The big news:
Season 11 will be carried on Netflix.
Production news:
The panel revealed never-before-seen concept art and a sneak peak at the evolved version of the show’s-iconic “door sequence.” We’ll post video when we can.
Casting announcements:
Bill Corbett joins Season 11 to write and will have a guest appearance as his character “Brain Guy.”
Kevin Murphy will make a guest appearance in Season 11 as his character “Professor Bobo.”
Mary Jo Pehl will join Season 11 to write and for a guest appearance as her character “Pearl Forrester.”
John Jurgensen of the Wall Street Journal has a story…
The Netflix media center has a release…
Katie Rife at the A.V. Club has a story…
Crave Online interviewed Joel, Jonah Ray, Baron Vaughn and Hampton Yount:
They also interviewed Felicia Day:
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None of the details have been announced yet, but I think realistically, Netflix is probably going to have a 60 or 90 day window of exclusivity on the overall season before we receive our Blu-Rays or digital episodes – especially if they decide to release one episode per week, which is what I hope they actually decide to do. It’s not a show that lends itself to binge watching and I’m sure that the fanbase would appreciate a slow trickle so that the new episodes could be enjoyed communally and we don’t have people with less on their plates talking about episode 10 when busier people are still on the 2nd or 3rd episode. In a way, the bright side is that this could be a good way to force the MST community into watching the show at the same pace – maybe not good if you feel impatient or entitled, but it would be cool to see people bonding over the same episodes at the same time.
That being said, I could see the Kickstarters getting the first episode in digital format at the same time the show premieres on Netflix as an olive branch of sorts to tide everyone over. This is also good business for Netflix because it offers MSTies a free taste of the show (that yes, they have already paid for)
I personally look at the idea of watching it on Netflix first as a “kickstarter” for a potential season 12. Maybe that’s easy to say as a current Netflix subscriber, but if people watch it, they will make more of them, that’s how this stuff works. We are getting our nice shiny box sets or digital files in exchange for our Kickstarter donations soon, but the people paying the bills going forward won’t see that translate into views for the show that they now have the rights to. The only way to vote for a renewal is to press play at their streaming service. If only it was so easy back in the CC/SciFi days!
I think for the more pragmatic fan that normally wouldn’t subscribe to Netflix and doesn’t want another ongoing bill, pick up one of those $30 Netflix gift cards at Target or Amazon which will get you 3 months of Netflix. If they choose to release one episode per week, episode 14 will debut 91 days after the first episode. Sub a few days after the first episode premieres (especially easy if they give that one to us ahead of time) and you get to see the whole thing for $30 and hopefully guarantee even more episodes.
This is all conjecture about how things will play out, but this is how I’d personally be doing it if I wasn’t already a subscriber. PS – Everyone should be watching Stranger Things on Netflix as well, its the best nod to 80s Spielberg scifi I’ve ever seen. If you don’t want to pay $10 or $30 to see MST3K, watch this too.
The financial cost of pragmatism varies from person to person. For me, the fact that I contributed over $200 during the Kickstarter campaign makes me feel as though I shouldn’t have to pay anything extra at all to see each new episode as soon as its available. Ideally, if Joel and Shout! cannot provide us the digital download for each episode as it “airs,” then maybe some kind of Netflix special access code should be provided to those of us who paid for those downloads.
Sure, that makes sense, I’m on the hook for $200 too. If I wasn’t doing it already, I’d be happy to pay for a subscription to bring the total to $230 for say, 27 episodes altogether as opposed to $200 for just 14 if that can help guarantee that another season happens a year later.
I mentioned it before, but I really hope Netflix leverages the slow trickle approach, forcing the community into watching these “the right way” as a traditionally structured season – giving each episode some time to simmer so everyone gets to focus on the same thing for awhile. I would love to just get the box set, but on further reflection, the box set infodump approach kills the feel of everyone watching the same thing at roughly the same time, making it fall prey to the concept of instant gratification, but making it instantly forgettable too. Let me watch an episode, then watch the same one again a day or two later to get all the stuff I missed the first time instead of trying to scramble to watch all of them at once to keep up with the Jones’
G R Robertson #88: If Crow and Tom are still living with Mike there’s always Timechasers Crow working at the Cheese factory to be the ‘new’ Crow although they still need another Tom. Its just a show I should relax.
