MST3K
Latest
'Mystery Science Theater 3000' is back on a dedicated streaming platform
The world never run out of bad 'B' movies to mock, apparently, because Mystery Science Theater 3000 (MST3K) is back for a 13th season.
MST3K's latest kickstarter is funding a new streaming platform
Mystery Science Theater 3000 returns to Kickstarter to fund its latest comeback, with greater aspirations this time around.
Netflix won't back a new season of 'Mystery Science Theater 3000'
After Mystery Science Theater 3000 made its comeback via crowdfunding, Netflix backed a second season of the show's "Return" that arrived around this time last year. Unfortunately, their partnership will apparently end there, as host Jonah Ray announced via Twitter that the streamer decided against doing another season. Of course, as he notes, the show "always figured out how to survive," and series creator Joel Hodgson said "It's not the end of MST3K, It's just the end of the first chapter of bringing back MST3K." With a proven capability to raise millions on Kickstarter and new streaming outlets opening every week, the possibility of new episodes is wide open. For now, fans can look forward to the annual Turkey Day Marathon with six classic episodes starting at noon ET on Thursday.
The new ‘MST3K’ arrives on Netflix November 22nd
Thanksgiving is a special time, where you and your family can avoid talking to one another in order to marathon Mystery Science Theater 3000. Netflix and Shout Factory have revealed that this year's Turkey Day will be an MST3K marathon with a difference: it's the day that the new Season 12 arrives. Six new episodes will drop on November 22nd in the US and Canada, as well as the UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand.
'MST3K' will mock B movies for another season on Netflix
If Twitch's Mystery Science Theater 3000 binge-fest didn't scratch your itch, we've got good news for you: Netflix is renewing the show's revival MST3K: The Return for a second season (and the 12th season overall). A brief announcement video (featuring series creator Joel Hodgson, current host Jonah Ray, and Felicia Day) hit YouTube shortly after Shout Factory's annual Turkey Day marathon -- which diehards no doubt tuned in to for Thanksgiving b-movie wisecracks.
Next 'MST3K' DVD box set could be its last
The cult of Mystery Science Theatre 3000 is currently in full swing. There's the gleefully cheesy Netflix revival, which came off the back of a successful Kickstarter from the show's creator Joel Hodgson. And, Twitch recently aired a six-day long MST3K binge-fest for b-movie devotees. While streaming services have stepped in to continue its legacy, those seeking physical copies of the show are in for a hard time. Distributor Shout! Factory's plans to release more DVDs of the series just hit a speed bump. In a post on the show's Facebook page, it claims that MST3K Volume 39 will "likely" be the last collection of unreleased episodes of the show.
When tech nostalgia goes too far
Nintendo had a bonafide smash on its hands with the NES Classic. And it looks like the SNES mini console will fly off of store shelves just as quickly. But it's not the only company looking to cash in on your nostalgia. Nowadays, there are reboots of TV shows like Twin Peaks and MST3K. Oh, and how about Netflix's Stranger Things, a series that's basically a love letter to the 80s? These are all examples of nostalgia products done right. But not everything we've seen in recent years has been as great as you would have hoped. Because, seriously, do you really want one of the Furbys pictured above watching you sleep? And who would be caught dead toting around a Tamagotchi in 2017? You know what, maybe that is you, and who are we to judge? But if you ask us, these 10 things probably took our retro obsession a little too far.
Twitch's latest marathon is a six-day 'MST3K' binge
B-movie lovers rejoice, for social video platform Twitch is set to air a Mystery Science Theater 3000 marathon lasting a mind-numbing six days. The stream, which features 38 classic episodes, will air on Shout! Factory TV's new Twitch channel from June 26 to July 3. The comic sci-fi show, which emerged as a cult favorite despite two network cancellations, follows hapless host Joel Robinson as he's trapped by mad scientists in space and forced to watch some of the worst B-movies ever produced. Viewers are not only treated (subjected?) to the appalling films in their entireties, but also to the running commentary of our sorry protagonist and the two robot sidekicks he's built to keep him sane (which, in the face of absolute fiascos such as Manos: The Hands of Fate, is no mean feat).
