MST3K 1010 - It Lives by Night

1010 - It Lives by Night
Air/Release Date	July 18, 1999
MST3K Director	Kevin Murphy
Running Time	90 Min
Movie Director	Jerry Jameson
Year	1974
Cast	Stewart Moss Marianne McAndrew Michael Pataki Paul Carr
Preceded by	1009 - Hamlet
Followed by	1011 - Horrors of Spider Island

“	A guy named Associate Producer was the Dante Cucinello?	”
	- Mike Nelson

It Lives by Night is the 10th episode of the tenth season of Mystery Science Theater 3000 and the 195th episode overall. It premiered on July 18, 1999.

The Movie

Main article: It Lives by Night (film)

Synopsis

A couple on their honeymoon tour a cave where the husband is bitten by a bat. Over the next several days, he transforms into a bat creature and kills in the night. His wife tries to protect him while they seek a cure.

The Episode

Host Segments

Crow as Mary Richards, Mike as Ted Baxter, and Tom as Lou Grant

Prologue: Preparing to redecorate, Mike asks for Crow and Tom's input on colors and the moods they invoke. All of them make Crow want to ask out Lisa Stansfield. ‘Eggshell’ horrifies the bots, which makes it the perfect color for Mike’s bathroom.

Segment One: Mike finds a color that makes the bots want to invest everything they have in steam-powered weaving machines. Pearl uses tactical misdirection so Mike and the bots won’t notice that she’s spraying poison on them, causing mutations.

Segment Two: Crow insists that he looks more like Mary Tyler Moore than the woman in the movie. Mike and Tom can’t deny that they didn’t forget that Crow is not Mary Tyler Moore. Mike does an impressive Ted Baxter.

Buddy Ebsen Hat Distressing Corporation

Segment Three: Finding Mike unconscious and foaming at the mouth, Crow and Tom assume the worst and begin to administer rabies shots. It turns out Mike had fallen asleep while eating a cream puff.

Segment Four: Mike seeks Pearl’s opinion on his new mustache, but Crow’s larger 'stache impresses her more. Tom takes the premise too far.

Segment Five: Tom is unhappy with his franchise kit from the Buddy Ebsen Hat Distressing Corporation, and becomes more angered after he sees Crow’s franchise kit from the Red Skelton Hat Distressing Company. Down in Castle Forrester, Pearl torments Bobo and Brain Guy with slides from her many honeymoons and stories of the deaths of all of her husbands and fiancés.

Stinger: The bat guy says "Well?" and convulses.

MST3K cast

• Michael J. Nelson - Mike Nelson
• Mary Jo Pehl - Pearl Forrester
• Bill Corbett - Crow T. Robot / Brain Guy
• Kevin Murphy - Tom Servo / Professor Bobo
• Patrick Brantseg - Gypsy (credit only)

Callbacks

• "He’s turning into a damned wirwilf!" (Werewolf)
• Pearl calls Crow "Art."

Quotes & References

• "It makes me want to date Lisa Stansfield."

Lisa Stansfield is an award-winning British singer/songwriter/actress.

• "The Left Eye of Laura Mars."

Eyes of Laura Mars is a 1978 neo noir mystery-thriller film starring Faye Dunaway and Tommy Lee Jones. The theatrical release poster consists of a face in the shadows with the whites of the eyes standing out.

• "I think I heard U2."

In 1983, Irish rock band U2 performed at Colorado's Red Rocks Amphitheatre and the recorded show was used in U2 Live at Red Rocks: Under a Blood Red Sky as well as the "Sunday Bloody Sunday" music video that was shown in heavy rotation on MTV that year.

• "It's Stellaluna!"

Stellaluna is a children's book about a fruit bat.

• "Oh!... Vikings... WHY!?"

This film was released during the same year as Super Bowl VIII, so this riff has some timely relevance. The Minnesota Vikings lost 24-7 to the Miami Dolphins, making it their second Super Bowl loss. This was the game in which Larry Csonka (frequently referred to in Episode #910) won the Super Bowl MVP award.

• "We're supposed to do the Humpty Hump!"

A reference to the Digital Underground's 1990 song "The Humpty Dance". Digital Underground's founding member Shock G was best known as his alter ego, MC Humpty Hump.

• "Bread and butter!"

