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.
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
Joel here. I'm just getting home from spending two weeks on the road for our Kickstarter screening tour, where we finally got to show over a thousand of you amazing backers a first look at what we've been working on for the last year, and man, I've gotta tell you: it's just been such a great experience for all of us, getting to meet so many of you and hear your reactions.
Also, I know it's been a little while since the last "big" update, so I really appreciate you all being so patient, and letting us put in the time to focus and get things right. Things have been really busy, between finishing up post-production on the final new episodes, and then running these screenings. I know it's hard to wait, but like I've said all along: more than anything, I want to make sure we get these new episodes right, and I don't want to spoil anything.
The good news is, once the new episodes are released, we'll still have plenty of time to talk about everything we've been doing, and also, I think it'll be easier to understand what I'm talking about once you've seen the episodes. So, thanks again for being so patient over the last year.
And, now that all fourteen episodes of Season 11 are "in the can," I should be able to spend more time writing updates again, so that we can all come together and count down the days until MST3K returns. (And hey, if you don't want to do the math... that's just 46 days away!)
So yeah: for today, I thought maybe I could tell you a little bit about our special Kickstarter screenings, and introduce you to someone I've been waiting for you to meet.
Before I tell you about those screenings, I want to tell you that these events weren't part of the "Livestream Screening" that we promised as a reward for backers who pledged for EXPERIMENT 025 and higher. You didn't miss the online screening reward! That's still going to happen before Netflix releases the new season on April 14. We're working out the details now, so I hope we'll have those for you in the next week or two.
Anyway, over the last two weeks, we got the chance to screen our first new episode – let's just call it "Experiment 1101" to avoid spoilers – for three really terrific crowds of backers, along with some of our family and friends, in New York, Chicago and Los Angeles. We also got to answer some really fun questions, and even do a little demonstration of how the upgraded Crow and Servo puppets work. (Don't worry: we recorded some of that for the special "Kickstarter Edition" DVD extras, so even if you weren't there, you'll still have a chance to see it!)
Now, before you start asking other backers for details, you should know that we had to ask everyone to sign a "Non Disclosure Agreement," promising to keep the details secret until the new season is released on Netflix:
But, even though I asked all the backers who joined us not to tell you what movie we riffed, or answer specific questions about the new season, I think it's okay for them to share some of their general thoughts and feelings with you.
(Actually, I know a lot of them have been doing that in the comments for a week or two, but maybe they'll do it again on this update, so you can ask them questions. Just don't ask them for specifics, because they're not allowed to share them yet.)
Anyway, for us, these screenings were just an incredible, encouraging way to "test" the new season out, and the reactions really reassured all of us that we're on the right track.
To tell you the truth, when we were first planning our Kickstarter, I was a little worried about the idea of taking the season pilot out for an early "test drive" like this, but Ivan told me it would be a really valuable way to get feedback and encouragement and know how things were going before we premiered it for the rest of the world. And man, he was so right.
Actually, even some of the most hesitant backers who came to our screenings came up to all of us afterward, and told us that they think we got the tone of the show "just right," and that they're really pleased to see how well Jonah, Baron, Hampton, Felicia and Patton picked up the tradition and kept it going. If you're still worried about the new cast, I hope that will help you relax a bit and enjoy the last few weeks of waiting a little more.
If you were one of the backers who came out and joined us, I just want to say "thank you" again – we had a really wonderful time, and I hope you did too.
Now, all of the screenings were a lot of fun, but I want to take a few minutes to share something very special that happened while we were on the road. See, we have one more cast member you haven't met yet, who actually lives in Chicago… so I thought that a screening in her own town would be the perfect time to introduce her.
Ever since we finished our Kickstarter, I know that one of the most common questions about the new episodes was if Gypsy would be back on the Satellite of Love. Well, if you saw the photo that Netflix released last week, then you've already probably put two and two together, but I'm pleased to make it official:
Now, I want to introduce you to Rebecca and tell you a little bit more about her, but before I do, I also want to share a little bit of the thinking that we put into Gypsy for the new season.
The first thing I should tell you is that I know how loved Gypsy is, so I've always known we'd bring her back. But I've also got to tell you that, even though we love Gypsy too, I felt like there were some problems we had to solve, because when we created her for the original episodes, I think we just didn't spend as much bandwidth on developing her as we did with Tom and Crow, and it kept us from including her in the show more. But, as you know, she became this really beloved character, even though we didn't see her that often.
Anyway, personally, I felt obliged to give her a little more of a creative "hug" this time around, and to figure out how to solve some of the problems that kept us from using Gypsy more often, or in more interesting ways.
At the same time, I really tried to approach the new episodes of MST3K the way a designer would, and tried to make sure it was easy to understand from a newcomer's perspective, and not just for folks who knew the show. (That way, the new MST3K wouldn't just be a love letter to the past, but maybe also a love letter to the future.)
