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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Dr. Ted “I thought I asked you to buy crackers at the store?!” Nelson, #245:
“I know for sure that he did absolutely NONE of it alone. But he did have the title of “Head Writer” for 9 damn seasons and to assume that the show wasn’t in some way dependent on that fact seems a bit silly.”
Right, was not disagreeing with that. Just saying that there’s little point focusing on Mike’s legacy with the show when gauging your personal expectations for the reboot when Mike posted a very thorough and heartfelt message confirming he’s not involved. I think a lot of die hard “Mike/Sci-Fi era is best, old episodes are boring” folks (there is one on another non-MST forum I go to) are setting themselves up for disappointment with the reboot.
Just suggested the following on the Kickstarter comments:
How about the following? A goal is added that creates the ideal cross-promotion, making MSTies everywhere rejoice….if we raise (whatever sum makes sense), Mike Nelson appears for a cameo in the new MST3K AND Joel Hodgson joins Rifftrax for one riff.
That allows MSTies to have Mike (and potentially others) appear in the new MST3K and helps Rifftrax by providing a sure-fire best-selling riff.
Ohhh LADYYY
Creator Joel Hodgson 24 minutes ago
@Julie: In that case, I think you’ll be pleased when you learn who the next Mad is…
Julie Lappano 27 minutes ago
I just wanted to say yesss to a lady mad. I loved as a kid seeing Pearl squash all happiness around her… now THAT is a role model. But more importantly having women writers on the show was always huge for me :)
Hope it’s Felicia Day…she would really be perfect.
So, no crackers?
I do not count myself as one of the Joel episodes are boring folks. In fact, I’m more Joel era, as I said earlier. I just think we are all underestimating how much of the show was the result of so many components that won’t be part of this new iteration in any form. Mike is one of those things, but not the only one. TBH, I might be most disappointed about filming happening in (ugh) LA.
Don’t they all talk is really high pitched voices there, anyways?
That’s a good point. Just getting the show revived is a HUGE step. Although, 75% of your goal in 3 days is an awfully big head of steam. We shall see!
How big is Shout! Factory? The most recent estimate I’ve seen is ~50 employees. A few million bucks to a company that size is BIG money. However, I guess if you do a DVD release of the show, 12 eps * $15 each * ~13,000 people (per the Kickstarter page) = $2.34M so I could see that being a good investment. Sure!
If “Search for the Beast” is one of the movies, stock prices will plummet and I’ll lose my new ivory back scratcher.
I just saw Patton Oswald tweet his excitement about the show. Patton is my weird man-crush – I think he’s a f888in genius.
Not that I want him on the show because I would only hear Remy, but I thought about that there must be a generation of comedians out there now that were raised on this show. It makes me think they would have little problem getting some name guest stars. (At least better than Leonard Maltin.)
Dr. Ted “OK,….*gasp* PLEASE!!! NOW….*gasp* CALM DOWN! My NAME, IS Dr.TED….NELSON!!!” Nelson said in post #255:
“I do not count myself as one of the Joel episodes are boring folks. In fact, I’m more Joel era, as I said earlier. I just think we are all underestimating how much of the show was the result of so many components that won’t be part of this new iteration in any form. Mike is one of those things, but not the only one.”
I hear ya. Anyways…
“TBH, I might be most disappointed about filming happening in (ugh) LA.
Don’t they all talk is really high pitched voices there, anyways?”
I don’t know about that but I hear the town has been infested with Castleton snobs and most of the agents are goofy kids wearing early 90s style neon colored pants who jog down the street while they talk on their crappy cell phones.
Captain Cab:
Can I please just say I’m thoroughly enjoying your various permutations on Dr. Ted Nelson’s name?
RE: stretch goals ep count — just from the simple math, I really hope they at least make the first goal of 3.3 because that’s double the eps 3 to 6, and I would be happy with 6.
If they DON’T hit some of the stretch goals, though, you might see some people drop out near the end as they don’t want to spend $100 on only 3 or 6 eps.
