304. “It’s the cast from ‘Bernice Bobs Her Hair.'”

The episode: “Kitten with a Whip,” ep. 615

The riff: Snarked by Crow as a group of young whippersnappers impose on a middle-aged guy and barge their way into his house.

The explanation: “Bernice Bobs Her Hair” is the title of a short story by “Gatsby” scribe F. Scott Fitzgerald, first published in The Saturday Evening Post in 1920. It’s the story of a young girl learning to be more of a “modern woman” to attract the men of the time, and as such I believe Crow is comparing these kids to her hip new friends. He might also be referring to the 1976 TV adaptation of the story that was shown on PBS.

Novelty factor: It’s probably pretty safe to say that few people my age have read any Fitzgerald besides “The Great Gatsby” in school, and as such I had never heard of this before.

303. “It’s Doc Savage!”

The episode: “Outlaw of Gor,” ep. 519

The riff: Exclaimed by Tom as we get our first look at “Cabot,” the film’s reluctant professor-turned sword-and-sorcery hero.

The explanation: Doc Savage was a pulp magazine hero of the 1930s and 1940s, sort of a gun-toting Indiana Jones archaeologist archetype. He was a very popular character in short stories, comics, radio and even a feature film or two, popularizing the stock character of a “fighting professor” who’s not afraid to get his hands dirty. Shows like “Johnny Quest” and “The Venture Brothers” owe everything to Doc Savage. The series could also be criticized for a certain white supremacist air, as only the wise and noble Doc Savage could fix each situation.

Novelty factor: I’ve read plenty about Doc Savage before, but I’ve never actually read one of the pieces. We may get to see the character again, though, as there is persistent talk of a Doc Savage reboot.

302. “Tonight on Bravo, Martha Graham’s new dance company.”

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

The riff: Spoken in a low voice by Joel as ninja Lee Van Cleef (a good guy in this film) clashes with three ninjas in head-to-toe black in a very dark room.

The explanation: All the black silhouettes (besides looking like an early version of that scene from Kill Bill: Part 1) have a very modern dance feel to them, hence the reference to Martha Graham. She was a choreographer with vast, sweeping influence over the whole of modern dance in a career that stretched for more than 70 years. The Martha Graham School of Contemporary Dance still performs today.

Novelty factor: Never heard of her, actually, but that’s not too surprising as my knowledge of the world of dance is just about zip.

301. “You Can Negotiate Anything, by Basil Rathbone.”

The episode: “The Magic Sword,” ep. 411

The riff: Spoken by Joel in a deeper, TV announcer’s voice as the villainous wizard (played by Rathbone) bickers with his underling.

The explanation: “You Can Negotiate Anything” is the title of a 1982 self-help book by Herb Cohen that is all about winning arguments and negotiations. To do so, one must apparently focus on three variables, which are “power,” “time” and “information.” The book’s advice is all presented in storytelling format, in the form of anecdotes from Cohen.

Novelty factor: Never heard of it before, but I can’t help but imagine for whatever reason that someone who is a self-styled “negotiation expert” would be annoying to be around.

300. “…and lawyers, guns and money.”

The episode: “Hercules Unchained,” ep. 408

The riff: Added by Crow after someone tells Herc that he’ll be sending “servants, books and provisions” to his brother.

The explanation: They’re quoting a track by the same name, “Lawyers, Guns and Money” by Warren Zevon from 1978. The main character is a ne’er do well of sorts who has gotten himself mixed up into all kinds of trouble in South America. Throughout the song he instructs his dad to send lawyers, guns and money to bail him out of the jam he has found himself in.

Novelty factor: My friend Allison loves this song. She makes me listen to it all the time. Thanks, Allison.

299. “She’s like a manly Eve Arden.”

The episode: “The Deadly Mantis,” ep. 804

The riff: Noted by Mike as the film’s sole female character (who I actually think is rather pretty) chats with the male lead.

The explanation: Eve Arden was an American actress who successfully made the leap from radio to television at the beginning of the TV age. On the radio, she was the star of the program “Our Miss Brooks,” where she played a witty high school English teacher. The show was then moved to TV in 1952, where it became a hit as well, spawning a feature film. Years later, Arden would play the principal of Rydell High in the movie “Grease.”

Novelty factor: Although I vaguely remember her in “Grease,” I’d never heard of Arden of “Our Miss Brooks” before.

298. “I think this is ‘Duel 2: The Trucker’s Story.'”

The episode: “Daddy-O,” ep. 307

The riff: Opined by Tom as a truck driver and a young woman in a luxury car engage in a high-stakes game of cat and mouse in their vehicles. Which is to say, they try to pass each other.

The explanation: “Duel” is the title of an influential 1971 thriller film that was made for TV, largely remembered as being the first feature film of Steven Spielberg’s career. It tells a simple story, that of a man being chased by a trucker for no apparent reason in the desert. The trucker is purposely kept faceless throughout the film, and only his truck is scene. Whereas here in this MST3k episode, we see things from the trucker’s perspective, hence the joke. Weirdly enough, “Daddy-O” was also the film debut of frequent Spielberg collaborator John Williams as a composer.

Novelty factor: I recognized the film reference right away, but I’ve actually never seen “Duel.” I’ve only ever read about it.

297. “Look, a tiger!” “What, in Africa?”

The episode: “Jungle Goddess,” ep. 203

The riff: Exclaimed first by Tom and responded to by Crow in British accents as a pair of explorer-types in pith helmets navigate through the brush after landing their plane in the jungle.

The explanation: They’re referring to a running gag in the 1983 sketch comedy film “Monty Python’s The Meaning of Life.” In one segment, set during the British empire’s clash with the Zulu in Africa, a stuffy, aristocratic British officer wakes up in the morning to find his right leg missing. He is shocked to be informed by the doctor that it was likely taken in the night by a tiger, which the other officers insist should not be found in Africa. Later, two men in tiger costumes are discovered with the leg.

Novelty factor: It has been a while since I’ve seen “Meaning of Life,” and I’ve never liked it as much as the first two Python movies, so I didn’t immediately know the line. With the accents, though, it was easy to guess that it was some kind of Python bit.

296. “Hey, where’s B.J.?”

The episode: “Time of the Apes,” ep. 306

The riff: Asked aloud by Joel while images of apes (and a chimpanzee in this shot) are shown.

The explanation: He’s referring to the TV show “B.J. and the Bear,” which ran on NBC from 1979-1981. The title character B.J. was a coast-to-coast trucker, and he made his runs with his best friend/pet “Bear,” a trained chimp. The monkey would wear clothing and a hat, in the style of college football coach Bear Bryant, who he was named after. Like “Smoky and the Bandit,” he was chased by a sheriff character, in this case the bumbling Sheriff Lobo, who received his own spin-off series.

Novelty factor: I’m surprised that I’ve never heard of the series before. It does, however, finally make me understand what Homer was talking about in “The Simpsons” with all his “Sheriff Lobo” references.

295. “Either this man is dead, or my watch has stopped.”

The episode: “Rocketship X-M,” ep. 201

The riff: Said gravely by Joel as a doctor takes a man’s blood pressure.

The explanation: This seems to be a line by Groucho Marx in the 1931 film “Monkey Business,” the third Marx Brothers movie. I’m not sure of the context, because I can’t find an exact clip that contains the line. In the film, the Marx brothers are stowaways on an ocean liner and get press-ganged into service as thugs for a pair of feuding gangsters.

Novelty factor: It does sound like a Groucho line now that I look at it, but I certainly wasn’t recognizing it right of the bat.

NOTE: Since I couldn’t find a clip, here’s a band that stole the phrase for a song title.