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in: MST3K Episodes, Season 3, Episodes with shorts,
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MST3K 320 - The Unearthly

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“ The story you're about to see is true. No names were changed because no one was innocent. ”
- Servo during the first short


The Shorts[]

Synopses[]

Posture Pals[]

320s1

Four children decide to better themselves through posture, with help from their teacher Ms. Martin. Tommy wants to have good health, Jimmy wants to stand straight and tall, Jane wants to grow tall, and Mary wants to look pretty. All four children develop outstanding posture in the end.

320s21

Appreciating Our Parents[]

This is the story of a boy named Tommy, who can't do anything for himself. He rethinks his symbiotic relationship with his parents, and decides to become a "team player". He also learns what Mom and Dad do after he goes to bed.

Information[]

  • Director Ted Peshak's son Skip Peshak appears as Tommy.

The Movie[]

Main article: The Unearthly (film)

Synopsis[]

A young woman is brought to a rest home where a villainous doctor experiments on the patients. A private detective arrives under the false identity of a fugitive from the law and attempts to free her.

The Episode[]

Host Segments[]

Unearthlyhost1

Joel's assortment of celebrity products, Including the Jackie Mason Jar!

Prologue: The Satellite of Love crew decides to make an entry for everyone's favorite show, America's Goofiest Home Videos.

Segment One (Invention Exchange): Crow, who was char-broiled during the video shoot, is identified by his dental records. The Mads demonstrate some hard pills to swallow, Including a life size Flintstones Vitamin, while Joel and the Bots create a random assortment of celebrity-inspired products, like the Emilio Esta-Pez and the Jackie Mason Jar.

Segment Two: Tom and Crow learn how to appreciate Gypsy in the same vein as the short. It quickly degrades into the two of them hurling abuse at the other for doing so little.

Segment Three: The SOL crew does a tribute, "The Many Faces of Tor Johnson".

Segment Four: The Bots make up their own board game out of the leftovers from other board games, and model it after the twisted house from the film.

Segment Five: Joel and the Bots read a letter in the style of the Dead End Kids, and even Dr. F gets into the act with his Leo Gorcey impression.

Stinger: Tor announces it is "Time for go to bed!"

MST3K Cast[]

Trivia[]

Callbacks[]

Obscure References[]

