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#BringBackMST3K Kickstarter Tracker

Bring Back MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000 -- Kicktraq Mini

$6.3 Million goal has been reached and FOURTEEN new episodes are coming!

704 Replies to “#BringBackMST3K Kickstarter Tracker”

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  1. WeatherServo9 says:

    Is this now the longest comments thread on this site?

       0 likes

  2. Echo says:

    Farmland:
    I’ve participated in a few Kickstarters and based on what I’m seeing, they’ll probably end up at around the $3.5-4 million range.Something really huge is going to have to happen to hit $5.5 million.

    And am I the only one who thinks that Joel is seeming a little desperate?I’ve made my donation and will be thrilled if he can capture the MST spirit again, but the whole “MST3K will be gone FOREVER unless we get all the money!” bit seemed over the top to me.He seems more interested in getting picked up and lasting for another ten years than in making a good show, IMHO.The right people got it before, Joel.Do the best work you can and have faith that they will again…

       0 likes

  3. Thad says:

    Crow T Robot KJM:
    Excellent list of films to riff.I was wondering, though…will the “holiday special” be a regular episode of MST3k, or will it be something else?Perhaps a 1/2 hour special where they don’t riff a movie, or perhaps riffing Christmas shorts.Guess we’ll have to wait until next year to find out.

    Given that it’s the same budget as a regular episode, and Joel said “I’ve got the perfect movie picked out for Jonah and the bots,” I think we can safely assume it will be the same length as a typical episode.

       3 likes

  4. jaybird3rd says:

    @Echo: If we’re going to start digging out old quotes, I can think of a few that are especially deserving. I don’t think we should pick on anyone who expressed honest skepticism along the way about whether we’d make it; to be honest, with the long odds we faced at the start, there was a lot to be skeptical about. But there are a few select people who went beyond skepticism to outright sour negativity, and who clearly wanted the campaign to fail:

    Otto Von Cheesebiscuit:I view this reboot as a huge middle finger to those that helped to mold the show by the creator that abandoned the show midway through a season. I think the entire “well, that’s great you helped us get over $2 million, but really that wasn’t THE goal” line is complete garbage. This reboot will close out at just over maybe 3.5 million and that’ll be it.

    Uhhh … what was that you were saying???

    Gamera’s guts: Thanks to Zack Blaze, I am going to go ahead and retract my contribution to the Kickstarter. Zack buddy, you better increase your contribution to make up for the $300 you cost them, you scum bag […] Enjoy your three episodes, Zack.

    Yeah, pulling out that $300 really hurt us. Now I hope you enjoy sitting in the corner sulking.

    There are a few really choice quotes that I’m having trouble finding right now. One went along the lines of “no way is this thing reaching $5.5M … such a badly-managed campaign!”, which is especially amazing considering that this was one of the most masterfully executed crowdfunding campaigns we’ve ever seen.

       7 likes

  5. Droppo says:

    Thad: Aw, be nice; it was a tough job with very little prep time.

    Looking forward to seeing you on the show!

    Thanks, Thad! I’ll do my best to turn in a good performance! I’ve hired John Humphries as my acting coach.

       1 likes

  6. Captain Cab says:

    Josh posted this on his twitter feed today:

    “Tomorrow I launch my Kickstarter to pay for the oral surgery I need from biting my tongue for the last month.”

    So tired of all this weird passive aggressive stuff coming from some of the former Brains.

    Anyways, CAN. NOT. WAIT for the new episodes. How do you log in to download the classic episode rewards?

       9 likes

  7. Ray Dunakin says:

    Calgonite vs Spotmaker:
    * The Manster (1959) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ev_DeeuQbuo

    Don’t forget the Manster’s henchman, Torngo!

       3 likes

  8. jaybird3rd says:

    I think they’re going to be sharing the download info soon; I’ve heard that they’re migrating to a different distribution service.

    As for the passive-aggressive stuff … honestly, I’m getting tired of it, too. I don’t intend any disrespect to anyone involved, but at this point, I’m done letting their attitude problems cast a shadow over my enjoyment of the show and what Joel is doing with it. Joel’s public demeanor has been gracious and classy since the campaign started. The public demeanor of certain other people … has not been. If they’re truly busy because they’ve moved on to bigger and better things, then why all the grousing about being “excluded” from the new show? And if they’re NOT busy and WOULD like to be involved, then why decline the offers they’ve reportedly received? Make up your minds, people!

    I heard that Josh actually posted a follow-up which essentially said that he was just kidding. Okay, fine. But if there’s anything more than that motivating the other comments, I say that they should either spell out exactly what’s bothering them or keep their silence. All they’re doing now is trickling vinegar into the milk of the new show.

       11 likes

  9. jaybird3rd says:

    (In fairness, I should add that some of the negative vibes are no doubt a result of constantly and repeatedly being asked about Joel and the reboot and why they’re not involved with it. If so, and as I’ve said before, the fans should stop aggravating the situation, and should at least have the sensitivity to realize that questions like that at this particular time are only rubbing salt into whatever wounds there may be. Leave the situation alone, and remember: they owe you nothing.)

       10 likes

  10. Ray Dunakin says:

    BTW, I think it’s even more remarkable that the KS went so well considering it came at a time of year when most people’s “disposable income” is being spent on holiday stuff.

