PHOTO 1: Satellite of Love cheese factory (Monster a Go-Go)PHOTO 2: Tribute to the Grateful Dead (The Dead Talk Back)PHOTO 3: Mike takes a space walk (The Phantom Planet)PHOTO 4: HobgoblinsPHOTO 5: Rhino Volume 8 (out-of-print)AARGH:Just a month ago, 12 of the 176 MST3K episodes were unavailable due to weasel behavior by owners of the original films.Today, two additional episodes are unavailable:-- Episode 910 ‘The Final Sacrifice’, previously available in Volume XVII, and-- Episode 1001 ‘Soultaker’, previously available in Volume XIV, are withdrawn.Volumes XIV and XVII are officially out-of-print.If you don’t already own them go to ebay (Amazon’s listing is a mess).Ebay lists each title under both Roman and Arabic numerals (ie “MST3k XIV” and “MST3K 14”).In the meantime, Shout’s has created a stopgap DVD set with the six surviving episodes from Volumes XIV and XVII:MTS3K: The Lost & Found CollectionOf course, if you already have Volumes XIV and XVII, you don’t need it (nothing new).See Comment One (“sort by Oldest”) for links to alternate sources.SERIES OVERVIEW:176 episodes of Mystery Science Theater 3000 were cablecast between 1989 and 1999 on Comedy Central and the Sci-Fi Channel.Rhino started issuing selected episodes on DVD in 2000, reaching Volume 12 in 2007 before Shout! Factory took over the project.The series is now up to Volume 40.Clarification: There is no actual “Volume 40”. It is simply called “The Singles Collection” Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Singles CollectionShout has also continued to reissue the old Rhino Volumes - up to Volume 9 so far.At the current rate, the three remaining Rhino volumes should all be reissued on Shout before 2019 is ended.NOW BACK TO THE ORIGINAL REASON FOR THIS REVIEW:HOORAY!MST3K Volumes VIII and IX are back in print.SHOUT VOLUME VIII is a reissue of Rhino Volume 8 from 2005SHOUT VOLUME IX is a reissue of Rhino Volume 9 from 2006The old Rhino volumes were out-of-print and expensive.Bonus features: Vol. VIII has newly recorded interviews with the creators of Monster a Go-Go, The Dead Talk Back and Hobgoblins.Shout has an additional advantage:Unlike Rhino, the Shout DVDs have closed captioning (not the same as SDH subtitles - see the end of this review for an explanation).Episodes 104, 207 and 421 are from the Joel Robinson era.Episodes 603, 613, 812, 902 and 907 are from the Mike Nelson era:VOLUME VIII -- 421 Monster a Go-Go (photo 1: Satellite of Love cheese factory)-- 603 The Dead Talk Back (photo 2: Tribute to the Grateful Dead)-- 902 The Phantom Planet (photo 3: Mike takes a space walk)-- 907 Hobgoblins (photo 4)-- shorts: ‘Circus on Ice’ and ‘Selling Wizard’VOLUME IX (release on January 15, 2019: Mystery Science Theater 3000: Volume IX )-- 104 Women of the Prehistoric Planet + introduction by actress Irene Tsu-- 207 Wild Rebels-- 613 The Sinister Urge + introduction by actor Conrad Brooks-- 812 Incredibly Strange Creatures Who Stopped Living and Became Mixed-Up Zombies. This is the third DVD release of this episode. In addition to Rhino Volume 9, it was released as a Shout single in 2011 (now due for deletion).-- short: ‘Keeping Clean and Neat’YET TO COME:VOLUME X-- 402 Giant Gila Monster-- 503 Swamp Diamonds-- 514 Teen-Age Strangler-- 810 Giant Spider Invasion-- shorts: What to Do on a Date, Is This Love?VOLUME XI206 Ring of Terror409 Indestructible Man414 Tormented1011 Horrors of Spider Island-- shorts: Phantom Creeps Chapter 3, Undersea Kingdom Chapter 2VOLUME XII419 Rebel Set504 Secret Agent Super Dragon612 Starfighters811 Parts: Clonus Horror-- short: Johnny at the FairIn addition to the episodes collected in 40 Volumes, there are four episodes currently only available from Shout as individual DVDs:-- 424: Mystery Science Theater 3000: Manos The Hands Of Fate: two-disc set with a bonus disc that was not on Rhino-- 515: Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Wild World of Bat Woman-- 517: Mystery Science Theater 3000: Beginning of the End-- 619: Mystery Science Theater 3000: Red Zone CubaIt would be convenient if Shout was to collect these four episodes into a five-disc set (Volume 41?), but I have no inside information.COMPLETE LISTS:When Volume XII is re-released by Shout! Factory, the project will finally be complete (except of course for the 14 episodes withheld by weasels).For a chronological list of all 176 episodes, plus an alphabetical list, see Comment One (click on "Sort by Oldest")CLOSED CAPTIONING:Shout! Factory never publicized this, but in 2015 they started issuing DVDs with Closed Captioning (not the same as SDH Subtitles)It was first used in Volume 30.MST3K Volumes 1-9 and 30-39 + The Singles Collection have Closed Captioning.“Closed Captioning” is a forty year-old technology devised for broadcast television.In order to see the closed captioning, press the “Captioning” or “CC?” button on your TELEVISION'S remote control while the disc is playing.One major problem:Closed Captioning will not work if your DVD or Blu-Ray player is connected to the TV using the preferred modern method of HDMI cable.It will only work with the older three plug (red-white-yellow) cable (or with ancient 75 ohm coaxial cable).--- “English SDH Subtitles” were developed specifically for DVD.When you load the disc, the Disc Menu gives you the option of Subtitles, or you can press the “Subtitle” button on your DVD PLAYER'S remote control.SDH Subtitles are superior technology, but Closed Captioning is better than nothing.Closed Captioning is not fool-proof.My favorite blooper was in Prince of Space (Volume 7):“Pith Helmet” was closed captioned as “Piss Helmet” [@ 20:41 into the DVD.]IN ADDITION:-- There was also a theatrical movie, dating from the Mike Nelson era:Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie (BluRay/DVD Combo) [Blu-ray (Amazon's reviews are hopelessy screwed up.)-- The series was revived by Netflix in 2017 with a mostly new cast: Mystery Science Theater 3000: Season Eleven [Blu-ray]FOURTEEN EPISODES OF MST3K: UNAVAILABLE DUE TO WEASELS201 - Rocketship X-M212 - Godzilla vs. Megalon *213 - Godzilla vs. the Sea Monster309 - The Amazing Colossal Man311 - It Conquered the World416 - Fire Maidens of Outer Space418 - Attack of the The Eye Creatures807 - Terror from the Year 5000809 - I Was a Teenage Werewolf905 - The Deadly Bees906 - The Space Children910 - The Final Sacrifice **913 - Quest of the Delta Knights1001 - Soultaker **** Godzilla vs. Megalon was briefly on DVD, but withdrawn for legal reasons** The Final Sacrifice used to be in Volume XVII but was withdrawn in October 2018.*** Soultaker used to be in Volume XIV but was withdrawn in October 2018.