This post isn’t to second-guess the writers at any point … I know the season 8 team got tired of people asking “Why didn’t you mention Battlestar Galactica?” years ago. Sometimes jokes just don’t work, or the connection just never occurs in the writers’ room.
That said, are there any “missed” opportunities you’ve wondered about? For me, I’ve always been curious why there wasn’t a single “Hey Mickey” reference in Village of the Giants, which has a pretty fair amount of Toni Basil in it. (Or, on the RiffTrax side, why are there no Trapper John jokes in Astro Zombies, co-written/co-executive produced by Wayne Rogers?)
I agree 100%. MST3K Riffs are not the same as VH1 Pop-Up video: they’re jokes and have to be funny, not just “interesting factoids” with little to know humor.
I’ve wondered if they cut any recurring riffs from This Island Earth because of it being a “jumping-on point” for new viewers.
I was suprised I didn’t see more references to Lon Chaney Jr. or the song “Werewolves of London” (by Warren Zevon) in Ep.904 “Werewolf”.
In both Wizards of the Lost Kingdom movies, someone says ‘Laugh while you can!’ and I always chime in, ‘Monkey Boy!’ and I have no idea why that wasn’t in there already.
Guess they haven’t watched Buckaroo Banzai as many times as I have.
Oh my god this has been bugging me since the episode came out and I could NOT figure out where I had seen her before! (And no, I don’t know why I didn’t just look it up.)
Edit: I just remembered that technically there was the “I’ve got an angry fish knocking at my door!” “He’s been waiting for you”, but definitely not in connection with Priscilla Barnes’ presence.
Anyway, I still can’t believe there were no Cry Wilderness callbacks in The Loves of Hercules.
I’m going to sound a little like those Galactica fans, but with “At The Earths Core” I was disappointed that they didn’t celebrate that this was the first time MST3K ever riffed on Peter Cushing?
And it didn’t have to be a lot, just a nod of acknowledgment, maybe a quip where they have Peter (in speaking of his co-star) mention the good old days when he’d act with giants, like Christopher Lee. I mean something, anything, rather than nothing.
But maybe they just didn’t know, maybe there are no Hammer fans in the cast to point this out, So I wont hassle them about it, but it was a missed riff opportunity. You only get one ‘first movie’ opp with Peter Cushing, and you let it pass without a word.
Okay, I’m going to repeat my Space Mutiny/Battlestar Galactica theory here that I’ve also done in some older forums.
I was about the same age as Mike, Kevin and the gang were at that time. For me, Battlestar Galactica was not something I was intimately familiar with. It was seen by most people at the time it aired as largely for children, which is why it didn’t last that long, I believe.
The younger people watching Season 8 were a lot more familiar with BG and would have immediately recognized the models, but not so much for us older people, and I think that’s why there were no references.
That is my theory, which is mine, and what it is too.
I know they can’t fit in every reference and all, but I remember watching Mac & Me hoping for a Paul Rudd reference at the very least. So sad they didn’t, but hey-- can’t have everything!
The riffs in the show were still-- PRETTY NIIIIIIIICE.
Yeah, I guess, your right - they lean on Star Wars so much, that my mind just shuts it out (not a fan of the franchise). So your right, but I would have liked something more specific to Cushing and his classic Hammer era characters and co-actors, rather than another one of those Star Wars riffs that they throw out for anyone, and everything.
Another missed opportunity from The Movie — the mailman who delivered the catalog was none other than Coleman Francis. And yet, no shrieks of horror, no warding off with crosses made of index fingers, no weeping and wailing…
“Sort this, deliver that, I’ll make them all pay!” and boy, did he.
Another one: how does the one-and-only—an unofficial Python—Carol Cleveland get a walk-on like that in Moon Zero Two without even a mention? That one has always been a head-scratcher for me.
I’ve always thought that they should have pointed out how Wizards of the Lost Kingdom 2 got spliced with another film (Barbarian Queen), 'cause I own Barbarian Queen and believe me, I noticed! At the very least call out how the battle was in an entirely different setting, guys!
