# January 31, 2004 will be a sad day in entertainment **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 2, 2003, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/january-31-2004-will-be-a-sad-day-in-entertainment/211037 "2003-11-02T21:56:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d26b3c/32.png) [@Mr.Blue\_Sky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Blue_Sky)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2003, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/january-31-2004-will-be-a-sad-day-in-entertainment/211037/1 "2003-11-02T21:56:57Z")
I just got an email from the MST3K fan club. On January 31, 2004, the Sci-Fi Channel (damn them all to hell!) will end it’s contract to broadcast Mystery Science Theater 3000. The last scheduled episode will be #912 - The Screaming Skull (w/the Gumby short - “Robot Rumpus”). From it’s humble beginnings on a local station in Minneapolis in 1988 to Comedy Channel/Central to the Sci-Fi Channel, the little show that could ends its television run. Not bad for a puppet show. We’ll miss you guys. We WILL keep circulating the tapes. Hi-keeba! ---
**Author:** ![Hydrocortisone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e19b73/32.png) [@Hydrocortisone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hydrocortisone)\ **Post date:** [November 2, 2003, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/january-31-2004-will-be-a-sad-day-in-entertainment/211037/2 "2003-11-02T21:58:53Z")
They need to put out **good** DVD sets. ---
**Author:** ![GuanoLad](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guanolad/32/42_2.png) [@GuanoLad](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GuanoLad)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2003, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/january-31-2004-will-be-a-sad-day-in-entertainment/211037/3 "2003-11-03T00:34:21Z")
They don’t screen it here. I’ve never seen it (except for the theatrical release). Consider yourselves lucky that you got to experience it at all. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2003, 6:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/january-31-2004-will-be-a-sad-day-in-entertainment/211037/4 "2003-11-03T06:01:55Z")
Not that I’m doubting you, but I feel obligated to mention that I’ve read this exact same announcement every year for the last three or four years, and so far, they’ve renewed it every year. So there may be hope yet. Or maybe not. ---
**Author:** ![Tars\_Tarkas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Tars\_Tarkas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tars_Tarkas)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2003, 8:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/january-31-2004-will-be-a-sad-day-in-entertainment/211037/5 "2003-11-03T08:01:18Z")
That’s my birthday. PS: homemade DVDs have started popping up on [DAPcentral.org](http://DAPcentral.org) ---
**Author:** ![smiling\_bandit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@smiling\_bandit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/smiling_bandit)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2003, 12:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/january-31-2004-will-be-a-sad-day-in-entertainment/211037/6 "2003-11-03T12:05:28Z")
> [@](#): > > They need to put out good DVD sets. That’s going to be one HELL of a big set. ---
**Author:** ![h.sapiens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e0b2c6/32.png) [@h.sapiens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/h.sapiens)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2003, 1:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/january-31-2004-will-be-a-sad-day-in-entertainment/211037/7 "2003-11-03T13:57:48Z")
Considering that they’re down to just a few of the episodes from the last couple of seasons, and those aren’t the better episodes, it’s probably time for the show to bow out. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2003, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/january-31-2004-will-be-a-sad-day-in-entertainment/211037/8 "2003-11-03T14:31:47Z")
No, it’s time to start showing the good ones. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2003, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/january-31-2004-will-be-a-sad-day-in-entertainment/211037/9 "2003-11-03T16:14:59Z")
I never understood why episodes dropped out of circulation. I mean, I understand from a contracts perspective, the license terms expire and the right to air the ep ends. But do the owners of, say, _Squirm_ or _Parts: The Clonus Horror_ or _Werewolf_ think they’re going to make another dime off of these movies in a non-MST3K environment? I have heard that the person who owns the rights to the rubber monster movies (Godzilla and Gamera) is pretty pissed off at what Bad Brains did, and those films are probably going to net him some cash elsewhere, but I kind of doubt that anyone is out there lusting to show _Puma Man_ or _Radar Secret Service_. What I would love to see is the eps released in seasonal sets, with some sort of original material filling in the gaps for eps where they can’t secure the DVD rights. I can just imagine the hilarity BB could come up with if they were turned loose on the people who wouldn’t give up the rights. But at the very least, marketing “The Incomplete \_\_\_ Season” would be good for some laughs. ---
**Author:** ![Biggirl](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biggirl/32/3294_2.png) [@Biggirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biggirl)\ **Post date:** [November 3, 2003, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/january-31-2004-will-be-a-sad-day-in-entertainment/211037/10 "2003-11-03T17:11:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Tars Tarkas \* > \*\*That’s my birthday. > > \*\* That particular day is my 40th birthday. Wanna party? We’ll watch bootleg MST2and3K and lamenting the passing of things we’ll miss. Like MST and my youth.