MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000 is Back in the Lab as RiffTrax and Shout! Studios Cook Up New Episodes
If you ever thought the experiment was truly over, think again. Mystery Science Theater 3000 is gearing up for another return trip to bad movie heaven, and this time it’s coming straight from the people who helped make it legendary.
RiffTrax and Shout! Studios have officially teamed up to produce four brand-new episodes of the cult classic series, and yes, it’s exactly as exciting as it sounds.
The new run is officially titled Mystery Science Theater 3000: The RiffTrax Experiments, and it brings together the RiffTrax crew with Shout! Studios for a fresh batch of riffs. To help make it happen, RiffTrax has launched a Kickstarter campaign that also doubles as a behind-the-scenes hub for fans who want to follow production as it unfolds.
The campaign is live now and runs through March 16, with a $20,000 goal set to celebrate RiffTrax’s 20th anniversary. The campaign has already blown way past their goal!
Leading the charge creatively are Michael J. Nelson, Kevin Murphy, and Bill Corbett, all longtime MST3K favorites and the core voices behind RiffTrax since 2006.
Nelson will once again step in front of the camera as Mike Nelson, Murphy is returning as Tom Servo and Professor Bobo, and Corbett is back in action as Crow T. Robot and Brain Guy. On top of that, original series standout Mary Jo Pehl is returning as Pearl Forrester.
Nelson said in a statment: “Getting a chance to revisit ‘MST’ after all this time has really energized all of us at RiffTrax. And for my part, hey, I truly did miss standing next to plastic puppets. It’s been too long.”
The four movies set to be riffed will be revealed gradually during the Kickstarter campaign, giving fans a steady drip of anticipation. Production will take place in Minneapolis, right where the original show was born, and the episodes are slated to be released later this year on RiffTrax’s website.
Staying true to tradition, the team has committed to using the same kind of famously cheap practical sets and props that defined the original series. No glossy reinvention here, just duct tape, cardboard, and charm.
RiffTrax has been going strong since 2006, with Nelson, Corbett, and Murphy riffing on more than 1,000 movies, shorts, TV episodes, and oddball curiosities from across pop culture. They’ve also built a devoted following through live shows where they riff films in real time in front of packed audiences, keeping the spirit of MST3K alive long after its original run ended.
This announcement lands not long after another major shift in the MST3K universe. Original creator Joel Hodgson recently sold his joint interest in the franchise to Radial Entertainment, the parent company of Shout! Studios.
Hodgson previously led the show’s revival in 2015, when a Kickstarter campaign raised around $6.3 million to fund season 11. That revival ran on Netflix for two seasons before moving to a dedicated streaming home called The Gizmoplex for season 13. Corbett, Murphy, and Pehl all appeared onscreen during the revival, with Pehl also contributing as a writer.
MST3K first launched on a Minneapolis UHF station back in 1988. The premise was beautifully simple. A human host and two robot pals sit through truly awful B-movies and survive by making fun of them.
The show jumped to Comedy Central, later landed on the Sci-Fi Channel, and wrapped up its original run in 1999 after 197 episodes. A feature film, Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Movie, hit theaters in 1996 and took aim at the sci-fi classic This Island Earth.
With familiar faces, a stripped-down DIY vibe, and a deep love for terrible cinema, Mystery Science Theater 3000: The RiffTrax Experiments feels less like friends getting back together to do what they do best.
Source: Variety