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 whether they will be single releases or sets.
Volume 10.2 will be the final Rhino release.
Stay tuned for more, as we get it!
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All I want is for the entire “Mr. B Natural” segment to be released on DVD, **including** the post-film debate. Pretty please???
Pretty nice news and although unexpected… Good job, Jim! :lol: Although I was sorta bummed when they stopped puttin out the VHS, I was REALLY bummed when they quit puttin out single disks. Sure, you might get more for you money that way but it’s still too much moola for me. I dont own a single boxed set and probly never will. :cry: So if Shout goes the route of boxes, the prospect of download versions sounds very appealing to me. That all depends on the actual formats of course so hopefully we would have choices. Personally, I’d be happy with a 700 meg Xvid but I would even settle for a small file sized FLV if it was slightly lower quality and cheaper, but that’s probly way too wishful thinking. :razz: Most of the episodes I have besides of course taped on VHS and Rhino VHS are digital anyways. Either on hard drive or burned AVI files on CD. Hell, I even have more VCD episodes (Season 7) than I do DVDs. I dont think I’ll be missing Rhino that much so I welcome the change. I say Bring the Digital! We shall see but I think Jim’s made another wise decision. :)
Quality-wise, my hopes are high because the FILM CREW dvds were really nicely made, with good extras. MST deserves all that, so I hope SHOUT! will rise to that level again.
PS–Personally I’d prefer single discs to the jumbled multi-era sets Rhino was doing. (In a dreamworld I’d have full season sets but I don’t guess that could EVER happen…)
Oh and I dont think the people who prefer physical to digital should have anything to worry about considering they are in the majority. DVDs are always gonna be the money maker. But me, I just think it’s cool to have a choice. Especially when it comes down to that stuff that leaves your wallet. The name of it escapes me at the moment but it’s usually green. :shock:
But maybe some are worried about the prospect of Shout getting rights to certain movies only for digital media. In that case I could see why some would be worried but then again, if there’s a couple episodes that they cant get released on DVD but can only secure them for a digital download… I cant really see too much of a downside to that. That would be an episode we wouldnt get on DVD ANYWAYS. So for instance if they had a downloadable version of Fugitive Alien available, that’s better than NO version of Fugitive Alien. Right? :) ;)
I’m going to have to agree that single episode releases would be better than box sets. From a rights perspective, if the whole Volume 10 box set was any indication it’s better to pull one DVD off the market than a box set of four DVD’s because you goofed on obtaining the rights to the movie.
On the other hand, I would hope they could get more episodes if they do the whole box set thing. I mean wouldn’t it make the most sense if you were to try to get the rights of as many movies that were released by the same company all at once and release them in a box set?
On the note of re releasing episode that Rhino has already done, we probably won’t have to worry about that just yet, Rhino probably still has the rights to distribute the episodes they’ve already released for a little while yet.
They’ll probably be allowed to sell their releases until their stock runs out.
digital hope that part don’t suck. Although I love Puma Man and have just watched it for the prolly 30th time I wouldn’t pull for one episode but rather all of them. If they say that they will do it then lets see what they can do. Although I could see it taking a long time to secure every single rights for the episodes I hope I won’t be a head in a jar in the very distant future still waiting for all the episodes and my dsl to be hooked up.
Pasty, Pasty, Beefy, Pasty!
Re: 48; Jungle Goddess/KTMA & “quality” when it comes down to MST3K, unless the quality is really bad, MST3K can overcome it. It’s just that good.
It’s funny that people are wishing for single eps to be released instead of box sets when the episodes are quite a bit cheaper when they put them in box sets. I can see a LOT of bitching if they put out 4 single eps at say $16 each, vs. 4 for $40 like Rhino’s sets go for. It’s kind of nice getting 4 eps now for the same price that you could have bought 2 at in the days of the VHS and single DVD releases.
Though a good compromise would be to still put out box sets to keep the costs down, but allow people to download individual eps for a cheaper price than they could sell a individual ep at in stores.
Reactions:
Jason Davis is correct: Sandy Frank no longer has control over those titles. But that doesn’t mean they’ll be easier to get.
Thanks, David Chapple for breaking some news! That’s the first time I ‘ve seen that 2/5 release date.
Crow@biteme.com: I don’t think the Rhino titles will be withdrawn. I think they will continue to sell them. Which means I don’t think the old sets will be released by Shout Factory. Nobody at Rhino has ever told us which episode in Vol. 9 caused it to be withdrawn, but “Women of the Prehistoric Planet” is seen by knowledgable people as the culprit.
