I’ve only crowdfunded one thing so far, and I have yet to see it come to fruition (*cough*Mighty No. 9*cough*), but I respect the concept when it comes to giving fans the ability to resurrect properties that they love. Today, I must dip into that well again for a show that made me the movie fan I am today.
I had a cursory knowledge of Mystery Science Theater 3000 thanks to my dad’s love of the show, but as I was too young to really appreciate the humor, I never glommed onto it until a little later. In middle school, my friend’s sister introduced me to the show and I fell in love. I obsessively watched every episode I could get my hands on, and I soon became quasi-adept at riffing on films myself. When I got into the show, it was all about Michael Nelson’s run and his more biting quips and caustic demeanor. As I got older and began to explore the episodes featuring the original host, Joel Hodgson, I discovered that Joel’s childlike mood and laidback sensibilities lined up a lot more with adult Drew’s tastes.
And now, Joel is reaching out to the fans to help make another season of MST3K possible. While Mike and the gang were able to spinoff into their own venture, Rifftrax, I found their selection process to be something of an antithesis to what MST3K originally stood for (I don’t think the world needs riffs of most big blockbuster movies). I’m pretty confident the new episodes will be the kind of dingy pieces of weirdness that gave us such classics as Manos: The Hands of Fate, Eegah!, Mitchell, and even introduced a good number of people to Gamera.
If you’re a fan of the show, please consider giving a buck or two to help Joel out. And think of it this way: now we’ll be the ones sending him cheesy movies! …The worst we can find, la la la!
Click here to go to the Kickstarter page.
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