Will MST3K ever return?

Looks like its coming back:

http://www.ew.com/article/2015/11/10/mystery-science-theater-3000-reboot

 

I just hope they finally "leave the Bronx".

So, after reading multiple news reports today it looks as though (albeit quietly) Jim Mallon sold his interest in Best Brains Inc to Shout Factory? I had always understood (perhaps wrongly) that Joel owned roughly 50% and Mallon the other roughly 50%. With Kevin Murphy and perhaps Trace Beaulieu owning small percentages of the naming and licensing. The remainder of the writers and cast owned nothing, basically. Can anyone confirm the details of the sale? I'm just curious.

Also, it sounds like, from the Kickstarter site, that Joel will be attempting to put members of the old writing staff back together for this reboot? I was also surprised to see that Mike Nelson (Rifftrax) are now offering downloadable MST3K content from their site now, little by little. So I wonder if Nelson, Hodgson (and others) are teaming up for this venture?

 

I can't imagine Tom Servo with a different voice. I 'm still not used to Crow's new voice.

 

I remember them once saying in an interview around 1992 that they had gotten a ton of letters like "I hate Tom Servo's new voice!". I like J. Elvis' humor a lot but Kevin's voice was that character. He has a plump little gumboil machine, with a hover skirt, voice.

 

Nearly up to $1M now. It just goes to show you how much people* love this show.

(*who aren't Mirrorblade.1)

 

A post yesterday from Mike Nelson on Facebook (his own page, not the Rifftrax page) would seem to indicate, unless they are going for some elaborate fake-out, that he’s probably not going to be involved at all in this new relaunch. I suppose a one-shot cameo or something is possible. But he views his time on MST3K as being a “hired gun”, and goes to great lengths to mention that he doesn’t own anything in regards to the show or its name, and has made virtually no money from the show since it ended in 1999. He goes on to point out he’s busy doing his Rifftrax thing. Doesn’t sound like a guy who’s imminently joining on with the MST3K relaunch.

It does appear, however, that the camps are doing their best to be nice and maybe even try for a bit of cross-promotional synergy. Rifftrax is starting to sell MST3K episodes on their site, and the Rifftrax Facebook page did post a link to Joel’s Kickstarter campaign.

It’s interesting to read various fan reactions. A lot of Nelson/Rifftrax fans seem to be rather harshly negative about Joel and the MST3K relaunch. I acknowledge the guys have different personalities and somewhat different comedic styles (though Nelson was a writer when Hodgson was on). Nelson in general seems to be a big meaner and cutting, while Hodgson is a bit more kindly and laid back.

I had kinda forgotten that Bill Corbett only did the Crow voice in the last three Sci-Fi Channel seasons of the show, and that it was Trace Beaulieu for most of the run before that for the first seven seasons. I was surprisingly okay with the robot voices on the Kickstarter video. Different, but done similarly without trying to exactly imitate. Murphy and Corbett are good on the Rifftrax stuff with Nelson. But there was something pretty cool about actually seeing Crow and Servo in that new video.

I’m cautiously optimistic about these new episodes. My main concern would actually be that because Joel is a bit more laid back and kindly, the humor on his new episodes won’t be mean enough or cutting enough for some viewers. Joel’s jokes sometimes skew a bit more obscure rather than extra mean and shocking.

Interesting theory that Mallon sold his stake to Shout Factory. Joel is being understandably vague about what deals were cut and how it all went down. Maybe eventually the story will be told.

 

Currently at $1,079,816 after one day, not bad.

 

Industry and government initiatives aside, I can't help thinking that cocaine must still be running amok in Hollywood.

 

I only follow one MST site (mst3kinfo.com), so I'll admit my pool of fan reactions is pretty shallow, but it seems like a good deal of people there who are pessimistic about these recent developments are also Joel fans. They're just wary of new MST-branded product made by newcomers.

I'd also like to note that (again based on only one site) that I've NEVER seen any Pro-Mike Joel Haters. The Post-Joel Fans seem pretty okay with most of the era's of the show and are fairly open minded as long as it's MST3k. The most antagonistic fans whose opinions I've read are the ones who came in early, during the Joel run and can't stand the changes in the show that occurred. They actually remind me a lot of some of the people here who(me generalizing) believe there was no good music made after the 70's.

