In Aquatic Wizards, many people water ski in slow motion throughout Cypress Gardens in Florida. In Catching Trouble, an overly enthusiastic wildlife trapper torments snakes, wildcats and bear cubs while his silent ethnic guide friend watches on.
Information
Aquatic Wizards was included on Shorts Vol 3, released by Rhino Entertainment on VHS in January 2001, and on DVD in August 2004 as an limited time exclusive bonus for ordering MST3K: The Essentials from a specially created Rhino site.
Released in early May 1936, Catching Trouble is the oldest piece of material ever used on Mystery Science Theater 3000. The first installment of The Undersea Kingdom was not released until later that same month. The 1934 feature film Maniac would later be used become a RiffTrax presentation.
The Movie
Synopsis
Teenage Cave Man
Vaughn stars as a 35-year-old teenage caveman with styled hair who seeks to discover what is in the uncharted jungles beyond his tribe's campsite. It is against the Word (and the Word is the Law), but he breaks it anyway. Soon he discovers a strange creature that kills with its touch. We later learn that this is not a prehistoric tale, but a post-apocalyptic tale, and the strange creature is a 500-plus year old irradiated scientist in a radiation suit.[1]
Information
This film was remade as a made-for-cable movie in 2002.[1]
This film was shot under the title "Prehistoric World". American International changed the title to "Teenage Cave Man". Years later, Roger Corman would be quoted as saying, "I never directed a film called 'Teenage Cave Man'."
Robert Vaughn said in an interview that he considered this to be the worst film ever made.
The fight between two dinosaurs is the same sequence used for Journey to the Center of the Earth, which was released soon after Teenage Cave Man. It originally appeared in the movie One Million, B.C. and likewise appeared in other MST3K films such as Robot Monster and King Dinosaur. A baby alligator was fitted with a fake sail-fin crest on its back and was made to fight a small monitor lizard.
Beach Dickerson, a Corman regular, did quadruple roles...not only is he the fair-haired boy that drowns in quicksand, he is also the stranger riding in from the burning plains, the bear that attacks the hunting party, and even plays a drummer during the funeral for his own character.
The Episode
Host Segments
Rainy day ipecacs
Prologue:Joel and the Bots are bored out of their minds during a rainstorm.
Segment One (Invention Exchange): Rainy day ipecacs: Crow’s is chocolate milk + pickle juice, Tom’s is circus peanuts + warm strawberry Quik + a punch in the stomach, and Joel’s is Lucky Charms + cherry NyQuil. Dr. F and Frank have something really cool and evil as their invention, but we never find out what it is when they get into a fight to the death over who gets to present it.
"Catching Ross"
Segment Two: "Catching Ross." Joel and the Bots produce their own version of Catching Trouble with Ross as the tormented prey.
Segment Three: Dr. F and Frank are still fighting while Joel shows the Bots a history of Technology. This bores them to sleep. Technology's greatest achievement? The Flying Nun.
Segment Four: Examining the pendulum of human development.
Segment Five:Crow and Tom Servo mimic the film's end. Joel reads a slimy letter and Dr. F and Frank patch things up with some General Foods International Coffee and a viewing of the Jack Lemmon film Dad
Stinger: The Teenage Caveman runs smack dab into a tree and conks his head.
Notes
Some of Joel's flashcards in Segment Three are re-used props from the "Funny or Not Funny When Floating" sketch from Experiment #201 Rocketship X-M.
The background music heard when Frank and Dr. Forrester are fighting is inspired by the fight music from the original Star Trek television series.
Callbacks
"You know right now I could go for a char-broiled hamburger sandwich…” (Jungle Goddess)
“Plenty of lip and tongue action,” (the short "Speech: Using Your Voice" from Earth vs the Spider),
There are numerous riffs related to this movie supposedly taking place in the ancient past, like Servo's "Great Danes before Denmark" remark. It's not certain whether the guys are being a bit unfair or just trying to preserve the amazing secret of Teenage Caveman: that the movie, of course, is set in a post-nuclear holocaust future. Since MST3K isn't usually shy about telegraphing movie plot points, these comments could be considered goofs.
Obscure References
"Oh, leave Phil out of this!"
On the 70's All in the Family sitcom spinoff Maude, the eponymous main character, played by Bea Arthur, would occasionally refer to her brother Phil in this intonation.
Emo Philips is an American comedian. He is very thin, and has a signature pageboy haircut. He's also well known for his strange, sing-songy voice, which Crow imitates.
A reference to the Moody Blues concept album To Our Children's Children's Children, which features a cave painting on its fanfold cover vaguely similar to the cave paintings in the opening credits.
"Mr. Dillon! There's trouble up at the Long Branch!"
The elder on screen bears a resemblance to Dennis Weaver's character Chester Goode from the TV show Gunsmoke.
