Tuesday Treat: Russell Stover House Blend Coffee Big Bite

Look at this gorgeous monster. It's just a huge slab of candy, waiting to be nibbled at for an hour. It's covered in dark chocolate (and has that deep chocolate smell when you open it). The center is a solid plank of coffee ... something. It's almost like a fresh fudge texture, with that melt-in-your-mouth creamy-jelly consistency.

This isn't nearly as sweet as you might expect (apparently there's a cappucino one with more light creaminess), and the whole thing is overwhelmingly dark and rich. This would go great with a tiny dish of plain vanilla ice cream, or broken up over it. I've only had two tiny bites so far, and my whole mouth is full of coffee and dark chocolate. I'm even okay with the huge calorie count (300, or 4 Cinnamon Bun Oreos), since I can't imagine eating all of this in one sitting.

I love coffee-flavored candy (honestly, I love coffee-flavored ANYTHING), and I don't know why I hadn't seen this on shelves before. It's exactly what I want from coffee candy. My only complaint would be that, like the Coffee Nut M & Ms (which I also adore), there's no caffeine content listed on the package. I'm typing this a little before bedtime, and I don't think 1/3 of this will keep me awake, but I don't know for sure. (I'm more likely to buy a soda if it has caffeine content listed, too.)

Once again, the Amazon cost for this is que ridicule, so feel free to patronize a local store.

MST3K #413: Manhunt In Space

Well, I caught a cold, and that put me behind schedule at the worst possible time -- the release date for the new season was finally announced. It all drops on April 14. That means I've got just 46 days to finish my pregame binge. And with twenty more episodes to watch, I need to aim for one every two days. Seems like I won't make it, but I'll sure enjoy the attempt.

Anyway, today we're looking at #413, with some soapy clips and some space-spies.

Featuring Nurse Feratu

In an excerpt from the first season of General Hospital, doctors and nurses and patients soap it up, with long expository monologues and melodramatic speeches. The electric organ, as you might expect, is too high in the mix. Afterwards, the bots want to play soap opera, but Joel refuses to go along.

I guess Bill Paxton was just glad he didn't have to work with Helen Hunt in space.

And next, another movie that isn't. It's more TV episodes cut together, though at least this story was conceived as a single piece (take that, Master Ninja!). Rocky Jones is another one of those square-headed, cowboy-style space heroes, who solves every conflict with a fistfight, the old American way. (I'm glad to know that we haven't had anything like that happen on the ISS.)

Space pirates are capturing ships, stealing the cargo, and killing the crews, AND they've infiltrated the base of the heroes. Rocky and his irritating sidekick Winky use their invisible space-technology to find the mole and catch the bad guys. They get captured a LOT (this was originally three TV episodes, and I think the heroes get captured at least four times), and each time they have to punch their way out. In the meantime, the tiresome sidekick brags about his notional love life, and sings a cloying lullaby. I've seen the other MST'd Rocky Jones movie, though I'll be danged if I can remember anything about it. I hope Winky doesn't sing in that one.

Crow isn't a Stratocaster; Tom isn't the Golden Throat.

The riffs are up to the usual standard -- two fairly obscure Star Trek jokes I had to look up, plus mentions of Ted Knight, Mr. Mooney, Roy Lichtenstein, and Bettie Page. I really enjoyed the Mr. Wizard/Police Squad! style joke: "And that's how cattle are inseminated." (Speaking of Police Squad!, how obscure a reference is "Hey, it's the 'Sucker' Brothers"?!?) 

We learn a few trivia facts about our friends in this one: not only is Tom color-blind, but Joel apparently has a sister. (In the SciFi era, we would've seen Mike's sister, and she would've been Mike in a wig. In fact, I'll wager one American dollar that did happen.)

It's rare in this binge for me to watch two consecutive episodes, so I appreciated that Crow calls back the "good-natured brawling" from #412, just a few minutes after the well-aged callback to Fugitive Alien. But since these two aired in order, there aren't many repeated jokes. This is my second episode in a row to reference Captain Crunch, and the third to mention The Flintstones.

A joke that didn't age well: "What is this, Radio AHHS?"
A joke I had to look up: "When in Duluth, visit the Lift Bridge."
My favorite joke: Once again, I enjoyed the variant "Sturgeon! In! Spaaaaaaaace!", but the winner is clearly "It's like a million-to-one shot that we'll ever be seen." "Oh, they're on Comedy Central."
Overall, I rate this episode 9/10. Rocky's a little dull, but otherwise it's perfect.

