His
head...it was torn off!
 |
| First peep at the show. |
Greatness
has to start somewhere, but that doesn’t mean it starts great. It can be
awkward, rough around the edges, a mere shadow of what it will become. But,
sometimes you can see the glint of the brightness that will shine, see just how
grand things will become. It also helps if it’s a show about making fun of bad
movies, and the first episode features giant eyes: then you get to make all
sorts of eyesight-related metaphors!
Mystery
Science Theater 3000
premiered on the Comedy Channel (later Comedy Central) on November 18, 1989,
after a run on local Minneapolis TV station KTMA from November 1988 to May
1989. According to the Amazing
Colossal Episode Guide, for the first run of shows on KTMA, each episode
was filmed in a day, with only the host segments being written; the riffs for
the movies happened as Joel Hodgson, Trace Beaulieu, and J. Elvis Weinstein sat
down to watch it for the first time. Unsurprising, considering the tight
schedule and beyond cheap budget. It worked well enough, though, to get the
attention of HBO, who bought the show for their budding comedy-focused network.
From then on, movies would be watched and joked at multiple times, around 7 or
8, with jokes compiled by the head writer (one Michael J. Nelson),and then
Joel, Trace, and J. Elvis would suit up, sit in front of a green screen, and
riff out the script to the movie.
In
other words, in this first professionally produced, cable-TV aired episode, the
cement is still hardening in the MST foundation. They were still working out
their riffs, fine tuning the jokes, and all the other growing pains a show goes
through. So, the episode is them still climbing the learning curve.
The
Crawling Eye,
originally called “The Trollenberg Terror”, is a surprisingly classy affair for
the SOL. An independently made British sci-fi movie, it follows UN investigator
Alan as he...well, investigates the strange goings on around Mount Trollenberg
in Switzerland: climbers are dying in mysterious accidents; his scientist
friend Professor Crevett at the observatory shows him a cloud that never moves
on the mountain’s side; and sisters Ann and Sarah, one of whom is psychic, are
mysteriously drawn to the area as well. Who, or what, is behind this rash of
deaths and has such a pull on the psychic Anne? Hint: the movie’s American title
gives it away.
 |
| The Lobe is up there with that Clown Ray. |
Goofy
giant-eye effects aside, this is a pretty well made, mysterious, and fun little
movie. I mentioned classy, as it has that British feel of taking things a
little more seriously, putting in a little more effort than a comparable American
movie would’ve had. That type of schlocky movie is more suited to MST3K, but The
Crawling Eye still offers a lot for prime movie riffing. It’s well paced,
thoughtful in its ponderings on alien life, there are extraneous elements added
in such as the psychic sisters and a nosy reporter which aren’t necessary to
the plot but provide extra fun, and the moody shots of the scenic mountain and
rustic inn give it a warm, relaxed feel. Watching the movie with Joel and the
bots has the feel of being on vacation to a quiet, remote retreat and reading
some cozy mysteries with hilarious friends.
That
said, those friends also make a living making jokes, and they’re still refining
their bit. There’s often a lot of silence from Joel and the Bots between jokes,
and often only a handful of jokes a minute. And, honestly, there performance
lacking here. There’s a feeling of insecurity, as Crow feels more
lackadaisical, Tom is more quiet and subdued, and even by his standards, Joel
is kinda quiet. Servo does a Rain Man
“definitely an excellent driver” bit at one point that’s far from quick or
funny, a gag they’ll do many times with more life over the years. Then there
are just bad puns, like when the movie cuts to a cable car, and Crow says, “I
didn’t know they had cable.” And then there’s the unfunny jokes that get run
into the ground, like when a character’s body is possessed by the aliens, and
we get a series of bad “dead on his feet” jokes. There are also points you can
tell that a more experienced cast and crew would handle better, like the attack
by a deranged man on top of the mountain about 50 minutes in.
 |
| There's some guys in the cast, too, but they're not as cute. |
But
when they pick up, you see a flicker of what will one day be the glowing,
glorious brightness of the future. And the movie gives them opportunities to
shine. “We’ve got a death scene to make,” Tom exclaims as men prepare to climb
the mountain in search of missing people. When one of the characters fumbles
with a drink, Crow says, “he can’t handle his liquor.” And when one character
says, as a way of explaining away the deaths, “Some people can climb it [the mountain], some can’t,” Joel responds,
“Some people can speak dialogue, and some can’t.” During the sisters’ psychic
act, Joel has a lot of fun pretending to cough as a signal during the act.
