Wednesday, February 29, 2012

MST3K: Episode 313 - Earth vs the Spider

I'm watching all the episodes of Mystery Science Theater 3000 in order. More about this here. It began here.

Episode 313: Earth vs the Spider

First aired: Comedy Central on 21 September 1991
Availability: MST3KVideos.com

"My money's on the spider."
This is one of the episodes that has never been released commercially. This is also one of those films that I have seen before I ever heard of Mystery Science Theater 3000. I cannot say with certainty, but it seems like one of those Saturday afternoon Creaturefest features.

Most of my hazy memories around most of these old sci-fi or horror films seem to include watching them during daylight hours. WTOC in Savannah used to show horror or sci-fi movies on Saturday night, but memories of this film seem to predate that. While I did watch a lot of films on Channel 11's All Knightmare Movie, I think I first saw this one much earlier. That means I probably saw Earth vs the Spider on one of those Saturday afternoon creature feature shows.

SpyDorr!
I'm not certain if I saw this MST3K episode when it was airing on Comedy Central, but now I'm wondering if I had. You see, during Season One, Drs. Forrester and Erhardt would always reply to one of Joel's observations of how evil or horrible they or their ideas were with "Thank you!" That ended when Dr. Erhardt left.

I'm not sure that I saw any Dr. Erhardt episodes during the run of MST3K, because we never got The Comedy Channel, and because not many reruns of Season One shows occurred during the Comedy Central run. I would have missed the "Thank you" responses.

When I began collecting and watching episodes of MST3K, the "Thank you" catchphrase seemed familiar, even if the rest of the episode didn't. Now, I'm wondering if it's because of this episode, which aired 12 times on Comedy Central. Of course, maybe the "Thank you" catchphrase was used in other episodes. I'll be watching out for that.
"Rose Kennedy!""Dr. Erhardt! No! So that's what happened to him!"
Whether or not I had seen this episode 20 years ago, it seemed fresh and funny. That is, there's a lot of stuff that I feel certain I would have remembered had I seen it before. Such as? Well, from the short, "Speech: Using Your Voice," the advice to "use plenty of lip and tongue action" is one I'd have remembered. And now, so will you.
This isn't the time or place for that!"Did the earth move for you?"
Also, I feel certain I'd have remembered the discussion of toys we used to have but aren't made any more because some careless kids messed it up for everybody. Creeple Peeple, Creepy Crawlers, Thingmaker, all those classics where kids play with fun and dangerous things.

Hank Paterson, a great American.
Oh, and I think I'd have remembered J&tB dressing up as a rock band, "Spy-Dorr," and their visit from the space janitor from Ziffelodian. That's because Hank Patterson played the janitor in the movie.

I've always loved Hank Patterson's character, Fred Ziffel, from Green Acres, and, as a result, have enjoyed Patterson in everything I've seen him in.

The movie was fun and goofy, like any giant critter film should be. And J&tB did a great job of adding to the fun with their riffs.

This is a great episode, and I enjoyed every minute of it.



Tuesday, February 28, 2012

MST3K: Episode 312 - Gamera vs Guiron

I'm watching all the episodes of Mystery Science Theater 3000 in order. More about this here. It began here.

Episode 312: Gamera vs Guiron

First aired: Comedy Central on 7 September 1991
Availability: iTunes, Amazon DVD (Volume 21 Deluxe Edition/Standard Edition), Shout (Volume 21 Collector's Edition), Best Brains (Volume 21 Collector's Edition)

Its a turtle movie!
It's Gamera! Ohhh! Gamera! Ahhhh!

While I have the DVD, I also have the iTunes store download. And, while the picture quality is good, on this and many other MST3K episodes, the iTunes version doesn't have actual chapter markers, but rather, markers every 10 minutes.

What this means is you want to skip to a Host Segment, or skip a Host Segment, you can't. You have to fast-forward and stop it when the image on the screen looks like it's where you want.

That's disappointing. And lazy on iTunes part. Or whoever supplied it to iTunes.

The movie? It's features Gamera, Friend to All Children. So it's a Japanese kiddie movie. But, there is an upside. It has a hot Japanese she-villain. Two, actually, though, as we said when we covered the KTMA episode that featured this movie, one is more of a villain than is the other.

Crow gives his full name as "Crow T. Robot." I don't recall that being specifically said prior to this episode. So, at least it's official.