RE: show format — I would bet that it will be near identical to the TV show–open host seg, close host seg, and around 3 host segs throughout the movie. Joel did mention getting to the movie quicker, so maybe less of an opening segment, but if you were to cut it down like Film Crew did, you’ve started to lose the MST3K formula.
Droppo awkwardly crawled out of a storage crate and started trying on Santa’s clothes while talking in an annoying voice which any sane child would not find amusing in #259:
“Can I please just say I’m thoroughly enjoying your various permutations on Dr. Ted Nelson’s name?”
From now on whenever I’m tempted to debate the finer points of the reboot I’m just going to shrug and start riffing on Ted Nelson or any other random character I can think of.
I’m confused… Joel, Trace, and Josh just got together for Jack Black’s Festival Supreme on Oct. 10th. Obviously by that point, they would’ve all known about the reboot. If they could work together on putting that show together, and be around each other, I just don’t see what could’ve possibly happened to have them not be involved with the reboot, announced a month later.
Mark Hamil is supporting it!
https://twitter.com/HamillHimself/status/664647986190745603
Maybe he got one of the guest appearance packages?!
I’m officially a backer!! The ground floor to many more years of MST3K baby!!
This clears a lot of points up. Forgive me if this was posted earlier
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mst3k/bringbackmst3k/posts/1413188
Shhhhh, I’m Dr. Ted Nelson!
For the record, Joel’s latest update answered all my reservations, and I’m totally on board. I should have known better than to doubt.
So in the future kids are gay agents?
Lesbians OF THE FUTURE!
Having watched (and backed) a lot of Kickstarters, most of the funding is in the first few and last few days, with fairly little in between. Say 45-35-20. I think $3.3 million is the most likely end result. No way it’s hitting $5.5 million.
If you haven’t watched “The Frank,” please do so. It will set your mind at ease about the Brains all working together. Give it some time, it will all gel.
Joel’s update was flawless. Any trepidation I had (which was negligible and only tied to the lack of alumni involvement) is gone.
Yeah my bet is on Felicia Day for the Mad.
I am getting more psyched about this by the second.
That first $1M came so quickly, but now it seems like it has hit a wall. Around $100k the past few days, and this should still be the busiest period for donations. Hard to see making $5M now, honestly.
Here are Kicktraq’s numbers:
11/10: $803,216
11/11: $491,188
11/12: $243,598
Sure, there’s been a dropoff after the initial burst of pledges, but that’s to be expected, and it’s hardly as bad as “around $100k the past few days.” I haven’t pledged yet because I’m waiting on some money, and I’m sure other backers-to-be are in the same situation. I wouldn’t be so quick to write off the $5.5M stretch goal: it seems a high bar to clear, but there are many days and lots of exciting announcements left.
With all the excitement and nostalgia in the air, I should have seen it coming. I just heard Jack Black is Kickstarting a reboot of Cannon with himself as the lead role.
We are going to need a big mustache and lots of steaks!
Mannix! I mean, Cannon!
I think I still have a dot matrix printer in the storage shed at the farm. If I can secure the right ribbon/ink, I will be preparing the inaugural NEW GUY BLOWS banner.
As far as all the Negative Nancys around here… what did your mothers do to you? This is why we can’t have anything nice.
You should be ashamed, kicking a Kickstarter campaign when it’s down. Now say you’re sorry to Crow. Good, good. Now tell Tom you’re sorry. Excellent. Now Gypsy. Okay. Cambot are you getting this?
Now repeat to yourself that you should really just relax and not incubate negativity.
Okay, honey. Now sit down and let Joel do his thing. Here’s a Dr. Pepper and some orange crackers with peanut butter. Everything is going to be fine.
If a show like MST3K can achieve what it did by coming from absolutely “nothing,” think of the potential if it is rebooted after “everything” that has happened.
Hand me one of those crackers. I bet you didn’t believe in Phantasm 4 and 5 either, did you? You poor little lost delusional sheep walking through the valley of death.
^ That
I’ve never seen anything by Felicia Day, what’s a good place to start and sample her work?
