MST3K 401 - Space Travelers

401 - Space Travelers
Air/Release Date	June 6, 1992
MST3K Director	Jim Mallon
Turkey Day(s)	November 25, 1992, 10pm
MST Hour	January 7, 1994 January 10, 1994
AKA	Marooned
Movie Director	John Sturges
Year	1969
Cast	Gregory Peck Richard Crenna David Janssen James Franciscus Gene Hackman Lee Grant Mariette Hartley
Preceded by	324 - Master Ninja II
Followed by	402 - The Giant Gila Monster

“	No, it was TONY FRANCIOSA!!!	”
	- Tom

The Movie

Synopsis

Gregory Peck in Space Travelers

Three American astronauts (Gene Hackman, Richard Crenna and James Franciscus) returning from a long space station mission suddenly face imminent death when their spacecraft malfunctions and they are stuck in orbit with a very limited oxygen supply. On the ground, Chief astronaut Ted Dougherty (David Janssen) breaks all the rules to implement a mission to rescue the seemingly doomed adventurers. Charles Keith (Gregory Peck) is the ground commander in Houston who must decide whether or not to approve the dangerous rescue mission. Originally released as Marooned.

Information

• 

  James Franciscus (top) & Tony Franciosa (bottom)

  An Oscar winner for Best Special Visual Effects, making it the only Academy Award-winning movie to ever be MSTed. The film also picked up nominations for Best Cinematography and Best Sound. [1]
• Another film that Film Ventures International were able to snap up and release while its copyright status was unclear, thus the different title and the Film Ventures International style title sequence for sale to the cable market.
• Throughout the movie, Crow keeps referencing James Franciscus as the Finder of Lost Loves, only to be corrected by Tom (with increasing frustration each time) that Tony Franciosa was the star of that series. This plays into Joel's shell game in the final segment.
• There is no musical score for this film. Instead, each spacecraft has its own ambient soundtrack when it is shown in space. The Apollo shots feature a low hum; the XRV, a hollow ringing; the Nimbus Weather Satellite, a rapid series of beeps ascending in pitch; and the Russian Voshkhod, a constant pitch series of beeps. The only exceptions to this is are a very slight, muted bit of music played under the Apollo ambient soundtrack during Pruett's final EVA, and a single tone (with some ambient effects that could be called music) during the opening credits.
• In the film, the astronauts are seen using what appears to be the early concept of the Manned Maneuvering Unit - during the real-life Skylab missions, the Astronaut Maneuvering Unit (the AMU) was tested inside the space station and never tested in the vacuum of space. The first use of the MMU was during STS-41-B (the fourth flight of the Challenger) on February 7, 1984.
• Frank Capra began work on the film. Inspired by his work on the Martin-Marietta Corp.-commissioned faux documentary "Rendezvous in Space" for the 1964 World's Fair in New York, Capra (a chemical engineer by education) worked to make the picture for Columbia, but finally abandoned the project in preproduction in May 1966 when he couldn't bring the budget down to the $3-million required by Columbia worldwide production chief M.J. Frankovich. The eventual budget for the finished film (directed byJohn Sturges) was $8 million. Capra never made another film.
• At the launch of the rescue craft during a hurricane, the Cape Canaveral press corps is portrayed by the reporters themselves, though they are virtually unrecognizable in rain slickers and other gear. (As related by Sue Butler Hannifin; then a space reporter at the Cape.)

The Episode

Host Segments

Joel and the Bots reenact scenes from the movie

Prologue: The Great Crowdini attempts to escape, hanging upside-down, from a set of chains while a cannon is pointed at his head. Crow then loses the key.

Segment One (Invention Exchange): Crow reveals the secret to his escape: chewing his own head off. Dr. F chastises Frank for reading Variety, but Frank points out that the decline of Bruce Willis' latest film is a blow to evil everywhere. Joel presents the Dollaroid, a camera that puts pictures on money. The Bots point out its uselessness. The Mads present thier Tissues with Faces, allowing you to blow your nose on famous faces in ridicule. Pat Buchanan might be nothing to sneeze at... until pepper is added to the equation.