 

I definitely haven't immersed myself in a lot of MST3K fandom. But the posters on Nelson's and Rifftrax's Facebook pages seem to be predominantly people who think Rifftrax and the later seasons of MST are better than the Joel era (which isn't surprising given the venues for the comments), with some folks who seem to celebrate all of it equally.

I'm only cautiously optimistic about this new iteration, but I would say it doesn't appear to be "MST-branded product made by newcomers." It's coming across like Joel will be the showrunner and one of the writers. The show is essentially coming across as if they're replacing Mike with another guy just like Joel got replaced. They appear to intend to get some of same writers as well. Why exactly Joel is making no attempt to even temporarily take on actual hosting duties, I don't know. Maybe he figures if he knows he doesn't want to stay on camera full-time, he might as well introduce the new host right off the bat.

 

Not that I've seen. Booze and pills, yes. And prescription pot.

 

I read somewhere that Joel was never really comfortable being in front of the camera and it kind of shows in some of the skits.

 

Probably often a combination of all of them, judging by the results.

 

I'm really optimistic that this reboot will turn out quite good! From what I understand, Joel has wanted this to happen for a while now. MST3K is his baby, and I highly doubt he'd produce a low quality product that would hurt his/the show's legacy. It might not live up to the greatness of the original run, but I agree with Joel in that there is room for MST3K in the year 2015 and beyond.

There is something I've been wondering about in regards to the new episodes. I assume that the video aspect of the show will now be widescreen, yeah? Will that have an effect of what movies they choose for the new season? IMO, movies with an original 4/3 aspect ratio would look horrible cropped for widescreen.

 

Nerdist Podcast co-host Jonah Ray has been pegged to host the new incarnation of the show.

http://www.avclub.com/article/joel-hodgson-names-jonah-ray-his-potential-mst3k-s-228465

 

No big surprise, but they hit their $2 million goal last night.

 

Not that anyone cares about my opinion, but I'll voice it anyway.

I was excited about this until it occurred to me that nowhere did it say that any original cast members would return for it. As great as it would be to see the 'bots again, I think the original cast members (including Mike) are what make it work.

I'm a Rifftrax fan and think the only major thing missing from that is the 'bots. And Bill Corbett, as much as he seems like a cool guy, is more miss than hit with his jokes.

I've seen a few episodes of Cinematic Titanic, or at least the start of them, and even with J. Elvis, Joel and Trace involved, I've found each episode boring and fell asleep during them.

For me personally, the perfect cast would be Mike Nelson with Trace and Kevin as Crow and Tom Servo. Absent that, I'm glad we at least have Rifftrax and the old episodes.

 

Yeah, none of the original cast or writers will be returning save for Joel (probably in a writing role).

 

In the last Kickstarter update, Joel said the entire old cast is invited back to write and possibly make cameos as their old characters. I guess we'll see whether any of them accept the invite.

Anyone have thoughts as to the recent cast announcements? I think Jonah and Baron Vaughn as Servo might take some getting used to. Hampton Yount sounds a lot like Bill Corbett voicing Crow, so I think he's a good choice. Felicia Day as Kinga Forrester has potential as well.

 

Agreed - I've always like Joel the least - he is too soft - just not cutting enough. Mike is awesome - I really like RiffTrax.

 

It's nice of him to make the offer but I would be surprised if any of the former cast comes back to write. They're all busy doing other things. Joel seems to be the only one who hasn't had a lot of success after leaving the show for some reason.

 

Your comment reminded me of this skit from Manos...

Fast forward to 1 hour, 9 minutes 15 seconds.

 

It might depend on how many episodes they wind up making. If they get enough funding for a full 12 episodes, it might be difficult for former cast members to carve out enough time to be a part of it. If they only wind up doing 3 episodes, it might be less of a commitment and easier to fit into their schedules.

 

Yeah - he needs the other guys to make the skit funny. I like him but have to admit that when we (our family) would watch the show we would be disappointed when Mike wasn't the host. He had my kids laughing at jokes they certainly couldn't understand just by the way he delivered them.

 

Joel's droopy personality is what drew me to the show in the first place. I remember being on the Prodigy online service back around the time the switch from Joel-to-Mike happened and remember someone saying Joel quit due to always being high on set (of course it wasn't true) but sometimes his on air persona did seem a little spacey. But that was just all part of the charm. I grew to like Mike with time though. I struggled with the show after Trace left. I can count the Sci-Fi episodes I like on like 6-7 fingers.