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#801: The Revenge of the Creature
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In this sequel to the superior Creature From The Black Lagoon, the
Creature - or,
as he is officially known in the movie, the "Gill Man", is captured from his
beloved swampy home and taken to a depressing Florida aquarium. There he is
subject to research (actually, thinly-disguised torture) by a scientist with a
hideously phony laugh, played by John Agar. John is assisted by Lori
Nelson, pretty and charming but hardly believable as a prominent ichthyologist,
being as she's only about eighteen years old. Wouldn't you know it, the
creature escapes the minimum-security fish tank where he's being held, and stalks
poor Lori Nelson, with whom he is smitten. In the end, a posse of cops and
locals - who have for some reason ceded complete martial law authority to Agar
- track them down, save the wet girl, and shoot the Creature for no good reason.
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Prologue:
Mike, Servo, and Gypsy return to the Satellite of Love
from the edge of the universe, where they resume their corporeal
forms. There they discover Crow, who has been living there for 500
years. He doesn't remember
Mike. They seem to be orbiting Earth, however. But when they contact the
planet, a bespectacled-and-lab-coated ape answers. Terrified screams ensue.
Segment One:
Mike and 'Bots learn that it's the year 2525, and that apes have
becomes the ruling species on planet earth. They (and we!) are introduced to
Professor Bobo and his assistant Dr. Peanut, who bring them up to speed and
proceed to send them a cheesy movie. When the satellite asks why they are still
being subject to crummy movies, the apes reply simply: it's ape law, given to
them by the Lawgiver.
Segment Two:
Mike and Servo try to repair the satellite, to get away from this
ape world. Crow introduces them (and us!) to the Nanites, microscopic robots
who might be able to repair the ship. The Nanites immediately eject Servo from
the ship's works, sending him rocketing up into the air.
Segment Three:
A fierce alien - half-man and half-octopus - comes pounding
on the SOL looking for Servo. Servo apparently did business with him on the edge
of the universe, and has something this angry alien wants. They talk in
alien-ese for a while, and when the alien threatens to vaporize the satellite,
Servo gives it over. It's a cask of French Vanilla pudding, apparently very
valuable to the alien's race. Servo brags to Mike that he had all sorts of
harrowing adventures while travelling the universe, but when Mike asks for
specifics, Servo advises Mike not to worry his pretty little head about it.
Segment Four:
Crow and Servo sit catching up over cups of delicious coffee.
When Mike enters, Crow decides he wants to get to know the "new guy" and offers
him a complicated coffee drink from his huge and unruly espresso maker. After
battling the machine, Crow hands Mike an extremely tiny cup of caffeinated
beverage.
Segment Five:
Searching the databanks, Mike and the 'Bots learn the true reason
for the simian takeover of earth. It turns out that Mike's descendants
recklessly intermarried with many species of monkey, causing a quick evolution to
the apes who just sent them the movie. Needless to say, Mike isn't pleased.
The apes call them: apparently their revered Lawgiver wants a word with them.
Turns out it's none other than Pearl Forrester, who was cryogenically frozen for
500 years, thawed out by the apes, and immediately crowned their Lawgiver. It
was she who sent them the movie, and she vows to dog Mike and the 'Bots to the
bitter end, carrying on the work of her son.
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A new season, a new network, and many changes. I was a rookie - or
as my fellow writers put it, "new meat." Though I had written for MST 3000
on a few episodes towards the end of Season Six,
this was my first show as a full-fledged, full-time Best Brainer. Little
did I know what else would come my way: I was asked to provide the voice
of Crow, replacing the brilliant and justly beloved Trace Beaulieu, part
of the Mount Rushmore of MST 3000, who had decided that he wanted to move
onto other things. Honored and thrilled as I was to be the Gold One's new
alter ego, I was given this job on the show on the Friday before the
Monday we started production on 801. And I think maybe - just
maybe - it showed in the puppeteering for the first few
episodes, especially this one, where Crow seemed to have suffered a stroke
during the 500 years he hung out on the Satellite.
This show also began MST's happy affiliation with the SciFi Channel, as well as
an entirely new fiction to the show. This was born out of necessity, since Trace
was moving on. We first batted around a number of ideas, including replacing
Crow with a new robot. That was ultimately something no one could imagine, but
many other radical changes - Ape World, Pearl Forrester in pursuit, Nanites -
were introduced here, and lots of other new stuff would be coming up. Though
everyone here missed the old characters and elements, I think the new direction
energized us. And the movie segments - the bedrock of the show - remained the
same as ever. And that, I would contend, is a good thing.
- Bill Corbett
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