Criminal mastermind Mr. Tucker recruits a group of misfits to commit a robbery, then betrays them.
The Episode[]
Host Segments[]
Joel tries to read a scary story
Prologue: Joel attempts to read the Bots a scary story, but Tom and Crow are too jaded and aren't biting, until Joel produces the unrelenting terror that is Life's Little Instruction Book...
Quick Primp Kit styling station
Invention Exchange (Segment One): While Dr. F has an even scarier book, Frank introduces the time saving but rather cumbersome Quick Primp Kit styling station, where as Joel removes all the trouble from modern art production with the Mark Rothko Paint-by-Number kit.
Segment Two: Crow has ordered the "Co-starring with Scott Baio - You!" acting lessons.
Segment Three: Inspired by the movie, Joel asks the Bots what they'd do with a four-hour layover in Chicago. Crow has elaborate plans.
SOL writing workshop
Segment Four: Joel hosts a writing workshop with the Bots using the so-called "Merritt Stone Method", which seems interested only in stories that reference, take place on, or otherwise involve trains.
Closing (Segment Five): Tom "Hercule Poirot" Servo has conceived of an elaborate process of elimination to determine the identity of Merritt Stone, but things become more confused and Servo's head explodes. Down in Deep 13, the also-obsessed TV's Frank fares no better.
Stinger: The weird old beatnik poet proclaims, "I am bugged!"
Obscure References[]
"I'm reading for Mel Brooks tomorrow."
Mel Brooks is a famous comedy writer, director and actor. He co-created the popular 1960s tv series Get Smart, which starred Don Adams, Barbara Feldon and Edward Platt, who plays Tucker in the film. The rest of the episode contains several references to Get Smart, including the show's characters (Max, Agent 99, Larrabee) and catchphrases ("Sorry about that, Chief..." "Missed it by that much..." "The Cone of Silence", etc).
"A show called Moose Murders"
Moose Murders is a 1983 play infamous for being one of the biggest flops in Broadway history, closing after one performance.
"She's a Jules Feiffer cartoon"
Jules Feiffer was an American cartoonist who worked for many years as the staff cartoonist for The Village Voice. He often drew tall, thin beatnik women in black leotards like one of the dancers in this movie.
A line from the song "The Intro and the Outro" by the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band, in which various notable people were credited as being among the musicians performing in the song.
"We have nothing to fear but fear itself."
Spoken as Mr. T puts a cigarette holder in his mouth, this is a well-known quote from the United States President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who often used a cigarette holder.
"It's Miss Hathaway!"
Miss Hathaway was the loyal secretary to the irascible bank manager on the TV comedy The Beverly Hillbillies. The voice of the actress on the record sounds a bit like her.
"A cock's comb?" "By Henry Miller." (repeat)
Henry Miller was an American playwright and author. Some of his work was sexually-charged. This would seem to be a reference to his novel Crazy Cock.
"Hey, Vern!" "Ernest does a dime in Attica!"
Ernest P. Worrell was a well-meaning yokel character played by actor Jim Varney. He appeared in a series of commercials, and later movies including Ernest Goes to Jail. He often addressed the unseen character Vern. Attica is a maximum-security state prison in New York. In this context, "a dime" would refer to a 10-year sentence.
"Theo Bikel? Must be 200 Motels."
Theodore Bikel was an Austrian performer who appeared in Frank Zappa's movie 200 Motels.
"He's doing Krapp's Last Tape ."
Krapp's Last Tape is a play by Samuel Beckett in which an old man listens to monologues he has recorded on tape over the course of his life.
"May I...Dance with your dates?"
A line from the film Animal House spoken by a burly bar patron who confronts the Delta Tau Chi frat boys trying to fit in at a bar with a primarily African-American clientele.
"She's Danielle Quayle."
Spoken after the waitress misspells a word. This is a reference to an incident in which former Vice-President Dan Quayle, using a card prepared by a teacher, had "corrected" a grade-school student's spelling of the word "potato" by telling them to add an "e" to the end.
