Shout! Factory stylishly marks a major milestone in the history of a beloved cult comedy series with the deluxe DVD box set Mystery Science Theater 3000: 20th Anniversary Edition.
For ten side-splitting seasons — including successful runs on Comedy Central and the SCI FI Channel — and one theatrically-released feature film, the crew of the Satellite of Love orbited Earth, faced with the arduous assignment of watching and lampooning the most problematic movies ever made. Now, 20 years after their initial launch into pop culture infamy, hosts Joel Hodgson and Mike Nelson — along with robot pals Tom Servo, Crow T. Robot and Gypsy, and their loyal fans, the MSTies — can finally celebrate with the DVD debut of Mystery Science Theater 3000: 20th Anniversary Edition.
The four films assembled in this set are Season 2’s First Spaceship on Venus, Season 7’s Laserblast, Season 9’s Werewolf, and Season 10’s Future War. Bonus features are a 3-part look at the 20-year history of MST3K including brand-new interviews with the creators, cast and crew; the 2008 San Diego Comic-Con International reunion panel (featuring Joel Hodgson, Mike Nelson, Jim Mallon, Kevin Murphy, Trace Beaulieu, Frank Conniff, Mary Jo Pehl, Bill Corbett, J. Elvis Weinstein, Paul Chaplin and Bridget Jones-Nelson, and moderated by Patton Oswald); original trailers; and “Variations on a Theme Song”, featuring all six versions of the show’s theme song. All of this cheesy goodness, slipcased in DVD slim cases, comes bundled in a limited-edition tin box with four exclusive MST3K lobby cards (recreations of the DVD cover art that are suitable for framing) by artist Steve Vance, and a limited-edition Crow T. Robot figurine.
MST3K‘s production company, Best Brains, transferred the show’s worldwide home entertainment and digital download license from Rhino to Shout! Factory in January 2008, so be sure to contact Shout! Factory to suggest which episodes — such as Season 3’s Santa Claus Conquers the Martians, Season 4’s Manos: The Hands of Fate, and Season 10’s Soultaker — to release next on their label. A reissue of the long out-of-print music CDs Clowns in the Sky (Seasons 1-7) and Clowns in the Sky II (Seasons 8-9), updated to include songs from Season 10, would also be an essential pick to accompany the Mystery Science Theater 3000: 20th Anniversary Edition box set.
Order now at Amazon.com:
Mystery Science Theater 3000: 20th Anniversary Edition
Or order directly through the Shout! Factory website.
Mystery Science Theater 3000: 20th Anniversary Edition is distributed by Shout! Factory. For more Mystery Science Theater 3000 information, please visit The Official Mystery Science Theater 3000 Website and Satellite News: The Official Mystery Science Theater 3000 Fan Site. Post-Mystery Science Theater 3000 projects: RiffTrax (Michael J. Nelson), Cinematic Titanic (Joel Hodgson, Trace Beaulieu, J. Elvis Weinstein, Frank Conniff and Mary Jo Pehl), and Darkstar (Joel Hodgson, Trace Beaulieu, Mary Jo Pehl, Josh Weinstein, Beez McKeever and Frank Conniff).