INTERVIEW: Emily Marsh and Joel Hodgson, MST3K Season 13

Welcome to our second interview with the cast and crew of MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000, which is returning this weekend for a 13th season not on Netflix, but the show’s own user funded streaming app, The Gizmoplex, thanks to another Kickstarter run by original host and MST3K creator Joel Hodgson.

Ever since Joel revived his show with a brand new cast in 2015, the reaction from the MST3K fanbase that once infamously raged over “Joel vs Mike” has been refreshingly non-toxic towards both Joel and new host Jonah Ray Rodrigues, who returns as Jonah Heston to share hosting duties with yet another new addition to the new MST crew: Emily Marsh as “Emily Connor”, whom true MST3K acolytes have previously seen as a performer in the MST3K live show’s last two national tours–from which cast members and Emily’s fellow puppet performers Yvonne Freese, Conor McGiffin and Kelsey Ann Brady are providing the voices of G.P.C. (formerly Gypsy), Tom Servo and Crow T. Robot, respectively.

So with Emily and her live cast starring in half of this season’s 12 episodes, 13 short films, and a Christmas special that will see Jonah, Emily *and* Joel riffing side by side, I was particularly honored to talk with Joel and Emily about all the pressures they’ve faced with their latest season: shutting down due to COVID outbreaks, filming between LA and PA, living up to fans’ expectations, just to name a few. Check out the show’s newest three episodes–the Jonah-hosted Santo in the Treasure of Dracula and Robot Wars May 6th/7th + the Emily-hosted Beyond Atlantis May 8th–streaming for the public this weekend and all throughout 2022 on Gizmoplex.com!