As Season Four begins to gain momentum, things are not as they may seem on the surface at BBI.

Comedy Central premieres a special titled "This is MST3K" which is received to mixed reviews from the fans. Some feel that the producers of the special don't really understand the show. With the advent of discussion groups on the fledgling internet, news and rumours spread more quickly than ever.

Though things are running relatively smooth, incidents of internal disputes at BBI leak out to the fans through these various online groups. Joel Hodgson seems to begin to tire of the daily routine and wants to spread his creative wings by developing other projects. Producer Jim Mallon wants to see the group, in his opinion, reach it's full creative potential. He is already thinking about an MST feature-length film as well as other related projects.

With the group on the way to possibly it's most consistent and creative season so far, they offer...

Let the experiment begin!

"Turn Down Your Lights (Where applicable)"

Experiment #403 ~ CITY LIMITS (1985)

Original Air Date: June 6, 1992

Genre: SciFi/Action/Drama

Studio: Atlantic Releasing Corporation

Starring: Darrell Larson, John Stockwell, Kim Cattrall, Rae Dawn Chong, Robby Benson, James Earl Jones, John Diehl, Dean Devlin

Directed By: Aaron Lipstadt

Theatrical Running Time: 86 Minutes

Tagline: "ON THE BORDER OF ADVENTURE. AT THE EDGE OF DANGER."

Film Synopsis: A plague has wiped out most of the the older generation. The remaining young teens have divided into two biker gangs, the Clippers and the D.A.'s. The young people use surviving comic books as a judicial guide. The two gangs have divided up the city, but will unite against outside threats. Threats like the Sunya corporation that wants to re-establish a centralized government in the city.

Intro: Tom and Crow are whispering to each other on the bridge of the SOL when Joel enters.
~ (Joel): "What are you guys doing?"
~ (Tom): "Well, we were just trying to remember what it was that 'Bunny Rabbit' used to always try to get 'Captain Kangaroo' to say."
~ (Joel): "Uhh... 'ping-pong' balls."
A seemingly endless torrent of ping-pong balls rains down from the ceiling. The Bots think it's a hoot!
~ (Crow): "Wow, those have been up there for months!"

Invention Exchange: TV's Frank gets rapped on the head by Dr. F. with a huge mallet for incessantly banging on something and 'singing whenever he sings, whenever he sings'! The SOL presents...
~ (Joel): "Our invention exchange this week is based on the premise that more and more people are becoming vegetarians. This means warehouses full of gamy beef products. What're you gonna do with all that steak? Make a fun friend."
~ (Tom): "Like this little guy, 'Mr. Meat and Potato Head'. That's rare, isn't it!"
~ (Crow): "We've taken the Mr. Potato Head concept, and fleshed it out... literally! For example, here's beef spokeman James Garner as 'Mr. Brisket Head'. And he comes with his own little Rockford Camaro!"
~ (Tom): "And of course, there's the suave and continental 'Mr. Beef Wellington Head'."
~ (Joel): "And for all of those smart shoppers that have already become vegetarians, there's the 'Mr. Stuffing instead of Potato Head.' Whad'ya think, sirs?"

The Mads offer...
~ (Dr. F.): "Just because your British pop sensations' career has gone stale, doesn't mean that he has to. That's why we have invented the 'Tupperware container to lock-in pop star freshness'. Who is our stale singing sensation, Frank?"
~ (TV's Frank): "Well, it's none other than British pop star, Morissey! (Heh... he's a little... depressed). So, Morissey. How ya doin'?"
~ (Morissey): "You hurt me with that remark. Did I mention that I cried?"
~ (TV's Frank): "Well, c'mon Morissey. We're basically evil, granted, but a lot of what we say around here is just good-natured ribbing."
~ (Morissey): "Well, it hurt me. Did I mention that I cried? Is it wrong not to always be glad?"
~ (Dr. F.): "Well... we seem to have caught you at a bad time..."
After a few painful strains of a Morissey song ('Hairdresser in a Coma'), the Mads seal the Morissey tupperware back up and deliver today's experiment.

