the Distributed MST3K Annotation Project

Episode Information

Episode 310 thumbnail

310: Fugitive Alien

Branded as a traitor, fugitive alien Starwolf Ken is rescued by Earthlings and goes on a mission with them. Almost everybody else is named Ken, too.

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Quotes

00:00:00

Beginning of the episode

00:01:30

Opening host segment

00:02:42

Invention Exchange

00:02:43 (add an annotation)
Joel
See, yeah, it really works! You cut off a chicken's head, and it'll still run all over the place! Another fun thing to do on the farm is cow tipping.

References a popular urban legend about decapitated chickens, and the rural pastime of cow tipping.

00:02:55 (add an annotation)
Servo, as decapitated chicken
Would you mind reuniting my head with my body, *please*, Joel-Bob?

Joe-Bob is a name stereotypically given to male farmers, or any denizen of rural and/or "deep" southern America.

00:03:01 (add an annotation)
Dr. F
Old Joel Robinson had a farm?
TV's Frank
E I E I don't think so.

Paraphrases the nursery rhyme, "Old MacDonald".

00:03:20 (add an annotation)
TV's Frank
...sometimes when you touch, the honesty's too much...

Quotes the chorus of the 1977 hit, "Sometimes When We Touch", by Dan Hill.

00:03:59 (add an annotation)
Joel
It's called the Musical Chair!

Musical Chairs is a children's party game.

00:04:28 (add an annotation)
Dr. Clayton Forrester
Ladies and gentlemen, Mr. Jack Perkins!

Jack Perkins is an anchorman and commentator, perhaps most widely known for his hosting duties on the A&E cable network.

00:04:30 (add an annotation)
Jack Perkins
Hello. Today's experiment is called "Fugitive Alien", a wonderful film from Japan, not to be confused with "The Fugitive", the classic television series which can be seen weekdays, right here on A&E. This is actually a strung-together series of Japanese shows which, put together in this way, make for what I think is some of the best TV has to offer.

"The Fugitive" was an American television series from the 1960s. The Japanese show mentioned was called "Star Wolf".

00:04:57 (add an annotation)
Mike, as Jack Perkins
Then, Joyce Carol Oates will be out to read from her from her wonderous new work of fiction, her first novel in well over a month.

American novelist -- Female counterpart of Stephen King

00:05:05 (add an annotation)
Jack Perkins
Then, Peter Paul & Mary will be out to give us a wondrous rendition from one of the songs off their scintillating new album. Then, Hume Cronyn and Jessica Tandy will be out to tell us some poignant stories of the joys and sorrows of being really... really... *horribly* old. And then, Topol will be out...
00:05:36

Start of movie

00:05:42 (add an annotation)
Tom Servo
Hey, it's "The Name of the Rose"!
Joel
No, it's a smiley face gone *horribly wrong*!

"The Name of the Rose" is a mid-eighties novel by Italian superfreak-level genius, Umberto Eco (and it was translated into English by William Weaver, who rocked the house)

00:05:50 (add an annotation)
Crow
"Sandy Frank Presents" our own personal Hell!
00:05:59 (add an annotation)
Servo
Koyaanisqatsi...

"Koyaanisqatsi: Life Out of Balance" is a 1982 film by Godfrey Reggio with music by Philip Glass. The movie has no plot; it features numerous film and image sequences set to music. It was followed by "Powaqqatsi" in 1988 and "Naqoyqatsi" in 2002.

00:06:08 (add an annotation)
Crow
Oh, man, cool! This is just like Episode 38 of "Star Trek", the first season, but it doesn't have that kind of...
Tom Servo, interrupting
No, no, no, this is like those star raiders that the Daleks had in the fifth generation of the "Doctor Who", when they had the three Doctors together, and they had the one that looked like Moe, and...
Crow, interrupting
No, it's definitely Klingon!
00:06:23 (add an annotation)
Joel, as the title appears on-screen
Starring David Janssen of Mars, searching for the one-armed alien.

David Janssen starred in a television series called "The Fugitive".

00:06:46 (add an annotation)
Crow, reacting to the name "Hiro Tateyama"
Hey, Tate-a-yama and shove it!

Adds a syllable and slightly mispronounces the name to resemble the country classic "Take This Job And Shove It", written by David Allen Coe and popularized by Johnny Paycheck.

00:06:58 (add an annotation)
Crow, in an upper-class English accent
Originally produced for the stage by the Royal Shakespeare Company.
00:07:05 (add an annotation)
Joel
Watch out for that...
All
Tree!

Part of the opening theme song for the cartoon series, "George of the Jungle".

00:07:17 (add an annotation)
Joel
Oh, no!
All
RAID!

Slogan from TV ads for Raid insecticide.

00:07:34 (add an annotation)
Joel, on the villain's first appearance
Madame... Butterfly?!

An Italian opera set in Japan, whose titular heroine is a geisha.

00:07:42 (add an annotation)
Crow, as an extra falls on his back
Banana peel!

Slipping on a discarded banana peel is a classic slapstick gag, typically acted out by kicking one foot forward and falling on your butt, just like the extra in the movie.

00:07:51 (add an annotation)
Joel
It's Heckraiser!

Play on the horror film "Hellraiser".

00:08:04 (add an annotation)
Crow
Why do they need so many writers?
Servo
Well, they needed one guy for the nouns, one guy for the verbs, one for the adjectives...
00:08:16 (add an annotation)
Tom Servo
Kinda looks like the floor of the Tokyo Stock Exchange on Black Monday, doesn't it?

October 19, 1987's "Black Monday" saw the second-largest one-day drop in the Dow Jones Industrial Average's history. Other exchanges around the world fell in a similar manner.

