Monstervision Host Segments for
Xtro 2: The Second Encounter
"Xtro 2: The Second Encounter" Intro
"Hey, I'm Joe Bob
Briggs, and if you liked "Alien," then you're gonna spend the next two
hours going "Hey, didn't they do that in Alien?" Cause we're starting off
"MonsterVision" tonight with the improbable "Alien" ripoff "Xtro II: The
Second Encounter." And then later on we'll have the movie that came BEFORE
"Men in Black," called "The Silencers." A slightly different take on those
mysterious guys in Armani.
And speaking of Armani, am I the last
person in America who actually LIKES to wear a suit? I mean, don't get me
wrong. NOT every day. And NOT one of those shoulder-busters that make you
feel like a frozen codfish that's been pickled and mummified.
But
sometimes it's okay.
It FEELS GOOD.
To me.
But I'm only one guy. Cause
what's the universal cry of the male couch potato? "Do I have to wear a
COAT AND TIE?" And the answer is, "Yes, sometimes you DO."
But I
think the reason so many people are UNHAPPY in their suits is that the
goldang things NEVER FIT. And the reason they never fit is that the only
place you can buy em now is stores in the mall where they got em racked up
like flexible coffins on those wooden hangers with the clothespins on em.
After you spend about NINE HOURS tryin on different suits, they have some
guy named Sol come out of the back room and make a few chalk marks on your
shoulders, waist and cuffs, and then they kinda cinch it up and stretch it
out and jerry-rig the sucker until it KINDA fits.
There used to be
Chinese guys in every city who would just make an appointment with you,
and you'd BUILD the goldang suit. You'd choose what you
wanted--herringbone, hound's tooth, nailhead, pinstripe, worsted, flannel,
wool, silk, wide lapels, narrow lapels, back vent, side vent, no vent,
cuffs, no cuffs, English pockets, open pockets, three buttons, two
buttons, four buttons, double-breasted, single-breasted, vest, flat
collar, high collar--you get the idea. And the Chinese guy would measure
every INCH of your body, and if you had one shoulder that hung lower than
the other one, he'd sew that mother so you'd never know the difference.
Why don't we just go back to this system? Cause now what's
happenin is that men HATE suits SOOOOO much that you can go to the
dangedest places and find perfectly normal people runnin around like
sweatshirt goonies. When I first went to the famous restaurant in New
Orleans, Brennan's, I was the ONLY guy in a suit. In most cities, when you
go to the best restaurant in town, you wear a suit. Evidently they don't
dress up for diddly squat in New Orleans. Same thing with the Broadway
theater, with symphony orchestras, with hotel dining rooms--all places
that used to be full of suit-wearers. Now it's about half and half, so you
see one guy in Armani and another guy in Beavis-and-Butthead, side by
side. I've been to the Metropolitan Opera House only one time in my life,
and I by-God wore a suit. I have to say, the standards of dress at the Met
are still pretty high, but I also have to say, there were people there in
jeans. Nothing against jeans, but they weren't even GOOD jeans. What is
that about? The Metro-goldang-politan Opera!
Anyhow, I'll shut up,
cause it's time to start the 1991 flick "Xtro II," starring the
one-and-only Jan-Michael Vincent who we all enjoyed in Tribes and Damnation Alley. Don't worry if you didn't see "Xtro"
one, cause it's not really a sequel. They just wanted all those "Xtro"
fans--whoever they may be--to think it was. It's about this gooey alien
with big chompers that explodes out of an astronaut's body and chases
Jan-Michael Vincent and his girlfriend and Krycek from the X-Files
around this place that could be a space-ship, but it's really an
underground lab. It IS an "Alien" rip-off, but it was made for about a
twentieth of the price, and it's not bad considering. Let's do those
drive-in totals and get it rolling. We have:
Ten dead bodies.
No breasts, but there is a little see-through-sheet action I'll point
out when the time comes.
Dehydrated astronaut.
Neck-scratching.
Tail-slapping.
Claw-slapping.
Alien target-practice.
Human
fireball.
Death by plummeting.
Exploding elevator.
Exploding
alien.
Exploding antagonist.
