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Season 12, 1980s movies

MST3K 1203 - Lords of the Deep

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“ "She found something she shouldn't have." "My search history!" ”
  — Gypsy, reacting to a researcher.


The movie

Main article: Lords of the Deep (film)

The crew of an undersea laboratory faces a strange new type of sea creature whose psychic powers lead to danger.

Notes

  • This would appear to be the first feature film to be used by Mystery Science Theater 3000 that was directed by a woman.

The episode

Host segments

Prologue: While Jonah modifies the movie vault in Moon 13, Crow and Tom give him blueprints on the facility that they managed to find. Jonah barely has time to hide them from the Skeleton Crew before the Tube catches him.

Segment One: The Gauntlet is only a third of the way done, but Jonah feels confident that he'll make it through. For the Invention Exchange, the Hand-Dryer Air-Hockey Table provides fun on the go when you go. Kinga's is Drone Probes, allowing her to torment Jonah from an even more indirect level.

Segment Two: Tom and Crow find a strange life-form that seems to have a rather interesting power on Jonah.

Song in Theater: "Trippy Blob"

Segment Three: Tom and Crow try to settle an argument using an old-fashioned nursery rhyme (mimicking the lead-in that two characters in the movie had for rock-paper-scissors), while Kinga and Max plug their upcoming daytime talk show.

Segment Four: Jonah and the Bots wonder if it's worse to be stuck in the psychic world of the movie's sea creature or The Gauntlet (and the answer is pretty obvious). The first episode of Good Morning with Kinga and Max! debuts with special guest Dr. Donna St. Phibes of the Habitat for B-Movie Monsters, whose own sea creature puts all of Moon 13 into psychic agony. Next up... The Day Time Ended!

Stinger: The sea creature nuzzles Claire as she lays unconscious.

