"MST3K" Briefs and Shorts Trivia Quiz

Answer: Car salesmen

"Hired!" is shown in two parts before "Bride of the Monster" and "Manos: The Hands of Fate". A newly-hired salesman can't sell any cars. His manager gets advice from his dad, who puts a handkerchief on his head and swats at "imaginary elves". The crew give additional advice, like "live at home til you're 40". The short was made by Chevrolet for training employees.

Answer: Ross

Ross is capturing wild animals using harsh methods. The crew root for the animals to escape. When the little bears start screaming, the crew want the bears' mother to come out and beat Ross. The crew follow the short with a skit in which they torment a doll representing Ross.

Answer: Design for Dreaming

This short, told in song, features dancers Tad Tadlock and Marc Breaux. Besides displaying their new cars, General Motors shows their kitchen of the future, which doesn't come to pass. Tom calls the woman "Holly Go-weirdly".

Answer: Circus on Ice

Tom's line is a play on the old Reese's slogan "Two great tastes that taste great together!" Joel and the bots get two circus-themed shorts in the same season. Not only do they dislike circuses, they don't like ice shows. They call it "Dehumanized Objectified Circus on Ice" and "Jules and Jim on Ice".

Answer: Dark

When Tom and Crow start the short by making jokes about clowns being devils, Joel asks them to be less dark. After repeatedly admonishing them for their dark humor, he makes a joke about an elephant killing someone.

Answer: Skiing

The narrator says that "shiing" is the correct way to pronounce "skiing". In Norwegian, "sk" is pronounced "sh", so the narrator has a point, even though the English pronunciation has shifted since this short was made in 1945. Tom reads the next card, mixing up the sounds of other words: "Cross country shiing amid skenes of winter magnifishence."

Answer: Johnny

In "Johnny at the Fair", a family visit the National Exhibition in Canada. Little Johnny very quickly gets lost, and the crew make up all manner of horrible things that happen to him, like getting addicted to drugs and dying in a boat explosion. As with "Here Comes the Circus", Joel tells his robot friends that he doesn't want the riffing to get too dark.

This time, however, none of them abide by this rule, not even Joel.

Answer: Benjamin Franklin

Or rather, Benjamin Franklin's shadow. Franklin tells William how to budget his earnings and allowance so that he has money to buy what he wants. The short actually has some sound financial advice, but it's not enough to prevent a healthy dose of riffing.

Answer: Vietnam

"Sorry, back in Da Nang." While the marriage counselor tells the couple about working together, the camera goes into an odd closeup of her staring face. The SOL crew assume she's having a Vietnam flashback and insert sounds of gunfire and "Marines, we are leaving!"

Answer: Mr. B Natural

Mr. B Natural, played by a woman, convinces a boy to start playing music. Just hearing Mr. B's voice is enough to make Crow scared. And that's before they see him/her stalking a boy. A host skit sees Joel, Tom, and Crow in a debate over whether Mr. B is a man or a woman--Crow says woman, Tom says man (Joel arbitrates). The argument is not resolved.