"...will never be back in anything ever!"
Film watched: Demon Squad.
Released in 2019, Demon Squad is currently the most recent film featured on MST3K.
The Segments:
Prologue- Dr. Erhardt returns through the Timebag with a Satellite of Love in tow. He apparently didn't bother to check which host he grabbed, so Kinga is surprised to see that this SOL's occupant is who appears to be Joel Robinson... but not as young as she was expecting.
Segment 1/Invention Exchange
- As it turns out, this Joel Robinson is from the year 3000, though he looks surprisingly good for his age. His 'Bots weren't on the SOL when Erhardt captured it, so Emily's 'Bots are brought over to substitute as Kinga brings out her invention: Electric Lassos, which Joel explains isn't as original as she thinks. Joel gives Servo an upgrade that turns his dome into a mood globe.
Segment 2
- The crew puts on their own take on the demon bar from the film's opening, aptly titled Feers.
Segment 3
- Joel adjusts Servo's voice back to its original factory setting.
Post-Intermission
- Pearl flies up to the SOL to formally introduce herself. She's disappointed to learn that Dr. Forrester had never once mentioned anything about her or Kinga to Joel.
Segment 4
- Joel and the 'Bots do some improv with "Demonprov", to the amazement of the Mads.
Segment 5
- Joel prepares to send the 'Bots back to Emily, while the Mads start their own improv group: "Madprov".
The Mystery Science Theater 3000 presentation of Demon Squad has examples of:
- Affably Evil: Joel enjoys a bit of palling around with Dr. Erhardt, which Erhardt reciprocates in kind.
- The Bus Came Back: This is Joel Robinson's return to the series, his first appearance since Soultaker (23 years ago) and his first time riffing with the Bots since Mitchell (29 years ago).
- Call-Back:
- The bridge on Joel's Satellite of Love is a near-perfect recreation of its design from the original Comedy Central seasons, with the warmer tan colors, old-fashioned Movie Sign lights, and the Gizmonic logo on the door. Even the door sequence is identical.
- In addition to returning as Dr. Erhardt, J. Elvis Weinstein reprises his original Tom Servo voice about halfway through the episode.
- Servo declares "Happy Birthday!" after his voice is changed, just as he did when it was last changed by Joel in Rocketship X-M.
- "Pretty niiiice!" and "BANG!" once again pop up in riffs, even though Joel wasn't around for those movies.
- Continuity Nod:
- Synthia mentions her time spent with Dr. Erhardt back in Season 12.
- As Pearl's character wasn't introduced until after Joel originally left, he isn't familiar with her when the two finally meet each other.
- Minnesota Nice: Pearl and Synthia act like a pair of doting Midwest moms when they come to pick the 'Bots up from Joel's SOL.
- Ooh, Me Accent's Slipping: Dr. Erhardt loses his temper and briefly slips back into his original squeaky voice when Joel mentions how annoying he used to sound.
- Prop Recycling: In-Universe, during the post-premiere interview, the filmmakers note that one of the masks they used (and can be seen in the background during the interview) was also in Star Raiders: The Adventures of Saber Rain, leading to some I Knew It! comments from the chat members who had seen the latter when Rifftrax did it for a live show.
- Running Gag:
- Making fun of Nick Moon's trilby hat.
- Mocking everybody's propensity to sweat heavily.
- "It's the Men's Wearhouse repo men!"
- We Are Experiencing Technical Difficulties: The livestream was delayed for an hour past the scheduled time due to issues with the video player.