00:08:26 (add an annotation)
Crow
Oh, they've broken into Carol Channing's house!

American singer/actress Carol Channing's signature song is "Diamonds Are A Girl's Best Friend", which she usually sings while decked out in an array of gaudy jewelry.

00:08:32 (add an annotation)
Joel, as a Raider somersaults in mid-air
Gymkata!

"Gymkata" is a martial arts film from 1985 whose star combined gymnastics with karate to create the titular fighting style.

00:08:44 (add an annotation)
Crow
Ahhh! I've been killed by an action figure!
00:09:18 (add an annotation)
Crow
Oh, how humiliating! Earth, taken over by Judy Garland impersonators!

Musical actress Judy Garland, whose curly hair was usually cut to shoulder length, is a popular choice for female impersonators.

00:09:32 (add an annotation)
Crow, as a Raider pushes a civilian off of his sword
Bless you! Heal... or not.

Placing one hand on the forehead is a common sign of religious benediction, also used by faith healers.

00:09:36 (add an annotation)
Joel
It's an intriguing mix of genocide and modern dance.
00:09:46 (add an annotation)
Tom Servo
When Josie & The Pussycats go bad...

Josie & the Pussycats was a children's animated series featuring a group of female bandmates. They wore flashy feline suits, cat ears, and haircuts similar to the attacking Kens.

00:10:11 (add an annotation)
Crow, as our hero Ken encounters a young boy named Ken
Hey, is *everybody* named Ken?
Joel
I guess... Planet of the Kens...?

Reference to the 1968 film "Planet of the Apes", starring Charlton Heston.

00:10:24 (add an annotation)
Joel
Pink hearts, yellow moons, green Japanese boys...

This is a reference to the slogan of 'Lucky Charms' cereal: Hearts, Stars, and Horseshoes, Clovers, and Blue Moons."

00:10:29 (add an annotation)
Tom Servo
What is this, "Don Kirshner's Rock Concert" all of a sudden?

The TV Show "Don Kirshner's Rock Concert" broadcast live music performances weekly from 1973 to 1981.

00:10:39 (add an annotation)
Joel
These Obsession ads are *weird*...
Servo
Between Ken and Ken lies... Obsession.
00:10:47 (add an annotation)
Ken's Friend
Shoot, Ken! Kill them both!
Crow
Which Ken?
00:10:49 (add an annotation)
Joel
The closer Ken gets, the better Ken looks...

"The closer he gets, the better you look" was an advertising slogan used for Clairol Nice'n'Easy shampoo/hair coloring product.

00:11:01 (add an annotation)
Joel
Only Ken's Kendresser knows for sure.

Paraphrasing another old Clairol hair color ad, this one asking, "Does she or doesn't she? Only her hairdresser knows for sure."

00:11:04 (add an annotation)
Crow
Ken 2! Help Ken 1!
00:11:11 (add an annotation)
Tom Servo, female voice
If I have one life to live, let me live it as a Ken!

Yet another Clairol hair color reference, this time working off of "If I've only one life, let me live it as a blonde!"

00:11:15 (add an annotation)
Little Ken's Mother
Don't shoot!
Ken
Don't shoooooot!
All
Don't shoooooooooooooot!
00:11:23 (add an annotation)
Ken
I don't kill women and children!
Ken's Friend
Then stand back and let ME do it!
Ken
I said NO!
Crow
You're a disgrace to all Kens!
00:11:40 (add an annotation)
Ken's Friend, dying
You betrayed us... traitor!
Crow
The name's Ken. Call me Ken.
00:11:46 (add an annotation)
Servo, as Ken dodges Raider fire
Run, Ken, run! Ken, kill Ken!
00:11:53 (add an annotation)
Servo
Ken 33, go left! Kens 16 and 18, flank him! Ken 7, go around the back! Ken-4... I mean, 10-4!

walkie-talkie reference

00:12:22 (add an annotation)
Crow, after Ken is shot
He hurt his little pants!
Raider
He's been hit!
Crow
In the pants!
Servo
Little pants!
00:13:02 (add an annotation)
Crow, as the starfield spins to track Ken's ship
Do you want to go... faster?

Mimics the host of a Minnesota whirligig-style fairground ride, according to the episode guide. The ride conductor would say "Do you want to go faster? Raise your arms if you want to go faster!"

00:13:10 (add an annotation)
Joel, after an apperance by the villain
Don't smoke.

Quotes famously bald actor Yul Brynner's anti-smoking ad.

00:13:28

Commercial break

00:14:17 (add an annotation)
Servo, on Ken's predicament
He's in more trouble than "Hudson Hawk" at the box office!

The 1991 Bruce Willis movie "Hudson Hawk" grossed just about $17 million at the U.S. box office, was poorly received by film critics and won that year's "Razzie Award" for Worst Picture.

00:14:29 (add an annotation)
Ken, looking at a beeping display
Enemy signal!
Crow
Or a garbage truck backing up.
00:14:45 (add an annotation)
All, referring to the music
MONKS! IN! SPACE!

Ref. to Jim Henson's "Muppet Show"'s series of sketches, "Pigs in Space," which seems to have been one of Dr. Erhardt's faves...

00:14:51 (add an annotation)
Servo
Wait a minute... is that Ken?
Crow
It's not Ken, it's Ken.
Servo
You mean Ken?
Crow
You're confusing Ken with Ken.
Servo
Ohh, I was thinking of Ken!
Crow
No, *Ken*!
Servo, finally realizing
Ken! I thought it was Ken all along...
00:15:08 (add an annotation)
Tom Servo
Boy, some people will do *anything* to get to Mass on Holy Thursday, I tell you...

