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Joel Hodgson is hoping to bring back his beloved cult hit, Mystery Science Theater 3000, with the help of a brand new Kickstarter campaign. Hodgson is attempting to raise anywhere from $2 million to produce three new episodes, to $5.5 million to shoot a whole new season of the series. The ultimate goal is for a network or streaming platform to take notice of the support of all of the die-hard fans and once again give the series a permanent home. (It’s kind of crazy that Netflix hasn’t already jumped on this.)
Hodgson explains on the Kickstarter page that fans have been clamoring for the return of the show since its cancellation in 1999. However, without the funding or the legal rights, that’s been impossible… until now. Thanks to Shout! Factory — which has released episodes of MST3K on home video — Hodgson was finally able to get the rights secured this summer. With the help of Kickstarter, he’s now attempting to make fans’ dreams a reality.
As for what to expect, Hodgson hopes to involve past cast members and writers, but he’s planning on finding a new host, new mad scientists, and new voices for robots Tom Servo and Crow, as he explained to EW in an interview.
“Basically, I’m trying to blend the old with the new,” says Hodgson. “Mystery Science Theater has already refreshed itself once with a completely new cast, so I think it deserves to do that again. The original cast is going to be invited back to write, produce, and do cameos as their mad science characters, and then there’s a new cast with new talent.”
Hodgson is offering backers rewards that range from the usual coffee mugs and t-shirts, to actual Tom Servo and Crow puppets to be used in the upcoming episodes, along with VIP tickets and set visits. In the time it’s taken me to write this news up, the goal’s funding has jumped nearly $100,000 and it’s showing no signs of slowing down, so it’s probably safe to say we can expect to see more MST3K in the near future.