There are multiple Tom Servos out there. Remember that he jettisoned them all in the Sci Fi finale episode. Perhaps we should have a Weekend Discussion where we theorize about how Tom, Crow, and Gypsy were recaptured and sent back up into orbit by Gizmonics. You hear that, Sampo? I realize that you used one of my suggestions for the previous Weekend Discussion, but it’s one that I believe should be used ASAP.
Dan in WI #92: At this point with the Mary Jo and Bill as writers announcement I have to assume there is going to be a bunch of home writing (in the vein of Rifftrax or the former Cinematic Titanic) going on given their geographic locations. I’m not sure if that is a good or bad thing. I guess it works for Rifftrax or Cinematic Titanic but I do romanticize the old school writing room
It’s not like it would be any different from the original run. That’s how the Contributing Writers did it.
I think if anything, the Kickstarter people who paid for the episodes should get them before Netflix if anything. Same time as Netflix I could live with, but I would feel taken advantage of if Netflix has any exclusivity on these episodes at all. Kickstarter backers should be treated better than the general public, at worst the same. And I agree with others that I hope they release the episodes weekly and not all at once, although I wouldn’t be surprised to see the opposite since releasing everything at once has been Netflix’s MO since they’ve been making shows.
I don’t see how us Kickstarter contributors getting all of the episodes immediately is going to affect Netflix. There must be new fans who didn’t contribute to the Kickstarter who might subscribe to Netflix for MST3K. Then there are fans who already have Netflix and then everyone else who has Netflix and may check out season 11 after all the buzz it’s now getting.
They do: Hulu started out as all Public Domain back when they were just a website, when we thought everyone would be watching streaming on our desktop computers.
Then the Roku came along, the website became HuluPlus, started offering TV reruns, made those big deals with Criterion and the Weinsteins, built themselves up as Everyone’s Favorite Network-TV Binge-Watching Channel, and…forgot they still actually had a movie section put any other actual-studio movies in there. (I’ve seen some actual movies, like a couple of 007’s, show up there nowadays, but the keyword is “random”.)
The food/legalization/conspiracy documentaries are there because the struggling self-producers need someone to show them, which is true of pretty much all the big three services. Although Netflix doesn’t have to rely on them, as long as there’s still K-drama, gay romances and telenovelas.
Netflix’s specialty at this point is producing and streaming original content that they essentially have a monopoly over for a period of time. I agree that from the Kickstarter perspective it kind of sucks, but I know they will want untainted consumption data to deal with in order to make a decision about future seasons of the show. You look at something like Trailer Park Boys, Mr. Show or Arrested Development, Netflix has done a very good job of providing a second life for cult classics. I’m sure a bunch of contributing Kickstarters have Netflix anyways so who knows how much it matters.
In the case of a cult classic like MST3K, yes, there are probably some fans who probably didn’t contribute to the Kickstarter, but not THAT many. If 90% of your starter audience already purchased your content through other means, you’re not going to get a realistic portrait of viewership unless that purchase is held back for a little while.
If they were nice about negotiating the deal with Netflix, maybe they will have 30 days of exclusivity, realistically, it’s probably more like 60-90 days especially if they release an episode per week – which isn’t unprecedented, they’ve done it before for other shows, but not often.
No problem, just bring in one of the Toms from the United Servo Academy Choir.
I would agree that those that backed the kickstarter pledge to the point of getting the full season ($85 and up) SHOULD get the episodes made available to them by download at LEAST at the same time as they come out on Netflix. I’m pretty sure this will happen.
Those folks only add up to around 25,000 of the 48,000 kickstarter payees.
However, my opinion is that if you like the episodes and want MORE of them. You should also sign up for Netflix and watch the episodes on there. Ratings are still important to Netflix, so if no one watches the show – this could seriously effect future seasons. Every view counts.
Netflix is like watching a show on TV first and then you buy the full season on home video, either digitally or on physical media.
Those who backed the Kickstarter and choose DVD/Blu-ray will have to wait because the sets need to be produced. All the episodes have to be ready for Netflix, which means we who chose the digital episodes package are able to download them immediately. I’m not saying I won’t watch it on Netflix too, which I have for the Marvel shows and Orange is the New Black, but we should be able to have our episodes once the show premiers.
