Against The Moonmen

410: First Broadcast - 10 am Saturday, Aug 22nd 1992

Excellence Level: Sub-Par
Movie Pain: Medium - Goofball in all phases
Riffing: Induced mostly smiles
Skits: Ditto

I can be pretty tough on this show and the reason for this lies in the lap of the "BBI". They raised the bar, they set these high standards. They gave me something funnier, sharper and richer than what I receive from most television comedies. So when they flounder, even just a little bit, it bugs me. And this episode bugs me a lot.
     Why? Because the riff work on "Moonmen" is lazy, repetitive and dumb. Now, dumb is fine, I think dumb can be funny, but it can't sustain an entire episode on its own and that's the problem. There's little variety or depth. It's almost as if they didn't have the energy to bring their A-Game and took the easy rout...
     Old standbys are drug out like the, "So n' So, NO!" gag. These quips are more effective when doled out in small quantities. Here though -during an early fight scene- Both Servo, then Crow shout out a couple within a few seconds of each other. On other occasions they'll use a slight wisp of a riff and stretch it till it snaps... J&TB spotting celebrities in the crowd, or the "Little Caesar" lines -The best? One Roman after another piles on Deriks and each one says "Pizza, Pizza!"- both are funny at first, yet so overdone that it gets real old, real fast.
     That's what I mean by lazy, instead of tackling the goofball nature of the story -as they did so brilliantly in "The Magic Voyage of Sinbad"- they do what anyone of us could do. Fill up time with cheap & easy quips. Yeah, I could blurt out "Pizza, Pizza" everytime I see a guy in a dress and my drunken friends would all laugh. But dang it, J&TB are better than this.
     Still, does every show have to be brilliant? In a word - Yes! I expect more from these guys. If I didn't I'd be content to sit in my easy chair and zone out on sitcom garbage like "Who's The Boss" for hours. That's not to say that "Moonmen" doesn't have some very funny stuff, or that it ever decends too far into prime-time sitcom stupidity. There are several funny moments, such as... when the movies soundtrack swells with soap opera-like music, and Joel says in hushed tones, "Will Leona win the heart of Hercules?" There's also a great sight gag where Hercules spills his drink on J&TB. The quip about "Change for an 8 year old" is sharp and I did get a kick out of our buffed up bots trying out new names for themselves. But these are the exceptions to the rule.
     "Herc" is sorely lacking that keen edge of brilliance that you find in "the classics" and without that all we're left with is silly without much substance. Am I being too tough on this show? Perhaps, but it's only because I know they are made of better stuff than this.

Host Segments
Intro: The Bots leave home, but it doesn't last long. Invention: Joel does the "Super Freak Out". The Mads speak of "Deep Hurting" and sand. Segment 1: Boobie-trap illusion. Segment 2: The Bots are scrawny and get new tough guy names. Buut, Tom's are pretty lame. Segment 3: The Pants song. End: Joel explains why Steve Reeves wasn't in the picture and Crow breaks gypsy's heart. Dr. F can't figure out why "Deep Hurting" didn't work.
Stinger: Old guy gets spiked

Notable Riffs
*"Hey, you got change for an 8 year old?" - Joel
*"Jim Henson's Exodus babies" - Joel
*"Ah, early Disney employees" - Crow
*"Is that my puddle?" - Crow
*"Well, time for my Snickers" - Joel as Herc
*"Oh no, Archie just flushed" - Servo
*"Trumpy you're angry" - Joel
*"Looks like the movie's equipped with air bags" - Servo
*"This man is missing a nipple" - Crow
*"Now cough" - Crow as Deriks
*"Good one, Hercu-loser" - Joel
*"Gumby, NO!" - Crow
*"It's the woman in the dunes" - Crow
*"Behold; The only thing greater than yourselves!" - Servo
*"Your fired! Clean out your dress" - Joel as the Queen
*"Does that make me Mrs. Master of the Earth?" - Joel
*"...he escaped from the trap you set for him" - "He chewed his leg off" - Moon Man/Joel
*"But, you're not the princess" - "Well you're not Steve Reeves" - Herc/Joel
*"Oh wait, he can bend steel but he can't break through a net?" - Crow
*"Gee, I wish I had my shirt on, my nips are burning!" - Joel as Herc
*"Ah don't make me laugh Woodsy Owl" - Servo

Photo courtesy of DVD Drive-In