201: Rocketship X-M

201 Rocketship X-M: Well kids, here we are. While the KTMA season held some hidden gems (k21 is one of the most underrated episodes of all time if you ask me) and season one has a very nostalgic feel, season two was when the show started to really take shape. The past season looks like a totally different show when compared to this. Of course, there where a LOT of changes, so lets deal with the two elephants in the room. The original Tom Servo and MST3K goliath J. Elvis Weinstein sadly left the show after season 1 (duh). In the place of his most iconic role we have Kevin Murphy, who would go one to puppet the bot for the rest of the series. In the role of Dr. F's lackey, we have the now legendary TV's Frank. While the absence of Josh as Servo still kinda bugged me, the trade-off of Erhardt for Frank is VERY welcomed. Forrester and Frank would go on to become one of the best parts of the series if you ask me. MST3K was changing, and it wouldn't take long for things to get REALLY good...

I'm not gonna lie, I've seen so many movies JUST like Rocketship-XM that they are beginning to meld together in my head! The same garbage is all there, the manly hero, the icey woman who's cold heart can only be melted by the manly hero, the annoying comic relief, the anti war/science message, it's all the same garbage to me at this point. This movie is just bland and generic.
Verdict: 2/4-Bad! Your usual 50's cautionary tail about science.

The riffing style here more closely resembles the format that would be used for the rest of the series run. I was pretty excited to see how it worked out, but in this reviwer's oppion it's not exactly a comedy breakthrough. Sure, there where some funny lines, but it was more of a chuckle fest really.

Intro: Working on Servo, The SOL got an update
Inventions: Frank is introduced, and he copies Joel's invention, the BGC-1.9 drum set.
Seg1: The boys talk about the reporters from the movie.
Seg2: The boys discuss what is and isn't funny floating.
Seg3: Valeria visits via the hexfield
End: The boys get depressed thanks to the movie's ending.
Overall:Wow. The cast and the riffing sure weren't the only things that changed. The host segments have a lot more energy and they are far more elaborate than the mellow KTMA and Season 1 host segs. They where a whole lot of fun, particularly seg 1 and seg 2.

Verdict:  Big changes, but the riffing didn't exactly live up to the big changes.

Top 5 KMA Episodes

Top 5 KTMA Episodes:

1. K21 The Legend of Dinosaurs: B

2. K20 The Last Chase: B-

3. K08 Gamera vs Gurion: B-

4. K19 Hangar 18: C

5. K12 Fugitive Alien: C

KTMA Season Summary

                                                                 KTMA

K04 Gamera vs Barugon Verdict: The silence in the first half was a bit awkward, but once it picked up it was pretty decent.

K05 GameraVerdict: There is a huge amount of silence in theater, with a VERY annoying movie. Tom and Crow's absence means that we only have 1 third of the usual horse power and in the end I'm just relived to have been done with it.

K06 Gamera vs Gaos: The host segments where okay, but the theater segments left something to be desired.

K07 Gamera vs ZigeraVerdict: There where some giggles to be had, but that's about it.

K08 Gamera vs Gurion: This is proof that the KTMA era can produce some actually decent episodes . The riffing was pretty good, the host segments where original, and come on, "A Planet of the Apes Christmas"!

K09 Phase IV: There where some pretty funny moments, but the dead spots kept it from being really funny.

K10 Cosmic Princess: A bunch of giggles, some blank moments, and a couple of laughs. It's nothing to write home about.

K11 Humaniod Woman: The standard KTMA venture. But I would love to point out that there where a few good laughs to be had (namely in host seg 2). It juust falls short of a C.

K12 Fugitive Alien:  I didn't laugh too many times and there where a couple of dead spots. But I really liked seeing Joel and Josh having fun. This episode is just like watching the two of them hang out and have fun just being a couple of buddies. Because of that I found myself really enjoying it. It's not hilarious, but I loved just seeing a couple of friends being friends.

K13 SST Death Flight:  There are a lot of chuckles and if it had a bit more out loud laughs it would be a keeper.

K14 Mighty Jack:  This was an all-around weak episode. The Theater segments where dull and limp and the host segments didn't do much better.

K15 Superdome:  Despite the solid host segments, the the movie drags this one down, and the silence in the theater doesn't help much.

K16 City On Fire:  Two good host segs and a few good lines in the theater save this episode from an Ack. The movie just sucks the life out of this ep.

K17 Time of the Apes:  I'm a bit reluctant to give this episode such a low rating. I had a lot of fun with the host segments, and there was some fun to be has in the theater. It Just falls short of being a true C.

K18 The Million Eyes of Su-Maru:  I got few giggles, but after Servo left it stared to tank.

K19 Hangar 18:  This was another tuff call. It pushes the line between C and B-, but in the end, a few slow parts land this right at the halfway point.

K20 The Last Chase:  Strong laughs at a steady pace.

K21 The Legend of Dinosaurs:  While the host segments are just a bit meh, the boys rocked the theater. This is defiantly KTMA's magnum opus.

Top 5 Season 1 episodes

TOP 5 SEASON 1 EPISODES:

1. 106 The Crawling Hand: B

2. 113 Black Scorpion: B-

3. 104 Women of the Prehistoric Planet: B-

4. 110 Robot Holocaust + Commando Cody 9: C

5. 112 Untamed Youth: C

Season 1 Summary

101 The Crawling Eye:  I found this to be a

very middle of the road episode. There are some great

moments in the theater, but it's a bit too slow. The host

segments where not bad (especially seg 3), but they weren't very good either.

