=-=-=-=-= Society of the Rusting TARDIS Newsletter (#41, 07/09/96)
-=-=-=-=-=

>>>  Items of interest to British media fans and Seattle-area residents, 
<<<
>>>  and whatever else I feel like spewing about.  You have been warned. 
<<<

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
-=
On tap this time:
	Quick news items
	MST3K lives!
	Upcoming SotRT events

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
-=

Subject: Quick news items

Sound bites:

	According to Daily Variety/Reuters, John Cleese will be starring in
	a film version of "Don Quixote".  Robin Williams will reportedly
	play Sancho Panza, and Fred Schepisi ("Plenty", "Roxanne") will
	direct.

	Bill Cosby's version of "One Foot in the Grave" will apparently
	make it onto CBS's fall schedule.  Reports are that a pilot
	episode received "a very good reaction" from a screening audience.
	(Not surprisingly, reports also claim that it has been seriously
	bland-ified.)

	Michael Moore's "TV Nation" will be reaired on Comedy Central this
	autumn.

Local news:

	Director John Woo ("Hard Boiled", "The Killer", "A Better Tomorrow",
	"Bullet in the Head", "Broken Arrow", etc.) was in Seattle this past
	weekend for a mini-festival of his films.  It was such a success
	that Scarecrow Video (the organizers) are planning to bring other
	directors to town in the future.  Stay tuned for details.

	Festival Hong Kong at the Varsity: July 11 - the legendary "Pedicab
	Driver" and "Somebody Up There Likes Me".  Call 632-3131 for details.

	Also at the Varsity (July 12-18) - "Cold Fever", billed as "the best
	Japanese/Icelandic Road Movie you'll see all year".  Actually, it's
	probably the best one you'll _ever_ see.  If you like them quirky,
	check it out.

	Coming up at the Fremont Almost Free Outdoor Cinema:  July 13 - "To
	Kill a Mockingbird", July 20 - "Viva Las Vegas".  B.Y.O. seating
	starting at 7pm, located behind the Red Door Ale House, 670 N. 34th
	St.  Program starts at dusk.  $5 donation.  There are prizes for best
	costumes and "most original seating".

Miscellany:

	If you're interested in keeping "Doctor Who" on Fox (practice makes
	perfect, after all (...I say, that's a joke, son), here's a "Save
	Doctor Who" web page:  http://www.cris.com/~Perval/who.htm

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
-=

Subject: MST3K lives!

Tuesday June 25 7:51 AM EDT
Sci-Fi Channel Buys 'Mystery Science' Cult Fave
By Ray Richmond

HOLLYWOOD (Variety) - Cable's Sci-Fi Channel has rescued Comedy Central's
long-running cult favorite ``Mystery Science Theater 3000'' from the brink
of extinction, ordering 13 new episodes of the offbeat B-movie spoof for
broadcast beginning in February.

The guarantee includes options over the ensuing few years for as many as 60
additional episodes at Sci-Fi Channel's discretion, Barry Schulman, the
channel's VP of programming, said in making the announcement.

Once on the air, each of the original film satires will show three times
each week. The new deal also calls for the show to be broadcast
internationally for the first time, via Sci-Fi Europe and USA Network Latin
America.

``It's a great day for lovers of bad movies everywhere,'' declared Jim
Mallon, producer of ``MST3K,'' as its legion of fans know it.

``MST3K'' has been a franchise series for Comedy Central for seven seasons
and 135 episodes, having predated the network itself (it started on the
later-merged Comedy Channel in 1990). It has spawned a feature film,
homevideo titles, a book, an Internet site, fan clubs and a national
convention -- the second of which is being held Labor Day weekend in
Minneapolis.

While ``MST3K'' enjoyed huge success in the early days of Comedy Central,
its ratings have steadily declined over the past few years, slipping to one
of the network's lowest-rated programs, with audience measures of 0.1 and
0.2. Its broadcast is now restricted to latenight weekends.

In April -- unable to come to an agreement with ``MST3K'' producer Best
Brains Inc., of Minneapolis, on a scaled-down deal for specials -- Comedy
Central announced it was dropping the show at year's end despite the
imminent release of the ``MST3K'' movie and three-title video series from
Rhino.

``Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie'' (spoofing the 1954 sci-fi flick
``This Island Earth'') has grossed less than $1 million theatrically in
limited release so far.

But the movie figures were of only passing interest to the Sci-Fi Channel's
Schulman. He had long coveted the Peabody Award-winning, Emmy-nominated
``MST3K,'' and was permitted to work out an agreement for it after Comedy
Central waived a provision prohibiting Best Brains from negotiating a deal
with a new network before 1997.

``This show is a natural fit for us and allows us to keep alive a show with
an enormous fan and industry following,'' Schulman said.

While ``MST3K'' has satirized a variety of genres including Westerns, spy
flicks and T&A exploitation, it will exclusively feature full-length
science-fiction films for its poison-tipped parody on Sci-Fi.

Sci-Fi Channel also plans to give the show a glossier look, forcing a
slight
increase from the typical production budget of $80,000 to $85,000 into the
$100,000 range.

Reuters/Variety

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
-=

Subject: Upcoming SotRT events

Jul 10: Video night     Round Table Pizza, 5111 25th Ave. NE, Seattle
Jul 16: Social          Bangkok Cafe II, 4730 University Way NE, Seattle
Jul 24: Video night     Round Table Pizza, 5111 25th Ave. NE, Seattle
Jul 30: Social          Round Table Pizza, 5111 25th Ave. NE, Seattle
Jul 31: Video night     Round Table Pizza, 5111 25th Ave. NE, Seattle

All events start at 7pm.

Currently planned for the next video night (Jul 10):

	Have I Got News For You: An unseen episode from November 1994

	Rory Bremner...Who Else?: Latest season, Episode 2 (brutal
	satire/comedy)

	Hale and Pace: Latest season, Episode 4

	Shooting Stars (the best TV game show since "Remote Control")

	Paul Merton's Life of Comedy: Episode 5 (Paul rummages through the
	comedy vault)

See you on Wednesday.

			"He felt as a chicken must feel when trussed by a
			 conscientious poulterer."
				--"Space No Barrier", Pel Torro (a.k.a.
				  Robert Lionel Fanthorpe)

=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
-=
The standard disclaimers apply to everything here except this statement.
Contents Copyright 1996, Hand of Onan Enterprises, unless otherwise noted.
To subscribe/unsubscribe to this list, send mail to "onan@eskimo.com".
The Society of the Rusting TARDIS web page - http://www.halcyon.com/sotrt/
=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=
-=

Back to the Rusting TARDIS Archives Page