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"In regards to today's movie, I'm just going to say...rock climbing."
- Dr. Clayton Forrester


The Movie[]

Main article: Lost Continent (film)

An expedition sent to retrieve a rocket that went missing over the South Pacific discovers a plateau inhabited by prehistoric creatures.

The Episode[]

Host Segments[]

FrankExercise

Mobile Treadmill

Prologue: Joel gives the Bots a locker room pep talk before the movie.

Invention Exchange: The Mads introduce "Rock Climbing", Frank demonstrates a mobile treadmill, and Joel doesn't have time to show his invention. When he refuses to go into the theater, he gets a shock to the shammies.

Segment Two: Joel and the Bots tell jokes before "Hugh Beaumont" drops by for a visit, where he reveals he's actually one of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

Segment Three: The SOL crew does a sketch, "The Explorers" (a Quinn Martin production), in which Joel plays a condescending explorer. The Bots refuse to support the White Male Reality.

Mikeashugh

Hugh Beaumont (played by Michael J. Nelson) stops by

Segment Four: Joel and the Bots spot a Cool Thing. They encourage the viewers to send in suggestions as to what the Cool Thing really is.

Segment Five: The SOL crew analyzes the movie, and come to the conclusion that Robert L. Lippert really liked padding, Tom Servo presents casting facts, and Crow gets a bit off base about the director. Joel reads a letter, and the Mads assert that they won, although they probably didn't.

Stinger: A cranky explorer by the fire with the party's doc.

Trivia[]

Obscure References[]

  • "The Incredible Mr. Lippert."

A take on the 1964 film The Incredible Mr. Limpet. The riff would later be used as the title of a Ballyhoo Motion Pictures documentary on the career of Robert L. Lippert.

  • "So this is what Ward does at the office."

Ward Cleaver is the patriarch portrayed by Hugh Beaumont on Leave It to Beaver. His white-collar job was never specified in-show.

  • "You taste like Bud Abbott"

Bud Abbott was the straight man in the multi-media comedy duo of Abbott and Costello. The riff alludes to the fact that actress Hillary Brooke regularly appeared on their television show as Costello's girlfriend.

  • "Hey we landed on a witch! Maybe the film will be in color from this point."

Refers to the beginning of the 1939 film The Wizard of Oz. The film begins in sepia tone, but after Dorothy's farmhouse is carried away by the tornado and falls on the Wicked Witch of the East, the film is in color until she returns to Kansas.

  • "Maybe there was hand soap in the hydraulic fluid."

A reference to one of the plot twists in the disaster film SST- Death Flight, which had been used by MST3K during the KTMA season.

  • "Joel, why are we watching this dull mountain climbing sequence?" "Well, because it's there."

A reference to a quote attributed to explorer George Mallory, his answer to the question "Why do you want to climb Mount Everest?": "Because it's there."

  • "Football practice!"

"Football practice!" comes from the horror movie Shocker.

  • "A brontosaurus in Africa?" "Shhh!"

A paraphrasing of a recurring joke from Monty Python's The Meaning of Life, replacing the word tiger with brontosaurus.

  • "They're looking for the Batcave."

A reference to the film's lead Cesar Romero's having portrayed The Joker in the Batman television show and film (starring Adam West).

Behind the Scenes[]

MST3K Cast[]

Regular Cast

Guest Cast

MST3K Crew[]

Production[]

  • Joel finally gets to demonstrate his invention in the next episode.
  • The Cool Thing is not revealed until next season's Fugitive Alien.
  • During the movie's opening credits, Joel and the Bots joke about the similarity between the names of producer Sigmund Neufeld and director Sam Newfield. The two men were in fact brothers - Newfield had changed his name when he became a director.[1]
  • The SOL crew immediately identify the reused footage from Rocketship X-M at the start for the rocket launch; but they don't appear to remember that they likewise saw the footage of the dinosaurs prior in Robot Monster. This movie was the source of the footage for that movie.
  • "Rock climbing" became a recurring joke on this show after this episode, as shorthand for a particularly brutal part of a movie.
  • First use of the, "You look, I'm bitter," riff.
  • Joel begins wearing a turquoise jumpsuit with this episode.

Callbacks[]

Movie Edits[]

As with most of the riffed films, Lost Continent was edited to fit the television aspect ratio and had several scenes trimmed in length to fit within the desired time-slot. Altered footage in this film included:

  • A scene was removed in which Major Nolan goes to talk with the scientists on the plane, including Dr. Rostov mentioning "unpredictables," events that can't be accounted for. This is referenced throughout the film.
  • A brief sequence where the plane lands to refuel was removed.
  • Scenes taking place on top of the plateau were tinted green in the original film. This was recolored to blueish-violet to match the rest of the film. Despite this, lines of dialogue were kept where the characters are surprised at the sudden change, and Servo jokes that if only the film was in color, it would mean something.
  • The scene where Sergeant Tatlow dies and is buried by the others was cut, with Joel commenting on the "short mourning period" when the film suddenly jumps ahead.

Goofs[]

  • In the prologue, Joel mentions the experiments before this episode as Wild Rebels and Rocket Attack U.S.A. The first is correct; however the episode shown before Wild Rebels was actually Ring of Terror.
  • In segment 3 there is a cue card showing Dr Sevrin from Star Trek: The Original Series "The Way To Eden" which credits Michael Sarrazin incorrectly. Skip Homeier played Dr Sevrin.

Video Releases[]

LOSTCOTINTENTDVD

MST3K DVD Cover

Gallery[]

References[]

  1. Sensesofcinema.com Fast Worker: The Films of Sam Newfield
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