The New MST3K Was Made for the Internet
Image: Joel Hodgson

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The New MST3K Was Made for the Internet

We talked to Joel Hodgson, the creator of the cult hit "Mystery Science Theater 3000," which is back thanks to Kickstarter.

Mitchell, the LAPD's wheezing, boozing "chubby blue line." Torgo, knock-kneed Texan satyr. Trumpy, Spain's violent, unlovable E.T. knock-off. All would have been consigned to the dustbin of Z movie history, instead of megacheese stardom, were it not for Mystery Science Theater 3000.

MST3K emerged in 1988 from a local Minnesota network to run for one hundred and ninety seven episodes on Comedy Central and The Sci-Fi Channel, concluding in 1999. Since then, the adventures of Tom Servo, Crow T. Robot, and Joel Hodgson, the show's creator and original host, have lived on as the ultimate cult TV show, the urtext for mocking bad movies.

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The show certainly had an impact on me. Watching the ultimate wiseasses unload on terrible animatronic velocipators seemed like the coolest thing possible as an eleven year-old. MST3K featured some of the only cool nerds a kid could look up to at that time. And now, they're back.

"I always believed that the right people—those who get our sense of humor, and get a lot of the show's references—will be fans of the show. But the internet seems like it makes it easier to find the right people"

With the success of Joel Hodgson's ambitious Kickstarter, MST3K is now guaranteed to return for at least three fan-financed episodes in the coming year. VICE Motherboard talked with Hodgson about what fans can expect from the new host, Nerdist's Jonah Ray.

You had been trying for five years to get something like the MST3K Kickstarter off the ground. What were the biggest challenges in that time period?

I think the biggest challenge was just figuring out all of the legal issues around rights. Best Brains owned it, but there was no real plan to pursue new episodes. I worked with Shout! Factory to secure the rights, and now we're able to proceed with creating the next generation of the show—but yeah, it was a really slow, time-consuming process.

I also think that seeing some other big cult television series succeed at crowdfunding encouraged me to focus, and helped me see how we could team up with our fans to get the show back faster, without a lot of the normal hoops we'd have to jump otherwise.

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MST3K is no stranger to recasting roles, and you emphasized the importance of an all new cast for the new episodes. Why is it a priority for you to cast new talent?

This is such a difficult question, because I know people have such strong feelings about this. But it's funny: when I created MST3K, I never meant to be the host forever, or to be one of just "two" hosts. The basic idea of MST3K is simple, and the world will never run out of cheesy movies, so it seemed to me that MST3K could stick around forever, like Saturday Night Live or Doctor Who. You might have your favorite cast, but that didn't mean the show would end when one group of actors or writers decided to move on to new projects. It just meant you'd get a different flavor, you know?

You announced the exciting news that Nerdist podcaster Jonah Ray will be aboard the Satellite of Love as the new host. What are the qualities necessary for a MST3K host in 2015?

I don't think there's any one "right way" to host MST3K, really. Mike Nelson and I had very different approaches, and I think we each brought a different feel to the show that worked for a lot of the fans.

I do think it's important for a good host to have a lot of "cultural knowledge"—they just need to have so much weird stuff in their head to draw on. And they need to have great chemistry with their robot friends, because that's so much of what makes the show work… that feeling like you're just watching a movie with some funny friends.

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During the show's original run, the writers could only riff off the tops of their heads, with no internet access. Now, as you said, "tweets are a lot like riffs." How do you foresee development proceeding as compared to the old process?

I just wrote an update where I reference George C Scott, in the movie Patton, and his line about Rommel. "I read your book, you magnificent Bastard." Which is how I've always remembered it. well actually, I looked it up on line and realized I had reversed the phrase. In the film George C Scott actually says, "You magnificent Bastard, I read your book!"—so I guess, having the internet available will make our references a little bit more accurate than our memories.

What are the movie qualities that provide the material necessary for riffing?

Oh, man, what a great question. Well, I think the film has to be competently made, for one. There are lots of terrible movies that will never work for MST3K because their production values are just so terrible-the sound cuts out, the acting is intentionally bad… It also has to have some sort of story to it, since that gives you a kind of backbone for all of the riffs.

Also, I guess some people can do this, but for me… I don't think it works as well to riff on a movie that is trying to be bad. They've already told their own joke. And you know, you also can't hate the movie you're riffing, or I think it all comes out different. You need to love movies, and you need to be able to find something to love about the movie you're riffing, or why bother watching it?

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Bill Corbett, the former voice of Crow, recalled seeing how a funny script could nevertheless be the basis for a bad movie. Do you ever admire the movies you are riffing on?

I think there's always something to admire about the movies we riffed on. Movies are a wonderful time capsule, of style, locations, music, and values, It might not be what the director or actors wanted us to admire, but I don't think you can spend the time to write riffs and make a whole episode out of a movie you just hate.

MST3K's internet fandom has been an enormous part of the show's success, ever since Usenet was being used to connect MSTies around the world. Now, the internet is anything but a niche. Do you think the audience has changed?

That's a great question too. You know, I always believed that the right people—those who get our sense of humor, and get a lot of the show's references—will be fans of the show. I don't think that's changed so much. But the internet seems like it makes it easier to find the right people, or for them to find you, so that you can be with other people who get you. And sure, things like Twitter and putting hashtags on television shows have sort of made the whole internet a place for riffing and sharing quick reactions. It all takes advantage of the same thing that made MST3K work for a lot of people back in the 90's—sometimes, it's just better to watch things with other people, and share that experience. So I guess maybe there's more of an audience out there now that appreciates what we try to do, and I hope they'll want to be part of it with us.


To learn more about the project, contribute to the effort, or (as I did), demand a Joe Don Baker retrospective for the new season, visit Joel's MST3K Kickstarter page—and don't forget to vote for this year's MST3K Turkey Day marathon line-up, streaming live this Thursday on YouTube.