Let the experiment begin!
Experiment #K17 ~ TIME OF THE APES (1974)
Original Air Date: April 2, 1989
Genre: Action/Fantasy/Sci-Fi/Adventure
Studio: Tsuburaya Productions, LTD.
Starring: Reiko Tokunaga, Hiroko Saito, Masaaki Kaji, Hitoshi Omae
Directed By: Atsuo Okunaka, Kiyo Sumi Fukazawa
Theatrical Running Time: 97 Minutes
Tagline: "They're Lost in Eternity, and Trapped in the Time of the Apes!"
Film Synopsis: Children Caroline, Johnny and their adult scientist sister Catherine unwillingly (with the contrivance of technology and a geological disturbance) become cryogenic-ally frozen and somehow accidentally travel in time to a world where talking apes are the dominant species. With the help of a renegade human named Godo, and a juvenile primate named Pepe, the human trio are eventually able to return to their own place in time. Oh, and there's an alien spaceship, too! Don't ask. I don't know.
Intro: The Mads contact the 'SOL', but Joel is not to be found anywhere. Servo and Crow have a little bit of fun teasing the Mads. Dr.'s 'E' & 'F' send the experiment, regardless.
Host Segments:
Host 1: Servo and Crow search the 'SOL' for Joel. Gypsy finds Joel's jumpsuit in the pod bay. They determine that Joel must be floating naked in space. "Quick, get the telescope!"
Host 2: Now confident that Joel is locked outside of the 'SOL', Crow and Servo debate if they should let him back in. ("What is that infernal pounding noise?!"). If they do, "there's going to be some changes around here!" Before they come to a decision, its... 'Movie Sign'!
Host 3: Cambot tricks Crow (and the viewers) into believing that Joel is back on-board the 'SOL'. Servo demonstrates how "reality can be an illusion."
End: Servo and Crow discuss what their lives will be like without Joel around anymore. Joel continues to float naked outside the 'SOL'.
Items of Note:
~ Servo and Crow watch the experiment without Joel.
~ Crow sits in Joel's seat in the auditorium
~ The only human characters to be seen in the "Host Segments" are Dr.'s 'E' and 'F' in the intro. The rest is all Bots!
Personal Notes:
~ Joel was out of town on a personal engagement, so the episode was shot without him.
~ Josh Weinstein appears to be having a 'field day', as he gets to use the character of Servo to deliver some of the worst 'monkey-related' puns ever.
~ This experiment will be tried again in Season Three, with exceptional results!
The 'Riffs':
~ (
Servo): "He's trying to peel him! He thinks he's a banana!"
~ (
Crow): "There's more bad hair in this film than "An Ewok Adventure!"
~ (
Servo): "Get that. It might be the phone!"
~ (
Servo): "In the background, I think I saw 'Ape' Vigoda."
~ References spanning such matters as "The Boss" (
'Springsteen', 'Boss Hogg', 'Boss Tweed', 'Bossy the Cow, etc...) and "My Three Sons", "The Monkees" and 'Land of the Lost'. Not bad for a "two-Bot" effort, but ultimately flat and unsatisfying.
Rating: 1 "Naked 'He-Man' Action Figure" out of 5.
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