MST3K: Episode K18 - The Million Eyes of Sumuru

My quest to watch all of the Mystery Science Theater 3000 episodes continues. More about the quest can be found here and here.

I'm working to get the KTMA season (Season K/Season Zero) finished by end of the year. Four more to go, counting this one.

Episode K18: The Million Eyes of Sumuru

First aired: KTMA on 7 May 1989
Availability: MST3KVideos.com

Sumuru, missing 999,998 of her eyes

Since the KTMA shows aren't commercially available, and the only way to get them is to have a copy of an over-the-air recording someone made in 1989, the quality of the shows is sometimes quite inferior. Every now and then, though, you get a very good quality recording.

I was all excited to get one of those. Then, about 30 minutes in, the quality suddenly dropped. I was hoping it was just the film, but the shortly went to a host segment, and the quality was still poor. Then, after a few minutes, the quality improved again, and stayed good the rest of the way.

I think they were just toying with me.

Frankie Avalon, performs without Annette

There was no hot Japanese she-villain. Though the characters were supposed to be Oriental, Sumuru was played by Shirley Eaton, who was Jill Masterson in Goldfinger.

The riffing in this one seems more like the riffing of the national episodes. Some of the jokes are great.

• "This is a hard role for Frankie. He’s working without Annette."
• "He’s a very clean old man, isn’t he?"
• "Dominique-nique-nique!"
• "I’m gonna tell you all a story..."
• "I like a movie with lots of midriff." "I think the navel department had a hand in it."

And more. Including some that could never be said on TV today, such as

• "It's the Boatnips!"
• "This movie's got something for everybody: Brits, Nips, & dips."

Midriffs Galore

This movie even riffs itself. Frankie Avalon muses aloud, "I wonder if this is where I'm supposed to sing." Joel responds, "We'll make fun of the movie if you don't mind."

As mentioned above, they referenced midriffs a few times. In this spy film of sorts, almost all the she-villain's she-henchmen wear midriff-revealing outfits. I almost expected one of the characters to be named "Midriffs Galore."

As I mentioned when I started this project, I was more familiar with Mike's work than with Joel's work. I have to admit, I like Joel's work. A lot. Of course, I liked Mike's work a lot, too.

We'll see how things go by the middle of Season Five.

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