Twelve Angry Teens
Film watched: Teen-Age Crime Wave
The Segments:
Prologue
- Mike and the Bots are preparing an escape attempt, and are trying to keep everything on the down low so Dr. Forrester doesn't find out.
Segment 1/Invention Exchange
- In Deep 13, Dr. Forrester demonstrates Mace Mousse, his painful new tool to use against annoying perfume saleswomen at the mall, on Frank. Mike and the 'Bots triumphantly announce their plan to escape, but the jetpack they were building fails to take off, much to their sorrow and Dr. F's delight. Mike finds out that the plan failed because Crow used lox (the fish product) instead of LOX (liquid oxygen) for the jetpack's fuel supply, though Crow himself doesn't see the difference.
Segment 2
- Mike and the 'Bots hold a tribute to Doughy Guys and the roles they've played through history.
Segment 3
- The SOL crew creates S.o.l's, the first deli in space, having put a variety of sandwiches, soups, and sides named after the stars of past experiments on their menu. Frank gives them their very first order, but Movie Sign activates before they can get cooking.
Segment 4
- The 'Bots act out a Mentos commercial while Crow sings the "Mystos" song.
Segment 5
- Tom delivers letters for Mike and Crow to read as they discuss the film's issues. In Deep 13, Frank dresses up as a superhero called "Doughy Man" before Dr. F maces him. Again and again.
The Mystery Science Theater 3000 presentation of Teen-Age Crime Wave contains these tropes:
- Affectionate Parody / Spoof Aesop: The Mentos parody host segment: "Youth is better! Old is stupid!"
- Black Comedy: "Would ya' look at that - the other half of the Black Dahlia!
" - Call-Back: Mitchell!
- The "S.o.l.'s" segment has too many to count.
- Why don't they look?
- Fake-Out Fade-Out: At the end of the credits, the credits abruptly switches back to Deep 13 and show Frank recovering from the mace, only to get maced yet again and the button to be pushed to restart the credits. This happens many times — the first three times, Colleen Henjum-Williams's credit under "contributing writers" is half on screen before Deep 13 reappears, while at the fourth time, Frank Conniff's writing credit appears right before the switch. Afterwards, the credits make it past Frank Conniff's credit, but Mary Jo Pehl's is half on screen before we get one last Frank macing scene.
- I Meant to Do That: After the Jet Pack plan backfires, Mike and the bots awkwardly claim that they were doing a skit based on what it would look like if they failed to escape. Obviously, Dr. Forrester doesn't buy it.Dr. Forrester: (happily) Oooh, Nelson... So close, and yet so not...
- Jet Pack: Mike's half of the Invention Exchange is a rocket pack to get him and the 'Bots down to Earth; unfortunately it misfires, and Mike is forced to explain it to Doctor F. as a skit about "what would happen if our escape plan failed." Clayton is too busy macing Frank to do more than snark.
- Manchild: When Frank as Doughy Man sees Forrester swing by him on a rope swing, he delightedly exclaims "oh, for fun!" with childlike wonder in his voice. Clayton then maces him for the seventh time that day.
- The Man Is Sticking It to the Man: Mocked with the "Mystos" sketch.
- Overly Long Gag: The overdone macing of TV's Frank at the end credits.
- Names to Run Away from Really Fast: Would you want to get maced with something called Satan's Jockstrap?
- Rule-Abiding Rebel: The "Mystos" spoof. "You're rebelling in a non-threatening way!"
- Running Gag: "He'd never touch you, Terry. You're dirt." Becomes a Call-Back in later episodes.
- Also the constant freak-outs whenever the phone rings."There's that THING again! WHAT DOES IT MEAN???"
- And humming the wedding theme whenever any characters (including the two beefy cops) run under the trellis.
- And everybody has taken a course in Observatory Maintenance.
- TV's Frank getting repeatedly maced throughout the show and during the credits sequence.
- Also the constant freak-outs whenever the phone rings.
- Similar Item Confusion: Crow didn't know the difference between LOX, liquid oxygen, and the fish product lox while Mike was putting the Jet Pack together.Crow: That's still no reason why it shouldn'ta worked...
- Shout-Out: Several:
- The first segment contains a whole bunch of references to The Great Escape.
- When the movie's Opening Scroll starts up, Crow starts reading the introduction to The Empire Strikes Back.
- There are also a few references to music and musicals; Oklahoma!, for one.Terry: Be our guest!
Crow: Put our service to the test!
- Take That!: It's hard to not look at the "Mystos" ad and not see it as a stab against Mentos' marketing campaign.Crow: (singing) Youth is better in every situation! Youth is better! Old is stupid! Youth is better, (quickly) so eatMystosandliveasuperlongfunlife!
- Yank the Dog's Chain: The fourth time the credits abruptly end, Frank steals Dr. Forrester's Mace Mousse and attempts to mace HIM for once. Unfortunately, the spray was facing the wrong way...
