MST3K: Episode 321 - Santa Claus Conquers the Martians

I'm watching all of the Mystery Science Theater 3000 episodes in order. More about that can be found here and here.

Episode 321: Santa Claus Conquers the Martians

First aired: Comedy Central on 21 December 1991
Availability: Rhino ("The Essentials"/out of print), Amazon ("The Essentials"), MST3KVideos.com

The MST3K version was missing the movie's title screen.

Quick, what's the worst movie you've ever seen? If you said Santa Claus Conquers The Martians, others would be hard-pressed to disagree. It's a bad movie. Bad, bad movie.

Bad acting. Bad script. Bad effects. Bad idea.

That, of course, means it's perfect for the MST3K treatment. Or, as a punishment for kids who have been naughty. Or both.

Joel & the Bots give it their all. Some funny stuff, but not the funniest episode they've done. Not by a long shot.

Maybe I'd have different thoughts if I watched this episode during the Christmas season, rather than a few weeks before Easter. Maybe not.

The Satellite of Love is decorated for Christmas.

The Mads have no lights on their Christmas tree. Because they are evil?

How bad is writing in this movie? Well, "Bomar" is the name of the Boy Martian. "Gimar" is the Girl Martian. The Mother Martian is "Momar." The King of the Martians is "Kimar." And that's the most clever thing about the movie.

"Custume" Designer Ramsey Mostoller...

... was responsible for this ...

... and this.

The robot, made up of a man wearing a painted box and a metal can on his head, looks like a man wearing a painted box with a metal can on his head.

The evil Martian is the one who didn't want to kidnap Santa.

The plot? Well, yes, it had one. The head of Mars wants to bring Santa to Mars to make the Martian children happy, so he kidnaps the Right Jolly Old Elf. He sends Santa back and the goofiest Martian becomes their Santa. The end.

Even though this episode aired 19 times on Comedy Central, I never saw the episode until I purchased "The Essentials" DVD. I'm not sure, with that many airing of the episode, how that happened, but that's the deal.

I did enjoy the episode, though. It's fun. Lots of enjoyable riffs and some good Host Segments. I particularly like the Monty Python references, as well as some Three Stooges references.

I plan to watch this again during Christmas. I have the un-riffed version of this movie, and tried to watch it last Christmas. I failed. Perhaps, with Joel & the Bots' help, I'll be able to do it again.

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