RiffTrax Live '17 and MST3K Returns
I've made no secret about my love of Mystery Science Theater 3000 and the folks at RiffTrax who have been carrying on their tradition. One of my first reviews was of the RiffTrax Live showing of Mothra, and we've previously covered Carnival of Souls and their 2016 Holiday Special. Making fun of crappy movies (or even good ones) is something I don't think I'll ever get sick of watching, and MST3K has had a huge influence on me since I was introduced to it in high school (I even have a Rowsdower license plate on my car). Now it looks like 2017 is shaping up to be a great year for fellow fans, thanks to the magic of crowdfunding. Joel Hodgson had successfully backed a new season of MST3K with a brand new cast, and they've just announced the release date. Meanwhile, Bill Corbett, Kevin Murphy, and Michael J. Nelson along with Fathom Events are planning on bringing more riffing goodness to your local theaters.
First up we've got the RiffTrax Live Kickstarter for 2017, which ends on March 25th. On April 13th, they'll be riffing Samurai Cop, a 1991 direct-to-video cult classic that was previously covered by RiffTrax as an audio cover. On June 15th, they'll be doing a "Summer Shorts Beach Party," where some recurring guests and co-stars will be joining them on stage as they take a look at some more ridiculous shorts from the "good ol' days." And finally, on August 17th, they'll be premiering a riff of an as-of-yet unidentified mystery movie, which for legal reasons they cannot name until the Kickstarter is completely backed. My hope is that they'll tag a couple more titles to the end of the year as they previously have (usually for Halloween and Christmas). I've already backed it, and you should too!
Next, there was a recent announcement that the newest season of Mystery Science Theater 3000 has an official Netflix release date of April 14th. The new series stars comedian Jonah Ray as Jonah Heston, alongside Tom Servo and Crow T. Robot (Baron Vaughn and Hampton Yount) as they are forced to endure terrible movies inflicted upon them by Kinga Forrester (Felicia Day) and TV's Son of TV's Frank (Patton Oswalt). The new season promises to feature a ton of guest stars, guest writers, and other well-known industry insiders and fans. There will be 14 episodes total, so grab your Gizmonic jumpsuit and some popcorn and get yourselves ready!
Speaking of bad movies, I need to start writing up my review for Monday's ridiculous feature. In the meantime, keep circulating the tapes!