For reasons that pass understanding, considering that MST3K episodes are pretty popular selections on Watch Instantly, the NetFlix honchos say they doubt the VOD titles have “they don’t think our DVDs have enough “queue demand.”
The RiffTrax folks are asking NetFlix members who want to be able to stream those titles to show your interest by going here and adding some or all of RiffTrax’s titles to your DVD rental queue. On Twitter, you can send a nice message to @Netflix and @Netflixhelps to let them know you’d love to have them add RiffTrax titles to Watch Instantly.
• Also, we just got around to noticing that our pals over at The Annotated MST have been adding new titles, including eight KTMA episodes. Links to them have been added to the appropriate Episode Guide entries.
) to help our users cope with "trolls" and other commenters whom they find annoying. Go to our
Yay! My slaving over the KTMA episodes has been noticed!
I’m typing up he K17 annotations right now and I’ll be watching K18 this week. It takes a bit for the actual operator of the site to put it all up in HTML, but it’ll get up there soon enough.
I watch a different episode and annotate every week, so stick around. It’ll take a couple of years, but they’ll all be annotated eventually.
ety3–shoot me an email whenever a new one goes up and I’ll add it to the episode guide.
Would it be fair and polite of me to say I’d rather watch RT for free on Netflix than BUY them?
(However, suspect it to be more of an issue that they’re not “real” commercial disks for rental, and violate company policy about what’s VOD and what’s for mainstream sale, as opposed to Shout Factor’s nice and responsible boxset titles…They’d already got into trouble once when a homemade disk showed up on the catalog.
Not sure what’s the policy with all those “lost” MGM undisked movies showing up on the Instant service lately, but Instant Netflix is more of a host for third-party streaming than doing their own.)
I’m about to cancel my netflix subscription for the opposite reason – They aren’t offering the latest mst3k dvd set from November for viewing on dvd. They only have the streaming option, and I don’t watch that way.
I’d rather watch them on my television.
So if they aren’t going to offer dvds any more of the things I watch, screw’m.
“However, suspect it to be more of an issue that they’re not “real” commercial disks for rental,”
Wait, my local Barnes and Noble -and- the local movie rental place both have RiffTrax DVDs of “Voodoo Man”, the Christmas Show, and the live version of Plan 9 for sale/rental. The same ones offered for sale on Amazon and Best Buy.
How are they not real?
#2 – Will do.
John Ellis,
Re #3: He doesn’t know what he’s talking about.
Thanks to everyone who has helped us out on this issue! The response has been very positive and hopefully enough for Netflix to take notice. We are also working on getting our DVD titles that are currently either listed as unavailable or not showing up in their catalogue into the Netflix system as well. I think it’s just a matter of talking to the right person, but all the interest people have been showing can’t hurt!
Happy to do it! I buy every new set when it comes out, but being able to load up the instant watch que with MST3k has been really nice. We watch them on tv through our Wii, and I just toggle along til I find one that looks good. For me, I often get a little overwhelmed when I go to choose an episode from the dvds. I’ll pick out about six episodes, then fuss over which one I should watch for so long that I no longer have the time to watch much of anything…
Glad to hear I’m not the only one who suffers from that particular problem of crippling idecisiveness, Cabbage Patch Elvis.
Of course, the Sharktopus of ten years ago would smack me for complaining about the wealth of movie riffing enjoyment at my fingertips. A lament for the days when new MST episodes came on VHS (SP please, no label) in a box in the mail from a virtual stranger somewhere across the country. And we had to walk ten miles through a foot of snow to school…
#2, 4, 7, let’s try again:
Netflix doesn’t sit in its office and convert every one of its rentals to streaming–
They’re a clearinghouse for every OTHER source’s streaming files provided by their licensed rentals: If BBCAmerica, or Criterion.com, or TLC.com, or StarzPlay, offers a streaming version of a title legally licensed for Netflix to rent (and whose rights obligations are slightly tighter than your local rental place, #5), they offer the link through their own system.
ShoutFactory licensed some of their MST3K Box titles to streaming format, and others, which they either did not have the rights to (being early Rhino), or wanted to blackout for sales, didn’t. Take it up with them, #4, before you “cancel your subscription” with those Evil Netflix Poopyheads.
They also have tight restrictions about which titles are commercially for sale–and, legally, for rental–and which are VOD DVD-Roms somebody cooked up in their garage–One time, they mistakenly offered a “Disney Parks” disk that turned out to be somebody’s fan-cam bootleg, and things hit the fan.
Me, personally, I’d love to see Netflix offer some of Warner Archive’s homemade VOD’s, but that’s also a longtime in coming, until Netflix’s policies on “homemade” disks can be adjusted for the new Studio Archive system–As for RiffTrax however, sorry, you’re still technically in the “Garage” camp.
So even though the NetFlix DVDs are available for sale in national chain stores like B&N and Best Buy, you’re saying they only exist as manufacture-on-demand releases.
Somehow, I doubt the stores in my area would order manufacture-on-demand-only discs. They don’t do it for any other company I can think of.
