Mystery Science Theater 3000 is returning for a new season after raising $6.5 million through crowdfunding. The hit series originally aired from 1988 to 1999 and was revived in 2017 by Netflix after a Kickstarter campaign generated $5.7 million. The series ran for two seasons on Netflix but was canceled in 2019.
That would not be the end for Mystery Science Theater 3000. In April 2021, original creator, Joel Hodgson, launched another Kickstarter campaign to get another season of the show off the ground. The new goal was to produce the series independently where they would no longer need a network to broadcast the series but instead release it through an exclusive platform, 'The Gizmoplex'. The crowd-funded format would allow the series to continue as long as there was a demand by fans. In just 25 hours, the Kickstarter generated $2 million.
According to Variety, the series will officially return for season 13 thanks to the Kickstarter generating $6.5 million. The season will consist of 13 new episodes and include the series' first 3D episode, 12 shorts, and a holiday special that will air on the new Gizmoplex. The cast of the Netflix revival, including Jonah Ray, Felicia Day, and Patton Oswalt, will reprise their roles in the next season alongside cast members of the original series run, like Joel Hodgson, Mary Jo Pehl, and J. Elvis Weinstein, as well as cast members from MST3K Live. Hodgson said on the revival:
When we decided that Kickstarter was our best chance at making more ‘MST3K’ without a network, we hoped that some of our backers would join up again… but we never dreamed that the response would be even bigger the second time around...We’re so humbled and grateful and deliriously happy to be making more MST3K for the people who love it most, and can’t wait to get started on ‘lucky’ Season 13. Now we just have to make sure The Mads come through on building the Gizmoplex. I guess we’ll wire all the funds to them this afternoon and hope for the best?
Mystery Science Theater 3000's return is sure to please many fans of the series. While many fans are demanding Warner Bros to 'Restore the SnyderVerse,' the fans of Mystery Science Theater 3000 not only get to see the series return but have an active role in making it happen. Due to the low-budget nature of the series, invoking the similar aesthetic of the movies they are riffing on, the production cost is relatively low and easy to manage to get the funds generated for it. The $6.5 million to produce a new season of MST3K is a fraction of the $70 million it cost to complete Zack Snyder's Justice League.
MST3K's latest season tapping into the various corners of its history with three distinct cast lineups fits well in a modern age where multiple franchises are embracing their rich history. Instead of hard reboots brushing the past aside, franchises are embracing the long continuity and history of their respective works to bring together generations of fans. With the return of Michael Keaton as Batman in The Flash to Spider-Man: Far From Home seeing Alfred Molina return as Doc Ock after seventeen years, it is now in business to embrace the past. Given that Mystery Science Theater 3000 is returning thanks to fan support, it makes a great deal of sense to bring back various fan-favorites.
Source: Variety
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