TVSquad

I got a great letter this week from a TV fan named Jim R.

"Dear TV Squad, About 15 years ago, I watched an episode of a scifi/fantasy TV show wherein an Elvis impersonator traveled back in time to meet (and eventually kill) the real Elvis. Could you please tell me the name of this program? Thanks"

Fa la la!

We told you last month about the new 20th anniversary DVD set for Mystery Science Theater 3000 that is going to be released later this year. The gang announced the details and the release date for the set yesterday at Comic-Con.

The 4 DVD set from Shout! Factory will be released on October 28 and will include four never-before-released movies: Laserblast, First Space on Venus, Werewolf, and Future War. Along with the movies will be tons of new interviews with everyone ever involved in the show, a documentary about the history of MST3K, footage of the Comic-Con Reunion panel, lobby cards, and even a collectible Crow T. Robot figurine! The set will come in a special 20th anniversary tin box (see pic above).

What's happening on other blogs via the interweb.

• Aaron Barnhart has some interesting thoughts on MSNBC.
• What is TidalTV?
• Star Trek: The Exhibition opens in San Diego today.
• More money problems for Ed McMahon: now Citibank is suing him.
• It was great to see Teri Garr on Letterman the other night.
• There's a 20th Anniversary DVD set coming for Mystery Science Theater 3000.
• Martha Stewart has been banned in the U.K.
• Seth MacFarlane spills the beans about what Family Guy has in store for viewers this fall, and reveals which celebrities are mad at the show.

This letter brought back some memories for me...

Al writes, "Several years back...'90s I think, there was a show where they played classic old movies and the original dialogue was dubbed out and replaced with new dialogue. What comes to mind is the original Night of the Living Dead as one of the episodes. Do you know the name of this show?"

Here are the new TV DVDs, in stores tomorrow.

• Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations - Collection 2
• Beauty and the Beast - Season 3
• Charlie and Lola - Vol. 7
• Dirty Jobs - Collection 2
• The Drak Pack - Complete Series
• The Jerry Springer Show: Undressed, Unleashed and Uncensored - Vol. 1, 2, and 3
• McLeod's Daughters - Season 5
• Mystery Science Theater 3000 - Vol. 10.2
• Perfect Strangers - Seasons 1 and 2
• Route 66 - Season 1, Vol. 2
• Slings and Arrows - Complete Collection
• Soul Food - Season 3
• Third Watch - Season 1
• The Whitest Kids You Know - Season 1

Are you a Mike person or a Joel person? And of course by Mike I mean Mike Tyson, and by Joel I mean singer/piano man Billy Joel.

OK, I'm actually talking about Mystery Science Theater 3000 hosts Mike Nelson and Joel Hodgson. Some people like Joel, who was the original kidnapped guy stuck on a ship with robots, but other people are loyal to Mike, the guy who took over for Joel when he left the series. I liked them both of course, though I think Mike grew on me a more. The commentary on The Brain That Wouldn't Die had me in tears.

Fans of Joel will be happy to know that he's coming back with a very MST3K-sounding project called Cinematic Titanic.

Here are the new TV DVDs, in stores tomorrow.

• Angel - Collector's Set
• Arrest and Trial - Best Of
• Avatar: The Last Airbender - Book 3
• The Benny Hill Show - Thames Years 1969-89 Megaset
• Bugs Bunny/Looney Tunes - Looney Tunes Golden Collection, Vol. 5
• CSI: Miami - Season 5
• Checkmate - Best Of Season 1
• Cimarron City - Best Of
• Dark Shadows - The Beginning, Vol. 2
• Everybody Loves Raymond - Complete Series
• Family Affair - Season 4
• Family Guy - Freakin' Party Pack
• Hardcastle and McCormick - Season 3 (Canada)
• Laredo - Best Of Season 1
• Magnum, P.I. - Season 7
• The Mickey Rooney Show - Hey Mulligan
• My So-Called Life - Complete Series
• Mystery Science Theater 3000 - Vol. 12
• October Road - Season 1
• The Outer Limits - Vol. 3
• The Real McCoys - Season 2
• Riptide - Season 2
• Riverboat - Best Of
• Scrubs - Season 6
• Sgt. Preston of the Yukon - Complete Collection
• Tate - The Complete Series
• Twin Peaks - Definitive Gold Box

New TV DVDs, on sale tomorrow.

• Bozo's Circus - Bozo The World's Famous Clown
• Captain N and The Adventures of Super Mario Brothers - Complete Series
• Casper: Best of Vol. 1 and Vol. 2
• Gomer Pyle, USMC - Season 2
• Hannah Montana - Vol. 2
• Miami Vice - Season 5
• Monk - Season 5
• Mystery Science Theater 3000 - Collection: Vol. 11
• The New Adventures of Batman - Complete Series
• The New Adventures of Superman
• Psych - Season 1
• Reno 911 - Season 4
• Spenser: For Hire movies - Ceremony and Pale Kings

Fans of Mystery Science Theater 3000 like myself (or "Misties" as we're sometimes called) remember a half-hour special dedicated to the show that aired on Comedy Central back in the early '90s called This is MST3k. The special was hosted by comedian/musician Penn Jillette and featured a handful of celebrities praising a series that folks like myself fell in love with the very first time we saw it.

One of those celebrities was Neil Patrick Harris, so it should come as no surprise that Harris will be joining former Mystery Science Theater 3000 host Michael J. Nelson on the RiffTrax recording for Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. RiffTrax are downloadable audio commentaries you play in sync with your DVD. Nelson, and sometimes his former mates from MST3k, provide a hilarious commentary much like they did back on the Satellite of Love.

• The Andy Griffith Show - Season 7
• Arrested Development - Season 3
• Astroboy - Ultra Edition, Set 2
• The Awful Truth - The Best of The Awful Truth
• Criss Angel Mindfreak - Halloween
• Darkwing Duck - Volume 1
• Desperate Housewives - Season 2
• Driven To Win - Season 1
• Flavor of Love - Season 1
• Monty Python's Flying Circus - Personal Best
• Mr. Bean - Best Of
• Mystery Science Theater 3000 - Collection: Volume 10
• Nip/Tuck - Season 3
• Roseanne - Halloween
• South Park - Season 8
• Survivor: Palau
• Tale Spin - Volume 1
• Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles - Volume 5
• The Tick - Season 1
• Will and Grace - Season 5

What a very cool, very clever idea: commentary tracks you can download to your iPod (or other mp3 player) and listen to while you watch a movie in your own home!

RiffTrax is from the brain of Mike Nelson, host and head writer of Mystery Science Theater 3000. He'll do wiseass commentary tracks, a la MST3K, and you listen to them while you watch the movie he's talking about on your DVD player or on your computer. The first movie is Roadhouse, the (as Mike puts it ) "best movie ever made about a world-famous bouncer and his epic struggle with the evil owner of the local J.C. Penney." The site is in beta mode right now, so I'm not sure if the $1.99 price is permanent. He might have guests join him in future commentaries. Make sure you vote on which movie you'd like to hear a commentary for next (right now, The Matrix is in the lead, but I'd love to see it be Cocktail.)

[via Slashdot]