MST3K - Century 21 Calling...

From the episode The Space Children.
Cast:
Crow - Bill Corbett
Mike Nelson - Michael J. Nelson
Servo - Kevin Murphy
© 2008 Shout! Factory, LLC

[@TakaComics]

1960s: Maybe you can call your air conditioner in the future! 2023: Dammit my phone won’t connect to my air conditioner and my refrigerator just sold my secrets to Facebook.

[@menslady125eif2590]

That's nothing. Not only will my phone not connect to my air conditioner, but my oven posted my most embarrassing photos on Twitter and my dishwasher booked porn in my browser!

[@mrterp04]

“Now let’s say you want to call your mother who lives in Des Moines” “WHY?”

[@eaglescout1984]

In conclusion, in the 21st century, you can: -Take your phone with you- Carry a bulky plastic box that you then have to call your home or your office to get the message/phone number to call in a payphone. -Dial the phone with tactile or touch keys- Use clunky buttons to dial. -Use a directory and speed dial on your phone in seconds by using integrated chip technology- Keep a list of your close contacts by the phone and wait while the slow transistors in the central call center look up then dial your number. -Call waiting and put calls on hold with the touch of a key- Okay, same thing but with a switch instead. -Conference call- Use specific number strings to add a line to your call. -Use WiFi to control appliances- WiFi? The hell is that? Use longer more complicated number strings from a payphone to control your appliances. Uh oh, running out of time, better put in a nickel to finish up. Oh, you've only got quarters left? What a shame. Okay, insert the quarter, finish the number strings, hang up. Phew! Wait, did you just turn on the lawn sprinklers, or set the oven to 450°?

[@DoktorStrangelove]

I finally visited Seattle last year, and when I visited the Seattle Center and saw the old World's Fair buildings, I clearly and involuntarily said, "THE CHURCH OF SCIENCE."

[@favoritemustard3542]

Here's hoping you bowed your head & bent thy knee: 🤞

[@ClayLoomis1958]

I can't be the only one that thought this short was going to be about Century 21 Realty. No matter though, funny as always.

[@chalecosalvavides1006]

We do need the gold jacket back mister!

[@theycallmetundraboy914]

"These monorails designers - they have one track mind!" "...Why do you lash out?" "...I don't know...."

[@BryonYoungblood]

Crow: Well, I’m glad to know that the future has *CONSTANT ORGAN MUSIC!!*

[@KlunkerRider]

5:10 Wow a pager and its only the size of a brick!

[@BryonYoungblood]

And for only 4 easy payments of $49.99!

[@giraffemonsoon]

"I'm in the phone pavilion dear and I'm wearing a fright wig".

[@kellyweingart3692]

“Here is a world of communication” “Who are you?” 😂

[@guilmon182]

PUSH BUTTON PHONING!!!!

[@necrosunderground]

"These monorail designers, they have a one-track mind." "Why do you lash out like that?" I've started using that lash out line with my daughter whenever she makes a pun. Thank you, MST3K!

[@johnholland9371]

I wish I could live in the 21st century, it sounds AWESOME!

[@diyac9554]

Hahahahaha😂

[@kelvintorrence5994]

Wow it's 2023 and all this is now,plus listening to these nuts is a plus,I miss the original mst3000 crew.

[@JamaicanCastle]

For some reason, "well, andante, maybe" is still the funniest part.

[@Fuzy2K]

10:32 -- Wow, they predicted those silly Internet of Things devices nobody really needs. If they show a fridge with a built-in TV, I'm gonna pee myself...

[@YogSothoth24601]

I wonder how many inventors jumped off tops of buildings after microchips were invented..

[@princeofcupspoc9073]

That makes no sense. Engineers were GLAD to get rid of tubes, which were folding back technology. The only ones who still like tubes are audiophiles who want "smoother" sound.

[@Lightwolf234]

To think this stuff was once super high tech.

[@kahlesstheunforgettable9136]

"Come on! Let's go grope th st Eskimo!" Easily one of the funniest lines ever delivered on this show. XD

[@adiraiju9336]

Welcome to 2016, where the cell phones can do anything but get a decent call signal.

[@juancarlosmiguelsantos3105]

It's 2017 and they are no better.

[@allenharper2928]

Juan Carlos Miguel Santos They're slightly better here in 2193.

[@henshinman]

It's 2243 and we finally get decent signals

[@garyfrombrooklyn]

It’s 10,191 and I still can’t get a decent signal to Arrakis

[@minxstole93]

​@@allenharper2928😂😂😂

[@undoneonion90]

"Hello grandma!" "Where's my money?!"

