MST3K 1103 - The Time Travelers

1103 - The Time Travelers
Air/Release Date	April 14, 2017
MST3K Director	Joel Hodgson & Robert Cohen
Movie Director	Ib Melchior
Year	1964
Cast	Merry Anders Steve Franken John Hoyt
Kingachrome Color	Sky Blue
Preceded by	1102 - Cry Wilderness
Followed by	1104 - Avalanche

“	Rip Torn IS Doctor Strange!	”
	- Gypsy

The Time Travelers is the 3rd episode of the eleventh season of Mystery Science Theater 3000 and the 200th episode overall. It premiered on April 14, 2017.

The Movie

Main article: The Time Travelers (film)

A group of 20th Century time travelers project themselves into the distant future. They clash with the advanced futuristic society while trying to perfect a method of returning to their own time.

The Episode

Host Segments

Prologue: Jonah and the Bots play "Never Have I Ever", but Jonah loses interest because the Bots just use it as an excuse to mock his humanity.

Segment One: Tom keeps trying to play, but Jonah stops him when the Mads call. For the Invention Exchange, Crow introduces Dr. Crow's Edible Silica Packets (packaged with an inedible silica packet to preserve freshness). Kinga and Max introduce the Afterlife Alert, which helps out when someone ends up in the wrong area of the afterlife by mistake.

Bumper: "Wild Rebels Cereal" w/ plot recap

Segment Two: Gypsy and Crow hold a seminar on time safety. Gypsy tests the Bots on what to do when confronted with a time portal, but they fail miserably.

Bumper: "The Canada Song" w/ the status of Jonah's Backjack

Segment Three: Jonah introduces a series of new robots, with each one being destroyed by Crow and Tom. After the last is smashed, Jonah reveals that he had no intention of using them and that they weren't functional. He was doing it to give Crow and Tom a target for their destructive impulses. Crow and Tom respond by hitting him with their baseball bats.

Segment Four: Dr. Varno and Larry drop by for a visit, inviting Jonah and the Bots to join them in partying.

Segment Five: Jonah and the Bots arrive on the bridge to find a Crow and Tom frozen in time, similar to the ending of the movie. The Bots admire their frozen selves. Tom makes out with himself and Crow beats himself up. Kinga and Max "celebrate" the 200th episode of the franchise.

Closing credits songs: "Wild Rebels Cereal" / unknown 2nd song / "Livin' in Deep 13"

Stinger: Danny gives a goofy smile.

Obscure References

• "What have you got, Cellino & Barnes?"

Cellino & Barnes was a law firm that specialized in personal injury cases. They were known for their distinctive radio advertisements that touted their easy-to-remember phone number (800-888-8888). In 2017, Cellino filed to dissolve the partnership and Barnes began operating as The Barnes Firm. The dissolution was completed in 2020 with Cellino forming Cellino Law. Steve Barnes died shortly thereafter in a plane crash.

• "Atomic batteries to power!"

This is one of the checklist steps utilized by Batman when starting the Batmobile in the 1960s live-action Batman TV series and film. It is usually followed by "Turbines to speed".

• "It's astounding. Time is fleeting." "Madness takes its toll."

The opening lines to the song "Time Warp" from the stage musical The Rocky Horror Show (which was later adapted into the cult favorite film The Rocky Horror Picture Show).

• "Somewhere out there..."

The opening line to song "Somewhere Out There" from the animated feature film An American Tail. In the film, the song is sung by two siblings who have been separated by a great distance. Tom is mimicking the vocal stylings of singer James Ingram, who recorded a radio version of the song with Linda Ronstadt.

• "I'm outta...hhheeeerre!"

The catchphrase of Doug, a wannabe-rebellious teenager who was a recurring character on the MTV sketch comedy series The State.

• "Bechdel test score: zero."

The Bechdel test asks whether a work of fiction features at least two women or girls who talk to each other about something other than a man or boy.

• "Don't worry. I'm keeping our spacemen happy." "That's spa-CHEM-in".

A reference to the character Dr. Leo Spaceman from the TV show 30 Rock, who pronounces his name that way.

• "Somehow we've disrupted the time flow." "And the get-fresh flow."

From the lyrics of "Where It's At" by Beck.

Behind the Scenes

MST3K Cast

Regular Cast

• Jonah Ray - Jonah Heston
• Hampton Yount - Crow T. Robot
• Baron Vaughn - Tom Servo
• Felicia Day - Kinga Forrester
• Patton Oswalt - Max (TV's Son of TV's Frank)
• Rebecca Hanson - Gypsy / Synthia
• Tim Ryder - Bonehead #1
• Zach Thompson - Bonehead #2
• Joel Hodgson - Ardy
• The Skeleton Crew
  • Har Mar Superstar (Bandleader), Tony Bevilacqua, Matthew Compton, Denver Dalley, Jason Fabus, Charlie Erickson, Andris Mattson, Amanda MNDR Warner, Josiah Steinbeck

Guest Cast

• Elliott Kalan - Dr. Varno
• Joel Hodgson - Larry

MST3K crew

Main article: List of MST3K Crew#Season 11

• Directed by Joel Hodgson & Robert Cohen

Production

• Series creator Joel Hodgson has two acting roles in this episode: his regular revival role of Ardy and non-speaking visitor Larry.
• Kinga's declaration of this as the "200th episode" established an official episode count for the first time. This numbering has carried over into the numbering of episodes on The Gizmoplex. It is achieved by including all aired KTMA episodes and not including the original pilot, Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie or the Turkey Day version of Episode #701 - Night of the Blood Beast.

Goofs

• Contrary to what Jonah states, the film had passed the Bechdel Test earlier in the narrative when Carole and Gadra talked about the starship's photon drive.

Callbacks

• "It stinks!" (Pod People)