I would have loved if in, “Wizards of the lost Kingdom” there were shout outs to Shurka (Thom Christopher) also being Hawk on the Buck Rogers tv show.
Not a missed opportunity per say, but it would have put a smile on my face to hear them point that out.
The same way that in “Tormented” Nick was played by Joe Turkel… who was also Lloyd the bartender in “The Shinning” and Tyrell in “Blade Runner”.
And I know Thom Christopher best from the soap ‘One Life to Live’.
Dude got around.
Of course, there was a time when pretty much every actor was on a soap at one time or another.
Given the amount of Roger Corman movies the crew have endured throughout the years, I’m surprised they didn’t try one quick jab when he was on-screen as the villain’s boss in Lords Of The Deep.
Wow. I’ve been seeing many of the movies mentioned here in their original form on Tubi and thinking ‘These would be great fodder for the MST3k guys.’ (Obviously I’ve missed a few episodes!)
But one riff that got missed was in the episode “The Amazing Colossal Man”. When (I forget the character’s name) is first seen having grown, lying in bed, he’d also gotten bald. No riff from the SoL crew, but my wife yelled out “He’s turned into Tor Johnson!” And we both agreed this was a missed riff.
Dino.
In the defense of the Brains, these actors probably weren’t immediately recognizable. However, think of the possibilities if they had realized that the sheriff in Master Ninja I was the, “Squeal like a pig!” guy from Deliverance, or that Horatio in Hamlet was Rommel in Patton (when Hamlet enthusiastically greets him, it would have been the perfect time for a Magnificent B*****d riff).
When Cushing’s name appears in the opening credits, Crow riffs, “The Doctor Who no one cosplays as.” This of course referring to his starring role in the feature film adaptations of the first two Doctor Who Dalek serials.
My wife and I remember this one!, After loudly groaning we both agreed it was a bit unfair (to Peter Cushing). We both like those “Dr. Who” movies. (Note spelling: the movies were “Dr. Who…”: the series has always been “Doctor Who” since its beginning back in 1963.)
Also, Peter Cushing is the only “Dr. Who” with a mustache! (Sure, they gave the Doctor a mustache - and beard - in a few episodes: Tom Baker’s 4th Doctor in the Season 18 opening story “The Leisure Hive”; a machine aged him quite a bit. And much later on in the new series, Matt Smith’s 11th Doctor had a beard in two episodes: Series 6’s second episode “Day of the Moon” - but he wore it only in the beginning, and again in the Series 6 finale (Ep 13) “The Wedding of River Song”. Again he only wore it in the early part.)
Those exceptions aside, only Peter Cushing’s “Dr. Who” had a permanent mustache, and probably why I like those movies so much. I’ve got a 'stache and really hated having to shave it off to cosplay a convincing 2nd Doctor (using a wig) and 9th Doctor (thanks to my military short-cut hair). Side note: I’ve only shaved it for two nasal surgeries, and any time the ship I was on went through Refresher Training and we had to go through the tear gas chamber - never keep the 'stache; you’ll never wash enough of that tear gas out of it… and never, no matter what, shave it the day you go through the chamber; always shave the night before or the second you enter the chamber it will feel like hornets stinging your face!
I’ve been planning to cosplay Peter Cushing’s “Dr. Who” for a while. It’s just hell when a military injury knocks your back out for the rest of your life. Walking is a chore. Then when you have all of the SF conventions within reach dry up, things get put on hold for the foreseeable future.
I’ll cosplay Peter Cushing’s “Dr. Who” one day… before I regenerate!
Dino.
Speaking of Dr. Who, Anthony Ainley was in Season 11’s “Land That Time Forgot” and there were no Dr. Who/The Master riffs. I was surprised.
Good point. But they did make a lot of Zevon jokes just the previous season for I Was a Teenage Werewolf.
Without the goatee, it’s not immediately apparent that it’s Ainley for those only familiar with his Doctor Who appearances. Too bad. Considering the prehistoric setting, some references to Time-Flight would have been appropriate. Even a Norelco jingle with a mention of the sonic screwdriver slipped in would have been good.
You are very much forgetting John Hurt’s War Doctor, who had a mustache and goatee. 
I missed that riff. I will have to go back and re-watch. 
I haven’t seen that one in a LONG time… did they make a lot of Michael J Fox references in that one?
I don’t think they made any, actually! I don’t think it was the cult hit back then that it is now.
As big an MST3K junkie I am, I’m an equally big Bond movie junkie. That being said, I was VERY disappointed that there wasn’t a single Licence to Kill joke in Lords of the Deep. The same year she did LotD, Priscilla Barnes also played the tragic Della Leiter, a beautiful and lovable character who puts the whole plot in motion, James Bond resigning from the Secret Service so he can go on his rogue mission of revenge. There were so many golden opportunities for jokes referencing Robert Davi and Benicio Del Toro.
When they first show the alien brain in The Space Children, I can’t resist adding:
I bid 30 quatloos on the newcomer!
And I feel sure there’s a riff begging to be added in that one awkward moment in Girl In Gold Boots where both Michele and Critter go silent and stare at Critter’s crotch at the same time. I don’t know what I’d quip, but I bet the crew coulda found something. 
I just finished watching The Rebel Set, and in light of how the main villain is named “Mr. T”, I’m surprised that there weren’t riffs about the Mr. T who appeared in Rocky III and The A-Team. There’s a George Peppard as Hannibal Smith reference (“I love it when my plans come together”), but that’s about it.
They were getting more mileage out of the fact that he was portrayed by Ed Platt AKA The Chief from Get Smart.
True. And it may have been a case where they stayed away from a joke out of fear that they would run it way into the ground throughout.
Ah, true. Thanks for pointing that out to me; I stand justifiably corrected. (And that’s the Doctor even the Doctor doesn’t like to talk about - said so himself.)
That said, in not too many years I’ll be the right age to play the late John Hurt’s War Doctor! John Hurt was an amazing actor. (Loved his cameo near the end of “Spaceballs”… it was far less gruesome than his original of that scene!)
Dino.