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MST3KXV!! TRANSFORMERS!! SUPERMAN/BATMAN!! TAXI!! RED DWARF!! McBEAL!! BROTHERHOOD!! HercVault!!

Published at:  Jul 09, 2009 12:54:03 AM CDT

SPOILER ALERT !!



I am – Hercules!!





Mystery Science Theater 3000: Volume 15 comes with four mocked features:

1.2 “The Robot Vs. The Aztec Mummy.” Only the second Comedy Channel episode ever. Joel watches as spacefaring demon dogs pursue the bone-shaped Satellite Of Love and relieve themselves on hydrant-like ‘bot Tom Servo.

5.9 “The Girl In Lover’s Lane.” Joel models Don Martin shoes and sings a train song, Crow pretends he’s Jack Elam, and the ‘bots request pinball money, then rewrite the movie’s ending.

6.4 “Zombie Nightmare.” In tribute to the film’s star, Adam West, Servo and Mike dress as Batman. Also, the ‘bots pretend to be Secret Service agents and unadvisedly relax in a hot tub, and Dr. Forrester experiments with voodoo.

6.16 “Racket Girls.” Lisa Loeb drops by, Forrester installs a new security system, and Mike agrees to marry Crow.

EXTRAS:

* “Glimpses of KTMA: Scrapbook Scraps I” (15:36) A compilation of skits from the show’s sole pre-Comedy Channel season, featuring (among many other things) a mustache-free Forrester, a Weinstein-voiced Servo and an inarticulate proto-Servo named “Beeper.”

* “Behind The Scenes: Scrapbook Scraps II” (8:07) Rare glimpses into the show’s writers room, prop-creation room, movie-watching set and puppetmaster area by Joel’s knees.

* “Zombie Nightmare = MST3K Dream” (11:51) New Interviews with "Zombie Nightmare" stars Frank Dietz and Jon Mikl Thor, both of whom were enormously excited to learn their 1986 movie would be mocked on MST3K. Learn that Thor owns a clothing line called “Vancouver Millionaires.” Learn that the versatile Dietz went on to write the 1995 Pamela Anderson vehicle “Naked Souls” and for the last dozen years has worked as a Disney and DreamWorks animator!

* “Sneak Peek at ‘Hamlet A.D.D.’ (5:12) A very odd clip from a new movie featuring the voices of “The Film Crew’s” Kevin Murphy, “Cinematic Titanic’s” Trace Beaulieu and “Star Trek’s” Majel Barrett Roddenberry.


Each of the Big Three networks on Oct. 9 premiered a series based on a show that aired overseas. CBS had “The Eleventh Hour,” ABC had “Life On Mars” and NBC had “Kath & Kim.” All three were cancelled by May.

An unfunny comedy adapted for NBC by writer-producer Michelle Nader (“The King of Queens”), “Kath” is about an appallingly self-absorbed mother-daughter team.

The sitcom is teeming with unpleasant characters mouthing terrible jokes. When confronted with the prospect of dancing to hip-hop, Kath’s boyfriend protests, “I wouldn’t want to break a hip. Hop.” Kim says stuff like, “My marriage is over! O.V.U.R.!” (I may be misquoting, but the gags come on a screener I’m determined not to re-watch.)

That boyfriend is played by the ubiquitous John Michael Higgins, who plays a cable exec on some stunningly unfunny satellite-TV commercials. How Higgins became Mr. Must-Have Comedy Player is a puzzler; perhaps confused producers somehow came to believe he was one of the genuinely funny Higgens brothers, either David Anthony Higgens (“Malcolm in the Middle”) or longtime SNL writer Steve Higgins (“Late Night With Jimmy Fallon”)?

On the upside, “Kath” does offer a lot of gorgeous Selma Blair making a lot of (admittedly amusing) sour faces while cavorting in her undies and short-shorts and bellyshirts. (Candidly, if she dressed like this in “Zoe Bean” the show might still be on the air.) Also, NBC has wised up to the fact that laughtracks are the worst things ever, and happily does not employ one here.

Fun fact: Shannon, 44, is less than eight years older than TV daughter Blair, 37.