Crow's name made it's appearance in a Richard Burton skit. Joel & the Bots thought one of the kids -- the one played by Christopher Murphy ("Those Japanese sure have funny names!") -- looked like Richard Burton. And he did. A little.
Hot Japanese She-Villains and the kid that looks like Richard BurtonActual Richard Burton
© 2004 Onward Productions Ltd
The resemblance, slight as it was, gave rise to lots of riffs referencing the late actor, including his role in Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?. I didn't care for the movie, but the references were funny.

No Beef-A-Roni this time around
In the KTMA version, they did a Beef-A-Roni reference, recalling the "We're having Beef-A-Roni" song from the old commercials. They decided to forego that this time around, instead focusing on the actual tune being played. I loved the Beef-A-Roni bit from KTMA, and it's not being there this time made me miss it.

The riffing in this episode is very good. The Host Segments contain some very funny skits. And Mike's guest appearance, as Michael Feinstein, was great, as was the Mads' reaction to it.

This is the second consecutive episode to air without the standard closing theme. Mike's Feinstein-like piano playing covered the credits this time. On the previous episode, Peter Graves' speech covered the credits.

Although I don't care for Gamera movies, the MSTified versions have grown on me. I don't love them like so many MSTies do, but I don't hate them. I wouldn't watch one without J&tB sitting in front of the screen.



Monday, February 27, 2012

MST3K: Episode 311 - It Conquered the World

I'm watching all the episodes of Mystery Science Theater 3000 in order. More about this here. It began here.

Episode 311: It Conquered the World

First aired: Comedy Central on 24 August 1991
Availability: MST3KVideos.com

"They gave away the ending!"
This episode is another that has never made it to home video. But it is one that I've seen before. Keep in mind that I have seen many more "Mike" episodes than "Joel" episodes. Or, at least, I had before I began this project of watching all the episodes.

Comedy Central aired this episode 15 times, and I must have seen at least one of those airings. The thing is, I didn't remember a lot about it, but I did remember the speech at the end. Or it sure seemed familiar, anyway. Unless another episode had a movie that ended with a speech, then replayed the speech twice at the end, then played it again over the closing theme, then this is the episode I think it is.

My copy is a fan copy. It didn't translate very well importing it into iTunes -- I do that so I can watch it without having to drag a DVD out -- but it is watchable. I'm still experimenting with importing the fan copies into iTunes, so I may find a setting that keeps it clearer. The DVD actually looks pretty good.

The giant red space pickle from Venus.
This film is a Roger Corman affair. Word is, he never lost money on a film. I can believe it. If you don't put much money into it, it won't be hard to turn a profit. And, this fits the pattern.

The special effects aren't special. Some of the actors can't act. And the plot is a little silly. But, some of the talent in the film is actual talent. The three main stars of the film are (or were) good actors: Peter Graves, Lee Van Cleef, and Beverly Garland. None of them are with us any longer.

I liked this episode. Like I said, I remember seeing it, but only because of Peter Graves' speech at the end. It didn't stay with me, so it was almost like seeing it for the first time when I watched it just now (as of this writing).

The short subject was hilarious. Not so much the short itself, but Joel & the Bots (and, of course, the writers) had a field day with it. For instance, when the announcer said that "skiing" was pronounced "shee-ing," Joel offered, "You're full of skit."

Beverly Garland, looking good enough to eat...... so the giant red space pickle eats her.
The move's plot? Peter Graves sends a satellite into space. Lee Van Cleef's friends from Venus capture it and send a giant red space pickle to earth to take it over by unleashing flying bat-critters to control men's minds (women's too). Beverly Garland, who's married to Lee Van Cleef (it's science fiction, after all), tries to stop the giant red space pickle. The pickle eats her -- and not in a good way -- but then Lee Van Cleef gets all hot and bothered about that, so he burns the pickle as it kills him. Peter Graves gives a speech. The end.

I really liked this episode. I do hope they'll be able to release this one on DVD one day. If they did, this would be a perfect episode to introduce a newbie to MST3K. It's funny. It has a short feature. It has actors people would recognize. It has bad special effects. It has a laughable story line. And, the movie, though bad, isn't stick-ice-picks-in-your-eyeballs bad. It's bad enough that a newbie would appreciate someone making fun of it.
Joel & the Bots listen to Peter Graves' speech.The Mads listen to Peter Graves' speech.
Let me conclude by saying "He learned, almost too late, that man is a feeling creature ... and because of it, the greatest in the universe. He learned, too late for himself, that ... men have to make their own way, to make their own mistakes. There can't be any gift of perfection from outside ourselves ... and, when men seek such perfection, they find only death ... fire ... loss ... disillusionment ... the end of everything that's gone forward. Men have always sought an end to toil and misery. It can't be given; it has to be achieved. There is hope ... but it has to come from inside ... from man himself."