Oh, and for those who are mentioning “season sets”–that is not going to happen, a) because lining up all the rights would be a Herculean feat, and b) the final product would cost more than my last vacation.
I’ve been waiting for this news announcement since SHOUT! Factory’s wonderful SCTV, Freaks and Geeks, and Film Crew DVDs. Rhino was great but Shout! Factory will usher MST3K into the next decade. With the potential for digital downloads, season boxsets, remixed audio and other goodies, fans will clamor for SHOUT! Factory MST3K, a match made in heaven. :mrgreen:
I agree with Mark that single discs end up costing more– and taking up a lot more storage space! Come on, SANTA CLAUS, PUMA MAN and one of my favorites, SAN FRANCISCO INTERATIONAL.
Count me in favor of continuing the box sets vs. single disks. If they start singles, I won’t buy them all and be selective when I do…
Sampo,
Thank you for answering my questions. I would rather see single discs as well, because, I picked up Vol.11 just for Tormented. The others were great like all the films, but Tormented was the main reason I bought the set. Seeing fellow MSTes writing which episodes they would like to see in box sets, gave me an idea. Why not have a box set entitled “Beginnings and Ends”. It would have “The Crawling Eye”, “LaserBlast”, “Revenge of the Creature”, and “Danger: Diabolik”. It would represent the first and last episodes or the Comedy Central, and Sci-Fi eras, and give new MSTes a little bit of history of the show.
Hi-Keeba
I’d like to sincerely thank Rhino for the 57 episodes (including “Giant Gila Monster”) they’ve released on DVD. Best of luck, Rhino!
I was pretty stunned when I heard the news, but now I’m mostly excited.
The only season sets I’d love to see released are season zero and season seven. Otherwise, I’m *violently* opposed the idea of S!F releasing complete seasons. I have everything Rhino has released and that would be an unacceptable waste of money.
I’m hoping S!F will set up an online episode poll since I wasn’t able to vote in any of Rhino’s.
And are 5-episode boxed sets too much to ask for? :grin: Because one of my dream sets is:
“Humanoid Woman”
“The Day the Earth Froze”
“The Magic Voyage of Sinbad”
“The Sword and the Dragon”
“Jack Frost”
@Sampo: “Jason Davis is correct: Sandy Frank no longer has control over those titles. But that doesn’t mean they’ll be easier to get.”
As I have said elsewhere, the main problem is that just because Sandy Frank no longer has the rights to, say, ‘Gamera tai daiakuju Giron’ doesn’t mean he’s lost control over his edit of the film, as used on the show.
This means that whoever Daiei licenses the movie to would have to do their own dub rather than just releasing Frank’s. (Just as Frank did instead of simply re-releasing the pre-existing ‘Attack of the Monsters’.)
So Frank may not be able to clear the use of ‘Gamera vs. Guiron’, but he still may be able to block a release of episode #312.
Brian Leonard: “All I want is for the entire “Mr. B Natural” segment to be released on DVD, **including** the post-film debate. Pretty please???”
I’ve also been annoyed that they don’t include the after-short skits. I’m tempted to re-author those disks with them included.
As for the single disk vs. 4-disk sets, just think of the sets as buy-3-get-1-free. That’s about what the price works out to.
Single disc issues would be awful. Rhino’s four disc sets worked fine, so I’d expect that to continue based simply on there being no need to come up with a violently new marketing scheme just because its a new company. Occam’s razor, people.
It won’t ever ever EVER happen, but it would be rather neat to have perhaps severely limited full season gift sets- like what you see over the holidays with various full series television show sets (Stargate, Buffy, West Wing, & Friends come to mind. Then leave shortly thereafter).
One bad thing. I like Shout Factory, but they took out bits from the Elvira shows without explanation. Many people have been upset about this.
Philip Frey aka Rhindle the Red,
Sandy Frank/King Features, as far as I know, would have no control over their versions of the Gamera films (note: Gamera vs. Barugon, Gamera vs. Gaos, and I believe Gamera vs. Guiron all used International dubs not SF produced ones). Those versions would then become the property of Kadokawa and Tsuburaya Productions respectively once the rights reverted. ShoutFactory would have to go to Neptune Media (who according to Kadokawa have the US rights to the original Gamera series) and Tsuburaya Productions (For the re-edited TV series). They might end up contacting SF just to check, but there isn’t much he can do even if he did have a problem with it (ex: Ray Dennis Steckler and The Incredibly Strange Creatures… ).
