Mystery Science Theater 3000, the little puppet-based movie commentary show that could, turns 35 this year (not counting the KTMA years), and The Mads are preparing another round of underseen crappy movies for our heroes to laugh at. But, aside from Tom Servo’s inevitable but unannounced presidential campaign next year, the Gigzmoplex has more surprises in store.
Earlier today, host and creator Joel Hodgson announced that financing for season 14 has begun. As anyone clicking on an article about MST3K knows by now, the show is a crowdfunded endeavor these days, a business decision that has paid dividends for MSTies. Following two revival seasons on Netflix, Mystery Science Theater took its future into its own hands and launched the Gizmoplex, an online viewing and community hub that hosted the crowdfunded season 13, which raised a staggering $6.5 million. What can we say? People really like Crow.
This year, the crew is setting its sights high. Pulling contributions on the show’s in-house crowdfunding platform, The Showmaker, the show set an initial goal of $4.8 million to fund six new episodes, six shorts, and 18 “surgically enhanced” classic episodes that would upgrade installments wasting away in 480p to 1080p HD. If the show reaches $6.1 million, the next season will get nine episodes, nine shorts, and 27 surgical operations for aging episodes. Finally, at $7.4 million, the season will grow to 12 episodes, 12 shorts, and 36 surgeries.
“I’m thrilled that next year, MST3K turns thirty-five. Someone recently asked me if I ever imagined the show would be around for thirty-five years when I created it, and I had to pause and say, ‘No. I didn’t,’” Hodgson said. “Our status as a long-running comedy series with robot puppets riffing on B-movies was ridiculous when it started, and now, thirty-five years later, it borders on ludicrous. That being said, in all seriousness, the enduring success of the show is a tribute to the collaboration between our many talented writers, performers, and craftspeople, and our generous, loyal audience.”
Mystery Science Theater 3000 is currently accepting donations on its website. We look forward to the movie sign lighting up once again.