Mystery Science Theater 3000 fans no longer need to pay outrageous used DVD prices for at least a couple titles. Shout! Factory is putting out single disc sets for The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living And Became Mixed-Up Zombies and Beginning Of The End. But don’t look for them at stores. They’re going to be offered through the company’s website. It’s cheaper than paying $60 for a previously viewed copy. Here’s the press release from Shout! Factory:
From 1988 to 1999, the hilarious and widely beloved space travelers on The Satellite of Love from Mystery Science Theater 3000 skewered B-movies and in the process made them masterworks of comedy. Hot on the heels of the recent Mystery Science Theater 3000: Volume XIX limited-edition 4-DVD box set, Shout! Factory, in association with Best Brains, Inc. proudly presents Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living And Became Mixed-Up Zombies, and Mystery Science Theater 3000: Beginning Of The End, available on February 15, 2011 from ShoutFactoryStore.com.
In Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living And Became Mixed-Up Zombies, a playful trip to a carnival turns sinister when a trio becomes the target of a mysterious zombie plot hatched by the enchanting stripper Carmelita and her fortune-telling sister Estrella. Zombies! Fortune-tellers! Acid-wielding henchmen! Showstoppers! That’s right! It’s the world’s first monster musical!! The bizarre plot, song and dance numbers and relentless riffs have made The Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living And Became Zombies a favorite amongst MSTies. Now you can see why for yourself!
Mystery Science Theater 3000: Beginning Of The End‘s Dr. Ed Wainwright (Mission Impossible‘s Peter Graves), reporter Audrey Aimes and a deaf-mute gardener fight together to eradicate swarms of gigantic, radioactive locusts that are demolishing entire towns and cities in Illinois! Mike and the ‘bots use this hilarious classic from the fifth season’s Turkey Day to help illustrate the point that anyone can write a repetitive screenplay revolving around Peter Graves—including the SoL’s own Crow!
The Mystery Science Theater 3000 series was created by Joel Hodgson and produced by Jim Mallon. After a year on KTMA TV in Minneapolis, its national broadcast life began in 1989 on the Comedy Channel (later to become Comedy Central), where it ran for seven seasons. The show’s final three seasons aired on the Sci-Fi Channel. The premise of the series features a hapless man who is trapped by mad scientists on a satellite in space and forced to watch old B-movies of questionable worth. To keep sane, he’s built two robot sidekicks, and together they do a running commentary on the films, affectionately mocking their flaws with inspired wisecracks and acting as a demented movie theater peanut gallery. Series creator Hodgson originally played the stranded man, Joel Robinson. When he left in 1993, series head writer Mike Nelson replaced him as the new B-movie victim Mike Nelson, and continued in the role for the rest of the show’s run. The format proved to be popular and remarkably durable. During its 11-year run and 198 episodes (including one feature film), MST3K attained a loyal fan base and critical acclaim. The series won a Peabody Award in 1993, and was nominated for writing Emmys® in 1994 and 1995.
