Recap / Mystery Science Theater 3000 S10 E12: Squirm

"Me? I'd rather have a case of Bass Ale."

Well... I dunno why, but okay!

Films watched: A Case of Spring Fever (short) and Squirm

Being the final short riffed on the Satellite of Love (on cable TV), A Case of Spring Fever is the nuttiest by far. In the short, the grumpy Gilbert can't go golfing with his friends because he has to repair the springs in his sofa, angrily wishing to never see another spring so long as he lives. In pops "Coily the Spring Sprite", an animated critter who grants his wish, and makes all the springs in the world disappear. Gilbert gradually discovers that springs are vital for everyday objects to work, as he finds that he can't make calls, check his watch, or even start his car. He apologizes to Coily for his wish, prompting the little Spring Sprite to bring all the springs back. From there, the short turns educational as Gilbert preaches to his friends everything there is to know about springs, much to their frustration.

The Segments:

Prologue

• The crew goes through the list for their annual safety check and are reassured at their likelihood to die due to the 'Bots using all their emergency supplies for pranks.

Segment 1

• Pearl is hosting a local fair in Castle Forrester with plans to conquer every fairground in the universe. The 'Bots enter a 5,000-pound pig into the livestock contest, and Pearl shows Brain Guy her secret recipe for pickles.

Segment 2

• Crow wishes Mike never existed, which summons Mikey the Mike Sprite to grant that exact wish. Mikey expects the 'Bots to take back the wish, but they really don't care that he's gone and he has to beg them for Mike's return to existence.

Segment 3

• Servo is afflicted with severe Southern Belle-ness. Mike and Crow administer Yankee behavior modification to snap him out of it.

Segment 4

• Mike tries his hand at raising earthworms into giant mutant killers through electrical stimulation. It doesn't pan out, but on the plus side, the fried worms make for a tasty snack.

Segment 5

• Crow dresses up as the sister from the film, complete with mile-high high-heels that he stumbles and falls in. Pearl puts a three-foot bungee jump attraction in her fair.

The MST3K presentation of A Case of Spring Fever has examples of:

• Alternate Character Interpretation: In-universe, Mike and the Bots interpret Coily as an all-powerful Eldritch Abomination.
• Brick Joke: Early on, Crow asks where Coily fits into God's plan. Later, as Gilbert won't shut up about springs.
  Gilbert: Why, it's practically impossible to name a single thing in which some sort of spring isn't essential in one way or another. (looks up)
  Crow: Oh look, God has a spring!
• Call-Back, Running Gag: Coily was the inspiration for Willy the Waffle way back in Season 3; they'd been wanting to riff the short since back then and simply weren't able to get the rights until the show's final season. Also, references to Coily (along with his spring sound) are imitated in a host segment ("Mikey the Mike Sprite, they call me") and in Squirm itself.
  • Kevin even quotes the "No springs!" after a goofy spring sound effect in the short One Got Fat released through RiffTrax.
• Disproportionate Retribution: Coily removing all springs from the world just because of what Gilbert said.
  Mike: So, one clod says one thing and the whole world pays?
• Easily Forgiven: Coily reversing the wish.
  Servo: So, Coily waited all eternity for this moment, and he backs down almost instantly?
• Evil Laugh: Coily's laugh comes off this way.
  Servo: (as Coily) You'll be the first to die!
• Ending Fatigue: Discussed In-Universe, as the short keeps going after Coily reverses Gilbert's wish.
  Servo: Shouldn't this be over?
  • According to Mary Jo Pehl, this is one of the reasons why they put off featuring this short on Mystery Science Theater 3000 for so long, because they weren't sure if the 2nd half provided enough riffing material.
• End of an Era: The final short film riffed before the main feature. Shorts are still riffed on the Gizmoplex, but separate from the films.
• Fan Disservice:
  Servo: (amused and disgusted at the same time) More gray asses!
• Indecisive Parody: Sort of. The first half of the short is teaching the main character how important springs are, but then the second half has him preaching non-stop about how important springs are to his friends, who are clearly annoyed by him.
• It's a Wonderful Plot: Both the short itself ("Merry Christmas, you wonderful old couch!") and the following host segment it inspires, where Mikey the Mike Sprite tries to show the Bots the horror of a world without Mike. It backfires — Tom and Crow aren't really too bothered by life without Mike. Eventually Mikey starts badgering the bots into at least half-heartedly pretend they have learned their lesson and wish for Mike to come back.
  • Mike does care about his socks, though. "No Mike's socks!" (whistle)
• Odd Job Gods: Parodied when the trio invoke Mikey, the Mike sprite, and Mike's Socksy, the Mike's socks sprite. (Each one is credited separately to Patrick Brantseg at the end.)
• Soundtrack Dissonance: When Coily returns the universe to normal, "Perpetuum Mobile" by Johann Strauss II plays. Mike and the bots wonder if a circus is next door.
• Technology Marches On: Invoked in the riffing itself — Hooke's Law aside^note Coily thankfully only seems to have dominion over mechanical springs, not fundamental properties of elasticity, a decent number of the mentioned uses for springs have since been made obsolete thanks to computer technology, so the lack of them wouldn't be quite as inconvenient as it would in the 1950s.
  Servo: (as Gilbert) I'll show Coily. I'm gonna digitize everything.
• Unfortunate Names:
  • "Coily? Eww."
  • The rough cut of It Lives by Night combines this with Serial Escalation: Mike, Kevin, and Bill come up with The Long List of scatological sprites like "Fecey", "BMey", and many more.
  • They also get into Product Placement problems. "I'm Coily with a Y." "I'm Coilee with an EE."

