Joel Hodgson and his team did a masterful job generating momentum over the course of the kickstarter (Felicia Day! Jerry Seinfeld!). Now they’re going to make 14 new episodes, which wasn’t even a stretch goal when the started out.
Now all we have to do is wait until November 2016…
It looks like I need not have worried. The Bring Back Mystery Science Theater 3000 Kickstarter has shattered the $5.5 million/12 episode barrier with less than an hour to go. The numbers keep flipping, but it was $5,697,311 when I checked just now. Add on the $425,000 add on funds, and it looks like they’ll do 13 episodes this season.
Here are a few performers who are interested in appearing on MST3K next season:
JACK BLACK, the brilliant comic actor and musician, star of everything from the Kung Fu Panda films to the wonderful School of Rock… though to some people, of course, he’s better known as one-half of Tenacious D. So, I don’t wanna tell you anything about what I’m planning for his character… but I think it would be a lot of fun to have him perform a song.
JOEL MCHALE, who I first knew as the hilariously dry host of The Soup, and who has been expanding his acting career into television (as the star of Community) and film (the Ted movies). I met Joel at a friend’s wedding last year, and we became fast friends. He’s a really nice guy, so even though he’s in demand for big-time revivals like The X-Files, he says he’s up for joining us too!
BILL HADER, the incredible changeling/actor/impressionist who has appeared in everything from SNL to Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs to Trainwreck. I’ve always been amazed by Bill’s talents, and was finally introduced to him backstage at SNL by a mutual friend.
NEIL PATRICK HARRIS is a true renaissance man whose career spans film, TV, the broadway stage and the internet, where he appeared opposite our own Felicia Day in Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog. Funny enough, though, I actually met Neil through mutual friends at the Los Angeles Magic History Conference, where we geeked out on magic together. Also, I’m honored to point out that Neil has always been a MSTie. In fact, he was included in first MST documentary – This is MST3K – all the way back in his Doogie Howser days!
JERRY SEINFELD, my long time friend, and of course, one of our most brilliant stand-up comedians. Jerry was also the co-creator of Seinfeld, and the creator and host of my favorite concept for a talk show, Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee. You know, I’ve known this guy for over thirty years. I actually remember him from when he only had one car.
Plus Mark Hamill. And (from yesterday’s email) the guys behind the designs for Pee-wee’s Playhouse and Adventure Time.
A lot of those guys have extremely popular and active fanbases, so this could very well put them over the $5.5 million/12 episode mark.
Or so say their latest email. The Kickstarter total shows $4,163,213 (as of right this instant). Maybe the Kickstarter site doesn’t include the “add-ons.”
Anyway, you only have until Friday night to back this Kickstarter and have them produce a full 12 episodes, so go ahead and cough it up if you haven’t already…
I’m happy to see that the Bring Back Mystery Science Theater 3000 Kickstarter has hit $3.3 million, meaning they’ll produce at least six episodes.
At $4.4 million they’ll make nine episodes, but at this point $5.5 million (twelve episodes) is looking like it might be a stretch.
Also Patton Oswalt is joining the cast as TV’s Son of TV’s Frank, a move I’m pretty “meh” on (though I can see the physical resemblance between Frank Conniff and Oswalt).
The Bring Back Mystery Science Theater 3000 Kickstarter has hit their $2 million goal, which means it’s funded and they’ll do at least three new episodes.
Everybody Smile!
And they still have 25 days to go! Now let’s hope they make it all they way to their 12 episode $5.5 million stretch goal…
Shout! Factory has acquired cult comedy series “Mystery Science Theater 3000,” Variety has learned.
The news of the acquisition comes the same day Joel Hodgson, the creator and writer of “Mystery Science Theater 3000,” launched a Kickstarter campaign to fund a new season of the show.
With the new deal, negotiated by Shout’s David McIntosh, Shout! Factory now has the proprietary rights the “Mystery Science Theater 3000” from Best Brains, Inc., including all brand assets and global intellectual property. The media company is partnering with Hodgson and his company Alternaversal, LLC on future endeavors surrounding the “MST3K” brand, including plans for new content development, digital media initiatives, live events, merchandise licensing programs and content syndication to international territories.
The one caveat I have is evidently there will be a “new cast” for the show. I think the consensus is that the MST3K faithful would love to have Hodgson, Trace Beaulieu and Frank Conniff back in their old roles (and possibly J. Elvis Weinstein back as the original Tom Servo; given his attachment to RiffTracks, Kevin Murphy seems unlikely to reprise the Tom Servo voice role). But I’m certainly willing to give the new cast a chance.
In 2001, Fox premiered the live-action version of The Tick. I thought they did a pretty credible effort capturing the comic book’s goofy, off-kilter charm, despite an incredibly modest budget for a live action network show (they couldn’t even hire someone who looked like Jimmy Carter for the pilot).
So naturally, it being on Fox, they cancelled it after nine episodes
Super brief because I need to be back at work, but I wanted to note the passing of Leonard Nimoy at age 83. He was great as Spock, perhaps the best actor in a very fine ensemble cast, and also extremely good in several other roles. A good actor and, by all accounts, a classy, stand-up guy.
