doesn’t seem to take itself very seriously, pretty much a prerequisite for a great episode.
• Self referential riff: “Later at Castle Forrester…”
• Several LOTR references: Legolas, Bombadil and Gollum.
• The medeival aire (words and lyrics by Kevin) is lots of fun. By the way, you can hear more of the “dirty” song at the end on the “Clowns in the Sky 2” CD.
• Also: Somebody put boobs on one of the Tom Servos! Yikes!
• Bill, in full James Gandolfini mode, is terrific as a mobbed up Leonardo Da Vinci in segment 3. He really sells it. One of the better hexfield viewscreen visits of the later years.
• Obscure reference: “Timothy? Where on Earth did you go?”
• Patrick is again a workman visiting the SOL. This time he’s “Eggs,” the pain leakage repairman.
• Always nice to see the big clown hammer make an appearance.
• For the pancake breakfast scene, the cast and crew pretty much called every relative and friend willing to be on camera. It held the record as the segment with the most number of people, though some of Moon 13 scenes in season 11 may have beaten it. In addition to Paul, they were: Benjamin Bakken, Andrea Jackson DuCane, Ari Hoptman, Katie Johnson, Mikey Johnson, Anne Kleinschmidt, Joe Kleinschmidt, Marie Kleinschmidt, Rick Kleinschmidt, Edna McKeever, Tom McKeever, Rachel Mertz, Dara Moskowitz, Kathleen M. Murphy, Sandy Oian, Gerald A. Pehl, Nick Prueher, David Rudrud, Tom Schufman, Krista Skogland, Lorin Skogland, Anna Stonehouse, Dan Tanz and Marshall Tebben.
• Cast and crew roundup: Nobody who worked on this movie worked on any other MSTed movie.
• CreditsWatch: Directed by Mike. Intern Nick Prueher would be back one more time in season 10 but this was intern Dan Tanz’ last episode.
• Fave riff: Sit outside and pet our millipedes! Honorable mention: Well, the movie lost me. It lost me and it’s trotting off without me.