       8 likes

  11. jaybird3rd says:

    Ray Dunakin:
    BTW, I think it’s even more remarkable that the KS went so well considering it came at a time of year when most people’s “disposable income” is being spent on holiday stuff.

    That’s one way to look at it, and it’s one of the fears a lot of people initially had. On the other hand, you could say that it was the perfect time to do it, since most people have a stash of disposable income at this time of year that they’re already psychologically prepared to spend. In retrospect, centering the campaign around Turkey Day and the (recently re-established) tradition of bringing out MST3K for an all-day, brand-awareness-increasing marathon was a brilliant stroke. Even if Turkey Day itself didn’t bring in the numbers it potentially could have because of other factors, it put MST3K back in the foreground and helped to prime the pump for everything that happened afterward.

       1 likes

  12. Gurwood says:

    Longtime visitor to the site, infrequent commenter. I’ve given some thought to the words of the other folks involved, and I think we have to assume that something is up that we don’t know about.

    Everyone involved in the show who wasn’t Joel or Jim was basically paid once, right? Subsequent DVD sales, etc., have not really benefited them directly. I remember members of Cinematic Titanic grousing (nicely) about the situation while signing after a show in my hometown.

    And now that Joel finally has the rights to the series wrapped up, now that Jim is out of the picture, what happens? Well, Joel certainly doesn’t start paying the rest of the cast residuals (although the nice RiffTrax thing is set up). Instead, he starts a crowdfunding campaign for an all-new version of the show. And sure, the old guard can be involved and paid for their time, but if they appear, all they do is add prestige (and boost DVD sales) of a show that wasn’t and isn’t theirs.

    My guess is that when the Kickstarter debuted, there was a big Skype chat, and they decided as a group to refrain from appearing in the reboot until Joel comes to the table with better deals for the way the old shows are sold. It’s the only scenario that reconciles their positive tweets, negative tweets and ones in the middle.

    It’s called show business for a reason.

    I wish Joel the best, and am excited for the new series. I also support the other guys, and hope they can all reach an understanding. Lots to look forward to, in any event!

       3 likes

  13. Crow T Robot KJM says:

    Wellllll…As you say, it’s a business, and these guys signed contracts to do a TV series. In those contracts it would have said they got X amount of money for the show. If they didn’t sign a contract for residuals, they get none. Same thing with any other job. You work for a company. EVERYONE is an important cog in that company. You leave your job. You don’t continue to make money off of it unless you sign a contract saying that your contributions will allow you to continue making money as long as your company does.

    So, yes, it would be nice if Mike and Kevin and whoever else worked on the show continued making money from it, but that’s not the way it goes. Jim Mallon owned it. made money off it. Shout Factory now owns it. They make the money off it now. Should they have to now go out & sign new contracts with the cast / crew for the old shows to pay them money IF the old series continues making money? What if they old series (for whatever reasons) doesn’t make money, but loses money? Should the old cast & crew then have to pony up the dough for those loses?

    Now, Shout Factory has done something good with at least the Rifftrax people. They have allowed them to sell MST episodes for downloads on their site every Monday & they make some money off of that. Shout could have told them to pound salt. To me it was an olive branch.

    Now I’m sure the old cast & crew would like residuals IF they were to appear on the new show. And Shout, who owns the show, can say either yes or no to that. BUT they don’t owe them anything for the old shows.

    It’s like if you found out that the rights to an old movie you loved was up for sale and you bought it. You pay a good chunk of change for it. You pay to have it restored. You pay to have it mastered on bluray. You pay to have it distributed to stores around the country. Then one of the stars from the movie goes to his fan base and bad-mouths you because YOU are making a ton of money off of HIS hard work. The fans bad mouth you and call you greedy. Sales of your bluray tank. Fans just won’t buy it until you pay this guy “what he deserves,” because he wasn’t smart enough to ask for a contract way back when for residual payments.

    It’s a business like any other business.

    MST3K is well loved, but it has always had a small fan base. It doesn’t bring in the big bucks like, say, The Big Bang Theory. Even IF Shout Factory decided to start giving residuals to the old cast & crew, how much would it be? It would be from this point forward.

    How do they decide who gets how much? Should they count the jokes and then ask everyone who wrote what? “Remember 25 years ago when Tom Servo said Dickweed? Who wrote that? Watch Out For Snakes has become a catchphrase for the show. That should get a little bit more than your average joke. Mike was onscreen so he gets extra for his visual & vocal performances.” It would be like a scene from It’s A Mad, Mad, Mad World when they are trying to decide how to split the money they’re looking for.

    Sorry old cast & crew. I love you, but you got what you were contracted for. If you’re going to blame anyone, blame yourselves.

       8 likes

  14. John Seavey says:

    Gurwood:
    Longtime visitor to the site, infrequent commenter. I’ve given some thought to the words of the other folks involved, and I think we have to assume that something is up that we don’t know about.

    Everyone involved in the show who wasn’t Joel or Jim was basically paid once, right? Subsequent DVD sales, etc., have not really benefited them directly. I remember members of Cinematic Titanic grousing (nicely) about the situation while signing after a show in my hometown.

