Mystery Science Theater 3000 Kickstarts 12th Season

In the 90's and the later part of the 80's there existed a little show called Mystery Science Theater 3000. In it, a man was stranded in space with a few robot companions, forever doomed to watch (and riff on) the world's worst movies. The show ran on several different stations over its lifetime, and even had a movie release. Unfortunately, like all good things, it had to come to an end. But now it's poised to make a comeback.

Today, the series creator Joel Hodgson announced a Kickstarter campaign to bring the show back in a big way. According to Hodgson, the rights to the series have been tied up for quite some time. But after perfecting a move he likes to call "The Persuader," he has been able to clear up the legal hurdles that has prevented him from bringing the show back until now.

The campaign is looking for $2 million in funding, and at the time of writing, it had amassed nearly $400,000 already. Bear in mind that it has only been live for a short time today. If the goal is met, Joel will be able to create 3 full-length episodes, with stretch goals that include up to an entire 12-episode season.

The biggest question on everyone's mind is whether Joel or Mike will be hosting the show once again. And as it turns out, neither will. During a recent interview, Joel confirmed that he would like to have a new host, along with new voice actors for all of the robots. That's not to say that old faces (and voices) won't show up throughout the season. He mentioned that not only was this a way to get new episodes out to fans, but he hoped that it would bring some of the old cast and crew back together to work on the show in various ways.

It doesn't appear that any of the old cast and crew have signed on to help just yet. Mike Nelson tweeted earlier to say that he is not involved with the reboot of the show. He's busy working on his own project, Rifftrax, which provides audio commentary that you can sync up with movies to produce that similar riffing atmosphere that MST3K used to provide. Here's hoping that he's able (and willing) get get involved with the new season of the show.

VIA: EW Source: Kickstarter