There was no idea of how season 11 would get distributed when the Kickstarter began, so choosing the digital episodes was a safe bet until the show was released on DVD. I would like the assumption to be true.
Can’t Netflix just assume the 25,000 Kickstarter doners would have clicked and viewed? Then in subsequent seasons (assuming a renewal and no season 2 Kickstarter) most everyone would get it straight from Netflix. If done in this manner only season 1 would have “missing clicks” from Kickstarter doners.
This is important. Netflix observes and analyzes their viewership numbers. The more eyes we have on MST3K’s new episodes on Netflix, the more likely it is that Netflix will play a role in making more seasons fly.
If there’s one thing we’ve learned in the television business, it’s that we shouldn’t assume that someone else will assume.
Plenty of times in TV history, we’ve seen sure things get canceled and unlikely-to-survive shows get renewed. A more proactive approach to viewing the new MST3K episodes on Netflix would be the very definition of playing it safe instead of playing it sorry.
We should go Twitter and ask the man himself. If enough people ask we might get an answer in the next Kickstarter update newsletter.
No, Gypsy won’t be CGI (Joel is using practical effects in the new season as much as possible). But she will be different.
RenFest vs MST3K Kickstarter outcomes will be interesting to compare.
Both have some sort of broadcast deal.
MST3K has Netflix, RenFest has ???
MST3K took “our” money, RenFest did not.
I’m curious what the distribution (not broadcast) deal will be for MST3K, given that the supporters had the option to own the episodes directly from the source.
I had assumed the physical distribution would be Shout, but wondered if the digital would be released to the various platforms (like iTunes) on some kind of delay from broadcast.
I’d never really heard of VHX before the backers’ digital rewards offered it as the platform for the bonus classic episodes, so I doubt that’s the only place the new episodes will be purchase-able, now matter how long after broadcast they decide to wait.
I don’t know,seems like $100 for 14 full length episodes on bluray (or DVD) is a pretty good deal. I guess we’ll see when the set goes on sale to the general public.
I only got into MST a couple years ago, so it feels weird that even I’ll be an old fan compared to the people brought in by season 11!
Yes. I’m so used to not thinking of MST3K being sold in full seasons that I didn’t consider that price was actually not bad. I might go back and add it to my backer goodies if I can.
6 million dollars raised through Kickstarter means nobody wanted it? Are you mentally challenged or just a complete moron?
And to the others complaining because they don’t have Netflix….. Are you kidding me? It’s $10 and you can cancel whenever you want. But if you’re still so dead set against it then please stop whining. That’s where the show will be. Too bad.
The logic by some of you is hysterical. You’ll drop a ton of cash backing the project and/or for an expensive blu ray set but OH BOY, you draw the line at a cheap streaming service
In the Robot Roll Call, will Gypsy say, “I’M DIFFERENT!”
Where did you get this information?
Delivery will be a dvd and there protected *cough* anyways. :P
Where did you get the info?
From RiffTrax’s Facebook:
“RiffTrax: Kevin and Bill will be shooting cameos and nothing will change on the RiffTrax front!”
As long as they aren’t “Police Squad!” style cameos.
It’s directly from the SDCC Panel from Joel. He said they originally wanted Gypsy on the original show to be a big clumsy character like Sweetums from The Muppet Show, but they ran into practical problems because she’s too big and it made blocking scenes with her hard because the space for the puppeteers and the host back there would become crowded. So they’re making her somewhat smaller by a few inches and experimenting with bringing her in from the top of the frame. So she’ll be able to be involved in more things.
Wow, so much fretting and worrying over the fact our favorite show is coming back on one of the few platforms that actually has the possibility of extending the seasons (NF has proven repeatedly they will pay for new seasons of shows that have VERY limited viewership, as a way of extending their “we are content producers!” banner).
I always assumed I would either get all my digital downloads in one “slug” after they were all produced (which could be a while from the starting date) or one at a time while they were done (much like the show itself was done every week). Either way having them available first somewhere else is no biggie, even if I didn’t subscribe to NF (as someone else here mentioned, you should subscribe if to see “Stranger Things” and nothing else. Also, you can subscribe for just a month — there isn’t any minimum — and start/stop at any time you want. It’s well worth $10 to see that show and sample the rest, assuming you want HD, although for a few dollars less you can just get it in SD format).