    And now that Joel finally has the rights to the series wrapped up, now that Jim is out of the picture, what happens? Well, Joel certainly doesn’t start paying the rest of the cast residuals (although the nice RiffTrax thing is set up). Instead, he starts a crowdfunding campaign for an all-new version of the show. And sure, the old guard can be involved and paid for their time, but if they appear, all they do is add prestige (and boost DVD sales) of a show that wasn’t and isn’t theirs.

    This does not appear to be correct–Trace and Kevin, I believe, are on record as saying they’ve started getting residuals and they’re very happy about that. Joel appears to be a little bit more invested in taking care of the people who helped make the show work.

    I really think there’s no need for complex, behind-the-scenes machinations when the answer seems pretty obvious: Joel said that the old cast, himself included, wouldn’t be doing much in front of the camera. It seems pretty likely that many people weren’t interested in a job that didn’t involve performing, which they probably like because, y’know…ACTORS. So they decided to do something else. Perhaps some of them felt a little bruised because they were hoping to come back and act, or because they were hoping for some sort of producer type role like Joel has (not an entirely unreasonable expectation given how long they’d worked on the show) and they felt like Joel didn’t consult them. People can be like that.

    Some of them very clearly weren’t–Rifftrax, which is Mike, Kevin, Bill, Mary Jo and Bridget all were very vocal in their support (and put their money where their mouths were). That’s a lot of people who aren’t passive aggressive at all. I’d have been astonished if they’d walked away from Rifftrax to go back to MST3K under any circumstances, to be honest. Rifftrax is by this point coming up on its 10th anniversary and is an established brand–why fix it if it ain’t broken?

    I think people are reading way too much into a few tweets by people accustomed to making jokes about their fellow comedians, and I also think that ultimately, if there is bad blood, it’s not really any of our business.

       14 likes

  15. monsterzero says:

    I’d pay good cash money to see a “The Mads” tv show!

    Kickstart it Frank, Trace, Josh! Please?

       2 likes

  16. Majorjoe23 says:

    It would be cool if Rifftrax started distributing The Mad’s shows, if they decide to record them. Since they’re live performance focused at the moment, I assume they don’t want to to put their whole act out on the internet yet.

       5 likes

  17. Farmland says:

    I suppose I should feel flattered that Echo felt I was notable enough to quote up there, but I wasn’t saying that because I was a poopyhead who was rooting for Joel to fail. Considering that they took a week to hit the $2 million mark (Veronica Mars did that in 11 hours) and that the Turkey Day push was a relative dud, it’s safe to say that the Kickstarter didn’t initially have “record-breaking” written all over it, but Joel rallied magnificently and really bought things together for the end. I’ve said before that I’m not entirely convinced that MST needs to come back and I still stand by that, but I still donated on the first day (even upped it on Turkey Day) and am still really hoping that the new show turns out well…

       6 likes

  18. maclen says:

    Ha…all this talk of “show biz” and gripes of residuals reminds me of the riffs in “Angels Revenge” regarding Jim Backus.

    “If only poor Jim had gotten residuals from “Gilligins Island.”

    It is certainly apt to say that most of the original on camera cast can owe alot of their current careers to MST3K. Mike, Kevin and Bill are currently “film riffing” at RT. Mary Jo has recently joined Bridgete over at RT releasing episodes. Trace and Frank, after a few years stint riffing films in CT are also currently on tour riffing films. It is not as if they have NOT benefited at all from the show post cancellation. Joel obviously is currently very passionate about returning to HIS baby and resurrecting another chapter to it. So HOW much more does Joel owe to the on camera cast in moving into the future?

       4 likes

  19. Dirty D says:

    Who was the girl that sang the robot song on the telethon? Does anyone know if any of the performances or the whole telethon will be “rebroadcast” or made available as an extra?
    Anyways, way to go Joel and fellow mysties! I honestly was thinking we’d see six episodes at best, so for me, 14 is unbelievable!

       1 likes

  20. David says:

    And, Joel owe’s his success to them.

    All of you ‘fans’ that are looking down your noses at the MST3K alumni for feeling left out completely suck. They have done most of the work in creating something we all love, and you feel the need to condescend and trivialize their input?

    What on earth is wrong with you people?

       1 likes

  21. jaybird3rd says:

    David: All of you ‘fans’ that are looking down your noses at the MST3K alumni for feeling left out completely suck. They have done most of the work in creating something we all love, and you feel the need to condescend and trivialize their input?

    Not at all. I’m not aware that anybody is “trivializing” or dismissing them or their contributions. We’re simply observing that, with regard to this particular issue, certain of them seem to be behaving unreasonably (I say “seem to be” because, admittedly, we don’t have all the facts).

       2 likes

  22. Thad says:

    Crow T Robot KJM:
    So, yes, it would be nice if Mike and Kevin and whoever else worked on the show continued making money from it, but that’s not the way it goes.Jim Mallon owned it.made money off it.Shout Factory now owns it.They make the money off it now.Should they have to now go out & sign new contracts with the cast / crew for the old shows to pay them money IF the old series continues making money?

    In a word, yes.

    It’s true that the cast and crew accepted an hourly rate with no residuals. This is because they did not expect the show would still be profitable after 25 years.

    Jim Mallon did not expect the show to be profitable after 25 years either, but he got to reap the benefits when it was.

    Shout was not even part of the original arrangement, but it gets to reap the benefits now.

    I believe that when circumstances change and contracts turn out to have made false assumptions, then those contracts should be renegotiated to reflect the changing circumstances. Shout has no legal obligation to do this, but I believe it has an ethical one to do so.

