MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000: The Final Schedule

[darthzirock]

The contract extension between Best Brains and Sci-Fi Channel expires at the end of January, 2004. No further extensions are planned. MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000 will leave the television, perhaps forever, at 11 a.m. Eastern and Pacific time, on January 31, 2004, when episode 912-THE SCREAMING SKULL ends.

This schedule is subject to change at any time.
Listings are for Eastern AND Pacific time; on the Sci-Fi Channel.
NOVEMBER
11/1 - 9 a.m. - [1007] TRACK OF THE MOON BEAST
11/8 - 9 a.m. - [902] PHANTOM PLANET
11/15 - 9 a.m. - [1002] THE GIRL IN GOLD BOOTS
11/22 - 9 a.m. - [822] OVERDRAWN AT THE MEMORY BANK
11/29 - PRE-EMPTED
DECEMBER
12/6 - PRE-EMPTED
12/13 - 9 a.m. - [1009] HAMLET
12/20 - 9 a.m. - [913] QUEST OF THE DELTA KNIGHTS
12/27 - 9 a.m. - [810] THE GIANT SPIDER INVASION
JANUARY
The January schedule is tentative at this time.
1/3 - 9 a.m. - [1011] HORRORS OF SPIDER ISLAND
1/10 - 9 a.m. - [819] INVASION OF THE NEPTUNE MEN
1/17 - 9 a.m. - [1008] FINAL JUSTICE
1/24 - 9 a.m. - [1006] BOGGY CREEK II
1/31 - 9 a.m. - [912] THE SCREAMING SKULL (with short: ROBOT RUMPUS)

Meanwhile, MSNBC entertainment reporter Gael Fashingbauer Cooper's November 13th column (http://www.msnbc.com/news/946039.asp?0ct=-37o) raised quite a stir, as evidenced by her November 18th (http://testpattern.msnbc.com/#031118) report.

However, the problem here is that no matter how funny or how many awards it won, MST3K just was never a ratings winner for Sci-Fi. At Comedy Central, it started strong but petered out during it's sixth season. Also, the shortened seventh season sort of put the lid on the coffin as far as Comedy Central was concerned, then the almost non-existent release of MST3K: THE MOVIE and the bad relationship with new network CEO Doug Herzog combined to drive the nails into the lid. At Sci-Fi, it was a combination of the series never quite meeting its ratings expectations and the departure of CEO Barry Schulman--the show's biggest defender at Sci-Fi (its second-biggest being Asst. Programming Manager Ray Cannella)--that led to MST3K's demise there.

There had been hopes at one time that another cable network would pick up MST3K, but one of the unfortunate realities of the business is that the prices for the rights to the movies that MST3K riffed on were skyrocketing! Several films they had hoped to do at Sci-Fi actually got pulled because the asking prices were 3-times higher than what the network had budgeted. (Another problem was that Toho Company utterly forbade the use of any Godzilla movies in Sci-Fi's library on MST3K!) The possibility of continuing the series as a direct-to-DVD/video venture was also explored and abandoned--when they crunched the numbers, it was clear that it wouldn't work.

Sadly, Best Brains Inc. was never able to get any other projects off the ground, and the ensemble group of writers/performers has disbanded and moved on to other projects. BBI still maintains an office and sells MST3K memorabilia, but is otherwise no longer engaged in producing new entertainment. Satellite News: The Official MST3K Info Club Web Site (http://www.mst3kinfo.com/) is still up and running, but I suspect that the end of January will also see the end of Sci-Fi's MST3K site (http://www.scifi.com/mst3000/).

[scruffziller]

Man that is strange.

[Exhaust Port]

Even with all the trouble they had keeping the show on the air they still were able to do quite a bit with it. Not to many other shows did nearly as many episodes when they were having ratings troubles. I have enjoyed the time I've spent watching the show.

[Ji'dai]

I happened to flip through a newspaper today and read an article listing DVD releases and was surprised to see a new MST3K set listed. So I check the 'net, and the set is due out tomorrow, 10/28!

It's a 20th Anniversary set that features four movies. There's also a limited edition tin (http://www.amazon.com/Mystery-Science-Theater-3000-Anniversary/dp/B001B73PPS) that has lobby cards and a Crow figurine.

Might have to hit a few stores tomorrow and see if I can track it down.

