TV Shows held hostage

Agree he was a total d*&^ on Ed, but hey, Carol had bad taste in men from the start. He's kind of the same on Mad Men, but still totally worth watching!

 

Mystery Science Theater 3000

There are still a few episodes of the classic "make fun of bad movies" show that are not on DVD, due to the owners of the films refusing to negotiate on their licensing. Most famously Susan Hart, who is the widow of AIP founder James Nicholson. She controls several titles in the AIP catalogue, including these films which were shown on MST3K in the 90s:

The Amazing Colossal Man, It Conquered the World, Attack of the The Eye Creatures, Terror from the Year 5000, I Was a Teenage Werewolf

Shout Factory (who releases the MSt3K DVDs) has repeatedly inquired into a fair licensing deal with Hart, including full restoration and "un-MSTied" versions of the films on SF, but she refuses any amount of money to anyone wanting to license these films.

The Amazing Colossal Man was released on VHS in 1996, but was recalled as Rhino Home Video did not secure the licensing rights from Hart.

There are a few other episodes of MST3k caught in limbo, for a variety of reasons. Full list and thread here.

 

I might be stating the colossally obvious, but those “lost” episodes can be found online, if you look around a bit, sourced from broadcasts.

When the Best Brains gang told viewers “circulate the tapes!” it paid off decades later for anyone who really wants to see those episodes. You can find most of the original KTMA broadcasts online as well (I think one or two are missing and presumed lost).

 

Not sure how many (well, few) units it would sell but Project UFO has never had a physical release due to ownership rights issues.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_U.F.O.

 

Absolutely, they are not lost, but remain officially unreleased, and are being held hostage. What truly boggles my brain, is that these films are terrible, and only really have any notoriety from their appearance on MST3K. When these rights holders pass on, their estates may have a change of "hart".

 

It was "Lady In The Iron Mask." Apparently, the entire score was different from the broadcast version. One of the Moonlighting fan-sites discovered it:

Lisa's Other Stuff: Moonlighting

 

I completely understand what you mean by your post above, but with the constant advertising everywhere of St. Jude's Children's Hospital, I would hope that more "young people" know who Danny Thomas was and what he was really about, well beyond his TV show!

 

Which is why you should never get rid of your videotape off network master recordings!

 

Those that sell life insurance plans, Medicare approved health plans, walk-in tubs, and stair-lifts have the senior citizen market cornered.