I’m thinking there’s a slang meaning there we’re not catching. Don’t they refer to a character as being “pinched and frigid” in some episode? (That’s just off the top of my head … looking for the reference now.)
1 Like
A long shot, but Sayer was in a band called Patches in the early 1970s. They had a single called “Living In America,” which didn’t chart anywhere. Not even in England, where he lived. But who knows? Maybe someone on the writing staff is a secret Sayer completist.
1 Like
I think “pinched” is referring specifically to actress Peggy Weber, who plays Jenni – she spends almost the whole movie looking nervous and uncomfortable, which accentuates her long nose and strong cheekbones. Today it would probably be called “RBF” (for “Resting B-word Face.”)
3 Likes
I was thinking something similar: pinched being synonymous with “tighta**.”
In the very next scene she picks up a book and the riff is “Advanced Face Pinching.”
1 Like
It’s a reference to Flash Bazbo: Space Explorer from National Lampoon Radio Hour.
3 Likes
Thank you so much! National Lampoon (in all its various incarnations) is definitely something I need to dig into more, as a big fan of that style and era (slightly before my time) of humor. I never would’ve got that without help. 
3 Likes
“If Ted Kennedy drove a Volkswagen, he’d be president today.”
1 Like
I don’t know if Volkswagens are supposed to be safer than a 1967 Oldsmobile Delta 88, or perhaps too small to carry passengers, but the joke refers to this
And this
2 Likes
I should’ve made it clear that I wasn’t referring to an MST3K riff, but to a National Lampoon parody, in response to the other Lampoon comments.
4 Likes
Ah, good old National Lampoon. Where it’s never “too soon” 
1 Like
Whoops. Thought I had seen all the replies. 
2 Likes
A common riff when listing people is “and Joe.” It comes from a Christmas cartoon. This is as much as I can remember: “Joe is his favorite you know. Someone and Someone and Joe.” I believe it’s elves that are being referred to. If anyone can remember the cartoon please share the title or a link.
2 Likes
Perhaps Hardrock, Coco and Joe ?
3 Likes
Just the holiday version of Manny, Moe, & Jack. 
2 Likes
Thank you! I’ve been going nuts trying to find it. Thought my mum would’ve known it, but she didn’t.
3 Likes
There’s one in Village of the Giants, where Merrie (Joy Harmon) is ethered out.
Crow goes: “She’s dreaming she’s Susan.”
Also, the music Tom sings when Mike (Tommy Kirk) and Nancy (Charla Doherty) leave her house in the evening, is similar to a tune when they show one house in Zombie Nightmare, but I don’t know what the tune is.
1 Like
I haven’t rewatched the episodes to check, but it could be the incidental music from the establishing shots of the house in My Three Sons. I remember them using that a few times.
EDIT: Just rewatched Village of the Giants. It’s the music from My Three Sons.
3 Likes
According to the Annotated MST that’s a reference to Desperately Seeking Susan
3 Likes
I usually get about 95% of the obscure riffs from the original series, but there is one quote that I don’t know the origin of and there are no real references to it when I search Google. It’s used in at least two episodes, Night of the Blood Beast and Deathstalker and the Warriors from Hell. The quote? “Sure, you can use it”. Does anyone know where that riff came from? Thanks and forgive me if I broke protocol by posting this in the wrong place or by asking something that may have been asked 100x before.
7 Likes