What is an episode that is almost universally beloved but doesn't really do it for you? For me, it's Hobgoblins. I get why everyone likes it and I think it's funny, but it's not one I ever choose to rewatch. Curious to see what others think.

As much as I love Joel, Mike & the bots will always be my guys. I'm so much more excited for this than the Netflix seasons!

Invidious link: https://yewtu.be/watch?v=J6APLgPqk2w

(Invidious link)

Shazam!! With one simple word and a puff of smoke, young Billy Batson transforms from an awkward dork with his pants up around his rib cage to a slightly older, doughier dork with his pants up around his rib cage. Yes folks, it’s another black and white superhero serial that appears to have been filmed during the Harding administration!

An American archaeological expedition has traveled to the Far East in order to respectfully aid local scientists in preserving a sacred site. Just kidding! They’re going Tomb Robbin’! Unfortunately, they’re shocked when their efforts result in a terrible curse: their story will be told in glacially-paced, poorly-acted, low-budget serial episodes!

Only Captain Marvel can rid the world of the Curse of the Scorpion. Unfortunately, he’s still figuring out this whole “superpower” thing, and you know what? A few innocent people are gonna die while he’s getting his sea legs. Fortunately, there’s a dozen of these things, so he’s got plenty of time to figure it out! Maybe Gabe can help…

Join Mike, Kevin, and Bill for this Giant-Size first episode of Adventures of Captain Marvel!

The title Magical Field Trip to the Denver Mint is a bit redundant, since obviously ANY field trip to the Denver Mint is going to be magical.

What makes this particular journey to a penny factory so special? Well, naturally, it all starts with a vacuum cleaner!

The vacuum cleaner in question is wielded by Rosie O’Flanagan, a whimsical supernatural being whose main power is… being extremely Irish. When three youngsters are bored in their school library, Rosie and her vacuum appear to whisk them away to, you guessed it, the Denver Mint! Does this make more sense when you watch the short? Not really!

The kids get to explore the ugliest, dullest rooms at the industrial plant, all while Rosie does her magical thing of… well, being Irish. Rosie O’Flanagan should really team up with the Grocery Witch from Magical Disappearing Money and use their combined powers to bother people about small change.

Join Mike, Kevin, Bill, Rosie O’Flanagan and a bucket of nickels for Magical Field Trip to the Denver Mint!>

I had a puppet replica of Tom Servo which I built over 20 years ago. After many years and lots of knocking around, the poor guy had worn out a lot. I replaced some old parts, stripped out the puppetry mechanisms, wired him up as a lamp, and added a color-changing LED smart bulb and some glass marbles for diffusion. Now he's the sassiest light source in the house!

All that remains is to clean up his old chipped paint job a little. I'll get to that sometime.

I've also posted this to Mastodon.

Invidious link.

Description:

Ladies and gentlemen: Moose Baby.

Think of Howard Carter as first he gazed upon the freshly unsealed chamber of the tomb of Tutankhamen; that should give you some sense of the awe and wonder we felt as we sat in a nondescript screening room poring over a series of colorless and uninteresting shorts only to discover the rare and precious gift that is Moose Baby.

To try to describe it would be to rob it of some of its magic. He is Moose Baby. "But what is it about?" you quite reasonably ask. It is not about anything. It is Moose Baby. "Who made it? Where did it come from?" No one knows. There are no credits, no markings of any kind. It is untraceable. It is a beautiful mystery. It is Moose Baby. He is Moose Baby.

Drink it in, and you will be one with Moose Baby.

(Invidious link)

111 views Dec 15, 2025
In this episode, Trace teaches Temrik all about the always accurate, never flawed tool that is technology..

Trace And Temrik is a mockumentary series about two writers trying their best to create the next hit tv show, movie, commercial, product or really anything at all!

Everything about this series is improvised, from the dialogue to the camera work to the editing, with the goal of keeping the project underwhelming for all involved, including you!

Want to work with us for some reason? We can be contacted at TraceAndTemrik@gmail.com

We don't currently have any other socials, because that feels overwhelming.

Thanks for watching!

Okay, you can stop reading now.

(Invidious link)

Get the full riff: https://www.rifftrax.com/toyland

Most vintage Christmas shorts fall into one of two categories.