Friday, February 24, 2012

MST3K: Episode 310 - Fugitive Alien

I'm watching all the episodes of Mystery Science Theater 3000 in order. More about this here. It began here.

Episode 310: Fugitive Alien

First aired: Comedy Central on 17 August 1991
Availability: MST3KVideos.com

Fugitive Alien
This episode has never been released. Though it's a Sandy Frank film -- and other episodes featuring Sandy Frank films have been released -- this one hasn't make it to video. Eleven were riffed on KTMA, with nine of those redone on Comedy Central. This is one of two Sandy Frank-based episodes on Comedy Central to never have been released.

This one aired during the KTMA season. When we covered Episode K12: Fugitive Alien, we mentioned that Trace Beaulieu wasn't available for the episode -- Dr. Forrester's absence was explained when Dr. Erhardt called him at the Mad Scientist Convention in Las Vegas, while Crow's absence was explained by Servo and Gypsy having taken Crow apart. Trace is on hand for this one.

Hot Japanese she-villain/not-villain
Which highlights a point of confusion for me. In The Mystery Science Theater 3000 Amazing Colossal Episode Guide, Paul Chaplin wrote that Trace, Kevin, and Joel thought the Fugitive Alien episodes they did for KTMA were a lot of fun. But Trace wasn't present for this one. Maybe he enjoyed the other one, but I don't have a copy of that. Apparently, no one does. Well, maybe Jim Mallon does.

It would be unfair to call this film a rip-off of Star Wars. It's actually based on Edmond Hamilton's Starwolf novels, which were written well before Star Wars. Without the popularity of Star Wars, though, the Japanese TV series -- from which episodes were culled to create this "movie" -- may never have been made.

"Don't smoke"
Naturally, they did the Yul Brynner "Don't smoke" reference with the big blue bald guy on the screen. Joel & the Bots also riff a lot on everybody being named "Ken." It seemed as if the only one not named "Ken" was the Barbie Doll who was Ken's girlfriend. She played the Hot Japanese She-Villain, who was named Rita. Only she wasn't really a she-villain, although she was supposed to kill the hero. She dies at the end, which is either a good thing or a bad thing.

We meet Jack Perkins for the first time -- at least, Michael J. Nelson's version of A&E's Jack Perkins. Since I hadn't seen this episode before -- somehow I missed it over all the years -- I had missed the Perkins character introduction. I didn't see a lot of Mike Nelson's Jack Perkins, but I'm looking forward to seeing more of him.

Jack Perkins visits Deep 13
This episode is the first time I recall the Mads sending Commercial Sign to the Satellite of Love. I never thought about that before. This means that somebody in Deep 13 has to monitor the movies and send Commercial Sign when it's the right time. No wonder Dr. Forrester needs an assistant.

One of the Host Segments from Season Two's Episode 208: Lost Continent featured J&tB seeing a "cool thing" outside the SoL. It was poking fun at a scene in Lost Continent where the characters looked in awe at something for a long long time without the audience seeing it. J&tB asked viewers to send in suggestions on what the "cool thing" was.

Mexican Stoplight Candy! Cool!
Nine months later, they get back to answering it.

A viewer sent in some long-winded hippie Kum Ba Yah explanation that Joel read. The viewer was wrong. It was Mexican Stoplight Candy.

I did mention that this was one of the nine episodes that featured movies that were done during the KTMA season. We'll cover Fugitive Alien 2 later. We never got to see it, because it's one of the three "missing" episodes from Season Zero.

I'm looking forward to watching it. As much as one can look forward to watching a movie made up from episodes of a Japanese TV show edited together and translated and distributed by Sandy Frank.

Thursday, February 23, 2012

MST3K: Episode 309 - The Amazing Colossal Man

I'm watching all the episodes of Mystery Science Theater 3000 in order. More about this here. It began here.

Episode 309: The Amazing Colossal Man

First aired: Comedy Central on 27 July 1991
Availability: Rhino VHS (out of print), Amazon VHS, MST3KVideos.com DVD

AMAZING!
This movie is the only VHS release of an MST3K episode that was never re-released on DVD. The episode came out on VHS in 1996, but was removed the next year because of an issue with rights.

Fan copies of this episode exist, but I don't have one of those. I own the VHS tape, which allows me to own not only all the MST3K DVDs released, but also all of the episodes released (although only briefly).

