RiffTrax has created three hour-long specials that will debut on the NatGeo cable channel Tuesday, April 1, beginning at 8 p.m. eastern and Pacific (and then will repeat a number of times).
Called “Total Riff Off,” the three shows are “Killer Shrimp ‘N Friends,” “Demon Bat” and “A Guy and a Goose.” Each installment will run twice that night.
Will there be more? I would guess that would have something to do with the ratings.
Here’s the official NatGeo press release:
Don’t be alarmed when you turn on National Geographic Channel (NGC) on April Fools’ Day and see a mantis shrimp talking about its dinner or bloodthirsty monsters being compared to celebrities. We’ve just decided to have a little fun this year.
For the first time, National Geographic Channel has teamed up with RiffTrax, the movie and television commentary group created by the guys responsible for “Mystery Science Theater 3000.” So what does this mean? Your favorite Nat Geo programming with some unconventional commentary worked in around the narration and dialogue — three hours of it. Total Riff Off premieres Tuesday, April 1, from 8 to 11 p.m. ET/PT only on NGC. For more information, visit www.natgeotv.com/totalriffoff and follow us on Twitter at @NGC_PR.
After “Mystery Science Theater 3000” went off the air, Mike Nelson, Kevin Murphy and Bill Corbett continued to receive requests from fans to revive the show in some form. And so grew RiffTrax, a website where fans can download commentary to play along with their favorite movies or television shows. And National Geographic Channel has booked them for one night only.
In Total Riff Off, it’s all about the animals, but not as you’re used to seeing them on Nat Geo. RiffTrax takes on the honey badger, mantis shrimp and geographer’s cone snail of Bad@$$ Animals. These seriously unsuspecting creatures are funnier than you might think.
The guys then work their commentary magic on some unlikely relationships between man and his animals — in one instance a goose and in the other, a seal — in segments from Unlikely Animal Friends. And they get their hands on a segment from My Dog Ate What? to riff about a pup with an affinity for thongs.
Finally, riffers Nelson, Murphy and Corbett add their hilarious commentary to an episode of Man v. Monster. Imagine the jokes when they sink their teeth into host Richard Terry’s suspenseful hunt for an elusive flesh-eating bat.
At the end of the three hours of Total Riff Off, you may be a little wiser and you may have even learned a thing or two. You will definitely have had a fun ride listening to RiffTrax have a little April Fools’ Day fun with some of NGC’s already entertaining programming.
In the absence of full information from either RiffTrax or the NatGeo (there was a set rollout date), many news sites went with a tiny bit of information, and a few sites even promised “The return of MST3K” or “A new version of MST3K.” This created a lot of excitement. There were posts from people talking about how happy they were going to be to see Tom Servo and Crow again, etc. This is not going to be that, it was never intended to be that, and if you know somebody who thinks that’s what’s happening, please gently disabuse them of this notion.
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LOng overdue!!! Lets hope this is a good sign of things to come!! congrats Mst3k/rifftrax!!!
Viva Mst3k/Rifftrax!!
Yeah, the return of MST3K would actually entail Jim Mallon getting off his butt to do something with his property other than cash checks from Shout. But in the absence of that, this is as good news as we are going to get.
I just went ahead on my cable guide and saw about this for next Tuesday.
No info about the shows, like who stars on it but I set the DVR to record.
Came in to tell you guys about it because I saw earlier no one knew for sure
what it was about.
This will be cool,and I hope it’ll be on for a while.Even if it’s on once a month
would be cool.
RIFF ON,ROCK ON.THIS WILL BE COOL!
it is good to see them back on a national market. NGC must have a huge back catalog to pick from. I could see this being a series of specials 2 or 3 times a year.
Well, it’s official, but, geez, April 1? Turkeys come out at Thanksgiving… :-)
Yeah…I’ll probably watch this.
Dish’s program guide has categorized this into the “Music/Art” genre. Riffing is definitely an Art. :)
I screamed like a woman when I heard the news… ok, I screamed like a girl.
Wow, that sounds like … exactly what I thought it would be when I heard the first inklings of an announcement that the Rifftrax guys would be working with National Geographic. I think you’d have to be engaging in some pretty wishful thinking to assume that those announcements meant the “return of MST3K” as we knew it.
