"Oh, Hercules, my darling..."
- "Oh, no, he thought of that too! HE'S EVERYWHERE! HE'S EVERYWHERE! HE'S EVERYWHERE!"— Joel
Film watched: Hercules Unchained
The episode is available in the Gizmoplex here
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The Segments:
Prologue
- It’s Wash and Wax day on the SOL, and Crow is trying to avoid what the 'Bots consider a fate worse than death.
Segment 1/Invention Exchange
- Crow is shown to have had a rough time in the Wash and Wax, though Servo enjoyed his turn. The star of today’s experiment, Steve Reeves, shows up in Deep 13 to help Frank and Dr. Forrester recover their invention: a line of decorator cockroaches. Joel invents the Steve-O-Meter, a device that tells you whether or not a particular concept or idea has been thought of by Steve Allen.
Segment 2
- Gypsy turns the bridge into an Ancient Greek palace so she can play the Hellenistic ideal. This results in her mashing her face into a lyre while singing "Last night!" repeatedly.
Segment 3
- Joel and the Bots discover the film’s Waters of Forgetfulness in bottled form. They also sample other foodstuffs which trigger different emotional states: the Carob Shake of Pretentiousness, the Blizzard of Loneliness, the Fruit-Stripe Gum of Stability, and the Green Bean and French Onion Casserole of Happiness.
Segment 4
- In an attempt to make Joel feel awkward, Tom and Crow try to get him to reveal what Hercules and Queen Omphale do in the palace all day.
Segment 5
- Joel and the 'Bots try to understand the Hercules films and why they became so popular. Steve is unable to provide any insight as Frank gushes over him.
The Mystery Science Theater 3000 presentation of Hercules Unchained contains examples of:
- Department of Redundancy Department:Hercules: I'm so sleepy I can't seem to keep awake!
Servo: Uh, that'd be the definition of "sleepy"! - Dreadful Musician: Gypsy puts on a performance that consists of her repeatedly bellowing the words "LAST NIII-IGHT!"note and mashing her face into a lyre.
- The Hedonist: Crow and Servo in the second host segment. Joel complains about having to be the one who peels the grapes.
- It's Been Done: By Steve Allen, no less; Joel invents the Steve-O-Meter which detects whether a given idea has already been thought of by Steve Allen. Turns out Steve already thought of the Steve-O-Meter too.
- Power-Up Food: In parody of the film's Waters Of Forgetfulness, Joel and the 'bots partake of the (Bottled) Water Of Forgetfulness, the Carob Shake Of Pretentiousness, the Dairy Queen Blizzard Of Loneliness ("I found a quartah!"), the Fruit Stripe Gum Of Stability, and the Green Bean And French Onion Casserole Of Happiness.
- Shaped Like Itself: When facing Antaeus:Ulysses: I’m telling you it must be Antaeus, son of the earth goddess!
Joel: That’s who he said he was! (For the record, Antaeus stated who he was four times, and said he was the son of Poseidon the sea god, too.)- During a host segment, Joel partakes of the Green Bean Casserole of Contentment, and drops this line:I love my location. It's so conveniently located.
- During a host segment, Joel partakes of the Green Bean Casserole of Contentment, and drops this line:
- Special Guest: Steve Reeves (played by Mike Nelson) is the exterminator the Mads hire to deal with their roach problem. He's not all that glad to be reminded of his former glory by the day's experiment.
- Shout-Out: At the title, Servo starts singing, "Oh, Hercules, my darling..."note
- The Talk: Crow and Servo try to get Joel to do this, although it's implied that they're just trying to make him feel awkward.
- World's Most Beautiful Woman: Invoked by Gypsy, wearing a toga and a wreath of laurels and "playing" the lyre: "I'm the Hellenistic Ideal!"
