Mystery Science Theater 3000: C/D, S/D.

Gotta be something to do with the film rights. One of the Vol. 10 choices was Godzilla v. Megalon and I noticed some comment over on Amazon where a guy sez, "Wonder how they were able to get the rights to that one?" Perhaps Toho wasn't happy.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/5/5d/Mike_Nelson_as_Torgo.jpg/225px-Mike_Nelson_as_Torgo.jpg

"...lEt Me GeT yOu YoUr FrEe CrAzY bReAd."

"NO, NO!"

http://cinematictitanic.com/all_josh_darth_sm.jpg

(Also, the first Cinematic Titanic release is available.)

Prince of Space and Invasion of the Neptune Men were great

That photo is so weird. I guess I should have expected that Frank Conniff would pull a Terry Jones as he got older.

Picked up the Vol. 12 DVD set the other week -- worth it to finally have The Starfighters alone on DVD. "Bob Dornan, wild at heart."

Couple of the extra bits on the set were great -- for The Rebel Set they interviewed Don Sullivan, aka the 'sing-whenever-I-sing' guy from The Giant Gila Monster. Classy guy, one of those 'go to Hollywood to make it big' fellows (from Idaho! he escaped like Abbott did!) who never broke through but apparently had a great time in LA anyway. Good slice-of-life stories about his time as a young actor, how The Rebel Set came together, and how he didn't mind the MST take on it because as he says, "They took a dramatic film, and made it funny as well." Nice attitude!

For Parts: The Clonus Horror they interviewed Robert Fiveson, the director -- his stories were just as good, went over the whole stuck-with-no-budget origins of the production, how he initially cringed when he heard that MST wanted to do it but then thought, "Hey, wait, what's wrong with more attention?," enjoyed what they did with it and was especially gratified with the attention and support that a lot of MSTies gave him when the whole kerfluffle with The Island blew up a few years later.

Some of the trailers they provided as well were crazy. None for The Starfighters but one each for the rest, and each of them are priceless in cheesetastic ways.

Meantime! Some happy news I dug up about how the Vol. 10 DVD set had gone out of print before a lot of people could snag it due to a rights problem with Toho over a Godzilla inclusion -- the word is:

The Mystery Science Theater 3000 Collection, Vol. 10.2
Available February, 2008. Replacing Vol. 10 (which withdrawn due to rights issues involving episode 212- Godzilla vs. Megalon), this will contain the same titles, except that episode 212 will be replaced with episode 402- The Giant Gila Monster. The new disk will also feature a bit featuring Joel Hodgson, Trace Beaulieu and J. Elvis Weinstein, in which they make sport of the rights screw-up. For those that managed to buy Vol. 10 before it was pulled, the Gila Monster DVD will also be sold as a single unit.

It's also the first time any of those three have done anything for the Rhino DVDs as a bonus appearance, and two-to-one it's going to be a Cinematic Titanic plug as well, why not? Anyway, glad this is happening because I missed getting my copy! (Vol. 9 is still unavailable due to rights problems as well, no word on that changing yet.)

Interesting!

SHOUT! FACTORY ACQUIRES CULT FAVORITE
COMEDY SERIES MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000
FOR WORLDWIDE HOME ENTERTAINMENT
AND DIGITAL DISTRIBUTION

LOS ANGELES, CA - Adding to its expansive library of comedic TV offerings, Shout! Factory secured the worldwide home entertainment and digital download rights to the long running American cult television comedy series Mystery Science Theater 3000 (MST3K.) This announcement was made by Shout! Factory President Garson Foos.

Under the terms of the multi-year agreement, Shout! Factory will be the exclusive worldwide home entertainment and digital media distributor for Mystery Science Theater 3000 branded properties which include a vast library of original episodes that have never-been-available on DVD or for digital download.

“Mystery Science Theater 3000 is a true cult-classic series. Its high-camp rendition of B-movies to the small screen makes it one of the most memorable pop culture shows of our time,” said Garson Foos, President of Shout! Factory. “MST3K lines up perfectly with Shout! Factory brand. We’re thrilled to work with Jim to further the legend of MST3K on DVD and in the digital marketplace.”

“We are thrilled to be at Shout! Factory. It is a really a great fit for Mystery Science Theater 3000,” said Jim Mallon, President of Best Brains, Inc. and a producer/director/writer of MST3K. “Shout! Factory totally gets the world of MST3K and has shown great respect for Joel, Mike, the Mads and the quirky little bots. They have already issued us lockers. We look forward to great new releases ahead.”
—————-
Our source at Shout Factory says they are looking at the first release around mid-year and they have not made any decisions about what whether they will be single releases or sets.

Volume 10.2 will be the final Rhino release.

Dammit, Raggett, you beat me to this

So I bit the bullet and bought the Cinematic Titanic "Oozing Brain" DVD yesterday...come Thursday, fresh Joel! Or at least I hope so...