Holy Thursday (aka "Maundy Thursday") is a Christian feast on the Thursday before Easter.

00:15:27 (add an annotation)
Rocky, as explosion rocks ship
What do you suppose that was?
Servo
Maybe it was Ken.
00:15:33 (add an annotation)
Captain Joe
That was no meteorite...
Crow
...that was my wife!

Ref. to old vaudeville/Borscht Belt "humor," -- "That's no lady -- that's my WIFE!" (rimshot. ha. ha.)

00:15:37 (add an annotation)
Captain Joe
Rocky, turn on the radiation deflector!
Joel
That trick *never* works.

This refers to a running gag from the classic Jay Ward cartoon "The Rocky and Bullwinkle Show": Bullwinkle would attempt to pull a rabbit out of a hat but instead would always pull out something entirely different.

00:15:49 (add an annotation)
Crow, as Tammy
Bless all the Kens, everywhere.
00:15:51 (add an annotation)
Tom Servo
This is a sneeze, magnified a hundred times...
00:16:07 (add an annotation)
Tammy, pointing to a TV display
Captain! What's that out there?
Tom Servo
It's a Zenith Chromacolor, and it can all be yours, if you pick what's behind Door #1!

Ref. to old gameshow, "Let's Make A Deal," wherein the contestant could "take what's in the briefcase -- or what's behind" one of three doors, the number of which was selected by the host.

00:16:18 (add an annotation)
Tom Servo
It's Frank Poole!

A character from Arthur C. Clarke's "2001: A Space Odyssey", sent drifting into space during a repair mission.

00:16:44 (add an annotation)
Captain Joe
Let's go for it, Rocky.
Rocky
Yes, sir.
Joel, in high-pitcted voice
Again?

Here, Joel imitates the voice of Rocky the Flying Squirrel from the cartoon series "The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle"; the line comes from the same sketch referenced earlier at 15:37.

00:17:00 (add an annotation)
Tom Servo
Oh, I remember this! This is just like "Marooned", when David Janssen goes to save Gene Hackman and James Franciscus from the derelict spaceship...

Tom refers to the 1969 John Sturges movie "Marooned." They later gave the MST3K treatment to it as the redistributed (and renamed) "Space Travelers."

00:17:20 (add an annotation)
Servo, as two space-suited men approach each other
*chhk* Dr. Livingstone, I presume? *chhk*

A famous quotation from the meeting between "lost" African explorer David Livingstone and reporter Henry Morton Stanley, who had come to find him.

00:17:46 (add an annotation)
Joel, as Ken sees Captain Joe
My God, I've been captured by Wayne Newton!
Crow
Danke schoen.

Wayne Newton was a smarmy cocktail-lounge singer who somehow became famous. His signature song was "Danke Schoen," which is German for "Thank You." For what? For paying Wayne Newton to sing, I guess.

00:17:58 (add an annotation)
Captain Joe
My name's Joe.
Joel
Hello, Joe, whaddaya know?
Servo
I just got back from Kokomo!

Kokomo

00:18:48 (add an annotation)
Ken, after suddenly attacking everyone
Can't afford to lose control...
Crow
What do you call *that*, then!?
00:18:52 (add an annotation)
Joel, looking at Ken's back, dismissive
Oh, you can see the zipper...

In "giant monster" movies, a telltale sign of shoddy costume design is a clearly visible zipper on the back of a monster.

00:19:00 (add an annotation)
Captain Joe, subduing Ken
Now, I've got a couple of questions!
Crow, sternly
Do you like Peter Allen?
Captain Joe
Who are you!?
Servo
What's the capital of South Dakota!?

Peter Allen was a singer-songwriter popular in the late 1970s. The capital of South Dakota is Pierre.

00:20:13 (add an annotation)
Servo, as a screenfull of "futuristic data" flashes by
Hey, that truck's headed to Utah!

The screen is presenting vehicular transportation data, but it moves so fast that it looks to be random technological jargon.

00:20:47 (add an annotation)
Rocky, after an outburst from Ken
Someone put a gag in his mouth.
All, eagerly
I'll do it! Me! I got it! Please!
00:21:08 (add an annotation)
Crow, looking at a fleet of Raider ships
They're Batman.

Mimics the direct style of Michael Keaton's line "I'm Batman" from the first Batman movie.

00:21:11 (add an annotation)
Joel, on the space radar sound effect
Are they listening to ELO?

Electric Light Orchestra, or E.L.O., was a popular English rock band in the 1970s-'80s. Some of their hit songs include "Don't Bring Me Down", "Evil Woman", and "Strange Magic".

00:21:17 (add an annotation)
Crow, on the same group of ships
It's a fleet of drapery hooks!
00:21:21 (add an annotation)
Servo, as a bright dot moves across the screen
Are you a good witch, or a bad witch?

A line from the classic 1939 movie "The Wizard of Oz".

00:21:42

First host segment

00:22:18 (add an annotation)
Joel, wearing a spiky-haired hat
This goes back to 1981... I'm a punk from space. Get it?
00:22:22 (add an annotation)
Joel, 'singing' in a fake British accent
I am an anarchist!

Obvious reference to the Sex Pistols' "Anarchy in the UK."

00:22:31 (add an annotation)
Servo, wearing a peacock-feather hat
This is what Patti LaBelle would look like on the space shuttle!
00:22:43 (add an annotation)
Joel, wearing a hat with a toupee attached
It's the Ted Koppel Satellite of Hair!
00:23:40 (add an annotation)
Jack Perkins, still cheerful
That was about as painful as a cattle prod to the shoulder can get.
00:23:46 (add an annotation)
Jack Perkins, from the floor
But, later on in the program, Linda Ellerbee will be out...

