* episode 210- KING DINOSAUR (with short: X MARKS THE SPOT)
* episode 323- THE CASTLE OF FU-MANCHU
* episode 608- CODE NAME: DIAMOND HEAD (with short: A DAY AT THE FAIR) and
* episode 611- LAST OF THE WILD HORSES
Extras:
New Introduction By Frank Conniff
The Incredible Mr. Lippert (a Ballyhoo Production)
Vintage MST3K Promos
Life After MST3K: Kevin Murphy (this is the first installment of a new series)
Code Name: Quinn Martin
DARKSTAR: Robots Don’t Need SAG Cards
Original Trailers
4 Exclusive Mini-Posters By Artist Steve Vance
If you want to pre-order it at Amazon, we would appreciate it if you would use this link.
Here’s the Shout! press release
On March 27, Shout! Factory will launch into orbit Mystery Science Theater 3000: XXIII, a 4-Disc collection of four Mystery Science Theater 3000 episodes previously unreleased on DVD. Featuring the episodes King Dinosaur, The Castle Of Fu Manchu, Code Name: Diamond Head, and Last Of The Wild Horses, Mystery Science Theater 3000: XXIII also features a MSTie-riffic collection of bonus features!
Much like the country that spawned it, Mystery Science Theater 3000 is a melting pot. In every imaginable genre, Joel, Mike and their robot pals Tom Servo and Crow T. Robot have seen the promise of cinema mutilated by mediocrity. Nowhere is this highfalutin concept more hilariously exemplified than in this 23rd collection of episodes from the beloved cult comedy television series. You want a Western? It’s here. Space adventure? Look no further. We’ll even throw in a failed TV pilot and a barely coherent science fiction-horror-thriller. All genres are treated with equal disrespect by the luckless crew of the Satellite of Love. They pledge allegiance only to funny, with justice — SoL style — for all.
In King Dinosaur, two scientist couples are sent to investigate a mysterious new planet and are menaced by snakes, gators, giant bugs and other scary process shots. In the world of MST3K fodder, this unique collaboration between ultra-prolific suppliers Robert L. Lippert and Bert I. Gordon deserves a moment of silence. Truth is, 63 moments of silence might be more entertaining than King Dinosaur, but those intrepid SoL’ers come to the rescue yet again, bringin’ the funny with a delirious running commentary. This disc includes the 1944 short film X Marks The Spot. Bonus features include a new documentary featurette, The Incredible Mr. Lippert, and the original theatrical trailer.
It says something about a movie when the best thing about it is a mustache, as is the case with The Castle Of Fu Manchu. Christopher Lee takes climate change into his own hands in this 1969 installment of the Fu Manchu franchise. Determined to freeze the global water supply, the diabolical Fu Manchu heads to Istanbul for a castle, an opium reserve and a heart-to-heart with an ailing scientist. Fear not: his archnemesis, the Interpol superstar Nayland Smith, is on the job. An alternate title for this movie is The Torture Chamber Of Fu Manchu and, judging by the convoluted plotting, it’s by far the more accurate one. As Dr. Forrester says, “This movie makes The Unearthly seem like Citizen Kane.” It’s a good thing Orson Welles wasn’t around to hear that. Bonus features include a new Introduction by Frank Conniff, behind the scenes of the video game Darkstar featuring many MST cast members, and the original theatrical trailer.
Counterintelligence takes on a new meaning in the barely coherent tale of Hawaiian espionage that takes place on movie sets meant to look like Hawaii in Code Name: Diamond Head. If only superspy “Diamond Head” had infiltrated some of his own script meetings before this deadly pilot from legendary TV producer Quinn Martin was released on an unsuspecting public. Fortunately for us, Mike, Crow and Tom manage to sneak some really funny wisecracks into the script, not only neutralizing its odor but actually converting the 1977 TV movie into a work of art. This episode includes the short film A Day At The Fair. Bonus features include Code Name: Quinn Martin and the first installment of Life After MST3K, where we spotlight a cast member and the work he or she has done since leaving the show.
The last, but not least, stop on this Satellite of Love ride is Last Of The Wild Horses, though a second helping from Producer Robert L. Lippert is probably more than most can keep down. In this 1948 Western, “Duke” (no, not “The Duke” — you should be so lucky) is a robber-turned-rancher who gets in the middle of a ranch foreman’s scheme to steal wild horses and is framed for murder in the bargain. Those B’hoys on the Satellite of Love cut dirt on the riffing until the movie is catawamptiously chawed up, but the real treasure lies in this episode’s host segments, featuring an utterly unforgettable parody of Star Trek’s celebrated “Mirror Mirror” episode. Vintage MST3K Promos are offered as bonus features.
