Mystery Science Theater 3000/The Creeping Terror

The Creeping Terror
Season 6, Episode 7
Airdate	September 17, 1994
Production Number	607
Screenplay	Arthur Ross Robert Silliphant
Directed by	Arthur Nelson
Production Companies	Metropolitan International Pictures
Episode Writer(s)	—
Episode Director(s)	Jim Mallon
← 6x06 Bloodlust	6x08 → Code Name: Diamond Head
Mystery Science Theater 3000 — Season Six

The Creeping Terror is the seventh episode of the sixth season of Mystery Science Theater 3000, and the one hundred twenty-sixth episode overall.

Guest Stars:

Plot Overview

The Movie

Martin and Brett, two newlyweds driving back home from their honeymoon, are recruited by the sheriff of the county in order to investigate some kind of airplane crash. When they get to the site of the crash, the three find some kind of strange rocket and the deputy goes in to investigate. He's quickly devoured by whatever is inside the rocket, so the newlyweds franticly call in the military. They find a strange creature in the ship, but no sign of either Ben or Jeff.

Back in the city, Martin, the new sheriff, is given his marching orders by the government. They order him to cover up the true nature of the crash and stick by the official story of it being an airplane crash. But, as he covers the story up, the monster goes on a slow moving killing spree. Frustrated with Washington's orders, Martin goes to investigate on his own.

At the crash site, Dr. Bradford is called in to analyze the situation at hand. After two days and several more monster attacks, the doctor comes back with his findings which mostly entail that the monster came from space. After several more monster attacks, the government finally authorizes the elimination of the monster and sends Martin to do what he can (which isn't a whole lot).

After sending a majority of the military unit to their deaths when humoring the doctor's hopes to take the monster alive, the colonel goes ahead and kills it with a grenade. But, then, for some reason, the doctor freaks out and runs off to the rocket ship. He attempts to blow up the second monster with another grenade and winds up getting caught in the blast. Though dying from horrible burns, he manages to tell Martin that the creatures were mobile laboratories who broke down what it ate to find weaknesses. The data was sent into a computer and beamed into space. Martin attempts to break the equipment but doesn't stop the transmission.

The Host Segments

• Opening: Tom Servo starts up a check in desk on one side of the ship and forces Mike to sign in before he can give Crow a stack of Molemen comics.
• Segment One: As TV's Frank sorts laundry, Dr. Forrester poses an experiment to Mike: Coffeehouses are oozing with pretentiousness, so one cannot be in one without becoming pretentious. He dresses up the Satellite of Love like a coffeehouse and the robots are immediately affected.
• Segment Two: Crow has made a flag for the Satellite of Love with the robots and Mike in a motorboat and the phrase "E Pluribus Join Us" on it. As Mike raises it, Crow delivers a speech praising the nation and tells Mike that if they're ever taken, there's a cyanide pill in his room. But, when Mike refuses to take the pill, Servo calls him a Tory and threatens to shoot Mike.
• Segment Three: The crew of the ship parody Love, American Style, complete with cheesy sketches and a theme song performed acapella by the crew. Also, Mike kisses Crow.
• Segment Four: Mike has finally got his stereo completely set up. He tries to convince them of the pluses of a high end stereo system, but because he's playing them the music from the dance scene in the movie, they're not too pleased.
• Closing: Tom and Crow force Gypsy to eat them, but Mike comes in to stop Crow from being swallowed. She walks off camera to attempt to throw Tom up and Mike reads some letters about a kid who wants to be on the show and someone who really likes it when Crow says "kitties." The show ends with Forrester rolling TV's Frank's head through a manual washing machine contraption.

Stinger

• Dancing Girl: My God, what is it?

Notes

• DVD: This episode can be found on The Mystery Science Theater 3000 Collection: Volume 1.

Arc Advancement

Happenings

Characters

Referbacks

Trivia

The Show

Behind the Scenes

• Crazy Credits: Instead of the usual end credits theme, the song from the dance sequence is played during the ending credits.

Allusions and References

• Curse of the Molemen: The "Molemen Comics" that Mike has includes a copy of Curse of the Molemen by Charles Burns. The one-shot shot was put out by Kitchen Sink Press in 1991 and also features "Big Baby."

Mike: Just let me drop these Molemen comics off to Crow.

• Dan Blocker: Most famous for his role as Hoss in Bonanza, Dan Blocker is an American television actor who died of a pulmonary embolism while the western was still being produced.

Mike: Apparently this hat was owned by Dan Blocker.

• Boog Powell: Boog Powell was a first baseman in Major League Baseball between 1964 and 1977. He played in the 1960, 1970 and 1971 World Series before being traded for a younger player.

Servo: He thought it was Boog Powell.

• Life in Hell: Before The Simpsons, Matt Groening authored a weekly comic strip called "Life in Hell" which occasionally featured two gay lovers named Jeff and Akbar.

Narrator: There was no sign of Ben or Jeff.

Crow: Or Akbar.

• Earth Girls are Easy: Earth Girls are Easy is a 1988 sci-fi comedy starring Jim Carrey, Jeff Goldblum and Damon Wayans as three aliens who crash land in a California woman's pool.

Crow: Earth girls are greasy.

• Akira Kurosawa: Akira Kurosawa is a Japanese director who famously made Japanese cinema (and especially Samurai films) a viable art form internationally. He is most famous for his epic Seven Samurai but also filmed movies like Ran, Rashomon and Throne of Blood. Servo's comment refers to Kurosawa's often use of peasants in feudal Japan.

Servo: ...Meanwhile, in a Kurosawa film.

• Love, American Style: Love, American Style is an anthology series about love and romance that aired on ABC between 1969 and 1974 which eventually spawned Happy Days.

• El Kabong: In The Quick Draw McGraw Show, Quick Draw's superhero identity was El Kabong, a masked vigilante who hit his enemies over the head with an acoustic guitar. Kabong was a parody of Zorro, who wore a similar costume.

Mike: El Kabong will kill it!

• Pete Townshend: Pete Townshend is the lead guitar player for The Who. In their live performances, he often smashed his guitar to pieces as a grand finale. At one point, the band played live on The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour and Townshend smashed his guitar on his amp at the same time that Keith Moon set off explosives in his drum set, which may have caused his hearing loss later in life.

Servo: Years later, Pete Townshend would perfect this.

Memorable Moments

Quotes

• Tom: (about the dance) If my deepest, darkest despair had choreography, this would be it.

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