My sister saw this in junior high. All the boys had to go into the gym.
Dr. Forrester: Your film this week is a little number called Women of the Prehistoric Planet. There's really no reason for it, it just is what it is. Deal with it, musky breath!
Dr. Erhardt: Enjoy!
Dr. Erhardt: Enjoy!
Film watched: Women of the Prehistoric Planet.
Although its production number places it as the fourth episode of season 1, it was the last episode to be produced and aired for the season.
The last episode with J. Elvis Weinstein, but also the first with writer and future host Mike Nelson in an acting role.
The episode is available in the Gizmoplex here
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The Segments:
Prologue- Joel, on a couch, introduces himself and the plot. He shows off Crow's brownies, and refers to him and Servo as his guests for his talk show.
Segment 1
- The Mads show their new venture, the all raw-meat fast food joint Clay and Lar's Flesh Barn. Joel, having an off day, presents a roll of toilet paper inside a 2 liter soda bottle.
Segment 2
- Servo tries doing "This Is Your Life" with Joel, but Crow interrupts to point out a stray satellite going towards the Satellite of Love. Joel brings the device into the bridge, but he discovers that he's engaged its self-destruct sequence.
Segment 3
- Joel tries to disarm the device, which turns out to be a "literary doomsday device" made by Isaac Asimov. He has Crow scan and attempt to read the instruction manual, but it looks like it's from the Engrish edition.
Segment 4
- The doomsday device continues to get dismantled while Crow and Servo get philosophical on Joel. Sensing its wires being cut, the device begins its countdown. The three try to stop the device with a password, but that just makes the device work faster, turning the three into duplicates of Isaac Asimov. They continue to be Asimovs in the theater.
Segment 5
- Joel, Servo and Crow take off their Asimov disguises, and read some letters. Joel reads a letter from the winner of the Avocado boy alternate name contest. He also reads some more; one letter is from a man who found meaning from the show, another is from a father and daughter asking for more information about the MST3K Fan Club. Dr. Erhardt files out the experiment by strumming his guitar to Dr. Forrester.
The Mystery Science Theater 3000 presentation of Women of the Prehistoric Planet has examples of:
- Anachronic Order: Licensing issues pushed back the use of the movie to the end of the season; although they kept the original production number, references are made to the episodes filmed in the interim, including a contest from the Robot Holocaust episode.
- Casting Couch:Crewman: Evans, stand by to reverse course, horizontal maneuver.Evans: Yes sir.Joel: That's how he got that job.
- Call-Back:
- During the monologue that would eventually give birth to "HIKEEBA!", Joel tries to cover Bradley's mouth to get him to shut up.
- Joel ad-libs a character reading "Thou shalt not ki-" from a book. Crow points out that he already used that joke.
- Call-Forward: "HIKEEBA!" Originally called out by Bradley during his boast about being a karate master, it's become one of MST3K's favorite recurring riffs during fight scenes.
- Covers Always Lie: At the end of the movie, Joel wonders why the film is called that, despite having no scenes of the titular women on the planet.
- Cutting Corners: The mad scientists introduce their idea for a restaurant where they save costs by not cooking the food. They even sing a song about how the meat is raw, cut fresh right in front of the customer.
- Doomsday Device: And it will turn you into Isaac Asimov. The Horror!
- Early-Installment Weirdness:
- Rocket Number 9 is referred to as the "exterior shot".
- At one point, Joel gets up and paces around in order to mock an extended period of dialogue.
- Intentional Engrish for Funny: The instructions to the Doomsday Device are translated (badly) from Korean.Joel: "It will be very enjoyable for you to separate the ocular filter coupling of from the decapacitor, which is stout and yellow sometimes."
- My Dad Can Beat Up Your Dad: Said by Crow as a riff during the movie.
- Special Effects Failure: In-Universe, when Cosmos III is crash landing, Joel and the Bots say "fakie" on the ship, while "real" on some stock footage.
- Cosmos I approaches the planet.
Linda: It is such a beautiful planet!Joel: Hey, settle down, it's just a painting.- The Slurpasaur arrives at the Cosmos I Crew
Servo: Oh my god! It's an insert shot of an iguana!Joel: Their technology must be lightyears ahead of ours! Their use of stock footage is amazing!- When one of the character gets killed by a "spider".
Servo: Oh my god, how horrible to be killed by a plush toy! - Running Gag:
- The crew mocks Tang frequently for how he is named after a powdered drink mix.
- Chief is played by Stuart Margolin, who the crew recognizes as Rockford's buddy Angel and makes multiple remarks in reference to.
- Schizo Tech: Looking inside Cosmos I.Crow: Hey, check out those space age lockers.
- The Scrappy: In-universe, Joel and the Bots regard Bradley from the film very badly.
- Super-Speed Reading: Crow is able to scan the instruction manual for the doomsday device in seconds, then verbally relay the information to Joel.
- Trailers Always Spoil: On the Volume IX DVD set, Irene Tsu, who played Linda, casually reveals her character's parentage (a big twist in the film) during her special introduction of the movie.
- What's a Henway?: The punchline to Bradley's "HIKEEBA!" monologue.
