Got a quick start this morning with breakfast and my Match Game DVD. The jumping off point for my next fanfic is the infamous "School Riot" episode from 1977, aka Episode 1005. Towards the end of an otherwise routine game, Gene asked the question "Dumb Dora sends her cultured pearls to __." The contestant answered "school." Brett and Ed Asner said "college," which was passed. Charles had to argue for his answer, "Scuba Diving School." Debralee Scott and Richard Dawson said "Finishing School." Deb's passed initially, then was taken back. Richard's wasn't passed. They were both angry as heck, and the contestant wasn't happy, either. Poor Patti Deustch on the end was terrified to show her answer, "Night School," which also failed to pass. Gene couldn't calm them down, and they eventually cut to a commercial.
Charles and Brett tried to defuse things when they returned by calling Charles passed out on the steps "the first victim of the School Riot," but the damage was done. The contestant lost, and the bottom row kept their school answers on their desks in protest for what little remained of the episode. (They did bring the contestant back a few episodes later.) The incident likely contributed to Richard's feelings of having no control over the proceedings and his acrimonious departure from the show a little over a year later.
I didn't have much more luck with Uber. I just could not find a ride at 8 AM. I don't know why. It was cloudy and wet at that point, but not terribly cold or rainy. It took me nearly 20 minutes to get a car, and another 20 for them to arrive. And then they couldn't find my apartment when, for some reason, their Google Maps directed me to the end of Manheim instead of around the corner to Hillcrest. Thanks to all that, I ended up being 15 minutes late.
Things went better after that. I spent the rest of the morning and afternoon alternating between rounding up carts and sweeping the store. It only got busy around the usual meal-time rush hours. Only problem was being corralled literally ten minutes before I finished to mop up a mess in the bathroom. Thankfully, they took pity on me and sent one of the teens up front to help out.
After all the fuss this morning, it didn't take me nearly as long to get a ride home. It did take me a few minutes to get through to Uber, but after that, the driver pulled up after less than 8 minutes. I was home in time to see a new champ win cash and a trip on Press Your Luck.
Got started on that Western fanfic after I changed and had a snack. Richard climbs out of his desk as soon as the episode finishes taping, mad as a hornet over Ira's decision. Debralee's still angry too, and Ed agrees that Ira should have passed everyone's answers, or no one's. Brett wonders if Ira's drunk. No, he isn't. He's just following the rules put out by his bosses. Specifics can't match generals.
Broke for scrambled eggs with spinach and mushrooms for dinner at 6:30. Buzzr flip-flopped Match Game '76 to the 6 PM hour, likely because all of the '76 episodes this week are new to the channel. We get a bit of an "African American Greats" carryover here, as Della Reece is in the ingénue seat. Fannie Flagg and goofy Dick Gautier join in to see the strange answer to "Marty ___" in the Audience Match and joke about Dick helping Charles with the artwork on his answers.
Things got wild during Match Game PM, too. Sarcastic Conny Van Dyne had some decent answers, but Charles got every answer right and one of the Audience Matches. The pretty contestant showed some guts by going with her own idea for the first Audience Match, maybe because some of the answers got kind of strange.
Sale of the Century had one of their lowest-scoring games I've ever seen. Though the champ did buy a refrigerator in the beginning, he kept jumping in too soon on questions. The other guy bought a San Diego vacation and won the Speed Round. Just missed the Bonus Round, though.
Finished the night online at Shout Factory's website with my first Mystery Science Theater 3000 western. Gunslinger, a Joel episode from 1993, was apparently the first western the show tackled as well. In this Roger Corman B-film from 1956, Rose Hood (Beverly Garland) takes over as Marshal of Oracle, Texas after her husband (William Schallert) is killed by assassins. Rose's first order of business is to close the local saloon at 3 AM, which doesn't amuse its owner Erica (Allison Hayes). She's hoping the railroad will come through so she can buy up land. Livid over Rose's closing her after hours, Erica hires a killer named Cane Miro (John Ireland) to take her down. John, however, has his own score to settle in town, and he'd rather leave Rose alone.
I actually enjoyed this, with and without the wisecracks from the robots. As Joel and his buddies point out, it's not the best written or filmed movie in the world, but it does have some interesting ideas. I love that we have a female marshal and head villain here. Cane's pursuit of Mayor Polk (Martin Kingsley) is the subplot. It's the ladies who drive the movie. If you love westerns or Corman's less schlocky work, you'll want to join the crew of MST3K and check this out.
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