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MST3K: Jonah Ray on Longevity, Evolution from Netflix to the Gizmoplex

Mystery Science Theater 3000 host Jonah Ray spoke with us about MST3K's longevity, the transition from Netflix to Gizmoplex, and more.

Mystery Science Theater 3000 (or MST3K for short) has been an enigma of pop culture, not only as a unique low-budget comedy series as its host and characters rip on the worst schlock Hollywood has to offer (not to mention the public domain) for the better part of 36 years since its debut for the Minneapolis-based KTMA-TV in 1988. The series' popularity caught the eye of HBO for its cable network, The Comedy Channel, in 1989 before its rebranding as Comedy Central in 1991. MST3K would remain as part of the Paramount Global-owned channel until it departed for Sci-Fi Channel (now SYFY) in 1997 before its original series' run ended in 1999.

The series' first host was creator Joel Hodgson, who played Joel Robinson before he departed after season five, giving way to Mike Nelson (playing a fictionalized version of himself) until the end of the original series' end. For the Netflix revival that ran from 2017-2018, Jonah Ray, who plays Jonah Heston, was brought in to host and has remained ever since with Hodgson's launch of the franchise's standalone service called the Gizmoplex in 2022. The format is atypical (to say the least), where the host is often joined by robots Tom Servo, Crow T. Robot, GPC (formerly Gypsy), and Cambot; voiced by various actors who are also the writers. While the host and the robots often become the peanut gallery for the films, there are also recurring characters they face from Dr. Clayton Forrester (Trace Beaulieu), Pearl Forrester (Mary Jo Pehl), Kinga Forrester (Felicia Day), Max (Patton Oswalt). Hodgson returned to play Joel and a new original character introduced in the Netflix era, Ardy. While promoting the series' upcoming annual Mystery Science Theater 3000 Turkey Day Potluck of the Stars Marathon along with Shout!, Ray spoke to Bleeding Cool about the series' resourcefulness, if Hodgson considered exploring other platforms before Gizmoplex, and how things changed from the Netflix era.

MST3K Host Jonah Ray on Series Evolution and Format

Bleeding Cool: What's been the secret to Mystery Science Theater 3000's longevity and keeping things fresh?

I only came in starting with the Netflix seasons, but the show was always timeless and good. It was always something a little new happening, even with the original run with the changes in voices, hosts, or even the Mads. 'MST3K,' much like 'Saturday Night Live', is such a great premise that it is so refillable and interchangeable if you keep a few key elements together, it's the same show. That's the way to keep it fresh. That's what we did with both of our Netflix seasons, which are different than what we did for The Gizmoplex season. We brought in a secondary crew and did things a bit differently, having this kind of storyline, but it's always little tweaks like that to keep it fresh. The show allows itself to be like that.

To build on that, the series has been on so many different platforms, and you're only being part of the Netflix and Gizmoplex eras. When things were uncertain following the run on Netflix, were there other streaming platforms or FAST services that were considered before Gizmoplex was ultimately chosen?

I don't know as far as what Joel [Hodgson] and Shout! [Studios were working on, but I know there were a couple of places interested [in the series], and the more that Joel thought about it with the Gizmoplex season and doing the crowdfunding aspect, he wanted to make it feel like the KTMA-TV seasons. He wanted to bring it back and make it DIY and have ownership and control.

Not that we didn't have control over the Netflix seasons, but [Joel] wanted to bring it back to its roots as a homegrown show with a bunch of friends making something. With Shout! who has been such a great partner with 'MST' for so long, and with Joel having absolute control over whatever he wanted to do, it was an interesting aspect of it. I believe he did consider a couple of other platforms, but ultimately, he was like, he'll make his own.

On the production side of things, I read Netflix wanted to like everything all at once, and you guys weren't feeling it and would be burnt out in the long run. Were there any production-side changes that occurred when you guys moved to the Gizmoplex the next season?

When we did the Gizmoplex season, we did it the same because it was already laid out as far as scheduling because you have Baron [Vaugh] who does Tom Servo, he lives in Georgia now. Patton [Oswalt] and Felicia [Day] are hard to schedule because they're so busy with all their own stuff. We end up writing all the episodes and then shooting all the episodes in a row. It was a smaller crew and writing staff. It still had like a bit of fun to it that was lost with the size of the Netflix seasons.

Tune in to Shout! TV on 11/28 for the Mystery Science Theater 3000 Turkey Day Potluck of the Stars Marathon, hosted by Ray and featuring guests David Dastmalchian, Mike Flanagan, Bryan Fuller, Mark Hamill, Matthew Lillard, and Kumail Nanjiani, and the cast and crew of MST3K.

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