Gone are the days when a TV cult classic would end and that would be that. With Kickstarter leading the charge in crowdfunding, fan favorite shows like Veronica Mars and Reading Rainbow find new life through loyal audiences. Now, the classic 90s comedy Mystery Science Theater 3000 is attempting a similar resuscitation. The show revolves around a human and two robots stuck on a spaceship and forced to watch and mercilessly tease cheesy movies.
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With an initial goal of $2 million dollars to make three episodes (and stretch goals going all the way up to 12 episodes for $5.5 million) this is no small task, but after only four days of funding, they’re past their initial goal of $2 million. The Creators Project spoke with Joel Hodgson, writer, actor, one of the show’s original creators, and the man bringing MST3K back to the masses.
“Any TV show, especially Mystery Science Theater, is about capturing a time and a moment. But I don’t want to rest on the look of Mystery Science Theater. We shot it with a lot of gunmetal gray Krylon on everything, and we were just doing our very best with what we had, because we made it all ourselves,” says Hodgson who looked to “take advantage of using CNC machines and 3D printers.”Hodgson adds, “It’s tentative, but I just talked to Guy Davis, who does a lot of great visual development. He really wanted to get involved. And he’s done stuff for Guillermo del Toro, stuff for Pacific Rim, and he’s just an amazing guy. So he’s going to help do some visual development for us. We’ve been talking to a lot of people who are huge in their fields, writers, comedians, artists, musicians, it’s wild.” One of those friends is Nerdist’s Jonah Ray, who Hodgson just announced as the newest host for MST3K.
Hardcore MST3K geeks will want to know about the continuity of the plot. At the end of the final episode of the show, the host and robots finally land back on Earth. Hodgson interrupts, “…Or did they? …Or did they? [Laughs] But just to reiterate: it’s still out in space. It’s still Mystery Science Theater. It’s still cheesy movies. None of that’s gonna change”
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