102 The Robot Vs. The Aztec Mummy + Commando

Cody 1: This was not a very impressive episode. While the few great riffs and clever host segments keep it from being a complete failure, but the majority of the theater segments are very weak and they can get a tad bit tedious.

103 Mad Monster + Commando Cody 2:  A few gems in the theater and some great host segments save an other wise sub-par episode.

104 Women of the Prehistoric Planet: This was a pretty good episode, with strong riffing and some fun host segments

105 The Corpse Vanishes + Commando Cody 3: The riffing was still a bit sparse, but there

where just enough good/great lines to keep this from completely stinking

106 The Crawling Hand:  This episode is just

short of an A. It's a very much above-average episode.

Especially for season 1.

107 Robot Monster + Commando Cody 4 and 5:  This episode managed to keep a smile on my face and got a few good laughs out of me. An average

episode overall.

108 The Slime People + Commando Cody 6:  There are some good spots, but most of the episode is pretty forgettable.

109 Project Moonbase + Commando Cody 7 and 8: There are some classic host segs and some nice riffs, but the riff quality drops a bit too much later

on.

110 Robot Holocaust (1987) + Commando Cody 9:   A pleasant stream of decent riffing and some decent host segs make for a nice sit. It's not hilarious,

but it's not bad, that's for sure.

111 Moon Zero Two: There are some great

moments, but overall this experiment is a little under

average.

112 Untamed Youth: A smooth episode that

kept my interest and left me chuckling throughout.

113 Black Scorpion: A pretty funny episode

that left me satisfied. Still not uproariously hilarious,
but still well worth your time.

113 Black Scorpion

113 Black Scorpion: I say this will a dash of despair, but this will be our last venture with the (at that time) young Josh  Weinstein at the helm of Tom Servo, and the role that he took with him, Dr. Erhardt. While Dr. Erhardt wasn't too funny in the first season, I really liked him in the KTMA era. We got to see a lot more of him, and he had some really great moments with Forester around that time. Even though he has gotten some heat from fellow MSTies, I've fallen in love with his Tom Servo. He might not me as bombastic and animated as Kevin Murphy's take on the bot, but he was still a great character. He was mellow and a bit of a smart-ass, with enough wit and charisma to perfectly balance out with Trace's Crow. I have to admit, while I know that the series is about to REALLY rocket into the stratosphere of hilarity, I'm still going to miss Josh. The original big three are no more. Well, until Cinematic Titanic came around, but I'm getting ahead of myself.

Nothing' beats a good old fashion giant monster movie. Like this neat little flick about giant Scorpions that terrorize a Mexican town. All that you have to say in "Willis O' Brian did the creature effects" and I'm IN! To be fair, I've seen the un MSTed version on TCM a few times in my childhood so I already knew what I was in for. There are better giant monster flicks, but this one is fun enough, and really, what more can you ask?
Verdict: 4/4-Fun!

I was pleasantly surprised by this episode. The riffing started very strong and unlike some other episodes it doesn't die down at all. I wasn't laughing TOO hard, but there was just enough great wit in the theater to keep me laughing or at least giggling.

Intro: The boys party
Invention Exchange: Joel's giant party favor, The Mads' have a misshape and end up as mutants.
Seg1: The boys speak Spanish
Seg2: Tom and Crow talk about human behavior while Gypsy dresses like a scorpion.
Seg3: The boys talk about Willis O'Brien
End: Letters are read, the mads are still mutated.
Overall: I loved this batch of host segs. The letter that goes WAY too much into Crow's head was hilarious! Seriously, I almost had to pause the episode!

Verdict:  A pretty funny episode that left me satisfied. Still not uproariously hilarious, but still well worth your time.


 

112 Untamed Youth

112 Untamed Youth

Hey, would you look at that! MST3K finally gets it's first exploitation flick and boy is it's tone all over the place. The flick is about problem-causing teens that are sent to work at the cotton mill of a very crooked fellow. The film bounces back and forth from a serious (cautionary?) tale about the abuse of the teens that work there and the sleazy fellow that runs it to a light-hearted " don't let the man bring you down" musical romp. I'll give it this though, the rougher spots are well done, and some of the musical numbers are pretty catchy.
Verdict: 3/4-Watchable! Weird tone shifts. While it's still awkward, there was some good acting and decent writing behind parts.

This is one of the rare season 1 episodes that almost everyone can agree is pretty decent when it comes to the riff quality. I've seen it on a few top lists and I can see why. This episode is pretty good throughout. It had a very "Robot Holocaust" riff style to it. Not hilarious, but smooth and decent.

Intro: Tom has a tapeworm
Invention Exchange: Joel's anti-smoking pipe, The Mads' tongue puppets
Seg1: Greg Brady tribute
Seg2: We see what's inside Gypsy's head
Seg3: Gypsy's sick
End: How to be like the goofy guy
Overall: These segments where amusing for the most part. I enjoyed seg 3 the most, it also gave us our first Tom Servo clone!

Verdict: A smooth episode that kept my interest and left me chuckling throughout.