USA Today gives it one star (out of four) and says:

… programmers have scheduled [NBC] like they're college kids furnishing an apartment out of mom's hand-me-downs and tourist schlock from an over-the-border discount store. The result so far this season is a rare double play: the worst new drama in the camp revival Knight Rider, coupled now with the worst sitcom in the Australian remake Kath & Kim. …


Entertainment Weekly gives it an “C-minus” and says:

… The core problem with K&K is that there's no character to root for. These days, we don't need to identify with sitcom characters or even love them. (Garry Shandling and Ricky Gervais proved that, immortally.) But we do need an occasionally recognizable — if silly — human, or a compelling relationship, to keep us coming back. For all of Shannon's luminescence and Blair's intense glower, neither Kath nor Kim is alive in this way. …


TV Guide gives it a “1” (out of 10) and says:

… Dreadful. …


The New York Times says:

… should be funnier, and could yet be, but the pilot disappoints. …


The Los Angeles Times says:

… a mother/daughter Odd Couple that is drained almost immediately of any comic value except for the black hole of anger and narcissism that is Blair's Kim. Spoiled rotten girls are funny. Spoiled vicious girls are not. … desperately tries to caricature both family dynamics and consumer culture but winds up just abusing its terrific cast.


The Chicago Sun-Times says:

… satiric comedy only works if it's funny. And in this case, it's not. …


The Washington Post says:

… cleverly funny … a frantically tacky fracas. …


The San Francisco Chronicle says:

… goes into the record books on these shores as a contender for worst remake ever. NBC sent the first two episodes of "Kath & Kim," and both were jaw-dropping in their awfulness. …


The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette says:

NBC's comedy drought continues. New entry "Kath & Kim" offers a few laughs but it's mostly a dumb dud.… an unpleasant way to pass a half-hour.


The Boston Globe says:

… just doesn't cut it. There's something essential missing at the core … "Kath & Kim" is proof - yet again, my friends - that creating a successful sitcom is a stubbornly mysterious process, that even a collection of the very best ingredients can make for a tasteless stew. …


Variety says:

… Snide but not smart, "Kath & Kim" will likely leave American audiences scratching their heads, wondering what Australians saw in the concept -- or if something was seriously lost in translation. The producers have sought to give the project a Yank accent mostly by having their low-class protagonists reference National Enquirer-type gossip about U.S. stars, but the show irritates more than it amuses. Most fans of the better NBC sitcoms surrounding it that say "G'day" probably won't be able to say "G'bye" fast enough. …


The Hollywood Reporter says:

… lacks the charm of the original. Worse, the characters in the NBC show are so exaggerated that the whole thing feels like a skit. A long, long skit. … By the second episode -- about a third of which incongruously takes place in a gay bar -- you're forced to concede that the two characters, as written, have a combined repertoire of a single note.



For $19.99, Peanuts 1960s Collection offers all six (terrific) animated specials originally aired by CBS that decade:
1) “A Charlie Brown Christmas” (1965)
2) “Charlie Brown's All-Stars!” (1966)
3) “It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” (1966)
4) “You're In Love, Charlie Brown” (1967)
5) “He's Your Dog, Charlie Brown” (1968)
6) “It Was A Short Summer Charlie Brown” (1969)

The first won the Emmy for “outstanding children's program”; all except the last were Emmy-nominated. The set also includes the documentary "The Maestro of Menlo Park - Profiling Composer Vince Gauraldi."

Look again upon the perfect floating hearts above Sally Brown's head:







Herc’s Popular Pricing Pantry




All seasons of “Veronica Mars,” including every episode with rival P.I. Vinnie Van Lowe, are $18.99/each!!


Thanks to the Warner Bros. first-season sale, we can currently snag every episode of Aaron Sorkin’s “Studio 60” for $23.99!!


There’s a new edition of Stephen Cannell’s supercool and highly serialized FBI/mob drama “Wiseguy” arriving Aug. 25; you’d be smart to lock in its current Amazon price NOW at $9.99!! (Everybody who ordered it at $12.99 two weeks ago will now automatically be charged only $9.99!!!) Crazy cheap at either price for a 22-hour first season; used copies of these same 22 episodes on the old half-season sets currently run you a minimum of $114.80!!!


