‘Mystery Science Theater 3000: The RiffTrax Experiments’: Behind the Scenes of the Satellite of Love — SkimNews
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- Joel Hodgson sold his ownership of 'Mystery Science Theater 3000' to Radial Entertainment in January and departed the series a second time, opening the door for the RiffTrax team's return after a 26-year franchise absence.
- Radial Entertainment recruited Michael J. Nelson, Kevin Murphy, and Bill Corbett — who run RiffTrax and hadn't been formally involved in MST3K since 1999 — to produce four new episodes titled 'The RiffTrax Experiments.'
- Fans funded the revival with a $2.7 million Kickstarter campaign, underscoring the show's enduring cult pull.
- Trace Beaulieu and Frank Conniff are reprising their Mads roles alongside original DP Jeff Stonehouse, props master Patrick Brantseg, and costume designer Beth 'Beez' McKeever, with shooting underway at the Cinequipt facility in Minneapolis.
- RiffTrax writers Sean Thomason and Conor Lastowka say scripting the new run differs from classic MST3K because Nelson, Murphy, and Corbett appear as themselves, not characters, opening the door to real-life references.
- 'Sting of Death' is already live on the RiffTrax website, with three remaining episodes — riffing 'Space Raiders,' 'Deathsport,' and a closely guarded fourth title — rolling out in the coming weeks.
Why it matters: Radial Entertainment's takeover of 'MST3K' from creator Joel Hodgson — bankrolled by $2.7M in fan Kickstarter cash rather than a studio — returns the franchise to the RiffTrax trio that hadn't touched it since 1999. The 2 p.m. wrap time and handmade puppets mark it as a low-budget passion project, not a scaled streaming tentpole.
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