"Truck Farmer: The Special Edition: includes scenes the studio originally thought too graphic for audiences."
The John Bradshaw Story!
Your feature today is a film called I Accuse My Parents. You figure it out...
Films watched: The Truck Farmer (short) and I Accuse My Parents— Dr. Forrester
The Truck Farmer looks back on the then-recent trend of incorporating new technology like tractors and cheap labor to allow farmers to rush produce to supermarkets everywhere.
The episode is available in the Gizmoplex here
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The Segments:
Prologue- Tom has come down with Pinocchio Syndrome and has become "a real boy" by having Crow paint him pink.
Segment 1/Invention Exchange
- Dr. Forrester presents Cake n' Shake, an easy-to-make cake mix that comes with its own pre-packaged exotic dancer. Unfortunately, Frank decided to "skip a step" by putting the dancer inside before baking, and now the Mads have to dig the dancer out or risk getting in BIG trouble with Chippendales. Joel shows off the Junk Drawer Organizer, a kit to make sorting all your random odds and ends quick and easy.
Segment 2
- Joel has asked the 'Bots to draw their ideal families so he can analyze their psychological profiles. The results are a bit concerning.
Segment 3
- The SOL crew recreates the movie's musical number, with Gypsy lip-syncing to Kitty's song "Are You Happy in Your Work?". It gets cut short when Tom and Crow, playing waiters, crash into one another and spill champagne on Cambot.
Segment 4
- To get to the bottom of Jimmy's motives for turning to a life of crime, Joel has put together an illustrated model of what's going through Jimmy's witless head. "STUPID" is not only bigger than everything else, but it comes around repeatedly.
Segment 5
- Tom and Crow demand that Joel give them "a charbroiled hamburger sandwich with french fried potatoes garnish" by holding him at gunpoint. Joel plays dumb, but relents when the 'Bots come back with a tank. The Mads have finally gotten the exotic dancer, Rodney, out of their cake. Dr. Forrester tries to slip Rodney some cash to forget about the incident, but is rewarded with a complimentary dance.
The Mystery Science Theater 3000 presentation of The Truck Farmer provides examples of:
- Dude, Not Funny!: Joel and the Bots tear the short a new one for its unflinching praise of terrible land management and exploited cheap labor.
- Language Drift: The term "Truck Farming" baffles Joel and the 'Bots, who repeatedly ask each other if anyone's seen a truck yet. For the record, "truck" in this context refers to market vegetables, from an even earlier sense meaning to barter (you also find it in the phrase "have no truck with"). It's quite rare these days, and most people would be much more familiar with the completely different word "truck" (from the Greek for "wheel") that refers to a wheeled vehicle for carrying heavy loads, or small wheels on heavy objects to allow movement.
The Mystery Science Theater 3000 presentation of I Accuse My Parents provides examples of:
- Artsy Beret: Tom has commissioned Crow to paint him "Nude" pink. Crow is wearing a beret and painter's smock and holding a palette.
- Become a Real Boy: Subverted. Tom Servo says he's become a real live boy, but he's just had Crow paint him pink, with the joke being that the 'Bots of the Satellite of Love are already Ridiculously Human Robots with well-developed personalities, interests, opinions, and of course senses of humor. Tom in particular is highly intellectual and well-read and has probably given more thought to what it means to be human than most actual humans. Joel says he's developed a desire to be human (and that he knew this would happen). Crow points out it won't work, while Joel points out he's already pretty much human in all the ways that count. Tom bursts into tears (again proving he has human emotions). He quickly gets over it after the first commercial break.Servo: I want to run and jump and skin my knees!
Crow: You don't have any legs.
Servo: I want to catch frogs down at the old fishing hole!
Crow: Your arms don't work.
Servo: I want to experience the world of emotion and feelings!
Crow: You'll get beat up because you're a freak. - Black Comedy: When Jimmy decides to run away from home, he leaves a message saying he'll be gone a while. As he leaves it over by a table:Crow (as Jimmy): I'll just put this over here with Mom's suicide note.
- Call-Back: The crew are amused at the mention of "French-fried potatoes".
- Dawson Casting: Lampshaded. The fact that Robert Lowell is quite obviously a bit too old to convincingly play a teenager is just too good a target for jokes for Joel and the 'Bots to pass on.Joel (as Jimmy): Oh boy, oh boy! I won, I won! After 11 years in high school I finally won... something!
