Disc 1: Jungle Goddess
The first disc contains “Jungle Goddess,” a Joel episode
from 1990. The opening is hilarious, with the gang playing a serious game of
hide and seek with the forces of the universe. Crow admits, “I wanted to
play hopscotch with the impenetrable mystery of existence, but he stepped in a
wormhole and had to go in early.” This one begins with Chapter 1 of The
Phantom Creeps. During the opening credits, they impersonate Bela Lugosi,
joking: “I forget who did what here. I say shoot the picture and let God
sort it out.” There are also some Grateful Dead references.
The main film is Jungle Goddess, and it’s a real
clunker, perfect fodder for Joel and the robots. When a pilot says, “I
figured on seeing Betty and the kids for Christmas,” the guys ask, “What
about your wife?” When the plane crashes, they joke, “Airport ’42.”
In voice over, the female lead of the film says, “By some miracle I was the
only survivor.” The guys correct her, “By some plot contrivance.”
The guys do a bit of narrating of their own: “Suddenly, there I was, in
front of a rear projection screen. You know how I hate those.” When the
girl says, “The poison works very slowly and horribly,” Joel comments, “Kinda
sounds like the plot of this movie.” This one contains references to Apocalypse
Now, The Muppets, Gilligan’s Island, Gene Krupa, John Cougar
and of course Superman, as George Reeves is in the cast.
Disc 1 Special Features
This disc contains Undercooked & Overstuffed:
Inside The Turkey Day Marathon, which has Joel Hodgson, Frank Conniff and
Trace Beaulieu sharing Thanksgiving memories and talking about the Thanksgiving
MST3K marathons they did on Comedy Central.
There is also an introduction to the film by Joel
Hodgson.
Disc 2: The Painted Hills
“The Painted Hills” is a Joel episode from 1993, and it
begins with Body Care And Grooming, one of those wacky educational films
teaching “the value of a good appearance.” This is one of my favorite
shorts that the gang skewered. It was included on a VHS collection of MST3K
shorts that I used to watch often. The narrator begins, “Ah, spring,”
and Crow adds, “Filthy, shameful spring.” The narrator refers to a girl
in the film, saying, “You don’t seem to be exactly the type to make this guy
behave like a human being.” Joel responds, “You know, to make him grope
you and paw at you.” Crow quips, “Expressing individualism is just plain
wrong.”
The gang refers to the grooming short a few times during
the main film, The Painted Hills. There are also references to The Who,
The Sex Pistols, Ken Nordine and Jimi Hendrix. At the beginning, when the boy
tries to feed the dog, the gang jokes, “Come on, it’s the milk of human
kindness, two percent.” Tom Servo says, “I love movies where they slowly
assemble the plot like this.” And later Tom Servo chastises the film: “You
can’t flash back to something that never happened; it’s not fair.” When men
go looking for Jonathan, Joel says: “Remember last week when he was alive?
Well, that didn’t last.” Also, the breaks are particularly good in this
episode, especially Crow’s report on President Hayes (“he made a tent out of
the underwear of William Howard Taft and lived inside for a full year”).
Disc 2 Special Features
This disc contains footage from promotional spots for the
Comedy Central MST3K marathon in 1991, and also the additional segments that
were shown throughout that day. You’ll love Turkey Fact #12. And then it goes
on to the 1992 marathon. And if that’s not enough, it goes on to a promotional
spot for the 1995 marathon, and then that year’s break segments. Tom Servo’s
mincemeat bit is wonderful.
There is also an introduction to the episode by Joel
Hodgson.
Disc 3: The Screaming Skull
“The Screaming Skull” is a Mike Nelson episode from 1998,
in which Tom Servo has become a butterfly, only to soon lose his wings in an
industrial accident. This one begins with a Gumby short.
As one of the main characters in The Screaming Skull
delivers some dialogue about his wife, Crow asks, “Is he reading from a
report?” And when a character says, “Poor Mickey,” Tom Servo adds, “He’s
so fine, he blows my mind, poor Mickey.” Later when that woman asks how
Jenny lost her parents, Tom Servo answers, “She set them on top of the car
and then drove off.” When the two leads kiss, Mike quips, “Flat, drab
passion meanders across the screen!” He then says: “Okay, I think
they’ve set enough mood. I think we can move on to plot now.” And Tom Servo
adds, “It’s like they had two servings of tension that they’re trying to
stretch out for seven people.” Mike gets a little irritated with this dull
movie, saying, “The movie that dares to graphically depict sometimes seeing
peacocks and sometimes not seeing peacocks.” Crow makes an Ebola joke. And
there’s a great Hamlet reference.
Disc 3 Special Features
The third disc includes Gumby & Clokey: The Making
Of Robot Rumpus, which is an interview with Joe Clokey, whose parents
created Gumby. It also includes This Film May Kill You! Making The Screaming
Skull, which is narrated by horror film historian Tom Weaver. It features
interviews with actor Peggy Webber (who plays Jenny), filmmaker/historian Larry
Blamire, film enthusiast Mark Martucci and horror host Mr. Lobo. The special
features also include two theatrical trailers for The Screaming Skull,
and an introduction to the episode by Joel Hodgson.
Disc 4: Squirm
“Squirm” is a Mike Nelson episode from 1999. This one
starts with the silly short A Case Of Spring Fever. Tom Servo says, “I’d
rather have a case of Bass Ale.” The main part of the episode contains
references to Flashdance, Mr. Bean, Star Trek, Tommy
and the Grateful Dead. There are also a couple of Hamlet references.
When a dumb girl keeps calling for Mr. Beardsley, the gang quips, “I’m
incapable of even considering that you might be gone.” And periodically
throughout the film the gang calls out, “Mr. Beardsley!” When the dorky
guy says, “If only we knew whose bones those are,” Crow jokes, “We’d
better start looking for a boneless person.” When the dumb girl tells the
dorky guy that the worms attacked Roger, the gang jokes: “Well, he’s got a
layer of top soil, honey. You can’t blame them.” At one point Crow remarks:
“The tension is thick. Is the sheriff done with his spaghetti?”
Disc 4 Special Features
The fourth disc contains Squirm Talk With Don Scardino,
which is an interview with Squirm’s star, Don Scardino. He talks about
the film, the location and about the scene where the tree falls onto the house.
There is also the film’s trailer, and an introduction to the episode by Joel
Hodgson.
Mystery Science Theater 3000 Volume XXXI: The Turkey
Day Collection is scheduled to be released on DVD on November 25, 2014
through Shout! Factory.
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