Also part of the crowdfunding equation is the hope that a successful run could lead to an MST3K return to small screens everywhere. Who knows maybe a tv exec with a set of stones could green light a return to cable. Then again can anyone say Netflix or Amazon Prime?
It’s time to #BringBackMST3K!
About the project:
Hello, People of Earth. Welcome!
I’m Joel Hodgson.
Once upon a time, I created a television series called MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000. We debuted on Minneapolis’ KTMA local access cable on Thanksgiving Day 1988, as the world was in the final throes of Teddy Ruxpin-mania. That was almost thirty years ago, but for some reason, people still seem to like the show – it’s a mitzvah!
Our show has had a long, strange run. Across a UHF channel, a cable network, cancellation, a feature film, then another cable network, the show lasted for 12 years, two generations of hosts and puppeteers, and a total of 197 episodes before we got canceled again “for good” in 1999. Sadly, it was just as Prince predicted.
But maybe that’s not where it all ends.
Starting today, we finally get a chance to bring back MST3K.
With your help, we can create a new season of MS3K, prove there’s still an audience, and maybe even convince a network to bring us back for more.
I’ve been thinking about ways to re-animate MST3K for over a decade… and over the last 15 years, I’ve met thousands of you who’ve told me that they wanted MST3K back too. But two things have finally changed that make this the right time. And I’m not talking about the legalization of marijuana or the proliferation of water jet pack use.
1. Crowdfunding gives fans the power to get what they want.In less than two years, I’ve watched fans use crowdfunding to bring back Veronica Mars, Reading Rainbow and Super Troopers – all cult favorites, like us – and it made me wonder how MSTies would respond if we had the chance to return. Now we’re going to find out… and then maybe LeVar Burton can finally stop acting like he’s so much better than us.
2. We had to work through some complicated legal issues.Even though I’ve always wanted to bring MST3K back, it wasn’t that easy. Thanks to the Last Will and Testament of one eccentric old heiress, the rights were tied up for years. It took time to work those issues out, but with the help of my friends at Shout Factory, a special chokehold I perfected in WuDang that I like to call “The Persuader,” and a night I had to spend in a haunted house as a term of the the old lady’s will, we succeeded.
But this summer, we finally got all of the rights cleared up… and like Orpheus, we can now descend into hell to hang out with a couple of wisecracking robots.