Up next, it's #505, The Magic Voyage of Sinbad.

Tuesday Treat: Cinnamon Bun Oreos

My amazing wife found these for me. At first, I wasn't sure I even wanted to try them (after all, I had a fantastic Peeps experience these couldn't possibly top). However, I found a couple of good reviews.

The cookie is indeed flavored with cinnamon, and smells like it. The cream is softer than your standard Oreo filling, with plenty of warm spicy sweetness. I don't know how I'll make it through the whole package, since they're awfully rich. (And, at 75 calories per cookie, it'll take a while if I can show some restraint.) I think about 4 and a glass of milk would be a perfect meal.

Just today, they announced an ungodly combination: Oreos with a Peeps-marshmallow filling. I can't imagine how they could possibly be great, but they'll probably be good, and I can't wait to try them. Keep going, mad scientists!

MST3K #412: Hercules and the Captive Women

It's #412, wherein Hercules rescues a captive woman. Just one.

This film is dedicated to Uranus

For Gypsy's first real riffing experience, our film is... weird. It's got huge production value, a silly script, and poor editing. ("Can God Himself make a plot so complicated that even He can't comprehend it?") This is like the eighth Hercules movie the crew had to sit through, and I know I've seen a bunch of them. I can't remember a single thing about the others, and I don't know how much of this one I'll remember either.

Herc fights a terrible lizard

Well, okay. I'll probably remember the scene where they clearly reuse an old dinosaur costume from another film. I was never a big fan of ancient myths, and I can't necessarily explain the difference between Zeus and Poseidon. So let's just say I'm not a fan of the franchise, and don't have much emotional investment in the characters. The idea that Hercules personally destroyed Atlantis is interesting, I guess. This film is goofy, but even its goofiness is kind of boring. I don't know that I'd ever want to watch it again, or any of the other Hercules MST episodes for that matter.

Sidebar: I have a bad habit of needing a nap halfway through the dullest MST films, and I probably could've dozed off during this one. Maybe that's why I'm so cranky. ...either that, or I'm jealous of all the naps Hercules takes as the plot unfolds around him.

The aftermath of good-natured brawling

And apart from Gypsy making a decent joke in the theater ("They're steam-cleaning the horses!") there's not much memorable in the riff department either. I enjoyed all the softballs the movie threw about Uranus, and how the gang reply to them. It's nice to have the clump of sugar cereal jokes (for unrelated reasons, they call out Lucky Charms, Captain Crunch, and Cocoa Puffs), and this is my first time hearing "Jim Henson's Fill-In-The-Blank Babies" during the binge.

This is my second episode in a row to reference: "Don't take the brown acid," The Six Million Dollar Man, The Marx Brothers, "John And Marsha," "Attica Attica Attica," Indiana Jones, Tahitian Treat, and The Flintstones. And it's my third time hearing about: The Rockford Files, The Simpsons, Gymkata, "Hooker was a good cop!," Blazing Saddles, and Prince.

Bonus feature alert: We get a nice feature on all the Shout! Factory poster art from Steve Vance, and Joel introduces the film.

A joke I had to look up: "We love you Conrad, oh yes we do." (Bye Bye Birdie is on my to-watch list, honest.)
My favorite joke in this one: "Tonight's Episode: Jack and Jill Went Up the Hill To Fetch a Pail of MURDER!"
Overall, I rate this one: 5/10. The jokes are good, but the dull movie just killed my joy.

Next, it's #413, Manhunt In Space.

MST3K #324: Master Ninja II

It's #324, and Grandpa Ninja saves the day again!

It's two more episodes of The Master, a ten-years-late ripoff of Kung Fu, with more obvious stunt doubles and goofier plots. McAllister and his junior partner have two more adventures, and first they help a five-years-late Norma Rae ripoff organize her cannery workplace. Then, they help a twenty-five-years-later Bond ripoff fight terrorists and rescue hostages. Along the way, McAllister gets to play with all his ninja toys ("Oh, he brought his sample case."), and Keller drives a motorcycle and a plane, and kisses two pretty girls.

Did I mention George Lazenby is in this movie? They cast him as a Bondian spy, with a handful of cool gadgets. (His sticky-tracker gun looks bulky to bring into a garden party, but what do I know?) There's also a big part for David McCallum, who was one of the M[e]n from UNCLE. (He's doing well for himself these days as Ducky on NCIS.)