@ #4 – The instant feature on your Netflix is most likely the way of the future for Netflix it seems, and actually its a pretty great feature as long as you have a device that you can play it through on your tv (Wii, PS3, and I believe there are some blueray players that work for it too, not very expensive ones at that). I know its probably a pain however if you dont have one of these things… Personally I LOVE when I see episodes of MST that come up on instant, I dont have to wait to get it in the mail! :)
Pick up something called the ROKU box if you don’t have a PS3. It costs less than $100 and you can begin streaming Netflix on your TV right away. You can also order movies from Amazon in a similar fashion to On Demand. You’ll recoup the cost of the Roku within two months.
(Personally I recommend the PS3 – Even if you don’t care about gaming, think of it as a very good price for a top of the line Blu Ray player)
#14 – All the Roku pretty much has going for it is the Instant Netflix–
The “exclusive subscriber channels” it also offers are mostly weaselly repackagers of PD ephemera.
If you CAN get a PS3, it will replace everything connected to your TV :) , and Netflix is one good excuse, but if not, the Roku/Netflix is a good substitute for your cable box, as there’s nothing on the channels anymore.
ANy word on DVD disks of the latest MST3K episodes on Netflix
Ah, ‘The sniveling little rat-faced git line of defense’: Characterize any legitimate criticism to make it seem like childish complaining.
In my earlier post I merely stated a fact and my intentions. No childish complaining, just the truth.
I did not need to be condescended to by a pretend netflix pulicity agent who could not get hired by the company and proceeds to spend his internet hours playing out ‘Netflix customer service fantasy camp’.
And who says I didn’t take it up with Netflix already?
Hellokittee –
I appreciate your reply, its what I have been thinking the future of Netflix is, also.
I can see where its a good option for lots of people, but in my case it is not a good option.
Since they are changing the rules of the game after the game has begun, I will just let my subscription expire as soon as I have exhausted my current cue.
First off, I applaud the massive undertaking over at The Annotated MST. These remarks are meant to be helpful, not cynical. That said, after reading the notes on the Annotated MST site, it seems to me there are some which are factually accurate, yet seem to slightly miss the spirit of the riff. For example, in Kitten With a Whip, the note on the comment “Not since the Who were here has this happened” only explains that the Who was a rock band. What I think it misses is that their maniac drummer, Keith Moon, was infamous for doing massive damage to hotel rooms – even getting the Who banned for life from certain hotels. Maybe I’m nit picking here, but I think that just knowing that the Who was a musical group wouldn’t quite clarify the relevance of that particular riff. Others fail to note that a given riff is double-barreled. Still others are left out, such as the line “Safe as I’ve ever been” – from the same hotel scene – which (I thought) was a reference to the repeated line “Same as it ever was” from the Talking Heads song “Once in a Lifetime.”
Although, I’ve been wrong before.
RE: The Annotated MST site –
@ sampo – Thank you for posting the link. Not too long ago, I was wondering if such a site existed online but searches turned-up nothing.
@ ety3 – Nice job on the site. Looks like I’ve got a lot of reading to do.
I really hope some competitors come up soon to challenge Netflix as I think they have gotten too big for their britches. I have seen several stories saying they want to just become a streaming company and not deal with disks anymore which angers me as a long time subscriber who prefers the quality of disks, even though I have an HD hookup from my computer to my TV so I could watch streaming if I was so inclined. I think all that Rifftrax can hope for is to be included on their streaming list and I wish them luck.
**Disclaimer: I am not a Netflix customer. I am just calling it like I see it**
Netflix doesn’t seem to understand (or even care) that not everyone has the ability to stream. Some customers might not have the Internet capibilities to handle streaming video. Or even have the type of mobile device that can handle streaming movies. I don’t understand why Nexflix would shoot themselves in the foot like that. Give me discs any day. I can stream videos, but I’d rather have the physical disc.
I saw Kevin put a plea out on Twitter to get folks to request their help with this. Hopefully it will help.
From what I’ve read about Netflix (and I am a subscriber and have been for some time) their business plan for the future is to emphasize streaming over mailing DVDs. I think they saw what happened to Lackluster Video and their failing to adopt to the changing technology and market and have decided not to end up on the scrapheap. Personally, I prefer to get a DVD in the mail, use it when I please and mail it back when I’m done–but I guess that makes me a neo-luddite.
Guess I’m the weirdo here. If I had to chose between netflix streaming and dvds I would choose streaming every time. The picture quality is often HD and I can watch it any time of the day, anywhere I have a computer or on my ps3, and I can choose from a selection of thousands of titles, even when I’m away from home.
Streaming services are the wave of the future, much like home video/dvds once were. I don’t think its such a big deal to go get a sub 100 dollar device so you can watch stuff on your tv. It’s much like the dvd from vhs conversion, not everyone liked it, and didn’t want to have to go buy a new device, but most people didn’t mind, and it became the standard for home media. Its kinda silly anyway, since netflix has an amazing dvd library. As for mst3k, theres tons of the releases on netflix, but I for one buy the dvds (pretty much the only dvds I buy anymore) when they come out to continue to support the creators.