One of the strangest and most nostalgic shows in the popular conscious, Mystery Science Theater 3000 is a show that simply refuses to die. Despite having started in 1988, the project has survived multiple cancellations and reboots, and now it seems poised to rev up its engines yet again, with original creator Joel Hodgson posting a new Kickstarter project in hopes of being able to fund even more episodes.
For those who haven't seen it, Mystery Science Theater 3000 is the story of a man locked up on a space station, forced to watch B-movie shlock in order to monitor his reactions. In order to fight the isolation, he crafts some robot companions who watch along with him, and they all add their own commentary to the film as it goes on. The bulk of the show was the group watching the film, having their silhouettes added onto the bottom of the screen as though they were watching in a theater, with some sketches in between to break up the theater scenes.
It's an unusual sort of program, one that inspired a devoted fandom that persisted in spite of multiple road bumps. It premiered on KTMA-TV and then ran for 7 seasons on Comedy Central. After that, Mystery Science Theater 3000 was picked up for 3 seasons on The Sci-Fi Channel and ran on syndication for a few years after. In 2015, Hodgson returned to crowdfund a revival, which ran on Netflix.
Now, Hodgson is crowdfunding again, with a goal of $2 million in order to fund 3 new episodes of Mystery Science Theater 3000 as well as an online "Gizmoplex" that would host real-time watch parties, premieres, and special events year-round. The idea is that the project would be able to survive without being published by any particular network, relying on direct interaction with fans in order to continue thriving.
In a statement, Hodgson clarified the purpose of the Kickstarter: "Mystery Science Theater 3000 is back because it's what the fans wanted. So, you know, it doesn't make sense for a network to decide the show's fate after each season." $2 million seems like a big price tag, but it's not unprecedented considering the previous Kickstarter made over $5.5 million. This time around, the stretch goals include more episodes, additional "Gizmoplex" features, and a series of shorter companion episodes.
At the time of writing, the project is very close to succeeding, with almost $1.9 million already pledged, but there's still a long way to go if fans want a full-blown extra season of content. It seems plenty of people are still hungry for more Mystery Science Theater 3000 and lucky for them, it seems like the project will be funded to at least some extent.
Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Return is available on Netflix.
Source: Collider