12. “Henry: Portrait of a Serial Gerbil.”

The episode: “Master Ninja I“, ep. 322

The riff: Snidely quipped by Crow as the movie’s hero Max, played by Timothy Van Patten, gestures to his pet gerbil Henry’s cage, which rests in between the front two seats of his A-Team-style conversion van. He’s talking to a young Demi Moore, by the way.

The explanation: A wordplay collision and reference to the 1986/1990 film “Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer,” which was based on the life of real-life serial killer Henry Lee Lucas. The film was completed in 1986 but not release in 1990 due to controversy and rating troubles surrounding its graphic violence, but today is something of a minor cult-classic. The ultra-low budget film was made for around $100,000 and starred Michael Rooker in the title role, today famous for his role as Merle in AMC’s “The Walking Dead.” It’s entirely reasonable to think that “Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer” is the performance that ultimately netted Rooker the juicy part of the demented Merle Dixon in cable’s most popular show today.

Novelty factor: I recognized the reference immediately because I’ve heard of this film, but I’ve yet to actually see it. It is currently buried somewhere in the depths of my Netflix queue, waiting to be viewed.

11. “Your in-flight movie is ‘Fearless’…”

The episode: “MST3k: The Movie,” aka. “This Island Earth“, technically ep. 700*

*To those not in the know, MST3k was seen on the big screen this one time in 1996, between seasons 6 and 7. It was not particularly successful, as the distributor Gramercy Pictures didn’t really know what to do with it or how to market it. The show returned to TV as normal immediately thereafter. The episode is just like a regular episode of the show, except with higher production values.

The riff: Spoken by Servo as the movie’s scientist hero, Cal, boards an airplane.

The explanation: Really an old sort of joke. “Fearless” was a 1993 film starring Jeff Bridges as a man who survives a plane crash. Just some of the Satellite of Love occupants’ dark humor at work. Oddly enough, 1993 also featured a second, more disturbing plane crash movie, “Alive,” in which the crashed members of a rugby team turn to cannibalism. I remember this same joke being made in a newspaper comic (either “The Far Side” or “Dilbert,” I think) sometime in the 1990s.

Novelty factor: I didn’t know for sure that “Fearless” was a movie about a plane crash, but if you know the writers’ senses of humor, it’s a pretty easy guess.

About the clip: I like how the plane completely disintegrates and explodes before it even gets to the ground. Huh?

10. “I’m fine Dmitri, you’re fine, we’re both fine, it’s good to be fine.”

The episode: “Santa Claus Conquers the Martians,” ep. 321

The riff: Spoken by Tom Servo as a martian father warmly greets his two young children with gentle headbutts (as is martian custom).

The explanation: Servo is referencing Peter Sellers’ famous telephone conversation from the war room of Stanley Kubrick’s “Dr. Strangelove.” In the scene, Sellers’ character (the American president) is trying to break the news of possible impending nuclear war as tactfully as he can to the Russians, but he is clearly reticent. Here, I think they use the line because given the poor acting, the sentiments of the martians are just as phony as the American president’s pleasure that the line is “coming through just fine.”

Novelty factor: I was always amused by this line, but I have to admit I didn’t catch the reference. I should probably rewatch “Dr. Strangelove” in the near future. In the video below, the inspiration for the riff stars around 22 seconds in.

9. “Me and the castrato will check this out.”

The episode: “The Legend of Boggy Creek II: And the Legend Continues,” ep. 1006

The riff: Delivered by Crow as two of the film’s protagonists, a doctor and his skinny, dweeby-looking companion, check out the carcass of a deer killed by the Boggy Creek Creature.

The explanation: It’s a mean joke at the expense of poor Tim, who seemingly insisted on being shirtless through much of this film despite his scrawniness. A castrato is an adult male singer whose voice has been preserved in an adolescent state by castration before puberty. This process meant the singer would never undergo the horomonal changes of puberty, resulting in a high-pitched singing voice and unusually feminine appearance. And if this film is to be believed, it makes you really annoying and not very helpful as well.

Novelty factor: I was aware of the term, and thus understood the dig at Tim’s masculinity. But considering the fact that I don’t have much more muscle mass than he does, I’m not sure how it makes me feel.

Tim in all his glory.

8. “Scott McCloud, Space Angel!”

The episode: “Night of the Blood Beast,” ep. 701

The riff: Delivered within a few moments of the movie’s opening, as a really cheap-looking (just drawn in) rocket blasts into space.

The explanation: “Space Angel” was apparently an animated science fiction show that was on TV from 1962-1964. Its hero, Scott McCloud, was the captain of the ship “Starduster” and wore a rather jaunty eyepatch. The joke is made because the rocket lift-off in “Night of the Blood Beast” looks very similar to the “Space Angel” opening.

As a side note, the “Space Angel” series was notable for using the same extremely creepy “Synchro-Vox” technique for animating the characters’ lips as “Clutch Cargo.” This means that although most of the image was static, the actual lips of the actors would be superimposed on the characters’ faces. This is just as horrifying as it sounds.