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The MST3K treatment of Squirm provides examples of:

• Alternative Character Interpretation: invoked According to Mike and the Bots, Mick isn't just interested in antiques as a hobby, he's obsessed with them.
  Crow: (As Mick) "Guh-hod, I love antiques!!"
  • Also, Roger as Ed Gein.
• Ascended Meme: The of "Shot him in his face" from the theme song makes it into a host segment, when Servo and Crow say that the flares and fire extinguishers were all shot off in Mike's face.
• Bat Deduction: After Mick announces he thinks Roger's father is off the hook for the murders:
  Mike: "I deduced that by not opening the door."
• Behind the Black: Geri walks straight into Roger's arms "Oh, I didn't see you."
• Bowdlerize: The MST3K cut removes some of the more graphic scenes from the movie, including close-ups of the worms burrowing into Roger's face and the shot of Naomi's form covered in worms.
• Brick Joke: "Sufficient springs!" and "No springs!"
• Call-Back: When the fried worms turn out to be a hit with the SoL crew, Mike turns to Crow and says they need a dipping sauce (like he made to go with Servo's blossomed and fried head a few episodes back), to which Crow gives an enthusiastic "Check!"
• Crowd Surfing: A couple in a restaurant become aware that the floor is covered in worms. The guy immediately grabs his girl and falls off the stool with her.
  Crow: Let's worm-surf!
• Deep South: A major source of their humor. It helps that most of the cast have painfully exaggerated fake accents.
  Geri: "I'd nevah seen s'much thundin' and lahtnin' in mah life!"
  Servo: "Come on, no one's that Southern!"
• Eye Scream: Mick suggests the worms did something to Roger's eyes.
  Crow: "If Roger can see?" Do worms routinely blind people?
• Failed a Spot Check: Mike somehow never noticed that the Bots were raising an enormous pig on the SOL to enter into Pearl's livestock competition, complete with all necessary accommodations, such as a silo.
  Mike: Where've you been keeping him?
  Servo: Around the feed lot. He was our biggest!
  Mike: Wait, we have a feed lot?
  Crow: Do you even live here?
• I Know You're Not Southern!: Mike and Crow trying to shake Servo out of extreme Southern Belle-ness.
• Lethal Chef: Pearl's recipe for pickles involves cucumbers and Windex. Bobo's Ape Hair is Exactly What It Says on the Tin, battered and fried. Brain Guy only learns these facts after consuming the foodstuffs in question.
  • Subverted with Mike's electrically fried worms. The Bots react with disgust as he tries one, but it turns out they are delicious.
    • Much better than fresh worms.
• Noisy Nature: "Steven Tyler worm!"
• Preppy Name: When editor Brian Smedley-Aston's name comes up, Mike chimes in with "Oh, of the 'failed career' Smedley-Astons?"
• Running Gag:
  • "Mr. Beardsley?"
  • "Southern Maaaaan!"
  • The jokes about Mick's supposed fondness for antiques.
  • Pearl's "Come to the fair!"
• Shout-Out: When Alma and Mick are at the dentist's office looking thorough the records to identify a skull, a worm crawls out of it. Tom comments "Come on down to the snout. We got a pinochle game going!" This is a reference to a line in an old school yard jump rope chant. "The worms crawl in, the worms crawl out, the worms play pinochle on your snout." The rhyme was also used in a poem from Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark.
  • Also during the identification process, Crow says "It belongs to a guy named Al P. Yorick."
• Southern Belle: The whole point of Naomi's character seems to be an attempt at this. Later becomes an actual affliction on the SOL, as Servo comes down with "severe Southern Belle-ness" (amazingly not "Scarlett fever") and has to be subjected to "Yankee behavior modification" to snap him out of it.
• Spoof Aesop: As the movie ends.
  Servo: Please, folks, remember to worm your dog.
  Mike: And if you do start a worm farm, do not raise flesh-eating, intelligent millipedes by mistake.
  Crow: And if you have red hair, do not mate. Ever.
• That Cloud Looks Like...: The patches on the rear of the sister's pants as she climbs through a window prompts them to point out that it looks like a face with a mustache.
  Crow: "The Pringles guy!"
• The Unsmile: "ANYWAY YOU CAN'T BOTHER ME TODAY BECAUSE I'M VERY HAPPY!"
• What Happened to the Mouse?:
  Crow: Now, whatever happened with guy running around with a newspaper on his head in the rain? That was kind of a loose end.
  Mike: Yeah, that went nowhere.
• The Worm That Walks: What becomes of Roger.
  "Yes, I'm fully a worm now, but they let me keep my arms and legs."

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"Now you gon' be da wormface!"

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