Host Segments:

Host 1: The "Oh, Kim Cattrall!" song.
~ (Crow): "Hello. Good day. Happy to see you. I, Crow T. Robot, have penned a little ditty in honor of the star of today's experiment, Kim Cattrall. It's called 'Oh, Kim Cattrall!' by Crow T. Robot, sung by Crow T. Robot. It's marked allegro con brio, Kochel listing 643."

The song is basically Crow repeating Kim Cattrall's name in various musical tempos with a few rhymes thrown in.
~ (Crow): "You've never made a bad film, oh what the hell. Ring my bell. Let's go to the Dells. Our relationship will gel. I like your smell. You're really swell. I'm Charlton Heston for ConTel. I love you, Kiiiim (I really liked your dress at the Ace Awards!) Cattraaaaall!"

Joel and Tom help Crow do a short scene from the film 'Mannequin', but Crow's sketch gets hijacked by those two upstagers.

Host 2: The "Fantastic 85".
Tom and Crow are catloging their comic book collections when Joel walks in.
~ (Joel): ''Hey, what'cha doin'?''
~ (Bots): "Nothing..., nothing"
~ (Joel):''Oh, I get it. Based on the rampant comic book culture in today's experiment, you've gone back through your comic collection to find the meaning of life.''
~ (Crow): ''No, no. We found that. That's that pile. It's the 'Desiderata comic: Dilbert!'''
~ (Tom): ''Yeah! It's packed with action sequences! (Blam! Blam! Rat-a-tat-tat! Boom!)''
~ (Crow): ''You are a child of the universe. (Boom! Fwee! Krunch! Blam!) Go placidly amid the noise and haste? I don't think so! (Boom! Ka-chow! Bang! Bang! Bang!)''
~ (Joel): ''I see. Since you can make a graphic novel of just about anything, why don't we come up with our own super-heroes!''
~ (Crow): ''I got one! It's called 'Man-Man'. He's bestowed with all the powers of a man but... he's a man.''
~ (Joel): ''How about 'Lumber-Man'. He controls the forces of lumber! Here's an idea, how about we come up with the super-group of all super-heroes!''
~ (Crow): ''You mean like the 'Fantastic Four'?''
~ (Joel): "Bigger."
~ (Crow): ''Uhh... twelve?"
~ (Tom): ''I got it! The Fantastic 85! Starting with 'Elbow-Man'!''
~ (Joel): '''Mr.Paper Cut'! 47 different angles of paper jut from his body!''
~ (Tom): ''The 'Punisher'!"
~ (Joel): ''There already is a 'Punisher'.''
~ (Tom): ''This is a new sort of 'Punisher'. He's not overly strict, he just sends people to their rooms!"
~ (Crow): '''Lint Attachment-Man'!''
~ (Joel): '''Jazz Trio-Man'!"
~ (Tom): '''The Human Dog'!''
~ (Crow): '''Professor Hitler' and his Invisible Knee Machine!"
~ (Joel): '''Really Deep-Man'! He's really deep, man!''
~ (Tom): ''The 'Pheasant Plucker'. And the 'Pheasant Plucker's Son'!''
~ (Crow): '''The Black Nun'! All black. None of the white bits!''
~ (Joel): '''Always Smells Like Maple-Man'!''
~ (Tom): ''The awesome power of... 'Absorbine Senior'!''
Movie Sign!