Dr. Ted “If she messes it up this time, she’s gone!” Nelson:
“For the record, Joel’s latest update answered all my reservations, and I’m totally on board. I should have known better than to doubt.”
I couldn’t agree more. It basically answered what I suspected, they’re probably not opposed to being in the project (why would they be?), just that they can’t say yes now because neither Joel nor Shout are in the position to make them an offer yet. Also really appreciate how Joel expounds on how bad he feels that so many people didn’t get rewarded as much as they would have liked for being involved with the show.
Why does anyone think Felicia Day and/or Jonah Ray are involved. Just because “the internet mentioned it”?
The one thing I despise about the internet – it’s a giant game of telephone:
Geek #1: “Wouldn’t it be cool if Felicia Day is in it?
Geek #2: “I heard Felicia Day might be in it.”
Geek #3: “Felicia Day is in it, cool!”
Geek #4: “Felicia Day is ruining my childhood!”
There are several reasons, none of which seem worthy of despising:
1. Jonah Ray and Felicia Day both backed the project. And if you read their Twitter feeds (particularly Jonah’s), there’s a lot of speculation there which neither of them refute.
2. The voice of the new host in Joel’s Kickstarter video sounds identical to Jonah Ray.
3. Joel confirmed the new Mad is a female and that “we wouldn’t believe who” – indicating it was not an unknown.
4. This is the thinnest bit of evidence, but, hey Joel said to try it…the silhouette of the new Mad fits her description. Or better put…it doesn’t rule her out.
5. They both are fans with fanbases that would draw additional attention to the revival and similar sensibilities.
To be clear, that doesn’t mean they’re in it….but, what MSTie wouldn’t want to speculate on their identities? Particularly, when Joel encouraged us to?
Doing some quick math, based on the current numbers…we only need to average $138,755,67 per day for the next 28 days to secure a 12-episode season. That seems very realistic.
Huzzah!
I just gave. We’re up to 1.6 million now. Come on people, let’s do this!
New feature, Sampo?
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Works for me!
I think Felicia Day would make a much better host than Mad. Kind of disappointed Joel isn’t really mixing things up with a female host, but hopefully he has picked the best host regardless of gender.
Well, if Joel’s vision works out, she very well could be the Host in a few years. He really seems to be embracing this idea of the cast continually evolving. I loved his SNL/Doctor Who analogies.
Incidentally, I’ve nerded out about this to an extent that is not healthy for humans.
Can’t wait to donate some money for this. Anyone know why Shout Factory is not kicking in some cash?
Wow, when’s the last time we had 287 comments on a thread? Mst3k is back on the map baby!
#279 skierpete, who does not speak in a way that is “Low and pleasing” said:
“Why does anyone think Felicia Day and/or Jonah Ray are involved. Just because “the internet mentioned it”?
The one thing I despise about the internet – it’s a giant game of telephone:
Geek #1: “Wouldn’t it be cool if Felicia Day is in it?
Geek #2: “I heard Felicia Day might be in it.”
Geek #3: “Felicia Day is in it, cool!”
Geek #4: “Felicia Day is ruining my childhood!”
Oh noes, not the nefarious “telephone game” again! How about educating yourself a bit as to the actual signs people have found (you obviously have posted in here multiple times, are you actually READING the thread in a coherent manner?) which causes them to think certain people might be involved before coming on here and rambling off a condescending attack on folks who are simply having fun talking about what might happen with the reboot? I really wish Sampo or someone would step in on these self appointment discussion police. And if you really so fervently “despise the internet” as you say, then how about getting off it for awhile? Thank you. Won’t you.
Loading over 200 comments at a time was getting a bit unwieldy, so I turned on the pagination feature. We’ve never really needed it in the past. I hope it works for everyone.
“…these self appointment discussion police.”
Sorry for the typo. I meant self APPOINTED, not “appointment” obviously. I must have been thinking of my scheduled visit with Dr. Ted Nelson later today when I typed that.