So, when you think about it that way, there are a few questions that a newcomer might ask about Gypsy based on the past episodes, like…
Let's talk about those questions one at a time, okay?
1. Why didn't Gypsy appear more often in the theater and sketches?
This is such an important question. The thing to tell you is, when I first thought up Gypsy, I was mostly just wanting to create a really big robot – kind of like Sweet-ums in The Muppets. To build her, we used a baby car-seat carrier. That was helpful, because she was very lightweight... but she was also very huge and unwieldy, which made it hard to include her in a lot of sketches or bring her into the Mystery Science Theater.
This time around, we spent considerably more time and energy "upgrading her" to have more flexibility, so that she can do more, and participate more in the show. By flexibility, I mean we've got some really cool new innovations that allow her to do way more.
I'll leave it at that for now, but you'll see what I mean right in the first new host segment – and after that, I can tell you more about how we designed her.
2. Why did Gypsy appear to be "slightly dim"?
As you might remember, the old Gypsy was also kind of… simple.
Now, I realize that back in the day, we explained that by saying, "Most of her memory is dedicated to running the higher functions of the ship." So it gave her obvious mental challenges a little more context: Gypsy was very busy. Over time, though, I started to see how this was also keeping Gypsy’s personality from being able to grow, the way that Tom and Crow could grow.
The good news is that, since the old episodes, times have changed. Back then, it might have make sense that an individual robot wouldn't have enough processing power to do her job and also talk coherently… but now, the concept of "the cloud" has sort of solved that. So, I'm happy to say that while the new Gypsy is still busy maintaining the ship, she can also have conversations. That gave us the chance to pull her into more sketches, and to let her drop in to riff in the MST. I'm hoping that in time, Gypsy can become a little bit more of a "full" character.
3. Why was Gypsy voiced by a man?
There was one other problem, too. Over the years, I started to feel a little self-conscious that our “slightly dim” character was a female, but voiced by a man. Think about that for second. It sounds kind of weird when I say it, doesn’t it? And honestly, there was no good reason why she had to be voiced by a man, other than, "That's just the way we did it back then."
So, when we started making plans to bring back Mystery Science Theater, I became pretty invested in casting a woman to take on the new, fuller role of Gypsy. I wanted to find a performer who had the comedic chops and sense of self to embellish and build on what we already know about Gypsy, but also to take on new ideas from the creative team and writers. Just as important, I wanted someone I knew would be confident enough to "hang in there" and be part of the ensemble with Jonah and Baron and Hampton. And, of course, I wanted to find someone who was a fan of the show, and who I knew would help us care for it.
Well, man, I've gotta tell you… we found her.
Now, If you were one of the backers who received our "thank you" postcard from set, you may have noticed that there was an extra signature on the back, along with me, Jonah, Baron, Hampton, Felicia and Patton.
In fact, a few of you even wrote to ask me, "Who is Rebecca Hanson?"
I'm so glad to finally get to tell you more about her.
I met Rebecca about four years ago in Chicago, and simply put, I just really liked her. She was so funny, and talented, and a “good hang” too! Adding to all that, on a professional level Rebecca has been performing improv, sketch comedy, and singing and writing in Chicago for over a decade. She has toured all over the US and is a proud alum of The Second City National Touring Company and ComedySportz Chicago too.
And honestly, I think in the back of my mind, I was hoping to give Gypsy a hint of a Midwestern voice. Rebecca can do lots of voices and dialects, but deep underneath all that, she’s an Iowan!
At the same time, Rebecca also has a second ongoing role on the new MST3K as one of Kinga's minions, whose identity I will reveal in a later update! Plus, Rebecca is writing on several episodes of the new season as well. And she did so well that, next season – Lord willing and creek don’t rise – we’re hoping to give her even more writing assignments!
Also, now that we're on the other side of production and I've seen the finished episodes, I just have to tell you: Rebecca has already done an amazing job being Gypsy, and quite frankly, she’s added some great new wrinkles to the character that I simply couldn’t have anticipated.
Long story short, I’m really thrilled with her work and I think you will be too!
We're very lucky to have her on the Satellite of Love with us. So, now that the secret is out, I hope you'll go say "hi" to Rebecca on Twitter, or in the comments, and give her a warm welcome from the MST3K Revival League.
Of course, there's a lot more to share with you, because so much has happened over the past few weeks, but I kind of need to unpack.
Next time, I'll share more details about some fun new developments in our plans to bring MST3K off the screen and into new places, and if we can get a few more details locked up, I'm hoping to announce the date and time for our "Online Screening" of the first new episode and a live Q&A with me and our new cast. Our team is working on that now, so stay tuned!
Hope everyone had a great weekend.
46 days until new MST3K!
Cheers & Thanks,
Joel