MST3K (609)

609 - The Skydivers (w/ Why Study Industrial Arts) - I feel exactly the same about this episode as I did with 603. Both the movie and the short are dull, dull, dull. I've seen Red Zone Cuba before, so I was aware of Coleman Francis' directorial prowess. Man, I can't believe there are three of his films in this season.

Francis' film wasn't without its bits of bad movie gold. The random inserts of characters that don't have anything to do with anything are briefly amusing. Tons of characters walk on screen for ten seconds, do their thing and then disappear. There was Hick Family, at the airfield to watch the crazy parachuters. There was Rubenesque Lady, at the dance to have a good time and break skinny guys in half. And, no one could forget The Scot, fresh from the United Kingdom and there to both watch crazy parachuters and to break skinny guys in half.

I just have two comments on this episode's prologue host segment. Didn't we exhaust the Uranus jokes back in 412? And, that's no Servo-as-a-planetarium, that's Timmy! He's back and he's mutated into a new and terrifying form!

There were a few scattered laughs courtesy of the riffing. After skydiver #2 falls to his death, Servo quips: "This is a real challenge for any band, to bring this party back up," to which I responded with a hearty laugh. Overall, and in complete disagreement with Paul Chaplin in the ACEG who's "fond of the final result," I didn't think this was one of MST's best moments. In fact, the bit that made me laugh the hardest wasn't a riff at all. It was Frank's Joel-eqsue "Nel-stone" rant. "You wake and bake every day. You are so high."

"Geez, they should set a place for Eraserhead." (6/10)

film d. Coleman Francis (1963)
short d. Herk Harvey (1956)
mst d. Jim Mallon (27 Aug 1994)