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Episode guide: 616- Racket Girls (with short: ‘Are You Ready for Marriage?’)

616s

Short: (1950) A pair of high schoolers are planning marriage, until a friendly counselor talks them down.
Movie: (1951) A gym owner who manages lady rasslers uses his place as a front for illegal gambling.

First shown: 11/26/94
Opening: Lisa Loeb visits on the Hexfield
Intro: As M&tB try to discourage Lisa Loeb, there are also security problems in Deep 13
Host segment 1: Crow wants to marry Tom, so they take a Cosmo quiz
Host segment 2: Mike throws Crow a depressing bachelor party
Host segment 3: The wedding starts well but ends in rasping
End: M&tB think there’s been too much wrestling, they read letters, Lisa Loeb gets into Deep 13
Stinger: SNAP! “It’s gone!” “Where’d it go?”
1 Star2 Stars3 Stars4 Stars5 Stars (205 votes, average: 4.28 out of 5)
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• If you can put up with the endless rasslin’ footage, this episode is a lot of fun. The host segments are strange, but silly. The short is another classic. As for the movie, well, as Crow notes. “When Ed Wood saw this, it was like when Truffaut saw ‘Citizen Kane’.” The rasslin’ scenes are a bit like the refueling scenes in Starfighters: It’s amazing to see them do riff after riff after riff on scenes where the same thing happens over and over and over.
• This episode is included in Shout’s “Mystery Science Theater 3000 Collection: Vol. XV.”
References.
• Non-spaghetti ball bumpers: Beaker, book, bulletin board, film canister.
• When this episode debuted, it was the third of three new episodes in the course of four days. It was Turkey Day heaven.
• That’s Bridget, of course, with a hilarious impression of Lisa Loeb. Loeb told me on Twitter that she loved that sketch.
• And of course that’s Paul, Patrick and Mary Jo as the strangers in Deep 13.
• The whole “boing” thing was a source of much amusement in the online forums following this show. I suspect “boing” is somehow related to being “squishy.”
• Mary Jo returns as Jan in the Pan, late-night style.
• Then-current reference: Short-lived TV show “Models Inc.”
• I really love the message of the movie: that you simply cannot corrupt a really clean sport like ladies wrestling, and attempting to do so will bring down forces on your head that will overwhelm you.
• During the wedding, Frank sings the last few bars of “The Wedding Song,” written by Paul Stookey of Peter, Paul and Mary fame.
• Dr. F. channels Prince while officiating at the wedding. Great stuff.
• Callbacks: “Shut up Iris.” (The Beatniks) “No Lupita!” (Santa Claus), “Have you been noticing any odd occurrences? Oh it’s true!” (The Dead Talk Back), “I’m dyin’ in a rush!” (Kitten with a Whip).
• The chase scene at the end, featuring the lovely Ukrainian national anthem, is a very funny few minutes.
• Frank’s “You brute! You brute! You brute” is from “Blazing Saddles.”
• Cast and crew roundup: cinematographer William C. Thompson also worked on “Project Moon Base,” “Bride of the Monster,” “The Violent Years” and “The Sinister Urge.” Makeup guy Harry Thomas worked on “The Mad Monster,” “Project Moon Base,” “The Unearthly,” “Bride Of The Monster,” “Invasion USA,” “High School Big Shot” and “Night Of The Blood Beast.” In front of the camera, Timothy Farrell was also in “The Violent Years.”
• CreditsWatch: Host segments directed by Trace. This was Michael D. Parker’s first episode as an intern. It was also Julie Van Goethem’s last (after only three eps, maybe things didn’t work out.) Patrick’s first name is spelled wrong.
• Fave riff from short: “‘I want to marry a man!’ ‘Heh-heh. No, you don’t.’” Honorable mention: “Sometimes there’s a SHPLOINK!”
• Fave riff from the movie: “‘What are you thinking about?’ ‘Playdoh.’” Honorable mention: “There’s some heroin I’ve had my eye on.”

RIP Sandra Giles

Just when you thought this year had done its worst…

LOS ANGELES–Hollywood icon Sandra Giles died peacefully on Dec. 25 at home here. She was 84. MSTies will remember her role Jana Ryan in the movie in episode 307- DADDY-O.

Read her story here.

Thanks to Paul, one of my “angels of death,” for the heads up.

2016: In Memoriam

With the news of Carrie Fisher (not a MSTory person but we do send out our heartfelt sadness to her family) in the headlines, we present our annual “in memoriam” video.

One note: you may want to have your finger on the pause button. Some of the ID cards are, necessarily, a little long. Also, I am NOT real good at this and I openly admit it. Please cut me a little slack…

Frank’s Latest ‘Podhouse 90’

It’s the Steve the Talking Car Show, starring Frank, John Fugelsang, Trace, Carolina Hidalgo, Tiana Miller, Myka Fox, Karen Lloyd and Mike MacRae, with special guest stars Judy Gold and Catherine Popper. Written and directed by Frank.

Weekend Discussion Thread: Riffing is Everywhere

Alert reader dakotaboy observes:

These days, riffing is everywhere. From tweets, to podcasts, and many other medium, riffing has become a cultural phenomenon. Which movie, TV show, etc., is the most like MST3K without actually being MST3K? I vote for the 90’s movie Wayne’s World, because the style of humor is much like our favorite show.

What do you think, sirs?

I have a column in my TweetDeck that just lists every tweet that uses the phrase “MST3K.” You might (or if you are a reader of this site, you might not) be amazed at the THOUSANDS of tweets a day that include that word. And a surprising number of them are talking about somebody who commented, or should comment. on something “just like MST3K.”

So in what unusual or something place or setting have you encountered people suddenly bringing up our favorite cowtown puppet show?