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According to my calculations, after volume 22 there are 79 episodes left (34 Joel + 45 Mike). At three box sets per year, 4 episodes per box that means 6.6 years until they will have released all the episodes (assuming no re-licensing issues). I hope DVDs wont be obsolete in 6.6 years … Maybe then they’ll remaster the show and re-release on Blu-Ray.
Sigh, how much longer will I have to wait see Fugitive Alien, the Colossal Man, Earth vs. Spider, The the Eye Creatures, Alien from LA, etc. on glorious 480p DVD?
I keep telling myself: “They’re getting the crummy episodes out of the way first and saving the good ones for the big finale”
I met Christoper Lee back in 2006 at a private party. The man spoke for two hours, but never once mentioned Fu Manchu… and for good reason! He did sign a copy of his solo album for me though.
Codename Diamond Head and Castle of Fu Manchu are some of the worst episodes they’ve done. I’m not paying full price for some horses and dinosaurs.
Can’t comprehend the lack of love for Diamond Head here…that one kills me every time.
I mean, it’s got “the jaunty Roy Thinnes theme.” The All Cat Food Store. Ian “Lovejoy” McShane really, really trying to care. “One ice cube.” The worst sidekick choice a hero ever made. And less Hawaiian locations than “The Kentucky Cycle.”
Ah, well. To each, his/her own…
Looks good to me!
Pre-ordered!
..sure, right after I get a copy of Castle of Fu Manchu on DVD-R, LOL. That’s the way it always works for me!
In the words of Terry Silver, EXCELLENT! 4 classic episodes and very excited about THE LAST OF THE WILD HORSES, one of my favorites. Also, when I initially taped THE CASTLE OF FU MAN CHU the tape ran out, so I rewound it a bit so I could catch the (classic) final host segment, sacrificing the end of the movie. Will be good to have a complete copy.
Exited about the “Vintage MST3K Promos”. Can’t believe they made a couple of original promos per episode for several seasons and haven’t included any till now (if that’s what these are). Also looking forward to the Frank & Kevin segments!
You keep makin’ ’em, I’ll keep buying ’em! The inclusion of WILD HORSES & KING DINOSAUR makes me think JUNGLE GODDESS and RADAR SECRET SERVICE will be coming soon!
I too am let down by yet another set without any Sci-Fi era episodes. Still, I will very much enjoy owning “Fu Manchu”, which broke Joel and the bots, and I recall “Last of the Wild Horses” being pretty funny.
Wish list for a future set? If rights issues are no object, this would be perfection for me:
-Agent For H.A.R.M.
-The Painted Hills
-The Leech Woman
-The Horror of Party Beach
Also, we need Diabolik. True, it’s not their absolute strongest entry, but come on, it’s the last episode. It’s significant.
Holy flaming cow! This sounds like a good one, especially for the extras.
Lot of links in this box set: 608 and 611 feature ‘alternate universe’ versions of the characters, 611 directly references 210, and both 323 and 611 feature the Mads riffing on the movie!!!
…
I’m surprised INVASION U.S.A. hasn’t come out yet. I remember reading in Psychotronic Magazine that it was owned by the same people who owned THE DEAD TALK BACK which came out years ago.
Wonder when THE DAY THE EARTH FROZE and THE SWORD AND THE DRAGON will be released. Crossing my fingers for:
ROCKETSHIP XM
the FUGITIVE ALIEN flicks
CITY LIMITS
BEING FROM ANOTHER PLANET
FIRE MAIDENS OF OUTER SPACE
THE ATTACK OF THE THE EYE CREATURES
ALIEN FROM L.A.
OUTLAW
HIGH SCHOOL BIG SHOT
SAMSON VS. THE VAMPIRE WOMEN
THE INCREDIBLE MELTING MAN
RIDING WITH DEATH
THE HORROR OF PARTY BEACH
THE QUEST OF THE DELTA KNIGHTS
SQUIRM
DIABOLIK
Giving up hope on Godzilla vs. Megalon, the season 3 Corman and B.I.G. flicks, Operation Double 007, the 2 universal movies in season six, the front 9 of season eight, and Puma-Man.
