Joel looking to kickstart MST3K 2.0

[NAHTMMM]

Kickstarter

Q and A on Reddit

Mike's not hosting it, and I'm not either. I think it's important for the show to move on to it's next host, just like it always would have if it weren't canceled. That was always the idea for the show – it just wasn't clear because two doesn't make a pattern, and we got canceled before we ever had a third host.

I've invited everyone from the original cast to come back and participate creatively -- to write, and hopefully to do cameos as their Mad Scientist characters. I don't know yet who will and won't decide to come back. I think we'll know more after we see how this Kickstarter campaign goes. But this isn't a reunion show either. To keep the show fresh, I really believe it's important to keep bringing in new talent and keep looking forward.

More at the above links. Mike and Trace have already indicated they won't be involved.

[Wowbagger]

On the one hand, it's tough to compete with an MST3K Kickstarter.

On the other hand, we've got Uhura and Chekov, and we're asking for much less money.

Please help us!

[NAHTMMM]

Ooh, neat.

Zeke, if you want to edit the title to mention both MST3K and Excelsior kickstarters, go for it.

[NAHTMMM]

So, where we stand on the Mystery side of things:

• 6 out of 12 episodes funded with ten days to go
• Jonah Ray is the new host
• Felicia Day is the new Mad
• Hampton Yount will voice Crow and Baron Vaughn will voice Servo
• Patton Oswalt is the new henchman
• Gypsy showed up in the background in a Turkey Day spot, but nothing has actually been said about her or Cambot
• Not mentioned on the rewards list is that everyone pledging $35 or more also gets six digital copies of classic episodes

[Flying Gremlin]

Originally Posted by NAHTMMM

Zeke, if you want to edit the title to mention both MST3K and Excelsior kickstarters, go for it.

Why didn't he make his own thread?



It's the verge of 2016. I can upgrade my comment to:

[NAHTMMM]

Joel was going for twelve episodes. We beat the goal by enough to make thirteen plus a Christmas special!

There was a livestream for the last few hours, with magicians and musicians and technical problems and Dr. Zaius as William Shatner reciting "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town". It was, as many people said, a glorious trainwreck.


Yay for Excelsior making all of its stretch goals!

[Wowbagger]

Originally Posted by Flying Gremlin

Why didn't he make his own thread?

Seems uneconomical to create new threads when there are so few already. Who will fill all these threads if we just make them willy-nilly?

ALSO: I am the laziest of buggers.

Really glad we made it, too! Thanks!

Not mentioned on the rewards list is that everyone pledging $35 or more also gets six digital copies of classic episodes

AAAARRGH! I specifically scanned their reward list to look for classic episodes at a reasonable price point so I could give them to my wife for Christmas! JOEL WHY HAVE YOU FAILED ME?!

[NAHTMMM]

http://mst3k.com/kickstarter/addons/...assic-episodes still reads as $7/episode, which is a bit cheaper than the four-pack DVD sets that AFAIK go for $30-$40. I'm sure you won't get them by Christmas, or for a while, as we still haven't gotten word about when to expect ours from the Kickstarter.

[Flying Gremlin]

Originally Posted by Wowbagger

Really glad we made it, too! Thanks!

How are you feeling about it after Axanar got sued for copyright infringement?

No, seriously.

[Zeke]

He's heard, and he's exercising the better part of valour and not commenting on it. My stakes are lower, so I'll say this much at least: I'm very surprised. Trek's owners have let this sort of thing go on for a very long time -- they even ran their own fanfic contests and published the winners. The choice of target is strange too. People sell copyright-abusing T-shirts for actual profit all the time; why go after a non-profit? (Of course, now that the chain from Roddenberry has been casually broken -- to widespread applause -- there's no reason the new management should be anything like the old. Yay for "new blood".)

That said, while this franchise has been easygoing in the past, there's lots of precedent elsewhere. Several major fangames, such as the King's Quest XI project, have been C&Ded out of existence (or underground). Fanfiction.net and other fic sites maintain lists of banned authors (such as Anne Rice), partly to respect their wishes but mostly to stave off lawsuits that would be too expensive to fight. So we shouldn't be too surprised.

Little disappointed, maybe. But if you thought these were the kind of stewards of Gene's legacy that we could respect... why? Based on what?

[NAHTMMM]

From discussion elsewhere, I gather that Axanar was using the money from the Kickstarter in for-profit ways, such as building a studio for future non-Trek ventures and shilling coffee. Oh, and the guy in charge paid himself and his girlfriend non-trivial salaries out of the funding. Oh, and he claimed that their Trek was the true Star Trek and implied that Paramount's was phony. That's not an attack on Paramount's IP at all.

[Flying Gremlin]

Originally Posted by Zeke

He's heard, and he's exercising the better part of valour and not commenting on it.

And this is exactly how one is supposed to respond to a legal matter, especially if there's something you have to worry about. Bravo.

The legal precedent has also been set with several other places. Yes, C&D orders have gone out to fan productions in the past, but for more incidental reasons - Phase II got one in 2012 for a script that TOS series writer David Gerrold sold them without CBS/Paramount's consent. The actual reasons for Axanar's suit, even a parody play in 1996, well before the new management so to speak, drew the ire of their IP protection lawyers. "Star Twek" was the name, if interested.

It is discouraging as a fan who likes writing in that universe, but on the flip side Axanar did do a lot of wrong - offering out Kickstarter rewards of digital copies of the works can be construed as selling it, setting up a for-profit studio using money that was promised in a non-profit light, drawing salaries, and the general reaction of the group itself. 99% chance they will lose and fold up; no idea what would happen to the money.