New episodes are officially on the way for a revived Mystery Science Theater 3000. As first reported by Variety, RiffTrax and Shout! Studios have partnered up to develop four all-new episodes of MST3K. They will feature the RiffTrax team joined by MST3K‘s Michael J. Nelson (Mike Nelson), Kevin Murphy (Tom Servo, Professor Bobo), and Bill Corbett (Crow T. Robot, Brain Guy). Mary Jo Phel (Pearl Forrester) will also make her on-screen return.
To raise the funds needed to produce the four new episodes, dubbed Mystery Science Theater 3000: The RiffTrax Experiments, a Kickstarter campaign was launched. Its success was immediate, flying far past its initial goal of just $20,000 in a matter of hours. With over 40 days left to go until the end of the Kickstarter campaign, 10,000+ backers have already raised over $1.25 million. It’s needless to say just how high the demand really was for new episodes.
In a statement, Shout! Studios’ associate VP or product management, Matt Arsulich, stated: “We’re excited to join forces with RiffTrax as Mike, Kevin, and Bill return to the Satellite of Love for a new chapter of MST3K. This partnership reinforces our dedication to growing valuable entertainment properties by serving their fandoms with high-quality storytelling.”
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The show first debuted back in 1988 on a UHF station in Minneapolis, later moving to Comedy Central and then the Sci-Fi Channel. It ended its run in 1999 after nearly 200 episodes. It returned in 2015 for a new season that was also funded via Kickstarter, followed by another season, both of which were released on Netflix. Another season then came along on the online streaming service The Gizmoplex.
Check out the Kickstarter page to get involved or find out more info about the project!