Tissues with Faces

Segment Two: The SOL crew lists the ways the space program has influenced everyday life. Some of them are kind of a reach.

Segment Three: Joel and the Bots reenact a scene from the movie, with Crow in the Gregory Peck role. He starts going crazy by switching into his David Janssen impression, and Joel drags him away for some quiet time.

Segment Four: Joel contemplates what would happen if one of the SOL crew had to sacrifice themselves in space. The Bots rain on his parade, pointing out that an oxygen shortage would only be a problem for him.

Segment Five: Joel fakes out Gypsy while playing fetch before demonstrating a magic trick for Crow and Tom, "Find the Finder of Lost Loves". The Bots end up frustrated and confused by his pop culture references. The crew then reads some letters before Gypsy returns with a lot of balls. The Mads are unimpressed with it all.

Stinger: Gene Hackman contemplates a pill.

Trivia

• Marooned was mentioned by Joel at the end of Rocketship X-M as an alternative to the depressing way that movie ended. Dr. Forrester responded "We couldn't get it!" Curiously enough, the Film Ventures copyright on Space Travelers is dated 1991, well after Rocketship X-M first aired. Marooned was also previously referenced by Crow in the opening moments of Fugitive Alien.
• The crew at Best Brains recounted a story In The Mystery Science Theater 3000 Amazing Colossal Episode Guide entry for this film about meeting comedian Dennis Miller backstage after watching a taping of Miller's short-lived late-night talk show. Miller's only comment to them was that they shouldn't have riffed Marooned and that maybe they were "losing their touch".
• Frank is, beginning with this episode, credited as “TV’s Frank.”
• The James Franciscus action figure that Joel pulls out in the closing segment appears to be Magneto from Toy Biz's X-Men line of action figures from 1991, and the Burl Ives action figure seems to be one of Baron Harkonnen from the 1984 film Dune.
• Frank's issue of Variety (and the references that it prompts) tend to indicate that this episode is set (or was produced) in mid-to-late January of 1992. The Last Boy Scout was released on December 13th, 1991 and it remained in the top 5 until the second week in January of the following year.
• Re: Dr. Forrester's tissues invention, comedian Geechy Guy did win 10 times on Star Search, setting the record for most appearances. He was defeated in 1990 by Taylor Mason, a "damn ventriloquist". In 1993, Guy set the Guinness World Record for most jokes told in one hour (676). Forrester also refers to comedian Rick Ducommun, who - in addition to his comedy career - had a small role in The Last Boy Scout (see above).
• The middle button on The Satellite of Love's console, used for connecting to the Hexfield Viewscreen, changes from green to purple, as of this episode.
• This episode aired third during Turkey Day '92.

Callbacks

• "That was number 9!" (The Side Hackers)

Obscure References

• "The Last Boy Scout has dropped out of the top five!"

The Last Boy Scout was a 1991 action movie starring Bruce Willis and Damon Wayans.

• "Remember The Return of Bruno!"

Return of Bruno was a musical album recorded by Bruce Willis in 1987.

• "Do what *I* do." -Joel, invention exchange.

This is from the Amazing Discoveries infomercials.

• "Is this some kind of joke? Am I some kind of clown? Do I amuse you in some fashion?"

Tom is paraphrasing Joe Pesci in Goodfellas.

• "The one-armed man is chasing me, I need a drink!"

A reference to David Janssen's role on the 1960s TV series The Fugitive.

• "Is he related to Lillian Hellman?"

Lillian Hellman was an American playwright best known for The Children's Hour.

• "Pig Pen, this is Rubber Duck. I'm gonna put the hammer down!"

A quote from one of the spoken-word segments from the song "Convoy".