Linda Ellerbee is a longtime television journalist and commentator.

00:23:57

Movie resumes

00:24:18 (add an annotation)
Joel
I wish someone would turn off the "Courageous Cat" music!

Batman creator Bob Kane went on to write the action cartoon series "Courageous Cat and Minute Mouse." The music here resembles the cartoon theme's energy.

00:24:23 (add an annotation)
Servo, as Captain Joe grimaces
Chili peppers burn my gut!

Classic character development from Episode 202, "The Sidehackers".

00:24:43 (add an annotation)
Tom Servo, on Ken's expression
Edvard Munch, I presume?

Ken's expression resembles the character in Munch's famous painting "The Scream."

00:25:12 (add an annotation)
Tom Servo, on a persistent alarm
Somebody hang up the phone!
00:25:47 (add an annotation)
Ken
Looks like we made it.
Tom Servo
Left each other, all the way, to another...

Slightly misquotes the chorus from Barry Manilow's 1976 hit "Looks Like We Made It".

00:26:03 (add an annotation)
Captain Joe
Rocky? You okay?
Servo, as Rocky Balboa
Uh... yo! Adrian! Cut me! Cut me!

A paraphrasing of lines from the 1976 Sylvester Stallone film "Rocky".

00:26:24 (add an annotation)
Servo, on the Bacchus-3
Hey, the Bookmobile! Summer reading program!

A Bookmobile program makes books available, usually on a van or bus, as a traveling library. They typically visit people who can't reach public libraries, like those in remote areas or the homebound.

00:26:31 (add an annotation)
Crow, as Wendell Corey
Third planet from the sun will be known as... Earth. Pretty much.
Servo, as same
Linda!

Callback to episode 104, "Women of the Prehistoric Planet".

00:26:51 (add an annotation)
Crow, as the Bacchus begins landing on Earth
They're going to the Dells!

Wisconsin Dells is a town in Wisconsin that is a popular tourist/vacation spot. It's famous for its many indoor and outdoor water parks, as well as go-karts, shows, mini-golfing, and tours with the amphibious Wisconsin Duck buses.

00:27:14 (add an annotation)
Space Center intercom
Attention, please...
Joel
...the bank will be closing in 15 minutes.
00:28:16 (add an annotation)
Joel, on an unusually-shaped building
Noah's... Ark?
Crow, as the shot cuts to a car parked outside
Hey, and there's Moses' Jeep!

Refers to two figures from the Christian Bible: Noah, who built a giant boat, or ark, to save all Earth's creatures from a flood; and Moses, who led the Israelites out of Egypt (on foot).

00:28:47 (add an annotation)
Joel
Looks like Ken's driving the Malibu Barbie Beach Jeep!
00:28:52 (add an annotation)
Servo, as Joe runs through a foyer
I just have to get some money out for the weekend... aw dang, they're closed! Boy, I would *love* to be a banker!
00:29:00 (add an annotation)
Joel, as Joe gets directions from a nurse
So, dinner Thursday? Great.
Servo, same deal just down the hall
Hi, say, dinner Friday? Okay, great.
00:29:16 (add an annotation)
Crow, as Joe gets directions from yet another nurse
Oh, hi, dinner Sunday?
00:29:24 (add an annotation)
Joel, as Joe descends stairs
Ladies and gentleman: This. Is. Elvis!
Crow, as Elvis
Thankyou, thankyouveramuch...
Servo, as Joe then enters an empty room
The audience has left the arena!
00:29:42 (add an annotation)
Servo, on a close-up pendant
The Geometric Nucleus?!

The Geometric Nucleus was the jewel-shaped central plot device of episode 301, "Cave Dwellers".

00:29:55 (add an annotation)
Captain Joe
Marianne...
Servo
Ginger... Skipper... Lovey... Professor...

All character names from the popular 1960s sitcom "Gilligan's Island".

00:30:24 (add an annotation)
Barbara
Where's Marianne?
Crow
Uh, d-dead, uh, d... dusting! Downstairs!
Captain Joe
Marianne's... resting.
Crow
In peace.
00:31:18 (add an annotation)
Servo, as Ken punches a doctor
Physician, heal thyself! Ha ha ha!

A quote from Luke 4:23 in the Bible. The phrase means that one should resolve his or her own faults instead of criticizing others.

00:31:21 (add an annotation)
Joel
I know just what to do, I'll sneak out of here, disguised as... Chad Everett.
Servo
That always works.

Everett is an actor best known for his work on "Medical Center"

00:31:30 (add an annotation)
Crow
Hey, McGarrett's up here...

Steve McGarrett was the lead character in the TV crime drama Hawaii Five-O.

00:31:36 (add an annotation)
Servo, as Ken jumps over the camera
Toughskins! In Husky, Slim and Regular!

Toughskins -- according to the Sears website, they have made these abominations (pants, for the male of the species, btw) since 1971, and we cannot stop them.

00:31:39 (add an annotation)
Joel, as Ken runs across a dune
Oh, Ken's out cross-training. Just do it.

ref. to 1980s/90s Nike campaign, which is the source of the cachet of the phrase "Just Do It," and the introduction to the General Public of the "cross-trainer" -- a shoe used for many different exercise styles and sports.

00:31:50 (add an annotation)
Narrator
An outcast on his own planet... a fugitive alien on Earth...
Servo
Yup. That's the title.
Narrator, as Ken creeps through rubble
He would have to make a new start somewhere...
Crow, as Narrator
...in the Robot Holocaust.
00:31:57 (add an annotation)
Narrator
But where? And how could he get there?
Crow, as Narrator
And what of Bob's love for Chad?

