22 Best MST3k Moments 21

"Manos" The hands of fate

Category:

Entertainment

Tags:

• MST3K
• Manos the hands of fate
• torgo
• Joel hodgson
• Crow T. Robot
• tom servo
• gypsy
• Dr. Forrestor
• TV's Frank

[historylover]

Love Mike's impersonation of Torgo. But, I think my two favorite moments are 1) Crow's 5-minute monologue at the end of the movie when the two girls are just driving around and, 2) Joel (JOEL) finally getting so irritated he yells out "Do SOMETHING!" You don't see Joel get that irritated at the movies that often.

Kat

[tatsunohouou]

Just the Joel era? You mean "the worst film in the world!" Not only was it annoying and horrifying the cast. The actual movie cast committed suicide after playing the roles in the movie

[masticina]

Torgo was one of the most interresting characters

And oh yes.. he was sexy!

[Matrix29bear]

To tackle MANOS in terms of Sitcom role-casting, let's use the series of Bewitched (because the general characterization is fairly close) as a framing device. Firstly we remove all the sitcom magic powers, make pretty much everyone into "normals" or none of it works.

Now we recast Darrin Stevens & Samantha & daughter Tabitha.

A stuttering blend between Uncle Arthur & Glenn Quagmire becomes Torgo.

Gladys Kravitz (Sassy Manos Wife)

Abner Kravitz (Manos) or Dr. Bombay (Manos) last one is tricky.

[Matrix29bear]

You can recast the primary "Manos: The Hands of Fate" cast members (per their character functions) in the roles of "The Jetsons" too:

Michael (becomes George Jetson), Margaret (becomes Jane Jetson), Debbie (becomes a dumb version of Elroy), Torgo (becomes a leering stuttering Henry Orbit, the apartment's handyman), Sassy Manos Wife (becomes Rosey the Robot), Manos (becomes Cosmo G. Spacely). The Hellhound Dog (becomes a non-verbal boring version of Astro). Manos's Wives (George's coworkers)

[Matrix29bear]

Further boiling it down to Sitcom terms for "Manos: The Hands of Fate":

Michael (the dumb well-meaning but faking-competency father figure), Margaret (the sassy educated wife who goes-along-to-get-along), Debbie (the gentle little girl who always innocently leads the adults into horrific danger and is forgiven afterward), Torgo (the obsessive quirky sometimes-threatening comic relief), Sassy Manos Wife (the well-meaning crusader trapped in her addictions), Manos (a bad bossman pushed too far).

[Matrix29bear]

Say what you will, Torgo carried the film. He really was the imp that makes the dark-side fun.

I cannot imagine "Manos: The Hands of Fate lacking" Torgo.

It's an old movie "Who is important to the film?" game. If they killed off or just removed a character, would the movie be the same? The little girl, just a plot nudge. The dad, fairly forgettable. The traveling family's wife, CRUCIAL. Manos, required. The wives, mostly replaceable except for the the rebellious one. Remove Torgo, it collapses.

[ConSmith1807]

@TheRogueWolf Yeah, that is true about the satyr part. Not sure as much about the legs being worn backwards, but they were supposed to have to caused a lot of pain.

Same with the voices, that's true as well. They didn't have anything to record audio, so everything was added afterwards. I believe Warren, the director/producer/writer/guy who played the father, and a couple other people did all the voices for the cast

[TheRogueWolf]

@ConSmith1807 I've read that Torgo was supposed to be a satyr of some kind, maybe enslaved by the Master, though for whatever reason this was never even alluded to in the dialogue. Also, the actor (John Reynolds) accidentally wore the leg gear backwards, which ruined his knees, and he ended up drugging himself to carry on.

I've also read that the originally-acted dialogue was much better, but the dubbed-on voices absolutely ruined it.

[FuturamaFinFan]

I don't know which one was the worst movie during the Joel era, Manos or Castle of Fu Manchu? They're both hard to sit through even with the jokes. The worst during the Mike era? Take your pick, they're all pretty bad, although the jokes during the first few minutes of The Dead Talk Back are hilarious.

[Raksha38]

I got my BA from the University of Wyoming and Torgo is on the state seal printed on my diploma. TRUFAX. Do a google image search for "Torgo Wyoming State Seal" and the first result is the scan I did of my diploma.