PROMO TRANSCRIPTION
RUNNING FOR THEIR LIVES
[Auto and Salmoneus run and have watermelons on there heads]
Gekkus: They killed the King
SALMONEUS AND THE KING OF THIEVES ARE RUNNING OUT OF PLACES TO HIDE
Autoylcus: That gives me an idea
WHAT A DRAG
[Sal and Auto in womens clothing]
Twanky: Uh
Autoylcus: I'm Autolyaca and this is my partner Salmonella
NOW TO SAVE THEIR HIDES
[Sal and Auto dance in rabbit outfits]
THEY WILL HAVE TO DANCE FOR THERE LIVES
Autoylcus: Keep your skirt on.
Salmoneus: Never
[Gekkus dances with Salmoneus]
Salmoneus: Ahhh
[Salmoneus dressed as a woman but without a wig on]
HERCULES THE LEGENDARY JOURNEYS
WHO WOULD OF THOUGHT RUNNING FOR YOUR LIFE
(Girls dancing)
Autolycus to Salmoneus: That gives me an idea.
COULD BE SUCH A -DRAG-?
(Auto and Sal in dresses)
(Widow Twanky looking shocked)
(Auto, Sal, and a woman tied to a pole)
Auto: How do you keep your skirt on?
Sal: Well I never!!
(Sal being dipped and his wig falling off)
ON AN ALL NEW HERCULES THE LEGENDARY JOURNEYS
TV GUIDE PROMO
On the run from phony murder charges, Autolycus and Salmoneus change
their names to Autolyca and Salmonella and join Widow Twanky's
all-female dance troupe.
"Men in Pink". Fugitives Salmoneus and Autolycus join widow Twanky's
all-girl dance troupe.
Salmoneus and Autolycus pass themselves off as members of an all-female dance troupe led by the widow Twanky after being accused of murdering King Pholus.
AIRING AND RATING INFORMATION
1st release: 02-02-98
An AA average of 4.7
Competition from Syndicated Action Dramas:
(1) X-FILES 9th with 6.9
(2) XENA 11th with 5.8
(3) STAR TREK DS9 14th with 5.3
(4) HERCULES 16th with 4.7
2nd release: 07-13-98
An AA average of 3.3
Competition from Syndicated Action Dramas:
(1) X-FILES 9th with 5.0
(2) WALKER TR 15th with 4.0
(3) XENA/NYPD BLUE 18th with 3.7
(5) HERCULES with 3.3
SYNOPSIS:
Synopsis by KSZoneW
Salmoneus has a new job now. He is counting dinars for King Tolos, who has a
brother named Gekkus. Gekkus remembers now Tolos gave Gekkus's toys to the slaves kids when he was
small and Prince Gekkus seems mad that Tolos is giving dinars to the poor and needy. He tells Salmoneus
that he has all the time in the world to count to dinars. Gekkus leaves and Autoylcus appears. Sal hears
someone come in and says he knows Hercules and Herc won't be happy is something happens to one of his
friends. Auto greats Salmoneus, who kneels down and begs Auto to take the dinars and let him live. Auto
agrees and they are dazed when Tolos screams. Salmoneus runs into the room of Tolos and finds the king
falling down with a knife in his heart. Sal pulls out the knife and Gekkus runs in and order Auto and Sal
captured for killing the king. Auto leaps out the window and Sal follows. Gekkus tells the soliders to search
the town. Sal and Auto are hiding under a pile of watermelons with both men having half a melon as a hat.
Sal is eating a melon but the vendor spots them and orders two soliders to get them. Sal and Auto flee and
hide in a house. They spot Widow Twanky teaching some girls to dance. Auto has an idea and asks Sal
"what size bra he wears". Auto and Sal shave and walk up to Twanky. They say there showgirls and want
to work for Twanky. They claim to know how to dance and call themselves Salmanela and Autolyaca. Both
have on pink dresses with bras full of something and wigs. Auto has a black wig and Sal has a short blonde
wig. Auto looks diffrent. Sal looks similar to how he always looks.
