TV Revival Of ’80s Sci-Fi Classic Series Generates Over $1M Kickstarter Campaign On Day 1

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An old sci-fi series is coming back bigger than ever before.

Wow, I’m genuinely blown away! The Kickstarter for the revival of this ’80s sci-fi show absolutely crushed it, bringing in over a million dollars on day one – nobody saw that coming! We’ve had so many great sci-fi series over the years, shows like Quantum Leap and Max Headroom really defined the decade, but this one? This one was something special. It really stood out from the pack.

Mystery Science Theater 3000 is a funny sci-fi series where a janitor in space and his robot friends watch and make jokes about old, cheesy sci-fi movies. It first started in 1988 on KTMA-TV and has been revived several times, most recently on Gizmoplex in 2022.

According to Variety, the new Kickstarter for Mystery Science Theater 3000 has already raised $1.17 million in just 24 hours. The campaign, initially aiming for $20,000, will fund four episodes titled Mystery Science Theater 3000: The RiffTrax Experiments. These episodes are a collaboration between RiffTrax and Shout! Studios.

The latest version of Mystery Science Theater 3000 is bringing back the original stars: Michael J. Nelson, Kevin Murphy, and Bill Corbett are expected to reprise their roles as Mike Nelson, Tom Servo, and Crow T. Robot. Mary Jo Pehl, who played Pearl Forrester, will also be returning. The project started with a Kickstarter goal of $20,000 and is funding through March 16th.

As a huge RiffTrax fan, I’m really excited for the next batch of episodes! They’re keeping the movies they’ll be riffing on a secret until the episodes actually drop, which is classic RiffTrax teasing. But I just learned they’re planning to film everything later in 2026, all on location in Minneapolis, Minnesota. And the best part? They’re aiming to release all the episodes this year, directly on the RiffTrax website. Can’t wait!

The actors from Mystery Science Theater 3000 often provide commentary for movies as part of RiffTrax, but they don’t use their characters from the original show. The excitement for new episodes shows how much support the series still has after all these years, and it’s a promising sign for what’s to come.

The recent Kickstarter for Mystery Science Theater 3000 was incredibly successful, suggesting the show’s return could be much larger than originally planned. Although only four episodes are currently scheduled, the significant amount of funding raised likely means we’ll see a full-scale revival of the sci-fi series, potentially with many more episodes in the future.

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2026-02-04 02:48