"Hey, he treed her!"
"Is the Devil wearing satin tap pants?"
"Is the Devil wearing satin tap pants?"
The Potsie Story!
Film watched: High School Big Shot with the short Out of this World
Out of this World focuses on two file clerks in an ethereal office, the demonic Red and the angelic Whitey, who each investigate the case of Bill Dudley, a bread deliveryman known in the past for his rather poor performances on the job. Desiring to win a bet with Red, Whitey disguises herself as a magazine columnist and descends to Earth so she can interview Bill, who explains how he's learned from his mistakes on the job and how other deliverymen like him can do the same, all while Red appears in disguise and reminds Whitey to persuade Bill to stop working hard, as their bet demands.
The episode is available in the Gizmoplex here
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The Segments:
Prologue
- Mike has a bad headache, which gets worse when Crow practices his cymbals, Tom plays some bagpipes, and Gypsy can’t stop laughing about Kramer.
Segment 1
- Crow manages to stop Mike from using a drill to relieve the pressure in his head... until he puts on his safety goggles. Dr. Forrester, feeling exceptionally lazy today, gives everyone chemistry sets so they can do his work for him. Frank, tinkering with a piece of amber, manages to clone a baby dinosaur that promptly mauls Dr. F. On the SOL, Mike whips up a potion that turns Tom into a hulking giant.
Segment 2
- Mike and the 'Bots dress up as bread salesman not unlike Bill Dudley to showcase their line of unusual "specialty breads".
Segment 3
- Crow and Tom proceed to drive by and egg Mike. With omelets. They throw hollandaise at him too, which he complains is too lemony.
Segment 4
- Playing the roles of master thieves, Crow and Tom attempt to break into Gypsy’s diary with dynamite. When it fails, they use more and more.
Segment 5
- The crew re-enact the depressing Kill Em All ending of the movie with squirt guns. In an attempt to keep himself safe and get revenge for his mauling, Dr. Forrester gives the cloned dinosaur something else to chew on... by shoving it down Frank’s pants.
The Mystery Science Theater 3000 presentation of Out of this World has examples of:
- Curse Cut Short: During the riffing:Bill: That's why I keep these bullseyes handy. So that a small slip-up doesn't turn into a big trip-up.Mike: Make sure you stock your truck up, so that you don't... well, you know.
- Hurricane of Puns: Several bread-related puns get thrown out during the short.
- Interface Screw: Downplayed. As the short begins, Tom takes up more space than normal in the theater due to being gigantic, but it quickly wears off.
- Messianic Archetype: Joked about as a potential twist ending.Tom: Oh, it's gonna turn out that the bread truck driver is Jesus.
Mike: "Hope you accept bread into your life!" - Running Gag: Mike and the 'Bots portraying Bill as a mobster who threatens his prospects with harm unless they stock his bread.
- Shame If Something Happened: Invoked in the riffing:Mike: (as Bill) Mr. Marco, you want my coffee ring today? Sure be a shame if something bad happened to your store here!Bill: How are you today?Mr. Marco: Ehhh, I'm-a feel lousy.Bill: Oh, I'm sorry to hear that.Servo: (as Bill) 'Cause I like you, Mr. Marco!Bill: (examining grocery cart) Hey, something new.Mike: (as Bill) Be a shame if this ran over your kid!
- Snap Back: After being turned into a giant Hulk Speaking robot, Tom abruptly shrinks down to normal size during the short.
The Mystery Science Theater 3000 presentation of High School Big Shot has examples of:
- An Arm and a Leg: Dr. Forrester loses an arm due to Frank's little dinosaur experiment.
- Apathetic Citizens: Frank treats his newly-cloned dinosaur like a spoiled Mr. Muffykins as it viciously attacks a mostly offscreen Dr. Forrester.Frank: [deadpan; as Dr. Forrester is his foot nibbled on] No. Bad. Wrong. That is not nice. Bad.
- Call-Back: Servo references the short at the beginning when he ponders where the bread display in a general store is.
- Comically Missing the Point: Tom’s immediate reaction to the shadow of Marc’s hanging father?Tom: Oh my God, he’s a puppeteer!