Let’s keep perspective here, folks — there was no other distributor with the money and will to extend another season. This is a PERFECT fit, and no backer should be disappointed in this no matter how the eventual distribution turns out. I do suspect they will release them all at once but, if so, that’s no bad thing either. How could we be mad if folks want to binge watch? It will only make a new season that much more likely.
I seldom binge watch things and I am retired and have lots of time to do so (only the aforementioned “Stranger Things” — I defy anyone to watch just an episode or two. Every single person I’ve turned on to this show ended up watching in only one or two days the whole eight episodes. It’s just that addicting). As much as I love MST3K, I’m sure my wife and I will watch only one show a week, like we do with “Daredevil”, or have done with “Jessica Jones” (both great reasons to subscribe for any geek — heck, the new Marvel lineup is going to be even better. Honestly, anyone who likes great TV and DOESN’T subscribe is just plain hurting themselves).
I don’t have Netflix but then i don’t have the net at home, don’t own a pad or a pod or a smart phone. Unless my local librarys net can handle it i won’t even get the downloads I paid for but I gave the mnoey to get the show back and it helped. I would like box sets of the new shows, preferably compatible with DVD R2. And in keeping with my retro attitude to life I want the DVDs made of wood (just joking there !!).
In reading through the comments about netflix I think there might be something missing. I figured the money I donated was to help produce the show. The creators made if very clear that distribution was TBD. The rewards are nice; but, getting the show produced was job one. There was some risk involved on our part. Think of it getting our feet wet in the crazy world of TV production.
I can’t speak for others, but it actually took some effort to reposition my finances to make what was, for me, a rather exorbitant expense. You don’t know my finances, and how dare you assume that the fact that I could contribute $200 to something I desperately wanted to see happen means that I should have no problems with spending another $10/month on a streaming service I otherwise don’t want or need.
It must be nice to have the ability to make such judgments about your fellow human beings.
Proof for this assertion? The impression I got from some of Joel’s Kickstarter updates was that they were having fruitful discussions with many possible distributors. I’m not saying you’re wrong, but this is the first time I’ve heard that Netflix was the only option.
The choice of distributor was realistically either going to be Netflix, Hulu or Amazon. A show like MST3K does not really have a place in the modern cable TV landscape. I think people were rooting for Netflix in particular because this is the most popular of these services and seems to have the best track record with regard to backing shows with multiple season pickups.
And I can’t speak for others, but I know that when I donated $100, which certainly wasn’t a small amount for me, I was doing it to bring back the show, knowing that it could very well end up on a cable channel that I don’t have since we cut the cord years ago. There isn’t just one provider that is going to make everyone happy, so I don’t get why people are acting like donating to the kickstarter would guarantee it would end up on their provider of choice. If you donated at least $100 you’re getting the episodes no matter what, so what is the problem?
This isn’t a surprising outcome in the slightest, considering how huge Netflix is, and considering how much they’ve done to continue shows that other networks abandoned, like Arrested Development and Longmire. It just comes off as petty, small minded, and entitled, whether or not you intend it that way. I don’t get this consistent behavior of MSTIes on this site to want to be miserable about everything. Quit acting like cranky old misers and enjoy the fact that the show that brings us to this place just got renewed for 14 episodes after being off the air for over 15 years.
But, some of us are newly minted old misers and enjoying our newfound crotchetiness! Now, I need to find some random teens to yell incoherently at. Either that or force them to watch Teenagers from Outer Space. :silly:
Hear, hear. I donated at the level I chose to knowing that I was just helping to bring back the show, and that the goodies were mostly gravy. I always hoped that the show would end up on a platform like Netflix or a network like IFC and I never expected that the BR set would be sent to me before it aired. I think that everyone here, if it’s even remotely possible for them to do so, should watch it on Netflix to get those viewership numbers up and make a 12th season more likely.
While you or I may not agree with someone’s sentiment, it is never cool to tell another person how to FEEL, or how not to feel. It’s probably the worst possible way to go about persuading someone to your point of view, and the most likely to ensure further friction. Support your own point of view, fine. Giving orders, however, or speaking in imperatives is a poor way to treat a fellow backer.