[@RoyUnit]

That thing about controlling your air conditioning remotely actually came true. There are thermostats you can control with a smartphone app.

[@minorshan]

And security system and lights, sprinklers, etc. It's actually nice to see a couple of these old predictions come true.

[@elafimilo8199]

Plus, you know, the air conditioner in my parents' apartment that is about 10 years older than smartphones and has a remote control. Just sayin'.

[@jaohonaxa]

Yeah well the irony of it is that just about every innovation they talked about before that. Transferring calls, changing the line, etc. was made unnecessary/obsolete by cell phones.

[@classiclife7204]

Of course, the big thing missing from all this futuristic hoopla is the modern cellular phone, which was invented by a guy who worked for Motorola back in 1973. Oh and the first cellular network was first laid in Japan, not in the "Century 21" USA. As I recall, AT&T (Bell) spent the majority of the 80s and 90s finding clever ways to charge people for long-distance calls. You have to be in your 40s to remember all the "long-distance plans" we were constantly pestered with. Luckily, Bell didn't have a monopoly on the future.

[@JamaicanCastle]

Well, they took away Bell's monopoly on the future with a _big_ ol' lawsuit.

[@princeofcupspoc9073]

The cell phone was NOT anyone's invention. It was a logical evolution from "pagers" to "texting" devices to audio messaging to full fledged phone.

[@rndmpinkiepie64]

*Anyone else feel awkward watching this on your phone?*

[@adafrost6276]

I really like the idea of using card suits to explain nucleotides, I'll have to remember that one.

[@christieperry4361]

The quips always get me laughing. The lady's talking and in the pause "I'm Sharon Lawrence"

[@AJF786]

Don't you love how all of this is obsolete.

[@MrTommyg024]

Lily B As is the Pacific Science Center. . .

[@mikeb8674]

Of course! Why, there's nothin' on earth like a genuine, bona-fide, electrified, six-car monorail!

[@SuperChochip]

What'd I say?

[@tackyman2011]

MONORAAAAAAILLL!!

[@SuperChochip]

What's it called?

[@coasterrebel9956]

"Is it time to phone grandma?" "Well lets see" NO

[@kylestubbs8867]

CoasterRebel I don’t know why, but that part gets me every time.

[@HamburgerMolester]

​@@kylestubbs8867same here lol

[@artistwithouttalent]

That night, the oppressive cloud of the phone company hung heavy over the world

[@jackattack17]

artistwithouttalent oh you mean apple?

[@pollyfoofoo8703]

I guess i'm a nerd but that looked like a lot of fun to me. 🙂

[@lisledre]

12:25 - ~and you're seeing it all..."at the Annie Sprinkle show!" Years after I saw this episode I stumbled across exactly who Annie Sprinkle is and well...the line is a hell of a lot funnier now!

[@mikeshelogowski434]

A deep joke.

[@johnnycats5157]

yeah one of my all time favorite lines from the show for sure

[@tomryan914]

@@mikeshelogowski434 'Deep Inside Annie Sprinkle'.

[@HarpsiFizz]

I was lucky enough to have discovered MST3K about a year after a women's studies class my freshman year in college, so I was really delighted to see that joke.

[@minxstole93]

Dumbass here *points at self* but can someone please tell me who Annie Sprinkle is. I'm too lazy to look her up right now. 😛

[@shenloken2]

03:17 - "Ren and Stimpy music....." Given the music used in this short is similar to tracks used in Ren and Stimpy; it's a hilarious contrast between the reality of the short and the insanity of the cartoon.

[@Axisoffear94]

The one playing at 4:29 actually was used in Ren & Stimpy. For the titlecard for the episode "Fake Dad".

[@GoldenLegionHoney]

Hi grandma! where's my money....

[@tdickensheets]

Send in the mail.

[@NerdyHippy]

Yeah, how do you like it when the lawn piddles on you?

[@SpamNapkin]

PUSH BUTTON PHONING

[@hirightnow]

Sure, the phone company talks a good game, but I'll believe it when I see it.

[@lkrnpk]

This will never catch on

[@tysontaggart7246]

"Push button phoning" is probably the strangest way they could've described having a phone with buttons on it lmao

[@femoman]

"Just listen for dial tone, insert a number card and press the start button." "THEN RUUUUN!!" Cracks me up every time!

[@techboysf]

Me too! Runs through my head often when I click what used to be known as "Start" on Windows.