Ooh, I might have to attend.

http://cinematictitanic.com/wpmu/ct-launch-party-at-acme-comedy-co-in-minneapolis-mn/

Yeah, that looks great. Go! And report.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dXXBuEfQskk

I went to the launch party last night! Was really fun, they showed about the first 15 minutes of the cinematic titantic DVD, which appears to be pretty much exactly MST3K except w/o the robot schtick, but they definitely seem to still "have it" in terms of their riffing on the flick....

the film was called "The Ooozing Brain" late 50s probably...some good lines...Old Man on his deathbed: "I'm dying" -- "FOR A CHOCOTACO"

but yeah after that it was pretty much just a luv fest, they called off a bunch of names i'm assuming were login names on the MST3K messageboard from the sound of it.

then they did standup...Joel did some funny prop comedy stuff..Frank Coniff was fucking amazing actually....he strikes this weird balance between really edgy offensive stuff and almost hokey cruise ship comedy that's amazing...

"I went to the massage parlour and asked the masseuse for a 'happy ending'.....She showed me the end of Shawshank Rendemption..........[long pause]...I mean, I still TOTALLY came"

dammit! i was going to go to that, i completely forgot

and yes, frank is the *greatest*

good to hear some good feedback

"I went to the massage parlour and asked the masseuse for a 'happy ending'.....She showed me the end of Shawshank Rendemption..........[long pause]...I mean, I still TOTALLY came"

oh man

i know i'm on record as kind of an MST hater but i'm sad i missed this!

btw, thank you for posting that 'shine your love' clip, that is absolutely hall of fame

'hey how about shining my STEAK over here?!'

Okay that Frank comment. What a genius.

No man is a 3 Mile Island, Glenn.

- from Amazing Collosal Man

I'm watching this show again for the first time in years and am LOVING IT.

Damn, I forgot about this too!

Hahaha.

"What kind of sin could a man commit in a single lifetime..."

"I just can't believe there were 'woo! woo!' guys on the Titanic."

we got our first film crew DVD, some steve reeves crap... kinda slower paced, not as brutally laugh-inducing as MST. at least not so far. still need to send for cinematic titanic.

Cinematic Titanic is fun...but the first half feels a little awkward, and just a tad forced. But the movie becomes so mind-bogglingly ridiculous that
their comedy gold starts to kick in. I'm interested to see what they do next.

The four films on the first Shout Factory MST3K box were announced a little while back:

211- First Spaceship on Venus
706- Laserblast
904- Werewolf
1004- Future War

Good choices all. "Future Wax!"

Nice job with the new set; ended up getting a fancy schmantz version at Amoeba on credit, so hey. The 50s style movie poster covers/one-sheets for each episode are v. enjoyable, hope they continue that. Still need to sit down and watch the documentary/Comic-Con panel stuff, though.

Meantime, the next set announced, for February release:

* 103- Mad Monster
* 413- Manhunt in Space
* 1001- Soultaker
* 1008- Final Justice

Great to have another season one episode available, and the other three are all treats.

oh man, "Final Justice"

"You think you can take me? Go head on...IT'S YOUR MOVE."

Goosio!

An interview with Rick Sloane, director of Hobgoblins. Who is about to release a sequel.

I was kinda blown away by that Night Train to Mundo Fine song the first time I watched Red Zone Cube. I thought it was John Carradine singing at first.

Oops, it is. Nevermind.

"They don't call John Carradine 'the Voice' for nothing!"

"To be blessed with an instrument like that." (Not positive that was used there, but should've been.)

Yup, it definitely was used there.

"Drink Night Train
Go to the basketball game
Throw up under the bleachers..."

Good episode for ditties: "Everyone is having fun and smoking. And the dogs are eating too."

"This film DARES you to watch it."

Next DVD set:

The Robot Vs. The Aztec Mummy
The Girl In Lovers Lane
Zombie Nightmare
Racket Girls

Good choices all I'd say.

Racket Girls!!! Gun to my head, that's my single favorite episode.

I love it as well, so much WTF scene by scene in that one.

"Nice...ou--at...you."

"Sorry, little fantasy there."

"Strut, pout, put it out, that's what you want from grandma!"

Hahah oh the pain.

And of course Monk, who I think we both talked about upthread. And Michael Stipe. (Dude did have an uncanny resemblance.)

Oh I'm sure I brought up Monk, Stipe, Rita Martinez, Bub, Peaches and that guy in its seventh year of an unpaid internship all upthread.

"Aaaaah! Aaaaah!"

I've been going through all available MST3Ks, seen and unseen, on netflix. Most of the few I wasn't already familiar with didn't blow me away until I got to Teenage Strangler (for this guy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTJq4LHes6Q) and Wild World Of Batwoman which I can't believe I hadn't seen until this week.

Both stellar and without clicking I know that link has to do with the theft of bicycles and denials to that effect.

Riding With Death isn't available on any collections yet, right? All I have of that is my scratchy VHS tape from when it originally aired.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNDrUid2VbQ

"Mom, I don't want to be in dad's movie anymore!"