Aha! The RuPaul story!
Film watched: The She-Creature
The episode is available in the Gizmoplex here
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The Segments:
Prologue- Crow tries to get some exercise while Servo tries to defrost his frozen pot roast. It's shown that they had their Thighmaster and Thawmaster switched around, as Crow melts himself into a puddle and Servo's meal remains iced over.
Segment 1
- The Observers have strapped Bobo to a gurney and are about to dissect him, and Pearl, who is next, has been trapped in a psychic prison. Pearl begs Mike to create a distraction so she can escape, promising to never send the him and the 'Bots another bad movie again, which they grudgingly agree so she can stop overdramatically pleading with them. Under Mike's direction, the Nanites distract two of the Observers by cutting their psychic tractor beam, leaving the third to guard Pearl. With a ruse about an invisible man in her prison, she holds the Observer's brain hostage and threatens to stab it with her hairpin, but not before telling Mike that she lied about not sending him bad movies anymore. In the midst of the chaos, Gypsy tries to steer the SOL away from the planet, but finds that the Observers disabled the navigation system. Turning back to the Nanites, Mike tells them to take care of their "little problem", and they comply by whipping up a "Number 7": blowing up the Observers' planet, to Crow and Servo's fury.
Segment 2
- A creepier-than-usual Crow introduces Mike to his newest creation: the Tickle-Me Carlo Lombardi doll. Just like the movie, the doll is fat, aggressive, sticky to the touch, and utters an insanely creepy laugh as it attacks the be-jumpsuited man, which prompts Crow to bail on the idea and let Mike keep it.
Segment 3
- Bobo, Pearl, and the Observer she took hostage (henceforth "Brain Guy") have again escaped planetary destruction, and are flying the Widowmaker back in pursuit of the SOL. Brain Guy sobs hysterically over the destruction of his homeworld, so Pearl tries to cheer him up with a rowdy and forceful travelling song, albeit not without confusion at where to start. The Widowmaker soon get a flat, and Bobo falls onto the surface of an unknown planet when he goes to change it.
Segment 4
- Mike and the 'Bots are reading Lance Fuller's book Do Not Act for pointers on how to perform as blandly and incoherently as possible. Mike struggles with the technique while reciting lines from King Lear, The Odd Couple, Network and Schindler's List, but he finally nails Fuller's style while quoting Waterworld.
Segment 5
- The SOL crew try to figure out what the film's question mark ending stood for, then try to escape Pearl. They soon find out that Brain Guy is psychically holding the SOL in place. He and Pearl have become friends and agreed to an alliance in the name of getting revenge on Mike, though Pearl is clearly the brains and the brawn behind it. In The Stinger, Bobo is still moaning in pain from his fall onto the unknown planet.
The Mystery Science Theater 3000 presentation of The She-Creature contains examples of these tropes:
- Actor Allusion: According to Crow, Ted Erickson's first question to the hypnotised Andrea is "Will I get the part in This Island Earth?" (The answer is yes: Lance Fuller played Brack in that film.)
- Alien Autopsy: In the opening segment, the alien Observers are about to dissect Bobo and Pearl. Bobo is first in line.
- Ambiguous Syntax: When Gypsy informs Mike that the SOL had its navigation system cut by the Observers, Mike defers to the Nanites to resolve "that little problem." And their method of resolving said "problem"? Blowing up the planet.
- Amusing Injuries: Bobo sustains these after falling from orbit.
- Baby Talk: Mike and the 'Bots fall for Pearl's Blatant Lies when she starts begging for their help — "Pweeeease? For Peawwl? C'monnnn—" just to get her to stop.
- Blatant Lies: Pearl swears to not send a bad movie ever again if the SOL crew helps her and Bobo escape. In the middle of a screaming match with the other Observers (and Bobo) while holding a brain hostage (don't ask):Pearl: (gestures for everyone to shut up, which they do; turns to the camera, nonchalantly) Mike, I accidentally lied, your movie today is She-Creature. (everyone resumes yelling)
- Call-Back: The movie being about an actual hypnotist gives the crew ample opportunity to belt out "SLEEEEEEP!!"
- Creepy Doll: Crow creates Tickle-Me Carlo Lombardi, because what kid wouldn't want a fun friend like the pudgy, wide-eyed, mustachioed stage hypnotist of the movie? "And I made him sticky, so he's even more fun!"
- Dull Surprise: Mike reads Lance Fuller's book on acting and takes up the Lance Fuller method: avoiding eye contact, mumbling lines, and a complete lack of emotional range, or indeed any emotions beyond "at most a mild show of petulant incredulity."
- The Guards Must Be Crazy: Pearl uses the classic "I got a sick man in here" ploy on the Observers, complete with rapping on the invisible force field "bars" with a cup. An invisible man. That the Observers created with their minds. Yes, they fall for it.
- I Lied: Pearl says she "accidentally" lied after (obviously) reneging on her promise to stop sending the SOL bad movies.
- Jerkass: While Observer is in the middle of his breakdown over his planet being blown up, Pearl makes a point of telling him to cover part of the van’s gas:Pearl: (as she does her make-up) Hey, hand me the Cheez-It’s, will ya? And don’t forget, you gotta pony up some gas money, too, got that, Powder?
