 201 - ROCKETSHIP X-M
Genre: Dated ’50s Space Travel Sci-Fi
(1950, B&W)
Synopsis: In this dated early ’50s Sci-Fi movie, a rocketship is built for the first trip to the moon. On board are a Colonel
(played by Lloyd Bridges), some scientists (the Walt Disney look-a-like Dr. Carl Eckstrom and Dr. Lisa Van Horn,
who’s
“just a woman”), a rather incompetent navigator, and a guy from Texas (Rockford’s dad!).
They launch successfully and immediately get to work staring out the window at the
Earth and Moon. Suddenly, they get caught in a meteor shower and have to turn on the engines to accelerate.
The sudden acceleration causes them all to pass out and the ship goes off course.
When they awaken, they stare out the window again looking for a road sign, but find Mars instead.
So that the whole thing isn’t a wasted trip, they decide to go ahead and check out Mars.
After landing there, they find the radioactive ruins of an ancient
civilization... as well as a bunch of primitive Martian cavemen who start to throw rocks at
them with deadly accuracy. The first to go down is the Rockford dad
(no more droning on about Texas!), and next is the Walt Disney look-a-like scientist.
The rest hop into the rocketship and get the hell out of there.
They head back to Earth at top speed, but forget to save enough fuel to slow down.
So the rocketship hits the Earth’s atmosphere a bit too fast and they all burn up and
die. (I just love happy endings!)
Host Segments:
- Prologue: Joel is installing Tom Servo’s new
voice, while Crow has a toothache
- Segment One (Invention Exchange): Tom uses his
new voice for the first time; Frank is in training to
replace the missing Dr. E
- Segment Two: The SOL’s salute to unheralded
heroes: the reporters of Rocketship X-M
- Segment Three: Joel does a presentation/quiz to
the ’Bots on things that are either Funny or Not Funny while
floating
- Segment Four: J&tBs look out the window
into space and wax poetically in dreamy terms, but soon a ship
with Valeria on board appears and she (played by Mike) appears
on the crude Hexfield
- Segment Five (End): J&tBs get on the Mads
for sending them a movie in which people die in space;
Frank is still learning how to push the button
(No Stinger)
 Don’s Review: This episode really marks the point when the show became great.
Although there were some good earlier episodes, here is where the show
truly began to
gel into one of the greatest comedy shows of all time. The addition of Frank Conniff (aka
TV’s Frank) to the cast and Kevin Murphy as Tom Servo’s new voice both really improve the show a great deal.
And the riffing, which had usually been a bit sparse during earlier seasons, really quickened up so that there were very few dead spots in the
commentary. Also the host segments were improved from previous shows, the
highlight in this episode being a hysterical visit by Valeria (played here by Mike Nelson) from
Robot Holocaust (ep #110).
IMO, This landmark episode should be part of every collection.
Don’s Rating: 
Related Links:
(1) Mighty Jack’s MST3K Review (Episode Review)
(2) DVD
Savant (Movie Review)
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