What’s your favorite visual gag or reaction from Joel/Mike/Jonah/the bots in the theater? These are easy to miss, since they’re sometimes unaccompanied by other jokes. I’m sure I’ve missed a ton, so I’d like to hear about good ones! For me, the first one that comes to mind is at the beginning of Cave Dwellers (great movie). For some reason, the bottom of the screen is covered by a gray bar. Joel stands up to peer behind it and remarks about the movie. So what are your favorite visual gags?
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Joel-era: Anytime he “grabbed” something from the screen. Like when he leans over the lighthouse metal bars in Tormented.
Mike-era: From Prince of Space: When Alternate Reality RobotMike riffs in the theater, he’s wearing a headset microphone like Michael J. Nelson would! It’s subtle, but it works.
Jonah-era: Servo “bouncing” off the hats in Yongary!
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I don’t have a single example, but I like any time they act as if they are going to be hit by something on the screen, whether it be an approaching car/train, or a character’s face or crotch getting too close for comfort. I know it’s simple, but it always gets me.
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Any time hair/hats/etc. carry over from the host segment.
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Joel era: the Batman-esque sound effects during a fight scene in one of the Commando Cody shorts attached to Project Moonbase
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Mike era: Servo requests a dance to the tune of the sentimental soundtrack in The Starfighters
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Joel using an umbrella to casually block nudity in City Limits.
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Not my favorite episode, but it did get at least one big laugh out of me… Hercules Against the Moon Men, when Herc (actually Maciste) spills his drink on Joel and the Bots
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I can’t recall the movie, possibly Girl with the Gold Boots, but Mike (I think) “plays pool” with a shadowrama cue on the table in the movie.
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I can’t remember which episode, but at the end Mike demonstrates using forced perspective in silhouette to project a huge “monster” on the screen, and the bots scoff at his antics and ask if he’s been hanging around Joel lately.
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In the climax of Wild Rebels, it’s amazing how they not only realized Jeter is pointing his shotgun exactly at where Tom would be onscreen, but then when the shot cuts back, he’s moved to where Tom would then be after dodging.
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The Loves of Hercules
Tom is flying about and Herc swats him.
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I think that was in “Future War,” which was just a couple of episodes after Joel’s visit to the SOL in “Soultaker.”
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Which episode was it where they roasted hot dogs? It was in Season 1.
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There’s a lot of great visual gags in this series, probably more than people would expect. I think one of the my favorites is the weenie roast gag in Black Scoprion. It’s so simple, but it’s silly and I always get a kick out of it. I also love the one in Hobgoblins, where Mike sets up those cardboard cut outs in the theatre. To be brutally honest though, I think a lot of the gags with Tom Servo flying in the reboot seasons are really unfunny. They just add nothing to the episode and I wish they weren’t there at all. Season 12 especially REALLY gets carried away with the visual jokes. I remember Killer Fish being the worst offender of this. When Growler came into the theatre in that little golf cart, I was like “Oh just stop it already.” However, one really good visual gag from the reboot era is the one in Avalanche where Servo and Crow are piloting drones to censor the movie. I thought that was pretty clever and it wasn’t too distracting.
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Thank you! (See my post before yours)
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Oh hey, I didn’t even notice that. I must have been still typing mine right when you posted that. Glad I could help you remember that episode.
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That’s my fave, too!
Also, Mike and Servo waltzing (“Starfighters”?) or Joel’s Mod dance from Moon Zero Two.
Must respectfully disagree with @JadenRH about Killer Fish. We all know from prior experience that “underwater scenes are the drum solos of movies,” so it’s fair play to, er, flesh out the drum solo with a full band IMHO.
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I had been trying to decide and I’d forgotten about that one. That’s definitely my favorite.
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