The guards are still looking but Sal and Auto get to watch the girls dance,
including Cupcake. She does a sexy dance and leaves Auto and Sal stunned and excited. They guytalk and
soon go with the others to a hotel for perfomances. Twanky finds a cupcake, which belongs to Cupcake, but
Auto claims it was Sals and Cupcake gets off and thanks Auto. Sal must stay in his room and Auto gets to
go to the bath to bathe. Auto and Cupcake talk and Cupcake says she wants a man who likes animals, is
wild, and has a sweet tooth, like her. Auto gets excited but must keep his female role going. Gekkus knocks
on Sals door and Sal, as a woman, answers. They show him a poster of himself and Auto. Gekkus falls in
love with Sal, who gets kissed on the hand. Sals scared and Gekkus finally leaves and likes that Sals a
dancer. Auto returns and changes into a bluesuit and goes down to greet Cupcake, who thinks Auto is the
man of her dreams. She has no idea he was talking to her a few minutes earlier as a woman, and he brings
her a puppy named creampuff, and claims to own some donut shops all over Greece. If guards in ancient
times liked donuts and creampuffs, maybe Auto would have wished he really owned a shop !?. Twanky
seperates the lovers since she does not want her girls pregnant and stuff. She likes Auto for some reason
and states it.
The girls perform there first show of the day and Gekkus and his troops watch.
Sal and Auto must perform a strip dance since the two stripper girls got food poison and are sick. They are
nervous. Gekkus has a small daydream about marrying Sal and having children. Sal and Auto wear rabbit
outfits and dance around and throw there scarves, tops, and rabbit tales into the crowd. They use big leaves
to cover up and are successful in not blowing there cover. Gekkus sends Sal flowers and a dinner invitation
for that night. Auto goes out with Cupcake again, and wears his blue suit. His excuse for not showing up at
the dance was that he helped a pregnant yak give birth to twins. They kiss and eat a donut with sprinkles,
which are Cupcakes favorite. She crys and likes Auto cause he is honest, does not steal, and does not live
a double life [All things which he is currently doing]. Auto respects her but walks away, knowing he is being
rude and maybe has done the wrong thing. Cupcake visits Auto, who dresses in drag. Sal meanwhile gets a
necklace with diamonds from Gekkus but when Gekkus chases Sal around the room, the wig falls off and
Gekkus discovers the truth and captures Cupcake, Auto, and Sal. Cupcake is mad at Auto. The three find
out that Gekkus had his brother Tolos killed so he could become king. Auto cuts them free and takes down
the soldiers. Twanky and the girls meanwhile start to dance and throw there legs up for some familar dance.
Sal and Auto, without wigs, fall through the curtains and fight the troops. Twanky states she knew the truth
all along and also fights. Twanky leaps in midair and kicks down about 5 soldiers in a row. Great fight sceen.
Auto leaps on some soldiers shoulders and uses him as a stand to kick others. Gekkus holds a knife to
Cupcake but she elbows him in the chest, Twanky throws a sword to Auto, who frees a hung Sal, who falls
and takes down Gekkus. Gekkus is taken to jail and Cupcake is friendly to Auto but leaves and says Auto
will find the perfect woman one day and it might be her. Twanky wanted Sal and Auto to walk in a womans
shoes so she did not stop them before. Sal still has a winning spirt because he has the diamond necklace.
Auto takes one of those glitz and glamour scarfs and the two are told to come back anytime they pleased
and Auto says he may.
COMMENTARY:
Commentary by KSZoneW
Perhaps some of Robert Trebors best work came in this episode. "Men in Pink"
was a good comedy episode with great work from the main stars. For an episode without Hercules in it, it
was very well done and fit perfectly to air the same week that the Xena musical aired. The idea of Autoylcus
and Salmoneus dressing in drag was bizzare and the episode was VERY bizzare. The biggest surprise was
that a storyline went along with the dressing in drag. The storyline being something basic "Kings dead and
two innocent people are framed". I knew right away that Kakus had his brother killed and framed
Salmoneus, but I still enjoyed watching the episode and laughing at Sal and Auto acting as woman. Michael
Hurst did another good job as Twanky, and Twanky fights even wilder and crazier than Iolaus ! The
footaction Michael showed in this one was great.
