#rocket attack usa

Mystery Science Theater 3000 Season by Season:

Season 2 (1990-1991)

Crow: Boy, that phantom sure did creep... at a slow pace. Well, Rocket Attack USA should be exciting! The overlords said it was a war film. Joel: Uh, actually, I think it’s a Cold War film. Servo: Cold War... now, what the heck was the Cold War, anyway, Joel? Joel: Well, the Cold War was a rich, fertile time of paranoia, virulent conservatism, rampant jingoism... Crow: Oh, the Reagan era! Joel: Well, uh, actually, I think it was the McCarthy era, in the fifties. Crow: Oh, the Charlie McCarthy era! Joel: Well, yeah, you’re right, exactly...  Crow: I am?

Joel: ...it was the McCarthy era. Yeah, these are some artist renderings. You wanna bring it in, Cambot, just a little bit? Uhh, you see... I have here these artist renderings. You see, one day Charlie McCarthy looked at Howdy Doody’s hair and saw red.

Joel: After that, Charlie formed the McCarthy Hearings on Un-American Activities. Howdy turned informant and named names. 

Joel: Gumby, Pokey, Kukla, and Ollie were all implicated on Howdy’s damning testimony. Turns out, Gumby and Pokey were in bed with the Chinese. Their arrest started out the whole “Free Art Clokey” Movement. Kukla and Ollie had worked on left-leaning Clifford Odets’ playhouse manuscript, but they were cleared of all charges. One of the era’s biggest informants...

Servo: Oh no, not the duck from You Bet Your Life! Joel: He was a good friend of arch-conservative Marx Brother writer Morrie Ryskind, and as far as he was concerned, the secret word was ‘subversive.’

Joel: After that duck’s devastating testimony, neither Jerry Mahoney, Knucklehead Smiff, or Farfel worked for years. Arthur Miller took it upon himself to write an emotionally gut-wrenching commentary on the Cold War era called Topo Gigio goes to the Circus. Topo, by the way, used his earnings from The Ed Sullivan Show to fund the attempted assassination of Fidel Castro.  Servo: Joel, after this, nothing will ever shock me again.  Joel: Oh yeah? Brace yourself, ‘cause the most sinister friendly witness brought up in front of the committee was none other than...

Joel: Lambchop! Crow: Oh, wow, big surprise! Servo: I always hated her, anyway. Crow: Yeah. Joel: She was the one who put the finger on...

Joel: Davey and Goliath! Servo: Oh, no... Crow: Not Davey and Goliath! Servo: Say it ain’t so, Joel, say it ain’t so! Joel: Davey, being a god-fearing American, was more than happy to cooperate. Goliath named names, too: [as Goliath] “Uhh, let’s see, uh, there was Dalton Trumbo, Ring Lardner Jr., Albert Maltz, and Bertolt Brecht.” [as Joel] Unfortunately, all the committee heard was “Arf arf. Arf arf, arf.” Goliath was convicted of contempt of Congress and sent to the pound.