Plan 9 from Mission Hill

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Mission Hill episode
"Plan 9 from Mission Hill"
Episode no.	13
Aired As	13
Alt. Title	"I Married a Gay Man from Outer Space"
Prod. code	S01E13
Orig. Airdate	August 11, 2002
Writer(s)	Dan McGrath
Director	Jim Shellhorn
List of All Mission Hill Episodes...

"Plan 9 from Mission Hill" (or "I Married a Gay Man from Outer Space") was the thirteenth and final aired episode of Mission Hill. It was written by Dan McGrath. It first aired on August 11, 2002.

[edit] Synopsis

While walking home one night, Kevin sees a movie theater advertising "X-rated" features. After passing the theater several times, he eventually rushes in and buys a ticket, thinking that the films being shown are pornography, when the feature being shown is actually Midnight Cowboy. Wally, who works at a projectionist at the theater, explains that most of the films released in the late 1960s and early '70s with an X rating "wouldn't get by with a PG-13 today." With Wally's help, Kevin develops an appreciation for classic films.

One day, he sees an advertisement for The Man from Pluto, directed by Walter L. Ford, noticing that the actor in the ad looks like Gus. It is explained that Wally directed the film, but told Gus that the only known print of the film was eaten by sharks. Kevin begins to widely advertise the film's upcoming screening at the cinema, much to Wally's unexplained dismay. The showing turns up a large crowd. The film turns out to be so bad that the audiences laughs at it. "The Man from Pluto" resembles such famous B-movies as Plan 9 from Outer Space, Robot Monster, and Teenagers from Outer Space.

Wally explains that, in the 1950s, he was a cinematographer working on major productions produced by Warner Bros. One day, the studio let him direct his own screenplay, a cold war allegorial, casting soon-to-be-big stars Charlton Hestonopholius and Paul McNewman. The production goes well at first, then Wally meets Gus and falls in love with him, eventually having him replace McNewman's role as the alien. Fed up with Gus's bad acting, Hestonopholius quits, and the studio pulls out of the production, leading Wally to produce it independently. Budget concerns and casting changes lead him to rewrite the screenplay. The finished product is shown to his agent, who tells Wally that he is through in Hollywood.

The film becomes a cult hit, being advertised as the worst movie ever made. While sitting in the audience during a second showing, Wally overhears a pair of viewers praise the film, exclaiming "the guy who found this deserves a medal!" and "found it? How about the guy who made it?"

[edit] Music

• "Everybody's Talkin" by Harry Nilsson
• "Midnight Cowboy" by John Barry
• Gyorgy Ligeti's "Requiem for Soprano, Mezzo Sprano, two mixed choirs and orchestra" as performed by the Bavarian radio orchestra and conducted by Francis Travis is played as Kevin watches the film 2001: A Space Odyssey.

[edit] Trivia

• The title of this episode is a reference to the title of Plan 9 from Outer Space, one of the most famous science fiction B-movies of all time.
• At one point in the episode Andy and Kevin go to a video store that specializes in porn, mondo films from different countries, and video nasties. The latter two are rarely mentioned in the mainstream and are popular among underground movie buffs.
• There is a cameo by writer Dan McGrath, he plays the man who slaps "Lawyer Egerman" in the Ingmar Bergman parody.