The Satellite of Love has been docked and is no longer cleared for take off, as Netflix has recently announced that MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000 will not be blasting off for another season on the streaming network.
Jonah Ray, host of the latest iteration of MST3K, tweeted on Tuesday with regard to the cancellation by saying, “We don’t know what the future holds for the show. It always seemed to figure out how to survive. From Comedy Central to SyFy. Then kept alive by RIFFTRAX & Cinematic Titanic. Whatever happens, I want everybody to know that getting a chance to be on this show was a dream come true.”
Following the cancellation, Ray floated the idea of AMC Networks' Shudder streaming service becoming the new home of MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000, though no such offer has been made to rescue the show from remaining grounded for the foreseeable.
“Now if only I can convince @shudder to pick us up and to let us share a night with Joe Bob Briggs?” Ray tweeted.
The return of MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000 lasted for two season on Netflix. The first eight-episode installment was titled MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000: THE RETURN, while the second season, titled MST3K: THE GAUNTLET, consisted of six episodes during its 2018 run.
Back in the day, MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000 originally aired on Minneapolis UHF station KTMA-TV starting in 1988 before is was snagged by Comedy Central and then the Sci-Fi Channel. Truth be told, I can still recall watching MST3K everyday after school. The laugh-out-loud series aired alongside THE KIDS IN THE HALL, making for several hours of belly laughs whilst shaking off the doldrums of a torturous schooling routine.
Just like the original, MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000's revival was set aboard the Satellite of Love where the host (Jonah Ray) is held prisoner and is forced to watch terrible movies alongside his robot companions, Crow T. Robot and Tom Servo. For each episode, the trio would snark their way through B movies of the worst order, trying their best not to lose sanity in the process. In addition to Ray, the series also stars Baron Vaughn as the voice of Tom Servo, Hampton Yount as the voice of Crow T. Robot, Felicia Day as Kinga Forrester, and Patton Oswalt as Max, a.k.a “TV’s Son of TV’s Frank.”
While I never made time for the revival myself, I'm sure that many MST3K fans will be sad to see it go. Thankfully, much if not all of MST3K's tenure is available to own on Blu-ray and DVD. Be sure to collect the whole run if you want to keep the Satellite of Love flying high as a part of your media library.