Mystery Science Theater 3000 is the little show that could. Launched on a local Twin Cities cable channel in the mid-’80s, the show about a Regular Joe and his robot friends riffing on cheesy movies has survived cancellations on two networks (Comedy Central, Sci-Fi) and a streamer (Netflix) and is now producing episodes — featuring show creator Joel Hodgson, newer host Jonah Ray, Patton Oswalt and more — entirely via crowdfunding. After a successful 2021 Kickstarter for S13, Hodgson has just launched a new campaign for the show’s 14th season, seeking to raise at least $4.8 million. Here’s Joel with the details:
Well, here we are again. By now, many of you know this process, but for the new folks in the room – the time has come to make another season of MST3K!
We ran our last crowdfunding campaign in 2021, and the result was our “lucky” season 13, featuring thirteen new episodes, thirteen new shorts, the returns of most recent host Jonah Heston and original host Joel Robinson, and the introduction of a new host with Emily Connor. We also built the Gizmoplex, our very own independent streaming platform, so that we no longer need to depend on networks to keep the show alive.
So why are we doing another crowdfunding campaign? That’s simple. The world needs more MST3K. Doesn’t it give you a thrill that this scrawny movie riffing puppet show is about to enter its 35th year? That’s because of you, our faithful fans: you keep us going. We brought it back with you, the MST3K community. As long as you all want more episodes, we will keep making them. And… we’ll now be hosting our crowdfunding campaigns right here on MST3K.com!
But we’ll get into those details later. Right now, you want to know our plan for funding the next season of MST3K. Depending on how much we raise, we’ll be making between six and twelve new episodes – but we need to hit a minimum of six episodes to move forward. So let’s look at the numbers.
For even more, you can watch a video where Joel walks you through everything with a little razzle-dazzle, below.
You can donate to MST3K’s Season 14 Campaign here.