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Mystery Science Theater 3000 is, to me, the greatest TV show of all time, bar none. The Wire ? Breaking Bad ? I spit derogatorily at them!...

Sunday, December 16, 2018

513 - The Brain that Wouldn't Die

If you only knew what it's like being like this...

 
I don't think her insurance will cover this.

The Brain that Wouldn’t Die is fairly typical MST3K movie fodder. Dr. Bill is on the way to his country cottage with fiance Jan when they get into a car wreck and Jan’s head gets lopped off. But, Bill has been conducting experiments at the cottage, and manages to keep Jan’s head alive in a pan filled with an experimental serum. So, Jan spends her time wishing she were dead and tormenting Bill’s disfigured assistant, while also trying to contact the thing in the locked room the assistant and Bill created from their failed trials. Bill, meanwhile, has the unenviable task of going around town, looking at hot women in the hopes of finding a new, er, mode of transportation for Jan. It’s ridiculous and drags and is surprisingly sleazy, and the movie’s main visual is a woman’s head in a pan.

"This is a terrible Thanksgiving dinner centerpiece."
                                         
What isn’t typical is that series creator and star Joel Hodgson had left the show the previous episode, right in the middle of the season and after five years in. Enter Michael J. Nelson, Head Writer for the show (meaning he collected all the jokes written during writing sessions) and occasional guest performer (most famously Torgo in Manos: The Hands of Fate and Jack Perkins on the MST Hour) as the new test case for Dr. Forrester and TV’s Frank’s experiment. The question was, how would he do, replacing the show’s beloved creator? How would his personality affect the tone of the show? Could he be funny? Did he even speak English, or was he just miming it well? Could the show carry on?

No. It was canceled after his one episode. The End.

Of course he was fine! Though the debate of who you prefer rages on today, Mike more than aptly filled in Joel’s shoes. Having played bit parts off and on throughout the show’s run, his performance as basically himself starts out with a strong sense of self, of Mike the friendly Midwestern guy with the sharp wit. Mike would fine tune his performance as the show went on, becoming the more sarcastic half of the coin to Joel’s more goofy one. He’s a little “aw, shucks” here, and I still think his voice sounds kinda off in his early episodes, like it’s too high pitched or something, but really, he’s got it down from the start. 
  
Prep time.

What takes a little while is his relationship with the Bots. Joel was the father figure, someone Tom, Crow, and Gypsy looked up to, even when they would give him grief. Mike on the other hand, would become the put-upon coworker, someone the Bots would enjoy tormenting just because. And while that relationship isn’t defined yet, there’s a hint of it as early as the intro segment, with Tom and Crow training the new boy in movie riffing. They kind of look down on him, and it’s something that’ll thankfully carry on through the rest of the series, haha. To simplify and metaphor it more: with Joel, the show feels like a fun family gathering; with Mike, it feels like a party with friends.

Oh right, yeah, the movie. They watch movies on this show, and make fun of them. Like I said, The Brain that Wouldn’t Die is pretty typical of 50s black and white B-movies, though there’s an extra side of sleaze as Dr. Bill trolls around town, ogling women and deciding which one has the best body and is the easiest to dispatch, and there’s some gore near the end. It’s a weird mix of like standard 50s schlock and a Tom Waits song. But, it’s about a woman’s head being kept alive in a pan, so of course there’s a lot for them to run with! When Jan and Bill’s assistant are bickering back and forth in the basement, Tom says, “Boy, you have a chip on your shoulder!”, and then Crow follows up with, “This operation’s gonna cost an arm and a leg! Oh, zing!” Tom also has fun quoting Waits during a scene at a sleazy bar / diner, and then when skeevy sax music plays as Dr. Bill drives around town looking at women, Tom imagines up, “Morning...it’s a sleazy morning out there. You’re listening to KPORN,...” There’s even references that are both  smarty pants and gross, like when the monster in the closet makes gruesome noises, which Mike comments as, “Ew, Dylan Thomas’ last moments on earth.” And they even get a chance to just be disgusted by Dr. Bill’s actions. The riffs are constant and funny, and the mix of tones and subject matter make for a hilarious episode.

