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in: MST3K Episodes, Season 8, Directed by Jim Mallon

MST3K 803 - The Mole People

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“ It's a civilization of elderly great-aunts. ”
- Tom Servo


This article is about Experiment #803. For the Mads' Mole People assistants, see Gerry and Sylvia.

The Movie[]

Main article: The Mole People (film)

A subterranean expedition discovers a hidden society deep beneath the surface of the Earth.

The Episode[]

Host Segments[]

Prologue: Crow claims he's a space child because he has replaced his normal inanimate eyes with glowing balls. His "Supreme Leader" orders him to enslave Mike, Tom and Gypsy, but he can't get it together and naturally, they remain un-enslaved.

Segment One: It's Lawgiver Daze! Pearl Forrester forces her simian charges to honor her with a celebration and parade. Professor Bobo, uncomfortable doing any of it, ends up kneeling before her begging to be killed. The S.O.L. is ordered to make baked goods for the event. Servo makes a variety of similar-looking but differently-named folded pastries. Crow makes a mile-high meringue pie that is actually a mile high. He climbs up to slice the pie for Mike, but loses his balance and falls one mile down, landing painfully.

Mike's "funny" impression

Mike's "funny" impression

Segment Two: Mike dresses up as the "Gesture Professor" from the prologue of The Mole People. The 'Bots have to talk Mike down to the point where he's trying to give a little levity and then he gets "jumped all over". He then finally apologizes to them about the skit. (Mike: "We'll be right— [into character] —down, down, down...–"
Crow & Servo: [O.S.] "Mike!")

Tom tries to play guitar

Tom tries to play guitar

Segment Three: Tom tries to play the mandolin and sing a ballad about what he’s been up to for the past five hundred years, but cannot properly tune the instrument. After getting the tune right, Tom then does proceed to his song, only to have one of the mandolin strings snapping and hitting Mike's eye. Tom finally gives up shortly before Movie Sign.

Segment Four: Crow, the archeologist, searches for evidence of a previous Crow and has a breakthrough. As Mike talks it out with Crow's 500-year loneliness, he goes through a short state of realization and suddenly remembers Mike and Servo before asking them if he did nothing but eat candy bars for 500 years. (Crow: [O.S.] Get me a spot, will you!?)

Special guest star (or "Howard")

Special guest star Robert Smith (or "Howard")

Segment Five: Crow believes there’s life beneath the floorboards of the SOL, and he’s right. (Mike: "Well, we better call Orkin!") On Earth, the Lawgiver is presented with a hunky gift - a speechless human named Howard.

Stinger: Professor Etienne Lafarge reaches his limit.

Obscure References[]

