You did it: you brought back MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000! Thanks to you, MST3K will be able to shoot FOURTEEN NEW EPISODES next year, including a new holiday special!
This post is for backers only. Please visit Kickstarter.com and log in to read.
This post is for backers only. Please visit Kickstarter.com and log in to read.
Joel here. I'm really pleased to tell you that we’ve been getting some great feedback on the MST3K trailer that launched last week: from you backers, from fans, the press, and even the folks on the inside at Netflix! I’d say by and large, we’re in really good shape.
Also, to make things even more interesting...
With help from our friends at Shout Factory, we’re building a new home for MST3K on the web. And you know, while this site is still very much a work in progress, we have some pretty fun plans for it. As we move forward, we'll be starting to use the website more to share some of the in-depth posts and “behind the scenes” exclusive content I've promised you, both from me and some other folks at MST3K.
Also, starting right now, all of you original Kickstarter backers already have profiles set up there and waiting for you, with your unique “MST3K Revival League” Backer number attached to them. You should be receiving emails soon on how to activate your accounts over there, so if you don’t get that email by tomorrow afternoon, contact [email protected] for help.
For now, only you – our #BringBackMST3K backers – can register accounts on MST3K.com. We wanted to get you in on the ground floor before everyone else. So yeah, when you get the email with your account information, be sure to head over and take a good look around, and start filling in your profiles. Once you're there, you'll also be able to read my first post, where I'll introduce you to my friend Lesley Kinzel. She'll be helping run things over there, and making sure there's a lot of great exclusive content for you.
Oh, and don't worry. Even though we're going to start using MST3K.com to share more content with you, we'll also still be sending out these Kickstarter updates to keep you “in the loop” about rewards info, to share important announcements, and to make sure you know when there's something new waiting for you on the website.
Anyway, I hope you'll take a look and let us know what you think in the comments. Just like MST3K itself, you're an important part of how the new website will come to life.
See you over there!
Cheers & Thanks,
Joel
Hey All!
Quick update to fix two typos from yesterday's announcements:
We now return you to your regularly scheduled programming.
Love,
The Management
Joel here. Man, there's a bunch of new information to share with you this time.
First off, things are getting really exciting. Can’t you just feel it? It’s good to have the new shows finished, and to feel like we did a good job on them. Thanks for believing, and for your patience while we took the time to get all of the details just right.
Also, I think I mentioned this last time, but I've been thinking about it a lot, so I wanted to mention it again: When we did the screenings in NYC, Chicago, and LA, I didn’t meet a single backer that didn’t like the direction of the new show, which was such a relief. So, I can’t wait for the rest of you to finally see the pilot – and today, I've got details on exactly when you'll get to see it! And, I’m happy to report that after the pilot, I really think we improved as we went, so I'm also excited for you to see the rest of the new episodes. I've got to tell you, now that we're on a roll – nothing's been guaranteed or discussed yet, but I’m already looking forward to what I think we could do with a twelfth season!
Anyway, we've got just over two weeks left until the new season comes out on Netflix. The gears are starting to turn, baby! So, let's get right to it.
First, if you didn't already see it yesterday, Netflix has released an official "teaser trailer" for the new season, which will give most of you your first real look at our new host, our new Mads, and – SPOILER ALERT – some hints about a few of our new movies, including the name of the first movie we'll be riffing this season.
If you really want to watch the season and be surprised, you might want to avoid watching this. And also maybe going on the internet for the next few weeks. But if you don't mind knowing a few things, then you can take your first look at some new footage right now:
We asked Netflix not to give away too much about the movies we're riffing, so as you can see, this teaser is more about setting up the basic idea and "tone" of the show, and hopefully getting a wider audience a little bit curious to find out what this "MST3K" is all about.
And, you know, if your friends and family are curious – or you just want to force them to find out more about the show – you don't even have to wait until April 14th to get started. That's because…
As some of you already know, last week our friends at Netflix started getting things warmed up for Season 11, by adding 20 of your favorite classic episodes of Mystery Science Theater to their library. We tried to pick a collection that would give people a good feel for the show, and a lot of our choices were based on your votes for the top episodes.