Gratuitous tai-chi.
About two
and a half stars. Check it out, and we'll be here with you all
evening.
[fading] And about this suit thing, I don't care if you
wear jeans, but HIRE A CHINESE GUY AND GET SOME JEANS THAT FIT! For God's
sake. Don't make me have to tell you this again."
"Xtro 2: The Second Encounter" Commercial Break #1
"It's
been three years and he still won't talk about... THE TEXAS FIASCO. I
wonder which Texas fiasco they're talkin about, cause there's been a lot
of em. Starting with the Alamo, right through the Kennedy assassination,
the Houston Astrodome, and the shut-down of my favorite strip joint,
Geno's Topless on Harry Hines Boulevard in Dallas.
Anyhow, I liked
that transport scene, cause it reminded me of Willy Wonka and the
Chocolate Factory. Remember that scene where the kid who watches TV all
the time tries to beam himself over the airwaves, and he gets shrunk down
to about six inches high? And then Gene Wilder sends him to the taffy
puller? Classic flick. All right, we have a little near-nuditay under a
flimsy sheet coming up here, so let's get it going. "Xtro II." Roll
it.
[fading] "High alpha-wave activity!" How come they always talk
like that in these movies?
"Reset embarkation coordinates for maximum!"
They actually said that. It means "time to leave," right? "They're
leaving."
"Reset embarkation coordinates for maximum."
Or
"Sayonara."
"Xtro 2: The Second Encounter" Commercial Break #2
"We
didn't really get to see the monster back there. This movie cost under a
million dollars, and the censors apparently wants it to LOOK like it cost
under a million dollars, by cuttin out some of the more gruesome special
effects. At this point the thing looks sorta like a bloody halibut with a
spiny tail. It'll mutate as the show goes along, so I thought I'd let you
know what Phase One looked like.
It's good to have a Jan-Michael
Vincent movie on. He's had a rough life, so I'm happy to get him a little
residual-check action every once in a while. He started out good--he was
the handsome surfer dude in the great John Milius flick "Big Wednesday" in
78. And that was like his twentieth movie--before that, he was Mr.
Clean-cut Movie Star in Bronson flicks, all kinda stuff. In the
mid-eighties, he starred in the TV show "Airwolf." And he was known to
take a little nip now and then. Which may or may not be related to his
becoming a ruling member of the B-movie royalty, starring in fine films
with Heather Thomas, Shannon Tweed, Tanya Roberts. Lots of titles where
they take the names of big hit movies and switch the words around, like
"Animal Instincts," "Indecent Behavior," "Midnight Witness," stuff like
that. Unfortunately, by this time, he was taking more than a little nip
now and then, and in 94 his wife got a restraining order against him cause
she claimed he broke her ribs and her nose, forced her to have sex with
him and his friends, and killed her kitten. Jan-Michael denied killing the
kitten. Anyhow, then he got in TWO serious car crashes in two years, one
where he went through the windshield, broke his jaw and detached a retina,
and another where he broke his neck, but managed NOT to get paralyzed. But
they did an intubation--that's when they basically put a garden hose down
your throat so you can breathe--and his voice got messed up. He went into
rehab, probly more than once. But the guy is STILL working. He did a
little part last year in this artsy flick the critics liked called
"Buffalo 66." Hardly recognized the guy, but he wasn't bad. All right,
back to "Xtro II." Roll it.
[fading] Ernie, I only have one thing
to say to you. "You have no right to engage duo-tangents when I'm not
here." If it happens again, I'm gonna have to reset embarkation
coordinates. Are you understanding me?"
"Xtro 2: The Second Encounter" Commercial Break #3
Is Lisa
dead? Dang! She was the yummiest thing in the movie. Rachel Hayward is
that gal's name. But boy, that guy better watch those prescription drugs,
you know what I'm saying? He'll end up like Jan-Michael Vincent, no
offense if you're watching, Jan-Michael. The guy playing Alex Summerfield
is Paul Koslo, and I SWEAR I'm hearing an accent of some kind. I think
maybe he's Dutch or something. Or maybe I'm hearing things, cause he's
been in American movies since the 70s. He was one of Shelley Winters' gang
in the great "Cleopatra Jones" in 73. He was the mayor in the infamous
"Heaven's Gate." And he OF COURSE starred with Brigitte Nielsen in the
immortal Chained Heat II. Paul Koslo.
