20th anniversary DVD set of 'Mystery Science Theater 3000' does not meet hype (Part II)

November 5, 8:27 AMTV on DVD ExaminerJohn Stahl

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I stand by my recommendation in Part I of this review that the 20th Anniversary Edition of the cult sci-fi comedy "Mystery Science Theater 3000" (MST 3K) is worth owning. Also, I am still eagerly awaiting the tin box, figurine, and collectible cards that Shout Factory (SF) promised me. What has changed is that I have watched every minute of this four-disc set and conclude that it is merely comparable to the very good 12 prior DVD sets of this show that have been released.

It became known last spring that SF was going to release the set this fall, and it was announced then as well that SF would announce the four two-hour episodes that the set would include at the end of July 2008 at the sci-fi oriented event Comic-Con 2008. I, and am sure 1000s of other MSTies, eagerly anticipated that the set would include the best episodes in the series. The hype on the back of the plastic sleeves in the set that each contained a single disc added to this hype.

Along those lines, I apologize for stating incorrectly on Monday that one of these episodes was the final one of the series; I misread the information and learned that it is the final episode that ran on Comedy Central before the SciFi Channel picked up the program.

Each episode was perfectly fine and included the typical wisecracks that referred to an enormous variety of well-known and obscure elements of pop culture, literature, the arts, and politics. There was also a healthy dose of insults directed at the characters in the film that was being heckled and at the MST 3K characters who were doing the heckling.

The only thing that I considered that made any of the four films that this set contained outstanding is that film critic Leonard Maltin gave the truly horrible film "Laserblast," two-and-one-half stars. As the MST 3K characters stated, this was comparable to Maltin's rating for films such as "Amadeus" and "Witness."

One disappointment with the set that identified itself as a special anniversary edition is that it contained only one episode with series creator and original star Joel Hodgson. He had far more influence over the show than his successor Mike Nelson, who did a very good job as a writer and star, and appeared in more episodes than Nelson. At least a fifty-fifty ratio of programs with each star would have been better.

I was disappointed as well that none of the four episodes contained a segment that showed the characters heckling short educational, promotional, or training films from the 1950s and 1960s that was a regular feature of the program. Even an entire disc of these shorts would have been appropriate feature in a 20th anniversary set.

The other two parts of the history of MST 3K were as good as part I about which I wrote on Monday. The folks who served multiple roles as writers, producers, directors, and performers offered very interesting insights into the show and how it evolved. These features showed interesting clips of a live performance and additional amusing clips of the early version of the program that ran on a Minneapolis UHF station.

I also liked the feature that showed the opening segments of every version of MST 3K from its beginnings in Minneapolis to its final season on the SciFi channel. These segments, which included variations of the theme song of the show, will help new MSTies better understand the concept of the show and how it changed.

I must give two thumbs down to a feature that showed a Comic-Con 2008 panel of the show's team. This is one of the rare occasions in which this group did not live up to the name "Best Brains" that they gave their Minnesota-based company. Several of them sat in front of name cards that were for other members of the group. On top of that, they answered softball questions that had been submitted beforehand and about which they may have been briefed. Their answers did not provide much information that I did not know from the feature that provided the history of the show or from being a fan.

Additionally, very few of the comments were humorous and I did not get any sense of the camaraderie that I would have expected from people who have worked together for so long and created such a clever and well-written program. Conversely, I stated in my review of "Stargate: The Ark of Truth" that the Comic-Con panel of Stargate's cast and behind-the-scenes folks showed that they were a witty group with whom I would love to have a beer. This group took questions from the audience and hit a home-run with every answer.

I was surprised as well that the segment with the MST 3K panel did not announce the 20th anniversary set or at least discuss why the group chose the episodes that they did. I had understood that this was a primary reason for the panel and expected that they would address this.

I believe truly that this segment was bad enough to warrant giving the Best Brains gang a taste of their own medicine. At least one of the men on the panel sitting in front of the name card for a woman on the panel justified the comments "She really needs some estrogen," and "Hey Mike, I didn't know that your mom worked on the show." The end of the segment inspired the comments "We better head the Winnebago back to Minnesota if we want to beat rush hour traffic don't ya know." or "That Walter Mondale (or that Mary Richards) was so nice to feed the cat while we were away."

The fact that this set did not live up to its hype is not so bad in the grand scheme of things; it will be much more serious if our newly elected president does not live up to the expectations that he has created.

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