Apr 11, 2020, 04:32 am
Eleven episodes of MST3K never got an official DVD release due to licensing and copyright issues. User jocksinclair from myspleen is working on creating the best possible quality episodes from available footage.
His post from myspleen:
MEGA link: https://mega.nz/file/OwEQmADT#sTrMbYBJBD...Dh2LWfBANg
His post from myspleen:
Quote:As you may be aware, there are (currently) 11 episodes of "Mystery Science Theater 3000" with no official DVD release. The purpose of this project is to produce the best possible copies of these episodes and then try to distribute them widely amongst the fanbase. This will be a long-term project; not every episode is completed yet, and some will take longer than others. I've got a line on some other sources, but of course shipping is limited right now. So far, my patience has been rewarded here, so I'm not going to commit to any schedule for more of these. They will be all be done in their own unique timeframe. I'm also waiting out which episodes Shout will release this year; it seems quite likely that they will release a volume 40, covering 3 of the missing 11. There have also been several rumors about a Susan Hart release, which would cover (up to) 5 more. So I won't be posting any of those 8 episodes before September. But there are two episodes that will definitely never be released officially, and one more which seems at best extremely unlikely.
Here's one of them... "Rocketship X-M". The film's license is owned by Wade Williams, who has made it absolutely crystal clear that he considers the film a genuine classic which never should've been allowed to be mocked on MST3k. Supposedly, it is even in his will that his estate is ordered to never allow the episode to get an official commercial release.
Currently, the common circulating copy of this episode is the DAP version, which was an LP VHS recording. It's not bad for LP, and it's only a little jumpy. I did an entire restoration using this version and was somewhat satisfied with it. But I never got around to uploading it, and now I'm glad I didn't. Because earlier this year, a few listings went up on ebay. They were SP VHSes which had been made directly from the Best Brains masters. I've been in contact with the purchaser via an MST3k forum, where he posts as DietKolos, and he was kind enough to send me a copy of the rip he did for "Rocketship X-M". Massive Kudos to him for purchasing this and the kind share. You've NEVER seen this episode this clean. Hyperbole aside, this is a Holy Grail swallowed by a white whale being chased by a unicorn.
So that's my primary source for the theater segments. There was a single shot which was marred by some big skips, it wound up easier to replace it with the DAP copy. I'm genuinely curious to see if anybody can spot it (I suspect that flaws in the print will give people false positives). Other minor tape damage has been cleaned up, and some color correction has been done, to reduce the blue tint while also keeping the shadows distinct from the picture.
The host segments come from the Shout Factory "Satellite Dish" disc. Unfortunately, Shout added fades to this footage, so bits had to be reconstructed (an additional source, from archive.org, was used at least once here). Other recurring footage is sourced from Rhino's 202 (for the globe bumpers, the tunnel transitions, and the very specific version of the opening credits) and Rhino's 414 (one of the few Rhino releases with the commercial bumpers intact). Basically, as much footage as possible is DVD quality. (I prefer the Rhino source because the masters were in better shape.)
Note - somebody is gonna ask about it, so let me say, there was some sort of technical mistake in the production during one of the tunnel segments; you'll notice the blue screen is visible for several frames. This has been present in every version for the episode I have seen, so I opted to retain it here. I kind of wish there was a way to mark those with a "(sic)", but this note will have to serve that purpose.
The audio, that's kind of a long story. Kolos's copy is mono; he thinks it's also possible based on other tapes that the VHS was dubbed before the final sound mix was done. I'm not sure that's true in this case, but either way, the audio's not great, it's got a bit too much video noise. I did the usual round of basic noise removal clean up in Audacity and did an export. I didn't like that all that much. So I took the audio from the DAP copy, which was also flawed with a loud video noise. I synced it up to the Kolos video and did the same basic clean up and did an export. Both of them still seemed a bit noisy for my taste. So I ran some additional EQ clean up, and for the most part, I thought it sounded clearer, making the jokes easier to hear and understand.
But, on the other hand, if you're sensitive to certain kinds of artifacts, I think these second passes might sound a bit too scrubbed. I know some people really hate that, others hardly notice. To some extent, it also depends on your speakers. I don't think there's a fully ideal sound option, so in lieu of that, I have included all four options. My own preference, the default, is the second pass of the DAP audio. But I invite you to sample all four and decide which you prefer. (Note that all four tracks are identical for the host segments; the only differences are in the theater segments.)
Chapter stops have been set based on commercial breaks and tunnel transitions. This was also one of the episodes where Comedy Central had trivia bumpers, which the DAP copy still had -- I opted to include one of these for nostalgia, at the commercial fade which has no other bumper. This and a Penn Jillette bumper at the head were just little indulgences of mine that I hope you will appreciate in the spirit they were created.
I think this should fit on a DVD as long as you limit it to whichever audio track you prefer.
I'd like this to be freely spread widely among fans everywhere. KEEP CIRCULATING THE TAPES. But don't profit off of it.
I often prefer to keep things exclusive to Myspleen for community purposes, but I consider this to be more important than that, and I encourage people to post it anywhere that it will be appreciated and share copies with any fans that might enjoy it.
MEGA link: https://mega.nz/file/OwEQmADT#sTrMbYBJBD...Dh2LWfBANg
