Somebody stop me from saying "Somebody stop me!"!
Film watched: The Mask (1961).
This is the first official Halloween episode of MST3K and the host segments center around Jonah introducing the holiday to the 'Bots. It is also the first episode to be featured in 3D (with special "Kingavision glasses" sent to select backers), and a second version of the episode with no 3D effects is also available on the Gizmoplex. The Mask is the first black-and-white film to be featured on MST3K since Horrors of Spider Island in Season 10 and currently holds the record for the longest gap between release date and being riffed on the show (61 years).
The Segments:
Prologue- The crew is getting into the Halloween spirit by telling scary stories. As they're expecting the Mads to call, they're only telling the endings to save time.
Segment 1/Invention Exchange
- The Invention Exchange is Halloween-themed, too. Jonah solves the problem of costume indecisiveness with the Multi-Mask. Kinga updates the Ouija board with new "Me-Ja" themes, such as the Luigi board for Italian stereotypes and the Beegee board for those who can't accept that Disco is dead.
Segment 2
- Jonah prepares to take the 'Bots out for Trick-or-Treating at Moon 1. Servo is Pinhead, Crow somehow dresses as himself, and Jonah goes as Tom Atkins, but nobody knows who Tom Atkins is and it frustrates him to no end. Max goes as "Mad Max Headroom", and Synthia is Mrs. Kelly from the movie.
Segment 3
- As they gather around Jonah's laptop to write a Halloween song, the crew compose a new take on the Monster Mash where all the monsters are unable to attend a Halloween party due to prior engagements.
Post-Intermission
- Their first song having failed to find an audience, the crew tries again with a song about the monsters coming over for Thanksgiving dinner.
Segment 4
- Crow turns off the color to help Jonah get through his psychiatric issues through "Noir therapy", causing the remaining host segments to all be in black-and-white.
Segment 5
- The crew is about to go down their new log flume ride when a floating skull from the movie appears and insists on joining in.
The Mystery Science Theater 3000 3D presentation of The Mask has examples of:
- Call-Back:
- "Hello, my baby! Hello, my honey!"
- During the "Monster RSVP" song, Bigfoot from Cry Wilderness appears on the Jetscreen when the crew sings about him and the Wolfman blowing off the party to get mani-pedis.
- The Fourth Wall Will Not Protect You: Tom panics when Dr. Barnes comes at the camera with a crazed look on his face. "He's broken everything else, now he's coming for the fourth wall!"
- Mock Headroom: Max's "Mad Max Headroom" costume, the famous CGI character decked out in post-apocalypse gear.
- A Mystery Inside An Enigma: "This movie's like a riddle wrapped in a mystery seen through a migraine-inducing idea of 3D glasses!"
- Mythology Gag: When the titular mask appears in the film, Jonah declares, "We have MacGuffin Sign!"
- New Neighbours as the Plot Demands: Played with. Max introduces Mrs. Kelly (played by Synthia) as "our landlady".Servo: Since when do you have a landlady?
Max: Since the beginning of the sketch. - One-Person Birthday Party: "Monster RSVP" is about a one-person Halloween party because all the monsters had scheduling conflicts. The final verse has the singer reschedule the party for Thanksgiving, when the busy season for movie monsters is over and they have time to go to parties.
- Rule of Three: Each of the crew gets in a riff paraphrasing the catchphrase "Somebody stop me!", then Jonah calls it off.Servo: Nobody stop me!
- Running Gag:
- References to another, more famous film involving a mask, and with the same title, too!Michael: (whispering) The mask.
Dr. Barnes: The mask?
Servo: (whispering, as Michael) I heard they call him Cuban Pete.
Dr. Barnes: What mask?
Jonah: (as Barnes) The king of the rumba beat?
Dr. Barnes: How does it hypnotize you?
Crow: (as Barnes) Does it go chick chick-a-boom? - Lieutenant Martin looking like Frasier Crane.
- The landlady Mrs. Kelly bringing up the "doodads" in Michael's apartment has Jonah and the bots using the term periodically for the rest of the show. Synthia even uses the term when she dresses up as Mrs. Kelly!
- Mortal Kombat references whenever Michael Radin's name is mentioned.
- "Put the mask on now! Put the mask on now!!!"
- References to another, more famous film involving a mask, and with the same title, too!
- Shout-Out:
- Three-Dimensional Episode: Though also available in 2D for those without glasses.