Amazon has at the moment a lorryload of season sets for $14.99 or less. You can, in fact, buy every episode of “The Lone Gunmen” for just $13.49/season!!


“From The Earth To The Moon,” the entire extra-packed signature edition, has fallen to its lowest price ever: $11.99!! People were paying $49 for this set last year.


$19.99 Shield!!
(60% OFF!!)



$18.99 Complete Animated Trek!!




July 16 is the last day of the big Blu-ray Lost Sale!!







TV-on-Disc Calendar




Last Week
Blue Murder Vol. 4
Dog The Bounty Hunter: Best Of 5.x
Eastbound & Down 1.x
Entourage 5.x
Eureka 3.x
Hi-5 2.x
The IT Crowd 2.x
Jockeys 1.x
Kong: Collector's Box Set
Number 10: The Complete Miniseries
Parker Lewis Can't Lose 1.x
Prison Break 4.x
Secret Diary of a Call Girl 2.x
Stargate Atlantis 5.x
Swiss Family Robinson (1976): The Complete Series
Trailer Park Boys: The Complete Series



This Week


Callan Vol. 1


Chris Ryan's Elite Police


Doctor Who: Attack of the Cybermen


Doctor Who: The Rescue/The Romans


Kath & Kim 1.x


Matlock 3.x


Matlock 1.x-3.x


Moon Machines


Murder She Wrote 10.x


Mystery Science Theater 3000: Vol. 15


Peanuts 1960s Collection


Petticoat Junction 2.x


Poirot Vol. 4


Power Rangers RPM Vol. 1


Reno 911! 6.x


Ruby: A Journey to Lose the First 100 Lbs.


Third Watch 2.x


Torchwood 2.x (Blu-ray)


The Universe 3.x (Blu-ray)



Next Week
American Gladiators Vol. 1
Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations Vol. 4
Arab Labor 1.x
Bewitched 8.x
The Color of Magic
Crime Scene University
ER 11.x
Faerie Tale Theatre: Princess Tales
Faerie Tale Theatre: Tales from Hans Christian Andersen
G.I. Joe (1983) 1.1
Guns of Will Sonnett 1.x/2.x
The Haunting: Twilight of Evil (Blu-ray)
Ironside: 6 Episodes
Joe Schmo 2.x
Leverage 1.x
Mad Men 2.x


Mad Men 2.x (Blu-ray)
McHale's Navy: 8 Episodes
Men Behaving Badly: 8 Episodes
Peyton Place Vol. 2
Punky Brewster: 8 Episodes
Red Skelton: 30 Episodes


The State: The Complete Series
Swamp Thing: 8 Episodes
Tales of Wells Fargo: Best Of
Tracey Takes On 3.x/4.x
Wild Pacific
Wild Pacific (Blu-ray)
Wire in the Blood 6.x
Zorro: Generation Z Vol. 1



July 21
Charlie's Angels 4.x
The Donna Reed Show 2.x
Hotel 1.x
Jon and Kate Plus Ei8ht 4.x Vol. 2
The Lucy Show 1.x
The Mighty Boosh 1.x
The Mighty Boosh 2.x
The Mighty Boosh 3.x
Monk 7.x
Prison Break: Final Break
Prison Break: Final Break (Blu-ray)
Psych 3.x
Pushing Daisies 2.x
Pushing Daisies 2.x (Blu-ray)
Robot Chicken: Star Wars II
Route 66 3.x Vol. 1
The Secret Saturdays Vol. 1
Stargate SG-1: Children of The Gods (Final Cut)
This American Life 2.x
Voltron Vol. 8
Wolverine and the X-Men Vol. 2



July 28
Armchair Thriller Vol. 1


Battlestar Galactica 4.11-4.20
Battlestar Galactica 4.11-4.20 (Blu-ray)


Battlestar Galactica: The Complete Series
Battlestar Galactica: The Complete Series (Blu-ray)
Charles in Charge 5.x
Criss Angel Mindfreak: The Most Dangerous Escapes
Doc Martin 2.x
Doctor Who: Planet of the Dead
Doctor Who: Planet of the Dead (Blu-ray)


