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Recap / Mystery Science Theater 3000 S07 E04: The Incredible Melting Man

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The George Hamilton story!

"The Incredible Melting Man — he's Incredi-Meltable!"
— Mike

Film watched: The Incredible Melting Man

The Segments:

Prologue
  • It's time for some baseball on the Satellite of Love, but when Servo beans Mike at the plate, a fight breaks out.

Segment 1

  • As Mike recovers from his injuries, Dr. Forrester and Pearl, taking the roles of bland and heartless studio executives, call up the SOL with shocking news: Hollywood has finally picked up Crow's very first screenplay, Earth vs. Soup, and they want to make it into a movie. The Mads are going to be overseeing production, and though Crow doesn't want any changes to his work, he instantly listens to their ideas for changes. They originally give him $30 million for his budget, but he's left with only $800 after they take their "fair share". And they also want Kevin Bacon for the starring role.

Segment 2

  • The Mads make a rare, and very expensive, in-person visit to the SOL to discuss the script for Earth vs. Soup. The whole meeting is spent trying to figure out who's supposed to get which pages, while Crow heads out to get Pellegrinos. By the time he gets back, the Mads are gone.

Segment 3

  • Shooting for Earth vs. Soup begins, with Mike playing Kevin Bacon's part. The crew can barely get through the first scene without director Crow's ego getting in the way. Crow also wraps up filming after getting two seconds of footage and claiming that they'll add dialogue in post. Servo explains that this is actually because Crow blew the last of the budget on his scarf.

Segment 4

  • As Crow hyperventilates, Dr. Forrester screens Earth vs. Soup to a focus group in Deep 13. The reactions are... mixed, to put it nicely.

Segment 5

  • As Crow prepares for potential stardom, the Mads inform him that Earth vs. Soup is going to be released in theaters... as a trailer. What's worse, they also ask him to remove his name from the credits. Overcome with the fate of his dream project, Crow breaks down in hysterics, which the Mads don't care about.

The MST3K treatment of The Incredible Melting Man provides the following tropes:

