Netflix’s ‘Mystery Science Theater 3000’ Revival, Starring Jonah Ray And Felicia Day, To Arrive April 14th

By Sam Gutelle • 02/22/2017 •

More than a year after the creators of Mystery Science Theater 3000 (MST3K) raised more than $5.7 million on Kickstarter to bring their series back, the cult classic TV show is set to make its return. The revived version of MST3K will arrive on Netflix on April 14th, with 14 episodes slated for its new season.

As it did in its original ten-season run, which aired on channels like Comedy Central and Sci-Fi from 1989-99, MST3K will use its new episodes to riff on the spotty acting, cheesy effects, poor plotting, and other lampoon-able elements of old B-movies. Original series creator Joel Hodgson is involved in the revival as well, but most of the cast will consist of newcomers. Nerdist’s Jonah Ray will star as a man who, accompanied by a pair of chatty robots, is forced to watch the B-movies in question. Felicia Day, of The Guild and Geek & Sundry fame, will portray the mad scientist who holds Ray’s character captive. Ray and Day are connected not just by their rhyming surnames but also through Legendary, which owns both Nerdist and Geek & Sundry.

Thanks to its wit and its amusing characters, the original MST3K has endured as one of TV’s most notable hits. The show picked up many fans during its run, as evidenced by the big names who have come on board to participate in the Netflix revival. Actor Patton Oswalt has a role in the show, Community notables Dan Harmon and Joel McHale are among its writers, and Adam Savage of Mythbusters is involved on the production side of things. Will that star-studded approach allow MST3K to recapture its former glory? We’ll find out once the show blasts off in the not-too-distant future.