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(From the SOL version of "The Gamera Song"…)

Gamera! / Gamera! / Gamera is really neat! / Gamera is filled with meat! / We've been eating Gamera!

- Joel, Crow, Servo


The Movie[]

Main article: Gamera vs Guiron (film)

Synopsis[]

Two boys are abducted by a pair of evil alien women. They are rescued by the giant flying turtle Gamera, who must defeat the aliens' blade-headed beast Guiron.

The Episode[]

Host Segments[]

Drinking tale about Richard Burton

SOL on the life of Richard Burton

Prologue: Crow and Tom Servo play school lunch with real food. Servo is embarrassed by a note from his mom.

Segment One (Invention Exchange): Joel creates a collapsible garbage can for campers; his idea for a collapsible port-a-potty meets with less acclaim. The Mads get turned on by sexy Rorschach centerfolds, until Frank gets upset over seeing his mom in one.

Segment Two: Joel and the Bots sing their own English version of "The Gamera Song" from the movie.

Segment Three: Joel cuts Crow in half with Tom, who is dressed like Guiron, but only to have the skit being ruined when Crow comes out of the shower. He then tells Joel that someone was cut on line one. (Joel: "Oh, you wrecked the reveal!")

Gypsy with lipstick in Gamera Vs

Joel cuts Crow in half

Segment Four: A long and meandering sketch about the life of Richard Burton, based on the fact that the American kid in the movie vaguely resembles him.

Segment Five: A "Japanese" version of the Gamera song, followed by the Mads enjoying tales and songs from Michael Feinstein.

Stinger: "What a monster!"

MST3K Cast[]

Regular Cast

TheGameraSong

Michael Feinstein (Michael J. Nelson) appears in Deep 13

Guest Cast

Notes[]

  • Unusual credits: The instrumental version of Michael Feinstein's version of the Gamera theme is played instead of "Mighty Science Theater".
  • This episode aired fourteenth during Turkey Day '92.
  • The birth name of Richard Burton which Joel and the Bots can't recall is Richard Walter Jenkins Jr.
  • The episode was screened by Matt McGinnis as part of the #MakeMoreMST3K​: Livestream #IV. He was joined by several members of the new casts.

Callbacks[]

Goofs[]

  • During the Richard Burton tribute when Joel drops some ice into a glass, one of the cubes misses.

Running Jokes[]

  • It's repeatedly noted that Tom from the film resembles a young Richard Burton. They also frequently allude to Burton's alcoholism troubles.
  • Gamera's resemblance to Karl Malden (especially his nose) is a Running Gag throughout all the Gamera episodes.
  • "Hello! Thank you!" - Joel and the 'Bots hit the ground running with that infamous scene. (Thank you!), and the jokes continue all the way through to the Gamera Vs Zigra episode. (Hello!) Bonus points for the riff of the end of the scene, when Tomoko appears in the back seat while Tom's mother is driving away.
    • Joel: (as Tomoko, with Larynx Dissonance) "Shut up and keep driving! And thank you!"
    • Servo: "Hello!"
  • "What is the fascination with traffic accidents?!"
  • The crew gets a lot of mileage out of the aliens in a Japanese film having a thick Texan accent.

Obscure References[]

  • "Dr. Shiksa?"

"Shiksa" is a Yiddish word referring to a non-Jewish woman.

  • "Am I not Mom... or are we Devo?"

A reference to Devo's debut album, Q. Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!. The album's name is a reference to lyrics of the song "Jocko Homo", which is featured on the album. The lyrics and title are from the phrase "Are we not men?", which is a refrain in the Law of the Beast Folk from the H.G. Wells novel The Island of Dr. Moreau.

  • "Spin Art! By Ohio Art!"

Spin Art from the Ohio Art Company is a children's toy that allows kids to splash paint on a spinning canvas, creating works of art.

  • "'Something funny flying'? Sebastian Cabot?"

The phrase in the movie is a coincidental callback to the host segment in Episode #201 where the bots are quizzed on things that are funny when flying.

  • "Take me to the river. Push me in the water."

A slight misquote of lyrics from Al Green's song "Take Me to the River"

  • "Don't start with me, Martha." "Let's have a bottle of scotch."

