Shorts but Sweet: New MST3K Shorts with Combo Cast to be Released Friday
If you know what Mystery Science Theater 3000 is, you will get this with no further explanation: creator Joel Hodgson reunited with former co-stars Bill Corbett and J. Elvis Weinstein to produce new shorts in order to raise money for charity.
If you need further explanation, well, here it is. Back in 1988, Hodgson created Mystery Science Theater 3000, which is basically a show where a man and two puppets make fun of bad movies. Thirty years and many evolutions later, MST3K (as we fans call it) is still around to mock the serious and silly films and short subjects so you don’t have to.
Hodgson, Weinstein and Corbett were never all on the show at the same time, but they are coming together to portray their characters for two shorts (usually the most hilarious of the MST3K output) and stream them as part of a telethon-style fundraiser. Hodgson is the human stuck on a satellite and forced to watch bad movies, and Weinstein and Corbett portray his robot companions, Tom Servo and Crow T. Robot, respectively.
If it sounds silly, well, it is. But it’s also one of the most consistently funny and relevant comedies from the past 30+ years. Most recently the show was resurrected as a Netflix original series and toured with a live show nationwide, ending just before the pandemic shut everything down anyway.
The fundraiser, which has been dubbed “Puppet Camp 2” is for MIGAZI, a Native-American youth organization whose facilities in Minneapolis were damaged during the George Floyd protests, when fires from the nearby Minneapolis Police Department spread to their structure.
The MST3K shorts are “A Busy Day at the County Fair” and “Behind the Scenes at the Supermarket”. They are both new and have never been seen before. In addition to the Mistie cast and crew, there will be appearances by Bear from Bear in the Big Blue House, puppeteer Wayne White, Puddles the Clown and more.
You can stream the event on the MST3K YouTube site and Facebook page starting at 9pm Eastern Time on October 30th.