I actually saw this movie -- the actual movie -- on TV years ago, either in the 1960s or early 1970s. I remember enjoying the movie. Most of the movie anyway. The beginning where the plutonium bomb blew up and the hero (Glenn) fell over all bomb-scarred? That stayed with me. Of course, they showed it three times in the movie, so, yeah, I remember it.

Glenn meets Vegas Vic
I think this movie was also my introduction to certain landmarks in Las Vegas. The cowboy at the Pioneer Club? I think this movie is where I first saw it. And, when we went to Las Vegas some years ago, that's one of the things I wanted to make sure I saw.

One of the riffs by Joel & the Bots was calling A&E "The All-Hitler Channel." Wife used to call History Channel that.

I enjoyed the bits where they came up with ways to talk about Glenn's injuries. Those were so bad they were good. Very good. And very bad. Good bad.

Yul Brynner made a return appearance. Or a reference to his "Don't smoke, I'm dead now" from after when he died from lung cancer. This time, it's "I'm huge, don't smoke."

Glenn (Michael J. Nelson) visits the Satellite of Love
Oh, and at the beginning, when they sang the "Scarecrow" song? I loved that. I wonder how many people remember "The Scarecrow of Romney Marsh" from Walt Disney.

By the way, this movie came out in the fall of 1957, after The Incredible Shrinking Man, which was released in the spring of that year. Good year for extraordinary-sized men.

I don't know if the riffing was spectacular in this episode, or if the fact that I remember the movie fondly from my childhood was the reason I liked it so much. But I liked it so much. And I really do think it's because it's just plain funny.



Wednesday, February 22, 2012

MST3K: Episode 308 - Gamera vs Gaos

I'm watching all the episodes of Mystery Science Theater 3000 in order. More about this here. It began here.

Episode 308: Gamera vs Gaos

First aired: Comedy Central on 20 July 1991
Availability: iTunes, Amazon (Volume 21 Standard Edition/Deluxe Edition), Shout Factory (Volume 21 Collector's Edition), Best Brains (Volume 21 Collector's Edition)

Oh, no! It's a Gamera movie!
This episode features the 3rd Gamera movie (out of five), and the 4th movie (out of nine) that also was riffed during the KTMA season.

The bad news: it's a Gamera movie. The good news: there's no irritating kid named "Kenny." The bad news: the irritating kid is named "Ichi."

This was one of the first iTunes episodes of MST3K that I purchased. It was also one of the last DVD packs I bought. I was focusing on getting episodes I didn't have, and finally bought the DVD 5-pack when I decided I wanted to own a complete DVD library.

Self-image printer.
The Mads' entry in the Invention Exchange was funny: self-image printers. Frank was a clown, of course. Dr. Forrester was Miss Ohio. Nice legs.

According to The Mystery Science Theater 3000 Amazing Colossal Episode Guide, at the request of "toolmaster" Jeff Maynard, they intended to write a skit that reused old props.

So, how did that go? Not too good.

The "Gameradämerung"
They ended up writing a skit involving Joel & the Bots putting on a version of the Götterdämmerung, called the "Gameradämerung" complete with costumes and a Deus ex Machina, only to be interrupted by Movie Sign.

The Ed Sullivan skit was enjoyable. To me anyway. I remember watching the actual show, and saw more than one act that did plate spinning. Trace/Crow does a good Ed Sullivan, by the way.

As I've said before, I'm not a fan of Gamera films, either riffed or regular. This is no exception. Lots of MST3K fans enjoy them, but I'm not one of them.

There is a hot Japanese she-villain. Only, she's not a villain. But she plays one in a later Gamera film. The next one, I think. I already mentioned the kid.
Yay! A hot Japanese she-villain-to-be.Boo! An obnoxious little Japanese kid who loves flying fire-breathing turtles.
Okay, the riffing is funny. Joel, Trace, and Kevin make a great team, and even when it's a lame movie, and this is one of those, they make it watchable. But that's the thing: it's watchable. Not much more than that to say about it.



Tuesday, February 21, 2012

MST3K: Episode 307 - Daddy-O

I'm watching all the episodes of Mystery Science Theater 3000 in order. More about this here. It began here.

Episode 307: Daddy-O

First aired: Comedy Central on 13 July 1991
Availability: MST3KVideos.com

Another episode that has never been released commercially. My copy is, therefore, from a recording of a broadcast of the episode at 2:00 AM on November 29, 1991.

