In the quest to introduce “new” people to MST3K we sometimes will show an episode here or there which has what can only be referred to as essential callbacks to other movies and episodes. These are the insider jokes that fans immediately can appreciate, but which out of context may confuse a new viewer. They’re catnip to fans, but potential stumbling blocks for newbies. What am I talking about?
Torgo: A cameo from Torgo is gold for people who have seen Manos, but if someone hasn’t had that dubious pleasure then Torgo in a host segment would be baffling in the extreme.
Rock Climbing: Lost Continent is such a slog that all it takes is for someone to say “rock climbing” and we know exactly what to think. For anyone else they would actually think rock climbing sounds pretty fun!
I killed that fat barkeep!: Those of us who have seen Beatniks love this callout, but someone new to the show would have no clue what to think on hearing it.
Watch out for snakes!: A classic reference for Eegah survivors, but dropping the line out of context and it seems to kind of come out of nowhere.
There are other MST3K references that are not as opaque to a new viewer … anyone can pretty much grasp the context of what “Deep Hurting” would mean. But I’m talking more about stuff that when it comes in a show … without knowing the reference … is largely incomprehensible. What are some other references of that sort you can think of?