So here's my question. You
knew I had one. WHY didn't Jan-Michael Vincent tell em what happened in
Texas? Why would he skulk off to the Poconos for three years while they
beam more people into the scary parallel universe? And why would he rather
kill someone than say, "Yo, there's a monster inside the babe." Am I
over-simplifying? I don't think so. Okay, roll it.
[fading] I don't
know which is worse, him not talking, or those movies where the guy goes
"I have something to tell you." And they go, "Not now." And the guy goes,
"But--" and they go "Not now! Lock him up!" "But, but--" [reaching toward
camera, then CUT]
"Xtro 2: The Second Encounter" Commercial Break #4
"Oh,
boy, there is a LOT of plot going on all of a sudden, isn't there? "Nexus
will be biosealed in T-minus one minute." Biosealed? Is that one of those
fake sci-fi movie words, or what? And why is it always "T-minus" one
minute? What does T-minus mean? Why don't they just say "Everything will
blow up in one minute"? The last time I remember "T-minus" being used was
in those old films from the original space program. John Glenn, the FIRST
time he went up in space. Anyhow, this flick gets a little confusing here,
so I'll clear things up for our undergraduate viewers. It's simple,
really. They have X amount of time before the whole place gets flooded
with a lethal dose of radiation. So they decide to run for their cars and
bring in supplies before the place gets "biosealed," or sealed up. Don't
ask me why, if they can get to their cars, why they don't just LEAVE. You
know? Yeah, let's NOT call for help, and let's unload the car instead of
driving our hineys OUT OF THERE.
By the way, that's Tara Buckman
as Julie, who's suddenly stripped down to the Linda Hamilton-Sigourney
Weaver muscle-tee. She was the mom in the classic "Silent Night, Deadly
Night," about the raping and pillaging Santa Claus, remember her? Maybe
not. It came out the same day as Nightmare on Elm Street, and one of em
did better than the other--guess which one. You know what Tara Buckman's
first role was? She was a rollercoaster attendant in . . . you got it, the
classic "Rollercoaster." The disaster movie I hope they put in the time capsule for
1977, that's how classic it is. Okay, go.
[fading] You wanna know
my favorite line in this flick? "Why don't you get up off your big butt
and start combating?" I watched this thing twenty times to see if the TNT
high sheriffs had dubbed that in. "Big butt" just seemed too good to be
true. But it was for real. I guess the four screenwriters on this baby had
to have SOMETHING to do besides take a couple of the old "Alien" scripts
and change the names. Gotta fill up your time somehow."
"Xtro 2: The Second Encounter" Commercial Break #5
"We had
a few things cut out of that last part--the alien tentacles ripping the
colonel's head off, and the alien driving its tail through the guy before
it somehow lights him on fire. And in case you want to know what the alien
looks like now, since we lost that TOO, it's sort of a
lizard-dragon-kangaroo kinda thing. One thing we're NOT cutting out,
though, is the one, the only, Miss Penzoil 1993, Rusty, the TNT Mail Girl.
[enters] Yes, indeed, it's time for "Joe Bob's Advice to the
Hopeless."
MAIL GIRL: By the way, I was only the First Runner Up in
93.
Get outta here. You didn't win?
MAIL GIRL: No, but First
Runner Up's not bad.
So who IS Miss Penzoil 1993?
MAIL GIRL:
This girl who kinda greased herself up and rubbed herself all over the
judges.
And where do we get HER phone number?
MAIL GIRL:
Gee, I'll look it up. We're such good friends now.
You gals in
those contests always hate each other, don't you?
MAIL GIRL: Only
when your boyfriend's one of the judges, and he still votes for the slut
covered in motor oil.
I'm gonna go kick his hiney. Maybe HE has her
number.
MAIL GIRL: That's so mean. I thought you LIKED me.
I
do.
MAIL GIRL: Then be nice.
