MST3K: Episode 903 - The Pumaman

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

Episode 903: The Pumaman

First aired: Sci-Fi Channel on 4 April 1998
Availability: MST3KVideos.com fan copy

Puma? Puma?

Remember the TV show The Greatest American Hero that starred William Katt and Robert Culp?

This kinda reminded me of that.

Only, in The Pumaman, the hero wasn't visited by aliens, exactly. And he didn't lose the instructions to the suit. And Stephen J. Cannell wasn't involved. And there's no Connie Sellecca.

Other than that, and a few other things, they're the same.

Good actor. Bad film.

Okay, a lot of other things. But still. There's the whole guy who kinda got his powers from aliens and looks silly when he flies. Only, in this movie, I don't think it's intentional.

I saw a lot more of The Greatest American Hero than I ever did of The Pumaman. That was on purpose.

I kinda got bored with TGAH in either late first season or early second season, and quit watching it. Didn't take nearly as long with this movie.

The Inca is an Aztec.

That's not to say it's a bad episode, but it is to say it's not one of my favorites.

Blofeld is trying to find The Pumaman by throwing Americans out of windows or something, but an Aztec (should be an Inca) is looking for him too, so he throws a paleontologist (who's an attorney in real life) out a window, but the lawyer unfortunately survives, which means he must be The Pumaman, so Aztec Joe give Pumaman a magic belt that lets him fly like a dork, and they team up to defeat Blofeld, which consists of Pumaman looking silly and seeing in the dark and getting his ass handed to him and Aztec Joe finally beating the bad guys up, then the aliens come back and take a magic ask, and everyone lives happily ever after, except for all the people who got pushed out windows. The end.

Flying?

I could be wrong about something. It might not have been Donald Pleasence that was having everyone thrown out windows. Maybe it was the Aztec/Inca/Sidekick that was doing all that.

The special effects weren't very special. Of course, that's about par for the course in an MST3K movie.

Thought I can't find a link to any actual interview where this was said, there are reports that Donald Pleasence said this is the worst film he ever did. And he was in Frankenstein's Great Aunt Tillie as well as Episode 501: Warrior of the Lost World.

Oh, and they spelled his name wrong in the credits.

This episode has lots of good things about it, but it just isn't quite as good as Episode 902: The Phantom Planet.

Of course, that's a tough standard to live up to. This one's okay.

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