02.00 Mystery Science Theatre 3000
Mystery Science Theatre 3000. Season 7, Episode 14. "San Fransisco International" I love MST3K but, sometimes, they showcase a movie that - I feel - I would probably enjoy on it's own merits if they weren't there to make fun of it. Such is the case with this episode.
San Francisco Internation Airport aired on Wednesdays at ten - on NBC - during the 1970 Fall Season. Though it only last six episodes (and I only saw them once, a very long time ago) I must admit that I have a great fondness for this obscure Lloyd Bridges series from my childhood, and even though the MST3K gang were busy making fun of it's weaker elements I have to say that I rather enjoyed seeing the pilot that started it (a pilot which, sadly, didn't star Lloyd Bridges).
Pernell Roberts is the airport manager, with (the always great) Clu Gulager as his security chief. And he'll need him. It's a busy day at the airport: multiple kidnappings (from a gang planning a huge heist) and a kid who (somehow) takes a small plane up into the air.
Sure, it's not gonna win any Oscars... but I must be honest and say I love TV Pilots from the '70s and this one has some great elements. It also has some weak ones, and the MST3K make me laugh many times over with their riffing. Particularly funny is anything involving the kid. The MST3K gang have me pretty much convinced that his parents were continually trying to ditch him.
The funniest moment, however, comes when one of the heist gang walks past what appear to be huge spools of thread, on the airport runway, to a cry of "if I could only find some thread" from the MST3Kers. It might not sound like much, but I was laughing hard at that one long after the credits had rolled. It's all in the timing, I guess.
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