Former Netflix TV Show’s 14th Season Will Debut in Theaters
Most shows don’t return after being cancelled, but Mystery Science Theater 3000 has never been “most shows.” The cult classic movie-mocking show was most famously revived on Netflix in 2017 after a record-breaking Kickstarter drive. History seems ready to repeat itself, as a new drive is funding a revival for Season 14 and a Fathom Events premiere of the first episode.
MST3K has a history of revivals outside of Netflix
Mystery Science Theater 3000 (or MST3K) first aired as a “creature feature” movie show in Saint Paul, Minnesota in 1988. The brainchild of comedian Joel Hodgson, MST3K was defined by smart humor and dumb movies. It was picked up by The Comedy Channel, which transitioned into Comedy Central. The show was cancelled after seven seasons but picked up by the Sci-Fi Channel for another three.
After reacquiring the rights to the show in 2015, Hodgson entered into a partnership with Shout Factory to produce an MST3K revival. This led Netflix to acquire the distribution rights to MST3K Seasons 11 and 12. When Netflix declined to continue supporting the show, fans rallied to finance Season 13 on their own streaming platform, The Gizmoplex.
Unfortunately, the 2023 SAG-AFTRA strike coincided with the effort to finance Season 14. This effort fizzled without the creators being able to promote it. In 2025, Hodgson sold his stake in the show to Shout Factory but remains involved as a brand ambassador and consultant.
MST3K Season 14 & Rifftrax Explained
The new season is being produced in conjunction with Rifftrax and coincides with their 20th anniversary. Rifftrax was established by MST3K alumni Mike Nelson, Bill Corbet, and Kevin Murphy to overcome the chief problem the show had near the end of its original run. Namely, not many film distributors were willing to license their work to be laughed at.
Luckily for fans of movie mocking, there are no laws against selling a creative commentary on an artistic work. This allowed Rifftrax to sell audio “riff tracks” that synch up with a legally purchased work or a Netflix stream. As of September 2024, Rifftrax has mocked over 500 feature films and 488 short films.
Season 14 will feature Nelson, Corbet, and Murphy reprising their roles as Mike Nelson, Crow T. Robot, and Tom Servo from the Sci-Fi Channel era of MST3K. Corbet and Murphy will also reprise their roles as Observer and Professor Bobo alongside Mary Jo Pehl as Pearl Forrester. The new season, made up of four episodes, will also feature “old-school hand-made sets.”
It is unclear how the new episodes will tie into Season 13’s cliffhanger ending. Or if it will tie in to the previous reboot at all. Continuity between all the various incarnations of MST3K has always been loose at best. After all, this is a show that’s theme song advises viewers to repeat to themselves “It’s just a show. I should really just relax.”
What is clear is that fans of the show are ready for more cheesy movie goodness. The new Kickstarter drive has already made more than 25 times its intended goal. That suggests there will be packed theaters in plenty for the MST3K Season 14 premiere at participating Fathom Events theaters later this year.
Source: Comingsoon.net