Host 3: More Super-Heroes
~ (Tom): ''...easy does it with... 'Twelve Step-Man'!"
~ (Crow): '''Middle-Age Boy'!"
~ (Joel): '''The Incredible Adventures of Bobby Van Luke and his Radioactive Sweater Vest! "
~ (Tom): '''Madame Bovary-Man'! "
~ (Crow): ''Uh, are we up to eighty-five yet?"
~ (Tom): ''Did I say eighty-five? I meant 'One Hundred and Eighty-Five! Ha-Ha! 'Perfect Paul and his Magnetic Spleen'! He only has one flaw... "
~ (Crow): '''The Girl Who Smells Like Soda Crackers'!"
~ (Joel): '''Uncle Roger the Airline Stewardman'!"
~ (Tom): '''Porter Wagoner'!"
~ (Joel): ''Don't you mean 'Super' Porter Wagoner?"
~ (Tom): ''Noooo!"
~ (Crow): '''Super Fanny Bryce'!"
~ (Joel): '''The Clam'!"
~ (Tom): '''Steakface' and 'Weasel Woman'!"
~ (Crow): '''Dr. Doorknob and his Incredible Electro-Magnetic... thing'!"
~ (Joel): ''Uh... we have Commercial Sign, but you should run on ahead. We'll be there."
~ (Tom): '''Burger Chef'! He's Incredi-burgable!"
~ (Crow): '''Larry King'!"
~ (Tom): ''Just Larry King?"
~ (Crow): ''He'd need a really good guest..."

End: Joel and the Bots are playing the 'City Limits' board game, a sort of Trivial Pursuit knock-off, but nobody can remember anything significant from the movie. Joel reads two fan letters. Dr. F. asks Frank to seal up Morissey again. (TV's Frank): "C'mere, suede head!"

Stinger: Remote Controlled 'Death From Above'.

Items of Note:
~ In the auditorium during film segment 1, Joel cleverly opens an umbrella to obscure some brief nudity.
~ Mike Nelson is just awesome as Morissey.
~ Watch the handoff of Joel putting Tom in his seat in the auditorium after Host 3. Someone's arm silhouette from the trench (probably Kevin Murphy) is clearly visible.
~ Callbacks: "Help me!" ('ROCKET ATTACK U.S.A.' ~ 'Experiment #205'), "Hi, I'm Max Keller!" (MASTER NINJA 1' ~ 'Experiment #322') and, "After the Robot Holocaust..." ('ROBOT HOLOCAUST' ~ 'Experiment #110').

Personal Notes:
~ 'Kochel listing 643' is a reference to the Kochel-Verzeichnis, a complete chronological catalog of compositions created by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, originally compiled by Ludwig von Kochel.
~ ConTel was at one time, the third largest U.S. "independent" telephone company, operating during the 'Bell System'.
~ Captain Kangaroo was a children's television show that aired on the CBS network from 1955 to 1984. Too much to explain. You had to be there in the day.
~ Dean Devlin (whom Joel and the Bots refer to in the film as 'Michelle Shocked') went on (with director Roland Emmerich) to become one of the most powerful figures in Hollywood during the 1990's, producing cinematic blockbusters such as 'Stargate', 'Independence Day' and 'The Patriot', as well as seminal flops like 'Godzilla' and 'Eight Legged Freaks'.

The 'Riffs':
~ (Joel): "City Limits?! It sounds like a clothing store for high school girls!"
~ (Tom (melodically)): "Oh, There's no place like home for the holocaust!"
~ (Joel): "Someone's been diggin' in the remnant's pile, big time!"
~ (Joel): "Indiana Jones and the Temple of Goons?!"
~ (Crow): ''Robin Hood: Prince of Feebs!"
~ (Crow): "The illegal smuggling of mimes! No one talks about it!"
~ (Tom): ''Wow, It was windy last night. The cow stuck right to the barn!"
~ (Crow): "Jim Henson's Flying Leatherneck Babies!"

Pop culture references ranging from Jill Kinmont and The Other Side of the Mountain, Windham Hill Records, Petticoat Junction, Gerry Rafferty, Super Dave Osborn and Kenny Loggins to Little Man Tate, Paul Revere and the Raiders, Husker-Du and the ad slogan "You Meet the Nicest People on a Honda". While not one of my favorite experiments, the gang at BBI do a good job with what they have to work with. And one can't deny the '80's star power collected for the film, however disjointed the final product was assembled. Have some coke... and a smile!

Rating: 3-1/2 "Tattered 'Insect Man' comic books" out of 5.

"Keep Trading the Discs (and Tapes)"

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"There's no right way to eat a rhesus"!

This was a bad, bad, bad film. I loved it!!!

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"Too Soon from the Cave, Too Far from the Stars"