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"Just keep brushing and brushing and saying the name of our Lord and Savior!"
- Mike


"She must be one of Senator Packwood's aides."
- Mike


The Short[]

Main article: Keeping Clean and Neat (short)

Synopsis[]

0613s1

A 1950's social education short for children on how to remain clean and neat, how to dress, and how to organize one's shoe-shining equipment.

Information[]

The Movie[]

Main article: The Sinister Urge (film)

Synopsis[]

Police attempt to stop a group of pornographers who have connections to a larger criminal organization.

The Episode[]

Host Segments[]

Sinisterhost

Gypsy's gift giving shower

Prologue: Mike and the Bots give Gypsy a gift giving shower, because that's what they believe all women get. And apparently they believe that all women want pinking shears.

Segment One: The shower is just so lovely and darling, while down in Deep 13 Dr. F begins to worry about Frank, who has been missing for several days. Searching for clues, Frank's movie choices are slightly concerning, and his gift to Gypsy of pinking shears includes a card threatening to blow up Deep 13.

DrFTiedUp

Frank's got Dr. F all tied up

Segment Two: Frank gives the SOL a taste of what he’s planning, having sent a bomb up the Umbilicus. Frank gloats and reveals he's tied up Dr. F as he prepares to blow up Deep 13. Mike and Bots are initially amused by Forrester's cry for help, until they realize no more Mads means no way down. It's up to them to save him.

Segment Three: Everyone checks Frank’s background for clues, while Crow tries his contact on the streets - Huggy Bear! Well, a Huggy Bear, but neither he nor Rooster provide any aid, leading to Tom and Crow fighting over who's a better cop.

Sinister Urge cop show cliches

Servo and Crow act out cop show cliches

Segment Four: Things look bleak as the Bots cycle through more cop-show cliches, until Gypsy causes Mike to remember Frank's weakness: Potato Cakes. Calling down to a dynamite covered Dr. F, Mike convinces him of his plan and Frank seems to have no problem with Dr Forrester stepping out.

Segment Five: Frank calls up to the Satellite of Love to gloat over Dr. F's imminent demise, until Mike cuts him off by asking to speak to Dr. Forrester to talk him through how to use the potato cakes to defeat Frank and disarm the bombs. Mike and the Bots are now free to read a letter, before we return to Deep 13 to see Dr. F's revenge, Deep Fried Frank!

Stinger: “Dirk? No that can’t be Dirk ...nuh-uh ...no ...that’s not Dirk ...no,” says Gloria.

MST3K cast[]

Regular cast

Guest cast

Callbacks[]

  • "You’re stuck here!" (Fugitive Alien)
  • "Oh, goodie! THIS guy!" is a reference to actor Harvey B. Dunn, who had appeared in two previous experiments.
  • "It's Jet Jaguar!" "Hey, it is! How would YOU know?" (Godzilla vs Megalon) Crow's confused reaction is due Joel being the test subject for that experiment, years begore Mike joined the SOL.
  • "EEGAH!!!" (Eegah)
  • "Daddy-O? Dick Contino?" (Daddy-O)
  • "Oh, hi Batwoman!" (The Wild Wild World of Batwoman)

Obscure References[]

