This episode is the last from the shortened seventh season, which was reduced to six programs. It is notable because it is the final one to air on Comedy Central and the final appearance of Trace Beaulieu. Thinking this would be the series finale, the characters on the Satellite of Love turned into energy beings and left the ship while Dr. Forrester turned into a star child a la 2001: A Space Odyssey.
#904 Werewolf (1996). Yet another take on the horror classic, notable because Martin Sheen’s brother Joe Estevez had a minor part. The Sci Fi Channel had picked up the series and it ran for three seasons. New sets were created and the audience silhouette of the characters appeared much better, especially Crow’s headgear.
Writer Mary Jo Pehl’s character Mrs. Forrester, the Doctor’s mother, became the series’ villain. Writer Bill Corbett took over as the voice of Crow and played Mrs. Forrester’s assistant Observer while Kevin Murphy, a writer and the voice of Servo since Josh Weinstein’s departure after season one, played another assistant, the Planet of the Apes-inspired Professor Bobo.
#1004 Future War (1997). This movie has a lot of familiar influences from better sci-fi movies as an Earthling from the future, who had been made a slave by aliens, is pursued by cyborgs that use dinosaurs as bloodhounds. The special effects, “special” admittedly being a debatable term in this instance, are amazing to behold.
The bonus features in the set include the movies’ original trailers; an in-depth three-part history of MST3K with interviews from all members of the creative teams and early footage that fans will treasure; and the reunion panel from 2008 San Diego Comic Con International hosted by Patton Oswalt, which was the most anticipated event of the weekend. There is also “Variation on a Theme Song” that presents all the different openings of the show.
While MST3K: 20th Anniversary Edition is a very enjoyable set with a lot of laughs, it is not as completely representative of the entire series run as a milestone release should be. There is only one episode featuring Joel; none with Josh Weinstein, the original voice of Tom Servo and Gypsy; and none from the KTMA days. However, for fans who enjoy bad movies as much as they do good ones, this set is still worth having on the shelf and adding to the collection.
Article comments
1 - Matthew T. Sussman
Spare me the details on the DVD, Bicho. The real question is: how fun is the figurine?