One of the members here said – As for personal favorites, I’d love a 4-disc set of the Robert Lippert movies featured in Season Two, some of the best, most hilarious episodes ever: Rocketship X-M, Jungle Goddess, Lost Continent, and King Dinosaur.”
I would also love a set like this. I have all 4 on one 8 hour VHS, sometimes when I had a cold, Id stay home , play this all day long, but the tape is starting to get a little washed up…
I also got an email from Dr Rhino that we can get the Giant Gila Monster from rhino.com on 2/5…I wonder how much it will be…
Shout Factory will either present new opportunities for us who want titles that seem out of reach, or basically more of the same from a different company, basically only getting PD titles like Rocket Attack USA or well Giant Gila Monster..
I am a little worried about their quality
I do hope we will get some quick answers as to how they will distribute them Volumes, singles,double discs..
This is a great time to be a fan due to the unknown possibilities
Just dont let us down :(
Boy it’s been interesting being a MISTIE during the past 12 months. I love chatting with you guys! Here’s my alltime new box set :
306 – Time of the Apes
310 – Fugitive Alien
318 – Fugitive Alien 2
501 – Warrior of the Lost World
Not to leave Mike out.
My alltime Mike boxset set :
516 – Alien from LA
519 – Outlaw
813 – Jack Frost
910 – Final Sacrifice
@ Travis:
The dub in question isn’t the only thing that Frank would have added (if he did). He also added the new titles that are specifically referenced by Joel and the Bots. Just because Frank lost the rights to the underlying material doesn’t mean he loses the rights to the derived work created from that material (the “Sandy Frank edit”.)
For instance, Universal owns “Revenge of the Creature”. They licensed it to Best Brains to make Episode 801. Once the license was up, Universal can stop Best Brains from distributing episode 801, but that doesn’t mean Universal can distribute it without Best Brains.
So, while Neptune Media may have distribution rights to ‘Gamera tai daiakuju Giron’ using whatever dub, they still won’t *necessarily* have the right to release (or clear for release) the “Sandy Frank edit”.
Of course, we don’t know the inner workings of Sandy Frank’s contracts. He may, indeed, have lost all rights, even to his own edit. Without specific knowledge of the contracts, we cannot be sure.
@ Philip R. Frey (aka Rhindle the Red)
The Universal example doesn’t work because Universal owns Revenge of the Creature and didn’t have to license it from a foreign company.
But you are right that we can’t be sure without seeing the original contract. Neptune Media licensed the Gamera titles initially from Hearst/King Features… so it’s possible SF was just hired to produce the U.S. versions. Neptune Media released Gamera vs. Zigra on VHS using the SF dub (they opted for the original AIP dub for Guiron and the original NTA version of Gamera ). We’ll see what happens and if Shout Factory tries to obtain any of them.
Oh Boy!
I just want to see more releases per year. I don’t care if they are single DVDs or sets.
I loved The Film Crew and will be sad to see it end.
Every time I watch CT The Oozing Skull, it gets better. Can’t wait for more CT.
I would also buy season boxed sets of MST3K, but I doubt they can pull that off.
I also want more Joel era MST3K. The Lippert set would be an example of a boxed set I’d like to have. I have had problems with what Rhino has thrown together, but I’m glad for what they have provided so far, and I’ll buy the Giant Gila Monster when it comes out.
If shout is listening (which I doubt) Id like to see a box set of
312 Gamera vs Guiron
620 Danger death ray
910 Final sacrifice
912 Screaming skull.
@Travis: “The Universal example doesn’t work because Universal owns Revenge of the Creature and didn’t have to license it from a foreign company.”
You’ve got it backwards. In my example using Universal, I am comparing Universal to Daiei and Sandy Frank to MST3K. In both cases the original owner (Universal / Daiei) retains full rights, but the licensor (Sandy Frank / MST3K) retains a certain level of control over the derived work.
So Universal can’t license, say, Sony to release MST3K episode 801 without an agreement with Best Brains. And (again, depending on the contracts), Daiei (or whoever they have licensed) may not be able to clear the use of the “Sandy Frank” edit of the Gamera films without permission from Sandy Frank.
Yes, season sets!