Sidebar: One final note on a guest star... uh, cameo in this FILM. Robert F. Hoy, who plays Masterson in the second episode... uh, half of the film, must be friends with David McCallum. He played three different characters on three episodes of Man From UNCLE, and his last role listed on IMDB is a cameo on NCIS. (He also appeared in bit parts on a LOT of the shows Joel and the Bots mention: Magnum PI, BJ and the Bear, The Rockford Files, Mannix, Mod Squad, Bat Masterson. And, it should be pointed out, he squared the circle by appearing on two episodes of Kung Fu.)

This episode has two so-so host segments, and two that are AMAZING. The "General Timothy Van Patten" one, pictured above, is just perfect. It's got one great joke, and lasts not a second too long. After that, Tom's long explanation, assigning specific pets to fictional detectives, is perfectly skewed, nerdy, and hilarious.

The riffs hit more than miss. I loved "You didn't have to climb into a security-guard warehouse," and also laughed out loud at "Didja ever see Food of the Gods, buddy?" There's even a Stan Freberg deep-cut joke with "John!" "Marsha!" (And I love the nerdiness of Tom's mention of Foucault.)

This one has a lot of repeated jokes. Not counting callbacks to the last episode, this is my second episode in a row to mention: "I've always depended on the kindness of strangers," "I'll Be Seeing You," Lech Walesa, "Hooker's a good cop!," Blazing Saddles, The Rockford Files, Starsky and Hutch, Silly String, Gymkata, Prince, "Huzzah!," Knight Rider, "Stranger in Paradise," and "Mendozaaaa!" (That Simpsons joke was really fresh at the time -- that episode aired just two months before this one.)

It's the fourth in a row to mention "Hi-keeba!" and Jerry Lewis. (And the fourth of the last five to recall 1960's TV Batman. I'll stop counting these now, putting them in the same category as Python and Wizard of Oz and Beatles jokes [three in this episode, not counting two solo Paul jokes and the Rick Nelson "Garden Party" line].)

AND the DVD has a nice long bonus: a 2010 Dragon*Con panel about Tom with both Josh and Kevin talking about their history with, and views of, the character. I saw this ages ago on YouTube, and the picture quality still isn't great, but it's an amazing collection of the best Servo stories (and Kevin even pulls out the original hate-banner). It's hosted by superfan Ken Plume, who's posted, like, a dozen hours of interviews with various MST folks over the years on his podcast, A Bit of A Chat.

A joke that didn't age well:"She’s got a Landers sister quality."
A joke I had to look up: "Looks like a Paul Klee painting."
My favorite joke: I liked a LOT in this episode, but my absolute favorite was "Let's see a show of hands." "I lost my hand in a fish-chopper."

Overall, I rate this one 8/10. The movie is goofy and fun, and the riffing is absolutely top-notch. If there were one more great host segment, I'd give this 10/10.

Up next, I watch #412, Hercules And The Captive Women.

Cherry Cordial Peeps

Hey, there are special Peeps out for Valentine's Day! I mean, of COURSE there are!

I could only find one of the two flavors near me (sadly, it seems like the lesser of the two), but I love a good cherry cordial or eight, so I was excited to try these. They smell just like a chocolate-covered cherry. They taste almost exactly like a chocolate covered cherry. The mouthfeel, well, that's more marshmallow and less gooey-sticky-goodness.

The cherry is pretty good, a little tart. That plus the dark chocolate dip keep the vanilla marshmallow from overpowering it. Like the best dipped Peeps, this feels like an adult candy. And I know that's a ridiculous sentence, but at this point I'm commited to typing up serious reviews of Peeps, so I think I should have some leeway. And at only 50 calories apiece, these chicks are the best bang for my sugar buck this month. Today is the big day, so these might not be easy to find (I couldn't get 'em on Amazon, so here's a buylink I cannot vouch for -- good luck!).

Whatever you do today, talk to someone you love. Tell them you love them. And eat some candy -- life is short, and getting shorter by the minute. Happy Valentine's Day!

Edited to add this late-breaking Valentine's video from the happy couple:

MST3K #322: Master Ninja I

And now, #322. It's got a white ninja, a mediocre TV hero, and a few minutes of Demi Moore.

Here's another "movie" that never saw theaters. The TV show was chunked and formed into seven different movieloaves, and I'm going to watch two of them. The first one has guest spots from Demi, Claude Akins, Clu Gulagher, and Deliverance's Bill McKinney as a corrupt cop. (The DVD bonus has an interview with him, and he seems to have enjoyed watching this one. I'll see him again in Final Justice).

