“ | Hey, get this, they're steam cleaning the horses! | ” |
- Gypsy |
The Movie[]
- Main article: Hercules and the Captive Women (film)
Synopsis[]
The mythic hero Hercules encounters the cruel queen of Atlantis and must stop her plans to create an army of superhumans to conquer the world.
The Episode[]
Host Segments[]

Lawn Baby
Prologue: Gypsy wants to join her friends in watching the movie. Crow and Tom are extremely leery.
Segment One (Invention Exchange): The Mads have continued their Deep 13 day care, and as a result, TV's Frank has developed the Lawn Baby, a lawnmower/baby stroller that is an accident waiting to happen. A radiant Joel demonstrates the Wombmate, a device that allows babies to listen to music in utero. In the theater, Gypsy tries to riff along with the boys, but she ends up leaving within the first five minutes.

The boys play with their Hercules action figure
Segment Two: Joel, Tom, and Crow enjoy some good-natured brawling as drawn from the film. They're even good-natured after they've been patched up.
Segment Three: Crow’s history report on Hercules is unnecessarily harsh.
Segment Four: The Bots' Hercules action figure is rather inactive, constantly repeating, "I'm so sleepy, I can barely keep my eyes open." Joel faints when the toy gives a prescient response to Joel's attempts to cheer the bots up again.

Segment Five: Joel and the bots bid the Hercules movies adieu (for now, anyway). They read a letter. Back in Deep 13, Frank is being chased by his invention, and it ends badly.
Stinger: "Hercules!", followed by Herc's freaky expression.
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
Guest Cast
- Michael J. Nelson - Hercules Action Figure
Trivia[]
- Nathan Devery concluded his internship with this episode.
- This episode aired eleventh during Turkey Day '93, and 31st during the 1995 Midnight MST Summer Countdown, where it ranked 26th.
- TV's Frank refers to the Deep 13 Daycare in the Invention Exchange, which first appeared back in Time of the Apes.
- During his recitation of Hercules "facts", Crow keeps referring to Hylas as Hinus (it's probable this was deliberate, so it's not listed as a Goof).
Callbacks[]
- “Hurry, Diana!” (Undersea Kingdom)
- Frank sings “I sing whenever I sing…” (The Giant Gila Monster)
- “Rock Candy Baby” (Daddy-O)
Goofs[]
- Joel says “Zatharatu” when he means to say Zarathustra.
Obscure References[]
- "Bonanza!" "And if that map burns, it'll be a Greece fire!"
- Bonanza is a 1960s TV western whose opening credits begin with a burning map of the Ponderosa Ranch.
- "Things fall apart."
- A line from the poem "The Second Coming" by W.B. Yeats; the bots recite the next two lines as well.
- "Sit, Ubu, Sit. Stay."
- An altered take on the ending bumper of Ubu Productions, the production company of Gary Goldburg, creator of the 80's sitcom Family Ties. The actual phrase is "Sit, Ubu, sit. Good boy."
- "Atlantis? That's where the Superstation comes from!"
- Cable channel TBS, which billed itself at the time as "the Superstation," is based in Atlanta, GA.
- "Come back to Atlantis. Make it Atlantis again, mon!"
- A parody of "Come back to Jamaica", an advertising slogan used to promote Jamaican tourism during the 1980s.
- "Everything is beautiful in the valley."
- A reference to the song "At the Ballet" from the musical A Chorus Line.
- "Michael Gross, no!"
- Michael Gross is an actor best known for his roles in the TV series Family Ties & the Tremors film series.
- "John!" "Marsha!" "Oh, John!" "Oh, Marsha!"
- A reference to "John and Marsha", a piece by comedian Stan Freberg that mocks melodramatic radio soap operas. The dialogue consists of two characters just repeating the other's name over and over.
- "Everybody must get stoned!"
- A reference to the Bob Dylan song "Rainy Day Women #12 & 35".
- "We love you Conrad, Oh yes we do."
- After the queen's brutal massacre of the slaves, Joel and the Robots sing a sad, slower version of the usually cheery and bright song "We Love You Conrad" from the popular musical Bye Bye Birdie.
- "James Broilin in The Car."
- A reference to The Car, a 1977 film about a car that comes to life and starts killing people.
- "I think this is the same ramp where Deep Throat used to meet Bob Woodward."
- While investigating the Watergate scandal, Washington Post reporter Bob Woodward, along with his partner Carl Bernstein, met their informant who used the alias "Deep Throat" (eventually revealed to be Associate FBI Director Mark Felt) in an underground parking garage.
- "Shall I call the cops? I'll call the cops."
- This is a (slightly misquoted) line of dialogue from The Graduate, famously delivered in the original film by a then-unknown Richard Dreyfuss.
Memorable Quotes[]
Hercules and the Captive Women (movie)[]
- [The movie features a scene with some "good-natured brawling" going on between a large group of men.]
- Gypsy: Hey, stop fighting! Everybody stop fighting!
- Joel: Um, it's...it's okay, Gypsy. It's just a movie.
- Gypsy: Oh?...Oh! Sorry, sorry...
- Crow: C'mon Gypsy, let's have it!
- Gypsy: Uhh, okay. Um...[sees Leon Selznick's credit] Look at that dumb name. That's so stupid!
- Crow: Oh brother...
- Servo: One time, this big lobster came and attacked a lady, but Mister Ed saved her.
- Gypsy: Really?
- Joel: I think he's kidding, Gypsy.
- [Hercules and company ride their horses through a patch of fog]
- Gypsy: Hey, get this, they're steam cleaning the horses!
- Joel: All right, Gypsy! Good one!
- Servo: Hey, you guys are supposed to be nice to me. Today is dedicated to my--
- Joel: We know!
Video Releases[]

MST3K DVD Cover
- Commercially released on DVD by Shout! Factory in March 2014 as part of Volume XXIX, a 4-disc set along with Untamed Youth, The Thing That Couldn't Die, and The Pumaman.
- The DVD includes an introduction by Joel Hodgson, MST3K Artist in Residence: Steve Vance, and The Posters of MST3K.
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 |