Season Five Episode Fourteen: Teen-age Strangler w/short Is This Love?
Network: Comedy Central
Riffers: Tom Servo, Joel Robinson, and Crow T. Robot
Mads: Dr. Clayton Forrester and TV's Frank
Plot Synopsis (Short): A girl goes against the old-fashioned love of her parents (and very old-looking roommate), abandons her parents, and runs away with a new hookup. The short ends asking whether their love will last long or not.
Plot Synopsis (Movie): Jimmy, a troubled teen with an undeserved criminal past is the suspect when young women start turning up around town dead and marked up with lipstick.
Host Segments:
Prologue: Mike tries to phone his grandma for help. He runs into problems with calling long distance from space and answering machines.
Segment One/Invention Exchange: In Deep 13, the Frank-N-Forcer keeps Frank out of Dr. Forrester's way. On the SOL, the Waiter-Baiter attracts waiters so you don’t have to.
Segment Two: MatBs read some e.e. cummings poetry and ponder the question, "What is love?" Crow wants to hear more about "hot love". The gang ends up pondering the nature of love, mostly in terms of famous celebrities. Hilariously, most of them are now divorced now.
Segment Three: Crow of the Crow-Magnons and Tom of the Hovermothers want to rumble gangland style, but Mike intervenes by "rapping" with the Bots. The Bots point out that it's just an act.
Segment Four: The Bots have a gadget attached to a pair of giant glasses that will make Mike act like Mikey from the movie. Mike wises up eventually, and takes sweet revenge on them.
Ending Segment: As the Bots go on Thanksgiving Break, lonely custodian Mike sings "I’m a Janitor". Back in Deep 13, Dr. F uses sawdust to clean up after Frank when he bounces along to the song.
Stinger: "And he didn’t steal no bike neither...I did!"
Review:
The short is one of those classic "don't be a nonconformist" bits of nothing that tried to tell a message, but was either misguided or poorly thought out.
The movie was beyond strange. The actors are atrocious, the budget nonexistent, and the plot stupid. Hell, the antagonist isn't even a teenager! He's just a crusty janitor! The real highlight of this turd is Mikey, the awkward younger brother of Jimmy. It is clear the kid has never acted before in his life, and he's just trying his best, but it comes off as completely narmtastic. He's no Torgo, but he's good.
The riffing in this episode is good, considering it's Mike's show. The host segments were great, and I especially liked Segment Four when all three of them became Mikey from the movie. Another relatively strong episode for Mike's half of the season. 8/10
Favorite Riffs (Short):
*We get a shot of a college dorm room, before seeing a female co-ed. Dawson Casting seems to have played a role here.*
Crow: Jeez, how many times was she held back?
Liz (to Peg, entering room): Hi Peg.
Mike (as Peg): Hi Mom.
*We get a shot of a Adam, Liz's guy, writing a letter*
Servo (as Adam): Uh let's see.. "If my" yeah.. "If my" uh "If my demands are not met the screams of those who wronged me and the smell of burning flesh will fill the student uh.. student.. union."
*Peg's parents confront her about wanting to marry Joe the football player after the semester. She doesn't take their words to kindly, gets mad, and leaves.*
Mike (as Peg's father): Well hun, looks like we spawned a demon seed.
*Peg and Joe make out in the back of a car after talking life over*
Servo: Watch out for snakes!
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http://www.gamefaqs.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/61035294 - My MST3K Watchthrough topic.