    (Similarly, the guys at Rifftrax are under no legal obligation to share their MST3K sales with the other former cast and crew members, but have chosen to do so. They should be applauded for this decision.)

    There are also reasons that it’s just good business to treat your creators well: it signals to future creators that they’ll be treated well too, and staying on good terms with your former creators means they’re more inclined to do work for you in the future. Next time Shout wants to, say, make a documentary feature for a DVD set, and wants the old cast to participate, it would be to their benefit to be on good terms with them.

    What if they old series (for whatever reasons) doesn’t make money, but loses money?Should the old cast & crew then have to pony up the dough for those loses?

    The “the company took all the risk and therefore should reap all the reward” argument is a red herring that deliberately confuses the issue. Are you arguing against the very idea of creators getting a share of profits?

    If you tried this argument in the book industry you’d get laughed out of town. “Why should the author get a share of revenue when the publisher took all the risk?” Well, because she’s the author.

    Lots of people in lots of media have profit participation agreements. Are you saying that nobody but the publisher should ever profit from the ongoing sales of anything? Because that’s implicit in arguing that only the party that takes the risk should receive any reward.

    It’s like if you found out that the rights to an old movie you loved was up for sale and you bought it.You pay a good chunk of change for it.You pay to have it restored.You pay to have it mastered on bluray.You pay to have it distributed to stores around the country.Then one of the stars from the movie goes to his fan base and bad-mouths you because YOU are making a ton of money offof HIS hard work.The fans bad mouth you and call you greedy.Sales of your bluray tank.Fans just won’t buy it until you pay this guy “what he deserves,” because he wasn’t smart enough to ask for a contract way back when for residual payments.

    In this hypothetical, it sounds like I’m the guy who wasn’t a smart businessman, because I didn’t respect a creator and my sales suffered for it. If I’d been smart enough to make a deal with the star, then both of us could have profited; now neither of us will.

    Given the business choice between “make less money because you choose to share it with somebody” and “make no money at all because you choose not to share it with anybody,” the smart business decision is obvious; it’s simple math. You can say I was in the right and the star and fans were in the wrong if you like, but I’m the one who disrespected my talent and my customers and experienced market consequences for doing so.

    MST3K is well loved, but it has always had a small fan base.It doesn’t bring in the big bucks like, say, The Big Bang Theory.Even IF Shout Factory decided to start giving residuals to the old cast & crew, how much would it be?It would be from this point forward.

    I don’t think anyone’s suggesting that it would be a huge chunk of change. But I think that as the show continues to be a success, the old cast and crew should get a share. It may not be very much, but that’s not really the point.

    How do they decide who gets how much? Should they count the jokes and then ask everyone who wrote what?“Remember 25 years ago when Tom Servo said Dickweed?Who wrote that?Watch Out For Snakes has become a catchphrase for the show.That should get a little bit more than your average joke.Mike was onscreen so he gets extra for his visual & vocal performances.” It would be like a scene from It’s A Mad, Mad, Mad World when they are trying to decide how to split the money they’re looking for.

    Yes, that method of determining each writer’s share that you just made up sure would be ridiculous! Obviously that means nobody should get anything!

    John Seavey: This does not appear to be correct–Trace and Kevin, I believe, are on record as saying they’ve started getting residuals and they’re very happy about that. Joel appears to be a little bit more invested in taking care of the people who helped make the show work.

    Great news if true; do you have a link you could share?

    maclen:
    So HOW much more does Joel owe to the on camera cast in moving into the future?

    Assuming you’re talking about the old cast, he doesn’t owe them anything in moving into the future. (Except Paul, since he’s working on the new show.)

    However, if he’s going to continue to profit off the ten previous seasons of the show (eleven if those KTMA hints ever come to fruition), then he should compensate the other people who made them.

    I mean, you could turn this around and say Joel doesn’t deserve to be paid for any of the Mike episodes, but I would never make that argument; Joel created the show and deserves all the continued profits he’s gotten from it. Similarly, the other people who worked on the show deserve a share of the profits their work is continuing to generate.

       3 likes

  23. John Seavey says:

    David:
    And, Joel owe’s his success to them.

    All of you ‘fans’ that are looking down your noses at the MST3K alumni for feeling left out completely suck. They have done most of the work in creating something we all love, and you feel the need to condescend and trivialize their input?

    What on earth is wrong with you people?

    I don’t think that’s happening, in general. (Obviously, none of us speak for all of us.) My feeling is simply that anything going on between Joel and anyone else involved with MST3K, past or present, is a private issue between them at this point, and it’s not really any fan’s place to pry. All concerned have a reasonable expectation of privacy involving their business dealings, and I think that trying to dig up more information or further speculate on “bad blood” or shady goings on is inadvisable at best. Clearly, no feelings have been bruised to the point where anyone wants to air dirty laundry in public, and I think that’s probably for the best.