Obscure references

  • " You know, some people see these opening credits in white and gold."
In 2015 a photo of a dress went viral on the internet. Some people saw the dress as blue and black (like the title credit sequence), while others saw it as white and gold.
  • " That’s So Raven, That's So Raven, That's So Raven. Whoah, that was so Raven."
References the similarity between the psychedelic effects when Claire touches the glob, and the opening credits of the Disney Channel 2003-2007 show That’s So Raven.
  • (singing) "M - A - R - Tel, Martel Incorporated."
Imitates the opening song for 1983 - 1994 syndicated show (later picked up by the Disney Channel) KIDS Incorporated.
  • "Whoah, this undersea lab has an original Rauschenberg."
The schematics on the wall are reminiscent of the found object mixed media compositions of neodadaist Robert Rauschenberg (1925-2008).
  • " It’s like having two Uncle Joey’s in one movie."
Comedian Joey Gladstone is a character played by Dave Coulier on the TV sitcom Full House, which originally ran from 1987 to 1995. Coulier reprised the role in the revival series Fuller House, which was produced by Netflix from 2016 to 2020. In the original series, Joey often wore a mullet-style haircut and engaged in juvenile antics. He was sometimes referred to as "Uncle Joey", even though he was not related to any members of the family (but was a close friend).
  • “There’s a difference between being fired and being replaced” "Just ask Conan O’Brien."
In 2010, NBC transitioned the host of The Tonight Show to Conan O’Brien and then back to previous host Jay Leno.
  • "The Young Dr. Phil Chronicles."
Actor Daryl Haney (Jack O’Neill) and his mustache remind the riffers of Phil McGraw, aka Dr. Phil. The Young Indiana Jones Chronicles is a TV adventure series that ran from 1992 to 1993 and depicted the early adventures of the popular film character.
  • "There's no justice in this world, Jack" "...but her e-mails!"
A phrase from social media and memes regarding the scandals around Hillary Clinton from the 2016 US Presidential campaign.
  • (singing) "What is love? Baby don't hurt me..."
The strobe effect in the psychedelic sequence is reminiscent of the 1993 music video for Haddaway’s dance hit  “What Is Love?”
  • "Seascout! Seascout, come in!" " ”Seaworld! Seabiscuit! C&C Music Factory! CCH Pounder! C Thomas Howell!"
References the amusement park SeaWorld, the famous racehorse Seabiscuit, the pop band C+C Music Factory, and actors CCH Pounder and C. Thomas Howell.
  • "I can't believe I have to dress like a Minion for some stupid kid's birthday party." "I went to Juilliard!"
Minions are small yellow creatures that, as the name implies, are the minions of the supervillain Gru in the Despicable Me animated movies.
Juilliard is a prestigious arts school; perhaps a reference to a viral comment by actor Alan Tudyk during the recording of the voice of the chicken for the animated film Moana.
  • "Gillooly."
Now Daryl Haney (Jack O’Neill) and his mustache remind the riffers of Jeff Gillooly. Gillooly arranged an attack on skater Nancy Kerrigan to help his ex-wife Tonya Harding qualify for the 1994 Winter Olympics.
  • "The shuttle commander, he just looked scared to death, like..." "Magic Johnson on his talk show."
Retired NBA player Earvin "Magic" Johnson Jr. was noticeably uncomfortable on-camera during his short lived talk show The Magic Hour.
  • "One weekend a month, two weeks a year..."
A recruiting slogan for the US Army National Reserve in the 1970s to 1990s.
  • " Wow, the inside of Martin Short is so spacious "
Said during a miniatures underwater scene. The movie Innerspace is about a pilot who is miniaturized and placed inside of a character played by Martin Short.
  • "Yankee hotel foxtrot."
An album by the band Wilco; its title derives from a broadcast of a "numbers station", sending coded messages to secret agents.
  • "Barbara..." "They're coming for you!"
From the opening sequence of the original version of Night of the Living Dead (which later became a RiffTrax presentation).
  • "Waze always makes you go the strangest routes."
Waze is a mobile phone navigation application. Its automation is notorious for taking users down side streets and unusual routes to avoid traffic.
  • "Something took down the Magic Schoolbus!"
The Magic Schoolbus is an animated PBS show for kids that ran from 1994 to 1997.
  • "Oh, my horcrux!"
A Horcrux is an artifact created by a wizard to preserve a part of their soul and gain immortality in the Harry Potter universe.
  • "Steve Zissou killed himself."
Steve Zissou, played by Bill Murray, is the main character in The Life Aquatic with Steve Zissou. The character is a parody of and tribute to Jacques Cousteau.
  • "Look, the original iPod!" "Yeah, and I bet it only plays Residents songs."
The Residents are an art rock band best known for disguising the identities of its members by wearing large eyeball masks that cover their heads (the front of the submarine resembles a large eyeball).
  • "Hello, Newman."
Jerry Seinfeld's spite-filled greeting to his neighbor Newman (portrayed by Wayne Knight) from the 1990s sitcom Seinfeld.
  • "They're real and they're spectacular!"
Another Seinfeld reference, this one a quote from a woman Jerry was dating (played by Teri Hatcher) after Jerry spent the entire episode trying to determine whether she had breast implants.
  • "Miss Clavel ran faster and faster!"
Miss Clavel is the nun who watches over twelve little girls in a school in France in the Madeline children's book series. It's common for her to run "faster and faster" when she suspects the girls are in trouble.
  • "You say...I only glob what I want to..."
Crow's parodying lyrics from the song "Stay (I Missed You)" by Lisa Loeb.
  • "So does it still fail the Bechdel test if the man they're talking about has turned into a blob?"
A test of gender representation in movies created by Alison Bechdel in her comic strip "Dykes to Watch Out For." To pass the test, a movie must have two or more female characters having a conversation that is not about a man.
  • "If I told you about her, what would I say?"
Crow is quoting the closing narration of the film The Shape of Water.
  • Crow: "James Earl Jones is a Capricorn!" Tom Servo: "And I say he's a Leo!"
Actor James Earl Jones' birthday is January 17th, which means that his zodiac sign is Capricorn.
  • "Groucho, Harpo, Chico, Zeppo. Krypto, Streaky, Comet, Beppo."
The first four are the Marx Brothers (not counting Gummo, who never appeared in films), while the second four are the Super-Pets owned by either Superman/Superboy and/or Supergirl (Krypto was Kal-El's pet dog from Krypton, Streaky was a cat altered by a Kryptonite variant, Comet was a centaur cursed to be a horse with super powers, and Beppo was a Kryptonian test monkey who survived Krypton's explosion).
  • "Joe McCarthy, Richard Nixon, Studebaker, television."
This is a line from the Billy Joel song "We Didn't Start the Fire" which refers to a number of people and things from the mid-20th century (the 1940s through the 1980s).
  • "Gene Kelly, Fred Astaire, Ginger Rogers - Dance on air."
This is a line from the Madonna song "Vogue" which refers to several celebrities from the golden age of Hollywood.
  • "But there were promises made across this desk! You can't eat the orange and throw the peel away! A man is not a piece of fruit!"
A line from the play Death of a Salesman by Arthur Miller where the main character (Willy Loman) lashes out at his boss for mistreating him.
  • "The Undersea Adventures of Leslie Mann..."
Leslie Mann is an American actor and the wife of filmmaker Judd Apatow. She is slender and blonde, and has appeared in several films including Knocked Up and This is 40. Claire resembles her in this shot.

Behind the scenes

MST3K cast

Regular cast

The Skeleton Crew

Guest cast

  • None

MST3K crew

Full crew

Production

Callbacks


Goofs

Video releases

Gallery

References

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