Hours after launching a Kickstarter campaign to revive a TV show that made it fun to watch horrible movies, Mystery Science Theater 3000 creator Joel Hodgson has raised more than $500,000 — a quarter of his $2 million goal.
If the fundraising campaign is successful, the Mystery Science Theater team could start a new run of up to 12 feature-length episodes next July, depending on the amount of donations over the next month.
From Hodgson’s Kickstarter pitch:
“Our show has had a long, strange run. Across a UHF channel, a cable network, cancellation, a feature film, then another cable network, the show lasted for 12 years, two generations of hosts and puppeteers, 2 Emmy nominations and a total of 197 episodes before we got canceled again ‘for good’ in 1999. Sadly, it was just as Prince predicted.
“But maybe that’s not where it all ends.”
Known as MST3K, Hodgson’s show was famous for riffing on anything that happened on screen, from an unusual name in a film’s credits to clunky dialogue or unlikely filmmaking choices.