Mystery Science Theater 3000: NIGHT OF THE BLOOD BEAST
April 19, 2017 11:53 PM - Season 7, Episode 1 - Subscribe
"No girl was safe as long as this HEAD HUNTING THING roamed the land!" An astronaut dies on reentry. Aliens are emerging from his skin, including one really big one that roams the countryside, stopping watches. Everyone wants to kill it except the astronaut, who is now not dead and full of shrimp. With short Once Upon a Honeymoon: More celestial interfering with mortal affairs, this time with an angel helping a composer write a jingle so he and his wife can go on their honeymoon. Roger Corman again, this is his next-to-last featured movie. Daddy-O informs us that the exactly same costume and location were used in 315 TEENAGE CAVEMAN. This is a weird episode because there are two sets of host segments. The first showing was on Turkey Day 1995 and an alternate storyline was written involving Thanksgiving dinner with many of the show's Comedy Central movie cameo characters, making this a nice retrospective on the CC years. Because this is the first episode of the infamous Season Seven, only six episodes long and the end of the show's run on that channel. 701 701T (1h32m) Turkey Day '95 extra bits & alternate host segments Premiered: 701T on Thanksgiving Day, November 23, 1995; 701 on February 3, 1996.
Episode 710 NIGHT OF THE BLOOD BEAST
Satellite News - Mighty Jack's Episode Review - War of the Colossal Fan Guide - Amazing Colossal Episode Guide: Mike's entry
Episode 710T NIGHT OF THE BLOOD BEAST (Turkey Day edition)
War of the Colossal Fan Guide - Amazing Colossal Episode Guide: Bridget's entry
Short: Once Upon a Honeymoon
Daddy-O's Drive-In Dirt - Wikipedia
IMDB (1956, 3.1 stars)
"Waiting for her husband to finish song-writing so they can go on their postponed honeymoon, a woman dreams of new home decor with matching phones."
Directed by Gower Champion. Written by Kenneth H. Bennett and Leo S. Rosencrans. Starring Virginia Gibson, Ward Ellis and Alan Mowbray.
Movie: Night of the Blood Beast
Daddy-O's Drive-In Dirt - Rotten Tomatoes (Critics N/A, Viewers 11%) - Wikipedia
IMDB (1958, 3.0 stars)
"An astronaut is killed on reentry to Earth, but his body is seeded with rapidly gestating aliens."
Directed by Bernard L. Kowalski. Written by Martin Varno and Gene Corman*. Starring Michael Emmet, Angela Greene and John Baer.
Notes:
The asterisk by Gene Corman's writing credit comes due to Martin Varno's successful arbitration, in which he claimed to have written the entire story himself.
The fansites I usually link are all pretty effusive about this episode, suggesting it may be a hidden classic. Particularly, Mighty Jack rates it among the Best In Show.
In addition to the above unusual qualities of this episode, this one starts a tradition originating with the Sci-Fi Channel and continued by the Satellite News website. From this episode through to the end of the classic series, they provided supplements to the Amazing Colossal Episode Guide, which as you may know ended with Season Six. Because this material is all still on the internet (Satellite News took over custodianship of the Sci-Fi Channel website's entries when they cancelled the show) I will be providing links to it with each episode, so we can get opinions on the episodes from the staff themselves!
This is another movie "presented by" Samuel Z. Arkoff and James H. Nicholson, who produced many previous movies and still have quite a few left. They brought us: 309 THE AMAZING COLOSSAL MAN, 311 IT CONQUERED THE WORLD, 313 EARTH VS THE SPIDER, 315 TEENAGE CAVEMAN, 317 VIKING WOMEN AGAINST THE SEA SERPENT, 319 WAR OF THE COLOSSAL BEAST, this one 710 NIGHT OF THE BLOOD BEAST, 806 THE UNDEAD, 807 TERROR FROM THE YEAR 5,000, 808 THE SHE CREATURE, 809 I WAS A TEENAGE WEREWOLF, and 912 THE SCREAMING SKULL.
