Posted in: streaming, TV | Tagged: felicia day, Joel Hodgson, jonah ray, MST3K, Mystery Science Theater 3000, patton oswalt

MST3K: Felicia Day & Jonah Ray on Series Returning to Scrappy Roots

Mystery Science Theater 3000, for over the course of 13 seasons across over three decades, skewered the worst Hollywood cinema had to offer since its humble beginnings with creator and host Joel Hodgson in Minnesota's KTMA in 1988. Its popularity spread throughout cable households jumping to Comedy Central, and then, the Sci-Fi Channel (now SyFy) until 1999. Trying its hand into the streaming world, Netflix revived the series briefly for two seasons from 2017 to 2018. Thanks to the efforts of crowdfunding off of Kickstarter, the franchise made its triumphant return on its own streaming service called The Gizmoplex set to make its return on May 6.

The new run will feature primarily its Netflix cast including Felicia Day and Jonah Ray, who are reprising their respective roles as Dr. Kinga Forrester and Jonah Heston. Both spoke with /Film about the creative changes between the streaming giant to the more grounded one they're currently in. "I was super nervous. And being a Mad … When I told my brother … My brother is hardcore," Day said. "It was the one thing that unified us, me and my brother, watching 'MST3K.' Otherwise, we hated each other and hit each other and fought constantly. But 'MST3K' was the one thing that we'd be like, 'Let's sit down and watch this together.' And it really formed our sense of humor and the core part of our relationship. So when I told him I'm going to be a Mad, he was like, 'What?' I could not have been cooler. But it was intimidating. And the funny thing is when you hear Joel's voice — he has such an iconic voice — whenever he talks to me, I just don't even know if… I'm time traveling. His voice has such quality to it that I'm like, 'Is he here? Or am I watching you on TV?' It was so cool."

"Time is a flat circle. So both of them could be true! … I was, as I've said to Felicia before, I was petrified," Ray added. "I was very, very scared because the show meant so much to me and I didn't want this to go badly. I look at sometimes an episode from the first Netflix season and I just see a scared boy. A scared, hairy boy just hoping that it works out. But … to be a fan is to know what it is to be a fan. And to know what that was like. "Man, I don't know. I've said some pretty nasty stuff about remakes in my time. It was scary, but because there were a lot of us that were new there, I think we all took care of each other. And I think that was very important for us to be supportive of each other and champion each other and be there."

Day noted the advantage of their current situation. "The great thing about this season is that there's a lower scale to it. It was an amazing record-setting Kickstarter, but the shows themselves were done on a smaller scale that was a lot more organic to what 'MST3K' is," she said. "And being from web video, I'm like, 'Oh yeah, I can handle this scale.' So the crews were smaller, not only because of COVID but because just of the way that they were shooting. We were on a green screen. There were fewer people on set. It was a more intimate, spontaneous atmosphere. There was no Netflix to approve the script so we could change stuff on the fly if it didn't work. And it was a lot more collaborative. And really, I think it has the spirit of the original show a lot more than the last two seasons. And so I just loved getting on stage and knowing that I could do it, whatever the hell I want. And Jonah actually directed a lot of the segments that I was in as a performer. And we've known each other for a long [time]. I just trusted that he wouldn't let me look stupid. I'm like, 'If you think it was funny, let's go with it.'" For more on the development of their characters, Patton Oswalt, the world around them, and how The Gizmoplex is shaping up, make sure to check out the full interview.

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