Talk about timing: I just bought Vol. XXII this week (haven’t had time to sit down and watch all the goodies, but that’s what Christmas holidays are for, right?), and now there’s an announcement about XXIII. I agree with those who are a little disappointed with the choices, since none of these is exactly my favourite (for some reason, I always mix up “Diamond Head” with “San Francisco International”–maybe because they’re both failed 70s TV pilots), but then I’m often disappointed (because there are only 4 episodes at a time, because the Rhinos are out-of-print, because earlier Shout! releases featured lots of dull Season 1 eps that I would have been content just having as DAP copies for completeness’ sake: you name it). But the extras are getting better for the Shout! releases, so I’ll definitely get these.
@51, I would expect Fugitive Alien to be out soon. Shout probably decided to take a break from the Japanastravaganza of the last couple of volumes, but I see no reason why it won’t be included in an imminent box set.
However, the other episodes all have licensing issues that make their releases questionable… not impossible, you never know what Shout can come up with… but don’t hold your breath. Especially for Amazing Colossal Man.
They can keep all the Sci-Fi episodes as far as I’m concerned till after all the Comedy Central episodes have been released. Glad to see more of the earlier stuff and the earlier the better. I hope we get Robot Holocaust and Slime People on DVD from Shout! one day.
Apparently, I am one of the few who loves Code Name: Diamondhead… but then again, I’m a fan of all those TV movies/pilots they did. Also, I’m way excited for this set because Last of the Wild Horses was the FIRST episode I ever saw. (Yeah, I’m young)
I was really really hoping for the elusive Riding With Death, especially with the “Making of MST3K” on the newest set but I guess there’s always XXIV… or XXV… or XXVI… :(
King Dinosaur is an early classic. Fu Manchu is decent “I’m bored, I’m bored, with these credits alreadyyyyyy” Code Name DiamondHead is one of the dreary season 6 ones I almost never watch, and Last of the Wild Horses, well, it’s the same. But my VHS copy is bad so I haven’t seen it in forever.
Decent set though. Loves me any Joels. I’ll take it!
Put me down for wanting:
Daddy-0
Fire Maidens of Outer Space
Fugitive Alien I & II
I’m just excited to get more episodes released. Whether they are my absolute favorites or not, I’m not going to grumble about it. Keep ’em coming!
I’d still like to see a few more season one episodes, especially Robot Holocaust and Slime People. Robot Holocaust in particular is one of those early episodes to which there are countless references in later episodes, so from that standpoint it helps establish the internal mythology of the show and every fan should see it. It deserves a good commercial DVD.
CODENAME: DIAMOND HEAD is the best one.
I too was a bit disappointed not to see Fugitive Alien and Star Force on the upcoming set. Fugitive Alien is such a deliriously wonderful episode.
Never having seen Mighty Jack before, and cognizant of its rep, I sat down to watch it with eagerness the other night after having received vol. XXII. Wow, dreary and dreadful. I sort of gave up on it. Granted, I was tired, too, but man was I disappointed. I’ll try again, of course, and at least get through the whole thing. I don’t see it joining my short rotation list, though.
Code Name Diamond Head. Ian McShane, Zulu, and the catchiest goofiest TV movie score ever. Sublime. A shot of vodka with one ice cube please!
Joey the lemur, the kind of animal that’ll go to the bathroom anytime anywhere…
Now, wait a minute…
If Im a guessing man Volume 24 could have the Fugitive Aliens titles and probably a couple of PD Mike era titles, if they are sci fi episodes Id persoanlly would like 818 and 819 (party beach and Neptune men)
Volume 25 My gut feeling says Rocketship XM, Jungle Goddess, Samson vs. the Vampire Women and Sword & The Dragon
Mr B(ob):
“Robot Holocaust” and “Slime People” are among the better Season Ones–and yes, I’d like to see them out on DVD (“Robot Holocaust” because it is, as you say, so important for the mythology of the series, and “Slime People” because my copy is in such terrible shape). I would rather have seen these out than “Mad Monster” and “Aztec Mummy,” which I felt were just deadweight in the boxed sets.
For those wanting the Fugitive Aliens: my guess is that Shout! is pacing itself–we just had the Gamera extravaganza (yay), and now the two on Vol. XXII–I expect we’ll see more Japanese dubs before too long.
As for the SciFi eps–it’s not like they’ve been ignoring them necessarily in the boxed sets, but it may be more difficult to get rights: of the features released in the SciFi years, 45% of them were made after 1970–especially in Seasons 9 and 10, they really got away from the old sci-fi and horror films. A little over a quarter of those post-1970 films have already been released, not counting the ones that were on the Rhino sets. So we may not see too many of the SciFi years on DVD–although Party Beach should definitely be on.