Here's what got added:
So, you can see that we were able to add 7 of the top 10 episodes from your vote, which is pretty good! (Remember, we don't actually have the rights to stream all of the original films we riffed, which meant we couldn't just include the entire Top 10.)
Anyway, even if you've seen all of these episodes before, I really suggest going and watching some of them again now. I think the new episodes might actually feel better if you take some time to watch your old favorites first, because then you'll be able to compare the new season to the actual old episodes, and not just your memories of the old episodes. I realize, it’s the perfect time to say, “This is reality, Greg”.
And, even more important, Netflix pays really careful attention to what everyone is watching, and how quickly and how often, so actually, watching all of the episodes – old and new – on Netflix, even if you have digital downloads or access on other channels, is probably the single biggest thing you can do to help increase our chances of getting another new season after this one. And, if you want to help more Netflix users discover Mystery Science Theater for the first time, it'll also help if you want to leave some reviews and ratings on your favorite classic episodes on Netflix. I don't know exactly what goes into the Netflix secret sauce, but I'm pretty sure that'll help!
So, if you're a Netflix member – or you want to try out a free month-long membership – you can see those 20 classic episodes right here.
Next, I want to mention something really important, because I think maybe some backers are still confused about this. I know that a lot of you pledged for Kickstarter rewards that involve seeing some of the new season, including...
Even though it will help us out if you choose to watch the new season on Netflix, you don't have to be a Netflix member to collect or watch the new episode rewards.
Now, I know a lot of you have been wondering how (and when) you'll get the livestream screening and the digital downloads, and – even though it took us a little while to make all the arrangements – it was really important to me that we did everything we could to give our backers the chance to see the new season before other people can.
Here's what we're going to do.
If you pledged for EXPERIMENT 25 or higher, you probably remember that we promised:
"You'll be one of the first to see the first new episode when the movie sign sounds, with ACCESS TO OUR LIVE-STREAMING ONLINE SCREENING, where you can watch and riff the new episode LIVE with Joel, the cast and your fellow backers. It will feel like you're really here!"
Now, we've really been trying to figure out the best way to do this, because there are almost 40,000 of you invited to this livestream, and we want to make sure it all goes smoothly.
We also know that, because we have backers in so many different time zones, it's hard to schedule a single time for the livestream screening that will work for all of you. But, you know, I also don't want anyone to feel left out. So, here's what we figured out.
On THURSDAY, APRIL 6th, all backers invited to the livestream screening will receive a new VHX code through BackerKit, along with detailed instructions for redeeming the code. This will give you some extra time to make sure your VHX account is working.
Then, on SUNDAY, APRIL 8th, at 12:01 am ET, your VHX account will be updated with streaming access to EXPERIMENT 1101, which will let you stream the new pilot episode as much as you'd like for 24 hours, until 11:59 pm ET.
That afternoon, we'll invite you to join me and Jonah in an online chatroom (exact time TBD) while we watch Experiment 1101 and share our thoughts. After we're done with the episode, Baron, Hampton and Felicia will join us for a live video Q&A, where we'll answer as many of your questions as we can.
(And if you can't make it for the live Q&A session, I'll make sure we save a video of it and add it to your VHX collection, so that you can catch up – or watch it again – later.)
Anyway, that's a lot of information, but don't worry: you don't need to do anything right now except mark your calendar. You'll be able to see the new pilot on SUNDAY, APRIL 8th, from 12:01 am - 11:59pm ET, and you'll be able to join us for a live co-viewing and Q&A sometime that afternoon.
I hope you'll join us if you can. I really want to know what you think.
Obviously, that's just the first episode. But if you pledged for EXPERIMENT 085 or higher, then you know your rewards also included this:
"Watch MST3K whenever, wherever and however you want! We don't know whether we'll get to make 3, 6, 9 or 12 episodes, but however many it is, you'll own all of them with DIGITAL DOWNLOADS OF THE WHOLE NEW SEASON, in glorious HD, with no insulting DRM!"
