Suddenly, the not-too-distant future is not too distant after all.

The new, Kickstarter-funded season 11 of beloved cult classic "Mystery Science Theater 3000" will premiere on Netflix on April 14, creator Joel Hodgson and Netflix announced on Tuesday.

On Kickstarter, Hodgson said he'd just come from the show's third red-carpet screening of the first new episode, and got the April 14 premiere date by Netflix representatives. He assured Kickstarter backers who'd signed on at certain reward levels that their premiums would be coming soon.

"And just so you don't worry, we promise: if your rewards include the new episodes -- or the live stream screening of the first new episode -- we'll make sure you have them by April 14, when the new episodes premiere on Netflix," he said. "None of this would be happening without you. I'm really grateful."

The Kickstarter page notes that 14 new episodes, including a holiday special, have been shot, though the movie titles they'll be mocking remain secret for now.

Hodgson created the show in 1988 and played mellow jumpsuited janitor Joel Robinson, who was forced by mad scientists to watch bad movies along with the robot friends he'd created.

Netflix also released a photo of the new cast, which includes Jonah Ray as the jumpsuited replacement for Joel/Mike Nelson, who hosted in later seasons; Felicia Day as Kinga Forrester, daughter of original Mad Scientist Dr. Clayton Forrester; and Patton Oswalt as Son of TV's Frank, Dr. Forrester's main sidekick. And Bots Tom Servo, Crow T. Robot and Gypsy don't seem to have aged a day in 18 years.

Tuesday was a good day for fans of bad-movie riffing. "MST3K" alums Nelson, Kevin Murphy and Bill Corbett announced a new Kickstarter to help fund three live shows for their movie-riffing crew, RiffTrax. RiffTrax releases downloadable movie commentaries and has regularly filmed live shows that are simulcast to movie theaters across the country.

For 2017, they're hoping to riff "Samurai Cop," a number of summer-themed short films, and one mystery movie. By Wednesday morning, they'd already received $132,369 (£105,947, AU$ 171,256) in pledges towards their $250,000 (£200,800, AU$324,350) goal.

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