Lee Van Cleef is an aging ninja, looking for an apprentice, since all the Asian ninja he instructed have turned evil. Luckily, there's another American (a Van Patten, even) who wants to learn the tricks of the trade, and help out some oppressed folks in the bargain. Lee Van Cleef and Timothy Van Patten, driving around in a van. It's a triple-van show.

Sidebar: Why did the TV of the 70's and 80's have so many traveling heroes? Just this week, I watched Claude Akins in an episode of his 1972 trucker action show, Movin' On, since it was partially filmed at Six Flags Over Georgia. In that episode, Claude gives up a lucrative Bible-hauling contract to help an old man in his foolish dream to launch his redneck hot-air-balloon into a race.

And speaking of old men, the second episode... um, half of the movie... features an old hoofer. Charlie Collins hadn't acted in 30 years, and they show us a clip from his best-known movie, The Dancing Pirate (which I've seen before, since I watch more pirate movies than any reasonable person should). Then, Collins does a short dance in the current day. I'm not sure exactly how or why he shows up here. (Was he friends with the director?)

One more note: during the climactic tightrope sequence, who the hell carries the briefcase full of money across? It's not in anyone's hand. Are we supposed to just ignore it? Tim's clearly carrying it just seconds later.

And I like the riffing here, a lot. ("I've got a bad feeling about that knick-knack shelf.") There are a few then-zeitgeisty jokes about Japanese folks buying everything, and Crow affects a pretty offensive accent for a few minutes, but they mostly steer clear of that trap. For no good reason, there's a run of dark jokes about actresses (Isadora Duncan's scarf, Edie Sedgwick's cigarettes, even a really tasteless one about Katherine Hepburn). There's a huge slam on Stephen J. Cannell out of nowhere, and even a random line from a Thurl Ravenscroft Disney TV theme song. Tom impersonates Jack Perkins (well) and Barry White (not so well).

This is my first (and second) Prince joke, and an early mention of Dream On!, before it shut out MST at the Cable ACE awards. It's also the first time I've heard something other than "Mighty Science Theater" over the closing credits. This is my second episode in a row to reference: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Planet of the Apes, and The New Monkees. This is the third episode in a row to mention: Jerry Lewis, Dairy Queen, and "Hikeeba!"

A joke I had to look up: "Looks like Clarence Thomas's wife."
A joke that didn't age well: "You know, these Robert Bly weekends are getting more and more intense."
My favorite joke: I really love how game Frank is to play along during the middle host segment. He's gotten all dressed up, and doesn't even get to finish the word "showtime" before Dr. F. shuts him down. Poor Frank.

Up next, #324, Master Ninja II.

Snickers & Hazelnut

Our second sweet treat is Snickers & Hazelnut. It's richer than I expected, with that classic Snickers mix of nuts and chocolate and caramel. It's pretty good, but I wanted something a little different.

If I had one of these and a regular Snickers on a plate, out of their wrappers, I'm not entirely sure I could tell you which is which. This still has a lot of peanuts in it, more than it has hazelnuts. (I get it, they're cheaper, and Nutella is kinda cornering the market.) AND this beast has 240 calories -- for that, I could have two Russell Stover Strawberry Cream Hearts!

As with the previous food's buy-link, please feel free to patronize a local store instead, unless you really need 24 of these.

MST3K #318: Star Force: Fugitive Alien II

And now, #318, as Ken the Starwolf fights more aliens, and keeps ripping off George Lucas.

Our "movie" is another compilation of TV episodes, following immediately after the events of the first film. Ken's girlfriend is still dead, and the (brainwashed, blue-faced) Colonel that just got rescued is still on board the Bacchus 3.

This movie is more-or-less the same in tone and quality as the previous entry (as evidenced by those high-quality instrument readouts there), except for one thing. The editing here is even sloppier -- the final episode story just slams into the rest of the movie, without even a note from the usually redundant narrator to answer Crow's plaintive "What the heck is going on??" Ken and Cap'n Joe's crew still bravely war in the stars, attempting to destroy two planet-killing weapons that are definitely NOT the Death Star. Also, the finale is definitely NOT the trench dogfight from Episode Four. (Reminds me of the marketplace from the first movie, which was definitely NOT a wretched hive of scum and villainy.) At the end, like an interstellar Shane, Ken decides he must return to his home planet, to bring justice and freedom to all the other Starwolves. Without, you know, the audience feeling anything about it either way.