"Bread and butter" is a superstitious phrase, typically said by young couples or friends walking together when they are forced to separate by an obstacle, such as a pole or another person. By saying the phrase, the bad luck of letting something come between them is thought to be averted. The concept derives from the difficulty of separating butter from bread once it has been spread.

• "Oh, too much vapor action!"

Halls cough drops are advertised as featuring "Vapor Action" to soothe sore throats and cool nasal passages.

• "God, I hate festival seating!"

Festival seating is a form of general admission at concerts in which attendees are able to obtain their unassigned spot on a first-come, first-served basis. The practice largely fell out of favor after eleven fans were asphyxiated and twenty-six others injured by a rushing crowd before a 1979 The Who concert in Cincinnati, Ohio.

• "I suppose Mary Slaney will blame a bat this time."

In the 3000 meters run at the 1984 Summer Olympics, American Mary Slaney was heavily favored to win the gold medal, but she collided with Great Britain's Zora Budd and fell to the curb, injuring her hip. As a result, Slaney did not finish the race and then blamed Budd for not getting out of the way (although this claim was not accepted by the director of the games).

• "Hey, do Agony of Defeat again!"

In the opening credits sequence of ABC's Wide World of Sports, the narrator mentions "the agony of defeat" over footage of skier Vinko Bogataj’s wipeout on the flying takeoff ramp in 1970.

• "Suzy Chapstick and her husband Ron Chapstick."

Former alpine ski racer Suzy Chaffee was perhaps best known by the nickname Suzy Chapstick from the 1970s, when she was a spokesperson for ChapStick lip balm.

• "Look, honey, I'm doing Daffy!"

Dr. John Beck is swinging his legs on a ski lift in a way reminiscent of Daffy Duck jumping around while laughing.

• "I'm thirsty, let's tap those."

An ad campaign for Coors Light beer featured the slogan "Tap the Rockies".

• "Oh, Professor Firefly!"

A quote from the Marx Brothers movie Duck Soup, in which Groucho plays a character named Rufus T. Firefly.

• "What would you say if I sang out of tune..."

Lyrics from The Beatles song "With a Little Help from My Friends", in particular Joe Cocker's famous performance of the song at Woodstock, which was punctuated by spastic movements quite similar to the patient's here.

• "Dr. Kipling?" "Rikki-Tikki-Tavi's waiting for you!"

"Rikki-Tikki-Tavi" is a short story in the 1894 anthology The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling about the adventures of a valiant Indian grey mongoose that guards his garden from snakes.

• "Please just hide me from Ozzy Osbourne."

Ozzy Osbourne is a British heavy metal singer-songwriter who notoriously bit the head off a bat during a performance in 1982. Reportedly, he thought the bat (which had been thrown onto the stage by a member of the audience) was rubber.

• "His hands are small, I know, but they are his, they are not our own."

"My hands are small, I know/But they’re not yours, they are my own" are lyrics from the 1998 song "Hands" by Jewel.

• "I'm mistaking you for a hat!"

The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat is a book in which neurologist Oliver Sacks details his experiences working with people with unusual mental conditions.

• "Did she marry Kevin McDonald?"

Kevin McDonald is a Canadian actor and comedian best known for being a member of the comedy troupe The Kids in the Hall. He has short curly dark hair and sometimes uses a high-pitched voice for comedic effect.

• "Big boys don't cry... big boys don't cry..."

Quoted from a whispered spoken-word refrain in the 1975 song "I'm Not in Love" by 10cc.

• "I'm not as popular as Enos and that troubles me!"

Deputy Sheriff Enos Strate is a character from The Dukes of Hazzard. He briefly had his own spin-off Enos.

• "Admit it: It was Richard Jewell!"

Security guard Richard Jewell was briefly suspected by the FBI of carrying out the Centennial Olympic Park bombing, and later sued several news media outlets for libel after his name was cleared.

• "Man, this remake of the The Robe is pretty bad!"

The Robe is a 1953 fictional Biblical epic film that tells the story of a Roman military tribune who commands the unit that is responsible for the Crucifixion of Jesus.

• "Hunter Thompson, Texas Ranger."

Hunter S. Thompson was a journalist and author who founded the gonzo journalism movement. He is best known for his 1971 book Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas. The sheriff looks a bit like him with his sunglasses. Walker, Texas Ranger is a TV action/crime drama that stars martial arts champion Chuck Norris.

• "Just a little Shakey's Pizza, then intensive care."

