Short: (1947) A country family has a fun day at the state fair.
Movie: (1977) A failed Quinn Martin TV pilot follows an undercover agent battling a nefarious villain in Hawaii.
First shown: 10/1/94
Opening: M&tB are living in their own filth
Intro: The Mads obsess over cleanliness, cleaning up the SOL
Host segment 1: The bots thinks Mike is too nice, then they see what it would be like if Mike wasn’t nice
Host segment 2: Then they are shown what it would be like to live with a Crash Test Dummy
Host segment 3: And finally, they are shown what it would like to live with the Frugal Gourmet
End: M&tB have embraced the authentic Hawaiian lifestyle, Tom hulas a letter (then Mike reads it), the Mads are still obsessing
Stinger: “Aaaahhh! Johnny! Down there!”
• The short is another gem, and while the movie portion is okay, it’s hit-and-miss. The host segments are very memorable, and I recall they caused a bit of a stir when this show first aired. They caused a great deal of confusion for me: I had never heard of Canadian alt-rockers Crash Test Dummies (NOW I understand why it would be so horrible!–though actually I kinda like that “Superman” song) and I had never seen “This Boy’s Life” (NOW I know a thing or two about a thing or two). I was vaguely aware of the Frugal Gourmet, but not familiar enough to get the “don’t write in” stuff Mike does. Adding to my confusion, I had never heard of “Lovejoy” either. Just not something I had ever run across. So I spent a lot of this episode scratching my head wondering what the hell was going on.
• This episode is featured on Shout! Factory’s Vol. XXIII.
• Lots of props from previous eps are strewn about in the opener, but the smell was apparently coming from from a jester shoe from episode 505- THE MAGIC VOYAGE OF SINBAD.
• Callbacks: Frank references “Outlaw” with his mention of a “disgusting worrrm!” (Others: “This looks like Daddy-O’s room,” and “This is so Mitchell” and ”There’s a lotta money here, Mitchell!”)
• Tom’s o/` With an awful lotta lettuce… o/` is a reference to the musical “Guys and Dolls.”
• Non-Spaghetti Ball Bumpers: beaker, film canister, bulletin board.
• Mike needs to come down an octave if he’s really going to do Brad Roberts.
• That’s Alex Hentiloff, the poor man’s Stuart Pankin, as the government scientist.
• Turns out living with the Frugal Gourmet was more traumatic than the Brains guessed…
• Self-reference: TV’s Frank named that boat!
• The bit at the end is a reference to an old Hawaiian Punch commercial. THAT I recognized!
• Wouldn’t this have been a better episode to do the Quinn-Martin Nature Preserve sketch?
• Slam on the Coast Guard outta nowhere!
• Cast and crew roundup: Set designer George R. Nelson also worked on “The Magic Sword.” In front of the camera, Roy Thinnes was in those awful General Hospital shorts. Ward Costello was also in “Terror from the Year 5000.”
• CreditsWatch: Host segments directed by Kevin Murphy. “Controller” Tim Johnson appears for the first time and would remain for the rest of the series.
• Fave riff from the short: “The cows are furious!” Honorable mention: “Men are fools, dear. Remember that.”
• Fave riff from the feature: “Boy, it’s tough when ‘Barnaby Jones’ out-actions you.” Honorable mention: “This is Quinn Martin. We’re not going to series.” “…French, Italian, poppy seed, hot ranch…”
