h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

I noticed in one of those impossibly long forums somewhere or other you were looking for the radio series in any format, and I don't know if you already heard this, since the thread was too long to digest in one sitting, but you can freely buy it on CD (and tape) at the BBC shops in London. That's where I got mine, at least.

Also, I think the BBC online shop (don't know the URL) and Amazon.co.uk sell them, but one of them doesn't ship out of the country. And now I can't remember which.

You're probably best off sending someone friendly in London to the BBC Shop to buy them for you and mail 'em out.

Confusing, yes. Helpful, perhaps. Hope it helps in one way or another.

But where would I find a kind english soul to help a yank w****r such as myself? =)

Aren't there any in the Yahoo club? If hrungdisaster is the same hrungdisaster I know, he's near London. Ask 'im, and tell him I sent you.

Actually I may wait till the end of the week when I get my next paycheck. I've spent a bit too much money this week on MST3K videos.

FYI--They cost £15 each and there's two of 'em, each with 3 CDs. Quite a good deal, really. They were a tiny bit hard to find (I had to go to 2 stores to find another copy for a friend), but they're out there.

I ran into a couple copies of the comic book/graphic novel for Hitch Hiker's Guide to the Galaxy yesterday when I was looking for Sandman's "the Kindly Ones." Almost bought the Guide graphic novel but then I realized MY GOD! IT'S THE *SAME* STORY! AGAIN! I flipped through the pages and the only really neat thing about it was that Marvin looked REAL COOL. The art was okay but the story had very little difference from previous incarnations. Not much creativity to it, really. It just regurgitated previous versions of the story without contributing more to it, like other reincarnations of the tale have done.

Twenty bucks for what appeared to be two issues of a standard comic book bound together. For the same price the Sandman graphic novels are five to seven issues a piece. Didn't take long to make that choice.

However the radio series is different. It STARTED with the radio series, so I do want a copy of that. Friday or Saturday I'll be able to juggle my finances and find out whether or not I've choked myself on Tom Servo too much this week to find a Londoner and beg. =)

I found the comic books in New Zealand about 4 years ago. I was too stupid (and too broke) to buy them then, and I've been rather upset about it since.
Good luck finding a Londoner to get it for you. I saved the time and just went there. Of course, now I'm broke, so there's a tradeoff of sorts.

The HHGG is available thro' the BBC Radio Collection. I recently found copies of another series from old time steam radio called 'Journey into Space' which I snapped up in a fit of nostalgia. [it's not catching].
HHGG is listed as being available on tape in the cover blurb [doesn't mention CDs though]. They mention a catalogue available by sending a 'large SAE' to BBC Radio Collection, Room A3132, BBC Worldwide, Woodlands, 80 Wood Lane, London W12 OTT.
To order direct phone Video Plus Direct on 0181 576 2236. Strangely they don't mention a Website though I know they've got one. There was also a BBC TV series which I taped and still have around somewhere only trouble is you cant quite get 6 x half hour programs onto a 3 hour tape, consequently the crucial bit at the end is missing.
Anyway, I live in London and if I would be pleased to help if required.

www.amazon.co.uk sell it and they'll ship internationally, as usual their site is down at the moment. But I'll fish out the exact address when they're back up again.

Primary Phase
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0563389745/o/qid=930349492/sr=2-3/026-0449482-9590857

Secondary Phase
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/0563389796/o/qid=930349492/sr=2-2/026-0449482-9590857

Hope that helps.

Thanks everybody. I have already gone to Amazon.uk and even ordered it. However, when I read the details I learned that even though they ship internationally, you HAVE to get a money order that is drawn from a BRITISH bank. Getting a money order drawn on a British bank would be MORE difficult than trying to find someone from England to buy it for me and I just ship them the funds or.. well heck my FUNDS will still be american money. I don't see any way to pull this off.

Didn't Austin Morris say he (she? sorry for guessing ) would be willing to help?

I enquired with the BBC reference today [Monday-not open weekends]. They have the programs on CD. delivery is quoted as 1 to 2 weeks.
I haven't heard the original radio series myself so I ordered a copy for myself which I can pass on if you want, or whatever.
Yes, I'd be happy to help. Its a 'he' by the way.

If Austin bought a copy and sent it to me, I would STILL have to find some way to convert my money to british currency so I could pay him back. Same problem I have with amazon.uk. What's a check for american dollars gonna do for Austin?

I thank you for your kindness Austin, but I'm right back where I started. It would be much easier if the radio shows were available here in the states but I can't seem to find them.

Just call the bank and order some Pounds. The exchange rate will suck, but they'll be able to get them within a few days.
Or, if you don't want to wait, you could call AmEx or Thomas Cook. They have currency-exchange stuff also, and they may have them available sooner.

Well, Ant's having some cookie difficulties, so he couldn't tell you this himself, but he e-mailed me to let you know: Amazon.co.uk will take your credit card, which'll automatically convert to pounds so you don't need to worry about exchanging currency and stuff.
Kinda puts Austin's kind offer out, though.
Good luck, however it turns out.

