TVSquad

Somehow, those little bite-sized Snickers and Milky Ways you got as Halloween Trick or Treat candy always seemed to taste better than the bigger ones you can snag in any store.

That's kind of the effect you get from watching a new pair of laugh-out-loud Shorts DVDs from Rifftrax -- Wide World of Shorts and Shorts-Tacular Shorts-Stravaganza.

The commentary of Mystery Science Theater 3000 alums Michael J. Nelson, Bill Corbett and Kevin Murphy can usually make any movie funny. But, the riffs you buy off their website for major feature films can sometimes come with a cost.

For example, the problem with buying the riffs for Twilight or Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen is you then have to sit there and watch Twilight or Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen. That's a razor's edge trade-off for a few laughs.

But, with the new DVD collection of various short educational films, all you get are laughs without two and a half hours of failed plot. Whether it's a black and white clunker encouraging a spindly nerd to overcome his fear of swimming or an ugly 1970s safety short about the dangers of technology, the Rifftrax crew can get in, get a tightly-packed bundle of laughs, and get out in the time it takes Michael Bay to set up one shot of Megan Fox's taut tummy.

I have to admit my personal favorite are the "Eww!" inducing warnings against the dangers of Syphilis. Evidently, VD ravaged everyone who had extra-marital sex in the 1950s, and you can't help but giggle like a 6-year-old every time a bad actor patient tells his wooden actor doctor about having a "bad sore down there."

But Shorts DVDs run $9.95 and are available via Rifftrax.com.