Beloved Cult TV Series Is Crowdfunding a Comeback

In the not too distant future, one of television’s most beloved—and snarky—sci-fi comedy series is staging a comeback. 

As Variety reported exclusively, RiffTrax and Shout! Studios are working together to create four all-new episodes of Mystery Science Theater 3000, the beloved comedy series that pokes fun at old, and often cheesy, B-movies. 

MST3K stars Michael J. Nelson, Kevin Murphy, and Bill Corbett will be some of the key brains behind the new episodes, which will officially be titled Mystery Science Theater 3000: The RiffTrax Experiments. Nelson, who hosted the original series from 1993 to 1999—taking over for MST3K creator and original host Joel Hodgson—will again serve as host. 

Murphy will also resume his roles as Tom Servo and Professor Bobo while Corbett will return as Crow T. Robot and Brain Guy. Mary Jo Pehl, another of the original series’ stars, will once again play the villainous Pearl Forrester.

To say that there has been a lot of support for the project would be a massive understatement. The Kickstarter campaign launched on Monday, February 2nd with a fundraising goal of $20,000. As of February 4th—just 48 hours later—more than 10,000 fans have already donated over $1.3 million to make the planned episodes a reality. 

“Getting a chance to revisit MST after all this time has really energized all of us at RiffTrax,” Nelson told Variety. “And for my part, hey, I truly did miss standing next to plastic puppets. It’s been too long.”

Following the cancellation of Mystery Science Theater 3000 in 1999, Nelson, Murphy, and Corbett continued to find ways to bring the concept of “riffing”—or making jokey commentary while watching a movie—through a few different ventures, the most successful of which is RiffTrax. Whereas MST3K relegated its riffing largely to B-movies, RiffTrax has expanded to include shorts, old educational videos, and major Hollywood blockbusters. They have riffed on more than 1,000 movies, which can be watched via VOD, downloaded as accompanying audio tracks, or witnessed in person during one of their many live events.

In response to the overwhelming success of their Kickstarter campaign, the trio posted a message: 

“In the months leading up to this, as you can imagine, we were pretty excited. So we knew you folks would be excited too, but we really didn't expect you to respond with this absolutely insane level of generosity. 

“It has been a joy to read through all of your comments and messages, and to watch your reaction videos. It is honestly an honor to be a part of something that makes people this happy. We can't tell you how hard it has been to keep this under wraps, but part of the light at the end of the tunnel has been knowing that we were working on something that so many people have wanted for so long. It's a rare privilege to be able to click a button and make someone's day, and we don't take that lightly.”

Because of the immediate success of reaching their funding goal, they also shared that they’ll be revealing one of the titles they plan to riff on Monday, February 9th at 11 a.m. PT.