ICYMI: Watching plants grow and playing 'Mario Kart' with an actual car
Today on In Case You Missed It: The thought of watching a plant grow seems, well, boring. But researchers from the Institute of Science and Technology in Austria used lasers, fluorescent lights and a microscope to track the growth of a flowering weed's roots. The end result is a close-up 3D video that looks more like a glowing burrowing worm than a plant. The researchers also twisted the plate the plants are growing on to see how the roots adjust to changes in gravity, which could be helpful when we need to grow food in space.
Watch the 'MST3K' reboot's gloriously campy first trailer
The first trailer for the new Mystery Science Theater 3000 is here, and it's full of camp, cheesy special effects and sassy robots. Felicia Day and Patton Oswalt are restarting the MST3K experiment, and they're subjecting captured comedian Jonah Ray to bad B-movies to study their effects on the human brain.
Netflix offers 20 classic 'MST3k' episodes to the world
In the not-too distant future (April 14th, 2017 AD), a brand-new season of crowdfunded Mystery Science Theater 3000 episodes will hit Netflix. Before then, however, 20 classic episodes of the show have been added to the streaming service globally both to whet appetites and create new fans of the cult classic. The episodes include fan favorites as Manos: The Hands of Fate, Time Chasers and Space Mutiny.
Crowdfunded 'MST3K' revival hits Netflix April 14th
Tonight, after a "Red Carpet Kickstarter Screening" of the first new Mystery Science Theater 3000 episode, Netflix announced the revived series will launch April 14th. In a message to backers of the biggest crowdfunded video project, creator Joel Hodgson promised that backers with rewards including new episodes or a live screening of the new episodes will "have them by April 14." Netflix didn't have anything to share other than the cast photo above, but at least fans can mark their calendars.
'Mystery Science Theater 3000' comeback lands at Netflix
You won't have to go out of your way to watch the Mystery Science Theater 3000 revival. Netflix has picked up the crowdfunded make-fun-of-movies show and will be the only place to stream it in the US, UK, Australia, Canada, Ireland and New Zealand. The move isn't exactly shocking (Netflix has already offered classic MST3K episodes), but it's that much sweeter if you're already a Netflix subscriber and would rather not head to another service to watch. Just don't be in a rush to catch up with Joel, Tom Servo and Crow. In keeping with the tone of the series, Netflix will only say that MST3K is coming back "in the not-too-distant future..." and we don't think it means "next Sunday, AD."
'MST3K' is the biggest crowdfunded video project to date
If you guessed that a Mystery Science Theater 3000 crowdfunding campaign would rake in a lot of cash... well, you guessed correctly. Joel Hodgson's quest to revive the poke-fun-at-bad-movies show has ended its campaign with nearly $5.8 million raised through Kickstarter, making it the biggest crowdfunded video project so far -- it just edged past the $5.7 million of the Veronica Mars movie. Between this fundraising and the $600,000 raised outside of Kickstarter, you're going to get 14 new MST3K episodes (including a holiday special) next year.
'MST3K' needs Kickstarter cash to make its comeback
If there's a much-loved but commercially unsuccessful TV show with enough of a fanbase, then someone's probably tried to resurrect it on Kickstarter. Now, following in the success of Veronica Mars and Thunderbirds 1965, Joel Hodgson is going to use the platform to bring back Mystery Science Theater 3000. He's looking to raise anything up to $5.5 million in the hope of producing a whole new season of 12 episodes mocking classic movies. It's hoped that, after demonstrating that there's enough of an audience out there, a cable channel or online service will help bankroll future episodes after that.
Watch an episode of 'MST3k,' with or without the jokes explained
Ordinarily, people talking during a movie is our idea of hell, but in Mystery Science Theater 3000's case, we're more than happy to allow it. The thing is, unless you've got a pop culture brain that'd make Tarantino blush, you're not going to know enough to get the joke. That's why a group calling themselves The Annotated MST have been painstakingly researching and explaining every single gag from the show so you don't feel left out. Thankfully, the group has teamed up with Shout! Factory, MST3k's DVD label, to release a fully-amended and legitimate copy of Mitchell onto YouTube (after the break) that you can switch on and off depending on if you need a joke explained. Just be glad they don't have this sort of thing in real life, or else no-one would go to the cinema ever again.