- Delayed Reaction: Joel is most of the way through his usual introductory speech before he suddenly notices Servo's "makeover".
- Drop-In Character: Joel and the 'Bots are puzzled by Shirley dropping in. Without even knocking!Servo (as Jimmy): Okay. Who are you?
Joel: (when Shirley leaves) Who is that? - Dude, Not Funny!: In-universe:
- Joel delivers a blistering one-liner after the judge, who is so moved by Jimmy's story about his non-Abusive Parents and stupid decisions, suspends his prison sentence and gives him probation instead.Joel: Thank God I'm white!
- Joel delivers a blistering one-liner after the judge, who is so moved by Jimmy's story about his non-Abusive Parents and stupid decisions, suspends his prison sentence and gives him probation instead.
- Even Evil Has Standards: Dr. Forrester is shocked to find out that Frank baked the cake with the dancer still in it. Mostly subverted, though, as Forrester is more afraid of the trouble they could get in rather than the fact that Frank baked a person.
- Everybody Knew Already: Parodied: During the scene where Charlie forces Kitty to break it off with Jimmy lest he kill him, while he hides in Kitty's closet, the crew decides to spin it that it's not exactly subtle. Tom has Kitty keep muttering "guyinthecloset", Crow has Charlie loudly inquire about some golf clubs in the closet, and Joel has Jimmy remark about smelling something Italian. And then, when Jimmy finally decides to leave:Tom (as Jimmy): (sad) Ohhh... okay... Goodnight, Mr. Blake.Joel (as Charlie): (from the closet) Goodnight, Jimmy— OH!
- Exposed Extraterrestrials: Spoofed. Joel does a double-take when he realizes Tom Servo is "naked" — but he's the same shape as usual, just entirely covered in pink paint.
- The Freelance Shame Squad: Jimmy's mom's drunkenness is mocked by Jimmy's classmates.Student: Hee, hee, hee! She's drunk!
Crow: (as student) It's funny! - Glurge: In-universe. When the film starts right off with Jimmy spouting the Author Tract, Joel groans, "Oh, boy, here we go..."
- Hating on Monday: When Kitty sings "Are You Happy in Your Work?", a background extra's voice is dubbed to gripe: "Aw, don't sing this to me on a Monday!"
- Hurricane of Puns: Tom's shoe store-themed musical announcement during a nightclub dance scene.Tom: And now Thom McAn and the Payless Orchestra, with Cole Haan on the saxophone, then the Naturalizers will sing something by Johnston & Murphy.
- If I Can't Have You…Blake: (to Kitty) No one's gonna take you away from me. Nobody.
Servo: (as Blake) Not even me, see! I'll kill me before that happens. - I'll Take Two Beers Too: Jimmy orders two champagne cocktails when he first goes to see Kitty at the club, one ostensibly being for her, but it leads to this:Waiter: Two, sir?
Joel: Yeah, and put 'em in one of those big Slurpee glasses. - Jumping Out of a Cake: The Mads' "Cake n' Shake" invention, an instant cake mix with a Chippendale dancer included right in the box. Frank tries to take a shortcut by putting the dancer in the cake before baking it, so he and Dr. F spend the whole experiment tearing the cake apart to save him.
- Letting the Air out of the Band: During the re-enactment of "Are You Happy in Your Work?", Tom and Crow (playing waiters) run into each other, making a mess. The song that Gypsy is lip-syncing to slows down and stops as a result.
- Money for Nothing: By Joel's own estimate, Jimmy managed to get $35 from his parents by doing nothing.note
- Motor Mouth: "AslongasItalkreallyfastanddowhathesaysI'mgonnabeOK."
- Off on a Technicality: Parodied. When Jimmy is on trial, the judge throws out the case: "Seeing as how it's your birthday, we'll let you go."
- Prone to Tears: Tom cries again this episode, sobbing into Joel's arms after realizing that he has not, in fact, Become a Real Boy.
- Rapid-Fire Interrupting: Done in a scene where Jimmy's parents are arguing; Servo (as Jimmy) keeps trying to get a word in edgewise but keeps getting cut off by Jimmy's parents.
- Rearrange the Song: Later in the film, there's a scene set at the nightclub, and jazzy music plays in the background. Tom suddenly does a Frank Sinatra imitation: "Are you groovin' with your cuckoo work? Hey!"