"Travelin' along... Footloose and fancy free..."
Sung over a shot of a car driving along a back road, Joel is paraphrasing the song "Movin' Right Along" from The Muppet Movie.
"Ya know, the committee to re-elect the president!"
"My boss, always comin' up with phrases like that."
Spoken in the manner of the opening narration for the TV show Hart to Hart in which Max, the roughneck valet (played by Lionel Stander), affectionately describes his employers Mr. & Mrs. Hart. Subsequent takes on this riff from Crow occur throughout the episode.
"Gordon Lish is going to give me a bad grade on this"
Gordon Lish is an author and editor who also taught fiction writing. He is famous for having a harsh teaching style.
"Visit the off-world colonies!"
Referencing the inviting offers spoken through the city intercoms from Blade Runner.
(Singing over an establishing shot of Chicago.)
Joel and the 'bots are singing the instrumental theme tune from The Bob Newhart Show, which was set in Chicago. The opening credits sequence depicted Bob's commute home through the city from his office.
"...And Cucamonga"
A recurring joke on the Jack Benny radio program involved Jack waiting to board a train. The announcer (played by Mel Blanc) would announce boarding for a list of cities which would always end with Cucamonga, CA. As the joke was repeated over the course of the series, Blanc would make the pause between "Cuc" and "-amonga" longer and longer.
"Super Dave!"
Super Dave Osborne is a character created by comic actor Bob Einstein. A luckless daredevil, Osborne is the star of a TV show which depicts his attempts to perform various stunts which always went wrong. He typically wore a crash helmet.
"I'm gonna kill that milk to impress Jodie Foster."
John Hinckley Jr. was supposedly motivated to make his attempt on the life of U.S. President Ronald Reagan out of a desire to impress actress Jodie Foster, upon whom Hinckley was fixated.
"Tonight's episode- Milk: It Does a Body Dead."
For many years during the 1980s, the slogan of the National Dairy Board was "Milk: It Does a Body Good". Additionally, many crime/police dramas (including a lot of Quinn-Martin Productions) would feature ominous episode titles with twists on common phrases.
"Mrs. Webb... You're backing up... That's a one-way, Mrs. Webb..."
Crow is mimicking the vocal style of Bob Newhart, whose Driving Instructor character's interactions with his student, the easily confused and distracted Mrs. Webb, is one of Newhart's best-known stand-up comedy routines.
"Pound pastrami, can kraut, six bagels — bring home for Emma."
Reference to the post-apocalyptic science fiction novel A Canticle for Leibowitz, by Walter M. Miller, Jr..
"Art Linkletter! They all have Art Linkletter on them!"
Art Linkletter was a television presenter who served as the long-time spokesman for the board game The Game of Life, and appeared on the $100,000 bills in that game as recently as the 1985 revision.
"Alright, who wants gum?" "I DO, I DO!"
A play on the slogan used by Trident gum in commercials shown in the nineties.
"I write about the life of the mind."
A reference to the movie Barton Fink. In that movie, Barton declines a similar offer from a working-class guy to give him stories he can use.
Latin for "In the name of the Father", this is part of the blessing bestowed by a priest during a Catholic mass.
"Oh, a love scene..." "No tunnel."
Images of trains (and trains entering tunnels) have often been thought of as a visual metaphor for sex. A notable example of this happens at the end of the film North by Northwest, in which Cary Grant's character is shown taking his new wife into the train berth they are sharing, then cuts to a shot of the train entering a tunnel.
The set was re-released by Shout! Factory in October 2019.
The DVD features a trailer for the original film, a Rap with Don Sullivan interview, and Gene Fowler, Jr: Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad Moviemaker featurette.
The DVD packaging incorrectly states that The Mystery Science Theater HourJack Perkins wraps are included for this movie, where Secret Agent Super Dragon has wraps based on it instead.
