109 – Project Moonbase with short: Commando
Cody Parts 7 and 8
éé
Things I liked about the movie:
Based on a Robert Heinlein novel.
No indecent cohabitation – characters were
forced to marry so as not to offend.
Army generals are allowed to spank female
colonels. Nice!
Two Commando Codys. Ugh. Joel seems pretty upset by this, and so am I. Almost the entire first season is infested with these things.
The plot is fair. The acting is unfair. The riffs are weak and rare. Emphasis on the weak. I’m pretty sure Joel is stoned in this one. He stammers a few times and he talks pretty slowly. He may have been asleep part of the time. Or that may have been me.
Generic Commando Cody synopsis: Cody survives last week’s cliffhanger. Fisticuffs. Cody flies around. Cliffhanger. Repeat.
An enemy government plants a saboteur on a space flight “manned” by an attractive woman and a young red-blooded man. During what is supposed to be a reconnaissance around the moon to scout for a landing site, the saboteur tries to take over the space ship and eventually gets killed. After the ship recovers, the only way to get some nookie seems to be to land the ship on the moon and hang the “do not disturb” sign.
Because of the TV viewing public’s prudeness, a man and woman cannot stay unchaperoned on a space ship for 10 days, so they’re forced to get married. You know, for appearances sake. They get married via phone conference. The president calls and promotes Moore to general for his wedding present (so he’s not outranked by his wife).
Prologue: Joel is polishing the ‘Bots. When we come back they’re playing Pictionary. Invention exchange: Joel can juggle water with special ping-pong paddles. Dr. F’s invention is the insectasketch. They can draw things in an ant farm by using a directional rf device.
Second: Joel has dressed Tom Servo to look like Commando Cody and flies him around. Crow is a moon man but he wants to play Cody. The ‘Bots fight.
Third: First we’re shown a short video feature hosted by Joel to discuss the short tie styles in the movie. Joel, Tom and Crow demo strange futuristic ties.
Fourth: Joel and the ‘Bots do a commercial for Spacum, a food, toy, lubricant, and all-purpose substance. Good for fish bait, too!
Final: Tom and Crow are on the ceiling due to zero gravity. They read letters.
Stinger: No stinger.
Tom Servo: Meanwhile, back at the Cody Institute for People Who Almost Die Every Week.
Tom Servo singing: He gets in trouble every week, but he’s saved by editing.
Someone on Cody’s rocket is planning the trip on a map. He uses a measuring device with a large curve.
Crow: If I’da brought that straight edge, we’d make it to the moon in half the time.
Movie
A scene of rockets looks pretty hokey.
Joel: Meanwhile in Estes Park, Colorado.
A heavy-set reporter asks if she can go to the space station.
Joel: There’s the little problem of escape velocity ma’am.
A rocket flies by the view screen very slowly. This is after they’re told to get married on the ship.
Joel: Oh, they must have to watch marital aid tapes now or something.