I didn't know it until I played it for this review, but my copy (a fan copy, but not through MST3KVideos.com) had a problem with the sound. It slowly gets out of sync beginning early in the episode, and is about 6 seconds off by the end. I used a video editor to strip the audio then adjusted the audio by a .1%, then exported the video. It pixelated the video a little, but at least the video and audio are now in sync.

"'D' is for 'damned,' as in 'Village of'"
I then decided to obtain a copy from MST3KVideos.com. It should arrive soon. I'll check to see if there are any significant differences between my new copy and my old copy.

With this episode, we get our first short of the season: Alphabet Antics. It's, um, different. And, at the end, it goes straight to the movie with no break in-between. At least in my copy, there's no discernable break between the short and the opening of the movie.

This movie actually has a plot. Daddy-O and Hot Chick meet on the road and try to run each other off. They race for pizza, but Daddy-O's best buddy ends up being killed in a totally unrelated crash. Cops suspect Daddy-O, but figure out he didn't do it. Daddy-O suspect Hot Chick, but figures out she didn't do it. Sidney hires Daddy-O to sing and drive drugs. Oh, yeah, Daddy-O sings with his pants hiked up real high. Anyway, Daddy-O figures out Sidney killed best buddy, and decides to make him pay. He goes along with the smuggling operation, but nearly gets caught, changes his shirt in the middle of a chase, but finally helps cops arrest Sidney. He gets the girl. The End.

Daddy-O has high pants
The riffing is consistently good. Not many episodes where you get Buster Keaton, Steve Allen, and Frank Sinatra in the band, with Lou Reed in the audience. Oh, and lots of Orson Welles references.

And butter. Lots of butter.

Joel has his goatee again. Or, the beginnings of one.

The Host Segments are great. The "Hike Your Pants Up" song is a classic. We get something unusual in that we get to see the Mads reacting to Joel's "Hike Your Pants Up" song.

And we get to see more of Deep 13 than normal. The Mads are still baby-sitting the Miracle Growth Baby in the Invention Exchange, prompting the Alien Face Hugger Teething Nook.
The button won't stay pushedFinally! A solution.
At the end of the show, Frank and Dr. Forrester have trouble with the credits. Lots of trouble. The button is pushed, the credits start, the button comes undone, back to Deep 13. Rinse. Repeat.

This happens several times, and goes on for several minutes. I suppose they ran short, didn't want to show another short or serial, so they extended the final segment.

It worked. That segment alone is one of the funniest I've seen.

Monday, February 20, 2012

Washington's Birthday, 2012

I know. Some of you thought today was "Presidents' Day." Don't let that bother you. Some of you believe in the Loch Ness Monster, UFOs, and that Elvis works at a Burger King in Michigan.

Where I come from, we usually look at such people and say "Bless their heart." That's Georgia-speak for "What a dumbass."

I know, the calendar you got at the kiosk at the mall has "Presidents Day" written in the little block for today. Well, about those people that made that calendar? Bless their heart.

I know, all the TV and radio ads talk about "Presidents Day" sales going on today. Those people that wrote those commercials? Bless their heart.

Today's a federal holiday. And, it's "Washington's Birthday." Take a look at United States Code 5 U.S.C. 6103 and see what it says. Sure enough, it says "Washington's Birthday."

Now, the truth is that George Washington's birthday isn't until tomorrow. In fact, the official federal holiday for Washington's Birthday never falls on his actual birthday. Who else but the government could screw up a birthday so bad? And some folks want them in charge of health care. Bless their heart.

Why do I make a big deal about what today is called? Because I think it's bad idea to ignore history. George Washington was actually a pretty important guy in American history. Important enough to actually give a holiday for his birthday.

George Washington

George Washington was born on February 11, 1731. You see, the colony of Virginia, like all of Great Britain, was using the Julian calendar at the time. When Britain and the colonies adopted the Gregorian calendar in 1752, a lot of dates changed. New Years Day moved from March 25 to January 1, and 11 days disappeared. You can read all about that craziness here.

The upshot is that the old style date of February 11, 1731 became February 22, 1732. And that's George Washington's birthday.

George Washington became a surveyor, joined the Virginia militia, fought in the Seven Years War (AKA the French and Indian War), married a rich widow, fooled around a lot, and became a successful businessman.

As tensions mounted between the colonies and the British Crown, Washington led the American forces in the Revolutionary War, culminating in the British surrender and recognition of the United States of American as a soverign nation. After several unsuccessful governments were established under the Articles of Confederation, a new Constitution was adopted in 1787 (ratified in 1788). The presidential electors unanimously selected Washington as the first President, the only person ever so honored.