  • All a Dream: Mike posits this after Melty kills the cops.
  • Angrish: Crow's rant under Humiliation Conga devolves into this.
  • Association Fallacy: Crow goes into a huff after Mike points out that he's blocking the camera, saying that John Cassavetes played roles in his own movies all the time, so it's actually a mark of quality and consummate professionalism. He then names several other "great" directors who did the same — Sylvester Stallone, Coleman Francis, and Hal Needham.
  • Bait-and-Switch: Given how the opening segment sees Mike and the bots playing ball indoors, it first seems like it's going to be a repeat of the last time this happened. But then Tom almost nails Mike with the ball, then actually nails him, causing him to storm the mound.
  • Big-Lipped Alligator Moment: Invoked by Servo during the elderly couple scene.
    Servo: Did someone switch reels on us?!
  • Call-Back:
  • Budget-Busting Element: In-Universe. During the host segments of The Incredible Melting Man, Crow's screenplay for Earth vs. Soup is bought by the Mads and greenlit. They land a budget of $30 million, but between bonuses for Pearl and Clayton and several fees such as insurance and a completion bond, Crow is only given $800 to work with. And they expect him to get Kevin Bacon to star. This is meant as a Take That! to how the crew was treated when shooting The MST3K Movie.
  • Continuity Nod:
    • Crow's script, Earth vs. Soup, mentioned many times in preceding seasons, finally gets made! ...As a trailer.
    • During the "script confab", Pearl accidentally takes the Peter Graves at the University of Minnesota script from Beginning of the End.
  • Creator-Preferred Adaptation: invoked The director/writer of the film, William Sachs, LOVED the MST3K parody of it. The reason being, when he wrote the film, he wrote it as a parody of the sci-fi/horror genre. But sadly Executive Meddling happened, and the producers told him to "remove the funny stuff", resulting in a really disjointed film. MST3K in effect restored the "parody" elements of the film and made it funny the way the director originally intended.
  • Curb-Stomp Battle: The majority of it happens off-screen, but Tom and Mike's fight sees Mike get his clock rinsed.
  • Executive Meddling: In-universe with Dr. F and Pearl's treatment of Crow's script; see Take That! below.
  • Fair for Its Day: invoked More than fair, really, especially for its day. Mary Jo Pehl pointed to, among other things, the complete aversion of Monochrome Casting in the film as one of its strong points.
    Mary Jo Pehl: ...I thought this movie was really progressive, ahead of its time really, for several reasons: It featured an African-American doctor before television tokenism really took hold; the nurse is a person of size who is also a health professional and is not simply in the movie to be the butt of fat jokes (except ours). Never mind that she freaks out at the first sign of pus — hey, big girls get upset and queasy too.... It also portrays elderly people having viable, amorous relationships. An unpleasant thought though it may be, the movie puts it out there.
  • Fanservice: Forrester asks the focus group if they'd like to see Julia Ormond naked. Half the group raises their hands (the male half, natch).
  • Forced Perspective: An oddly framed shot of the Melting Man walking through a forest with a branch in the foreground while Dr. Ted Nelson calls for him. The riff:
    Crow: [high-pitched] They shrunk me and trapped me on this huge log!
  • Getting Crap Past the Radar: The whole episode is dedicated to mocking one of the goriest movies ever made, and yet it still managed a TV-14 rating.
    Crow: This is a very moist movie.
  • Gretzky Has the Ball: Crow seems to have no idea about anything in baseball.
    Crow: [while Mike rushes Tom on the mound] ORDER IN THE COURT! ORDER IN THE COURT!
  • Humiliation Conga: Crow summarizes:
    Crow: Let's see: I come to you with a movie, you supposedly get me $30 million to make it, you take 29.5 million for yourself, I get a lousy $800, I don't get any credit, and my movie's released as a trailer?!
  • Hypercompetent Sidekick: While Crow turns into a Prima Donna Director, his assistant, Servo (aka "Judy"), clearly knows more about what's going on and practically directs the film him (her?) self.
  • I Knew It!: invoked Saw that one coming.
    Ted Nelson: [to cops] Don't shoot! I'm Dr. Ted Nelson!
    Servo: BLAM! BLAM BLAM!
    Ted Nelson: I'm Dr. Ted Nelson!
    [Cops open fire, hitting Ted Nelson and killing him]
    Servo: [amused] Wasn't far off.
  • Insane Troll Logic: The focus group that previewed Earth vs. Soup.
    Pearl: Also, seventy four percent of the audience didn't like the character of Cruella de Vil, and even though the character wasn't in the movie, we have to change those numbers!
  • Karma Houdini: Pearl and Dr. Forrester recieve no punishment for swiping the vast majority of Crow's budget, turning his masterpiece into a lousy parody trailer, and not even giving him any credit for it. Given that they're meant to be evil studio executives as a jab to Gramercy Pictures (continued below) and Crow goes full-on incompetent prima-donna during filming, it's somewhat justified.
  • Leitmotif: The crew gives Ted a theme when he's tracking down Melty by the river: singing "Ted Nelson!" to the tune of the bombastic background music.
  • Looping Lines: invoked Referenced during the filming of Earth vs. Soup. Crow declares shooting over after recording one second of usable footage. When the others rightly point out that they didn't film any actual dialogue, Crow insists that they'll add the dialogue in post-production.
  • Mood Whiplash: Mike's lyrics that he sings over the music when the kids go to play both lampshades and plays the trope straight at the same time.
    Mike: Oh, we're free, and it's fun, and we're innocent, and it'll be sad when we find the head!
  • Neutral Female
    Servo: Yeah, Ted's lucky to have married a pistol like her!
  • No Budget: invoked The budget for Earth vs. Soup is $30 million. But somehow, after the studio (and Pearl and Clayton Forrester) take their share, only $800 is left to actually make the movie. And then Crow blows most of that on a scarf.
  • Paper-Thin Disguise: In order to get Kevin Bacon as the studio requests, Crow has Mike wear a name tag that says "Kevin Bacon" on it.
  • Prima Donna Director: Crow briefly acts like one as he directs his film. He speaks with a posh fake British accent, and acts like an all-around Jerkass.
  • Rage Breaking Point: A fight breaks out between Tom and Mike after Mike gets clocked in the head with a baseball.
  • Riddle for the Ages:
    Crow: [amused] So, how many monster movies end with a janitor scooping the monster into a garbage can?
  • Running Gag:
    • Reusing Ted's cry of "Hotchka!".
    • Speculating about the crackers that Ted's wife forgot to buy.
    • Adding "Ted Nelson" as lyrics to the movie's score.
  • Shout-Out:
    Servo: Das Blecch!note 
  • Spoof Aesop: During the credits the gang goes over what they learned, such as: Don't shout 'I'm Doctor Ted Nelson' to security guards. Or: cats can get their own milk out of the fridge.
  • Small Name, Big Ego: In spite of his aspirations of being an artiste, Crow is completely incompetent as a director. He doesn't know the proper sequence of shooting, and ruins one take because he doesn't get off camera.
  • Take That!:
    • The segments involving Crow's film are a not-so-subtle jab at the Executive Meddling that Gramercy Pictures inflicted on Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie, and the Deep Hurting that Best Brains endured in the process. Mary Jo Pehl later called these host segments "therapeutic".note 
      Mary Jo Pehl: I remember at one point, while the studio shepherds in charge of MST3K: The Movie were in Minneapolis, it was during the height of the ubiquitous O.J. Simpson deal. The studio exec informed us over lunch that there was a big trial in Los Angeles with O.J. Simpson because he'd been accused of murdering his wife, and "had (we) heard anything about it out here?" It was like a hog-pile on our souls.
      • Specifically, Dr. Forrester's increasingly large bottles of water are a jab at the Gramercy executives' alleged tendency to carry little paper cups around with them everywhere.
        Dr. Forrester: [carrying a water cooler] Mother! I think I can get my whole head in here!
    • During The Incredible Melting Man:
      "It's still better than Mrs. Doubtfire."
      "Yes."
    • At one point, Crow yells, "There's your Windows 95invoked!" when the Melting Man kills a character who resembles Bill Gates.
  • Values Dissonance: Invoked, as Servo reacts to Ted giving his pregnant wife barbiturates to get her to sleep.
    Servo: Ah, yes. Now her baby is enjoying the experience of goofballs.
  • What the Hell, Hero?: Crow wraps production so quickly, Gypsy tells him, very annoyed, "I didn't get to say beans!"
  • With Lyrics:
  • Yank the Dog's Chain: Crow's script, his pride and joy, finally gets green-lit. Then the film gets screwed over at every step of the process (granted, sometimes through Crow's own incompetence), and the film finally gets released as a trailer.
  • You Have GOT to Be Kidding Me!: Mike utters this verbatim upon learning Crow's script for Earth vs. Soup got greenlit.


"Let's get the hell out of here!" Man nods.

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