I’m not going to feel bad about pointing out ridiculous sentiments. It’s fine to be disappointed that the showing isn’t going to be on one’s preferred channel or streaming service, I know I would have been a little disappointed if it was on cable, even though I’ll have access to the digital downloads. But to act like it’s some sort of targeted insult, or that it doesn’t make sense/is surprising, or that it’s not the best option in this day and age is really silly. We donated to get the show back, not to have it available only on our individually preferred terms. No matter what, the show is back, and if you donated $100 or more you’re going to have the episodes.
It also seems like people are getting bent out of shape before the details have even been given as far as how the episodes will be released and if the digital downloads and/or blu-rays will be made available to backers before it’s put on Netflix. We should be happy the show has a home again, and at least wait to find out more details, which are surely forthcoming, before getting out the pitchforks.
I’m pretty cool with whatever happens. It’s good to keep in mind that we’ve spent FIFTEEN LONG YEARS with ZERO hope of any more episodes. A little wait will be fine with me after the shock of an entire 14 episode season dropping in my lap. And I blew well over $300 on the kickstarter. It’s like we just beamed down to the genesis planet and here’s are long lost dead friend walking around ! So what if I have to wait to go to Vulcan and download a backup of his mind stored in Bones’ noggin? A couple of years from now we won’t even remember the wait.
LOL!!!!!!
The retail price may end up being much higher-remember-when they set a price of $100 they had no idea there would end up being 14 episodes!
If the “fans who donated money” get the digital download episodes before Netflix, some of those fans will start uploading clips to Youtube or uploading the whole episodes to the pirate websites. Which will draw away viewership from Netflix.
Sorry, but Netflix is likely going to get the episodes first, before we get our digital download episodes…
Because the exact same thing won’t happen as soon as they show up on Netflix?
Hell, that’s reason enough to give backers their downloads at the same time they debut on Netflix: they’ll be showing up on torrent sites within hours of appearing on Netflix anyway, and if backers aren’t able to access the episodes *they paid for*, some of them will — justifiably, I think — decide to grab a torrent rather than wait or sign up for Netflix.
Giving backers their downloads at the same time Netflix gets them will drive *fewer* people to download them by illicit means, not more.
To be clear, I’m not advocating piracy — but I don’t consider it piracy to download something you’ve already paid for. (I won’t be hitting any torrent sites either way; I’m a happy Netflix subscriber, as I already mentioned upthread. But I wouldn’t blame anyone who did, if they’d already paid for the episodes and were being sent to the back of the line before watching them.)
Course, didn’t Joel already promise a live stream of the first episode for backers? That seems like it would happen independently of Netflix.
Yeah, I always thought she seemed like a very ungainly puppet to work with. Especially after seeing her lower jaw battering Crow sometimes when she was talking.
I happily contributed to this and knew going in it was not going to end up on a broadcast channel. The kickstarter was not to give you the right to watch it for free, it was to revive the show. Stop whining about having to get Netflix and do it if you want to continue to see MST3K. The kickstarter showed that there was still interest in the show. If interest wanes because people are complaining they have to subscribe to Netflix and don’t, it could very well disappear again. I dropped my sub for Netflix but will be reupping when the show is ready to air. And will consider it dollars well spent and will happily drop the Comcast streampix garbage and Starz which has become crap.
It would be a great bone to throw EricJ!
special guest star
Michael J. Nelson
* Mike avoids gunfire, then drinks poison and dies *
Someones way too angry and must be a joy to be around.
Not everyone has the ability to stream Netflix. So unless you’re gonna chip in money so new TVs or laptops can be purchased for those poor souls who cant stream Netflix, Id say STFU and get off your high horse.
I only wish I had had the money to contribute. But if I was going to do something, I’d rather get Amazon prime so I could get the show “The Grand Tour”. I’d get more use out Amazon then I would Netflix considering I dont like several people in the reboot.
Am done with the site and done with idiots like you.
You make disparaging remarks towards a project that most people on this site supported, then make an objectively false statement, then you have the nerve to get upset that people had a harsh reaction towards you? I find it hilarious that you sarcastically accused someone of being fun at parties, considering how overly bitter you appear to be.
Everyone is clamoring for you to stay, everyone.
Telling people to STFU? Man this place has gone downhill!
I thought Servo blew all of them up on their last episode?