Novelty factor: This has always been a favorite episode of mine, but I never had any idea whatsoever what this riff meant. It kind of amazes me to think that this episode, which originally aired in 1996, would include a reference to a brief-lived 1964 cartoon based on the similarity of a single image. The MST3k writers must have had fantastic memories.

7. “Kalgan, blow me away.”

The episode: “Space Mutiny,” ep. 820

The riff: Delivered by Tom Servo after the movie’s villain, the extremely oily Commander Kalgan, shoots somebody dead with a laser gun.

The explanation: This joke is a sly reference to a famous ad campaign for Calgon-brand water softener in the 1970s-1980s. An overworked housewife-type would be overwhelmed by all the stresses in her day before proclaiming, “Calgon, take me away!” Then they would cut to her relaxing in a hot bath with her Calgon products, blissfully free of her burdensome family, presumably plotting their demise. Calgon water softener had another, equally famous series of commercials in which a Chinese laundromat operator claimed his “ancient Chinese secret” got clothing clean, but really it was Calgon. Racism at its most hilarious.

Novelty factor: I actually knew this one when I first heard it, because my mother apparently watched a lot of these Calgon ads. When I was growing up, the poor, stressed woman would jokingly put her hands on her head and say “Calgon, take me away!” None of us knew what she was talking about at the time, and thus pretty much ignored it.

6. “And you truck like the doodah man.”

The episode: “Posture Pals,” a short before “The Unearthly,” ep. 320

The riff: Inserted by Joel as a teacher informs her students about the basics of proper posture. She tells them that “arms are easy at the sides, eyes straight ahead, shoulders relaxed…”, at which point Joel adds “…and you truck like the doodah man.”

The explanation: This is apparently a direct reference to the 1970 Grateful Dead song “Truckin’,” which goes “Truckin’–got my chips cashed in. Truckin’–like the doodah man.” Servo confirms the riff by muttering “Ooh…got your chips cashed in?” under his breath right after Joel delivers the line. The original lyric is apparently a reference to a group called the “Bonzo Dog Doodah Band” that the Dead were fond of.

Novelty factor: I had no idea, nor do I truly understand the riff even now. I think he’s basically trying to compare the teacher’s lesson to dance move instructions, but overall I may have to chalk this one up to Joel’s oddball sense of humor. Moreover, I think the way Tom Servo adds a little snippet of the lyrics himself shows the writers of the show almost poking a little bit of fun at the obscurity of their own reference here. They’re practically daring you to know what they’re talking about.

5. “Ride! Riding like the demon that drives your dream!”

The episode: This running gag is used in at least three episodes: “Mitchell” ep. 512, “Radar Secret Service” ep. 520, and “Angels Revenge” ep. 622. There may be more.

The riff: Usually sung by one of the riffers during a less-than-exciting car chase. In “Radar Secret Service,” Mike sings this snatch of lyrics in an extremely deflated, uninterested tone of voice while a car slowly rolls up on a pair of thieves.

The explanation: The lyrics are actually an excerpt from the song “Drive,” the theme song for the action-drama show “Hardcastle and McCormick,” which aired on ABC from 1983-1986. The show was about an ex-judge and an former racecar driver who teamed up to battle crime, and featured lots of flashy driving in McCormick’s “Coyote X” racer. Interestingly, the SOL crew seems to have misquoted the actual lyrics of the song, which are “Drive! Drivin’ like the demon that drives your beat!” It would seem that the writers simply found the bombastic song amusing, as they re-used it multiple times.

Novelty factor: I’d heard of Hardcastle and McCormick before, but had no idea what the show was about, nor had any idea the riff was a reference to the theme song.

4. “Otis Nixon!”

The episode: “Eegah,” ep. 506

The riff: Yelled by Crow as the camera cuts to a withered, dehydrated mummy head.

The explanation: The mummy bears a striking resemblance to Otis Nixon, a speedy journeyman center fielder best known for his spectacular catch as a member of the Atlanta Braves in the summer of 1992. Needless to say, Nixon was not known for his physical attractiveness as a player, as one might guess from Joel and the bots comparing him to a corpse. He also battled drug charges and cocaine addiction throughout his career.

Novelty factor: A favorite riff as soon as I heard it, as I have long found anything related to Nixon to be hilarious after seeing this Something Awful spoof of terrible “collector’s item” TV promotions. “OTIS NIXON! MOST BEAUTIFUL MAN IN BASEBALL!”

3. “This is no time for zymurgy!”

The episode: “Final Sacrifice,” ep. 910

The riff: Yelled angrily by Crow as the movie’s hero, Zap Rowsdower (yes, that’s his name) fills glass bottles with alcohol to use as molotov cocktails against a pursuing truck.

The explanation: Zymurgy is the scientific name for the study of fermentation, the conversion of sugar into alcohol. It’s also a term used as the “professional-sounding” name for homebrewing. The popular magazine produced by the American Homebrewers Association is actually named “Zymurgy.” The action of filling bottles by Rowsdower looks amusingly close to a labor-intensive part of the homebrewing process.

Novelty factor: A favorite riff of mine, as homebrewing is a hobby. This is also a great example of a riff that I heard probably half a dozen times before ever understanding what it meant–it made no sense to me until I started brewing. Then, the lightbulb came on.

Homebrewing: Not just for nerds.