This is the episode (in its Turkey Day host segments) that establishes one of the show's more-wondered-about in-jokes: that Pearl often calls Crow Art. In one of the host segments, Pearl spots Crow and says "Art? Is that you?" And Crow recognizes her, despite obstensibly having been trapped up in outer space during his entire existence. Part of it is just a joke, of course, the guys finding exactly the least likely thing to happen, having it happen, and forcing the audience to wonder how the heck it could have happened. And they continue the joke through later episodes, even extending to the Sci-Fi Channel run! But it's not just a random joke. Satellite News notes that the name came originally from a Season 3 host segment where Joel, playing like Jackie Gleason calling out his fellow performers ala the Jackie Gleason show, names him "Art Crow," as a joke off of Art Carney. A letter from a child read on-air in a later episode thought that that must actually be Crow's name, and named him, just, "Art." Apparently, that is the ultimate source of Pearl's name for Crow.
The "Art" gag originated in the Turkey Day host segments, but is called back to in the intro host segment in the "main" version of the episode, implying that it must have happened after the Turkey Day version chronologically.
Episode 710 NIGHT OF THE BLOOD BEAST
Satellite News - Mighty Jack's Episode Review - War of the Colossal Fan Guide - Amazing Colossal Episode Guide: Mike's entry
Episode 710T NIGHT OF THE BLOOD BEAST (Turkey Day edition)
War of the Colossal Fan Guide - Amazing Colossal Episode Guide: Bridget's entry
Short: Once Upon a Honeymoon
Daddy-O's Drive-In Dirt - Wikipedia
IMDB (1956, 3.1 stars)
"Waiting for her husband to finish song-writing so they can go on their postponed honeymoon, a woman dreams of new home decor with matching phones."
Directed by Gower Champion. Written by Kenneth H. Bennett and Leo S. Rosencrans. Starring Virginia Gibson, Ward Ellis and Alan Mowbray.
Movie: Night of the Blood Beast
Daddy-O's Drive-In Dirt - Rotten Tomatoes (Critics N/A, Viewers 11%) - Wikipedia
IMDB (1958, 3.0 stars)
"An astronaut is killed on reentry to Earth, but his body is seeded with rapidly gestating aliens."
Directed by Bernard L. Kowalski. Written by Martin Varno and Gene Corman*. Starring Michael Emmet, Angela Greene and John Baer.
Notes:
The asterisk by Gene Corman's writing credit comes due to Martin Varno's successful arbitration, in which he claimed to have written the entire story himself.
The fansites I usually link are all pretty effusive about this episode, suggesting it may be a hidden classic. Particularly, Mighty Jack rates it among the Best In Show.
In addition to the above unusual qualities of this episode, this one starts a tradition originating with the Sci-Fi Channel and continued by the Satellite News website. From this episode through to the end of the classic series, they provided supplements to the Amazing Colossal Episode Guide, which as you may know ended with Season Six. Because this material is all still on the internet (Satellite News took over custodianship of the Sci-Fi Channel website's entries when they cancelled the show) I will be providing links to it with each episode, so we can get opinions on the episodes from the staff themselves!
This is another movie "presented by" Samuel Z. Arkoff and James H. Nicholson, who produced many previous movies and still have quite a few left. They brought us: 309 THE AMAZING COLOSSAL MAN, 311 IT CONQUERED THE WORLD, 313 EARTH VS THE SPIDER, 315 TEENAGE CAVEMAN, 317 VIKING WOMEN AGAINST THE SEA SERPENT, 319 WAR OF THE COLOSSAL BEAST, this one 710 NIGHT OF THE BLOOD BEAST, 806 THE UNDEAD, 807 TERROR FROM THE YEAR 5,000, 808 THE SHE CREATURE, 809 I WAS A TEENAGE WEREWOLF, and 912 THE SCREAMING SKULL.
This is the episode (in its Turkey Day host segments) that establishes one of the show's more-wondered-about in-jokes: that Pearl often calls Crow Art. In one of the host segments, Pearl spots Crow and says "Art? Is that you?" And Crow recognizes her, despite obstensibly having been trapped up in outer space during his entire existence. Part of it is just a joke, of course, the guys finding exactly the least likely thing to happen, having it happen, and forcing the audience to wonder how the heck it could have happened. And they continue the joke through later episodes, even extending to the Sci-Fi Channel run! But it's not just a random joke. Satellite News notes that the name came originally from a Season 3 host segment where Joel, playing like Jackie Gleason calling out his fellow performers ala the Jackie Gleason show, names him "Art Crow," as a joke off of Art Carney. A letter from a child read on-air in a later episode thought that that must actually be Crow's name, and named him, just, "Art." Apparently, that is the ultimate source of Pearl's name for Crow.
