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.

Some more sad news from Tinseltown. Movie star and recent television star Patrick Swayze has lost his 20 month battle with pancreatic cancer at his ranch in Los Angeles. He was 57 years old.

Barbara Walters will air the actor's final television interview in a one hour special titled Last Dance tonight at 10 PM eastern/9 PM central on ABC.

He's probably best known for his work on the big screen in movies like Ghost, Dirty Dancing and (of course) the timeless Road House, a movie that became a cult sensation for all the wrong reasons and helped birth the sense of humor of MST3K and Rifftrax's Michael J. Nelson. But like all Hollywood actors, he made his presence known on the small screen, and his reach goes much further than his recent venture into cable drama glory with A&E's The Beast.

The science fiction blog Io9 has a chart up at their site that tracks the themes that have been used on sci-fi TV shows since 1970. How many shows have been about time travel, robots, aliens, space travel, and/or mutants? Is there a trend to the themes of sci-fi shows over the years? (Here's the complete list of shows they looked at to create the chart.)

The Rifftrax crew is about to embark on a massive effort to perform a live show in more than 400 theaters across the country. And, they'll do it all in one night.

Mystery Science Theater 3000 alumni Michael J. Nelson, Kevin Murphy and Bill Corbett have joined forces with Fathom Events to present Rifftrax Live: Plan 9 from Outer Space. On Aug. 20, Rifftrax will present an evening of live riffing, originating from Nashville, Tenn. and beaming into movie theaters nationwide at 8 PM ET, 7 PM CT, 6 PM MT, and a tape delayed 8 PM PT.

The trio will take on what some say is the worst film of all time, Plan 9. Of course, only people who haven't seen Manos: The Hands of Fate or anything directed by Coleman Francis would give Ed Wood's anti-classic that honor. But, Plan 9 offers the Rifftrax guys more than enough ammunition.

Here are the new TV DVDs, in stores tomorrow.

Finally, a DVD release that I'm definitely, definitely going to buy: the new MST3K set! I'm also looking at the new Peanuts set because I don't have a complete collection of their holiday specials, but there have been a few of these collections released, so I'll have to figure out which one is the best one.

• Callan - Set 1
• Doctor Who - The Rescue/The Romans and Attack of the Cybermen
• Kath and Kim - Season 1

It seems no movie is safe from Kevin Murphy and his former Mystery Science Theater 3000 comrades as they mock flicks full-time for Rifftrax.

Murphy, RiffTrax writer/commentator and forever Tom Servo on the Satellite of Love of the original movie-mocking show famous for tackling B-movies, regularly joins fellow MST3K alums Bill Corbett and Michael J. Nelson to record a series of commentaries on classic and significantly less than classic flicks. Their targets range from The Happening and Twilight to Raiders of the Lost Ark and Star Wars - all available for $4.

The site just released perhaps the most challenging riff, deliberately taking on what many people consider the greatest film of all time, Casablanca.

Many movie fans -- even those who enjoy Rifftrax -- object to mockery of such iconic work, but Murphy points to the sites' motto: "We don't make movies. We make them funny."

Mike Nelson is a good guy. And he has always seemed like a reasonable guy to me. But now I think he's lost it a little.

For the entire month of February, the Mystery Science Theater 3000 host/head writer is going to eat nothing but bacon. That's right, nothing but bacon for an four weeks. Make sure you have your best suit dry cleaned for the inevitable funeral in March.

OK, maybe he'll survive like Morgan Spurlock did, though Spurlock's whole experiment was rather lame and misleading, in my opinion. But eating nothing but one of the most incredibly unhealthy foods (the fat! the grease! the salt!) for an entire month? I'm not too sure about that. He'll be drinking liquids, but most of them are alcohol (and water). No veggies or fruits for an entire month. Wow, even if you ate nothing but pizza for an entire month you'd at least get dairy and fiber and maybe some veggies. Mike will be keeping track of his progress (with bacon photos!) at Rifftrax.

Godspeed Mike. Godspeed.

Here are a couple of names that should make MST3K fans excited - Joe Don Baker and Joe Estevez. Yes, those two names guarantee a certain amount of cinematic terribleness, a feast for Joel, Mike, and the Bots, especially Baker, whose bumbling, making-love-to-banjo-music cop movie Mitchell is one of the best.

MST3K XIV includes four episodes from three different seasons, including two from the final season, Season Ten:

The Mad Monster from Season One: With the old cheesy set that Joel and Trace revealed at an M.I.T. lecture they accidentally delivered two weeks early. If they'd known they had two more weeks, they'd have put more work into the concept. When it was originally released, The Mad Monster was probably fairly advanced and stylish from a technical standpoint. But it's still poorly acted, and MST3K seems to have a special place in its collective hearts for bad werewolves. Also includes the short Commando Cody & The Radar Men from the Moon. A fiery Invention Exchange: Joel's "Hell in a Hand Bag" anti-theft device and Forrester's monster role playing game with a fire-breathing Godzilla. Tom Servo also hits on a blender.