Dr. Bill, somewhere in the middle of the D.E.N.N.I.S. System.

 The show does take a while to transition more to Mike’s style, though. The invention exchange and the prop hats they make for Jan in the Pan are very Joel-ish. Not that they aren’t funny, just that there’s some small changes being made as the show goes on. The Mads don’t miss a beat, though, Dr. F torturing Frank like it’s just another day.

Mike trying on hats for the Bots. Helps he's the only one with a human shaped head.

Fairly regular day in Deep 13.

Mike would continue on as star for the rest of the season and for four more after that. The best thing this hilarious, classic episode can proves is that the show would continue in its typically great fashion for an equally long time, even though the head came off, an equally great brain was there to be grafted on and carry the show on strong. Or, that while Dr. Bill couldn’t find the right body for his head, MST3K found the right head for it’s body. Or some such metaphor. Look, this movie deals with talking heads in pans and monsters in a closet, I can only do so much. 

The beginning of an era.

 
Episode in a Riff:
As Dr. Bill carries Jan’s head following the car crash: “He’s at the 20, he’s at the 10, no one will catch him!” -Mike


Random Asides:

-Joel had produced 80+ episodes (not including the KTMA season) by the time he left the show and Mike took over. Mike would go on to do another 80+ episodes. Here’s hoping Jonah reaches those numbers.

-No, Tom, The Beast of Yucca Flats is not as bad as this movie.

-Tom also mentions Mike having trained on riffing Night of the Lepus. Man, I hate they’ve never covered this movie! Thankfully, Rifftrax did!

-Mike really helps establish his identity by refusing to immediately answer the Mads’ call. Not that he doesn’t, eventually.

-Mike’s experiment isn’t bad, but it’s obvious why they stop doing inventions a few episodes later, as Kevin Murphy explains in the ACEG on episode 519: “Joel was the gizmocrat… And Mike? Well, let’s put it this way. Mike is not an inventor. Creative, yes, artistic, sure. Innovative, clever, resourceful, all of these and more. But the sight of a screwdriver puts him in a cold sweat...” It goes on, and is a hilarious read. 

-”Nothing’s unbelievable if you have the will to experiment!” God, I love 50s movies’ science talk

-Dr. Bill looks, and even acts, a bit like Glen Howerton’s character Dennis Reynolds from It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia, and I shall run with that anytime I see this episode again.

-I like how Mike is digging through the ship, and Tom is sitting there with a cup of coffee hanging out like a useless foreman

-”Guys, thats not cheese! “

-Gypsy, on Jan in the Pan: “I don’t know, I just have this feeling she’s really a shoes person.”

-I really blocked out a lot of Jan in the Pan and Assistant guy’s dialogue the middle of the movie. Man was it overladen and boring

-This movie makes me feel real, real sorry for women

-35 minutes in, the camera cuts to a shot of a needle, and Tom says,  “Meanwhile at Kurt Cobain’s house!” He was still alive at the time, and that line stings even more now.

-Mike “So then the director’s whole point is, if I’m not mistaken, is in this often cold and lonely world, don’t reach out for love and human understanding, or you’ll only become part of a grisly lab experiment.”
Crow: “I think you’re selling it short, Mike. There’s also the strong anti-women message.”
Tom: “But mostly, it is a celebration of betrayal.”
Crow: “Oh, right, right.”
Tom: “But, don’t lose hope!”
Crow: “No, no no.”
Tom: “But, you can trust us!”
Crow: “Yeah!”
The Bots proceed to pry an embarrassing story out of Mike and rip him for it. Thus, their relationship begins.

-Mike at the end of the episode: “Y’know guys,  whole situation, being stuck up here in space,  being forced to watch cheesy movies, interacting with other life forms...it kinda bites.” 


Additional Links
Satellite News review

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