MST3K 706: Laserblast

I have the feeling that "Laserblast" is the "prime catch" of the "Mystery Science Theater 3000 20th Anniversary Collection," although I also have the feeling that for a lot of other people "Werewolf" will be the episode they already liked the most, and I've got a personal like for "Future War." "Laserblast," however, is the final episode of the show's "Comedy Central" run, and features the running joke that "Leonard Maltin gave it two and a half stars" (a few years later, Maltin himself would make a guest appearance on the show to promote "Gorgo"), as well as a lot more than that.
( 'Could Leonard Maltin be wrong and this movie isn't worth two and a half stars?' )

California Landing

While peeling and slicing a potato, I happened to remember that the space shuttle Endeavour was scheduled to land at Edwards Air Force Base in another few minutes, and switched my TV on to CNN to see it come back from a commercial break to a first shot of the descending orbiter from an odd angle. The banter of the newscasters was a somehow peculiar counterpoint I didn't get for the launch, watching the online streaming feed, but it was good all the same to see the touchdown after a mission where the commentary seemed to dwell on a tool bag drifting off into space and tinkering the urine processor into working order. For some reason, though, I remembered seeing pictures of the very first space shuttle landings, where the touchdowns seemed to be in the middle of the desert, and contrasting them to the hangars and control towers now visible in the background along with scrub in the foreground.