706. Laserblast (1978)

Goodbye Comedy Central. Thanks for the memories. 7 seasons of my favorite program. Dr. Erhardt to Pearl Forrester, The Crawling Eye (1958) to this, so much of what I associate with Mystery Science. Cave Dwellers (1984), Pod People (1983), The Amazing Colossal Man (1957), Manos: The Hands of Fate (1966), Eegah (1962), I Accuse My Parents (1944), Mitchell (1975), The Brain That Wouldn’t Die (1962), The Wild Wild World of Batwoman (1966), Beginning of the End (1957), The Creeping Terror (1964), Red Zone Cuba (1966), The Beast of Yucca Flats (1961). The whole of TV’s Frank (except for 1001), Trace’s Crow, Dr. F. A lifetime of laughs I’ll forever hold onto. Cheers! Now on with the show…

Charles Band? Why am I not surprised? Roddy McDowall, Keenan Wynn, funded by Irwin Yablans, music by Joel Goldsmith, there is skill in this. Night of the Blood Beast (1958), Ring of Terror (1961), Laserblast (1978), Jodie Coplean was the editor. Eddie Deezen, Dennis Burkley, plenty of riff targets to share the blame. Somewhere it went wrong. And terribly. Thunderdome, Umbilicus, Monad, Ground Control, Kathryn Janeway, 2001: A Space Odyssey. “I had an infection of the Yablans one time”, “Ah, the Charlie Daniels Band is now the Charles Band”, “Terrible name for laser eye surgery, scares away the customers.” “Now, why did they call this movie Laserblast?” or “Mark Hamill in Falling Down”?

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8 Likes

This one has been a top 5 episode for me. I say “has” because my top 5 fluctuates as my mood, tastes, and how much I’ve watched certain episodes changes over time. This bit always slays me though:

Alien 1: Nice shooting, Xanthar!
Alien 2: Thanks, Denise.

5 Likes

One of my all-time favorite exchanges:

Servo: Interesting country, the high desert. You’d think it would be pretty lifeless, but there’s actually a lot going on.
Mike: I’d like to hear about that some time.
Servo: Well we have time now.

7 Likes

Captain Janeway.

10 Likes

One of the earliest episodes I saw when I finally got CC. Saw it original theatrical run, and the theater was mostly empty, so we were riffing freely.

4 Likes

Beyond Thunderdome.

5 Likes

706 Promo.

5 Likes

Leonard Maltin’s Movie Rating.

5 Likes

2001: A Space Odyssey.

4 Likes

Hey Yertle, You Left Your Shell in the Ship!

4 Likes

Laserblast - Why We Love It.

3 Likes

Are You Ready For Some Football?

5 Likes

Best of 706.

3 Likes

Trailer to Laserblast (1978).

1 Like

This is a top episode, and like Mitchell it’s balanced so it’s not overpowered by the fact that it’s the final one…ish. Stop motion aliens, a weird protagonist, bully nerds, Roddy McDowall, a laser that turns the wielder into a zombie for some reason, an incomprehensible subplot about government agents, the sheriff from Murder, She Wrote. It’s got it all!

And it’s lasted a lot longer in the public consciousness than that… Star Fighters or whatever that they blasted the inexplicable sign for.

7 Likes

Another season 7 favorite for me, but then again season 7 packed in a lot of good episodes. The “protagonist” is unlikable even before he finds the laser gun and starts turning into… something. As noted, he gets bullied by epic nerd Froggy (Eddie Deezen) and his pal. The movie would have made much more sense if the roles were reversed, and Froggy was our protagonist with Billy being the bully. I guess someone thought they were being clever with the role reversal, but it doesn’t work as anything other than great fodder for riffing. Of course, with Charles Band at the helm, what else would you expect. I am pretty sure that Chuck had a standing order for every movie that the main character should be as repulsive as possible.

The riffs are strong in this one, and the host segments are great, but that last one really had me wondering what was going on. I distinctly remember the episode bumming me out originally, as I had no idea what was happening with my favorite show. There was a movie in the works, but I think we all knew that MST was just not a good fit for the silver screen. I guess some may have been hip to the goings on, and the fact that they were moving to the SciFi Channel, but I was unaware for at least a few months. It would be another year before we even heard the word ‘Google’, and I was not in tune to the fan base that did exist on the internet back then.

Regardless, I loved it right up until the end segment, and love it even more now that I know it was not the end of the road for MST3K.

4 Likes

Laserblast (1978) TV Spot.

2 Likes

Best of Billy Sucks.

1 Like

2014 Turkey Day Intro to Laserblast (1978).

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Still available for purchase- Laserblast Alien Action Figure -1281

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I have one on my office door.

4 Likes