M*A*S*HCast Movie Tonight – The Cat From Outer Space

M*A*S*HCast Movie Tonight - The Cat From Outer Space

Special Guest Star: Shawn Meyers

Rob and Shawn talk about the 1978 Disney film THE CAT FROM OUTER SPACE starring (among others) Harry Morgan and McLean Stevenson!

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Theme music by Johnny Mandel

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12 responses to “M*A*S*HCast Movie Tonight – The Cat From Outer Space

  1. I had a GREAT time talking about an ‘okay’ movie with Rob, but I forgot to mention that Disney sold the remake rights to this project to Universal.
    They used the basic plot line of humans trying to help an odd looking alien species with magical abilities back to their own planet.
    They replaced the bi-planes and helicopters with bikes and retitled the project ‘E.T.’!

    1. You just replace the Reese’s pieces candy with cat treats, and it all becomes so clear. How did I not notice the connection before?!

  2. Thank you Rob and Shawn for another fun show. Yes, this is not a great film but like Shawn said its ok, but with the MASH connections all over the place, I still find enjoyment of the film overall.

    Thanks again and happy holidays to everyone.

  3. Fun episode guys. I remember this movie better than I realized, once you guys did the synopsis. I know I haven’t seen it in at least 30-35 years, probably when we first got The Disney Channel, or maybe on The Wonderful World of Disney. I may have even seen this in the theater. We saw pretty much every Disney film when they came out or were re-released.

    It’s kind of a shame Ken Berry spent so many years on Mama’s Family, as he is mostly remembered for that now, and it’s one of those “cancelled by network, moved to syndication” shows that seemed kind of “bargain basement” at the time. Being the guy who replaced Andy Griffith on his own show doesn’t help, either. I think Berry was one of those guys would have thrived in Hollywood had he been 10 or so years older, but film’s need for song and dance comedian types was over by the time he really came around.

    Honestly when I was a kid I knew Sandy Duncan best from Ritz Cracker commercials and her appearance on The New Scooby-Doo Movies. Oddly enough, just like Ken Berry, she replaced someone on their eponymous series, taking over from Valerie Harper on “Valerie” and then it’s change into “The Hogan Family”. I think the Griffith/Berry transition was MUCH more amicable, though.

    I watched the Kurt Russell “college” films on Disney Plus last year, and enjoyed seeing them again, although they are still missing one, “Now You See Me, Now You Don’t”. We should start a letter-writing campaign!

    Chris

    Chris

    1. Gotta agree on all points Chris. I too remember Sandy Duncan from cracker commercials the most but I think it was Wheat Thins. However I remember that mostly from a Mad magazine parody of Sandy Duncan shoving an overdose of Wheat Thins into her mouth.

  4. Love this, thank you for doing this episode! I’ve been waiting for this movie to come up on MASHCAST. and immediately as a kid noticed the MASH connection. Firstly I took great offense that you and Shawn saying that this movie wasn’t very good. It hurt my heart to hear that. I, being a child born in 1971 also saw this movie in the theatre and always loved it from that point on. I guess I’m strange but I was a kid under the age of 10 and thought this was quite compelling as a kids movie even after seeing Star Wars. I never held it in the same regard as Star Wars of course but I knew this was a kids flick and took it as such. In the 80s whenever this movie came up on HBO or the Disney Channel I’d always sit down to watch. That is surprising for me because I am NOT a cat person at all. I’m highly allergic to cats and have never been fond of them and their disposition. I’ve always had dogs and been a dog person. This move made me like a cat for the first time and made me able to tolerate them and see their value. I was always a big fan of Jake and credit him for making me tolerate Garfield, Snagglepuss, Top Cat and also real cats I encountered in my journey through childhood. That said, I do have to have to agree with you and Shawn. This movie IS too long. This was the first movie I searched out (after the Mandalorian of course) when I first got Disney+. I watched it almost immediately and, man oh man this movie does tag on and on. The pool hall scene with it’s many amusing characters does pad this movie to a problematic level. So okay, this movie is not great but it does hold a special place in my heart and it helped this cat allergic guy get over being a total jerk to all cats throughout my life. Thanks to you and Shawn for your reasonable review of this film. I had a lot of fun listening to you talk about it.

  5. Ken Berry was also in an episode of the Brady Bunch. It was the one where he adopted three kids, one white, one black, and one Chinese. I think it was supposed to be a spin-off.

    I remember seeing the movie from the title but don’t remember anything about it.

    You mentioned Gus. That was a pretty funny movie and also had a bunch of TV stars of the day. Don Knotts, Ed Asher, and Tom Bosley were all in it.

    Looking forward to MASH Season 4.

  6. I know I saw The Cat From Outer Space as a kid, but remember next to nothing about it. What memories I do have (i.e., vague recollections of a stranded alien on the run), are probably blurred with my memories of Escape to Witch Mountain and its sequels, which were out around the same time.

    Unfortunately, I can’t recall if I made the MASH connection back when I first saw this movie. Therefore, I’ll assume that I did, because I want to be proud of my younger self.

    Thanks for covering this film I’d all but forgotten about.

  7. I skipped the first movie review but this got me to go back and listen to the Extraordinary Seaman episode. What a horrible movie that must have been. I saw the infamous poster that had a shoutout to Hitler in the first line.

    Looking forward to more. Maybe The New Temperatures Rising? I know it was TV but it seems to pop up a bit in your episodes.

    I stumbled across another oddity looking up MASH related movies. There was a miniseries in the 1970s called Backstairs at the White House. Harry Morgan played Truman. It also had Andrew Duggan as Eisenhower and Ed Flanders as Calvin Coolidge.

    Duggan played Al Houlihan and Flanders was the director of Yankee Doodle Doctor. What was really cool to find out in the rabbit hole I fell in was that Flanders and Linville were brothers-in-law at one time. Their first wives were sisters. Linville was still married at the time (divorced her in 1975) but Flanders had gotten a divorce in 1968.

    Odder still was their wives were the daughter of Will Geer, the grandfather on The Waltons.

  8. I’m quite sure this movie isn’t “good”, but I know I saw it in the theaters as a kid, so thanks for reminding me that Disney+ has it. I must rewatch it, or at least, play it in the background.

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