The "Art" gag originated in the Turkey Day host segments, but is called back to in the intro host segment in the "main" version of the episode, implying that it must have happened after the Turkey Day version chronologically.
Yes, but will you be showing the "standard" version of 701 or the Turkey Day version... of course if you show BOTH, this could run into a binge watch of semi-epic proportions...
posted by oneswellfoop at 1:47 AM on April 20, 2017
posted by oneswellfoop at 1:47 AM on April 20, 2017
The plan is to show the standard version of 701, then a YouTube compilation of the Turkey Day bits, which shouldn't be missed seeing as how they contain Mike as Jack Perkins and, as I mentioned, the beginning of Pearl calling Crow "Art."
posted by JHarris at 3:05 AM on April 20, 2017
posted by JHarris at 3:05 AM on April 20, 2017
Not everyone is named Steve!
posted by wittgenstein at 5:25 AM on April 20, 2017 [2 favorites]
posted by wittgenstein at 5:25 AM on April 20, 2017 [2 favorites]
One of my top 5 episodes, and notable for one of the few moments where one of the Bots laugh at something and can't stop themselves (at the "snarf farms" line). It really is one of the most adorable moments in the series.
posted by AlonzoMosleyFBI at 5:28 AM on April 20, 2017
posted by AlonzoMosleyFBI at 5:28 AM on April 20, 2017
This has been in the Comet rotation for a while, and is the source of my email sig "Hard to trust somebody not named Steve."
posted by stevis23 at 7:57 AM on April 20, 2017 [1 favorite]
posted by stevis23 at 7:57 AM on April 20, 2017 [1 favorite]
Written by Martin Varno
"I just have one question: Do you cats like to party?" (possible Season 11 spoiler, please practice safe clicking)
posted by Strange Interlude at 10:14 AM on April 20, 2017 [1 favorite]
"I just have one question: Do you cats like to party?" (possible Season 11 spoiler, please practice safe clicking)
posted by Strange Interlude at 10:14 AM on April 20, 2017 [1 favorite]
This is the first "new" episode I saw when my childhood cable service finally added Comedy Central in 1996. I had seen a few Joel episodes and maybe a Mike or two in the daily reruns, but this was a new fresh episode that had my family and I cracking up. It was so great to know they were still producing new episodes and that MST3K would safely and confidently run for years!
Then Season 7 was just six episodes and it was canceled. Easy come, easy go.
"This is back when NASA was family owned and operated."
posted by Servo5678 at 5:36 PM on April 20, 2017 [1 favorite]
Then Season 7 was just six episodes and it was canceled. Easy come, easy go.
"This is back when NASA was family owned and operated."
posted by Servo5678 at 5:36 PM on April 20, 2017 [1 favorite]
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Our weekly showings are going dual-purpose for a while. Since Season 11 is still fresh and new to everyone, we are moving our Thursday showings over to rabb.it, at https://www.rabb.it/rodneylives to be precise, for a bit. There, the current plan is to show that week's Season 11 episode (this time 1102 CRY WILDERNESS) at 7 PM Eastern time/4 PM Pacific time, then the Classic MST episode at the usual time of 9 PM Eastern time/6 PM Pacific time, then the Season 11 episode again for any stragglers, at 11 PM Eastern time/8 PM Pacific.
That's six solid hours of riffing, and I can't say for sure that this schedule will persist for all of Season 11. I myself may drift out a bit during the first or second S11 showing, depending on how painful/repetitive I find it. Also, rabb.it differs from cytu.be in some important respects. Although you can share both Netflix and YouTube there (which is the primary reason for the venue change), it seems like it might be more dependent on the host being in the channel at all times. It seems likely at least that no one else can join a channel while the host isn't there.
There are some other options available and if we find one that works out better in general we may switch to it, but this seems to be the best solution for now. Because of the extra time, we may end up switching to two different S11 episodes on Thursdays, or maybe even go Season 11-only for a bit, to get them out of the way faster and so sooner return to shorter, cytu.be-specific showings.
posted by JHarris at 1:10 AM on April 20, 2017