It's been announced exclusively via A.V. Club that in the not so distant future, Netflix will unleash new episodes of the revived MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000 on Thursday, November 22 – also known to many as Thanksgiving. As some fans will undoubtedly know, the Turkey Day premiere date is one that's remained synonymous with marathons and premieres associated with the long-running comedic television series.
“Thirty years ago on Thanksgiving Day 1988 is when we premiered Mystery Science Theater 3000 in the Minneapolis market,” said creator, original host, and executive producer Joel Hodgson. “We were competing with 60 Minutes for the same time slot, and I think history has shown which is the better show.”
For those who are new to the program, Netflix's revived version of MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000 takes place aboard the Satellite Of Love, a space station where subjects are forced to watch bad movies in the name of science. The theory behind the audio/visual torture stems from a school of thought that prolonged exposure to terrible cinema will have an adverse effect on the human mind. The newest iteration of the beloved comedy series features the characters Jonah Heston (Jonah Ray), Kinga Forrester (Felicia Day), Max (TV’s Son Of TV’s Frank) (Patton Oswalt), as well as Jonah's robot companions Crow T. Robot (Hampton Yount) and Tom Servo (Baron Vaughn).
If the new cast is your bag, you'll be pleased to hear that all five of the show's main players are set to reprise their roles for the return of Season 12.
“I think the movies are even worse than last season, but I know the show is better,” Hodgson said. “I could be mixing those two up.” Day then clarified: “The movies are deliciously bad and I get to torture my cast mates in new and innovative ways. I love my job!”
Before the new season comes to Netflix, Hodgson and Ray will be embarking on a tour in support of the show's 30th Anniversary tour. Good grief, MST3K, way to make me feel like a dinosaur. Anyway, The tour begins in Portland, Maine on October 9th. If you're interested in checking it out, tickets are on sale here.