MST3K.COM

[Godo]

This must really be new. I reactivated my account on this board just because of this news, only to find no one posted it yet.

Anyways, from mst3kinfo.com...


THE 'BOTS ARE BACK!
We are excited to announce some very big news for MST3K fans.

But first, some housekeeping: For reasons that will become apparent, we need to ask those of you who reach our site using the URL MST3K.com to update your bookmarks, and please use the URL MST3Kinfo.com. Many of you use this URL already, but if you get to us via MST3K.com, starting next week you won't be able to anymore.

The reason is that, next week, MST3K.com will become a new destination for a brand new site, created by a reconstituted, relaunched Best Brains Inc.

Or, as they put it when they contacted us about this: The 'Bots are Back!

Beginning November 5th, BBI will be launching its very own website at MST3K.com. The site will feature brand-new animated adventures of Crow, Tom Servo and Gypsy. We're told the goal is to have one new adventure each week (though "some settling may occur with shipping," they added). The Web site will also feature work from the original series (which BBI is now calling "the legacy series"), behind-the-scenes footage and other material culled from the BBI vault.

Also on the site will be BBI's first online store, featuring all new merchandise. (This means that the BBI merchandise section of our site will be taken down. )

The new adventures of the 'bots are being produced by BBI President, MST3K series writer and the returning voice of Gypsy, Jim Mallon. He will be joined on this new experiment by veteran MST3K series writer and performer Paul Chaplin (who will be on the writing team and will be providing the voice of Crow) along with new writing and performing talent.

We know this is going generate a lot of buzz among the fan base and you all probably have a zillion questions. So do we. Many will be answered on Nov. 5th. More will be answered soon after. Jim told us that the site and project "are going to grow in a very organic fashion and we're going to let the characters and the story take us in the direction they want to take us." We at Satellite News can't wait to see it.

What does this mean for Satellite News? The biggest change is that we will no longer be known as "The official MST3K Web site," and this marks the end of our 10-year arrangement with Best Brains as the official voice of the old Info Club. Jim has, however, declared us, "The Official MST3K fan site." We still have close ties to BBI and whenever they have news you'll see it here first, along with news about the rest of the former cast and crew members of our favorite cowtown puppet show. For us, this is just one more topic in the growing list of MST3K-related news it's our job to report.

We have some interesting plans for our site as well, so be sure to stay tuned!



Well, I'm intrigued. And I'm really happy that there will finally be an online store!

Thoughts anyone?

[gammer]

Cool stuff and thanks for posting.

I also posted this info on the RiffTrax forum

[Arizona Warwilf]

I'm excited! I'd be even more excited if they had more of the original writers for it, like the big guns, I mean, but whatcha gonna do? Mike's darn busy and Joel's not gonna be down for it, I figure.

Anyway, as long as it's funny and something more than a lame attempt to compete with RiffTrax, I am very there. I'm okay with them competing with RiffTrax, just as long as that's not their only motivation. I hope it has a spirit of its own.

I also hope we'll have some way of preserving these "animated adventures". I want to keep "circulating the tapes" so to speak.

[Cubby]

godo said:

Thoughts anyone?

I Hate Crow's New Voice!

There. I'm the first Hater.

(Actually, I'm curious to hear Paul doing Crow. Will it sound like Paul or something else? Will he ape Trace or Bill, and would that be so bad if he did?)

Aside from Paul, I wonder if any others on the writing staff are old hands?

[BathTub]

Well interesting, I wonder if Trace or Bill were asked.

[BEERxTaco]

I wonder how much he's gonna charge for those KTMA episodes...

[XerxesTheCat]

Predicts "Trace Vs. Bill Vs. Paul" threads.

Actually, I always felt Paul had a very deep voice. I think his voice would suit Servo better.

But still, nice to know Jim will be re-voicing Gypsy, instead of Patrick Brantseg.

[CBG]

godo said:

...
What does this mean for Satellite News? The biggest change is that we will no longer be known as "The official MST3K Web site," and this marks the end of our 10-year arrangement with Best Brains as the official voice of the old Info Club. Jim has, however, declared us, "The Official MST3K fan site." We still have close ties to BBI and whenever they have news you'll see it here first, along with news about the rest of the former cast and crew members of our favorite cowtown puppet show. For us, this is just one more topic in the growing list of MST3K-related news it's our job to report.