- Rock Me, Asmodeus!: While Kitty sings one of her innocuous songs and Jimmy looks on with a gleeful, wide-eyed expression, Crow riffs: "Yes Satan, speak to me through this song!"
- The Runaway: Yes, even Jimmy running away from home gets made fun of, as the crew doesn't let him stuffing a suitcase go unriffed:Crow: (as Jimmy; while clearly crying) I'm just gonna run away! (sobs more) I got peanut butter, and underwear, and that's all I need!Joel: (as Jimmy; still sobbing) I'm gonna run away to Kansas and become a ventriloquist!
- Running Gag: Many, including...
- Jimmy constantly and proudly bringing up the fact that he won his school's essay contest, and that he is a shoe-salesman.
- Jimmy's excuse for everything being that it's his birthday.
- Joel and the Bots coming up with even more ridiculous lies than the ones Jimmy says in the movie, some of them relating to World War II and The Vietnam War.
- Chanting "Liar! Liar! Liar!" after any of Jimmy's many lies.
- His mother's alcoholism.
- Jimmy being completely oblivious to the fact that his boss is hardcore mobster, to the point of being Too Dumb to Live.
- Hamburgers with a french-fried potatoes garnish.
- Quacking every time the door opens at Kitty's apartment and a picture of ducks appears in the background.
- Constantly pointing out Jimmy's stupidity in the third segment.
- Heck, the constant accusing.
- Serious Business: "You were supposed to get us a hamburger sandwich like in the movie! WHAT IS HAPPENING TO THIS FAMILY?"
- Shame If Something Happened: Invoked when Jimmy meets Blake:Crow: (as Blake) So, Jimmy, do you like your kneecaps?
- Shout-Out:
- Crow blurts out "was you ever bit by a dead bee" during the dinner scene, when Kitty is in maximum Lauren Bacall mode. This is a nod to Bacall's first movie, To Have And Have Not.
- "Joel, you magnificent bastard, I read your menu!"
- The tank the 'Bots use at the end of the episode has "ANNE BLYTHE" written on it. Presumably they meant Ann Blyth, World War II-era actress and pinup girl, but a secondary reference to Anne of Green Gables isn't out of the question (and, as it turns out, Ann Blyth's name was Anne Blythe before she moved to Hollywood).
- Tom's ideal dad is Gigantor.
- Smelly Feet Gag: Joel and the Bots' reaction to Jimmy taking off Kitty's shoe.Joel and the Bots: PEE-EW!
- Society Is to Blame: Mocked. The premise of "I Accuse My Parents" — the person that committed the crime is blameless because his parents and everyone else failed him first. The SOL crew are quick to scoff at the idea that Jimmy's bickering parents, somewhat distant but fairly pleasant to him, come anywhere near justifying him going to work for a mobster.
- Song Parody: "He's crazy... crazy for 'ccusin' his parents."
- Stress-Induced Mental Voices: Early in the film, when Jimmy's mom arrives at the school, one of his classmates says, "She's drunk!" Crow riffs: "It's funny!" A scene later, Jimmy hears "She's drunk!" in his sleep so Crow adds again: "It's funny!"
- Title Drop: Jimmy says "I accuse my parents" in the first couple minutes, prompting Joel and the bots to be amazed at how quickly the film ended. Unfortunately for them, the entire movie is told in flashback. It does drop again at the end too.
- Too Dumb to Live: The crew's assessment of Jimmy when analyzing him. They explain Jimmy's actions as chiefly coming about because he's stupid.
- Tranquil Fury: "Eleanor Roosevelt's pissed!"
- Uniqueness Value: Joel tries to ask Tom why he wants to be human so badly anyway. "There are billions of real live boys on Earth, there's only one Tom Servo!"
- Values Dissonance: Invoked with Joel's "Thank god I'm white!" when the judge lets Jimmy off scot-free.
- With Lyrics: Tom adds lyrics to the opening theme music to I Accuse My Parents:Tom: (singing) They laughed when I accused my parents and I killed them / Let's see if they'll be laughing noooooow!
- They also add lyrics to the scene where Jimmy first works in the shoe store.Kitty: You better try again.
Servo: (singing to the background music) I'll try again... if something's wrong...
- They also add lyrics to the scene where Jimmy first works in the shoe store.