And if the movie is wall-to-wall Skywalking, the riffs and host segments are wall-to-wall singing. The final host spot is my second favorite so far in this binge, as our friends sing an extended medley of all the songs they made up for the film. I also really enjoyed the introductory scene, where Tom and Crow discuss the nature of puppets.

And speaking of this binge specifically, it's my first time hearing "Diarrhea is like a storm raging inside you." (Apparently, nobody's put that ad up on YouTube! Anybody got a copy?)  The riffs also include my second Tom Waits joke, a nifty Barton Fink joke, and 2 SCTV jokes. This is the second episode in a row to reference "You want to go faster?," "Hi-keeba!," "Billy Don't Be A Hero," Vidal Sassoon, Gymkata, Keith Richards, Paul Harvey, and Jerry Lewis. It's the THIRD to reference 1960's TV Batman (and that doesn't even count the jokes about Cesar Romero.)

Bonus feature alert: A career-spanning interview with Sandy Frank, where he namedrops ceaselessly, and almost pretends to be gracious about the reason for the interview. He doesn't seem to harbor much love for the MST3K gang, which is understandable given all the name-calling they did toward him personally. I did like knowing more about his history, though he talks very little about the movies (and "movies") featured on MST.

A joke I had to look up: "Another painting by Judy Chicago."
A joke that didn't age well: Tom's reference to Roseanne Barr's rendition of the National Anthem.
My favorite joke from this one: I feel dirty, but it's absolutely Crow's endless use of "Again?" (If only they'd come up with a proper ending, it would be one of my favorite running jokes of all time.)
Overall, I rate this one 7/10. It feels more boring, and more confusing, than the previous installment. The movie's worse, but I think the host spots are slightly better.

Up next, I'm watching another TV-sourced twofer, starting with #322, Master Ninja.

MST3K #310: Fugitive Alien

It's #310, with an alien helping Earth (and some other planets) fight his evil former rulers.

This week's movie is ... not a movie. Like a few other MST installments, it's a collection of TV episodes mashed together to form a movie-like product. The movie's alien hero, Ken, accidentally kills his best friend, in an attempt to keep him from killing an innocent earth kid, who's also named Ken. Since they were soldiers, Ken has to escape his evil government, and ends up recruited by Earth to fight his old comrades. (Ken's also on the run from his girlfriend Rita, whose brother was Ken's former best friend/victim - the alien government has ordered her to avenge her brother and kill the traitor.)

Ken works alongside a crew of brave Earth spacemen, led by Captain Joe (a mood-swinging heavy drinker and tragedy magnet) and piloted by hothead Rocky, who would of course try to kill Ken with a forklift. The crew also includes the lone woman, Tammy the "morale officer" (and speculation on her actual job duties gets icky and dark real fast for me) who naturally develops a crush on Ken.

Ken and Cap'n Joe's crew have a couple of random adventures (though this feels more like a movie than the two KTMA compilations I saw), and Rita gets gunned down right before our "To Be Continued" message.

Inspired by the huge success of Star Wars, the TV series used a lot of miniatures and special photo processes to tell universe-spanning stories of spacefighting.  (Does that M.O. sound a lot like Time of The Apes? It does to me, and in fact the two things share a screenwriter.) Sure, the production values aren't great, and Sandy Frank's ham-fisted editing (an omniscient narrator AND interior monologue?) does no favors to the material, but it's quick-moving and always easy to watch.

The DVD special feature is a nice history/contextualization from August Ragone, who seems to be Shout! Factory's go-to on these things. His encyclopedic knowledge and enthusiasm for the original material is fun to watch, and I'm always happy to hear from him.

And speaking of film comment, it's the very first appearance of Mike as Jack Perkins! Jack went on to bigger and better things (and the DVD also features him in the MST Hour wraps), but he's spot-on, right from the start. Also, Joel gets violent in character twice here -- as a bumpkin farmer, he tips over Cow-Gypsy, and as Cap'n Joe he punches Tom and Crow. It's out-of-character, and along with Jack's repeated punishments, this might be the most cartoonishly violent episode I've ever seen.

The riffs, though, are just what they should be. We get a lot of coincidental groupings - an early George of the Jungle joke has nothing to do with the later Rocky and Bullwinkle joke, and the three Monty Python jokes aren't related. There are FOUR Rolling Stones jokes, in four different contexts. This is my second episode in a row to reference Jack Benny, Dairy Queen, "The white zone is for loading and unloading only," 60's TV Batman, and The Deer Hunter. And, it's the third in a row with a callback to Robot Holocaust.