Now, two important things happened after we came up with that reward:
First, you raised way more than we ever hoped we could, so we're able to give you not 3, 6, 9 or 12, but a full 14 NEW EPISODES of Mystery Science Theater. How's that for value, huh?
And, second, the show found a new home on Netflix, which – as you know – works a little bit different than a traditional television network. From what I understand, they'll decide whether to keep the show going based on how many people watch these new episodes, and how many times they watch them. So, even though many of you could watch the new season with your downloads and DVDs, I hope you'll also consider watching them on Netflix, especially at the beginning, so that they can see how many people are enjoying them.
To give you a little context, I just want to explain the dilemma we had. Like I said, it's really important to me that we do right by all of you who helped us make this season, and that we try to let you see the new episodes a little sooner than everyone else… but we also promised that your digital downloads would be nice and DRM-free, to make them easy to watch however and wherever you want. And that means that, if even one backer decided to share the new episodes on BitTorrent, and lots of other people started downloading them, and it kept people from watching it on Netflix… it's pretty crazy, but it basically means that even one careless backer could really hurt our chances of getting to make more seasons. And I don't think that's what anyone wants.
Anyway, I just wanted to explain all of that for context, because I think we found a pretty good way to handle this, and I hope it'll make everyone feel good.
On TUESDAY, APRIL 11th, at 12:01 am ET, all backers who get the new episodes will be able to start streaming the new episodes from your VHX accounts for 48 hours.
Then, on THURSDAY, APRIL 13th, at 12:01 am ET, all backers who get the new episodes will be able to start downloading the new episodes from VHX as well.
And, on FRIDAY, APRIL 14th, at 12:01 am, the new season will be released on Netflix, where all Netflix users will be able to stream all of the episodes.
Now, I know some of you were hoping to get the new episodes a lot sooner than everyone else, and you know, I wish there was a good way to do that… but it's like I said, we're trying to figure out the best way to give you a good experience and protect the show so that we'll get to make more new seasons after this one.
So, I hope you'll all see where I'm coming from, and feel pretty good about this solution. It's not perfect, but we're really doing our best for you, and Netflix is really doing something unprecedented for us – not just by allowing us to start watching the new shows three days before everyone else, but also by letting us include over 20,000 of your names names in the credits!
Since we're talking about when you'll get to see everything, I thought it would be a good idea to also tell you about the rest of the Kickstarter rewards we promised you.
We're getting pretty close to finalizing the next wave of reward shipments now, and I've got to tell you, I'm really pleased with how everything is coming out. We want to get them to you as close to the premiere as possible, so we're just waiting for one final reward to arrive at our warehouse from China, and then we'll start packing it all up to send out.
Right now, we're on track to send the next wave of rewards out at the beginning of May.
Those packages will include all of the rewards that are ready to send now, including:
Then, in a few more months – probably sometime in July or August – we'll send out one final round of rewards, with all of the rewards that we're still finishing and developing, including:
Also, if you're still waiting on one of the "bigger" rewards, like a personalized video or voicemail, an original prop from set, or an invitation to lunch with the cast, we haven't forgotten you: we're finalizing the last details now, and our team will get in touch soon with more information.
Now, I know this whole update has been about rewards that are coming up, but before I finish, I'm happy to tell you that – thanks to our friends at RiffTrax – we've actually got another bonus reward that you can collect right now.
To help celebrate the return of Mystery Science Theater, they'd like to give all of our backers free access to streaming versions of three of their most popular titles:
You can access all three bonus rewards right now – just go here.
And, if you haven't already, be sure to check out Rifftrax Live’s latest Kickstarter campaign, for Samurai Cop, Beach Party, a mystery title and more. It ends in just a couple of days!
I think that's all for today, but here's one more little tease: now that we're getting into the homestretch, I've got a few more backer-exclusive details and sneak peeks I want to share with you before the new season comes out. So yeah, I'll be updating you at least a couple more times as we count down to the official premiere on April 14th.
It's going to be a fun month, my friends. I'm excited to be sharing it with you.
Cheers & Thanks,
Joel