       4 likes

  24. maclen says:

    Sure, EVERY cast and crew member on the entire run of the show has contributed to the success of the show. They were hired, they did their jobs and they got paid for it. The issue of residuals is seperate. My point was what does Joel owe to cast and crew in their future careers? As for the theory that former cast members now simply feel “left out” is speculation. How many wished to return to their roles on the reboot? How many have no interest in returning. Again, it’s all speculation. Another theory I’ve read is some of the former cast are miffed because perhaps they were not informed ahead of time, whether about the possible reboot or KS fundraiser. It’s been no secret that joel has been hinting for awhile of something big coming regarding MST. And it’s hard for me to believe that they would have NO idea of a possible reboot, or for that matter they would not have had knowledge of the rights for the show being purchased from Jim. My assumption is if any of cast and crew had any interest in being part of this, they would have brought it to Joel themselves at some point. Now whether ANY offers of participation from former cast or crew were rebuked by Joel, that would be pure speculation as well. Certainly the opinion that former cast members have “moved on” to doing their own thing…AND being miffed at being left out cannot be justified.

       2 likes

  25. Crow T Robot KJM says:

    Well, Thad, I’d have to agree to disagree with you.

    It’s totally ridiculous to say that no one knew the show would be a hit 25 years from when they 1st started it, and now that it is the owners of the show needs to go back to everyone and make NEW deals so everyone reap the rewards. You get what you sign up for initially.

    I’m pretty sure that Rhino was releasing videos while the show was still on the air, so everyone involved could say, “Look, this thing has a fan base that COULD grow, so I want to renegotiate my contract now.” The owners of MST3K could have done it, or they could have said, “No.”

    I can fully understand someone saying that they signed up for a show and now get nothing from it, but no one put a gun to their heads. They made a decision. They enjoyed working on the show. They made a salary. Shows over. The owner of the show makes money off it today.

    The show could have been a dud in video sales. After all, it was canceled to to low ratings. some old fans lost interest. I didn’t really watch it when it went to Sci-Fi because I didn’t think they were as funny. The owners could have lost their shirts in video sales on a canceled show.

    Should they go back to the people who worked on the show and say, “Well, this cost me an arm & a leg. Lets sign a new contract now where you pay me for the money I lost. It’s really your fault. You guys just weren’t funny enough.” Something tells me if that scenario happened, the original cast & crew would be waiving their original contracts saying “This is what I signed up for – nothing more or less.” Wouldn’t you?

    Contracts are legal, binding agreements. You can renegotiate them. But if both sides don’t agree, sorry, you’re stuck with what you agreed to originally.

    So again, who really are the reasons the show is popular? The cast? The crew? The producer? The director? The writer? And, after the fact, how do you determine who gets what? You can’t. Thus the original contracts stand.

    The owner of the show reaps the benefits. And he also must pay for any losses. Welcome to the world of big (and little) business.

       0 likes

  26. Ralph C says:

    I have to say this: My way of looking at all this is the best way to look at it. Search for all my comments in this thread and you will see. I don’t self-congratulate myself, usually. However, this time I deserve it. I proclaim me…delicious!! :-)

       0 likes

  27. DeusExMachina says:

    I know it is easy to get caught up in this he said/she said stuff that has been circulating for the last week or so, but hopefully this gives some of the fans worried about this some closure. I was at the live event “The Mads” last night in St. Louis and after the first movie Trace and Frank did a Q&A with the audience. One person did not get the memo that Trace and Frank would not be involved and asked when they would be starting filming the new episodes. The person with her joked that they neglected to inform her that they were not part of it. Both Trace and Frank gave very magnanimous answers. Trace said he really wishes all of the new team the best, but that they are not a part of it…that they are doing their own thing. Frank went further to say they are comedians and their job is to make jokes about the situation, but that he knows Patton Oswalt very well and mentioned one of the other writers and also said that Felicia is “enchanting.” He also said that people have been reading too much into things and that he really wishes the new incarnation the best. Then Trace (jokingly) thanked the person asking the question for opening that wound again. It was all taken very lightheartedly and it does not appear to be a huge concern for them. Obviously there will be some folks that will keep reading between lines that don’t exist, but they’ve moved on. I can too.

    To be honest though, it was an outstanding show and I hope they do more because I felt it was even better than Cinematic Titanic. More intimate setting and the guys were awesome! If they come to your town, please support them…you won’t be sorry!

       19 likes

  28. John Seavey says:

    We’ll definitely try to take in a show next time they’re in the Twin Cities. I love to support all these guys, and it’s wonderful that they’re all able to make a living following their passion. To me, that’s the most important part of it all.

       5 likes

  29. Thad says:

    Crow T Robot KJM:
    Well, Thad, I’d have to agree to disagree with you.

    As is your right, but it looks like you’re just repeating the same red-herring arguments.

    The show could have been a dud in video sales.After all, it was canceled to to low ratings.some old fans lost interest.I didn’t really watch it when it went to Sci-Fi because I didn’t think they were as funny.The owners could have lost their shirts in video sales on a canceled show.

    Should they go back to the people who worked on the show and say, “Well, this cost me an arm & a leg.Lets sign a new contract now where you pay me for the money I lost.It’s really your fault.You guys just weren’t funny enough.”Something tells me if that scenario happened, the original cast & crew would be waiving their original contracts saying “This is what I signed up for – nothing more or less.”Wouldn’t you?

    Again, this is a nonsense argument that implies nobody but a publisher should ever make money for any creative endeavor, ever, because only the publisher assumes risk. That’s downright silly. Lots of writers, actors, artists, etc. have royalty agreements in place, even if they didn’t assume risk. Your argument indicates that you’re against this, that by not assuming any risk for failure nobody should ever accept any reward for success. This argument inevitably comes up in any conversation I’ve ever seen about profit-sharing, and it’s incoherent.