  • "It's a jump to the left."
A reference to the song "Time Warp" from The Rocky Horror Show and its film adaptation, The Rocky Horror Picture Show.
  • "Oh, these are the people who make that nice Mexican sauce!"
Mole is a sauce made from peppers, spices, and unsweetened chocolate. Mole comes in a myriad of varieties.
  • "Mike, I don't love you anymore because the mountains are crumbling [possibly mumbled: 'into the sea'?]"
Possible reference to the Led Zeppelin song "Thank You" ("If the mountains should crumble to the sea, there would still be you and me.") which in itself is probably a reference to the Ben E. King song "Stand by Me", which also talks of mountains crumbling into the sea.
  • "Oh, Pilate's favorite! What I wouldn't give to be spat upon!"
Paraphrase of "Ohh! What wouldn't I give to be spat at in the face! I sometimes hang awake at night dreaming of being spat at in the face." from Monty Python's Life of Brian.
  • "Earthquake, shut up already, damn!"
A parody of the song "Housequake" from Prince's 1987 album Sign o' the Times.
  • "Get the tiny Zig-Zags!"
The leaf in seen on screen vaguely resembles a cannabis leaf, and Zig-Zag is a brand of rolling paper.
  • "It's Baby Jessica! She's digging her own way out!"
Jessica McClure, widely known as "Baby Jessica", fell into a well in her aunt's backyard in Midland, Texas, on October 14, 1987, at the age of 18 months. It took 56 hours for rescuers to successfully free her.
  • "Thank you, Hannah Arendt."
Hannah Arendt was a political theorist whose books were mainly concerned with the nature of power and evil, as well as politics, direct democracy, authority, and totalitarianism. She is best remembered for the controversy surrounding the trial of Nazi Adolf Eichmann, her attempt to explain how ordinary people become actors in totalitarian systems, and for the phrase "the banality of evil".
  • "Its an In-N-Out Burger!"
In-N-Out Burger is a chain of hamburger restaurants found largely in Southern California where the company was founded. Their logo is a giant angular yellow arrow similar to the symbol of the Fire of Ishtar in the film.
  • "You will die in the Fire of Ishtar!" "Hey! That movie wasn't THAT bad!"
Crow is referring to the 1987 Warren Beatty and Dustin Hoffman film Ishtar; which was considered one of the worst movies ever made and an infamous box office bomb. (Though Crow's comment suggests compared to the usual films he's subjected to, it's still watchable.) Mary Jo Pehl defended Ishtar on Reels of Justice, where it was found Not Guilty of being a bad movie.
  • "Who will buy this wonderful feeling!?"
Tom is singing lyrics from the song "Who Will Buy" from the musical Oliver!; particularly during the more frantic up-tempo portion of the song as the chorus grows bigger and louder.
  • "I love my BluBlockers!"
Servo is referencing an old commercial for BluBlocker sunglasses featuring an impromptu rap by MC Dr. Geek, who was a quirky Venice Beach persona.

Memorable Quotes[]

[The film begins with an introduction from Professor Frank C. Baxter of the University of Southern California.]
Baxter: This is science fiction of course. It's a fiction, it's a fable.
Mike: It's a fabulous funny freak-out.
Baxter: But I think if you study this picture and think about it, when it's over...
Crow: You'll feel dirty.
Baxter: You'll realize that this is something more than just a story told.
Servo: It's a story botched.
Baxter: It's a fable with a meaning and a significance for you and for me in the 20th century. Thank you, and goodbye.
Mike: Peanut nostrils happy clams.
[The opening credits scroll out of a huge crater]
Mike: Mt. Pinatubo erupted yesterday, spewing movie credits all over the Southern Hemisphere.
[Dr. Bentley and his crew find a suitable camping site on the summit of Mt. Kuitara]
Bentley: We'll make camp here!
Crow T. Robot: Then we'll dig our graves over there!
Moleman: My name is Hans. Drinking has ruined my life. I'm 31 years old!
Moleman: No one's gay for Moleman.

Behind-the-Scenes[]

MST3K cast[]

Regular cast

Guest cast

Notes[]

  • Both the prologue and the first host segment reference the movie The Space Children. However, the movie would not be featured on the show until the next season.
    • The first host segment also features the first of several instances where Crow falls from a great height. It will be far from the last.
  • Though it's only visible for a brief instance, the Polaroid in Host Segment 4 is indeed a picture of Crow.
  • Features a special guest star: Robert Smith, a star running back of the Minnesota Vikings. Celebrity guests were extremely rare during the original run of MST3K (see also Leonard Maltin).
  • The Mole People had been considered as an experiment for the entire run of the show. Gerry and Sylvia, Dr. Clayton Forrester's camera crew and gaffers during the first few seasons of the show, were inspired by the creatures in the film.
  • This is the last movie starring John Agar to be featured on the show, and the first episode of the Sci-Fi Channel era to receive a dedicated promo.
  • Of the first five episodes in Season 8 and of all the eight Sci-Fi Channel Universal Studios episodes, this is the only one to have been uploaded to YouTube by the official channel, having been uploaded to the site in early August of 2016.
    • Despite this, the episode has never been featured on any other streaming services outside of YouTube for unknown reasons.
    • This is one of three Mike episodes to be exclusively on YouTube in terms of digital releases, with the others being Alien from L.A. and Kitten with a Whip.

Video releases[]

MST3K DVD Cover

MST3K DVD Cover

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