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MST3K Kickstarter Poised To Break Kickstarter Record (kickstarter.com)

New submitter the_Bionic_lemming writes: Recently Joel Hodgson, the creator of Mystery Science 3000 -- which had a successful run of over 197 shows -- has after 15 years launched a kickstarter to relaunch the series. In just over two weeks Joel has been wildly successful in not only having over 25000 fans contribute, but actually scoring the second-highest show kickstarter on record — he has just under two weeks to shoot past the Number 1 kickstarter, Veronica Mars.

21 of 104 comments (clear)

  1. Re:Will they break the other record? by aliquis · · Score: 2

    Being the first Kickstarter to deliver a product instead of wasting all the money?

    Lots of board-games has been released and used Kickstarter.

  2. Number 1 kickstarter ? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2

    Only because Joss Whedon hasn't done a "firefly" kickstarter !!!

    1. Re:Number 1 kickstarter ? by NotDrWho · · Score: 2

      Any hope of reviving Firefly ended when its follow-up movie barely broke $10 million on its opening weekend. Having a few *very vocal* fans is just no substitute for having a large *number* of fans.

      --
      SJW's don't eliminate discrimination. They just expropriate it for themselves.
  3. Re:Bringing stuff back by moronoxyd · · Score: 2

    "You want a blue car? Nobody likes blue. Also, if you want a blue car, you can buy this red car. How is a blue car better then a red car?"

    Or put differently: Saying one doesn't need one thing, because there is another thing that is kinda-sorta the same except it is different ist a strange argument.
    You may like rifftrax more than mst3k, but that doesn't mean that everybody has to share your opinion. Stay with riftrax and let everyone who want's to support mst3k.
    You're not losing anything by both existing in parallel.

    Disclaimer: I don't know rifftrax and I don't care about mst3k.

  4. Re:Visit by Zero__Kelvin · · Score: 3, Funny

    Now that's fscking funny. Don't worry buddy, there is nobody here who knows how to take down a website!

    --
    Guns don't kill people; Physics kills people! - John Lithgow as Dick Solomon on Third Rock From The Sun
  5. Re:Wildly expensive by Volanin · · Score: 2

    Actually, as they reported in an update, they are targeting $250,000 per episode:
    https://www.kickstarter.com/pr...

    --
    If I clone myself, can I call it a thread?
    If a girl winks to us, can I call it a race condition?
  6. Re:Wildly expensive by Dan+East · · Score: 2, Interesting

    As someone else stated, it's $250k per episode. Remember that includes the typical licensing fees they have to pay to essentially re-distribute each film they are lampooning. You don't think they get to broadcast copyrighted movies totally for free do you?

    --
    Better known as 318230.
  7. Re:Wildly expensive by Dan+East · · Score: 3, Insightful

    And that got me to thinking... when MST3k first started up, they were totally under the radar and an unknown. They should have been able to buy the rights to crappy B grade sci-fi movies for dirt cheap. These were the kinds of movies small indie TV stations would play at 2 AM and I bet they were practically free to broadcast. MST3k could also claim very low distribution and viewership initially. Now, everyone knows what the show is about, and knows that the number of viewers will be much higher. So I have a hunch the copyright holders of these older movies will try to get much larger licensing fees out of MST3k this time around.

    --
    Better known as 318230.
  8. Re:Wildly expensive by CastrTroy · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I got a better idea. Create a program that can read the DVD or Blu-Ray (or other video source) and overlay the content on the screen. They don't have to license the content, because they aren't distributing the content. Just distribute the stuff that gets played over top of the original video. I'm not sure how that would really work with respect to copyright laws, but it might be a way around the entire problem.

    --

    Anthropic principle: We see the universe the way it is because if it were different we would not be here to see it.
  9. Re:Not even close. by Pseudonymous+Powers · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Exploding kittens, a card game raised more than $8,000,000 so unless they more than triple their current backers in 11 days they dont have a chance.

    Exploding Kittens made eight million dollars? Wow. That game is like War without the strategic depth. People basically paid 8 million dollars for the words "Exploding" and "Kittens" and about sixteen doodles of cats.

    If that's all it takes, I too have an idea for a card game Kickstarter. So, the formula seems to be that something bad ("exploding") has to happen to something that most people like ("kittens"). Hmm, okay... how about... um.... Steadily Declining... uh... Grandmas?

    Wait, wait! I know it sounds depressing, but you haven't seen the pictures yet! They're really... well, actually, they're pretty bleak too. Hey, this is harder than it sounds.

  10. Re:Why bring this back? by Pseudonymous+Powers · · Score: 2

    The comments were mostly unfunny, the profiles of the commenters were in the way, the whole thing was just downright silly and childish. What is it that so many seem to like about this junk?

    "I have a great sense of humor! I just don't like things that are silly and childish! Like jokes! I defy you explain to me why jokes are funny!"

  11. Re:Bringing stuff back by interval1066 · · Score: 2

    but I don't particularly relish the idea of an aging Joel or Mike

    Nonsense. They're just as funny as ever. Ageist.

    --
    Python: 'And then suddenly you have a language which says "we're all stuck with whatever the whiniest coder wants".'
  12. Re:Bringing stuff back by PCM2 · · Score: 2

    Yeah, I hate to say it, but I don't particularly relish the idea of an aging Joel or Mike besmirching the memory of the original by attempting to reclaim the old magic.

    It won't be either. They're not ruling out the old characters making cameos or something, but they're getting a new, younger host (some comedian) and a couple other new people to play the bots. Joel's mostly just running the show.

    --
    Breakfast served all day!
  13. Re:Wildly expensive by Suffering+Bastard · · Score: 2

    Michael J. Nelson has done just that.

    --
    "Molest me not with this pocket calculator stuff."
    - Deep Thought
  14. Re:Not even close. by thewolfkin · · Score: 2

    From the summary

    but actually scoring the second-highest show kickstarter on record

    SHOW kickstarter. It's the 2nd highest show kickstarter. Second to Veronica Mars at the moment

    .

    --
    Just another second banana
  15. Re:Wildly expensive by lefthand2776 · · Score: 2

    As per the chart in the link above... You are correct that the 'campaign fees' are a relatively small chunk of the pie. The bulk is taken up by fulfilling the rewards (t-shrits, mugs, and such). They even added a new reward tier that includes only digital items so that donors could have their $$ go more toward the project.

  16. Re:Wildly expensive by asavage · · Score: 2

    It is exactly broken down in the link in the comment you replied to. Fees and rewards are ~35% or $700K. Fixed costs for production startup including build sets, costumes, etc. is $550K. This leaves $750K for 3 episodes. For the stretch goals they raise $1.1M per 3 episode target but after fees and rewards they have $750K/3 episodes as well.

  17. Re:Wildly expensive by Princeofcups · · Score: 2

    I got a better idea. Create a program that can read the DVD or Blu-Ray (or other video source) and overlay the content on the screen. They don't have to license the content, because they aren't distributing the content. Just distribute the stuff that gets played over top of the original video. I'm not sure how that would really work with respect to copyright laws, but it might be a way around the entire problem.

    Is this some kind of sarcasm, or do you seriously not know about RiffTrax?

    --
    The only thing worse than a Democrat is a Republican.
  18. Re:kickstarter users incapable of learning by ConceptJunkie · · Score: 2

    Except Joel Hodgson and Shout! Factory aren't Hollywood fat cats. Shout! has been very good to the show, working to make most of the episodes available for purchase, and they are now re-releasing the Rhino-era episodes which have been out of print for some time. Having secured the intellectual property from Jim Mallon, they are willing to give Joel the kind of control that made MST3K the best TV ever in the first place.

    And Joel... we're still talking about the guy who started the whole franchise with a skeleton crew on a no-name UHF station with almost zero budget. Even if the new episodes aren't as good as the old ones, I sincerely believe that Joel and the new cast, writers and producers will give it their all.

    I also don't see it as any kind of slam against the new project that Mike, Bill and Kevin have chosen not to be involved. Mike and Kevin were involved with the original show for about 10 years each, and Bill for about 3 years. They made wonderful contributions, but they have their own gig now. They have a good thing going with Rifftrax, which itself has been going for the better part of 10 years, and works from a significantly different business model that must be pretty successful given the amount of material they are able to produce. Rifftrax has clearly declared its alliance with the new MST3K and will be selling the new episodes, along with the old episodes it's already selling. Plus, Mary Jo and Bridget are now riffing for Rifftrax in their own unique style.

    It's a big enough world for more than one franchise making fun of bad movies. Who knows... maybe ICWXP will hit it big next!

    --
    You are in a maze of twisty little passages, all alike.
  19. Re:Bringing stuff back by ConceptJunkie · · Score: 2

    I guess you're not familiar with Rifftrax, because the "aging" Mike, Kevin and Bill are doing quite well for themselves.

    Furthermore, the show will now have a completely different cast. I think it's an incredible opportunity to see what a whole new crew of people can do under the guidance and aegis of the guy who created the whole concept in the first place.

    Sit it out if you want, but don't bash it until you've given it a chance.

    Seeing as how you are someone who is praising "Family Guy", I find it really difficult to give any credit to your ability to judge what's good or not.

    --
    You are in a maze of twisty little passages, all alike.
  20. Re:Will they break the other record? by Kidbro · · Score: 2

    Has there been a single video game that was Kickstarted that didn't get reviewed terribly, though?

    What the fuck are you even talking about?