Entertainment
 

Beginning of the End

From MST3K

517 - Beginning of the End
Air Date November 25, 1993
Movie Director Bert I. Gordon
Year 1957
Cast Peter Graves, Peggie Castle
Preceded by 516 - Alien from L.A.
Followed by 518 - The Atomic Brain

Contents

The Movie

Synopsis

Beginning of the End features a wooden Peter Graves waxing philosophic about the effects of radiation on locusts (not grasshoppers), which have grown to varying sizes and are marauding through an oddly mountainous Illinois, dispatching entire towns. Graves is accompanied by a plucky female journalist (Castle) and a deaf-mute gardening assistant. [1]

Chicago residents will be happy to know that (at least in Bert I. Gordon's universe) a 3-star general can order the destruction of your city by atom bomb. The President and everyone else are too busy with other stuff.

Information

  • Some grasshoppers were harmed during the making of this movie: at the start of the movie, they had 200 grasshoppers (a flightless, hopless species from Texas). During the filming they began to eat one another, so by the time the last shots were done, only about a dozen were left.
  • Peggie Castle (journalist Audrey Ames) also appeared in episode 602 - Invasion USA. Morris Ankrum (General Hansen) also appeared in episode 201 - Rocketship X-M.

The Episode

Host Segments

Prologue: Mike and the Bots attempt to sing some classic standards is repeatedly interrupted by a white trash woman on the hexfield who keeps dialing the wrong number.

Segment One (Invention Exchange): Still getting calls from the wrong number woman on the SOL. Down in Deep 13 the Mads have come up with the Re-comfy bike, even more comfortable than the recumbent bike. Mike & the Bots finally present new playing cards.

Segment Two: While the Bots advise against it, Mike calls the Mads and really catches them off guard. He vows to never do it again.

Segment Three: Crow has written a screenplay: "Peter Graves Goes to the University of Minnesota". It gets somewhat repetitive.

Segment Four: Tom's standup routine at the Improv (with its trademark red brick wall) is heavy on jokes comparing grasshoppers and locusts.

Segment Five: Mike unlocks the secret to Bert I. Gordon special effects, meanwhile in Deep 13 the Mads are boxing.

Stinger: "Alright, men. Into the woods!"[1]

Other Notes

Guest Stars


Obscure References

  • "Let's see what Benny and Joon are doing!"

A reference to the 1993 movie Benny & Joon.

  • "Miss Mansfield?"

Actress Jayne Mansfield was decapitated in a car crash in 1967.

  • "Must get Vivarin!"

Vivarin is a brand of caffeine pills.

  • "Jimmy Jam does his thing!"

Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis are highly successful R&B and pop music producers.

  • "Suddenly it's turning into 'Topper'!"

Topper was a 1937 comedy film about a pair of ghosts.

  • "Women on the Verge of an Atomic Breakdown."

A reference to the 1988 Spanish film Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown.

  • "Coincidence? Read the book!"

A quote from commercials for the Time-Life book series "Mysteries of the Unknown".

  • "Is this a snipe hunt?"

A snipe hunt is a type of practical joke that often involves sending the person on the receiving end to "find" a nonexistent animal or object.

  • "Bad Lieutenant!"

Bad Lieutenant was a 1992 movie starring Harvey Keitel.

  • "And this is the 1910 Fruitgum Company!"

The 1910 Fruitgum Company was a 1960s pop band.

  • "They've got a picture of Russ Bender!"

Russ Bender played Dr. Carmichael in The Amazing Colossal Man and War of the Colossal Beast.

Catchphrases

Video Release

  • Commercially released on VHS by Rhino Entertainment in March 1999.
  • Commercially released on DVD by Rhino in January 2001. The single-sided DVD also includes the uncut/unMSTed version of the original movie.

References

  1. ↑ Satellite News


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