    Like I said, try running a book publisher and telling authors that they’re not going to get any percentage of profits because you’re assuming all the risk. See how many publishing deals you get that way. Try running the “Well I wouldn’t ask you to pay me if your book didn’t sell” argument by them and see how far it gets you.

    People don’t get paid based on the risk they assume, they get paid based on the value they provide. The reason creative industries often have profit-sharing arrangements is because that value is unknown at the time the agreement is made. Nobody knows how well any given creative work is going to do over time, and so instead of paying the creators the entire amount in a lump sum upfront, they’re given some money upfront and an offer of more money if and when it becomes available.

    Mark Evanier has a pretty great post about residuals on his blog; I think everybody should give it a read.

    So again, who really are the reasons the show is popular?The cast?The crew?The producer?The director?The writer?And, after the fact, how do you determine who gets what?You can’t.

    Of course you can. Rifftrax has.

    There are any number of possible ways to decide how to divide up profits. If the original contracts had included a profit-sharing agreement, then it would have been done then; there’s no reason it couldn’t be done now. Shout can make an offer that the old cast and writers feel is fair, and the old cast and writers can accept it. Rifftrax’s “split the profits evenly among the principal cast” is one way of doing that. There are other ways of doing it, too; you could provide a bonus for every X number of episodes sold, or you could only compensate writers and cast for the episodes they worked on, you could give a little bit more money to the guys in the theater and a little less to everybody else — there are plenty of different ways to split it up which the old crew might consider fair, all of which would be better deals than the nothing they’re currently getting.

    If it weren’t possible to determine how to share profits among multiple collaborators, then nobody would ever get any profit-sharing arrangement in any collaborative industry. That’s clearly not the case; there are people who get residuals from books, comics, films, plays, video games, cartoons, board games, art prints, software, and, yes, television shows. It’s not an impossible task; people do it all the time.

    The owner of the show reaps the benefits.And he also must pay for any losses.Welcome to the world of big (and little) business.

    Well no, you’re generalizing. Many, many businesses do not operate in the way you’re describing; profit-sharing arrangements are very, very common across creative fields. There are lots of companies that do very well for themselves but still make profit-sharing arrangements with their talent; there are entire industries where you’re not going to get anyone to agree to work for you without a piece of the backend.

    You can say “That’s the way business works,” but that’s just not so; it’s the way some businesses work.

    Anyhow, I’ve spoken my piece and made my stance on creators’ rights clear; I don’t expect there’s much need for me to say anything else on the subject. I’m still looking forward to the new series, and while I hope Shout reaches a deal with the old cast and crew, I’m not looking to raise pitchforks and torches against them if they don’t. Life goes on, and hopefully the new cast and crew get a better deal.

    John Seavey: I don’t think that’s happening, in general. (Obviously, none of us speak for all of us.) My feeling is simply that anything going on between Joel and anyone else involved with MST3K, past or present, is a private issue between them at this point, and it’s not really any fan’s place to pry. All concerned have a reasonable expectation of privacy involving their business dealings, and I think that trying to dig up more information or further speculate on “bad blood” or shady goings on is inadvisable at best. Clearly, no feelings have been bruised to the point where anyone wants to air dirty laundry in public, and I think that’s probably for the best.

    Yeah, that’s how I feel too. I do have some general opinions on what everybody should be getting, and I have some sympathy for the former cast members who feel flatfooted by the new series, but it’s also not something I want to dwell on and it doesn’t seem to be something they want to dwell on either.

    Besides, I smell a “Who cares, get a life, damn kids, too much time on your hands” post coming on from somebody about now…

       3 likes

  30. jaybird3rd says:

    Thanks, DeusExMachina! Seeing reports like yours really makes we wish I wasn’t stuck in the Deep South where these live shows never seem to go.

    I agree: it’s time to let go of all the controversy. As I and others have said before, it’s really none of our business anyway, and now is no time to let it cast a cloud over our enjoyment of the show.

       7 likes

  31. Thad says:

    DeusExMachina:
    I know it is easy to get caught up in this he said/she said stuff that has been circulating for the last week or so, but hopefully this gives some of the fans worried about this some closure.I was at the live event “The Mads” last night in St. Louis and after the first movie Trace and Frank did a Q&A with the audience.One person did not get the memo that Trace and Frank would not be involved and asked when they would be starting filming the new episodes.The person with her joked that they neglected to inform her that they were not part of it.Both Trace and Frank gave very magnanimous answers.Trace said he really wishes all of the new team the best, but that they are not a part of it…that they are doing their own thing.Frank went further to say they are comedians and their job is to make jokes about the situation, but that he knows Patton Oswalt very well and mentioned one of the other writers and also said that Felicia is “enchanting.”He also said that people have been reading too much into things and that he really wishes the new incarnation the best.Then Trace (jokingly) thanked the person asking the question for opening that wound again.It was all taken very lightheartedly and it does not appear to be a huge concern for them.Obviously there will be some folks that will keep reading between lines that don’t exist, but they’ve moved on.I can too.

    Thanks so much for sharing; I think that helps put things into perspective.