One: a suburban 1950s family with two children eagerly awaiting the arrival of Santa Claus. The other: a demented black and white cartoon that feels like it came from some other terrifying dimension. For the first time ever, Toyland is both!

We start with the classic nuclear family on Christmas, notable for their small dog who sits upright in a chair. Then dad pulls out a projector and screen and forces the family to watch another film, a cartoon of the ancient variety. Complete with creepy Santa, dogs fighting over bones, and anthropomorphized household objects bouncing up and down to music. There’s a parade of mediocre toys and some kids who look like Felix the Cat. Yes, Toyland has it all!

Join the live-action kids watching the weird cartoon and wondering “Is this really all we get for Christmas? Does dad hate us?” He might, but Mike Kevin and Bill don’t. All aboard the poorly animated sleigh to Toyland!

(Invidious link)

Own the riff: https://www.rifftrax.com/santas-space...

Here come's Santa's Spaceship! Because, apparently, a magic sleigh that can fly all over the planet in one night wasn’t enough for him. Honestly, it just seems a little greedy!

Santa’s Spaceship starts with a marionette cowboy singing a western song to an ailing reindeer, and gets weirder from there. All the marionettes living at the North Pole are worried about making the Christmas deliveries because the reindeer are getting old and tired. Rather than, say, try to help the reindeer who have served faithfully for so long, marionette Santa and his marionette friends decide to trade ‘em in for a used rocketship. The used rocketship salesman makes it pretty clear he will turn the reindeer into hamburger, but Santa goes through with the deal anyway. And still, somehow, it again gets weirder from there!

Grab a warm mug of rocket fuel and settle in with Mike, Kevin, and Bill for the marionette madness of Santa’s Spaceship!

Couldn’t get a ticket for a ride on a one-horse open sleigh? Did Santa find you hiding in the back of his sled and have you thrown out by his newest reindeer, Bouncer? Never fear, you can still find holiday themed transportation if you head down to the depot and join all the other sad sacks aboard The Christmas Bus!

From the description:

The "educational films" made by the lunatics at ACI Films have covered some dubious subjects: County fairs. "Doing words." And of course, making terrible crafts out of garbage. But still, we held out the faintest hope that when they tackled a legitimate subject like ‘reading’, they might reign in their insane tendencies and NOPE! That sure as hell did not happen!

Read On From Left To Right doubles down on the madness by throwing puppets into the mix. Just let that sink in for a second: an ACI short with puppets. Their names are Lem and Mel, and they make reading fun! And if you believe that, ACI has a fancy headdress to sell you.

The lesson of the short is basically, don’t try to read things backwards. Most teachers simply find it easiest just to tell their students that, without subjecting them to the mind-warping powers of ACI. But if you do choose to watch it, you’ll be treated to the trademark ACI cutaways, disembodied limbs, confused children, and puppets who loathe each other. Don’t say we didn’t warn you!

From the description:

Whether you’re delivering a speech to the UN general council or giving a toast at your cousin’s wedding, there’s one thing for certain: you’re probably boring the hell out of everyone. Also, you’re using verbal communication.

In fact, verbal communication has made the AARP’s “Top Ten preferred methods of communication” list for nearly twenty years running. Last year it beat out grunting, crotch grabbing, going “EEEEEEEEEE” in a really high pitched tone, tilting your head back and to one side to indicate to the person sitting across the table from you to check out the person behind you, and semaphore.

But do any of us really know how to communicate verbally? Wait, we do? All of us? One of the first social skills we learn, usually by the age of 18 months? Well then why did Alfred Higgins make this short?

Your guess is as good as ours! It’s a crazy, mixed-up educational gumbo that includes ten year old Siskel & Ebert impersonators, rip offs of those silhouettes from The Electric Company, and children who have been given access to a functioning television production studio for some reason. Wait, maybe that last one does actually explain it...

Join Mike, Kevin, and Bill to learn all about how to go EEEEEEEEEE in a really high pitched tone Verbal Communication!

Well, at least in the city of Minneapolis.

Richard Kiel… IN SPACE!!!!

Honestly not sure what else we need to say, those four words should be more than enough. And yet, there is so much more than that going on in The Humanoid!