The first quote is from Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf? In the 1966 film adaptation, George is played by Richard Burton, continuing the running joke that the American kid in the movie resembles him. The second quote references Burton's struggles with alcoholism.

  • "That's no ordinary rabbit! Look at the bones!"

A reference to Tim the Enchanter from the comedy classic Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

  • "Brother! There's far too many of us dying!"

A reference to the Marvin Gaye song "What's Going On?"

  • "Wait, I said 'lunch', not 'launch'!"

A quote from the opening sequence of the Sid and Marty Krofft TV show Far Out Space Nuts.

  • "Welcome to General Cinemas. Please dispose of trash."

Refers to an announcement shown at the General Cinemas chain that featured popcorn and candy flying through space, much like the asteroids in the shot.

  • "Mother!" "I just killed a man!"

A reference to the Queen song "Bohemian Rhapsody".

  • "I'll show her. I'm gonna grow up to break up the Beatles!"

A reference to Yoko Ono and rumors that her and John Lennon's relationship led to the breakup of The Beatles.

  • "What is it, Martha?"

Another reference to Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, starring Richard Burton.

  • "Looks like a set from Brazil!"

Brazil is a 1985 dystopian science fiction film directed by Terry Gilliam. Most of the sets were stark and industrial.

  • "Yeah, it used to be called *Old* Jack City!"

A reference to the 1991 movie New Jack City.

  • "Like a good neighbor, Gamera is there!"

A parody of an advertising jingle for the State Farm insurance company.

  • "Donuts and gray water"

Although the 'water' in the glasses is gray, 'gray water' refers to water that is clean enough to be released by waste water treatment plants.

  • Would you believe, the Cone of Silence?"

Both references to the TV spy parody Get Smart. "Would you believe..." was one of the catchphrases of secret agent Max Smart, who regularly used it to try to pitch an improbable scenario to someone. The Cone of Silence was a transparent cover that lowered over his boss's desk, supposedly allowing the boss and Max to converse about top secret matters without risk of being overheard, but it always suffered from comical malfunctions.

  • "I'll paint any child for $49.99!"

Earl Scheib Paint & Body promised to paint "any car, any color, for $[amount]. No ups, no extras."

  • "Weasels ripped my flesh! Rizzz!"

Weasels Ripped My Flesh is a 1970 album by Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention. The name was inspired by a short story in the sensationalist Man's Life magazine in September of 1956.

  • "Shave and lobotomy. Two bits."

"Shave and a Haircut" and the associated response "two bits" is a 7-note musical call-and-response popularly used at the end of a musical performance, usually for comic effect. Often used as a door knock.

  • "You look kinda like Henry!"

Henry is a long-running comic strip about a young boy who doesn't appear to have any hair.

  • "Suddenly, it's Gray Lady Down!"

Gray Lady Down is a 1978 disaster movie starring Charlton Heston.

  • "The Invaders! In color."

The Invaders is a short-lived sci-fi TV series from the late 1960s.

  • "Just like a dago. Bringing a knife to a gunfight!"

Servo is imitating Sean Connery in The Untouchables.

  • "Why don't you just f-f-fade away?"

Crow is quoting the The Who song "My Generation".

  • "Stopping at Amityville, Copiague, Lyndhurst, Babylon, change in Jamaica..."

These are stops on the Long Island Railroad in New York.

  • "Well, you know, Buddy Ebsen was supposed to play this role, but the silver makeup..."

Buddy Ebsen had to back out of playing the role of the Tin Woodsman in The Wizard of Oz due to a severe allergic reaction to the silver makeup he would have to wear for the role.

  • "Hirohito Gamera!"

Hirohito was the personal name of Emperor Shōwa, as he is posthumously known in Japan, who lived from 1901 to 1989, reigning as Emperor from 1926 to 1989. He was consequently the Emperor during WW2 and was kept on afterwards by the Allies to make the occupation easier, being kept out of the war crimes trials afterwards. Using the Emperor's personal name is considered rude in Japan, but Hirohito was very commonly used in the West. The "Shōwa era" is commonly used in Gamera (and other works like that) when grouping the movies together.

Video Releases[]

Guirondvd

MST3K DVD Cover

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