- Last of His Kind: Brain Guy becomes the last of the Observers in this episode... at least until The Deadly Bees reveals that his brethren spent the intervening years (which were technically in the future) reconstituting themselves.
- Literal Genie: Inverted. It's precisely Mike's inexact wording that lets the Nanites interpret it as a Deadly Euphemism.
- Lying Finger Cross: Pearl promises to never show Mike and the 'Bots another bad movie ever again. She holds up one hand in the Scout sign — sort of, using two fingers, which she crosses, in plain sight, then crosses her ring finger and pinky and crosses those over her other crossed fingers, then holds up her other hand with all four fingers crossed over themselves and each other, then crosses both arms in front of her chest. They fall for it anyway after she starts begging them to help her in Baby Talk.Pearl: Really. Never again. Ever.
Crow: Hmm. You think we can trust her? - Mike Nelson, Destroyer of Worlds: Planet Number 2 for Mike, as his ordering the Nanites to make a distraction in an attempt to help Pearl and Prof. Bobo, and later asking the Nanites to stop the Observers from preventing their escape, results in the destruction of the Observers' home planet. This episode particularly provides the Trope Namer:Gypsy: Hey, I tried to steer us away from the planet, but the stupid Smart Guys have cut our navigational system.
Mike: Well, uh, maybe the nanites can take care of that little problem, huh?
Nanite 1: Yeah, we'll fix your little problem for ya!
Nanite 2: Uh huh! Hey, Steve! Mr. Nelson wants a Number 7!
Nanite 1: Pronto!
Mike: Well, there you go. That took ca— hey, what's a Number 7, anyway?
(Observer Planet blows up)
Servo: Mike, you blew up another planet! What is your deal?!
Mike: I just asked them to take care of a little problem!
Crow: And they did! Here comes Mike, Destroyer of Worlds!
Servo: Oh, god of fire and vengeance — stay away from me! - No One Should Survive That!: Pearl and Bobo live through being at ground zero for the destruction of another planet, and manage to bring one of the Observers along for the ride. Bobo also somehow survives atmospheric reentry. But it's just a show.
- Offscreen Inertia: While Segment 3 was primarily set in/focused on Pearl’s van, at the end it’s revealed Mike and the bots were busy playing paper football (using Crow’s head as a net).
- Our Lawyers Advised This Trope: Right as Mike (attempts) to make a getaway with the SOL at the end of the episode, Crow has to stop Tom from attracting the ire of Disney:Tom: To infinity, and-!Crow: (quickly; cutting Tom off) Shhh. Disney. Lawsuit.Tom: Uh, some other places...
- Poor Communication Kills: This time Mike destroys a planet because the Literal Genie Nanites take his vague request to distract the Observers as permission to go hog-wild and blow it up.
- Refuge in Audacity: In the middle of the screaming match that ensues over Pearl holding Observor's brain hostage with her hair pin, she actually puts it on pause to inform Mike she lied about not sending him any more movies.
- Running Gag:
- "SLEEEEEEEEEEP!!!"
- Jokes about Lombardi's transformation into The Thing That Would Not Leave. At one point, Servo concludes "So he's Carlo Kato Lombardi Kaelin." (Brian "Kato" Kaelin was a guest on OJ Simpson's property during the notorious murders, and gained his fifteen minutes of fame when his testimony turned him into a Trope Codifier for The Thing That Would Not Leave.)
- The low quality of Lombardi's hypnosis act. (Lombardi: I have no "act". / Crow: Yeah, I saw it.) Occasional jokes about him hypnotizing the audience:Mike: (As Lombardi) You will applaud, feeling refreshed!
- Shout-Out: Donald Duck has the Ring of Power!
- Sick Captive Scam: Successfully used by Pearl, despite being alone in the invisible force field the Observers have her trapped in. While the other Observers are distracted, Pearl lures the remaining Observer (the future Brain Guy!) into the force field by telling him "Your friend Observer created an invisible man with his mind and put him in here with me." When the Brain Guy gets close, Pearl takes his brain and holds it hostage, standing off the other Observers while threatening to stab it with a scalpel.
- Some Kind of Force Field: The Observers have Pearl trapped in one as she awaits her Alien Autopsy.
- Story Arc: The Observers' arc ends with the destruction of their planet and Observer (the one played by Bill Corbett) joining Pearl and Bobo to get his revenge on Mike.
- That Poor Plant: In the film, when the alcoholic Abhorrent Admirer throws away his current drink as a good-faith gesture.Mike: And the hydrangea bushes die a horrible death!
Servo: Some squirrel down there's gonna have a kick-ass party! - The Stinger: The last non-movie stinger: Bobo groaning in pain after falling from the Widowmaker onto the planet below.
- We Need a Distraction: Pearl begs the SOL crew to distract the Observers before they dissect Bobo. At Mike's request, the nanites disable the tractor beam holding the SOL trapped above the Observer's home planet... then destroy the planet at his vaguely-worded request to "take care of a little problem."