Mimics the voice-over style of TV soap operas. The announcer would sometimes ask questions to connect the current storyline to future episodes. "Bob" and "Chad" are typical of the vanilla character names used by those shows.

00:33:18 (add an annotation)
Captain Joe
Hello, stranger.
Crow
Hi, sailor.

Traditionally, these are gay come-ons inspired by Mae West and her ilk.

00:33:30 (add an annotation)
Captain Joe
Well, friend... you're not a very gracious guest.
Crow, as Ken
I... brought crackers?
Captain Joe, pointing at Ken
It's not courteous to point a gun at your host.
Joel
It's not courteous to point your finger, dolt.
00:33:55 (add an annotation)
Joel, as Captain Joe overpowers Ken
Routine 35! Works *every* time.
00:33:57 (add an annotation)
Captain Joe
Stupidest thing I ever did was to save the life of a Valna Raider! You people have no *respect* for life! You'd even kill your own *families* if it brought you some advantage! The world will never be safe with people like you around!
Joel, as Joe
Let's kiss...
00:34:20

Commercial break

00:34:30 (add an annotation)
Captain Joe
My wife just died in my arms!
Crow
Hey, you were way over by the window!
00:35:05 (add an annotation)
Crow, as Ken
Nobody can beat me at snap-zooms! I was in "Time of the Apes"!

"Time of the Apes" (which also featured several snap-zoom shots) is a Sandy Frank-produced "movie" cobbled together from episodes of the Japanese TV series "Saru no Gundan" (Army of the Apes). It was featured in episodes K17 and 306 of MST3K.

00:35:59 (add an annotation)
Captain Joe
Y'know, I never keep any bullets in my gun.
Crow
Oh, like Barney Fife.

Barney Fife was the likable but ineffectual Deputy to Sheriff Andy Griffith on _The Andy Griffith Show_. This was before Fife's portrayer, Don Knotts, fell from dignity (i.e., protrayed "Mr. Roper" on _Three's Company_)

00:36:15 (add an annotation)
Captain Joe
I thought today that you killed for kicks...
Crow
Hey, like the Wild Rebels!

"Wild Rebels", a 1967 film featured in MST3K episode 207, was about a motorcycle gang who robs banks "for the kicks".

00:37:25 (add an annotation)
Captain Joe
Hahahahaha -- YOU'RE STUCK HERE!
00:37:56 (add an annotation)
Captain Joe
Whether you like it or not, looks like you just signed on.
Crow, as Joe
Welcome to Herbalife.

Herbalife sells nutrition supplements through a multi-level marketing business model. They typically advertise "start your own business" deals through in-person seminars and a network of similar companies.

00:38:19 (add an annotation)
Joel, on an alien landscape
In the Land of Dairy Queen, we treat you right.

"We Treat You Right" was the longtime slogan of Dairy Queen, a fast-food restaurant chain best known for its frozen desserts. The slogan was later changed to "DQ Something Different".

00:39:02 (add an annotation)
Servo
Tragedy tomorrow. Kabuki tonight.

Mimics a line ("Tragedy tomorrow, comedy tonight") from the musical "A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum."

00:39:07 (add an annotation)
Lord Halgon
He was killed by Ken.
Rita
Ken did it?
Joel
Those bastards!

While it may seem like a reference to the now popular South Park phrase, in fact this episode premiered (1991) long before South Park existed (1997). This riff is actually referring to the earlier joke that everyone is named Ken.

00:39:54 (add an annotation)
Tom Servo
Rat Patrol! In color!

"The Rat Patrol" was a late-'60s TV show set in the North African desert campaign of World War II.

00:40:52 (add an annotation)
Commander
I know you've heard of the star Carrero. It's in the center of the Seven Constellations...
Captain Joe
...inhabited by a strong and independent nation.
Joel
The Cherokee Nation!

Members of the Cherokee Nation, based in Oklahoma, are the modern descendants of the selfsame Native Americans. Their flag includes a star with seven points.

00:43:46 (add an annotation)
Tom Servo, as Ken falls backwards onto the grass
Oh, I thought I was in a Nestea commercial!

"Take the Nestea Plunge!" ad campaign -- the people who drank Nestea had a perfect blue swimming pool suddenly appear behind them. The camera would switch from full-frontal clothed shots to bathing-suited or clothed aerial shots.

00:44:00 (add an annotation)
Tom Servo
Another royalty check for Herb Alpert, coming up.

Herb Alpert, leader of the Tijuana Brass, is one of the world's most famous and prolific trumpeters.

00:44:32 (add an annotation)
Ken
Rita!
Tom Servo
Meter maid!

Quotes the chorus of the Beatles' "Lovely Rita", written about (surprise!) a meter-maid.

00:44:41

Second host segment

00:44:48 (add an annotation)
Tom Servo
I'm dressed like Evel Kneivel, only not so tasteful!

Evel Knievel is a daredevil known primarily for his motorcycle stunts and self-promotion. He typically wears gaudy stunt suits colored silver or with American motifs.

00:46:16 (add an annotation)
Crow
Yeah, right... and you've got a good chance to end up at the Frances Farmer Motel.

Frances Farmer was a brilliant and beautiful, but bipolar and untreatable, actress. I think "Frances Farmer Motel" is sort of like a combo of a mental hospital and the Bates Motel.

00:46:37

Movie resumes

00:47:25 (add an annotation)
Tammy
Well, have it your way!
Joel
...at Burger King?
00:49:05 (add an annotation)
Joel, on the inappropriate score
It's the goofiest ship in the cosmos!
Tom Servo
What, are Ma and Pa Kettle going on this mission, or something?
Crow
Hey, there's Don Knotts!

