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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Wait, what? Weren’t you just talking about how much you didn’t want to see the show, and now you’re angry that you can’t?
“The food is terrible. And such small portions!”
Well, @trennerdios already made the obvious joke, so I’ll have to settle for “Get lost, squirrel.”
Glad I didn’t throw my money away during that Kickstarter! It was clear that they had no plans with the networks.
Netflix isn’t a network. But they are cheap, so I will pay 10 for each Season 11 episode.
Personally, I can’t stand full-screen red graphics. If the videos started with a black background instead of the aggressive red background with the Netflix logo, I’d be a Netflix fan. But I’m not going to pay for retina burning red.
Too bad they didn’t choose Hulu.
Regarding the release of the digital downloads to Kickstarter backers, Ivan Askwith (who ran/runs the Kickstarter and is the go-to guy for rewards fulfillment) stated on Facebook that, quote, “If you pledged to get the episodes, you’ll also still get the downloads by the time the show is released on Netflix.”
That sounds like backers will at the very least get their downloads at the same time as the episodes are available on Netflix.
That works for me.
Thanks for the info, @MonkeyPretzel! I had a feeling they wouldn’t let the backers down.
Still hoping they parcel the episodes out instead of dumping the whole season at once. We’ll see what they say as it gets closer.
Patience instead of instant gratification seems like it would be a “Joel” value. I approve.
I also would prefer to savor the experience, assuming it’s savor-worthy!
Oh, he definitely said (repeatedly) that he *wants* to parcel the episodes out and have them each be a shared experience and a surprise. But that’s counter to the way Netflix does things, so it would be a special exception. As to whether he’s gotten a deal that makes that special exception, well, that’s one more thing we’ll just have to be patient about, because we don’t know yet.
There’s some precedent for Netflix releasing shows one episode at a time, like Chelsea Handler’s show, and cases where it handles the foreign rights to US shows. But neither one of those is a 1:1 match for what we’re talking about; one’s a talk show, which tends to preclude putting out an entire season at a time, and the others are shows that debut on US TV networks, not directly on Netflix. I’m not aware of Netflix ever debuting a non-talk show on a one-episode-at-a-time schedule.
But if any show’s going to blaze that trail, MST3K is a good choice. It’s a cult hit with a fanbase that already has certain expectations, and it’s not exactly friendly to binge-watching. Watching an entire season of MST3K takes a lot longer than watching an entire season of Daredevil or Kimmy Schmidt.
Don’t think of it as binge-watcthing. Think of it as a Turkey Day marathon without the commercials.
Now, unless you’re already in the habit of watching several movies in row, I think most people will just watch Season 11 one episode at a time.
Put them all out at once, not just with MST either – saw a lot of the same comments with Daredevil, Orange is the New Black, etc. There’s this thing called willpower for those who want to make it a weekly shindig. Your preferences shouldn’t be viewing law when there are other options out there.
Maybe not, but neither should yours!
There’s nothing inherently wrong with people being able to watch a show at their own pace, as slowly or as quickly as they like. But it *does* have an impact on the shared experience and the discussion among the fandom. By the time I get around to Daredevil season 2, it’ll be long past the point where anybody else is interested in discussing it. Whereas with something like Game of Thrones, I worry that if I don’t watch a new episode immediately I’m going to trip over spoilers.
MST3K’s not really comparable to either of those shows, of course, and we here are still finding new things to talk about regarding episodes that aired 17-27 years ago. So maybe we wouldn’t lose much by seeing all the episodes premier at once.
But there’s a value in everybody watching a new episode at the same time and then talking about it while it’s still fresh, too.
I’ve got my opinion on which is better, but you’re right, it’s just that: my opinion. Other folks are welcome to disagree, and at the end of the day, it’s just a show, we should, well, you know.
@160 I gotcha. I honestly didn’t consider the discussion aspect. Media consumption is an extremely personal for me, taste be so subjective, and I don’t like discussing what I’m watching or reading – especially in these days of recreational outrage.
However, surelyou it would be possible to put together a group on Facebook or something where everyone watches on the same schedule and discusses it afterward. Hell, even make a podcast where you dictate the viewing order to your audience and let that fuel the discussion. Many many options out there for communall experiences.
By the way, I’d like to thank everybody who recommended Stranger Things. It’s good stuff!