Hmm, I have a thought on this...
I notice this is a very low ranked episode of MST3K, And there's some grumbling that Rhino has it released on DVD, I think I might know why it's out. Assuming I have the release dates in the right order, that is. Okay, so this is a clip show, in relevance with the bots sick in the opening, and Joel giving them the vapor that causes flashbacks. I think Tom's flashback is to Season 1, 106, The Crawling Hand, RELEASED ON DVD BY RHINO. Maybe since this has a clip of a Rhino released episode, they needed to release this in accordance with it.
*grabs microphone* DEEP HURTING! DEEP HURTING!