Here are the new TV DVDs, in stores tomorrow.

I don't know why I haven't bought any of the Bewitched sets yet. It's one of my favorite sitcoms, but I think it has gotten so far into the releases (this week it's season 7) that I've convinced myself that there will be a complete series set and that I should wait for it. But I'm tempted to buy this set because it features an entire episode set and filmed in my hometown!

As for the Columbo movie set, well, I have to buy that now because I just bought the entire series on DVD.

• Afro Samurai - Resurrection (regular set and special editions)
  
• Becker - Season 2
• Bewitched - Season 7
• Columbo - Mystery Movie Collection: 1990
• Dave's World - Season 2
• Mystery Science Theater 3000 - Vol. 14
• Night Court - Season 2
• The Partridge Family - Season 4
• Tom and Jerry Tales - Vol. 6

It's sad that we don't have Mystery Science Theater 3000 anymore, but it's great that we have two spinoffs/reunions to entertain us. Joel, Trace, Frank, Mary Jo, and J. Elvis have Cinematic Titanic, and Mike, Bill, and Kevin have Rifftrax. I'll leave it to you to discuss which one you like the best. I'm partial to Rifftrax. And if you've never heard what the guys do, tonight might be a good time to check it out.

At 9pm ET (6pm PT), there will be a live, free Rifftrax performed by the guys for everyone to see and hear on their computer. Probably the very same computer you're reading this one, unless you're at work. And if you're at work you shouldn't be spending all of your time on a TV site. Get back to work.

What they'll be riffing is Self-Conscious Guy, a short film from 1951 I'm assuming is about a guy who is self-conscious. I've never heard of it, but the shorts that MST3K used to do were some of the funniest stuff they did, so this should be good. I'm going to watch this instead of Grissom leaving CSI.

Mad TV came along at a time in American television history when America had an excuse to get out of the house and live healthy and productive lives on Saturday night.

But eventually, the show evolved into a 60-minute scream fest of recurring characters spouting catchphrases over and over and celebrity satire that taught lessons about the proliferation of pop culture and ignorance. Important lessons, such as "Boy is Anna Nicole Smith dumb and fat!" and "Hey, is that Paris Hilton a whore or what?" Every episode felt like a hand was reaching out of the TV and rubbing a cheese grater across my face. Now 14 years after its inception, Fox has finally decided to pull the plug on Mad TV and let it die a slow horrible death instead of taking it out Old Yeller-style, the way God intended.

Here are the new TV DVDs, in stores tomorrow.

I know we all have our favorite shows that we buy on DVD, but I can't understand how anyone - anyone - would want to buy Gene Simmons' Family Jewels on DVD. Do buyers of these sets actually pop them into the DVD player and watch them over and over?

The Burke's Law sets continue with those annoying "Season/Volume" packages, but the last season of the Odd Couple season 5 set contains all of the episodes and completes the series.

• Bones - Season 3
• Burke's Law - Season 1, Vol. 2
• Charmed - Complete Series
• Daniel Boone - Season 6
• Death Note - Box Set 1
• Doctor Who - Season 4 and The Infinite Quest
  
• The Dog Whisperer - Celebrity Edition
• Fairly Oddparents - Season 6, Vol. 1
• Gene Simmons' Family Jewels - Season 3
• Hannah Montana - Season 1
• Hawaii Five-O - Season 5
• McHale's Navy - Season 4
• Monty Python's Flying Circus - Collector's Edition Megaset
• Mystery Science Theater 3000 - 20th Anniversary (Regular set)
• The Odd Couple - Season 5
• SpongeBob SquarePants - Season 5, Vol. 2
• Star Trek - Season 3 Remastered

I think I'm getting spoiled by special DVD sets. I have a lot of "complete series" sets and anniversary sets, and many of them are these massive, well put together sets that seem to be really complete and perfect. I'm thinking of sets that I own for such shows as The Twilight Zone, The West Wing, Friends, and The Dick Van Dyke Show, as well as season sets in shows like The X-Files and The Simpsons.

I say we're spoiled because I think that even die hard fans of Mystery Science Theater 3000 might be a little disappointed by the packaging for their new 20th Anniversary DVD set (there's two actually - a limited edition tin box and a regular set; this review is for the limited edition box in the pic above). Not for the content, but for the way it is put together.

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).