A joke that didn't age well: "He’s in more trouble than Hudson Hawk at the box office!”
My favorite joke: I loved "Monks! In! SPAAAAAACE!" and even "Heckraiser," but they were neatly edged out by Joel's impression of Frank during the hat party.
Overall, I rate this: 9/10. It's not in my ten favorite episodes, but I can't name a single thing wrong with it. The movie is just the right level of silly and cheesy, and the riffs are perfection.

Up next, #318, Star Force: Fugitive Alien II.

Russell Stover Strawberry Cream Heart

Hey, it's almost Valentine's Day, and I haven't talked about food in weeks! So our February food models are bringing you three delicious candies to consider for your sweetie.

Sidebar: Janice and Floyd are a great couple, almost the model rock couple. Sure, they've had their ups and downs, but they always come together to sing in close harmony. They're still working together after all these decades, and that makes them better than Bob and Joan, or Mick and Marianne. So I say they're ideal presenters for our Valentine's treats.

Our first sugar-delivery system is the Russell Stover Strawberry Cream Heart. It looked a lot better before I touched it, I swear! There's a thin shell of chocolate on the squidgy strawberry flavored cream filling, and I clumsily broke it. Never mind though, it's still delicious.

When I opened the package, I got huge amounts of chocolate smell. And though it's mostly strawberry by volume, the flavors are almost half-and-half. It's a perfect, shapely rendition of one of my favorite assorted chocolates.

This li'l heart has 120 calories, and I was surprised to find it has some real strawberries in the mix. These also come in caramel and cherry and oh so many other flavors, so feel free to select the one you want. (Your buy links are double the choice this time -- 1 for $1.50 plus shipping, or 18 shipped free for $35. Or, you know, patronize any local shop; they're pretty readily available this week.)

MST3K #205: Rocket Attack U.S.A

It's #205: Bela creeps around some more, and commies attack the USA with rockets.

 

This episode opens with Tom's new head. It wouldn't last long -- just two episodes. In the short, Bela's still mad-sciencing, and this time he's killed his wife and is out for vengeance. He uses the invisibelt to knock some guys out, the giant robot does nothing, and the exploding mechaspider nearly coma-fies Bela's underling. The spunky reporter parachutes into a tree, and everyone -- EVERYONE -- sneaks around.

And our film this week is a red-bashing military propaganda film. Our brave spies attempt to sabotage Russia's long-range nuke, but screw up. While the narrator and the film's military chief bemoan the low budget of the army ("Had we half the money that was appropriated for such worthy programs as cheese price supports, we would have had our ICBM long ago"), Russia fires a missile. It levels New York, and kills three million people. (One single unprompted political fact, and then I'm done: The USDA pays around $20 billion each year in total subsidies, and the military spent 30 times that in 2015. Apparently, some people are still upset about our subsidy programs, by the way.) 

The film's not subtle, in any way, about anything, and its emotional manipulation and condescension to the presumed audience remind me of local news teases. ("Are unseen dangers murdering your children? Tune in at 11 to find out.")

Sidebar: I've seen Hidden Figures this week, which shows us a more peaceful view of the post-Sputnik space race (along with more important things). My wife asked me what this MST was about, and I told her it's a movie that would've scared the nationalist cop who pulls over the film's three heroines.

And on the subject of Sputnik, Mike shows up in the hexfield again, with two robots of his own (though they aren't good for much). I also enjoyed the host segment about the McCarthy hearings -- the Charlie McCarthy hearings. And I loved the obscurity of this episode's Python reference, and the really dark joke about the set of The Conqueror.

This is my second episode in a row to feature jokes about: Dune ("I will KILL him!"), Airport, Roddy McDowall, "Let's get out of here, Scooby!", I Love Lucy, The Little Rascals, John Mellencamp, Zack Norman, and callbacks to Robot Holocaust. It's also the first-ever episode to have a stinger.

Bonus feature alert: The disc has a short interview with Trace, as he tells us about his life after MST3K. I'm still amazed he auditioned for Jar-Jar.

A joke that didn't age particularly well: "Mallory?" "Yes, Alex?"
A joke I had to look up: "It's Wheeler and Woolsey!"
My favorite joke: "It's hard to believe that a group of civilized men could sit around and calmly discuss how to murder five or six million others." "That's why we've got to CRUSH THEM!"
Overall, I rate this 8/10. The original movie is a little dull in spots, but the MSTers have nothing to apologize for.

Next, it's #310, Fugitive Alien.