Heh, I have to admit, I’m unfamiliar with Rene Cardona’s filmography, so you have me at something of a disadvantage!
Based on titles/premises, though? Neutron Traps the Invisible Killers sounds promising, given that you have a masked wrestler taking on a criminal that can turn invisible.
Again, I hate to use the overused term “classic”. But, wow, this is as classic a Christmas episode as there is for Mst3K! This is definitely a December watch for me! There’s Pitch, the mechanical reindeer (very creepy), JOIKE, and No Lupita! (she is adorable). The riffing is top notch here! The movie is so weird and that brings out the best of Mike and TB’s.
Special thanks to Bruce and Optimstie for all their posts on this one! The commentary was so much fun to read!
My pleasure as always, thanks for the kind words and for YOUR perspective on these episodes as well!
Mmhmm. Classic indeed! I think what was really important was that this episode came so soon after the start of the Mike era. Letting him take a Christmas episode not too far into his tenure as host sent the message that not only was this episode going to be an event, but also that Mike was going to be THE guy.
And yeah, when I had just Santa Claus Conquers the Martians, I quickly made that a part of my Christmas viewing tradition. Same applied to Santa Claus when I could gain access to that episode. Once again, the same would apply when Jonah entered the fray with The Christmas That Almost Wasn’t. Sight unseen, given how the rest of Season 13 has gone, The Christmas Dragon will be joining those three episodes as required holiday viewing.
So glad that you have that as a December viewing tradition, too!
Really enjoy this one. It’s such a truly unique experience. There’s nothing like it before of since!
This is definitely a December tradition for me as well! Honestly, it’s not truly the holiday season until I get 321, 521 and 1113 watched. These episodes really mean so much to me.
This is me as well. All three (soon to be four) Christmas episodes get played in the couple days before 12/25. Although, if the speculation that the three special events in December are tribute episodes for those three movies, I may count that as my annual viewing for this year.
Considering that this was the album he put out a year prior:
He was so very sad about all the potatoes that got mashed in the wake of this LP, his audience completely misunderstanding his twist on the Hot Potato dance as something literal.
Due to an error in printing, the solid white background for the cover turned into a creamy/off-white shade, not unlike actual mashed potatoes. Some of his more deranged fans believed the cover to be a photograph of a graveyard to hundreds of dinners past.
They went on a rampage throughout the local grocery chains, all in Alaimo’s name.
The horror. The lack of gravy. All Alaimo could do was cry, and thus had his next LP reflect the despair he felt from the results of what should have been a simple summer dance fad LP.
It’s now been scrubbed from history, but The Potato Mashing of 1962 haunts all those who were there to witness it, and shame upon those who took part.
…or these records were just chasing trends of the day, Some new manager of Alaimo’s with an idea for an image change. I prefer my unsubstantiated nonsense though.
One of my favorite riffs in this one: When Santa opens up his mail chute and is getting excitedly drenched in letters, Crow exclaims: “There’s a dollar in every one! My chain letter scam worked!”
It’s his perfectly over-enthusiastic Santa voice that makes it work!