I have to say I have mixed feelings about this. I think that Rhino has, overall, improved their releases over the years. They’ve gone from VHS releases with limited video quality, basic packaging format and no extras to DVDs with a sharp picture, colorful contents and extra features that give an additional insight to particular shows. I know there have been snags, between rights issues and “The Dead Talk Back” disc that everyone seemed to have a universally similar problem with. I was shocked to hear this news, I had no idea any kind of deal like this was in the works. I’m an open-minded person, and I’m intrigued with what Shout! will do with their newly-acquired powers of MST3K distribution. Whether its singles or a four-disc box set, it doesn’t matter to me as long as they release them alittle more often than Rhino did. They’d be crazy to release episodes already covered by Rhino: even if the resolution is higher, and they have more special features, who’d buy them? Shout! would stand to gain much more by either taking the poll of what fans would like to see next released, or even episodes many fans have never seen (KTMA or Season 1). If they fail to even approximate what Rhino accomplished, Hell hath no fury like MSTies scorned!!
Eh….
My wish list:
All those old single disks to be re-packaged in 4-packs.
The Beginning of the End to be re-leased like The Movie was.
The Final Sacrifice! The only MST3K I saw on TV…And I want it on disk! Need to see again! Classic!
More Film Crew and CT (CT isn’t shout factory but I don’t care) . It took several years for the MST crew to get experienced enough to be real good at riffing, and then they got canceled. Keep ’em coming I say!
I would like it if, prehaps, they could have season sets and prehaps only release the host segments for the episodes where they can’t have the actual film. It would suck (especially if you’re new to the show and wanted to see an episode in its entirty), but in my opinion it would be better than nothing.
As for KTMA era episodes, I would like to see them only [i]because[/i] people keep say they’re so bad. Okay–so it was early, they were still catching the drift of things, but these guys are geniuses! And, given the fact that the only people who would buy them are the people who had already fallen in love with the show, I feel that the fans are more likely to expect it not to be the best. I’ve found a couple of episodes on YouTube that had crummy picture quality but, because they were funny, I didn’t mind that much (and hey, anyone ever hear of digital remastering? It’s all the rage!)
I would love to see the first release include Quest of the Delta Knights or The Final Sacrifice.
Shout seems really into the show, which is nice to hear. I hope to see some high quality releases and faster releases as well.
Everything is still speculation as far as what the Shout Factory will do…
I guess there will be no Volume 13..
I could see them doing some double features, but at the same time, I can envision them basically being told the 4 issue collections was a winning formula & do keep doing them..who knows
I would love to see these on DVD right off the bat
Crawling Eye
Rocketship XM
Jungle Goddess
Lost Continent
King Dinosaur
Samson vs the Vampire Women
Laserblast
Soultaker
Multi sets. Please Shout!
Also, will Rhino releases suddenly go OOP? How long do fan have to buy them before that happens?
Call me broke and worried about this turn of events. :(
As Sampo explained and Shout Factory’s Brian Ward reiterates, no season sets due primarily to cost. :cry: However, unless I’m reading far to into it, sets appear to be on the horizon compared to single releases! Read below
http://www.shoutfactory.com/community/570/thread.aspx
“You will never see season volumes of the series, I’m afraid. That is, unless there’s someone with REALLY DEEP pockets that just want to do it without the hopes of receiving a profit. The films came from multiple studios and copyright owners and no one company can afford to license every single movie ever addressed by the MST3K gang in a single season. That, sadly, includes us.
But we are ironing out some awesome plans for the upcoming first set and will start officially working on it very soon. I promise you MST3K fans that you will NOT be disappointed.” – Brian Ward
I’m glad they’re sticking to sets, and am not surprised in the least that they won’t be doing season sets (even if they could afford the rights, some major studios wouldn’t want to license their movies to another company period).
Man, that is great news! I’m a fan that will buy these season sets with a huge smile on my face. Well, as long as they don’t throw in some already released ones among new ones just to get us to rebuy what we already have. But Shout! wouldn’t do that. Right?
:cool:
I’m a fan of the entier series. I’d like to see this following set or eps released someday:
1) Agent For HARM
2) Riding With Death
3) Horror Of Party Beach
4) Werewolf
5) The Space Children
When you guys see any news on the Gila Monster single disc release please post it.
Now that I think about this, maybe Shout! could release sets and singles. This way we could avoid double-dipping for some of us, and newcomers to purchasing MST3K can get whatever is released whenever.
“I don’t get all this love for Puma Man…”
He flies standing up…wearing slacks. Even if there were no riffing at all, this would still be one of the funniest episodes.
For a company named “Shout!”, they have been very quiet since the announcement of being the MST3K distributor. Still waiting for a release date, episode(s) released, and approximate price. Word of advice: don’t be like Rhino and take so long between releases. Keep your customers in touch!