Ever wanted to write a scholarly paper on MST3K? Robert Weiner, humanities librarian at Texas Tech University, may have your opportunity.
He writes:

Call For Papers–Mystery Science Theater 3000
Collection of Academic Writings.
I am putting together a book that looks at MST and its cultural implication, the Internet and the creation of similar shows (Rifftrax and Cinematic Titanic) by former MST people, who have kept the spirit of MST alive.
Any topic will be considered. Please note this will be a scholarly collection. Essays should be 5,000-9,000 words in length (including endnotes and bibliography). Please email me if you have any questions.
Date for abstracts is October, 2009, but I can start taking them now. Final articles are due January, 2010. It’s just a book so we should really just relax.
Rob.weiner@ttu.edu
Rweiner5@sbcglobal.net

This a personal project of Robert’s and is not being done under the auspices of Texas Tech. Robert tells us he already has a publisher. Satellite News is not involved in the project.

This weekend’s thread comes in the form of a request for your help. Jordan Fields, director of acquisitions at Shout! Factory, has agreed to be the subject of our next “20 questions” feature. Jordan has a long history with MST3K:

A former screenwriter, Fields started at Shout! Factory in 2004 in the production department. In 2005, he moved to Rhino Entertainment as acquisitions manager, where his responsibilities included product managing their MST3K releases. In 2007, he went back to Shout! Factory as director of acquisitions and worked to bring MST3K distribution rights there. He works closely with DVD producer Brian Ward on their MST3K releases and helped engineer the MST3K reunion at last year’s San Diego Comic-Con.

Jordan has been at the heart of the decision-making process for MST3K on home video for quite some time, and looks to be at the heart of it for quite some time to come. So, what do you think we should ask him?