- Contrived Coincidence: Played for laughs: At the end of the movie, Tom decides that one of the cops arriving to arrest Marc was the same one called in regards to his dad's suicide:Tom: (as the cop) Aw, jeez, what a mess... I just came from a scene where some unemployed bean-eater was swingin' from the ceiling...
- Credits Gag: Frank's yelping of pain as the dinosaur chews him up plays over the credits.
- Downer Ending: The writers said that the entire film was depressing, and that the downer ending was a relief.
- Do Wrong, Right: While Mike is alone on the bridge, Crow and Tom drive by and nail him with an omelette. He then proceeds to call them back to lecture them on how what they did was wrong:Mike: Well, you see, when you egg someone, you’re supposed to use raw eggs, not omelettes, you morons!
- Crow and Tom then retaliate with a drive-by Hollandaise-ing instead. Mike’s critique this time? They made it too lemony.
- Fastball Special: One too many instances of "Don't Pay the Ferryman" from Tom results in Mike grabbing and throwing him to the side.
- Gentleman Thief: T. Hewett Edward Crow. He still can't get past the lock on Gypsy's diary.
- Hulk Speak: Tom develops this when Crow turns him huge.Tom: Movie bad! Movie go away!
- Hypocritical Humor: After Mike screams in pain from his headache, Tom and Crow tell him off... even though the bots were exacerbating it with their loud shenanigans.Tom: Jeez, Mike, could you keep it down?!Crow: Yeah, have some consideration!
- Killer Rabbit: Frank creates an adorable little T-Rex which goes on to savage Dr. F.
- Lack of Empathy: At the start of the episode, Mike is suffering from a bad headache. Despite knowing this, Crow promptly begins practicing the cymbals. This is followed swiftly by Tom blasting his bagpipesnote and Gypsy busting a gut over Seinfeld's Kramer.
- Laser-Guided Karma:
- Although he acknowledges it was a tad harsh, Mike admits Tom deserved getting thrown due to "Don't Pay the Ferryman".
- As payback for Frank transparently letting the dinosaur attack him, Dr. Forrester shoves it down his pants at the end.
- Not so Dire: After the movie's Downer Ending, Mike argues that cheating on the Shakespeare paper kinda paled in comparison.
- On the Next: In response to the movie’s way too upbeat credits music, Tom spins it like the movie was broadcast on Nick at Nite:Tom Servo: Coming up next on Nick at Nite, one of the original black-and-white I Dream of Jeannie episodes. (laughs) Then F Troop! Next, on Nick at Nite.
- Overly Long Gag: Tom Servo repeatedly singing "Don't Pay the Ferryman", which he pays for dearly.
- Real Life Writes the Plot: Mike suffering from a headache has a basis in reality; Mike Nelson actually does suffer from chronic headaches in real life.
- Running Gag:
- Exaggerating how poor the main character and his father are.
- Tom singing the Chris de Burgh song "Don't Pay the Ferryman", though Mike eventually puts a stop to that.
- Shout-Out: Frank manages to clone a superdeformed dinosaur from a piece of amber he had lying around. Jurassic Park hit theatres the previous year.
- Shout-Out to Shakespeare: Vince gets Sophisticated as Hell while analyzing Othello.
- Spoof Aesop: As "The End" shows on screen:Crow: This is the P.T.A., reminding you to always do your homework!
- Super Serum: Crow invents a potion that causes Tom to Hulk Out into an angry giant, but he gets better.
- This Is a Drill: Attempted: Mike tries to alleviate his headache via self-trepanation with a power drill, only to get distracted by the Mads calling.Crow: [rushes up to Mike] MIKE! NO!Mike: [flinches] Wha- what?! I have to relieve the pressure, it's the only way!Crow: Oh. ...well, at least wear your safety glasses.
- Too Dumb to Live: "Servo, drink this!"Tom: Uh, okay!
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Towards the end, Crow jokes that none of the film's plot would have happened if Marv's and Betty's teacher hadn't found out they were cheating on the final.
- With Catlike Tread: Crow's Gentleman Thief attempts to stealthily break into Gypsy's diary with dynamite.
- With Lyrics: Over the main titles:Servo: [singing] High School Big Shot. / A real High School Big Shot. / A High School Big Shot! / He's a Big Shot in High School!Mike and Crow: [singing] Big shot, big shot, BIG SHOT, BIG SHOT!