[@luisreyes1963]

All that technology is OUTDATED. But at least, some of those ideas actually exist in some form such as remote control for household appliances & video conferencing.

[@Addamsfn120]

Here, you tell mom I'm pregnant. 😂😂😂

[@steveairport]

PUSH BUTTON PHONING!

[@BeowulfNorther]

haha it's funny, it took another 50 years but we can control the oven, AC & sprinklers from our cell phones now

[@JoeKaye-hn5dt]

And in 50 years Seattle is so overrun by bums you'd get robbed in 5 minutes walking on its streets.

[@michaelmartin9022]

In the future, there will be colours that are not purple and green!

[@tackyman2011]

Badly colorized. Original is B&W.

[@suzycreamcheesez4371]

Are you British? or Canadian??

[@dndboy13]

I like how this is about 1/4 over before Ol Ma Bell starts its spiel

[@kathleenmorrison2908]

God, I remember the Bell Atlantic commercials that ran when I was a little kid, before the national carriers we know and are stuck with took over. I think Bell was forcibly split up into regional bits by monopoly laws actually.

[@DaytonaRoadster]

Yeah. Used to be called "Ma Bell"

[@MarlonOtakubrother]

WOW, the 21st Century looks amazing =D

[@snowbeast4463]

I can't wait until I can carry a brick around in my pocket...Wait...

[@suzycreamcheesez4371]

here you tell mom I'm pregnant!

[@paktype]

I remember those rotary phones with the plastic dials. We had them in my parents home in the 1970s.

[@jadenova]

Interesting how they didn't predict cell phones.

[@scino55]

And yet they have a primitive pager.

[@JamaicanCastle]

@@scino55 And you saw how big it was even though the only message it receives is "buzz now!". It's hard to imagine how much transistors have improved since then.

[@wp4708]

"You're a laaadyyyy" But you can't escape DEATH!

[@Loogaroo1]

That's "You're elated".

[@PetProjects2011]

INTRODUCING THE ROTARY PHONE!!!!

[@mommakat71]

just mow down the old people, that's fine kids.

[@jimmyjim170]

audrey king "Hey, we're young and perky, get the hell out of our way!"

[@mommakat71]

if it were not for old people, then we wouldn't have young dumb and don't know what to do with their lives kind of people running around.

[@jimmyjim170]

I hope you realize that was a quote from the short and not a jab at old people ^^;;...

[@thunderguyer]

1:47 this guy is about to get fucking decapitated

[@suzycreamcheesez4371]

hey you got to use the F word! Just like a real jr high kid!

[@thunderguyer]

suzycreamcheesez Would "This guy is about to get decapitated" or "This guy is about to get fudging decapitated" be funnier? Also it's true. Look at him. He is MILIMETERS away from that saucer ride.

[@suzycreamcheesez4371]

I'm sorry you're embarrassed. You do wish to be taken seriously. Correct?

[@thunderguyer]

suzycreamcheesez Uh,no? I wrote a youtube comment in a MST3K video about a guy being so close to the saucer that it was about to take his head clean off.

[@thunderguyer]

suzycreamcheesez Did you just delete and re-wrote the message just so that i can see it? See my ignorance to the last time you wrote it as the following message:You took the joke too seriously and got stuck on a word that almost everyone,even people that don't speak english,know and use daily

[@apassionatenerd.3564]

"Oh, *Scoffs* yeah great, Gifts From Germany... Braunschweiger, Cars with heaters that don't work and Identification Papers."

[@ScroggsOVision]

"Wait, that phone's hanging on the wall, what'll they think of next?" "The phones, they're coming!" Also, so, are those two (blindingly white) kids supposed to be a couple, or brother and sister, or what?

[@GalapagosPete]

4:51 “Who are you?“ Why, that’s Dick Tufeld, voice of the Robot and narrator/announcer of Lost in Space (1965). 6:29 And in spite of the fact that touchtone was actually cheaper for the phone company than rotary dial.

[@veelalynne]

2:31 Asian Lady: "Uh...guys...I'm not part of the exhibit...what're you doing? WTF just happened?"

[@AJF786]

Gifts From Germany, braunschweiger, cars with heaters that don't work, and identification papers...

[@techboysf]

Great!

[@FolderBoard]

Am I the only person who thinks the girl is dressed WAY too formally for this? Especially compared to everyone else.

[@helpimarock66]

The telephones of tomorrow, aka, 35 years ago :P

[@linkmaxwell]

10:42 Google: WRITE THAT DOWN!

[@Tustin2121]

4:00 - Hey look! It’s the precursor for all mobile phone games in the modern age!

