I am referring to our sister planet, Venus, the morning star!
 |
| Gotta science the shit outta Venus! |
Fittingly for MST3K, space is the place. The inhabitants of the Satellite of Love probably watch as many space movies as they do radioactively-enlarged animal movies. Despite the lack of anything to eat or much breathable air, this environment has given them a lot to feed on and laugh about, resulting in classic episodes like Space Mutiny. But, that doesn’t mean that every trip to the stars means they land on a humorously hospitable planet. Sometimes, it’s as dry and sterile as an asteroid. This is my overly verbose way of saying First Spaceship on Venus is a middling episode.
 |
| Pictured: diversity, communism! |
In the far off year of 1985, scientists discover a strange spool made of an unknown material, which turns out to have been from a crashed Venusian spaceship, responsible for the Tunguska explosion in the early 1900s. An international crew is assembled and sent off to find out what’s going on with our astronomical nextdoor neighbor, encountering dangers such as trails of meteors, zero gravity, and outdated ideas of the future. But, what awaits for them when they land on Venus?
Actually, pretty good special effects, a well-written story, and an overall decent science fiction movie await them. First Spaceship on Venus was originally an East German / Polish endeavor called The Silent Star, based on a novel by Solaris author Stanislaw Lem, but was reedited and dubbed for American audiences, ala what happened when the original Gojira was turned into Godzilla, King of the Monsters! (minus the pleasant addition of Raymond Burr). This means this is one of the rare cases where Joel and the Bots get a somewhat decent movie to watch. And this poses a problem for a show whose primary conceit is to watch cheesy movies, the worst they can find (la la la.)
 |
| Apparently, Dr. Seuss was popular on Venus. |
Even with it being dubbed and heavily reedited from the original version, the movie just doesn’t give Joel and the Bots much to work with. There are no annoying characters or bad special effects to rip on. On the one hand, this means the movie isn’t too painful to sit through. On the other, it means the crew don’t seem very engaged with this one, and are more like casual movie goers than professional quipsters. Some of the jokes are a little simple, like Joel just saying, “It’s neat!” when shown a spaceship flies by, and Crow asking, “Does this guy have a job?” when one of the crew members plays chess with the robot. There’s also a recurring joke they make, asking each other, when hearing the character Harringway’s name, “How much does a herring weigh?” It’s okay, but gets used way too often. Also, in the opening host segment, Servo asks Joel to raise the level on his sarcasm sequencer, meaning throughout the episode he just makes really sarcastic jokes, which gets old after a while and thankfully only lasts for this episode. But, there’s maybe one or two Star Trek jokes, no Star Wars jokes, just not much showing that they’re really into riffing the movie. That’s not to say there aren’t some good jokes here and there and there, though. There’s a clever reference when, after seeing a hanging model of the solar system, Servo says, “Alexander Calder was here!” They have fun with the Venusian trap that looks like moving pile of excrement, a character asks “What was that?” and Joel responds, “About a million pounds of doody.” And, of course, Crow gets in a gag about Uranus.
 |
| Tasty? |
The lack of engagement with the movie can also be felt in the host segments. Most of them feel like the cast and crew are just filling time, like when the Bots encounter a gorilla cruising by in space. Although, I did enjoy the Klack Food Sketch, a funny few minutes of words thrown together to make nonsensical foods (Flabby leather pancakes, creamy clouded palm spread on horsey biscuits, salamander finger-whiches, etc), and Joel’s junk drawer starter kit is a fun invention. But overall, it kinda seems like, well, that the Best Brains were off during the making of this one. They don’t seem really involved with riffing the movie, and the host segments aren’t really connected to the movie (usually a sign it’s not holding their attention). Kevin Murphy says in The Amazing Colossal Episode Guide, after describing the extremely weird host segments, that, “...We went on vacation right after this show. We hugged our loved ones, gathered ‘round the holiday table, and I for one had a good, long cry.” I may be reading too much into it, but maybe they were just damn tired and needed a break.
I remember liking this one more the last two times I watched it. This time, though, it felt uninspired most of the time. They don’t do a lot with the movie, though to be fair it doesn’t give them a lot to work with, and they just felt like they were going through the motions. It’s not terrible, and they do riff frequently, but there’s nothing really clever going on. For diehard MSTies and Sanislaw Lem fans only.
Episode in a Riff:
“Any interest I had in them getting safely off the planet has been completely erased by a miasma of boring technical stuff.” -Crow
Random Asides
-Joel has on a teal jumpsuit in this one!
-Servo is sarcastic enough already, he doesn’t need to be made more.
-A rainy Saturday night was a perfect way to watch this one.
-”Dan Quayle scares me as much as the next guy.” Ah, the 90s.
-I like the little interplay about the Mads stealing Joel’s idea
-The Dick Tracy product placement in the Mads’ invention really tickles me.
-God, Abe Vigoda was old even then!
-I like how, during the exposition dumping news reports, the scientist studying the spool are just called “The Scientists”. Makes them sound like an alt rock band.
-Astronaut Harringway, with his features and coiffed hair, reminds me of Christopher Nolan.
-Joel’s reaction to the Bots’ robot that communicates in foam is my reaction to the sketch.
-I love the futuristic room with “the world’s largest computer.”
-Can nobody in this movie pronounce “Omega” properly?
-In one of the movie’s nice touches, the spaceship crew decide to warn Earth that the Venusians intend the planet harm, and argue that the world won’t fall into panic, and should be prepared. It’s a little optimism I like.
-I
like the Sol-Mates podcast episode where they describe it as “Epcot
Venus.” I also thought it was pretty accurate how they describe the host segments as a grab bag they probably had written but couldn't find a place for.
-The Mads’ Abe Vigoda in a box bit would return as Robert Plant in The Amazing Colossal Man.
-If all they needed was a break, it shows, because the following episodes are Godzilla vs. Megalon and Godzilla vs. The Sea Monster, two very good ones.
-I really did like the Klack Foods sketch. It reminded me of some of the funniest fake foods mentioned in Firesign Theater skits. Surprised Servo didn’t mention hot buttered groat clusters.
-The DVD came with the 20th Anniversary set, which I hate realizing was over ten years ago. But, it has a nice History of MST3K documentary on it. Good to check out with season 13 upcoming.
Additional Links
