K12 - FUGITIVE ALIEN

Genre:  Japanese Sci-Fi (1978/1982, Color)

Synopsis:  This movie is riffed again on the show during its cable run, so read the write-up for ep #310 – Fugitive Alien for a plot synopsis.

Don’s Review:  This experiment features the first half of a two-part Japanese Star Wars rip-off that Sandy Frank dubbed and imported to the U.S. and that originated from a Japanese TV show.  Trace Beaulieu was missing again in this episode, so to explain Dr. Forrester’s absence, it is said that he is at a Mad Scientists Convention in Las Vegas.  This allows Dr. Erhardt (Josh) to do a Bob Newhart like telephone gag as he “talks” to Dr. F and finds out that Clayton picked up a “woman” who is starring in the stage show of La Cage aux folles, aka The Bird Cage (Dr. E warns him that his new date is not really a woman).  The SOL side of the show only feature Joel, Servo, and Gypsy, so Crow’s absence is explained by saying that the other two ’Bots took him apart.  As for the riffing, Joel and Servo riff the film alone and do a rather good job of it, although still in the laconic and laid-back KTMA style.  Servo, in particular, shines with a lot of great lines (Josh really was the best of the three at improvising riffs during the KTMA era).  The host segments, aside from explaining Crow’s absence, are rather short due to the length of the film (it’s uncut here, unlike ep #310) and really aren’t very memorable.  Due to decent KTMA era riffing, this episode is enjoyable, but like all redone eps, it can’t hold a candle to cable version of this same movie.
Trivia Note:  In this episode, Joel announces the formation of the MST3K fan club!

Don’s Rating: