Joel Hodgson on the return of 'MST3K'

Joel Hodgson isn't done with "Mystery Science Theater 3000."

Hodgson, who will appear Saturday, Sept. 27 at Retro Con in the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center in Oaks, Pennsylvania and Oct. 24 to 26 at the Chiller Theatre Toy, Model and Film Expo at the Sheraton Parsippany Hotel, is the creator of the cult classic television series that aired for 10 seasons, starting in 1988.

And, he said this week that an "MST3K" return could be in the cards.

"I'm working really hard to make that happen, and I'm intensely interested in it," Hodgson said on Tuesday morning. "I'm working really diligently to try to make that happen, along with a lot of other people."

Airing on three different networks and cycling through its entire on-air cast during its initial run, "MST3K" kept flying thanks to its charming and sturdy set-up: a hapless host, orbiting the Earth in a vessel known as the Satellite of Love, was forced by mad scientists to watch some of the worst movies ever made. His only relief? Mercilessly poking fun at the films, with the help of his robot friends.

Hodgson, in the role of Joel Robinson, hosted the series for its first five seasons, passing the torch in 1993 to one of the show's writers, Mike Nelson. Likewise, the talent behind the robot puppet companions changed over the years, will Kevin Murphy taking over for Josh "J. Elvis" Weinstein as Tom Servo in 1990 and Bill Corbett taking on the role of Crow T. Robot following the departure of Trace Beaulieu in 1997.

New episodes of the series, Hodgson said, would follow suit.

"Obviously, the 'bots stay the same, right? They stayed the same when we rotated in the new cast, Kevin took over for Josh, Bill took over for Trace, there were like three different guys who ran Gypsy," Hodgson said. "So, the 'bots stay the same, naturally they'll be coming back, but with new people running them, and new hosts and new antagonists.

"But then, of course, I want to take advantage of the talent pool of people who did 'Mystery Science Theater,' so they'll be coming back, too. The original cast will come back and interact and produce and do cameos and train the new people on how it's done. So, that's kind of the plan."

While it's too soon to say what outlet will carry the revived series, Hodgson acknowledged that the Internet would most likely be the initial way to connect with fans of the show.

Last week, it was reported by Variety that a collection of 80 classic episodes are available for purchase and rental through the streaming video site Vimeo, with the service also receiving exclusive rights to any newly-cleared episodes over the next year. Currently, only 80 of the original 198 "MST3K" episodes are available for digital distribution. Episodes are currently available on Netflix and Hulu, as well as through download-to-own services such as iTunes, Google Play and Amazon Instant Video.

"Obviously, I think there's going to be a huge fan component of the new shows," Hodgson said. "They will probably be initiated with a crowdsource campaign, the people who want to bring it back and want new shows will be able to get involved that way financially. And then, I'm sure there will be a place online where people can watch them once the shows are done.

"And, somewhere along the line it might end up on cable, but I think that's a bit down the stream, the different ways people can get it. Obviously, the most direct way is online, and then it could reside on a cable channel too, one day."

This summer, Shout! Factory released the 30th volume in its series of box sets from the series' original run, "MST3K: Volume XXX." Among the episodes featured in the set is the Season One finale "The Black Scorpion," which marked Weinstein's final appearance as both the voice of Tom Servo and the villainous Dr. Laurence Erhardt.

"Josh is just so important to the 'Mystery Science Theater' story, and played such an important role," Hodgson said. "He's probably the best joke writer I've ever met, and even when he was just working with us when he was still a teenager he was a really funny kid.

"And so, he had a lot to do with our sensibility, and he created the role of Tom Servo, he created that character. And so, I just can't say enough about him. He's a really great friend. And, you know, it's a regret that it didn't work out, that he felt like he had to leave, but it didn't have very much to do with me. I just really love the guy and think he's a really great talent."

Fan connection

Ahead of his trips to Retro Con and Chiller Theatre, Hodgson said he always appreciates the chance to connect with fans in person.

"We really made 'MST3K' in a vacuum, we didn't know too much about the fans (at the time)," Hodgson said. "This was a long time ago, before the Internet, and so it's been really great and I've been really grateful to get to meet so many (fans). And, I always learn a little bit more (about) why they like it or some story about it or whatever. I've been really grateful, and I get a lot out of it."

Among Hodgson's fellow guests at Chiller will be actor Conrad Brooks, perhaps best known for his appearances in bad movie master Ed Wood's midnight classics, including "Glen or Glenda" (1953), "Bride of the Monster" (1955) and "Plan 9 From Outer Space" (1959).

With its massive cache of culture infamy, one wonders how "Plan 9," named the worst film of all time by Harry and Michael Medved in their 1980 book "The Golden Turkey Awards," was never the subject of an "MST3K" episode.

"I remember reading that (book), and it featured all of these B-movies that were really bad, like 'Robot Monster' (1953) and stuff like that, but the one that won it was 'Plan 9,' that was considered the worst movie ever made," Hodgson said. "So, I felt it was too on the nose. We had a chance to do it on 'Mystery Science Theater,' and I said, 'No, that's kind of too on the nose for me. It's famous for being a bad movie, that's not our job. Our job is to find other movies to riff on.'"

It's a job that, it seems, is never done.

JOEL HODGSON

WHEN: 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 27

WHERE: Retro Con at the Greater Philadelphia Expo Center, 100 Station Ave., Oaks

TICKETS: $15, free for kids 12 and under

ALSO: Oct. 24 to 26 at the Chiller Theatre Toy, Model and Film Expo, Sheraton Parsippany Hotelm 199 Smith Rd., Parsippany. General admission tickets $25 in advance, $75 for all three days, $30 per day at the door.

ON THE WEB: http://joelhodgson.com