Patton Oswalt recruited for new 'Mystery Science Theater 3000' cast
MST3K creator Joel Hodgson announces that Oswalt will join comedian Jonah Ray and actor Felicia Day in the new series.
Nothing makes a bad movie better than a comedic commentary track from two heckling robots. Tom Servo and Crow T. Robot cracked wise on "Mystery Science Theater 3000" (MST3K) while their human buddy tried to keep the peace. Also, they're all trapped in space by evil mad scientists.
Now thanks to a successful Kickstarter campaign, fans of the original MST3K will have a chance to watch new episodes featuring horrible movies worthy of a good heckling.
On Monday, MST3K show creator Joel Hodgson announced that actor and comedian Patton Oswalt will join the MST3K cast as the new evil henchman: TV's Son of TV's Frank.
"I first became aware of Patton around fourteen years ago, when he was doing commentary for the MTV Awards -- live in the room during the event!" Hodgson wrote on the Kickstarter page.
"I realized right away he was a kindred spirit, and damn funny too," Hodgson added. "Since then, obviously, he's bloomed into this amazing comedy/Internet dynamo. I've seen a lot of stand-ups over the years, but Patton really is one of the best ever. And just as important, he's a very fun, articulate and witty soul -- just the kind of person who we've always tried to bring onboard for MST3K."
"I am ready to push the button," Oswalt said in a Kickstarter video and on his Twitter.
Since this MST3K is a continuation of the series and not a reboot, they also need new characters who will be part of the same family of mad scientist characters from the original series.
MST3K creator Joel Hodgson asks comedian Patton Oswalt to be on the new series.
Previously, Hodgson revealed that comedian Jonah Ray will be the next host and actor Felicia Day will take on the role of Dr. Forrester's daughter, Kinga Forrester, in the new MST3K. Comedians Hampton Yount and Baron Vaughn have also been recruited to provide the voices of Crow T. Robot and Tom Servo.
And if we're lucky, we might get a few cameos from the original MST3K cast. "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," Hodgson said in a Kickstarter video.
The campaign has already blown past its first goal of $2 million, which means Hodgson and his crew will film three full-length episodes. They already reached over $3.3 million, so we'll get six episodes from the gang.
But if they reach $4.4 million, the MST3K crew will finance nine episodes, and $5.5 million will be enough money for an entire season of 12 episodes. Here's hoping we get a full season of the new cast cracking us up over embarrassingly bad movies.