QHow come the DVDs aren't releasing the episodes in order?
AIt's because of the copyright issues for the movies featured on the show. When movies were featured on the MST3K during its original broadcast, Best Brains (the production company that made the series) would negotiate the terms in which they were allowed to use each movie. Generally they were allowed the complete rights to show the movie on TV but they didn't always get the rights to release the movie on video. Since the idea of releasing the entire series on home video didn't seem very likely during the days of VHS, this was not a major concern for Best Brains. It wasn't until the advent of DVD that the idea of relasing all of MST3K on home video even seemed viable. Today, Shout Factory, who releases MST3K on DVD, has to renegotiate the rights to each movie with the copyright holders of the original film and pay them a license fee. Some episodes may have license terms that are too expensive or simply unavailable for Shout Factory to purchase, and this makes releasing MST3K in order nearly impossible.
QWhy did Joel leave the show?
AAt the time of Joel Hodgson's departure, he cited burnout and a desire to move on to other endeavors and stated that his departure was amicable. After the show's cancellation, Hodgson, in an interview with The Sound of Young America, said that the real reason for his departure was growing animosity between himself and partner Jim Mallon about the future of the show. Hodgson was fearful that, were he to have stayed with the show, it would have resulted in backstage factions forming that would have resulted in the series' ending prematurely. Hodgson instead chose to sell the rights and allow the show to continue without him rather than see it end.Onscreen, the character left because... In episode 512- "Mitchell", Joel's last episode as the show's official host, Mike is hired as a temp by Dr. Forrester and TV's Frank because Deep 13 is being audited. Eventually they grow tired of Mike and plan to kill him, which Gypsy overhears and thinks they are talking about Joel. She believes the only way to save Joel is to get him off the Satellite of Love, so she seeks the help of Mike, who discovers that the SOL has an escape pod hidden in a crate marked "hamdingers". After the movie ends and during the closing host segment, Gypsy forces Joel into the escape pod, and after a short goodbye via the Hexfield Viewscreen (and after Joel presenting the bots with a memorial plaque) Joel is shot back to earth and lands in the Australian Outback. Meanwhile, the Mads are furious that their long time test subject (Joel) has escaped and the experiment is ruined, that is until Mike shows up to get his time card signed. That's when the Mads find a solution to their problem. The experiment will continue! Mike is the new test subject and our new host!
QI always read there were ten seasons; why does IMDb list eleven?
AMystery Science Theater 3000 began as a locally produced show at Joel Hodgson's home town station of KTMA in Minneapolis/Saint Paul. Twenty-two episodes were produced for KTMA and this season is often referred to as the "Pilot Season" because it was used to pitch the show to the Comedy Channel (later Comedy Central). Like how pilot episodes of television shows are often lost or buried after the show becomes successful, Joel Hodgson has been against releasing these early episodes in an official form since the production quality and joke count is so far below the standard the show became know for. As such, these episodes are not officially counted by Best Brains production when numbering the seasons and episodes. However for its own purposes IMDb catalogs the KTMA season as the first season of the series.
Share this