       2 likes

  32. Laura says:

    OMG!!!!!!!MY SHOW IS BACK!!!!MY SHOW IS BACK!!!!MY SHOW IS BACK!!!!MY SHOW IS BACK!!!!MY SHOW IS BACK!!!!MY SHOW IS BACK!!!!MY SHOW IS BACK!!!!MY SHOW IS BACK!!!!MY SHOW IS BACK!!!!MY SHOW IS BACK!!!!MY SHOW IS BACK!!!!MY SHOW IS BACK!!!!MY SHOW IS BACK!!!!MY SHOW IS BACK!!!!MY SHOW IS BACK!!!!

    I never thought this day would ever come! My only regret is not having contributed only because I’m still unemployed. :cry: I’ve been wanting MST3K back for years and now IT’S FINALLY GOING TO HAPPEN!!!! 8-) 8-) 8-) 8-) 8-)

       14 likes

  33. Ro-man says:

    Laura: OMG!!!!!!!MY SHOW IS BACK!!!!

    Ah, a breath of fresh air… unbridled excitement, untainted by broad speculations, theories, and cynicism.
    Thank you Laura, and yeah, ain’t it GREAT?

    YAHOO!!!!!!! WE GOT OUR SHOW BACK!!!!!!

       11 likes

  34. Mike "ex-genius" Kelley says:

    I’m glad to hear the report about “The Mads” but it makes me want to see what they do more than ever (and it will never happen, not in MY town).

    I wonder if they’ve thought about releasing anything on video — I know the big issue would be with rights, but (and I have no idea what they are riffing, because I’ve never heard about them until now) I would assume if there was money involved they could swing that. Heck, I’ve bought all the disks ever release by Rhino and Shout, all The Film Crew, all Cinema Titanic, all Rifftrax shorts (and most of their VOD stuff, although at this point I think I’ve had enough of them) so I would certainly be in the market for more riffing to spend my money on (and support Trace and Frank, whom I’ve always really liked).

       3 likes

  35. Kenneth says:

    Dirty D:
    Who was the girl that sang the robot song on the telethon? Does anyone know if any of the performances or the whole telethon will be “rebroadcast” or made available as an extra?
    Anyways, way to go Joel and fellow mysties! I honestly was thinking we’d see six episodes at best, so for me, 14 is unbelievable!

    Kate Micucci sang the robot song.

       1 likes

  36. DeusExMachina says:

    Mike – the 7:00 show they riffed on was Plan 9 From Outer Space, and the 10:00 show was Glen or Glenda…with a few cartoons thrown in. I’m not sure what the rights issues would be as I think Plan 9 is in the public domain but no one asked that question last night. They sound like they really want to take this show all over though, so hopefully it will come somewhere near you.

       1 likes

  37. maclen says:

    Ro-man: Ah, a breath of fresh air… unbridled excitement, untainted by broad speculations, theories, and cynicism.
    Thank you Laura, and yeah, ain’t it GREAT?

    YAHOO!!!!!!!WE GOT OUR SHOW BACK!!!!!!

    Yeah, I will now wait til the episodes are released to give my opinion over whether I like or dislike this new rebooted version of MST3k. As a fan of the show for many years now nothing about this reboot can tarnish what the show means to me. So again, whether I will like the new show is simply a matter of waiting for it to arrive and make that judgement.

       2 likes

  38. Mike "ex-genius" Kelley says:

    Deux,

    Thanks for the info. Wanting to take it “all over” ain’t quite the same as visiting my neck of Florida (where CT never came close to) and I understand — we’re old folks here and it’s not really the crowd they are after. Big cities near universities are their bread and butter, because you definitely want to go after the college crowd.

    Given how easy the technology is nowadays, I never quite understand why they don’t tape these live shows just on the off chance that *someday* they might want to sell them. CT really missed the boat in that regard. Heck, you can pay some kids a few hundred to run the equipment (which itself is dirt cheap) and then you have something “just in case”. You can’t tell me that CT wouldn’t have been able to make many thousands back in selling those live shows that were never recorded.

    However, most creative types are not business types, and leaving that kind of money on the table probably doesn’t occur to them, in the same way that most stage actors don’t think anything about the fact their legacy vanishes the moment the curtain goes down.

       1 likes

  39. Dan says:

    Kenneth: Kate Micucci sang the robot song.

    Kate Micucci is one half of musical comedy duo ‘Garfunkel & Oates’, along with Riki Lindhome. Both have appeared in ‘The Big Bang Theory’ and written at least one song for the show.

    Kate was Raj’s first girlfriend for several episodes and Riki played Sheldon’s obsessive muse for one episode.

       1 likes

  40. Johnny's nonchalance says:

    Captain Cab:
    Josh posted this on his twitter feed today:

    “Tomorrow I launch my Kickstarter to pay for the oral surgery I need from biting my tongue for the last month.”

    So tired of all this weird passive aggressive stuff coming from some of the former Brains.

    You’re the one who brought that twitter stuff here. If you don’t like what Josh or anyone else says, don’t follow them. And as a favor to the rest of us, if you don’t like it, don’t bring it here.

    You’re tired? I wager I’m not the only one pretty tired of your attitude, especially when you ripped into Mike Kelley.

    I get you don’t like passive aggressive (if that’s what that actually was), but that doesn’t mean you have to be AGGRESSIVE aggressive to compensate.