Geez dude – calm down. I wasn’t insulting anyone. I’ve read this whole thread through – and I really only saw a few mentions about how people liked or didn’t like the idea. I just wanted to know whether there was any real evidence or it is all internet speculation. Try to be more like Droppo – he’s the smartest man on Mars!
Droppo Said:
1. Jonah Ray and Felicia Day both backed the project. And if you read their Twitter feeds (particularly Jonah’s), there’s a lot of speculation there which neither of them refute.
Me: I didn’t see their twitter feeds. But people are saying they are on the show because they’re not denying it? Hey, my twitter feed doesn’t deny I’m on the show either. I guess I’m playing Tom Servo.
2. The voice of the new host in Joel’s Kickstarter video sounds identical to Jonah Ray.
Me: OK – that’s pretty good. I don’t know his voice at all though, so I don’t have an opinion.
3. Joel confirmed the new Mad is a female and that “we wouldn’t believe who” – indicating it was not an unknown.
Me: Yeah, I figure that out from the picture before he confirmed it. This is definitely not admissible.
4. This is the thinnest bit of evidence, but, hey Joel said to try it…the silhouette of the new Mad fits her description. Or better put…it doesn’t rule her out.
Me: Yeah – pretty thin. The silouette is definitely a woman, but really could be any one.
5. They both are fans with fanbases that would draw additional attention to the revival and similar sensibilities.
Me: This isn’t evidence at all.
Look – I am not trying to pick a fight or anything at all, just saying that there doesn’t seem to be much REAL behind the speculation. I would love Felicia Day on the show. I have zero opinion on Jonah Ray as before two days ago I hadn’t heard of him.
Wow – a Bizarro EricJ! :-D
I think this is a great idea, and I hope it comes to pass. I’d even like to see them take it further and do a “cross-over” of sorts. Have Mike, Kevin, and Bill write/appear on an episode the new MST3K, and then have Joel and the new host and maybe the Mad(s) join the RT crew in writing/riffing the sequel to the movie they just did on MST3K. One of those failed TV series that were rolled into movies (like Master Ninja, Fugitive Alien, etc.) would be ideal for this (but one they haven’t done yet, preferably).
Thanks! And I love your expansion on the idea! I’m also a sucker for TV movie (and failed TV pilot) episodes. After all, Master Ninja I and II are my favorite episodes ever. You know they COULD just do Master Ninja III and IV….
Thanks! Well, feel free to suggest this over in the Kickstarter comments if you want. I can’t because I haven’t contributed yet.
Posted this at the Kickstarter yesterday:
Michael Hansen about 19 hours ago
Idea for Joel…
Some of my favorite experiments were based on TV shows- Master Ninja, Time of the Apes, Fugitive Alien, Riding with Death… Rifftrax did an episode of The Incredible Hulk TV show that is one of my favorites of theirs.
As for as rights go, I’m hoping that maybe getting the rights to a couple episodes of 70s-80s TV shows might be cheaper than movies. Start with Dukes of Hazzard! I’m sure no one would complain about Master Ninja III, either.
I really like the occasional “crossover” idea, mixing in new and old cast members now and then for certain episodes, there are endless fun plot ideas you could mine from that. If Joel is going with his “SNL template,” this would make sense and could work really well as SNL obviously sometimes has returning cast members and “star guest hosts” like Alec Baldwin, Justin Timberlake (man, that guy has won me over, he is really funny) ect.
Let me sum up for those that don’t read his bilious posts: blah blah blahblah, blah blahblah blah, Joel is my personal god and savior, Mike is the devil.
I’d enjoy that, but both Mike and Joel have to want to do that first.
I appreciate what Joel’s said about wanting to set things right with profit-sharing, but it could be that there’s no offer he can make that will entice Mike and the rest to come back even for small cameos. They might just plain not want to, and I think we should respect that, no matter how much we want it to happen.
But I still think it’s a good idea, and I hope that Joel and Shout work some kind of profit-sharing arrangement out with everybody who was involved in the old show — not as leverage to get them on the new one, but just because it’s the right thing to do.