MST3K
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MST3KA01title

Title screen for "Reel Livin'"

Mystery Science Theater 3000 (also known as The 'Bots Are Back) is a series of web cartoons produced in 2007 for MST3K.com as a continuation of the original Mystery Science Theater 3000. The series features the 'Bots in various comedic situations. Although these shorts appear to take place at an undetermined point during the original show's fictional timeline, no human character is present.

They were not well received, and were later removed from the official site during a redesign.

Cast & Crew[]

Cast[]

Crew[]

  • Directed by Jim Mallon
  • Writers - Paul Chaplin, Jim Mallon
  • Animators - Maxeem Konrardy, Puny, Victor Courtright, Mike Owens, Amanda Peters, Julia Vickerman
  • Storyboards & Backgrounds - Big Time Attic

Episodes[]

# Title Release date Screenshot
1 "Reel Livin'" November 5, 2007 MST3KA01title
Crow goes fishing in a lake about which Tom has only just learned.
2 "Feels Like" November 12, 2007 MST3KA02title
Gypsy and Servo discuss actual temperature versus the wind chill factor.
3 "Thanksgiving Clown" November 19, 2007 MST3KA03title
Tom Servo has dressed as a clown for Thanksgiving.
4 "Solitaire" November 27, 2007 MST3KA04title
Tom interferes as Crow tries to play solitaire.

Production and reception[]

The animated version of MST3K was first announced on the Satellite News website on October 29, 2007. The new cartoon was described as a "weekly series of animated adventures," and debuted as part of an all-new MST3K website on November 5, 2007. The new site also featured content from the original series as well as a new online store.

New episodes were scheduled to be posted every Monday. However, despite regular updates to other parts of the site, no new episodes of the cartoon were posted after November 26, 2007. In June 2008, the website was redesigned again and the cartoons removed for unspecified reasons. However, the cartoon likenesses of the characters were still present on some pages. On July 18, Satellite News posted an interview with Jim Mallon, who stated that the cartoons cost more to produce than he was led to believe. He also stated that he expected the existing cartoons would return to the site, and that "perhaps we will make more someday".[1] Animation producer Shadi Petosky stated that the costs were low and the flat rates never changed from the original estimates. She suspected that the revenue was the problem as the mouse pads, post-it notes, and T-shirts being sold to pay for the show did not sell as well as expected, due to the poor fan reaction to the shorts.[2]

Initially, response to the new website on both of the major fan discussion boards was largely negative. Viewers of the Flash series had said that the animation was poor and the voice actors did not fit with the characters. Michael J. Nelson called the animated series "cute", but felt that it was an "after-the-fact" idea.[3]

References[]

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