MST3K 207 - Wild Rebels

The movie

Main article: Wild Rebels (film)

A former stock car racer is recruited by the police to infiltrate an outlaw biker gang.

The episode

Host segments

Prologue: Joel shuts down the higher functions of the Satellite of Love so that Gypsy can speak about why she is depressed.

Invention Exchange: Gypsy finishes her talk with Joel so he can breathe again, but he's a little out of it from the lack of oxygen. The Mads demonstrate their Hobby Hogs for children who look up to bikers. Joel creates 3-D Pizza, based on 3-D chess from Star Trek.

Segment Two: Joel and the Bots talk about the intellectuals who rode motorcycles and started gangs. The Algonquin Round Table was known as Satan's Sardonics.

Segment Three: The SOL crew makes a commercial for Wild Rebels cereal.

Segment Four: Crow and Tom Servo talk about Gypsy's talents, and Joel sings a song to Gypsy in the style of the film... until the other Bots jump him.

Segment Five: Joel is surprisingly chipper after the movie's dour ending. He cheers the Bots up by helping them make more fun of the movie, resulting in a party. The Mads are confused until Frank figures it out.

Obscure references

• "What's the extra E for?" -Joel, after William Grefe's name comes up in the credits. "The extra E is for extra--" "Uh-mm, ixnay!"

There was an infamous TV ad campaign on New York City cable during the 1980s for a phone sex line featuring "watersports". The number was 970-PEEE; their slogan was "The extra 'E' is for extra PEE!"

• "Silly rabbi. Kicks are for Trids!"

This phrase is the punchline to an old joke. There are a few different versions, all of which lead to a variation of the Trix cereal advertising slogan "Silly rabbit. Trix are for kids!"

• "Why don't you let the shotgun sing a song?"

Paraphrases a lyric from the song "Won't Get Fooled Again" by The Who.

• "They gotta go past the LaBianca place."

Leno and Rosemary LaBianca were murdered in their house by Charles Manson and his "family" on the second night of their infamous killing spree.

• "We're booking you for impersonating Trini Lopez."

Trini Lopez is a singer and guitarist; Rod vaguely resembles him.

• "It's Joe Namath!"

A famous commercial starring Joe Namath starts with a slow pan up his legs.

• "What's this? Zack Norman is Sammy in Chief Zabu?"

A reference to a long-running ad in Variety.

• "Very interesting." "Hogan!"

Refers to two 1960s-era shows featuring characters in a Nazi helmet: Laugh-In and Hogan's Heroes (though Colonel Klink, the character whose catchphrase was "Hogan!", did not wear a helmet).

Behind the scenes

MST3K cast

Regular cast

• Joel Hodgson - Joel Robinson
• Trace Beaulieu - Crow T. Robot / Dr. Clayton Forrester
• Kevin Murphy - Tom Servo
• Frank Conniff - TV's Frank
• Jim Mallon - Gypsy

MST3K crew

Production

• Tom Servo’s regular head returns. No explanation is given.
• This episode is very Gypsy-centric, partly being Joel wanted to give her character more depth, as she came off as a useless sometimes even buffoonish type. Her being in control if the higher functions of the ship gave her more purpose and also made the series less of "a boy's club".
• Doctor Forrester's motorcycle helmet is topped with the skull from a Masters of the Universe "Battle Bones" toy, still painted orange from when it was previously part of a Demon Dog.
• Joel twice calls the theater the "Mystery Science Theater" – the first and last time he would do that.
• Gypsy’s second appearance in the theater; about ten minutes into the movie when somebody mentions "Voyage to the Bottom of Sea".
• This episode was ranked #100 among backers of the Bring Back MST3K Kickstarter in the Top 100 Poll.

Callbacks

• "The driver is either missing or he’s gone." (The Phantom Creeps)
• "How fortunate! Thees will seemplify everything!" (The Phantom Creeps)
• "Are we watching Catalina Caper again?"

Movie Edits

As with most of the riffed films, The Wild Rebels had several scenes trimmed in order to fit within the desired time slot. Footage removed from this film includes:

• The film's cold open, including the actual crash which is the reason Rod wants to retire from racing.
• A scene in which Rod performs a song with the band at Swinger's Paradise.
• A scene where the gun shop owner begins to wake up while Banjo and Fats are stealing ammo, and they violently knock him out again before leaving.
• About a minute and a half of the fight between Rod and Banjo, which was masked by a commercial break.

Goofs

• During the post-film party, after Cambot cuts the music and everyone quiets down, a balloon unexpectedly popped off-screen as Joel began reading a fan letter. It took them a second to react to the sudden noise, with Joel saying, "Oh, excuse me" before continuing to read.

Video releases

• Released on DVD by Rhino Entertainment in May 2006 as part of The Mystery Science Theater 3000 Collection: Volume 9, a 4-DVD set with Women of the Prehistoric Planet, The Sinister Urge, and The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies. The set quickly went out of print within weeks when it was pulled due to right issues.
• Re-released on DVD by Shout! Factory in January 2019 as part of Mystery Science Theater 3000: Volume IX.
• Digitally available through Amazon Instant Video, iTunes, Vudu, and VHX.

Gallery

References