Information Nation: Master Ninja Theme Song!

Friday, August 08, 2008

Master Ninja Theme Song!

Ninja Parade Slips Through Town Unnoticed Once Again

What do you get when you cross Western film icon Lee Van Cleef passing himself as the world's oldest, most easily-winded ninja with one of the dimmer bulbs in the Van Patten acting family who mumbles his lines to the point of unintelligibility?

Why, you'd get the early 80s TV action show Master Ninja! Kind of a poor man's A-Team. Only with ninjas. And without Mister T, or James Peppard, or a budget that surpassed four figures. It did however have a sweet-ass Mystery Machine-esque custom van that Timothy Van Patten drove around throughout the series which the ladies seemed to dig.

The series would possibly have faded into total obscurity were it not for Mystery Science Theater 3000, the cult show which features a man and two robots making fun of cheesy movies. The show featured the first two volumes of the re-edited Master Ninja tapes on episodes 322 (originally aired January 11, 1992) and 324 (originally aired January 25, 1992). Featuring the first four episodes, Joel Robinson and the 'bots (Tom Servo and Crow T. Robot) mercilessly mocked the series. Notable jokes included jabs at Lee Van Cleef's gut disappearing whenever his stunt double was onscreen, and at Timothy Van Patten's muffled speech pattern. The fact that Demi Moore guest-starred on the first episode in an early role provided more fertile joke material.

For the morbidly curious, the MST3K episode where they skewer Master Ninja I is available in 5 parts on the YouTubes. I must warn you that once you hear the haunting "Master Ninja Theme Song!" as sung by Joel and the 'bots, it will take ninja-like mental powers to purge it from your mind.