Definitely skipping this set, the highlight for me would be the Wild Horses episode with the what I remember as great Mirror Mirror takeoff but the others are all very meh to me.
Dang, still no sci fi episodes again. Oh well, maybe next time.
I’d like to third (or fourth, I lost count) the call for RIDING WITH DEATH. C’mon, SHOUT! You can do it! Give it the old college try!
If the issue holding up the Lippert films really was WB holding the Canadian rights, could that mean Shout! reached a deal with Time Warner? If so, that should also mean an imminent release of the last 3 from season 1, so my guess for the next box is:
113: The Black Scorpion
310: Fugitive Alien
318: Star Force: Fugitive Alien 2
520: Radar Secret Service
So…. did Shout Factory finally settle things down with Warner? If so, that’s great! King Dinosaur is a pretty funny episode. Castle of Fu-Manchu….. eh, I’ll save that one for last. Two pretty good season 6 episodes to top it off. Looking forward to this box set in March. :)
Well, this set is kinda of like those B-side lps that musical artists release from time to time…well, in this case its like a release from Bob Dylan or the Beatles…not their best stuff but still so welcome (how is that for avoiding whining?).
King Dinosaur is the strongest of the lot. But these are all fun enough eps.
Shout: please, please release Horror of Party Beach already! Thank you…
Diamondhead is actually a fave of mine. I love the dated Lovejoy references. The only thing I know about “The Last of The Wild Horses,” is that Frank and Trace go into the theater. That, by itself, makes me glad they’re putting this on DVD.
It’s funny people are complaining about the lack of Scifi eps. For a while there, I was complaining that they were releasing too many Scifi eps. Especially ones that they had been rerunning endlessly from 2001-2004. Volumes 4-5 contained nothing but Scifi eps. Since then, I think it’s been a pretty good mix.
Does Shout ever disclose sales figures? I always imagine the “worst episode ever” crowd donning a raincoat and dark sunglasses, and buying the set anyway. ;)
Looking forward to “Last of the Wild Horses”.
The Sci-Fi-only “fans” have probably forgotten the period when only Sci-Fi episodes were being released on DVD. Or more likely, they would’ve liked that to be a permanent state of affairs.
Before these last couple of sets, the percentage of CC and Sci-Fi eps released was about even, so if Shout! can get the rights to a few Sci-Fi eps, that era can catch up quickly. And we want ALL the episodes released, not just the Sci-Fi episodes.
I love all these eps, and especially Code Name: Diamond Head. I’m a sucker for all the failed TV shows. It really was shot in Hawaii, though. They just spent the whole time in the run-down parts of Honolulu. Go figure.
As a person who has seen only one of those new releases in any way, shape or form (plus X Marks the Spot), I’m truly excited to see this crop of episodes making its way to DVD. But then, I’m excited for any MST3K episode they release.
I think I’ll go ahead and preorder from them… :-)
I have to join the chorus that loves Diamond Head. The failed TV shows always stand out for me. the Master Ninjas, San Fran Int’l, Riding With Death all seem to me to be stronger episodes. King Dinosaur was a highlight in the first season I ever saw of MST on TV, so nostalgia wins the day. I might be out on a limb but take away the host segments from Last Of The Wild Horses and the theater switcheroo and it is a rather middling Season 6 episode overall. I think the host segments might be stronger in that one because they found the movie boring overall. Riffing was much stronger in Diamond Head methinks.
And having watched and owned the un-MSTed Castle of Fu Manchu, I am looking forward to this set more! The earlier Fu flicks were better than the later ones like this one, but that’s not saying much. Here’s to Rocketship X-M in a future set! I second Horror Of Party Beach, but last I saw Dark Sky had the releasing rights to that one in a double feature with some neat Del Tenney extras.
To be released on my birthday. NICE!!!
I’m happy with whatever SHOUT! puts out,except for the KTMA episodes,of course,but I would like to see the rest of season 7 on DVD.I do have my favorites(Fire Maidens,Daddy-O!,Robot Holocaust),so I can try and be patient.With this set,happy to see some of my favorites included,but also looking forward to seeing these extras,too.SHOUT! never disappoints.. :yes:
VINTAGE MST3K PROMOS … Have they already done Death and Taxes?
Where’s MST3KTemple guy? His head is going to explode!