• "That's the Estes Saturn V!"

A reference to the model-rocket manufacturer Estes Industries.

• "Charles Rocket!"

Charles Rocket was an American actor. He was notorious for having been a Saturday Night Live cast member during the poorly-regarded 1980-81 season, and for being fired for uttering an obscenity on air.

• "Before this decade is out, we will make a boring movie called Space Travelers!"

A reference to a 1961 speech in which President John F. Kennedy vowed to put a man on the moon.

• "Hey, the Residents!"

The Residents are a group of musicians who perform wearing eyeball masks, and whose exact individual identities are a closely guarded secret.

• "Three boys in plastics bubbles!"

The Boy in the Plastic Bubble was a 1976 made-for-TV movie starring a young John Travolta.

• "Seka? On the ship? Bucka-WOW!"

Seka was a porn star during the 1970s and '80s.

• "...sittin' around the lake, mountains come out of the sky..."

Joel is quoting the Yes song "Roundabout".

• "I am Iron Man!"

Joel is quoting the Black Sabbath song "Iron Man".

• "Why don't you solve your little problems and light this candle!"

Joel is quoting Alan Shepard from the 1983 film The RIght Stuff.

• "Like a circle in a spiral, like a wheel within a wheel..."

Beginning lyrics to "The Windmills of your Mind" from the movie The Thomas Crown Affair.

• "The President will issue an appropriate statement..." "And then he'll throw up on the Japanese prime minister."

MST3K 401 Promo

A reference to an infamous event that occurred on January 8, 1992 during a state dinner in Japan, when then-president George H.W. Bush vomited on the Prime Minister of Japan, Miyazawa Kiichi, and then passed out.

• "No, but I read Final Exit, and it's gonna come in handy."

Extremely controversial at the time of its publication in 1991, the book Final Exit was meant to be a how-to guide for terminally ill people on how to commit suicide in the most painless way possible.

• "Always with the negative waves!"

Quoting Sgt. Oddball (Donald Sutherland), a 1940s proto-hippie tank engineer in Kelly's Heroes.

• Gregory Peck: "Are you talking to me?"

A reference to an SCTV skit in which Peck and other unexpected actors are starring in Taxi Driver.

Video releases

MST3K DVD Cover

• Commercially released on DVD by Shout! Factory in March 2015 as part of Volume XXXII, a 4-disc set along with Hercules, Radar Secret Service, and San Francisco International.
  • The DVD includes an introduction by Frank Conniff, the Ballyhoo Motion Pictures feature Marooned: A Forgotten Space Odyssey, and a theatrical trailer.
    • The Mystery Science Theater Hour wraps for this episode were not included, due to Shout! forgetting to include them.

preceded by: Season 3		MST3K Season 4					followed by: Season 5
		1992 - 1993
401	Space Travelers	1992-06-06	409	Indestructible Man	1992-08-15	417	Crash of Moons	1992-11-28
402	The Giant Gila Monster	1992-06-13	410	Hercules Against the Moon Men	1992-08-22	418	Attack of the the Eye Creatures	1992-12-05
403	City Limits	1992-06-20	411	The Magic Sword	1992-08-29	419	The Rebel Set	1992-12-12
404	Teenagers from Outer Space	1992-06-27	412	Hercules and the Captive Women	1992-09-12	420	The Human Duplicators	1992-12-26
405	Being from Another Planet	1992-07-04	413	Manhunt in Space	1992-09-19	421	Monster A-Go Go	1993-01-09
406	Attack of the Giant Leeches	1992-07-18	414	Tormented	1992-09-26	422	The Day the Earth Froze	1993-01-16
407	The Killer Shrews	1992-07-25	415	The Beatniks	1992-11-25	423	Bride of the Monster	1993-01-23
408	Hercules Unchained	1992-08-01	416	Fire Maidens of Outer Space	1992-11-26	424	Manos: The Hands of Fate	1993-01-30