There’s even chances for obscure and literary references, from Crow quoting
Nostradamus during Anne’s act, and Tom quotes Poe during one of her visions.
Their
best jokes, though, come from the Crawling Eyes themselves. When the characters
discuss how to fight the alien eyes, “Get me giant six bags of onions and a
giant eye chart,” Joel says. They get in a ton of bad puns, like Corw saying,
“They’re getting pretty eye-rate”, which borders on terrible like a lot of
their puns, but I just love. And during an attack scene, Tom’s exclamation of,
“Eye eye eye!” got a laugh. They’ve got a way to go on their way to being
great, but it’s still fun.
The
“early installment weirdness” continues in other ways. Joel
and the bots don’t start with a fun lil opening segment, it just cuts straight
form the intro to the mads. The SOL just looks bare bones in Season 1, and man,
its Gypsy’s early voice rough. There’s an awful clanking/screeching
noise when she talks as well, which I think is the sound of the pull cord on
her jaw scratching against her tubing. They do have some fun in the host
segments, though, like in the second one, where Joel explains to the Bots why
humans can’t run around without their heads the way robots can. And the
invention exchange, the electric bagpipes, are vintage Joel (also, terrible
sounding). Oh, and the early theater silhouettes are a dark gray instead of
black, and just don’t look right at all.
 |
| Even Weird Al would burn that thing. |
 |
| The Mads, beginning the experiment. |
The
Crawling Eye is just a hint of how good MST3K will become. While far from bad,
the riffing, skits, and more have a ways to go before they become the show we
all know and love. But diehard MSTies like me will enjoy seeing how it all
began, in the not-too-distant past, 1989.
 |
| And so, it begins. |
Episode
in a Riff:
Like,
what’s a giant eye gonna do, pick you up and wink you to death? Not practical.
-Joel
There’s
too many things missing! -Alan Brooks
Like
a plot. -Crow
That’s
the ‘Eye-ful Tower’. Hurts, doesn’t it? -Tom
Random
Asides
-My
main knowledge of F-Troop come from MST discussing it and Freakazoid!
Referencing it in the episode “Candle Jack”. I would like to write a paragraph
on how these two wonderful shows cross their references to this one movie, but
its pretty much just coincidence, so I’ll reiterate that you should watch both
more MST3K and Freakazoid!.
 |
| Freakazoid, ashamed he can't join Joel and the Bots in riffing the movie. |
-It
was also fun re-reviewing this episode since the last time I saw this, when I
was first planning the blog. Originally, I was going to watch them all in
order, and watch the movies as well, to get as full a view and create as
in-depth a discourse as possible on the show. I changed it because watching
each episode in order would rob a blog of any spontaneity or fun, and watching
the uncut movies as well is just too much. I may do that for movies I’ve
already seen or love, like the Godzilla and Gamera movies. Either way, I had
fun looking at my old notes and seeing how my process for critiquing the show
has come.
-Damn,
Joel is young. He was in his, what, late 20s, early 30s at the time?
-It
is damn weird seeing the show begin by cutting to the Mads instead of the crew
of the SOL.
-My
GOD do those electric bagpipes sound terrible!
-There
seems to be a little continuity between the first episode and the KTMA ones,
though just how they talk about the experiment still going on.
-During
the opening credits, Tom reads, “’Duncan Sutherland’ what a yo-yo,” to which
Joel says, “Good one, Tom.” That’s a lame joke, but I love their interaction.
Both things would improve as the show went on, though.
-I still think both the sisters are babes, and I can't decide which one is hotter.
-I
also like that Joel comments on having to carry Tom into the theater.
-Their
synchronicity during the, “Nice reel change!” riff is something they don’t do
often, but is a fun touch I like.
-Oh, before I forget: Freakaozoid! fans, there is no credit listing "Weena Mercatur as the Hopping Woman", FYI.
-When
asked by Joel to list a thing they liked and thing they didn’t about the movie:
Crow’s
good thing: “It wasn’t longer.” Crow’s bad thing: “It was this long.”
Tom’s
good and bad thing: “The movie was ambitious but lacked vision.”
-At
around the 18 minute mark, the movie cuts to the main characters relaxing in
the inn’s pub, and it’s like Joel and the Bots are there with them. At a pub
with Joel and the Bots seems a good way to spend forever. And, considering how
many hours of this show there are, I practically can.
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