1.2 “The Robot Vs. The Aztec Mummy.” Only the second Comedy Channel episode ever. Joel watches as spacefaring demon dogs pursue the bone-shaped Satellite Of Love and relieve themselves on hydrant-like ‘bot Tom Servo.
5.9 “The Girl In Lover’s Lane.” Joel models Don Martin shoes and sings a train song, Crow pretends he’s Jack Elam, and the ‘bots request pinball money, then rewrite the movie’s ending.
6.4 “Zombie Nightmare.” In tribute to the film’s star, Adam West, Servo and Mike dress as Batman. Also, the ‘bots pretend to be Secret Service agents and unadvisedly relax in a hot tub, and Dr. Forrester experiments with voodoo.
6.16 “Racket Girls.” Lisa Loeb drops by, Forrester installs a new security system, and Mike agrees to marry Crow.
EXTRAS:
* “Glimpses of KTMA: Scrapbook Scraps I” (15:36) A compilation of skits from the show’s sole pre-Comedy Channel season, featuring (among many other things) a mustache-free Forrester, a Weinstein-voiced Servo and an inarticulate proto-Servo named “Beeper.”
* “Behind The Scenes: Scrapbook Scraps II” (8:07) Rare glimpses into the show’s writers room, prop-creation room, movie-watching set and puppetmaster area by Joel’s knees.
* “Zombie Nightmare = MST3K Dream” (11:51) New Interviews with "Zombie Nightmare" stars Frank Dietz and Jon Mikl Thor, both of whom were enormously excited to learn their 1986 movie would be mocked on MST3K. Learn that Thor owns a clothing line called “Vancouver Millionaires.” Learn that the versatile Dietz went on to write the 1995 Pamela Anderson vehicle “Naked Souls” and for the last dozen years has worked as a Disney and DreamWorks animator!
* “Sneak Peek at ‘Hamlet A.D.D.’ (5:12) A very odd clip from a new movie featuring the voices of “The Film Crew’s” Kevin Murphy, “Cinematic Titanic’s” Trace Beaulieu and “Star Trek’s” Majel Barrett Roddenberry.
Each of the Big Three networks on Oct. 9 premiered a series based on a show that aired overseas. CBS had “The Eleventh Hour,” ABC had “Life On Mars” and NBC had “Kath & Kim.” All three were cancelled by May.
An unfunny comedy adapted for NBC by writer-producer Michelle Nader (“The King of Queens”), “Kath” is about an appallingly self-absorbed mother-daughter team.
The sitcom is teeming with unpleasant characters mouthing terrible jokes. When confronted with the prospect of dancing to hip-hop, Kath’s boyfriend protests, “I wouldn’t want to break a hip. Hop.” Kim says stuff like, “My marriage is over! O.V.U.R.!” (I may be misquoting, but the gags come on a screener I’m determined not to re-watch.)
That boyfriend is played by the ubiquitous John Michael Higgins, who plays a cable exec on some stunningly unfunny satellite-TV commercials. How Higgins became Mr. Must-Have Comedy Player is a puzzler; perhaps confused producers somehow came to believe he was one of the genuinely funny Higgens brothers, either David Anthony Higgens (“Malcolm in the Middle”) or longtime SNL writer Steve Higgins (“Late Night With Jimmy Fallon”)?
On the upside, “Kath” does offer a lot of gorgeous Selma Blair making a lot of (admittedly amusing) sour faces while cavorting in her undies and short-shorts and bellyshirts. (Candidly, if she dressed like this in “Zoe Bean” the show might still be on the air.) Also, NBC has wised up to the fact that laughtracks are the worst things ever, and happily does not employ one here.
Fun fact: Shannon, 44, is less than eight years older than TV daughter Blair, 37.
… programmers have scheduled [NBC] like they're college kids furnishing an apartment out of mom's hand-me-downs and tourist schlock from an over-the-border discount store. The result so far this season is a rare double play: the worst new drama in the camp revival Knight Rider, coupled now with the worst sitcom in the Australian remake Kath & Kim. …
… The core problem with K&K is that there's no character to root for. These days, we don't need to identify with sitcom characters or even love them. (Garry Shandling and Ricky Gervais proved that, immortally.) But we do need an occasionally recognizable — if silly — human, or a compelling relationship, to keep us coming back. For all of Shannon's luminescence and Blair's intense glower, neither Kath nor Kim is alive in this way. …
… a mother/daughter Odd Couple that is drained almost immediately of any comic value except for the black hole of anger and narcissism that is Blair's Kim. Spoiled rotten girls are funny. Spoiled vicious girls are not. … desperately tries to caricature both family dynamics and consumer culture but winds up just abusing its terrific cast.
… goes into the record books on these shores as a contender for worst remake ever. NBC sent the first two episodes of "Kath & Kim," and both were jaw-dropping in their awfulness. …
… just doesn't cut it. There's something essential missing at the core … "Kath & Kim" is proof - yet again, my friends - that creating a successful sitcom is a stubbornly mysterious process, that even a collection of the very best ingredients can make for a tasteless stew. …
… Snide but not smart, "Kath & Kim" will likely leave American audiences scratching their heads, wondering what Australians saw in the concept -- or if something was seriously lost in translation. The producers have sought to give the project a Yank accent mostly by having their low-class protagonists reference National Enquirer-type gossip about U.S. stars, but the show irritates more than it amuses. Most fans of the better NBC sitcoms surrounding it that say "G'day" probably won't be able to say "G'bye" fast enough. …
… lacks the charm of the original. Worse, the characters in the NBC show are so exaggerated that the whole thing feels like a skit. A long, long skit. … By the second episode -- about a third of which incongruously takes place in a gay bar -- you're forced to concede that the two characters, as written, have a combined repertoire of a single note.
For $19.99, Peanuts 1960s Collection offers all six (terrific) animated specials originally aired by CBS that decade:
1) “A Charlie Brown Christmas” (1965)
2) “Charlie Brown's All-Stars!” (1966)
3) “It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” (1966)
4) “You're In Love, Charlie Brown” (1967)
5) “He's Your Dog, Charlie Brown” (1968)
6) “It Was A Short Summer Charlie Brown” (1969)
The first won the Emmy for “outstanding children's program”; all except the last were Emmy-nominated. The set also includes the documentary "The Maestro of Menlo Park - Profiling Composer Vince Gauraldi."
Look again upon the perfect floating hearts above Sally Brown's head:
comes with four mocked features:
