Joel Hodgson, Creator of Mystery Science Theater 3000, Announces Kickstarter to #BringBackMST3K For a New Generation
For more than 25 years, the award-winning comedy television series Mystery Science Theater 3000 has been known as one of the best cult TV shows in history. The story of a human host and his robot sidekicks, trapped aboard a satellite and forced to watch cheesy movies by his captor, MST3K has maintained its reputation thanks largely to its fervently devoted fan base, known as MSTies. This morning, Joel Hodgson, creator and former host of the beloved show, announced that he is turning to the fans to bring back Mystery Science Theater 3000 for a new generation.
“I don’t think there’s ever been a show more dependent on its fans than Mystery Science Theater 3000,” Hodgson says. “Twenty-five years ago, we asked our fans to ‘Keep Circulating The Tapes’ and sharing MST3K with their friends and family to help the show find its audience. Now, I’m hoping the fans will join me again to “Keep Circulating the URL” of our Kickstarter, so that we can bring MST3K back to life for a new generation.”
Through Kickstarter, Hodgson hopes to raise at least $2 million – enough to make three brand new, feature length episodes – with an ultimate goal of raising the $5.5. million needed to make a full season of twelve episodes. While Hodgson will be involved in writing and all facets of production of the new series, the new episodes will feature a new host, new Mads and of course, new cheesy movies to riff.
To contribute to the campaign and for updates, visit www.bringbackmst3k.com, and follow MST3K on Facebook (facebook.com/MST3K), Twitter (@MST3K) and Instagram (@MST3K).
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The Reboot Moves Forward. Step One: Crowdfunding.Here’s the press release:
332 Replies to “The Reboot Moves Forward. Step One: Crowdfunding.”Commenting at Satellite News
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And don’t forget the fact that they have to get licenses for movies themselves. At CC and SciFi they had access to a library.
Mike just posted to Facebook that he is not part of the relaunch. Which makes total sense, he has his own gig now. But it does make me wonder if Joel’s “original cast is invited” is a literal statement and the people that joined up later aren’t invited.
Trace and Frank have said on Twitter that they are not involved with this relaunch either.
There’s a difference between being invited and already having a deal in place. I did go read Mike’s FB post though, and he doesn’t seem to leave too much interpretation there that he won’t be in it even as a cameo. Kind of a bummer.
I’m sure the door is open to Mike, etc., but like you said, he’s got his own gig so I wouldn’t see him jumping on. But I do hope for some cameos, maybe he’ll change his mind, too.
It makes sense now, because the only cameos Joel ever referred to were “Mad Scientists.” Oh well.
Is this a reboot or a rebot?
Somehow, Susan Hart seems like a much more reasonable foe than Jim Mallon… ;-)
MST-4K!!! In glorious 3D!
I think the idea is that no one but Joel is at the moment. He wants to get the funding, and then approach alumni to take their temperature about contributing. That’s my reading, anyway.
I am sure we’ll get a ton of answers during the Reddit IAMA chat.
I can’t wait! This will only unite us old timers! I like Joel! Well, I like Mike! Well, I like the new guy! (First two): You like the new guy?!
lmao this is gonna be great!
Same with Josh & Mike. Getting sadder.
I’ve been keeping a tab open to the page to just check in. Should be up to $500k in a few hours. Mitchell!
Replies from Mike on Twitter indicate that he just hasn’t been asked and it isn’t up to him. My guess is that Joel is concentrating on funding the new show and asking the old cast if they want to be involved would be putting the cart before the horse.
I agree. Everyone is waiting to see how the crowdfunding pans out. From my vantage point, it’s panning out pretty well. Nearly $500K in half of the first day! :-)
Yeah, I wouldn’t be too concerned about who from the original cast is involved just yet. Let’s see what happens once Joel gets the money in his pocket.
I would be much more nervous if there had been nothing like MST3K around for the last 15 years. However, Joel (yes with some of the others) ran Cinematic Titantic and I think they had some excellent episodes. Excellent writing. And Rifftrax is not written solely by Mike, Kevin and Bill in fact they probably don’t do MOST of the writing.
I also think back to as the show transitioned between casts and networks, and as fans we questioned would the show “lose it”, and when you look back in hindsight you realize it never really did.
I geniuninely think they can put out a funny “new” iteration of MST3K and make it work. Will it feel different and “off”, probably so, but it won’t change the less than 200 episodes already out there.
Oh and I put up $100. If they get close to a larger volume of episodes, I’ll up it to $200 to get the Blu-Ray. (I think there’s little chance they don’t hit the low mark – getting to $5.5 million might be a stretch.
Awesome news. Glad Joel is doing this, but I’m disappointed he isn’t going to be the star again. We love the show because of the cast, not just the concept. There are plenty of other MST3K type projects out there with fans doing riffs, but it always comes off as second-rate.
Overall, though, I’m just glad Joel is in control of this again. It’s been a long long time coming
I’d like to know who’s writing and hosting before I put money up.
Joel: “I’ve already talked with the actors I’d like to bring onto the show as the next host and the next Mad…I’ll introduce you to the next Crow and Servo, too. “.
https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/3sbhp7/i_am_joel_hodgson_of_mystery_science_theater_3000/cwvqw0w
Hasn’t seen this mentioned yet:
http://variety.com/2015/tv/news/mystery-science-theater-3000-shout-factory-new-season-1201637585/
I’d like to chip in, but I won’t be able to help out too much. This seems like a really bad time of year for this kind of thing, a lot of people’s disposable incomes are going to the holidays.
Anyway, I think it’s a great idea, even with an all-new cast. Like others above, I really hope Joel is the new Mad.
Although, I was actually hoping for some new bots.
Wow Shout Factory bought MST3K? That’s really interesting.
It’s a shame they apparently couldn’t get someone like Netflix or Hulu to just revive the show based on its quality and fan demand Arrested Development style instead of having to shop it but still, extremely exciting news and hope this works out. I’d like to see more involvement from the old cast though at some point.
I find that a bit concerning. When MST3K was being sold to HBO for the Comedy Channel, BBI made it a point to maintain the rights, so they could remain independent and in the hands of the writers/performers.
I like Shout, but who knows what the future holds? They could get bought by Comcast or something.
And what of Joel, Kevin and Trace? Will they still get residuals?
“Weird things a-goin’, weird things a-comin’, weird things a-doin’ … around here!”
Yes, lots of interesting developments today! It goes without saying that I’m in on Joel’s Kickstarter campaign, and I’m cautiously optimistic about Shout acquiring MST3K, too; after all, they’ve been taking good care of it on DVD. Perhaps this will make it easier to go after the movie licenses that we always thought would be impossible to clear. It sounds like they have much bigger plans than just putting out more DVD sets, although I certainly hope they continue to do that.
I don’t think that’s accurate. On the live shows they list the writers and it’s usually Mike, Bill and Kevin along with Conor and one or two others. Hardly a huge writing stuff, but they’re a big chunk of it.
I certainly hope Joel’s Kickstarter is successful, and I hope this new iteration of MST3K is as funny as the first. But I suspect that even if that is the case, I may not like it much simply because I have been out of the pop culture loop for about a decade and have no desire to jump back in. Any riffs that are directed at the movie itself I’d enjoy, but in all likelihood the external pop culture riffs will go right over my head. My enjoyment will probably be determined by the ratio of the former to the latter. Still, I’m looking forward to giving the new version a try.
That Captain Cab guy said:
“I’d like to see more involvement from the old cast though at some point.”
Missed Joel’s answer on this, assorted folks from the original cast will be helping with some of the writing and some cameos, OK, that is cool. I’m mellow with that Ben Murphy style. Just give me heaping helpings of Frank when ya can, and don’t just limit us to “trace amounts” of Trace for cryin’ out loud! :p I wanna see everyone show up at some point, Josh, Mary Jo, Mike, Bill, Kevin, come on.
