Topic: New MST3K Kickstarter Campaign

[Alberon]

Joel Hodgson has returned to kickstarter to fund more MST3K.

Here's the goals for new episodes and their 'online virtual theatre' The Gizmoplex.



Last time they funded it and then released it through Netflix, though the streaming service were never willing to pay enough to fully fund the show on its own. This time it seems they're more committed to staying independent. They've said the cast from the Netflix era will be back, but whether it would be all of them, guest bits, or what no one is saying yet. Jonah Heston is in the kickstarter launch video, though.

MakeMoreMST3K.com

So far the kickstarter has been live for a few hours and they're already halfway to the initial three episode goal.

[Lemming]

Whoaa, shit, look at that backer count shoot up in real-time.

The Jonah series were by and large a lot of fun. If they can continue at the same level of quality - and their self-distribution idea doesn't turn into a massive trainwreck - then this can only be great news.

[up_the_hampipe]

I’ve never been able to really get in to MST3K, despite being fond of the concept. It feels too gimmicky with the space theme and the robots, but I don’t think I’ve really given it a chance. There are a lot of episodes and different eras of the show, so I don’t know where to start. Are there any great episodes that are worth trying?

[Kankurette]

I’ve never been able to really get in to MST3K, despite being fond of the concept. It feels too gimmicky with the space theme and the robots, but I don’t think I’ve really given it a chance. There are a lot of episodes and different eras of the show, so I don’t know where to start. Are there any great episodes that are worth trying?

Manos the Hands of Fate, Mitchell, Space Mutiny and The Girl With Gold Boots are among my faves.

[Lemming]

I’ve never been able to really get in to MST3K, despite being fond of the concept. It feels too gimmicky with the space theme and the robots, but I don’t think I’ve really given it a chance. There are a lot of episodes and different eras of the show, so I don’t know where to start. Are there any great episodes that are worth trying?

Try these:

Time of the Apes
Space Mutiny
Pumaman
Final Justice

[colacentral]

I’ve never been able to really get in to MST3K, despite being fond of the concept. It feels too gimmicky with the space theme and the robots, but I don’t think I’ve really given it a chance. There are a lot of episodes and different eras of the show, so I don’t know where to start. Are there any great episodes that are worth trying?

Red Zone Cuba - black and white film from 1966 depicting the Bay of Pigs as being carried out by five guys. Very slow and boring film, but hilarious to me, an underrated classic. Great bad theme tune to the film too ("Night Train to Mundo Fine").

The Incredible Melting Man - 1977 horror film about an astronaut exposed to radiation who then begins to melt and kill people.

It Conquered the World - black and white 50's sci-fi directed by Roger Corman. A cult classic film and entertaining in it's own right, with one of the all-time greatest bad movie monsters, which I won't spoil by describing. I mainly love this episode for the very serious monologue delivered by Peter Graves in the last few minutes, and the way that MST3K makes fun of it after the film has ended (and into the end credits of the episode).

Blood Waters of Dr. Z - Also known as Zaat, just a weird, grimey 70's film about a scientist who turns himself into a monster because of his desire to be a fish.

It's honestly really, really hard to pick out episodes to start someone off as each episode can be so different depending on the film they've got to work with, and a lot of enjoyment could depend on what type of film you prefer. Each season is also very different in its humour.

[dr_christian_troy]

If you ever want to tuck into the series, here's a couple of free 24 hour live streams:

Pluto TV channel[1]

Twitch channel

1.	There's a lot of odd channels on Pluto, but then you also have a Rifftrax and a Tonight Show with Johnny Carson channel, so it's not all bad.

[jofo]

Try these:

Time of the Apes
Space Mutiny
Pumaman
Final Justice

Start with Pumaman, fast forword through all the skits and just enjoy that fucking stupid film. If you dont love it then MST3K is not for you my friend.

[Rolf Lundgren]

I've got a lot of love for MST3K but feel a bit sad when it's come to this. Just feel there's a better use of everyone's time and money rather than trying to do the same thing but the audience is clearly there so whaddaiknow.

Agree about not bothering to watch the skits when you first get into MST3K. Straight for the film is the way to go.

[Blumf]

Agree about not bothering to watch the skits when you first get into MST3K. Straight for the film is the way to go.

In which case, maybe try out MST3K : The Movie first, which is shorter than the usual episodes and mainly focuses on the film. Although its riffing on a decent film, This Island Earth, rather than the usual B-movie schlock.

[Alberon]

Well, it took just a day to hit the lowest goal of $2m.

[Attila]

Back in the day, I belonged to the MST3K Info club; I still have a bunch of the newsletters (including the hand-drawn merchandising adverts). Some mad, silly stuff there.

[Kankurette]

Start with Pumaman, fast forword through all the skits and just enjoy that fucking stupid film. If you dont love it then MST3K is not for you my friend.

The bits where he flies are the best bits IMO.

[Rev+]

Do NOT start with Manos.  It's a favourite episode for good reason but definitely not one you want to start with.  Pumaman all the way.

I can't quite wrap my head around this new Kickstarter effort.  The idea of a streaming platform and producing new episodes for it is fine, but where will we be a year down the line?  Cap in hand on Kickstarter again to produce more content?  It seems like they'll be charging a monthly subscription to watch one show, which surely can't work.  If they flood the channel with other dodgy B-movies and stuff then fine, but this would have to be public domain stuff that the viewers could get elsewhere.  Happy for it to come back for a year in this form, but dunno if it's the long-term proposition Joel thinks it is.

[Alberon]

Looking at some of the Kickstarter bonuses there will be a subscription, but I think the plan is to do more with the ‘Gizmoplex’ along the lines of live events and probably old episodes.

Going back to Kickstarter repeatedly is not a sustainable model so in the long term subscriptions have to be able to carry it. There’s talk of DVD and Blu-Ray releases of the new episodes and, obviously, digital downloads, but I’d assume it’s going to exclusive to the new service for a time at least.

[dr_christian_troy]

The recommended PUMA MAN is popping up on the free Twitch stream next (after The Sword And The Dragon, currently playing). If anyone fancies hanging out and chatting, I’m @GrimWord - come say hello.

https://www.twitch.tv/mst3k

[JesusAndYourBush]

It costs that much to talk over a few films??

[Lemming]

There's the cost of the sets, the puppets, buying the rights to the films, paying the actors (Felicia Day and Patton Oswalt in particular probably cost a bit), hiring people to make the new service and the promised "apps" for it...

That said, yeah, it does seem very steep, especially considering that the sets and props will be presumably intentionally built on the cheap because that's always been the show's look. Even accounting for the fact they might want to license some slightly more costly films for this one, I can't see how the total comes up to $5.5 million.

[Alberon]

This is exactly the figure the original Kickstarter several years back aimed to raise. To be honest, $5.5 for twelve feature length episodes plus twelve shorts seems quite reasonable.