Ma and Pa Kettle were a comic rural couple that were featured in a series of movies in the 1940s. They were played by Marjorie Main and Percy Kilbride.

00:49:25 (add an annotation)
Dan, referring to spaceship
What are the specs on this job?
Joel
Oh, those are bugs. They'll wash off.
00:50:22 (add an annotation)
Crow, on Ken's voiceover
What is this, "The Wonder Years"?

"The Wonder Years" was a late-80s TV series that followed a boy named Kevin as he grew up in the 1960s; the show's creative hook lay in the nostalgic, running commetary voiceover by Kevin's adult, modern-day self.

00:51:01 (add an annotation)
Joel
Killdozer! With Clint Walker! No!

"Killdozer!" refers to a 1944 novella by Theodore Sturgeon and a 1974 B-movie based upon it. The story is about a bulldozer which starts to go on a rampage and kill people after being possessed by an alien life force.

00:51:42 (add an annotation)
All, singing along with the score
This is the song written for the train chase / This is the chase: Rocky and Ken / He tried to kill me with a forklift / Ole!
00:52:38 (add an annotation)
Rocky
I know who he is, now!
Crow, with slap effects from Servo
He's my mother! He's my sister! He's my mother AND my sister!

Detective Jake Gittes (Jack Nicholson) forces Evelyn Mulwray (Faye Dunaway) to admit her sister is also her daughter (by her father) in a similar scene from the movie "Chinatown."

00:53:56 (add an annotation)
Joel
Don't roll the ship, lose the building! With Jerry Lewis, Charlie Callas, and Steve Franken!

Plays off the movie title "Don't Raise the Bridge, Lower the River", starring Jerry Lewis.

00:54:11 (add an annotation)
Joel, close-up on Rita
Brian... Jones?

Brian Jones, founding member of the Rolling Stones, wore his hair in a style which, in the front, closely resembles Rita's.

00:54:34 (add an annotation)
Tom Servo
Hey, look, 27 8-by-10 color glossy pictures with the circles and arrows and a paragraph on the back of each one!

Said photographs were centrally featured, and repeatedly described in just so many words, in the story-song "Alice's Restaurant Massacree" by Arlo Guthrie.

00:56:41 (add an annotation)
Joel, as the camera cuts to each crew member
Mouseketeers, sign in!
Tom Servo
Bobby!
Crow
Roy!
Joel
Jimmie!
Tom Servo
Annette!
Crow
Chad.
Joel
Looks like it's Anything Can Happen Day, sir.

Refers to the cast and scheduling of the black-and-white ABC children's series "The Mickey Mouse Club".

00:57:23 (add an annotation)
Crow, on a misspelled gauge label
*Presser*? Cabin *presser*?
00:57:45 (add an annotation)
Joel
I can't stop, I don't know how it works! G'bye, folks!

Paraphrases a line spoken by the Wizard in the 1939 film version of "The Wizard of Oz."

00:58:20 (add an annotation)
Joel, monotone
Bidibidibidibidi, welcome, Buck.
Tom Servo
Oh no, it's a planet of Twikis!
Crow
Oh, boy... what could be worse?

Twiki was a diminutive robot character in the 1979 TV adaptation of "Buck Rogers" that preceded most of it's sentences with a meaningless noise, "bidibidibidi".

00:58:30 (add an annotation)
Crow
It's a planet of Gallaghers! Melon crazy!
Tom Servo
*That's* worse.

Gallagher -- immortal and less-funny-than-carrot-top comedian known for his melon-smashing, which was apparently his way of showing the audience how he wanted them to punish him for his ungodly act.

00:59:22 (add an annotation)
Tom Servo
Now somewhere in the black mountain hills of... some alien planet...

Paraphrases the opening line of the Beatles' "Rocky Racoon".

01:00:21 (add an annotation)
Ken
What is this strange feeling inside me?
Joel
It's a voiceover called love.
01:00:33 (add an annotation)
Ken
Yes, sir!
Crow
That's my baby!

Chorus from the song "Yes Sir, That's My Baby", written by Walter Donaldson and popularized by Frank Sinatra.

01:00:43 (add an annotation)
Tammy
Stop or I'll shoot!
Joel
Everybody run... Tammy's got a gun...

Mimics the chorus from Aerosmith's 1989 hit "Janie's Got A Gun".

01:00:59 (add an annotation)
Tom Servo
(fanfare) Imperial Margarine presents...!
01:01:08 (add an annotation)
Tom Servo
Kenquistador...

A live recording of their song "Conquistador" became a big hit for symphonic rock band Procol Harum, thanks in no small part to it's magnificent use of the horn section.

01:01:30 (add an annotation)
Tom Servo, as Ken celebrates atop a rockpile
Top o' the world, Ma!

Famous last words from the classic James Cagney film, "White Heat".

01:02:11 (add an annotation)
Tom Servo, sarcastically
Oooh, is the great T.E. Lawrence going to join us now?

T.E. Lawrence was a British soldier who organized several Arab tribes to fight the Ottoman Army in World War I. He is probably best known to the public as the subject of the film "Lawrence of Arabia."

01:02:24 (add an annotation)
Tom Servo, on the "Lord of Kararu"
It's Dorf!

Dorf, the short, thinly-mustachioed character of comedian Tim Conway, features in a series of parodic "how-not-to" videos. The resemblance here is indeed striking.

01:02:35 (add an annotation)
Kararu Magistrate
...because of hostilities with the star Cesar!
All
Romero!

Cesar Romero was a popular Cuban-American actor, best known for playing The Joker in the 1966 "Batman" TV series.