  • "Avis Films, we try harder."
A reference to car rental company Avis and its slogan "We try harder".
  • "Hey, it's Whistler's Mother!"
Whistler's Mother is a painting by James McNeil Whistler and is considered a symbol of Americana
Ms. Martin looks a little like her.
  • "The Larch"
A reference to the Monty Python's Flying Circus episode "How to Recognize Different Types of Trees from Quite a Long Way Away". The larch, a conifer, was an example that was used repeatedly.
  • "...and now Red in the silent spot."
"The Silent Spot" is a segment that appears in the later episodes of The Red Skelton Show which involved one of Red's pantomime characters.
  • "They'll go to Burger King and get crappy hats."
The Posture Royalty Crown looks like the paper crowns that are given to children at Burger King restaurants.
  • "He's got VPL"
"VPL" is an acronym for "visible panty line"
  • "And what gives Jane her worried frown?" "Valium?"
Valium a.k.a. Diazepam is an anti-depressant.
  • "You have got to be kidding me, Pyle!"
A reference to Andy Griffith show spin-off Gomer Pyle, U.S.M.C (or perhaps to Stanley Kubrick's film Full Metal Jacket, in which a Marine drill sergeant refers to a particularly incompetent recruit as "Gomer Pyle" -- Gunnery Sergeant Hartman does say "You have got to be kidding me, Pyle!" to Pvt. Pyle when he cannot climb over an obstacle in one scene.
  • "A playground where APES EVOLVED FROM MEN!?"
A parody of the famous line from the film Planet of the Apes.
  • "It's Ernest Borgnine! Ughhh!"
Mary's dad looks like distinguished actor Ernest Borgnine best known by MSTies as the grandpa in Merlin's Shop of Mystical Wonders.
Both are a reference to the anthology series Alfred Hitchcock Presents, in which Alfred Hitchcock appears in silhouette.
  • "And who will have a Sealy Posturepedic childhood."
Sealy Posturepedic is a type of mattress made by the Sealy Corporation.
  • "Oh no! Ah, I'm on fire! What a world... what a world."
A reference to the famous death quote of the Wicked Witch of the West in the Landmark film, The Wizard of Oz.
  • "What is this, Dog on a Hot Tin Roof?"
Cat on a Hot Tin Roof is a 1955 play by American playwright Tennessee Williams. There were also film adaptations in 1958 and 1984.
  • "What's the word? Thunderbird! What's the price? 40 twice."
A reference to the ad campaign by the fortified wine Thunderbird.
  • "The subject was roses."
The Subject Was Roses is a Pulitzer Prize-winning 1964 play written by Frank D. Gilroy, who also adapted the work in 1968 for a film with the same title.
  • "Hey! HAL is reading your lips!"
A reference to the scene in 2001 A Space Odyssey, where astronauts Frank Pool and David Bowman discuss disconnecting the HAL-9000 computer. Unbeknownst to them, HAL is able to understand their plot by reading their lips.
  • "Don't start with me, George."
A reference to the play and film Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? in which a married couple, Martha and George, constantly bicker.
  • "Sign, sign, everywhere a sign."
These are lyrics from the song "Signs" by Five Man Electrical Band.
  • Crow: (as John Wayne) "Never apologize, Mister. It's a sign of weakness."
A quote from 1949 Oscar-winning film She Wore a Yellow Ribbon.
  • "By this time my lungs were aching for air."
One of numerous times MST used this line from the Lloyd Bridges TV series Sea Hunt.
  • "I've turned her into a Sleestak!"
The Sleestaks are a race of lizard people in the TV show Land of the Lost.
  • "That's not writing, that's typing."
Truman Capote's reaction to Jack Kerouac's novel On the Road.
  • "Chris Isaak! No, I....."
Chris Isaak is a singer and song-writer known for his breakthrough hit Wicked Game which Servo starts to sing.

Memorable Quotes[]

Posture Pals[]

Narrator: You can see that this boy needs help!
Joel: He's a loser and the kids let him know it.
----
Joel: That's when the Kids came up with a plan to blackmail Mrs. Reedy.
----
Narrator: He's leaning backward out of balance, Just like a house about to fall.
Servo: Just like his Dad on Friday night.
----
Joel [Commenting on the nature of the "Posture Pals" system]: Oh, they're gonna take this for a half hour before they end up killing each other...
---
Narrator: And Bombo reminds her that when you slump, you look tired and unhappy.
Servo [Laughingly]: Bombo!?
---
Narrator: Don't you agree that these four children deserve to win after trying so hard to improve their posture?
Joel and the Bots [Unanimously]: NO!
---
Joel: They're the posture posse!
---
Crow: They're chances of being cool are ruined for life

Appreciating Our Parents[]

Narrator: Good night!
Crow [As Tommy calling out to his parents.]: No! Help! There's an announcer under my bed!
---
Narrator: And what about father? What does he do all day? Well he had a particularly hard job today.
Servo: Dad pulls the lever at "The Big House."
---
[Scene showing Tommy's Porky Pig piggy bank.]
Narrator: Help save money. Remember, someone has to work to earn it.
Servo: Get Porky some pants!

Video Release[]

Unearthlydvd

Shout! Factory single release

  • Commercially released on VHS by Rhino Entertainment in August 1997.
  • Commercially released on DVD by Rhino in April 2003 as part of The Mystery Science Theater 3000 Collection: Volume 3, a 4-DVD set with The Atomic Brain, The Side Hackers and Shorts Volume 2. This set went out of print sometime around 2010.
    • The set was re-released by Shout! Factory in September 2016 as Mystery Science Theater 3000: Volume III.
  • Commercially released by Shout! Factory as a DVD single in August 2011.
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