$1.8 million MST3K Kickstarter brings in (almost) everyone from the old show

February 14, 2026

Here's something that caught my attention — an incredible $1.8 million Kickstarter for Mystery Science Theater 3000, and get this, it brought back almost everyone from the original cast. You know how MST3K has always thrived on change, right? According to Andrew Cunningham writing in Ars Technica, the show's cast was always shifting, especially since it was produced outside Hollywood’s main hubs. Joel Hodgson, the creator, leaned into that fluidity, especially during the Netflix revival, where a revolving cast kept things fresh — sometimes even episode to episode. Now, here’s where it gets interesting: with this new Kickstarter, Hodgson proved that fans still care deeply about the show's core — those silhouettes and puppets — more than who’s behind them. As Cunningham points out, this effort isn’t just nostalgia; it’s a celebration of what makes MST3K special — its spirit of creative chaos and community. So what does this actually mean? It shows that MST3K’s legacy isn’t just alive; it’s thriving, ready for whatever bad movies come next.

Longtime fans of the cult TV show Mystery Science Theater 3000 know that the series’ one constant is change (well, that and bad movies).

The show’s cast and crew were in a near-constant state of flux, a byproduct of the show's existence as a perennial bubble show produced in the Twin Cities rather than a TV-and-comedy hub like New York or LA. It was rare, especially toward the middle of its 10-season original run on national TV, for the performers in front of the camera (and the writers’ room, since they were all the same people) to stay the same for more than a season or two.

Series creator Joel Hodgson embraced that spirit of change for the show's Kickstarter-funded, Netflix-aired revival in the mid-2010s, featuring a brand-new cast and mostly new writers. And that change only accelerated in the show's brief post-Netflix "Gizmoplex" era, which featured a revolving cast of performers that could change from episode to episode. Hodgson leaned into the idea that as long as there were silhouettes and puppets talking in front of a bad movie, it didn't matter much who was doing the talking.

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Audio Transcript

Longtime fans of the cult TV show Mystery Science Theater 3000 know that the series’ one constant is change (well, that and bad movies).

The show’s cast and crew were in a near-constant state of flux, a byproduct of the show's existence as a perennial bubble show produced in the Twin Cities rather than a TV-and-comedy hub like New York or LA. It was rare, especially toward the middle of its 10-season original run on national TV, for the performers in front of the camera (and the writers’ room, since they were all the same people) to stay the same for more than a season or two.

Series creator Joel Hodgson embraced that spirit of change for the show's Kickstarter-funded, Netflix-aired revival in the mid-2010s, featuring a brand-new cast and mostly new writers. And that change only accelerated in the show's brief post-Netflix "Gizmoplex" era, which featured a revolving cast of performers that could change from episode to episode. Hodgson leaned into the idea that as long as there were silhouettes and puppets talking in front of a bad movie, it didn't matter much who was doing the talking.

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$1.8 million MST3K Kickstarter brings in (almost) everyone from the old show | Speasy