01:03:06 (add an annotation)
Crow
Sounds like Jack Benny playing the violin.

Jack Benny was one of the (if not THE) most popular comedian in the early- to mid-20th century United States. One of his running gags was an utter inability to play the violin.

01:03:12 (add an annotation)
Tom Servo
Indy! My friend, Indy!

Crowded Arabian marketplace scenes like this one are a staple of the Indiana Jones film series. Tom is probably impersonating John Rhys-Davies as Sallah, a recurring character who always calls Indiana "Indy".

01:03:17 (add an annotation)
Joel, as Tommy
Trumpy, you're stinky!

Callback to the heart-warming duo from Episode 303, "Pod People".

01:03:37 (add an annotation)
Crow
I love the RenFest!

RenFest is short for Rennaissance Festival, a festival that involves recreations of historical times and environments.

01:04:09 (add an annotation)
Crow, pan over a crowded bar
Hey, Chris Walken's playing Russian roulette!

The climactic scene from the film "The Deer Hunter" has Christopher Walken playing Russian roulette against Robert De Niro in a seedy, crowded bar.

01:04:26 (add an annotation)
Crow
Uh, say, Brandy, fetch another round.
Servo
She served them whiskey and wine.

Lyrics from "Brandy (You're A Fine Girl)" by Looking Glass.

01:04:51 (add an annotation)
Guard, thrusting a cup in Ken's face
Here!
Servo, as Ken
I'd rather share a needle with Keith Richards.

Keith Richards is famous for two things: playing lead guitar for the Rolling Stones, and having done almost every drug known to man.

01:05:21 (add an annotation)
Joel
Thank you, sir, may I have another?

In "National Lampoon's Animal House", the Omega House's initiation ceremony involved stripping the pledge naked, spanking him with a wooden paddle, and forcing him to recite this line after each strike.

01:05:37 (add an annotation)
Crow
Bam!
Servo
Bock!
Joel
Biff!
Crow
Happy!

In the "Batman" TV series, any blow landed during a fight scene would be accompanied by a full-screen card with an appropriate sound effect drawn on it. Biff and Happy (aka Harold) are brothers from the Arthur Miller play, "Death of a Salesman".

01:05:47 (add an annotation)
All, low voices
Lay down the boogie and play that funky music 'til you die!
Crow, higher pitched
'Til you die?

Taken from the chorus of Wild Cherry's "Play That Funky Music".

01:05:54 (add an annotation)
Servo
Next, on "Taxi"! Or, "Barney Miller". One of the two.

Both titles of 1970s sitcoms with soft-jazzy piano themes and incidental music.

01:06:04 (add an annotation)
Guard
It... was... just...
Crow
...a gigolo...

"Just a Gigolo," an English-language adaptation of an Austrian popular song, was popularized in America by bandleader Louis Prima in 1956.

01:06:19

Commercial break

01:06:40 (add an annotation)
Servo
Suddenly, it *is* "Ishtar", here.

A 1987 comedy set in Morocco, "Ishtar" is remembered as being one of Hollywood's biggest flops.

01:07:21 (add an annotation)
Rocky
What'd he do?
Servo
Killed a man, just for snoring too loud!

According to legend, Wild West outlaw Billy the Kid once shot the man in a neighboring hotel room for snoring so loud he couldn't get to sleep.

01:08:21 (add an annotation)
Servo
It's Jimmy Carl Black, the Indian of the group!

This is a frequent quote on albums by The Mothers of Invention, the rock band headed by Frank Zappa in the 1960s. Jimmy Carl Black was the percussionist and he was often referred to by the above phrase.

01:08:33 (add an annotation)
Servo
Hey, Sonny Rollins is out there!

Sonny Rollins is a jazz saxophonist who reportedly practiced on bridges at night from time to time.

01:09:30 (add an annotation)
Joel
Spider-Man!
Crow
Yeah, but not the new Spider-Man, the old Spider-Man, when he had the good costume, and when he...
Joel, interrupting tiredly
Okay...

Crow may be referring to the "symbiote/Venom" story arc in the Marvel Comics superhero comic book series "Spider-Man", wherein the titular hero assimilates with an alien creature which turns his costume almost completely black.

01:09:47 (add an annotation)
Guard
This is no monkey cage!
Joel
This is no disco. This ain't no fooling around.

Joel is quoting the lyrics of the Talking Heads song "Life During Wartime."

01:11:08 (add an annotation)
Crow
Cleveland, you're on the air!
01:11:28 (add an annotation)
Ken
Now what do you want me to do?
Servo
Turn your head and cough.
01:12:58 (add an annotation)
Crow
It's the Patty Duke Show!
01:13:20 (add an annotation)
Ken
What happens if I don't find the Cesar officer?
Crow
Oh, we blow your neck off.

Snake Plissken, anti-hero of John Carpenter's "Escape from New York", had explosives implanted in his neck, set to detonate if he failed to rescue the President in time.

01:13:44

Third host segment

01:13:54 (add an annotation)
Servo, summarizing the movie
...and everybody's having more flashbacks than Bruce Dern in "The Trip"!
01:13:58 (add an annotation)
Crow, continuing where Servo left off
And now he's held captive by Don Ho and the kid who drinks tranya...

Don Ho was a Hawaiian musician/entertainer popular in the 1960s. Tranya was the favorite drink of the hyper-intelligent child alien Balok in an episode of the original "Star Trek" series.

01:14:15 (add an annotation)
Servo, on the movie's patchwork origins
So, it's like Bergman's "Scenes From A Marriage"!
Joel
Exactl... huh?
Crow
Ohhh, or, uh, Schwartz's "A Very Brady Christmas"!