I'm sorry. What have you got
for me?
MAIL GIRL: I have an e-mail from Joe Rob
Shoesteen.
Joe Rob, huh?
"Dear Joe Bob,
"Amen
brother.
"Speaking of beer, I died of dehydration while waiting for
the beer I won on the Superbeast give-a-way. It was a slow and painful
death not unlike John Ratzenburger in Motel Hell, although I wasn't
buried up to my neck.
"Everyday I would go out to the mail box just
hoping, but no. Towards the end in the delirium, I thought you might try
to E-mail it to me, so I took the computer apart looking for it. It hasn't
worke3d quit3e %*{~$ since."
See, [showing Mail Girl] he put all
kinds of crazy typewriter symbols.
MAIL GIRL: Isn't that
cute.
"Under notable quotables: In this month's issue of Playboy--I
just look at it for the pictures, someone else reads me the articles--Miss
May 1991 in reference to her appearance at Glamour Con:
'Playboy's
presence matters. We have to look classy. We have to be classy. This isn't
the Panty Express anymore.' If a nekkid 19 year old named Tiffani doesn't
class up a place, I don't know what does.
"Your pal,
"Joe Rob
Shoesteen."
I can't believe it's taken this long to get you that
beer. When did we SHOW "Superbeast"? A year ago? I gave it to the Mail
Girl, and she took it RIGHT to the post office.
[Mail Girl shakes
her head.]
You didn't take it right to the post
office?
[Mail Girl shakes her head again.]
Why
not?
MAIL GIRL: Cause you didn't give it to me.
I didn't.
That's because . . . [covering] it was the PREVIOUS Mail Girl I gave it
to. Joe Rob, hang in there buddy. And if you happened to get the phone
numbers of any of the girls who believe it still IS the Panty Express, let
me know. They'll do till I find Miss Penzoil 1993.
MAIL GIRL: I
can't believe how insensitive you are!
I'm finding her so you gals
can patch things up!
[Mail Girl exits]
Maybe she can teach
you the motor oil trick.
[slams door]
Or maybe not."
"Xtro 2: The Second Encounter" Commercial Break #6
"So how
many of you guys out there are X-Files fans? What do they call
em--X-philes, with a "ph"--get it? Anyway, the guy in the elevator shaft
who DIDN'T just die--and, excuse me, has anyone heard of mountain-climbing
safety? I've never set FOOT on a mountain, and even I'M gonna guess that
you don't untie yourself when you stop to rest--anyway, the guy who's
still alive is Nicholas Lea [pronounced Lee]. He went straight from this
movie to the TV show "The Commish" for three years. And then from there he
got the recurring part of Alex Krycek on the "X-Files," the one-armed
baddie who killed both Mulder's father AND Skully's sister. They talk
about him all the time in the "X-Files" chat rooms on the Internet, call
him Ratboy. And I think he's the best performance in tonight's flick, I
really do. Okay, it's time for the thrilling conclusion of "Alien." I
mean, "Xtro II."
[fading] I never woulda guessed one of those guys
was gonna fall down the elevator shaft, would you? I love those surprise
plot twists. And how bout that dialogue: "We're packing enough CY to blow
the World Trade Center." See, you gotta be careful with this stuff. Guys
in Brooklyn with bad beards and white robes are getting their ideas from
CABLE! You know what I'm saying? JeeZUS, that's scary."
"Xtro 2: The Second Encounter" Outro
"That guy when he was
about to explode there at the end--that looked like me when I went down to
Juarez last spring and drank a little too much of the local specialty, if
you know what I mean and I think you do. Stuff was alien-strength. I woke
up three days later in my own Embarkation Zone, with a girl named Juanita.
Come to think of it, I'm overdue for a bordertown road trip. What do you
say, Ernie?"
"Xtro 2" is available on video. It is not available on DVD, though Xtro 3 is on DVD
Tonight's host segments continue with aliens in The Silencers
"Over 80% of the human race goes through life without having a single original thought."
H.L. Mencken
Host segment transcript of April 1999 broadcast ©1999 Turner Network Television. A Time Warner Company. All Rights Reserved