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in: MST3K Episodes, Season 8, 'As Seen on TV',
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MST3K 814 - Riding with Death

Revision as of 04:09, 22 November 2014 by Jake lex (Message Wall | contribs) (→‎Quotes & References)
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“ Alright boys, Smokey's gunna put you in the pokey! ”



“ Coming up next, Banacek ! Uh, no, I mean, thank you for enjoying our theatre released movie today! ”



The Movie

Synopsis

File:0814-trucking.jpg

Riding with Death

The preternaturallly mellow Harvard law grad and Intersect agent Sam Casey (Ben Murphy) is in a satellite explosion and the radiation renders him invisible. He gets a wrist watch that keeps him perceptible, and he can use it to switch back and forth.

He is given two assignments by his boss (William Sylvester): the first is to transport a revolutionary new gasoline additive a few miles down the road via tractor-trailer in order to invoke the then-current fad triad of trucking, CB bloviation and whimsical country music (in the form of one Buffalo Bill, played by Jim Stafford, nemesis of spiders and snakes everywhere). The inventor of the additive intends to have Casey killed and sell the formula elsewhere for $10 million. Casey's compatriot Abbie also gets kidnapped and must be rescued.

Later, Casey and his guest star (Jim Stafford - again!) must team up once more (remember how good it was last time?) as race car pit crew members / substitute drivers to stop elusive terrorist Robert Denby (Ed Nelson, from Night of the Blood Beast), from blowing up a race car with "deutrium".

Don't miss the riveting discussion of competing styles of New England journalism in the last few minutes of the second episode (er, latter half of the movie). 

Information

  • This movie was pieced together primarily from two episodes of the short-lived 1976 television series Gemini Man, plus some footage and sound effects from the 1970 science fiction film Colossus: The Forbin Project used for establishing shots at the beginning. The episodes used were titled "Smithereens" and "Buffalo Bill Rides Again", with a common element between these two episodes being the guest appearance of country singer Jim Stafford as Buffalo Bill.
  • These two episodes were stitched together after the fact with dialog added in that refers to Dr. Hale, Robert Denby, Driscoll's moustache, and Buffalo Bill's change in career. The scenes where Abby appears to watch from a computer room were also added in from another episode in order to explain her absence during the latter half.
  • A scene from the pilot episode was also added during the first half of the film in order to explain the origin of Sam Casey's invisibility. In this flashback, Driscoll was played by Richard Dysart instead of William Sylvester like in the rest of the film.
  • When "Carl" cuts Ben Murphy's brake lines, the only result would have been immobilizing the truck: Murphy would have been unable to move. Air brakes on trucks are designed to lock up if there is a compressor or hose failure.
  • At the time, Jim Stafford was an extremely popular singer/songwriter of novelty, comedy country-western music.  His songs "Spiders and Snakes" (which reached the #3 position on the Billboard Music charts) and "My Girl Bill" are referenced during the episode.
  • Along with Steven Bochco, another name under the "created for television" credits which should be noted is Harve Bennett . Like Bochco, Bennett would move on to bigger and better things: in Bennett's case, producing the Star Trek movies in the 1980s.
  • The movie's credits claim it was based off the novel from science fiction writer H.G. Wells. It's more specifically referring to how his novel The Invisible Man served as the "basis" for the film's original Gemini Man pilot. (Seriously; it's listed right here.)

The Episode

Host Segments

File:814-2.jpg

Turkey Volume Guessing Man!

  • Prologue Mike was once a teppanyaki chef. He tries to make an ornate meal for the Bots, in the process cutting off Crow's own hand to serve to him.
  • Segment 1 The Camping Planet is under fire! Pearl calls the Satellite crew for air support, and Mike proceeds to make the biggest baking soda bomb possible. He not only takes out the enemy army, but planet #3. Brain Guy makes a disturbing nurse.
  • Segment 2 Inspired by the movie, Tom writes and performs a song, The Funky Seventies. As usual, he completely misunderstands everything, but still tries to save the sketch with with an even more inappropriate song about the Fifties.
  • Segment 3 Tom somehow acquires another new body. This time, it is that of a truck driver. His butt is disturbingly flat, and he disturbingly loves it too much.
  • Segment 4 Crow is now a new superhero...Turkey Volume Guessing Man! He can tell you how many turkeys it takes to fill up a space. Mike accidentally steals Crow's thunder.
  • Final Segment The SOL crew tries to figure out what the movie was actually about. Pearl calls in to alert them to her medal ceremony for her actions on the planet below. She gets so many medals she can't hold her head up and ends up being unable to steer the Widowmaker.
  • Stinger Buffalo Bill expresses enthusiasm.

Other Notes

  • Camping Planet becomes the third and final planet Mike destroys, following Deep Ape and The Observers home planet.

Quotes & References

  • "Steven Bochco?  Does this mean we have to see Dennis Franz's hairy butt cheeks?"

Steven Bochco went on to create far better TV series than this one, like NYPD Blue, which was known for pushing the limits of network television in terms of adult language and nudity, which mostly meant Dennis Franz's hairy butt cheeks.

  • "Gavin MacLeod mania. Not Gavin MacLeod, but an incredible simulation." "I'm also a freelance Murray Slaughter." "Oh, Murray.... sweet, homicidal Murray!"

Murray Slaughter was a character played by actor Gavin MacLeod on the popular 1970s TV sitcom, The Mary Tyler Moore Show. He  was addressed in this fashion by the marvelously realized, sex-obsessed but outwardly wholesome cooking-show host Sue Ann Niven (Betty White). The first phrase also reflects the ads for 70's musical Beatlemania with their catchphrase "Not the Beatles but an Incredible Simulation!"

  • "I'll have a Poppa Burger with cheese... Fries..."

​A fairly standard order from an A&W burger stand. A Poppa Burger is a double-meat, double-cheese hamburger.

  • "So they have thirteen hours to drive from Torrance to Long Beach?"

Does seems excessively long as both cities are 10-15 miles apart from each other, and it would only take twenty minutes or so to drive there.

  • "And Mickey Mantle's new liver is transported across the country!"

​Baseball legend Mickey Mantle suffered from alcohol-induced cirrhosis of the liver and received a liver transplant in 1995; there were accusations of favoritism due to the speed in which he was matched with an organ donor.

  • "I'll be your candle on a pile of papers..."

Parody of the song "Candle on the Water" from the Disney film Pete's Dragon.

  • "It's Alan Smithee's number!"

Alan Smithee is a name used by directors who wish to distance themselves from a film. The fictional nature of the name matches the fictional phone number shown on screen (with the telltale 555 prefix).

  • "Ah. Rhoda and Joe, I hope they get married."

A reference to the sitcom Rhoda, itself a spin-off of the aforementioned The Mary Tyler Moore Show.  A prominent plotline in the show's first season was the title character's relationship with a divorced bachelor, Joe Gerard.  The marriage of the two characters was one of the highest rated events in television history and a massive cultural event of the decade.

  • "This goes out to my friends in the Posse Comitatus!"

Posse Comitatus is an American white supremacist group.

  • "I'll get that bird for ya." "Hey college boy!"

The bar patron with this line resembles the unstable Captain Quint from director Steven Spielberg's Jaws.

  • "Goodbye Sister Driscoll"

Parodies a line in "Sister Disco" from The Who's Who Are You album.

Notes


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