Washington served two terms, retired, and lived a quiet life until 1799.

As a military officer and a statesman and politician, Washington was one of the most respected Americans. And, his birthday was celebrated by the states. In 1879, Washington's Birthday became the fifth federal holiday, joining New Year's Day, Independence Day, Thanksgiving, and Christmas Day.

Holiday confusion

In 1968, the movement to change many holidays to a nearby Monday began. In 1971, Richard Nixon issued Executive Order 11582, beginning that process. Still, the holiday is officially Washington's Birthday, and has always been Washington's Birthday. (Snopes has a write-up about this, too, by the way.)

Some states observed Abraham Lincoln's birthday (February 12). Some still might. And some people got the idea that the new federal holiday in February was for Washington and Lincoln. Bless their heart.

Somewhere along the way, people began to call today's holiday "Presidents' Day." Whether by design or not, it contributes to the ignorance of Americans. It ignores the importance of George Washington. And it causes many Americans to either forget or never understand the contributions of George Washington in the formation of this great country.

So, I wish you a very pleasant Washington's Birthday today. Some of you are off work. Others, like me, have a regular work day. Whatever your plans are, take some time to remember George Washington.

And, if you're celebrating Presidents Day today? Bless your heart.

MST3K: Episode 306 - Time of the Apes

I'm watching all the episodes of Mystery Science Theater 3000 in order. More about this here. It began here.

Episode 306: Time of the Apes

First aired: Comedy Central on 6 July 1991
Availability: iTunes, Amazon (Volume 22), Shout Factory (Volume 22), Best Brains (Volume 22)

This one is another KTMA re-do. We covered Episode K17: Time of the Apes in December. Here's a little about the movie:
Back in 1974, there was a TV series in Japan called Saru no Gundan (Army of Monkeys). It was not a rip-off of Planet of the Apes, though, because in Planet of the Apes, astronauts landed on a planet populated by apes, that turned out to be Earth in the far future. In Saru no Gundan, a woman and two schoolchildren wake up in the future on Earth populated by apes. Totally different.

In the 1980s, someone decided to put some of the episodes together and call it a movie. Then, Sandy Frank (who else) brought a dubbed version to America and called it Time of the Apes.
In that episode, Servo and Crow riffed the movie alone. The storyline was that Joel was locked outside the Satellite of Love. In reality, Joel Hodgson was out of town for that episode.

Let me try to make sense of the plot of the movie.

Inherit the Wind
An earthquake during a visit to a cryogenics lab results in a woman and two children being locked inside chambers and waking up in the far future, just like Fry on Futurama. Oriental apes rule the world and want to kill all humans, who escape and meet up with Godo, another human who's being hunted by General Gaba, who thinks Godo killed his wife and son. The Commander/Excellency, who looks like Colonel Sanders, wants to save the humans so he can kill them or something. A little white-face monkey named Pepe, who turns out to be a girl, helps the humans until they give her back to her mommy. A flying saucer shows up, plays a movie of the General killing his own son (oops!), much to his surprise. The humans meet Multivac or something, then go back into freeze, and the original three wind up back where they started. Godo walks alone in the desert. The woman and the kids have ice cream. The End.

Not a Hot Japanese She-Villain
If you think I'm not giving an accurate synopsis of the film, go ask someone who's seen it. They'll back me up on it. The plot is hard to follow. It being made up of scenes from 20 different episodes of a TV show makes it harf to follow. Translating it from Japanese to English didn't help. And, cutting it down to fit within the confines of a TV show made it that much worse. Bad movie. Really bad movie.

Oh, and there are no Hot Japanese She-Villains in this movie. The Hot Japanese Chick is one of the protagonists of the movie. Not the same thing. Close, though.

It was fun hearing Joel riffing this one. Of course, Kevin/Servo didn't riff the KTMA version, either; Josh/Servo id. Only Trace/Crow riffed both episodes.

Colonel SandersDeus ex Machina
There weren't a lot of repeat riffs that I caught from both episodes. The only one that stands out is the "Ebony & Ivory" reference.

The Host Segments were completely unlike the KTMA version. During that episode, they focused on Joel being "missing." During this episode, they were all related to the movie, from the "Why doesn't Johnny care?" skit, to the Inherit the Wind skit, to the monkey fashions skit.

A good episode featuring a bad movie.