Ingmar Bergman's "SFaM" began as a 6-part TV mini-series, and was later edited to half-length for a theatrical release. "AVBC" was a TV movie reuniting the cast of the TV show, created by Sherwood Schwartz.

01:16:07 (add an annotation)
Servo
Come on, Joel, this is Sandy Frank, not Kurosawa!

Akira Kurosawa (1910-1998) was a world-renowned Japanese film director perhaps best known for his epic samurai films such as "Seven Samurai", "Rashomon", "Yojimbo", and "The Hidden Fortress".

01:16:24 (add an annotation)
Dr. F
Well, uh, William Gold-Joel, we have a theory...

William Goldman is possibly the most famous screenwriter in Hollywood. His credits include "Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid," "Marathon Man," and "The Princess Bride."

01:16:28 (add an annotation)
Jack Perkins
You know... Toni Morrison, best known for her literary tour-de-force, "Beloved", may well be one of the fastest...
01:16:46

Movie resumes

01:16:56 (add an annotation)
Servo
When I talk to Ken, I touch myself.

A reference to the song "I Touch Myself" by The Divinyls. Real lyrics: "I don't want anybody else/When I think about you I touch myself."

01:17:12 (add an annotation)
Crow, as Tonto
Hmm, horses... 12, 13 maybe.
01:17:23 (add an annotation)
Crow
Open Channel D.
01:17:35 (add an annotation)
Crow, half-heartedly, as Ken kicks open a door
Hai-keeba.

One of many references to a line from the movie in MST3K episode 104, "Women of the Prehistoric Planet."

01:18:54 (add an annotation)
Cesar Officer
And I gather you're the Earthling who was captured earlier today.
Joel, increasing pitch
I've heard... some of them... talk... about... lately...?

Mimics the delivery of the UFO-spotting old man in "Gamera" (Episodes 302 and K05).

01:19:17 (add an annotation)
Joel
Okay, do you want some fries with that, then, sir?
Servo
He's not a Cesarian officer, he's an Arby's trainee!
01:19:59 (add an annotation)
Crow
What manner of man are you, who can summon flame without flint or tinder?
Joel
Some call me... Ken.

Paraphrases lines spoken by King Arthur and Tim the Enchanter, respectively, in the 1975 movie "Monty Python and the Holy Grail."

01:20:32 (add an annotation)
Servo
Alexander Salkind presents!
Crow
Stupidboy!
Servo
In color!

Alexander Salkind was one of the producers of the film "Superman" starring Christopher Reeve.

01:20:48 (add an annotation)
Joel
Rubbermaid bars. Neat.
01:20:53 (add an annotation)
Cesar Officer
I've never seen anybody as strong as you are!
Servo
Except Sheena Easton!

Sheena Easton (1959- ) is a Scottish pop singer known for songs such as "Morning Train (Nine to Five)" and "For Your Eyes Only" (the latter from the 1981 James Bond film of the same name).

01:21:49 (add an annotation)
Joel
It's Boots Randolph!
Servo
With Bootsy Collins!
01:21:53 (add an annotation)
Crow
You die, Joe!
01:22:53

Commercial break

01:27:08 (add an annotation)
Crow
Hey, y'know, this is just like "Richard III".
01:27:14 (add an annotation)
Joel, as Rita
Took me seven days to get this gun, and now I can't use it!

A reference to a common gun law in the US that enforces a seven-day waiting period between purchasing a gun and owning it.

01:27:30 (add an annotation)
Rita
I can't kill the man I love!
Crow
Then, kill the one you're with.

A paraphrase of the Stephen Stills hit song "Love the One You're With"

01:30:51 (add an annotation)
Crow
Next time, on "Twin Peaks".
01:31:09 (add an annotation)
Crow
Rock climbing, Joel.
Servo
Rock climbing.
Joel
Yeah...

This is a reference to episode 208 which featured the movie "Lost Continent," remembered unpleasantly by Joel and the bots as having featured a great deal of rock climbing.

01:31:17 (add an annotation)
Crow
Cesar Romero?! Edmund Hillary!?
01:31:37 (add an annotation)
Joel
New, from the Franklin Mint!
01:32:25 (add an annotation)
Colonel Yaroulin
Let me introduce myself:
Servo
I'm a man of wealth and taste.

A quote from the Rolling Stones song "Sympathy for the Devil."

01:32:34 (add an annotation)
Crow, as Gilbert Gottfried
Join me, for Up All Night! We'll see movies!
01:32:40 (add an annotation)
Servo
Bacchus-3 will be back in: "Sweet Sweetback's Badass Song!"

"Sweet Sweetback's Baadasssss Song" is a 1971 film starring Melvin Van Peebles. It is commonly thought of as one of the quintessential "blaxploitation" films.

01:33:03 (add an annotation)
Servo, singing
Say good-bye to Rita's Star Trek stuff / It's out of focus / In my pocket it will stay
01:33:30

Final host segment

01:34:30 (add an annotation)
Servo & Crow
That Joel Robinson is one bad mo...
Joel
Shut your mouth!
Servo
We're just talking about Joel.

Paraphrase of the 1971 hit song "Theme from Shaft" by Isaac Hayes.

01:34:44 (add an annotation)
Joel
...and he writes in to answer, to the question of "What Is The Cool Thing?" that we did a while back...
01:35:36 (add an annotation)
Jack Perkins
Anne Dillard will be out to discuss her new book, and then, later on, Topol, that robust star of "Fiddler on the Roof" will be out...
01:35:58 (add an annotation)
Dr. F
I've got a mad posh to give Jack Perkins the head of Vivian Vance.
TV's Frank
Sorry, Saaaaaaarge!