I think I’ll keep my money, 12 episodes is nothing, that’s what we got from Cinematic Titanic and after episode 7 it degenerated into live show format. Another thing, Streaming is not gonna work for me, you either get it on television, put it on DVD or you put it up for download as an ISO file like Rifftrax.
I just don’t believe that if this gets funded it will be easy enough to obtain or will last. After my disappointment over Cinematic Titanic I’ll have no part in resurrecting MST3K. I hope I’m wrong I just don’t think this is a good idea. It would be better if Joel and the gang just went and riffed over at Rifftrax.
Like I said I hope I’m wrong and this thing is just as good as the original and takes off.
I’m in.
Shout! Factory now owns the rights to MST3K, so Joel now has one hell of a great backer. This new iteration of the show could go on for quite some time. Now that Joel has his creative freedom back, I believe he’s going to make this reboot work.
It’s hard to say …although I’m amazed some of the naysayer posts here have garnered the up-vote tallies they have(?! seriously?)
I mean, it would be one thing had BB simply sold off the entire franchise to another group wanting to take it over, and attempt to cash-in with a lackluster retread of the original, but that’s definitely not the course of things Joel and Co have outlined.
My wife (then gf) and I stumbled onto MST back in the early ’90s when we got our first apt together, and the show has remained a constant for me throughout the yrs …will this new version, however spectacular it may turn out to be, ever fully encompass what the original does for me?
Honestly, no.
But that’s irrelevant, as I’ll tune in nonetheless because the original creator is behind the effort(!!!) and I’ll take comfort knowing that a new gen of Misties will be on board, enjoying the new and discovering the old. Looking forward to seeing how this unfolds!
So if I’m understanding the Variety article correctly, Shout was able to convince Jim to sell the last of his rights to the show and he no longer owns any of the controlling rights to the brand whatsoever(finally), correct?
Also, I’m not nervous about Shout owning the show, they have gone above and beyond with making the DVD sets and extras top notch, they clearly have deep respect for the show and its fans. I think we’re in good hands here. Maybe we can finally get a special set of the KTMA eps and all the other goodies in the basement.
The Kickstarter rewards mention: pre-loaded USB flash drives, DVD & Blu-Ray sets. Heck, if you pledge $250, you’ll get a VHS tape that you won’t watch. With Shout! as the new owner of the IP, why would you think it won’t be available on DVD?
Not sure how I feel about this. Don’t get me wrong, I love MST3K as much as one person can love a TV show. But without Mike and the others that made it so great, I just don’t know.
Oh great, another cast and crew for ericj to troll about…… :pain:
But who cares!
I’m in!!! :yes: :chicken: :bunny: :pirate: :skywalker: :party:
Yeah, that’s a concern of mine, too. There’s no way Joel & co. is going to have the freedom they did with the original show if they sell it to a network. Even if they film all the episodes first & try to get them on the air (which I don’t see happening), the networks will want to make changes. Seems like Netflix or Hulu would be safer bets, or just stick to digital downloads (which I’m sure Rifftrax would be more than happy to help out with).
It’s clearly a joke; I wouldn’t read too much into it. We don’t need to jump to the conclusion that Jim is always the bad guy.
Ah, that would reconcile the claim that Jim sold his stake with the fact that he’s still the CEO of PCI (the former BBI): PCI no longer owns MST3K.
Here’s a wild idea: don’t watch. Not watching the new episodes should work out to be remarkably similar to them never existing, for you. That way, you pretty much get your wish, and everybody else gets to check out the new episodes, just on the off chance that they won’t suck. Ta daa!
Everybody’s over reading the AMA right now, right?
I expect it’ll all get summarized on the main page pretty soon, but a couple of highlights so far:
Joel breaks down the budget for that first $2M
He also states that the new Mad will be “the new Mad will be the offspring of Dr. Clayton Forrester, and the grandchild of Pearl Forrester” — the gender-neutral choice of words has people speculating that it will be a woman.