    There’s a line from Wayne’s World that is applicable. If Captain Cab was an ice cream flavor, he’d be pralines and…

       1 likes

  41. bbbbbbbbbb says:

    Thad:

    People don’t get paid based on the risk they assume, they get paid based on the value they provide.

    That’s not entirely true. It all depends on what economic system you are subscribe to/operate under. If you are under a capitalistic system the amount of risk assumed absolutely figures into the profit received. That is the basis of the stock market. Most shareholders in a publically traded company provide no value. The more shares you have the more dividend you receive if one is paid. Now this is just one example but it doesn’t exactly apply to the former Best Brains since that was a private company. But to say risk has no basis on compensation is wrong. Again it all depends on the terms of a contract or company’s charter, etc… The applicable legal document is king.

       0 likes

  42. Captain Cab says:

    As someone else said, Josh cleared up that seemingly passive aggressive “Biting my tongue” tweet from last week by stating he was just joking. As I have pointed out in my previous posts, he has been very supportive of the reboot, he tweets and RT’s the URL quite a bit. Unfortunately Josh posted a new tweet stating he has had to block some people because he has started getting nasty messages, very sad. Why can’t people be more nonchalant about things?

       1 likes

  43. Captain Cab says:

    Question: Has anyone here been to one of Trace and Frank’s shows and if so, do they watch and riff an entire movie CT style? What movies or shorts have they riffed on so far? Can’t get an answer to this anywhere.

       0 likes

  44. Frank Conniff says:

    Hey, Captain Cab, Trace and I riff an entire movie and a couple of cartoons from the Cartoon Dump collection. We’re having a blast and look forward to performing in every city with a venue that would like to book us.

       16 likes

  45. Droppo says:

    Frank Conniff:
    Hey, Captain Cab, Trace and I riff an entire movie and a couple of cartoons from the Cartoon Dump collection. We’re having a blast and look forward to performing in every city with a venue that would like to book us.

    Frank, I work in NYC and live in CT. I would LOVE to see you guys. If CT is an option, there is a fantastic theater called The Prospector Theater in Ridgefield. They have a fantastic mission. I don’t know that links are permitted here, but, it’s totally worth a look. They even have a Bad Movies Club.

    I’m not sure how the booking process works, but, I’m happy to reach out to try to connect you guys.

    Thanks!

       0 likes

  46. Dan in WI says:

    Hey Frank, if you are still lurking, I was wondering if you and Trace are already reaching out to venues that Cinematic Titanic had a previous relationship with or not.

       0 likes

  47. Cheapskate Crow says:

    I am wondering how aware the Mads were of the timing of the reboot. It makes it harder to advertise your show as “featuring the stars of MST3K” or something to that effect when now there is a new MST3K that they are no longer the stars of. I could definitely see how the Mads could be annoyed by that, plus it seems some of the former cast feel left out since Joel is going with a younger cast.

    I saw the Mads’ inaugural show in Chicago which was a few weeks before the reboot announcement so unfortunately I didn’t know to ask them anything about it. I do know they tape their shows but only for their own use like an aircheck. I helped Trace with their recording and asked him about the rights and he confirmed what many have said that releasing a show on video is a whole different and much more expensive kettle of fish than riffing a movie live. I am guessing this has something to do with why the later CTs were never released either.

       0 likes

  48. skierpete says:

    maclen: Yeah, I will now wait til the episodes are released togive my opinion over whether I like or dislike this new rebooted version of MST3k. As a fan of the show for many years now nothing about this reboot can tarnish what the show means to me. So again, whether I will like the new show is simply a matter of waiting for it to arrive and make that judgement.

    This to me is the *Right* attitude to have…whether you gave no support to the new show or whether you are an executive producer backer. The best any individual can hope for is that they (Joel and the producers whoever they are) can put to together something that each of us as individuals enjoy.

    Part of what has had ME personally exicited is that to me, this has already been proven that it can work. Rifftrax and CT, while both bringing in some folks from the original crew also have other writers involved with writing jokes. These shows give me evidence that I can enjoy riffing in a format that is NOT the “old MST3K”. While I didn’t like Rifftrax or CT as much as I did MST3K, I still enjoyed it a lot.

    This shows to me that even if this version 2.0 of the show (3.0 of the show? Does CC and Sci-Fi count as separate versions?) isn’t as great as the original, there’s a good chance it will be something I can still enjoy.

       1 likes

  49. Sasha says:

    Long-time site viewer, but a bit timid so only my second posting.

    I’m really not convinced that the former cast is being as negative as suggested in many of these comments. Mike, Bill, Kevin, Mary Jo and Bridget have all made made supportive comments… and Rifftrax has given Joel a short to offer KS-folks as a reward.

    Trace is a sporadic tweeter, so I might have missed his views. Josh’s comments seem to veer all over the place.

    Frank’s tweets are deliciously snarky about almost every subject (it’s why I love the guy so much!) so who can tell? That said, Patton’s seeming intent to imitate Mr Conniff’s look/style so colsely would tick me off if I were in Frank’s place.

    Whatever – I’m still thrilled that the new series is happening.

    Sasha

       1 likes

  50. Droppo says:

    Sasha: Frank’s tweets are deliciously snarky about almost every subject (it’s why I love the guy so much!)

    Frank is my favorite presence on Twitter. He is hilarious.

       4 likes

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