Autolycus is one of my favorite characters basiclly because he can work any
kindof episode. He has his emotional episodes like XWP's "Quest" and HTLJ's "King of Thieves". He can do
pure comedy like "Men in Pink" and "Beanstalks and Bad Eggs". Bruce Campbell is somehow the best
person for the role, and I can't imagine anyone else doing the role of Autolycus. We get to see another side
to the King of Thieves as he plays Autolyaca. Auto is a womanizer so its funny to watch the character play a
drag queen and not be able to control himself when he see's Cupcake dance. Sal and Auto had some great
lines while watching Cupcake do her first dance. Autos line "Give me some suger baby" still makes me laugh
and its a classic Bruce Campbell line. Auto may of finally learned to be honest with women. He loved
Cupcake and proved it when he walked away from his relationship with her, after learning she wanted a
honest man who did not steal and did not live a double life. However later on we saw them become friends
and maybe more in the future. I think Cupcake would be the PERFECT partner for The King of Thieves.
Every hero or thief needs a sidekick !
Robert Trebor on HTLJ is worth watching the episode, no matter what the
episode is about. They just don't make enough episodes with Salmoneus anymore. Salmoneus was perfect
in this episode and it looked as Robert really enjoyed doing this episode. The entire role as Salmanela was
well done and perfect. Trebor is good for any kind of episode but these comedys are his best comedic work.
Salmoneus should be seen more often however it looks as he will only be in two episodes this season, and
1 will have Trebor as part of the Hercules production crew [Yes Virgina Theres a Hercules]. Sal was the
unlucky one as he was forced to date Kakus, a evil male warlord, to keep the disguise working. However
there date was when the scam ended. Theres really nothing else to say now. Perhaps later. This episode
gets 5 out of 5 stars. It was for anyone, however younger kids might not understand the drag and the sexual
remarks may bother some parents. Teens will probally gets a good laugh out of the comments and
costumes. I suggest you check this episode out.
Highlights:
The comedy from Trebor and Campbell.
The bath tub sceen where Twanky refers to a Xena/Gabrielle sceen in "A Day
in the Life" may interest subtext fans.
Twanky leaping in the air and flying across the room while kicking down several
of the soldiers. This was during the final fight.
THINGS TO LOOK OUT FOR
From Jennifer. Notice the intriguing
round doorway in the king's castle that was shown repeatedly during the episode? The shape looked rather
familiar and, when they showed a closeup of it, our suspicion was confirmed...it's the same "keyhole"
doorway that appears in "The Debt" in Lao Ma's home...complete with the chakram decoration!
From Bret. The beards worn by
Robert Trebor and Bruce Campbell were fake, since the show was shot out of sequence.
From KSZoneW. Autoylcus
does the classic "Give me Some Suger, Baby" line when he and cupcake are having some fun in the
garden.
From KSZoneW. The organ
man from HTLJ "And Fancy Free" was in this episode as well. He did the same role. He also played a
diffrent version of the same song he played during the ending of the "AFF" episode during the ending fight in
this episode.
From KSZoneW. The same
white dog we saw in XWP's "Bitter Suite" was in "Men in Pink".
From KSZoneW. The tub that
the dancers where bathing in was also seen in XWP's "Here She Comes...Miss Amphipolis" when Xena was
asking the other women questions .
From KSZoneW. The castle we
saw at the begaining was also used in HTLJ's "Regrets Ive Had a Few" at the begining.
From KSZoneW. The main
soldier was also seem in XWP's "Deliverer" as Caesars main guard at the Dahak temple. The outfits where
also the same ones the romans wore in "Deliverer"
TALES OF THE HERCAVERSE
01-16-99. At the Burbank Con II (01/98), Robert Trebor mentioned that in Men in Pink, when he and Bruce are in drag, they do a strip-tease. This was difficult when he had to keep covering certain areas not to be found out he wasn't really a woman.