He also states that, while they’ll still mostly be doing old movies, some more recent ones might get in there too. He also mentioned DRM-free episode downloads for everyone who contributes at least $100; no word yet on whether those will be available piecemeal after they’re released, but I’m guessing they probably will.
Same.
Went through the AMA so far, here’s my summary of Joel’s answers:
* Joel wants to stick to more obscure b-movies, but at the same time wants to look for films that are more appealing to watch (kind of like when they went for “This Island Earth” for MST3K: The Movie). While they may do more recent B-movies, he wants to do films that aren’t really known by there public much (so a film like “The Room” likely wouldn’t be used).
* Joel wants to keep a low-budget homemade feel like the old series, but at the same time amp special effects.
* The show will likely be filmed in Los Angeles, and many people from various areas of the country are working on writing, props, etc. (probably one of the reasons why they need so much money to fund these).
* Some TV executives have already noticed the Kickstarter project and are already calling up Joel about running the new shows. I’m hoping these air on a channel i actually get.
* Joel considered his cameo being a fellow Mad for one or two episodes (which was suggested here originally).
* The invention exchange segment may not return. As Joel felt the segment made viewers wait too long to get to the actual riffing.
* Joel has invited everyone of the original cast and crew to take part at any time whenever they want to.
* While casting the new hosts, Joel made sure to ask if they could sing. The new host told Joel, “I’ve got it covered. I’ve heard YOU sing.”
Well, so much for “Going up in flames”… :)
Apart from the legal messes, it’s clear that it’s easier to do the show if you stay in one place. (Although judging from CT, having an occasional live audience helps, as the “Underground bunker” idea got a bit stale on the CT videos, didn’t really have any reason to do host-seg breaks, and brought up old Film Crew traumas).
Also, the Joel half of the series understood that the show needs Mads–Somebody has to force our heroes to watch the movies, which was lost a bit in all the self-conscious Pearl & Bobo goofiness of the Sci-Fi series, that didn’t really make it clear why they were watching the movies in the first place. Which gives the riffing the idea of “surviving” the movie, and unlike the Mike years, we don’t hear the characters whine about how the movie is wasting their time, belch “C’mon, movie, get to the good stuff!”, and literally snicker at their own jokes.
(Which unfortunately, with an entire generation that grew up on the Hip Self-Amusing Aryan Guy, has also been kind of lost if all the press statements are comparing MST3K to “Hate viewing”–Some of the current new RiffTraxers seem to have the same “Punishment by the Hip” confusion. I grew up on real audience riffing, at the Brookline, MA Coolidge Corner theater every February vacation, it was about banding together for survival for the light at the end of a two-hour tunnel, and it don’t work unless you WANT to be in the theater in the first place.)
Which leaves just the two questions of:
1) “There’s a place for us…”–Where? The CURRENT Comedy Central? The current Sci-Fi? (No, wait, RT already did the Sharknado movies.)
2) New Mads? A female one, maybe? Let’s hope they get the idea this time, and don’t go all New Monkees/New Munsters on us. I’m already having to deal with Netflix’s Danger Mouse revival thinking he needed a female character in the series.
I think they write a good deal of the live shows. I think they write a lot less of their streaming releases. Not saying they are not involved, but not sure they are as heavily involved as they were at MST3K.
Friendly reminder: We can all just ignore EricJ.
This is the last I will be speaking of him.
(Hey, how about that, I was right after all! Do I get a cookie?) :)
What are you basing this claim on?
I don’t have a problem at all with the idea of new cast and new writers.
15 years after George Lucas finished the first Star Wars Trilogy, we were all so excited that he came back and cranked out more movies from him and only him. How did THAT work out?
I like the idea that Joel and probably some of the other guys will be involved behind the scenes. I’m also happy to have “new blood”, and willing to give the show a chance.
As far as the money goes – the problem is that TV / Studio executives are notoriously risk averse. DVD sales of old episodes are one thing – but they need to see the support of the public behind this show to get it on the air. What better way to do that than with a kickstarter. I really think the idea is to fund the first 12 episodes, and then to get a studio on board to front the cost of the future episodes.