Dollhouse 1.x
Dollhouse 1.x (Blu-ray)
Early Edition 2.x AddThis Social Bookmark Button
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    Readers Talkback

  • Jul 09, 2009 3:27:42 AM CDT

    I shall shout from the top of the TB's... that....

    by the dum guy

    East Bound and Down, is one of the funniest (not an actual word ((I think)) things to ever been(sp?) like a (food? that has been(sp?) badly (I know?) FRIED.Except for My after-birth (looked a retared Big Bird that had been shot), since I had a twin.Anyhooot.... What would Kenny-"Fucking"-Powers do?... Blow, and then's some
    'roids to get back into shape!

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jul 09, 2009 3:40:43 AM CDT

    Oh, and not to troll....

    by the dum guy

    I've Loved (capital letter) MST3K since (before) this site begam.It is one of the few things that I and my father (parental unit-via male) both laughed out loud at... and Ghostbusters (although that was scary as a kid... and Thriller ((not going into an MJ tangent)).EB&D and MST3K (too cool to spell out) is one of the thing(s) that I find trancends(sp?... like... Dum) age and geography.......

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jul 09, 2009 4:01:47 AM CDT

    MST3K nerd has corrections

    by agentcoop007

    I'm very happy to see MST3K getting the top of the releases page but you said the set includes ..." The Design And Speculative Technology Of MST3K: Joel Hodgson And Trace Beaulieu Visit M.I.T."

    I think Shout Factory said that M.I.T. feature while part of the first press release, has been put off for a future set. BTW they are announcing movies in the XVI set at Comic-Con

    Also you said in 6.16 Racket Girls that "Mike agrees to marry Crow" but its Crow & Tom that want to get married, and ask for Mike's blessing. :)

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jul 09, 2009 5:01:29 AM CDT

    Agentcoop007: I applaud you... *applause*

    by the dum guy

    Or, apple sauce... which, ever you like the most.I've longed (how pathetic) for a complete box set of all the MST3K series(s), that would include the "movie".I've known so many people who love watching the show (and), for the detriment (if I say so) to the series, loves to comment on movies when viewing them... even, with much saddness, while sober and while watching a decent movie...I digest, but the series has been a blessing and curse... damn you Torgo.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jul 09, 2009 7:05:58 AM CDT

    LOLA FALANA, WHAT IS IT?

    by fisheater

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jul 09, 2009 9:01:21 AM CDT

    Thread goes up Tuesday, but closed to posting until Thursday

    by nasty in the pasty

    What's UP with that, Herc? It's seriously annoying. But the time Thursday rolls around, no one even wants to post here.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jul 09, 2009 9:32:37 AM CDT

    I'm guessing he has to reload the article

    by big jim

    in order to open up the TB. That way it then moves to the top of the list again and remains on the front-page a few days longer.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jul 09, 2009 1:52:48 PM CDT

    Finally allowed to post?

    by torgothewhite

    Too bad I can't remember what I had to say two days ago when I first read this thread.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jul 09, 2009 2:44:39 PM CDT

    Unlock the talkback on Tuesday

    by srh1son

    This thread probably gets the most views on Tuesday when it's first posted. Waiting two days for the talkback doesn't make any sense.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jul 09, 2009 10:14:15 PM CDT

    COUNT DUCKULA season 2!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    by soylentmean

    Stupid British have the whole series on DVD. The wankers.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jul 09, 2009 11:44:49 PM CDT

    fisheater...her name was Lola...

    by bubbadestructo

    ...she was a showgirl.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jul 09, 2009 11:59:01 PM CDT

    Reloading the article to keep it on the front page

    by nasty in the pasty

    Most of the TV vault threads tend to stay on the main page practically until the next week's one is posted anyways, so it still doesn't make any sense. Cut this shit OUT, Herc. Let us post on Tuesday or else don't post these articles until Thursday.

    Reply to Talkback

  • Jul 12, 2009 5:27:36 AM CDT

    Ally McBeal!!!!!!!!!!!!

    by geoffrey1138

    I have the U.K. set, but I am so excited that this finally has a release date here in the U.S. Lets hope they give it a good treatment with bonus features and commentary!

    Reply to Talkback

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