the Distributed MST3K Annotation Project

"The Untouchables" (1959-1963) was a TV series which dealt with real-life FBI gangbuster (and that's where the word came from!) Eliot Ness's crusade against Chicago organized crime, as personified by Al "Scarface" Capone.

00:12:15 (add an annotation)

Servo: Oh, a meeting with Floyd the barber.

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Floyd was a character from the 1960s sitcom "The Andy Griffith Show," and he resembled the customer in this scene. He spoke in the odd manner that one of the bots imitates here.

00:14:37 (add an annotation)

Crow: Adlai Stevenson buys a car.

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Adlai Stevenson (1900-1965) was an American politician who ran for the office of the U.S. President as a Democrat twice against Republican Dwight D. Eisenhower (in 1952 and 1956). He also served as the governor of Illinois and a United Nations Ambassador.

00:16:04 (add an annotation)

Crow: It's Dr. Giggles!

Crow notes the resemblance to the title character in this 1992 slasher film starring Larry Drake.

00:18:05 (add an annotation)

Joel, as a Volkswagen Beetle pulls into view: Oh! Slug bug! *hits Crow*
Crow: OWW! Geez...

"Slug Bug" or "Punch Buggy" is a children's road trip game. In any incarnation of the game, all players try to find a Volkswagen Beetle car on the road and, upon spotting one, say "punch buggy"/"slug bug" and hit the other player(s).

00:19:05 (add an annotation)

Joel, as narrator: Just one guy...
Servo: Is it Jeffrey Zaslow?

Jeffrey Zaslow is a columnist for the Wall Street Journal. Previously, he worked as an advice columnist for the Chicago Sun-Times.

00:25:20 (add an annotation)

Servo: We're never gonna make it! This is a bug-hunt, man, a bug-hunt!
Crow: Game over, man! Game over!

A paraphrasing of lines spoken by Bill Paxton's panicky character Hudson in the 1986 film "Aliens."

00:26:18 (add an annotation)

Frank: Now c'mon Crow, Servo... I told ya to keep playing now c'mon! Now c'mon! Play!
Servo: Oh Daddy! *sobs*

This conversation is a lot like the one between George Bailey and one of his kids in the film "It's a Wonderful Life".

00:28:10 (add an annotation)

Torgo: I take care of the place while the Master is away.
Joel: The Master? Bobby Fischer?

A reference to former grandmaster and World Chess Champion Bobby Fischer

00:28:15 (add an annotation)

Torgo: The Master doesn't like children.
Servo: Oh, he's WC Fields.

Reference to American comedian and actor who notoriously hated children.

00:31:13 (add an annotation)

Servo, referring to Torgo's hobbling: It's like having Joe Cocker as your bellhop.

Joe Cocker is a singer whose fame peaked in the late 60s. During performances, he would make random, jerky movements. Cocker is best known for "A Little Help From My Friends," a song later used as the theme for "The Wonder Years."

00:32:23 (add an annotation)

Servo, referring to painting of The Master: It's a Frank Frazetta of Frank Zappa.

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Frank Frazetta (1928- ) is a noted fantasy/science fiction illustrator and comic book artist. Frank Zappa (1940-1993) was an experimental and multi-talented musician, composer, and bandleader (and, as it turns out, an MST3K fan).

00:35:20 (add an annotation)

Joel: Someone left a cake out in the rain!

A line from the 1968 song, "MacArthur Park".

00:35:25 (add an annotation)

Crow, over sounds of drumming: It sounds like Gene Krupa's out here.

One of the dominant jazz drummers of the swing era.

00:40:09 (add an annotation)

Crow: God! I look like Jack Klugman!

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Jack Klugman (1922- ) is an American actor best known for starring in the television shows "The Odd Couple" and "Quincy, M.E." and for roles in films such as "12 Angry Men". He also appeared in four episodes of "The Twilight Zone".

00:40:31 (add an annotation)

Torgo, as he bumps into woman: I'm sorry ma'am.
Crow: Oh, it's Senator Packwood!

Bob Packwood (1932- ) was an Oregon senator who, in the early 1990s, was accused of sexual assault and abuse by about 29 women; he also kept a diary of his experiences. Amid political pressure, he resigned in 1995.

00:40:38 (add an annotation)

Joel: Oh, she's a Breck girl.

Breck is an American cosmetics company who featured high-priced models as "Breck girls" in their Sixties advertisements.

