Mary Jo Pehl was absent from this episode as she was traveling to L.A. to shoot segments featuring film critic Leonard Maltin for the next episode of MST3K.
Mike Nelson actually makes an incorrect reference when he comments, "Are you Oliver Hardy? Just eat!" Stan Laurel was the one known for taking an eternity to get his napkin situated for dining, not Oliver Hardy.
Wassailing is an ancient pagan tradition dating back to medieval England, it took place around Christmas time and consisted of two different parts: the first was where people (usually poor peasants and workers) would go door to door to the homes of their lords and the wealthy singing songs and asking for gifts such as food and the wassail drink, which was a hard spiced apple cider. Then they would take their gifts of food and drink out to their orchards and sing songs, say incantations and offer up bread soaked in wassail to the trees in order to ward off evil spirits and appease the tree spirits so that they would have a favorable harvest the following year.
The modern tradition of Christmas caroling originated from the tradition of wassailing, in fact pretty much every Christmas tradition is based off pagan traditions which the Catholic Church condemned, then turned around and copied.
The modern tradition of Christmas caroling originated from the tradition of wassailing, in fact pretty much every Christmas tradition is based off pagan traditions which the Catholic Church condemned, then turned around and copied.
The stinger is Melissa telling Jody, "This is where the fish lives."
This episode is on the Volume 5 DVD Box Set of Mystery Science Theater 3000.