That said, I can see this becoming a fun project. From the riffing in MST3K shows that featured lots of animal action (I’m watching “King Dinosaur” right now), it’s clear that there’s a lot of comic potential in putting a funny commentary over animal footage.
A lot of web “news” outlets are using the MST3K name as clickbait, or they’re too lazy/dumb to differentiate. Or, they’re just copy/pasting from a Huffington Post article that came out a day or so ago spouting off the “new MST3K” thing. And then people that get their news from blogs and Huffington Post (*shiver*) repeat what they read on Twitter to their idiot followers who repeat it to their idiot friends. Meanwhile no one does a bit of independent research.
Behold the glory of the internet in all its stupidity.
I have to admit that when I first heard of this, my first thought was that this reminded me of “People Traps”, the sadly-failed pilot Trace did for Animal Planet. I didn’t think it would be a fully-fledged series.
Still, I’m looking forward to seeing it. And, ratings willing, I could be wrong about it not going to series.
Pretty close to what I originally speculated, except three times the material. (I had assumed it would be a single hour.)
Aww, shoot! I just remembered; SyFy airs “Face Off” and a new show about the Henson Creature Shop on Tuesdays. Hmm, which to record and which to watch “live”?
Sincerely,
Bill
A show about the Creature Shop? Dammit, every time I think I can write off SyFy for good, they introduce something that’s not complete drivel.
Anybody know if Total Riff Off will be on Hulu, or at least streaming on the NatGeo site?
Yeah, Goshzilla, it airs tonight (Tuesday, March 25) at 10 PM Eastern.
I “think” it’s a competition reality series like “Face Off”, but the focus is animatronic and puppeteered creations instead of make-up. Alternatively, it may simply focus upon existing employees as they handle various upcoming projects. Obviously, I’m unsure about the format. Brian Henson, Jim’s son, is involved and may be a “host”.
Sincerely,
Bill
Sounds like fun… as long as there no disgusting ANTEATERS! I don’t think I could stomach that.
Rifftrax posted this information on their own website.
http://www.rifftrax.com/tv
Total Riff Off – National Geographic! April 1st at 8pm!
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RiffTrax on National Geographic for TOTAL RIFF OFF!
RiffTrax is taking over the National Geographic Channel for a 3 Hour TOTAL RIFF OFF 4/1/14 #RiffTraxTV
Michael J. Nelson, Kevin Murphy and Bill Corbett set to entertain the world 8:00 PM – 11:00 PM
Tuesday, April 1st at 8pm EDT | Add Event to your Calendar | Find your listing on TV Guide or National Geographic’s TV site.
Yes, that date is April Fool’s, but there’s no joke here. Well, there will be jokes. Lots of jokes. Jokes told by us, on television. But the fact that there WILL be jokes isn’t a joke, you see… Look, we’ll start over.
We are incredibly excited to announce that RiffTrax will take over the National Geographic Channel for a special night of riffs, badass dino birds, rage-filled shrimp, demon bats, and more!
The good folks at National Geographic have taught the world about animals, science, and fascinating cultures for years. Now, in their infinite wisdom, they’ve seen fit to have RiffTrax riffmasters Michael J. Nelson, Bill Corbett, and Kevin Murphy take on some of their wildest, strangest discoveries. This will be the guys’ first time riffing on television since Mystery Science Theater 3000, and trust us, you do NOT want to miss it. Think of them as the kids in the back of high school science class cracking wise, except funnier, and with better skin.
So flap your wings, flex your dorsal fin, or just move your regular old boring human feet, but do whatever you have to do to get yourself in front of a TV for the rapid-fire hilarity of TOTAL RIFF OFF on National Geographic!
8:00pm: Killer Shrimp N’ Friends
9:00pm: Demon Bat
10:00pm: Guy and a Goose
Tune in! Tell your friends!
I don’t have cable so I won’t get to see this. I’m happy for them being able to do it. Congrats to the Rifftrax gang.
Available for purchase as a VOD the next day or so? It would be a great moneymaker!
Hmm, I don’t see this popping up on my PVR. This is being aired in Canada too, yes?
Best use of the word ‘disabuse’ ever.