00:40:45 (add an annotation)

Servo, as Torgo: Well, I must go cut off my left ear now.

A reference to painter Vincent Van Gogh, who cut off his ear lobe in 1888 and gave it to a hooker for safe keeping.

00:41:53 (add an annotation)

Father: It won't help to get mad.
Joel: Get Glad!

Reference to Glad trash bag commercials known for their catchphrase "Don't get mad, get Glad."

00:42:06 (add an annotation)

Joel: Torgo wobbles but he won't fall down.

refrence to weebiles toys: "weebiles wobble but they don't fall down"

00:50:48 (add an annotation)

Crow: Marilyn Quail in "Babydoll".

00:51:22 (add an annotation)

Crow: It's the latest episode of the Taster's Choice saga.

Buffy fans, take note! Taster's Choice, America's Second-Favorite Instant Coffee! [notTM], gave Anthony "Giles" Head his Big Break as the British Taster's Choice Heartthrob in this daytime drama-inspired American TV campaign.

00:52:10 (add an annotation)

Joel: It looks like a really cheap Robert Bly workshop.

robert bly was the founder of the 'iron john' movement of male empowerment. author of the book 'iron john'.

00:56:26 (add an annotation)

Crow, about Manos: Bill Buckner!

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Bill Buckner (1949- ), a retired pro baseball player whose face looks similar to the Master's.

01:00:26 (add an annotation)

Manos's wife: The child must live!
Servo: Die, die my darling.

"Die, Die My Darling" was a 1983 song (and a 1984 EP of the same name) by The Misfits, first appearing on their album "Earth A.D./Wolfs Blood". It was also covered by Metallica in 1998.

01:05:32 (add an annotation)

Servo, as woman in white approaches unconscious man: I hope she doesn't make like Jenny Fields.

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A reference to "The World According to Garp" by John Irving. In the book, Jenny Fields gets pregnant by raping a comatose man with a continual erection, named Garp.

01:06:44 (add an annotation)

Servo, singing: I don't know how to love him...

Sung by Mary Magdalene in the contraversial Andrew Lloyd Webber musical "Jesus Christ Superstar".

01:11:12 (add an annotation)

Joel, about Manos: Freddie Mercury!

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The late lead singer of Queen. He had a mustache quite similar to The Master's.

01:16:25 (add an annotation)

Servo, singing: Smoke on the weirdo...

"Smoke on the Water" is a 1972 song by Deep Purple from their album "Machine Head". The lyrics describe a fire accident at a Frank Zappa and The Mothers of Invention concert in 1971, and the song contains a now-iconic electric guitar riff.

01:22:46 (add an annotation)

Crow, as woman in car folding its top up: Uh-oh, wait, there's somethin' gainin' on us! Uh, oh, never mind, it's just the top. I'm intensely stupid.

01:23:01 (add an annotation)

Servo, as woman in car: So, so, I told Gary that I was GOING on this vacation, so he goes, "Well, then I'm goin' hunting with Jeff next weekend." Well, that's when we were at knives. And then Lou sang "Fernando," and then Gary--oh, he sings so good. You should meet Jeff sometime. Do you like Barry Manilow songs? I know the farmers need rain, but when it's damp like this, my hair just explodes--just ex-puh-lodes! Oooh, I'm feelin' kinda gassy; McNuggets, y'know, they make me so gassy, all that grease and all. It really helps if you drink eight to ten glasses of water a day; did you know that? Sometimes I drink five; sometimes I drink nine just to make up for the other three I didn't drink. Oh, coffee and diet drinks don't count either. Y'know, this is pretty country, isn't it? Y'know, it's really kind of a blessing in disguise that I didn't get accepted to college, yeah. You know, I'm gonna have to revise my twenty-year plan, but--oh, did I tell you about my twenty-year plan? Okay, well, okay, listen here. In year one, this is the year when I'm going to take off those extra seven pounds--you know, that's equal to seven pounds of butter, huh-huh! So it's like I'm wearing seven pounds of butter, ha-ha! And, uh--oh, oh, where was I? Oh, oh, yeah. So my aunt and uncle here, they celebrated their twentieth anniversary, and my uncle wanted to sing, uh, "Sunrise, Sunset"--he wanted ME to sing that, and I haven't sung that since Cindy's wedding, and, well, she never thanked me for that--well, I'm still--uh, well, y'know, she's probably really busy and all, but...

This is very likely an improvised monologue by Servo and not a reference to anything specific.