So, are we no longer the "Official Discussion Board" as well?




...oh, btw, Welcome Back, Godo!

[jjb3k]

Woo-hoo! A new site, an online store, animated MST3K shorts, and the return of Jim as Gypsy - all great news to me!

Paul as Crow, eh? Well, Crow did say that his voice changes inexplicably every seven years, so I guess it makes sense within the context of the show, if you think about it.

[fanliorel]

Well, huh.

That's about all I can say right now. Huh.

Will it be good, bad or mediocre? It certainly sounds strange - animated bots, no mention of a human with them. That's understandable, since it would require either A) the return of joel, B) the return of mike, or C) a new human character added to the mix. But since there's no human, how will the plot of the show even run? Will the bots be alone on the satellite, or will they be in their post-1013 state of being returned to Earth? What about the concept - I assume it'll still make fun of stuff, but if they intend to do one a week, it couldn't be more than a half hour. They can't really make fun of movies while animated, can they? Maybe it won't be riffing at all, but like a Saturday morning cartoon - just random stuff happening? If it is, it'll have to be geared more towards kids, which doesn't make sense with the franchise, so I guess that can't be it.

Even if they do riff on stuff, it'll be stepping on toes a little, as has been mentioned. Not only are mike, bill, and kevin riffing on movies, but frank and joel are kind of involved with that project that pokes fun at bad cartoons. So even if the animated bots rip on animated shows, it'll still look like a rip off of cartoon dump, or at least fiercely elbowing into their niche.

And all that is notwithstanding that Jim is usually banged pretty hard on these boards, so a lot of old fans won't even want to give a project headed by him the time of day. Paul isn't controversial, but him doing the voice of Crow is already enough to tick some folks off (and who's doing Servo? All voices are unique, but I can think of few that are as instantly-recognizable as kevin murphy).

It won't be right to see Servo hovering around for real (you know they'll make instant use of that), nor seeing crow walking and using his arms. I'm afraid it's just going to seem like a bastardization of the show I love. I'll keep my mind as open as I can, but it'll take something more than mediocre to convince me this was a good idea. I'm sure with some brainstorming they (or we here on the boards for that matter) could have come up with some better ways to resurrect the concept. Perhaps not, but at least the participation of more of the original core of folks would have at least have made it seem more genuine.

I dunno, I'm looking forward to seeing the thoughts of other folks. Should probably wait until at least Nov 5th to applaud or gripe I know, but like we can wait a whole week

[KyrieEleison]

Will we still be able to purchase some of the current merchandise from the new site as well? or should I finally send in that order I've been waffling about forever?

Edited to add: mst3kinfo.com/satnews/images/Bots.jpg
Gah - looks like a children's book!

[sb5]

I'm kinda surprised that people are that excited about this. A new show of "animated adventures" made up of a single former writer of the show, and the producer who has seems to have angered/screwed over the rest of the show's talent doesn't really do that much for me.

I'll check it out and keep an open mind (it could be fun), but this kinda feels like, "Oh, so Mike, etc. are making money off something with a similar concept as our old show and I'm not cashing in? We'll see about that..."

[krokodyle]

bathtub said:

Well interesting, I wonder if Trace or Bill were asked.

I doubt it, but that's just a guess. I get the feeling their relationship is icy, at best. Again, just my impression, from what I've read/heard Mike & Kevin hint at/talk about.

[doctorz]

I'll give it some attention and see what it's about before judgement.

[RAD]

sb5 said:

I'm kinda surprised that people are that excited about this. A new show of "animated adventures" made up of a single former writer of the show, and the producer who has seems to have angered/screwed over the rest of the show's talent doesn't really do that much for me.

I'll check it out and keep an open mind (it could fun), but this kinda feels like, "Oh, so Mike, etc. are making money off something with a similar concept as our old show and I'm not cashing in? We'll see about that..."

'Fraid I agree with sb5. Not something that I have an interest in whatsoever. Nor does it seem like a medium that would lend itself to the original concept. We'll see, I suppose...