Search - Andy Street :: Hats Off To Madeline: Songs From The Hit TV Series

MST3K-Tel Presents "Seventies Gold!"

nigel_tufnel11 | Lincoln, NE USA | 12/03/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Remember the Seventies? Of course you do. It's the decade of stagflation, Watergate, polyester shirts and big flared pants, and The Hustle. How could you possibly forget all that, try as you might?Well, thanks to the crew of the Satellite of Love, you don't have to, because they've rummaged through their closets, checking under their lime-green leisure suits and behind their Pet Rocks, and unearthed "Angels Revenge", a direct-to-drive-in rip-off of "Charlie's Angels" by the one and only Greydon Clark.The story involves six ladies joining forces to battle the regional manager of an elaborate drug operation. In the course of their venture, they cross paths with all sorts of creepy, leering, and remarkably incompetent thugs. Oh, and they also have to deal with such slumming celebrities as Alan Hale, Jr., Arthur Godfrey, Pat Buttram, and Jim Backus, all of whom took the money, and therefore are fair game for the taunts from our heroes.All the hallmarks of D-grade Seventies filmmaking are present and accounted for: the foxy, violent chicks, trying to rid the world of evil; the evil itself, which can't even muster up a single moment of real suspense, since none of the bad guys seem to know how to use a gun; the big-name star (in this case, Jack Palance) who should have known better; the casual racism that was apparently A-OK at the time; the inherent sexism disguised as a female empowerment story; and the love of car chases and explosions and lots and lots of gunplay, all set to cartoony sound effects and "har-dee-har-har" music.In short, it's perfect for MST3K. The guys use every opportunity to slam anything and everything about the decade that foisted this movie on an unwitting public, from a featured, beyond-lame disco tune called "Shine Your Love" (Mike: "Y'know, in the Seventies you could take an abstract idea like shining your love and just go with it."), to the blatant theft of any number of "Charlie's Angels" episodes, to the pop-culture kitsch of the decade (Servo: "Remember when everybody had this poster, except there was only one of 'em, and it was Farrah Fawcett?"). As usual, the crew also makes finer points about the motivations of the producers of the films they lampoon. About two-thirds of the way through, there's a gratuitous shot of the women, sitting under a waterfall, clad in bikinis, and Crow observes, "Now, ladies and gentlemen, the reason this movie was made."This is one of the episodes that I think makes a good primer for anyone who's never seen the show before. The skits between the movie segments are very funny, especially the opening, where Frank and Forrester, dressed as relief pitchers Tug McGraw and Rollie Fingers, have spiked Mike and the 'Bots food so they'll turn into the cast of "the smash hit, starring Lorenzo Lamas, 'Renegade'!" in order to boost flagging ratings. [NOTE: This feels like a direct shot at the powers-that-were at Comedy Central, the show's home at the time. It was never the highest rated program at the channel, but it had one of the largest and most loyal fan bases of any television program that ever aired, which is probably what kept the show alive for ten years.] That is possibly the best pre-movie sketch of the show's run."

Big in Turkey

Michael Jasper | Ankara, Turkey | 12/07/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I showed this video to a class of first-year English students in Ankara, Turkey, and they thought it was hilarious. This one is a classic--from the Jack Palance imitations, the "Welcome to Skipper's" line off Alan Hale, the skit where Mike and the robots are turned into the cast of "Renegade," to the horrible disco song and the line, "Aren't you Michelle Wilson--you're terrible," and the drunken Peter Lawford. My second favorite of all-time, after "Arizona Werewolf," unfortunately not yet available on video. Buy this one sure enough."

Get it if you're a fan of the show!

RAMChYLD | Klang, Selangor, Malaysia | 12/31/2002

(5 out of 5 stars)

"A nice album, containing selected songs from the show that currently airs on Disney (and selected terrestrial stations worldwide). My only gripe about it is the same as the Dragon tales album: there are songs that didn't make it to the CD. Now, this is no big deal, but I'm surprised that they chose the perky numbers instead of the pleasant ones. Imho, "Without You" from "Madeline and the Science Project" and "Paris is a writer's delight" from "Madeline and the Hunchback of Notre Dame" is better than "Dinosaurs, Dinosaurs" from "Madeline and the dinosaur bone" and "Mean and nasty horrible hats", from the episode of the same name. Still, it's a neat album. Get it if the you're a fan of the show."