01-16-99. The line "Gimme some sugar, baby" is from the movie ARMY OF DARKNESS, also starring bruce Campbell and directed by Sam Raimi and produced by Robert Tapert.
01-16-99. From Jennifer Harris. Check out the intriguing round doorway in the king's castle that was shown repeatedly during the MiP episode. The shape looked rather familiar and, when they showed a closeup of it, our suspicion was confirmed...it's the same "keyhole" doorway that appears in The Debt in Lao Ma's home...complete with the chakram decoration!
01-0\16-99. From KSZoneW. My From Cupcake:
The giant wheel from "The Debt" was seen in Georgas' throne room. Infact they has the same setup in HTLJ's "Men in Pink" for Gekkus' throneroom as they did in this episode for Georgas' throne room.
02-17-98. This episode deals fast and furious with movie musical homages:
White Christmas and the Marilyn Monroe musicals (Diamonds Are A Girls Best Friend, Some like It Hot,
etc.). Also, the injokes and puns about the tv show "Happy Days" was a surprise. Wqhen I first heard of it, I
thought it was because Ansom Wiliams was directing, but aparently it was someone else. Maybe Williams
was passing through? (Anson played the character "Potsie" on "Happy Days").
02-17-98. It was noted on-line that the actress who played Cupcake, Lacey
Kohl, played Sandy in the Broadway production of Grease. Her name in the Grease Playbill was Lacey
Hornkohl. Which makes us wonder about that Grease-RP connection. The director of Lucy Lawless'
produciton of Grease on Broadway, was the cheroegrapher of XWP's BITTER SUITE.
02-17-98. The Official Bruce Campbell site reports that an upcoming "In
Production" episode of HTLJ called "My Fair Cupcake" will have Auto and Cupcake meeting again. They did
not say if it was for season 3 or 4.
02-17-98. -There where some rumors on the HTLJ Netforum back in November
1997. They where that Ted Raimi was going to have some role in an episode called "Men in Pink" but it
looks as Robert Trebor got the role or else had it all along.
02-06-98. The actor who played Talmadeus (who wanted Salmoneus' head in
XWP's THE GREATER GOOD) plays the character who falls in love with Salmoneus in disguise in MEN
IN PINK.
02-06-98. Episode has sly reference to XWP's subtext brou-haha. Autolycus
and Salmoneus are in drag at the Widow Twanky's. Salmoneus is taking a bath and Autolycus shows up
without his wig and someone's knocking so he jumps in the tub and pulls a stocking thing over his head.
Widow Twanky comes in and says "Who do you two think you are? Xena and Gabrielle?"
02-01-98. At the Burbank II Con (01-17-98), Robert Trebor (actor, Salmoneus)
stated that this was the first time he had worked with Bruice Campbell before PINK. He said they had a blast
filming it. He'd love to work with Bruce Campbell again. In this episode, Trebor and Campbell do a
striptease dressed as women.
02-01-98. At the Burbank II Con (01-17-98), Brad Carpenter (out-going Director
of Marketing), stated that the Widow Twankey was adapted from Michael Hurst's mother who has a
Northern English accent.
02-01-98. From Bluesong: From the cross-over props files. The little white dog
in MEN IN PINK appears in XWP THE BITTER SUITE as well.
01-09-98. The pantomime that Michael Hurst created The Widow Twanky in
was in a production of Pinnochio.
11-16-97. The episode is a take-off of
the Tony Curtis/Jack Lemmon/Marilyn Monroe movie "Some Like It
Hot" with Autolycus, Iolaus, and Salmoneus in drag.
TRANSCRIPT
Click here to read a transcript of MEN IN PINK.
DISCLAIMER
Cupcake's sweet tooth was not harmed during the production of this motion picture. However, her love life experienced a slight setback.