I loved the show when it was on the air; and I've really gotten into old b-movies in the past couple years. I never bought the previous box sets since they aren't exactly cheap. Some are now really difficult to find and are out of print. Plus the older releases are unlikely to be re-issued since the copyrights on the films featured on the show would have to be renewed, which is costly.

[JediTricks]

They were pushing this pretty hard at Comic-Con, and it looked like the panel they had to support it was awesome, like many its line was overflowing with people unable to make it in, and they had a reunion of nearly the whole cast. That was my backup panel at the time in case my primary was full, and I couldn't get into either - in fact I missed 5 panels in the span of 2 hours and that one was the second longest line (Venture Bros was the longest line I've ever seen for a panel in a small room). Unfortunately, I can't afford the cost right now, but it looks like a nifty set, I hope someone here gets it and gives a thorough review.

[Jedi_Master_Guyute]

I happened to flip through a newspaper today and read an article listing DVD releases and was surprised to see a new MST3K set listed. So I check the 'net, and the set is due out tomorrow, 10/28!

It's a 20th Anniversary set that features four movies. There's also a limited edition tin (http://www.amazon.com/Mystery-Science-Theater-3000-Anniversary/dp/B001B73PPS) that has lobby cards and a Crow figurine.

Might have to hit a few stores tomorrow and see if I can track it down.

I loved the show when it was on the air; and I've really gotten into old b-movies in the past couple years. I never bought the previous box sets since they aren't exactly cheap. Some are now really difficult to find and are out of print. Plus the older releases are unlikely to be re-issued since the copyrights on the films featured on the show would have to be renewed, which is costly.

Holy crap, MANY THANKS for posting this as I had NO CLUE it was coming out. I really want that Crow figure/bust; in fact, i'm surprised that nobody has made a small series of busts for Crow and Servo as I think they'd sell really well. And I just realized that it has LASERBLAST. Oh my God, I LOOOOOOOOVE THAT EPISODE. Servo singing "South's gonna do it again" is one of my favorite moments in MST3K, ever.

I refuse to buy most of the DVD sets as I just want THE WHOLE RUN OF THE SHOW and not random episodes. There are places where you can buy seasons online, but they're like VHS/homemade DVD quality, which I wouldn't have any problem with if i had more $$. I really think if they released the seasons in chunks, like each season 2-3 volumes, fans would gobble them up. I do have a few episodes like Mitchell, Manos, Brain that Wouldn't die, wild world of batwoman, the rerelease of the movie from this summer, and Vol 2 that has Pod People and Cave Dwellers.

I'm also a fan of Hodgson's new project CINEMATIC TITANIC. It's got Weinstein (the original crow), Mary Jo, Trace, and Frank. It's pretty funny stuff! :thumbsup:

[Beast]

They really can't do that though JMG....

Mostly because they have to reaquire the rights to each movie. And most of the owners are really demanding a huge premium simply because of how popular those movies are on Mystery Science Theater. And there's certain movies that they'll probably never get the rights to again. The Sandy Frank films like Gamara, Time of the Apes, etc. Because Sandy Frank hates the MST3K gang for mocking him and the movies.

[Phantom-like Menace]

There is so much difficulty getting MST3K on DVD that it just reminds me how much I wish it were simply still on. I've spent so many good times with friends watching this show and laughing at the absurdity of so many of the lines, and Mike/Joel and the bots were so funny together. It's just so hard to really enjoy on DVD the way it has to be put out.


They really can't do that though JMG....

Mostly because they have to reaquire the rights to each movie. And most of the owners are really demanding a huge premium simply because of how popular those movies are on Mystery Science Theater. And there's certain movies that they'll probably never get the rights to again. The Sandy Frank films like Gamara, Time of the Apes, etc. Because Sandy Frank hates the MST3K gang for mocking him and the movies.

It's a horrid shame that these guys can't lighten up. We wouldn't even have heard of these crappy movies if MST3K hadn't made them entertaining. I never would have watched This Island Earth, for example, if it hadn't been for MST3K's movie, and I know other people who have said the same. As for the ones demanding huge premiums, I have no respect for them. At least the other guys could be seen as trying to protect their creations.

[Ji'dai]

I finally come across this set at FYE, but it was $70 so I passed. The tin box is pretty big. Tvshowsondvd reports that the manufacturer has shipped all the limited edition tin sets and will not make any more. A regular edition without the tin, Crow figure, and lobby cards will be released on November 18.