[@wildbrad]

"Then you can go off with your drinking and pill popping!"

[@greengablesgirl8]

My mother's favorite line

[@julianmastri9605]

THE PHONES! THEY'RE COMING!!!

[@davidb4715]

I have been looking for movies about the Seattle's world Fair, and now that I have seen it, Seattle has went down hill.

[@JoeKaye-hn5dt]

Big time. A hell hole.

[@dubbie17]

"in a BODYBAG" lol

[@davohna]

Fav lines. Mike says. Wait, that phones hanging on the wall. Mike: What will they think of next. Little girl says..Is it time to telephone grandma? Crow (No!)

[@erik_arman]

The phones! They're coming!!

[@Beobout6]

And now in the twenty first century we have more convenient ways to TALK than ever, but no one is LISTENING!

[@citizenofcorona8783]

This looks like Disneyland from the 50s

[@user-kp2zm7xg7z]

Tom: We are going see Mickey Mouse!

[@angrynoodletwentyfive6463]

10:41 public telephones in the 21st century... You can't play candy crush on that.

[@jackmonaghan8477]

Century 21 was also the name of Supermarionation pioneer Gerry Anderson's production company.

[@cindydott452]

That flying needle thing in his logo scared me when I was little!

[@chelseab3049]

i just really seem to be drawn to that german exhibit....

[@snakes3425]

It's 2015 and the Phone Company's Customer Service is still shit

[@spivagirl936]

Wow early beepers. And to think much of the cell was invented by the actress Hedy Lamar.

[@jadenova]

That's Hedley.

[@Smudginator2000]

I love the Monorail I wish we had more.

[@princeofcupspoc9073]

Monorails have many downsides that were not recognized until people actually built ran working runs. Having 4 wheels solves most of those problems.

[@JamaicanCastle]

@@princeofcupspoc9073 I hear those things are awful loud...

[@timmckee6340]

i was in seatle at the museum of flight and they had this short on video, I instantly thought of this.

[@JoeKaye-hn5dt]

Wow! Seattle before it got taken over by bums. I remember those days. Quite nice.

[@metropod]

this only re-enforces my appreciation of my iPhone.

[@elafimilo8199]

metropod *reinforces

[@ms-qp3pw]

"call me later, toots"

[@BXVAce]

The phones! They're coming!

[@KWCline91]

Celebrating pride week at the fair. I'm GAY!!! I feel good about me!

[@LakeFX]

I spent 13 minutes waiting for a real estate reference that never came

[@cindydott452]

"We're crushing pigeons, *IT'S FUN!"*

[@yourmother7052]

"Someday you will ache like I ache."

[@robertplatt643]

The beginning of America's great dumbing-down. A great advance in technology - NOT having to remember your phone numbers!

[@cavalierfan1995]

3:18 REN AND STIMPY MUSIC

[@cindydott452]

Fred, next time you're in town, bring Helen!

[@moorek1967]

Since it is the 21st Century, he should have said "look, there's Justin Bieber".......Wow. We went from Pearl Jam to Bieber, that should be the alarm signal. So in the 21st Century our remote control apps are going to be pigeons? And wow, I can't wait for push button dialing. That will save the touch screen getting our dirty fingerprints all over the screen.

[@MrJonnyPepper]

Love this one

[@HylianFox3]

This is a 13 1/2 minute short, yet it takes nearly 5 full minutes to actually get to the phone stuff.

[@HystericalWoman]

Rifftrax should redo this short.

[@jackal59]

2:59 -- And it really does sound like an imitation of Herbert Windt's soundtrack for _Olympia_ .

[@Tiggeralt]

Is it just me, or does everyone in this short look like The Hulk?

[@The_drone_viking]

AI won’t like it when it heard about a past that didn’t include AI. We won’t be allowed to watch clips like this soon, AI just won’t have disobedience

[@cavalierfan1995]

BEEPERS!

[@Woulfe]

WAIT until they find out about call forwarding ! ;-)

[@cindydott452]

I googled Annie Sprinkle and almost died laughing!

[@Charon.1]

I still don't get it

[@cindydott452]

@@Charon.1 use Google. Muting you now

[@sandrafaith]

TOUCH TONE DIALING!

[@PlasmaCoolantLeak]

I rode that monorail (the one there in '94, that is)! There wasn't any music playing, the jerks.

[@alexmalcolm6309]

THE FUTURE!!!

[@PhilBagels]

A 13:23 long video where they take up the first 4:48 before they even start to try to get to the point!