Vimeo snags 'MST3K' catalog and exclusive access to future releases
If Vimeo's determined to develop a pay-per-view streaming service, then the outfit is going about it in a rather strange way. The website has signed a deal with Mystery Science Theater 3000's distributors to bring 80 "cleared" episodes to the site's on-demand platform. Because of the myriad rights issues that surround the show, more than half of the episodes aren't legally available. Of course, that doesn't mean that you can't find them if you've got some time, a lax attitude to intellectual property and don't mind typing in phrases like "mst3k.s08.e20" into YouTube. If, however, you'd prefer to get your stuff through legitimate channels, you'll be able to rent each movie for $3, buy them for $10 or purchase the whole collection for a heavily discounted $300.
The Perfect Ten: My biggest gaming moments in 2012
I am a complete sucker for three things: novelty soft drink flavors, Tom Servo's singing voice in MST3K, and end-of-the-year lists. Egads, I love the end of the year just for the lists alone. Everyone does them (copycats!), and I like to see how my opinions stack up against them. Plus, often I learn of cool things that happened or came out during the past year that I missed. So this is my list. My end-of-2012 list. I am devoting the 26th Perfect Ten of 2012 to the top 10 moments in MMO gaming and blogging. It was a rollercoaster of highs and lows, and looking back, I don't think I could've predicted half of the major events that happened in this industry. That's what I like about this gig: It keeps me on my toes.
Zeebox adds Viacom to its list of second-screen partners
We love riffing on TV shows like a latter-day MST3k, which means that companies are desperate to harness our homespun satire to their own ends. Second-screen start-up Zeebox has inked a deal with MTV and Comedy Central owner Viacom, offering exclusive content in exchange for on-screen advertising. That said, we're not sure if the promise of behind-the-scenes clips would be enough to draw us away from just cattily judging the Project Runway contestants on Twitter, where we're less likely to be moderated into oblivion.
Legendarily horrible film "MANOS" gets its own iOS game
There are few movies that are as bad as the 1966 horror film MANOS: The Hands of Fate, which sits very near the bottom of IMDB's ratings list. I can think of a few almost as bad, like Robot Monster (guy in gorilla suit wearing a space helmet), Hercules Against the Moon Men (science-fiction and Greek myth combining the worst elements of both), and maybe Santa Claus Conquers the Martians (Martians kidnap Santa so Mars kids can have Christmas). Certainly, though, MANOS is a stunner. Without going too deeply into the plot, it's about a vacationing family who happen upon a cult in the Texas desert. The film was shot in less than 3 months for $19,000 and directed by an insurance salesman. The handheld camera being used could only shoot in 32 second spurts, so the editing is, shall we say, a bit choppy. Chunks of plot are unconnected, the night shots are plagued with moths, and one character (Torgo) may be a satyr. MANOS would have probably remained unknown and unmourned except for the thorough mocking it received as the source film for an episode of Mystery Science Theater 3000. After Joel and the bots suffered through the screening, both Dr. Forrester and TV's Frank admitted that this experiment was too horrible even for their evil scheming ways. After that, MANOS reemerged as a cult "classic" despite its near-unwatchability. If you can't get enough MANOS, then you're in luck; there's a shiny new iPhone game based on the film. Mashable notes today that the game is coming to your iOS device from FreakZone games in the UK. It's built in the style of an old NES 8-bit side scroller, and it will be unleashed July 26. Apparently the game is not completely pure MANOS; there are bits and monsters thrown in from other bad movies, and the soundtrack is made of themes from MANOS. If the game does well, you guessed it, more bad movies will be used for sequels. If you're a MANOS: Hands of Fate cultie, or even if you're not, the game should be worth a few plays. If you haven't seen the actual movie, frankly, I advise caution. If you really need to see this bomb and have some fun, MANOS will be screening nationwide via satellite in August as a special one-night event with live commentary from the RiffTrax (ex-MST3K cast) guys. The game trailer is below. Beware the Master!