I agree Captain Gorn. It seems like no matter what the set lineups are like there are always at least some sour pusses who act like it’s the worst one yet, but I’m sure anyone interested enough to be posting something here is going to be buying it anyway. I have a feeling that Shouts sales probably remain pretty steady between regular sets and maybe peek for specials like the Gamera one or the ones with the figures. I still think we’re incredibly lucky to be getting MST on DVD at all. I actually want to eventually own the entire series on DVD if that is ever even going to be possible (I actually already do, but I’m talking official quality copies of every episode) so no matter what is in a new set I’m happy just to hear about one. The only thing I could see myself complaining about for any new set would be if it contained old Rhino episodes that I already owned mixed in with newly released episodes, but I think it’s pretty obvious that Shout is probably never going to do that, and is sticking to re-releasing old Rhino era episodes as singles.
Anyway I can’t say how happy I am that we will be getting “Last of the Wild Horses”. It’s a great episode in general, not to mention the awesome host segments and having Frank and Dr. F in the theater. It also has one of my favorite riffs ever, when Frank and Dr. F are in the theater the movie shows a sign for “The Double C Ranch” where the C is really big in the middle of the sign, and Frank says “The double cranch?!” By sheer coincidence many years later I was driving near where I live and I saw a place called “The Double K Ranch” with a similar kind of sign, where the K is really big in the center of it. I yelled “It’s the double kranch!” and then laughed for a minute or two straight before I could calm down enough to explain to my friend what the hell I was talking about, and why it was amazing to me that I actually live near a “double kranch”. I still laugh every time I go past that place.
THey sat “vintage promos” They could be scifi promos instead of Comedy central promos. Just being a bit dour but Comedy central really does seem to hate MST3K so I doubt they’d clear the use of their logo.
I’m late to the game on this one: the second to announce that it’s coming out on my birthday, and far from the first to defend Diamondhead.
I definately agree with loving the failed TV movie pilots, especially those where every color looks tan.
As far as the SciFi episodes: keep in mind of the 10 seasons of MST, only 3 were on SciFi, and of those a good half-season worth are unreleasable due to rights. Add in the fact that the Rhino releases tended to be, at times, SciFi-heavy and you’re left with only so many unreleased, licensable episodes.
My dream episodes-
Being From Another Planet (which shout released in a non-MSTed version- albeit as a Corman-controlled film)
Incredible Melting Man
Escape 2000
Horror of Party Beach…
and maybe a bland tan box set featuring San Fran Int, Riding With Death, and Space Traveller?
…it’s Lovejoy!
Too bad they couldn’t have cleared THE QUEST OF THE DELTA KNIGHTS to go with THE LAST OF THE WILD HORSES.
Where the vintage promos are concerned, there may be “clean” versions before they were sent off to Comedy Central. Just like the Turkey Day promos on “Night of the Blood Beast” didn’t have the logo.
If “Comedy Central” is spoken aloud, does that really need to be cleared?
@ZEE –
I was thinking that too about ‘Quest of the Delta Knights’ with Mary Jo riffing.
It would have made more sense to have those four together but it would have had to be at the expense of King Dinosaur, which would suck. They could have always put it in the next set though.
Actually ‘Codename Diamondhead’ doesnt have any switcheroo riffing so I don’t why I thought ‘Dinosaur’ had to come out.
Have they ever used as an extra the turkey day celebration where Mike plays Jack Perkins and gets real drunk and hits on Mr. B Natural? They need to if they haven’t yet.
I think that was included in the release of Night of the Bloodbeast. Shout went the extra mile to include the “normal” version of the episode and the Turkey Day version of it, along with a bunch of Turkey Day bumps.
I’m a bit out of the loop so could someone please enlighten me. With Frank and Dr. F appearing in theater, then that would be Bill voicing crow? And if so, by the time Bill was voicing Crow wouldn’t the mads be Pearl and co., and not Dr. F and Frank? See…I’m confused. Thanks!
Honestly, they could blur the Comedy Central logo and bleep out the name, it would be fine with me if it got them released. (Odd but nice how Syfy doesn’t have those issues.) Oh, and looking forward to the extras more than the actual episodes this time, the “Life After MST3K” series is a great idea, and I’m always happy to hear from Kevin.
Wow! Two MST3K gifts in one week! You really do aim to please Shout. With that said, I’ll start saving some money for this one; I’m always anxious to see episodes I’ve never seen.
@me
Last of the Wild Horses was from the CC era, so Dr. F and Frank, and Trace as Crow. Quest of the Delta Knights had Pearl riff with the bots in the SciFi era- with Bill as crow.
@ me
Dr. F and Frank are in the theater alone.