The Shakey's Pizza chain was popular in the United States during the 1960s and '70s, but its restaurants are now found mainly in Asia.

• "Have you seen Mother or Jugs?"

Mother, Jugs & Speed is a 1976 comedy film about ambulance drivers, starring Bill Cosby, Raquel Welch, Harvey Keitel, and Larry Hagman.

• [The doctor walks shakily towards the desert.] "It's...!" *begins humming*

In the opening sequence of many episodes of Monty Python's Flying Circus, a bearded disheveled character known as the "It's" man would approach the camera from a great distance, collapse, and gasp "It's" before being cut off by the announcer stating, "Monty Python's Flying Circus".

• "I think he'll be okay if he can just make it to the mountains of Busch!"

The "Head for the Mountains of Busch" ads for Busch Beer featured cowboys in the mountains.

• "Oh that Jack Albertson!"

Jack Albertson was an award-winning actor/performer most noted for his roles as John Cleary from The Subject Was Roses and Grandpa Joe from Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. He had a scruffy elderly appearance similar to that of the derelict in the film.

• "It's Fred Garvin, Male Prostitute!"

"Fred Garvin, Male Prostitute" is an early Saturday Night Live sketch featuring Dan Aykroyd. Garvin is tall and wears eyeglasses, an alpine hat, and a garish plaid jacket.

• "Lisa Loopner!!"

Lisa Loopner, played by Gilda Radner, is one of the protagonists of "The Nerds", a series of sketches on Saturday Night Live. She had big eyeglasses like the woman in the movie.

• "Hey, there he goes! Oh, it's just a crummy Balrog."

A Balrog is a large, fiery monster with whips and claws in J.R.R. Tolkien's stories of Middle-earth.

• "You know, my father was a bat master! I guess that makes me Bat Master's Son."

Bat Masterson was a famed American Old West gunfighter and lawman.

• "Dick Dale is lightly noodling somewhere."

Guitarist Dick Dale was best known for his surf rock version of "Misirlou", which is featured in the 1994 film Pulp Fiction.

Memorable Quotes

Crow: Well, it shouldn't drink so much coffee!

[Cathy Beck groans as Dr. Kipling prepares a huge hypodermic needle for her husband.]

Mike [as Kipling]: Posed like this in Playgirl, only without my pants!

[Kipling and his staff finally stop John Beck's seizure from the rabies vaccine.]

Mike [as Kipling]: Um... do you have any drug allergies?

[Cathy tracks down Dr. Kipling on the ski slopes.]

Cathy: Dr. Kipling?

Servo [as Cathy]: Rikki-Tikki-Tavi's waiting for you.

. . .

Dr. Kipling: Mrs. Beck...

Mike [as Kipling]: ...you're a loser, baby.

[Man-bat Beck closes the barn door and stumbles around in the dark.]

Crow: Leave the door closed? What, were you born in a house?

[Cathy, now apparently a bat as well, walks back into the caves to join her husband]

Crow: Now, wait a minute... how did she turn into a bat? The only contact she had with him was in the hotel and...

[Pause]

Crow: [horrified] ...Oh, my god.

Tom: [disgusted] GAH!

[They rush out of the theater]

Crow: OH MY GOD! I get the shower first!

Tom: No, me first!

Mike: Urgh!

Video releases

MST3K DVD Cover

• Commercially released on DVD by Shout! Factory in July 2014 as part of Volume XXX, a 4-disc set along with The Black Scorpion, Outlaw, and The Projected Man.
  • The DVD includes an extended trailer for The Frank music video.
• This episode was also included as an extra on Shout! Factory's Blu-ray of the unriffed movie in July 2017.
• Available for rent or purchase on Amazon's streaming service.

preceded by: Season 9		MST3K Season 10					followed by: Season 11
		1999
1001	Soultaker	1999-04-11	1006	Boggy Creek II	1999-05-09	1011	Horrors of Spider Island	1999-07-25
1002	Girl in Gold Boots	1999-04-18	1007	Track of the Moon Beast	1999-06-13	1012	Squirm	1999-08-01
1003	Merlin's Shop of Mystical Wonders	1999-09-18	1008	Final Justice	1999-06-20	1013	Diabolik	1999-08-08
1004	Future War	1999-04-25	1009	Hamlet	1999-06-27
1005	Blood Waters of Dr. Z	1999-05-02	1010	It Lives by Night	1999-07-18