  • "There you are Don, back in bed this morning." "Now, a giant cockroach"
An allusion to Franz Kafka's novella The Metamorphosis.
  • "He's becoming Howard Hughes!"
Aviation tycoon and film producer Howard Hughes battled obsessive-compulsive disorder his entire life, which eventually turned him into a recluse.
  • "And Rosie Ruiz takes the lead in the Boston Marathon."
Rosie Ruiz cheated her way to a first-place finish in the 1980 Boston Marathon by taking a subway to within a few miles of the finish line and joining the race already in progress (she was subsequently disqualified).
  • "It's Erich von Stroheim's Greed."
Erich von Stroheim shot more than 85 hours of footage for the classic 1924 silent film Greed and delivered an 8 hour long cut to the studio, which was further edited down to 2 1/2 hours. The full 8 hour long cut is now considered lost, though film archivists have long sought it.
  • "Smut?! I'll show you SMUT!"
A very obscure M*A*S*H reference snarled by Hawkeye Pierce when accused of reading "smut" to a Korean child (who didn't understand English). His utterance is barely heard over the ranting between the entire M*A*S*H cast.
  • "Mad dog! Eh-heh, eh-heh!"
Crow is imitating Pee-wee Herman in Pee-wee's Big Adventure.
  • "Don Was? The producer?"
Don Was is a prolific music producer.
  • "Richard Diamond, Operator."
A reference to the radio drama and TV series Richard Diamond, Private Detective.
  • "It's Bizarre with John Byner!"
Bizarre is a sketch-comedy TV series from the 1980s. It often featured raunchy content.
  • "Person to Person with Irving Klaw!"
Person to Person is a TV talk show of the 1950s hosted by Edward R. Murrow. Irving Klaw was an early bondage/fetish photographer, best known for his work with Bettie Page.
  • "It's Hymie!"
A reference to Hymie the robot from Get Smart. Played by Dick Gautier, Hymie looked a bit like Johnny Ryde.
  • "A young Benazir Bhutto robs the malt shop!"
Benazir Bhutto was a Pakistani politician who served as the first female prime minister of Pakistan.
  • "Let's watch Ghost Dad again!"
Ghost Dad is a 1990 movie starring Bill Cosby.
  • "Fred Olen Ray, Sr.!"
Fred Olen Ray is a director and producer of T&A-laden B-movies such as Bikini Cavegirl. One connection between Ray and Wood is that the former was a fan of the latter's. In 1978, Ray, who was 23 at the time, paid Wood for a science fiction comedy script, intending to make a "so-bad-it's-good" B-flick. The film was called Beach Blanket Bloodbath and a scene was shot to entice investors. Wood died later that year from complications due to alcoholism and no investor was interested in the script.
  • "Ed Wood dresses as Marian McPartland and brings down the house!"
Marian McPartland was a jazz pianist and the host of the National Public Radio show Piano Jazz.
  • "There's a gay character in For Better or Worse!"
In 1993, the comic strip For Better or For Worse generated controversy when one of its characters came out as gay.
  • "Oh, goodie! THIS guy!"
Harvey B. Dunn was a regular character actor in Edward D. Wood films (including Bride of the Monster), as well as Teenagers from Outer Space.
  • "She must be one of Senator Packwood's aides."
Senator Bob Packwood was forced to resign from the Senate in the wake of multiple sexual harassment charges against him.
  • "Coming this fall on ABC- Get Courtney Love!."
A reference to rock singer Courtney Love and the TV film and series Get Christie Love!.
  • "Quickly, into the TARDIS!"
A reference the British science fiction TV series Doctor Who, in which a humanoid alien travels through time and space in a vehicle, the TARDIS, that has the outward appearance of a police phone box.
  • "I don't like the direction The New Yorker is taking under Tina Brown."
Tina Brown took over as editor of the venerable magazine The New Yorker in 1992, amid concerns that she would push the magazine in a more commercial direction.
  • "I'm still big! It's the dinkies that got small!"
Parodying a famous line from Sunset Boulevard spoken by former silent film star Norma Desmond.
  • "You know she still looks better than Lucille Ball in Mame."
Mame is a critically-panned 1974 film starring Lucille Ball. Like Gloria, she dressed in a manner that was both lavish and tacky.

Memorable Quotes[]

Crow: We're giving you a shower!
Gypsy: [surprised] Huh!?
Servo: Oh look, she's surprised, isn't that just darling?
Gypsy: Well, I'm not getting married and... am I pregnant!?
Crow: Oh Gypsy, every woman gets a shower and it's just so lovely.
Gypsy: Well, I'm pretty sure I'm a woman.
Gypsy: It's from Frank! Listen to this: [reads letter] "Dear Gypsy, how are you? I'm fine. I'm going to bomb the living bejesus out of Deep 13. Well, it looks like I'm out of room. Best wishes, Frank." [realizes the threat] OH MY GOD! MIKE! TOM! CROW! WE GOT TO STOP HIM! [goes back to reading the letter] "P.S. Hope you like the pinking shears."
Crow: Well, if Frank goes through with his plan, that means no more mad scientists!
Servo: Which means no more evil experiments!
Mike: Which means no more Deep 13!
Crow: Which means no way can we ever, ever get down to Earth!
Servo: Which eventually means no more Satellite of Love!
Mike: Which means no more... [they finally realize what would happen and faint from shock]
Crow: [gets up] ...We've got to help Dr. Forrester save Deep 13! [faints again]
Mike:This is a dead end, a blank wall, an empty check!
Gypsy: It's no piece of cake, that's for sure!
Mike: Wait!, Hold it, Gypsy, say that again...
Gypsy: I said, 'It is no piece of cake!'
Mike: Potato cakes! That's it!


Video Release[]

  • SinisterUrge
    Commercially released on DVD by Rhino Entertainment in May 2006 as part of The Mystery Science Theater 3000 Collection: Volume 9, a 4-DVD set with Women of the Prehistoric Planet, Wild Rebels, and The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies, the DVD was later pulled due to rights issues with Women of the Prehistoric Planet, which made Volume 9 out of print and very hard to find.
    • The set was re-released in January 2019 by Shout! Factory.
      • The DVD features a introduction with known Ed Wood contributor and actor Conrad Brooks, who played Connie in this movie, specifically taped for the release. Brooks discusses his work on the film as both an actor and a misguided turn as a stuntman. The re-release also features the Wood: Taming The Sinister Urge featurette.


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