I don't have credit cards. Don't believe in the things. Give me a few days to sort out my finances and see if I can afford it this paycheck. =) Thanks for the help gang.

Hi ZachsMind! I love to disrupt the order of forums, so let me go back to something I saw earlier in this thread - MST3K! How many tapes do you own? Have you been buying them through Rhino? I have purchased a few, but I taped most of mine (90+ episodes) off of Comedy Central and Sci-Fi. Unfortunately the quality is not that great, since I taped them in EP to save money (and space on the video wall). I have thought about trading tapes with others, but that would involve getting my two VCR's to talk to each other (they aren't speaking right now).

I'm sad the show is ending, even if the quality has slipped a bit of late. I'm also sad my cable company pulled Sci-Fi so I'm missing the last season. MST3K is a great show that never quite got the attention it deserved, possibly because of the two hour format, the lack of support from the cable channels that show it, etc.

I just want to know how they got paid to do the same thing we all do at home for free.

Sorry to interrupt. Back to the radio series (which I want to grab a copy of as well - maybe I'll try that credit card thing).

Zachsmind,

I have both the HHGTTG radioshow and BBC TV show. The radio programmes are on 6 audio cassettes, and the TV show is on 2 VHS cassettes (what happened to betamax?) I live in England, and both are very widely available. If i can help you at all jst give us a yell.

And while I'm at it, does anyone know where i can get the book of the radio plays, it is out of print here!

I think you should change your name to "TV's Frink" just to confuse people.

I own approximately a dozen or so tapes now. Don't have them in front of me. They're the Rhinos. I'm in agreement with many on the 'Net who are into this trading thing. The ones that are being distributed via Rhino should not be 'circulated' because it's illegal. Granted, technically circulating any of them by duping videotapes is illegal. However, if the networks get their way the show itself will disappear into obscurity in a few years if true fans do not keep the faith alive. I question the relevancy of copyright infringement laws as they apply to MST3K. Perhaps they need to be revisited. Well, that would start a whole 'nother diatribe right there.

I think at present my collection includes Pod People, Mitchell, Angel's Revenge, The Creeping Hand, Eegah!, The Brain That Wouldn't Die, I Accuse My Parents, Red Zone Cuba, the Atomic Brain, the Shorts tape, the Poopie outtakes tape, and This Island Earth (MST3K's theatrical release). I also have part of Invasion of the Neptune People and the last twenty minutes of The Undead on tape, recorded from a broadcast. I still don't know how I did that. I think I taped the Undead in its entirety, then accidently taped Neptune People over it, stopping it before the end of the show for some unknown reason. I'll be taping over that soon as I get my VCR fixed. I may have other MST3K's recorded too, but haven't uncovered them in my myriad collection of once-blank tapes that now contain programs I'll never watch again.

Oh, and a friend recently made a copy of three of the old KTMA episodes for me. Not good quality though. I don't have anything suitable for trading with people. I'm working with a couple traders to aquire some good quality copies in SP mode that I might be able to dupe for others.

For the first four seasons of MST3K's existence, they had "KEEP CIRCULATING THE TAPES!" emblazoned at the end of the credits. They don't do that anymore because their lawyers feared potential legal trouble. However, in the early days of MST3K since no one was publicizing their existence, the circulation of the tapes was part of a massive word-of-mouth campaign that kept the series alive early on its career. The Best Brains people saw that and responded to it, but legalities prevent them from launching a new publicity campaign of that nature again.

I think in the end we'll learn what really killed MST3K was legalities. Scifi channel claims that ratings killed MST3K. The truth is the ratings weren't all that bad. They weren't great but they weren't bad. However, the show's ratings would have to repeatedly go through the roof to validate the headaches that the show causes Scifi Channel's legal and accounting departments.

Don't believe me? Let me explain.

Every time - and I mean EVERY time - an episode of MST3K is broadcast anywhere, the company that broadcasted it has to pay certain fees not only to the Best Brains guys, but ALSO to whatever company or person owns the rights to whatever movie MST3K lampoons that episode.

Somebody somewhere actually makes money every time MST3K's hazing of "Manos: Hands of Fate" is broadcast. Believe it or not. Think about that. Hurts the head, don'it?

So Scifi (and Comedy Central before that) may sometimes find itself paying twice as much as it would pay for any other program to be broadcast. I can't verify this, but I think in the end this is the reason why networks don't want to touch the show. It's too expensive, and comes with too much red tape.

As for your cable company pulling Scifi channel, I don't blame them. Your cable company has good taste. They're fast losing me as a regular viewer. Not just because they dumped MST3K, but because they insist on playing other shows that are not scifi oriented. I wouldn't MIND that if the shows were actually good. Sightings, Poltergeist, and Wonder Woman are all classic examples.

The Twilight Zone is pretty much the only thing that keeps bringing me back to Scifi Channel.