I am – Hercules!!

The original Joel Robinson, Crow T. Robot and Tom Servo are reuniting to mock a (yet undisclosed) movie.

They’ve licensed a title and hope to “get it delivered in time for Christmas!”

Joel "Agent J" Hodgson writes:

Greetings friends,

It’s been just amazing the last few years: what with MST3K being honored as a top 25 science fiction show and top 25 “cult” show by TV Guide, and, most notably, in September being listed as one of the “Top One Hundred TV Shows Ever” by TIME – whew! Never saw it coming. Even mo-better are the really nice people that I’ve met who’ve had, and still have, great experiences watching horrendously great movies along with me and my funny friends. Thanks for mentioning it, thanks for keeping the dream alive, and thanks for buying the DVDs. It’s all been strange and mysterious and lovely, and it makes me want to do it all over again. And now, almost 20 years later, I am. I’ve decided, in collaboration with the other bold souls who “started it all,” to do a new project that is strong enough for our diehard audience, and also gentle and easy to swallow for those that are new to movie riffing. Wait for it….wait for it…. meet Cinematic Titanic!

It’s going to be powered by the original cast of MST3K! Trace Beaulieu (the *original* "Crow"), J. Elvis Weinstein (the *original* "Servo") and yours truly, along with some friends who came along later to make the show great: the beloved Frank Conniff and the scathingly brilliant Mary Jo Pehl.

We’re very busy writing and doing preproduction right now – so the website is tiny, but the big thing right now is to sign up for the newsletter so we can keep you informed about the fine movie riffing we’ve got planned for you. We’ve licensed our first title and are working at a brisk pace to get it delivered in time for Christmas! So you can give it as a gift to one of your sly friends or a loved one. Or you yourself can watch over the holidays to fight off that strange malaise that always seems to happen. Our first release is at this time a total secret, however – I’m willing to say it makes “Manos the Hands of Fate” look like “Santa Claus Conquers the Martians” in a car wreck with “Eegah!” with notes of peach.

Also, in the news: I’ve just been interviewed by Lucasfilm online, in anticipation of Cinematic Titanic’s first live show and world premiere in San Francisco in December. We will link to that story as soon as it is released. Sorry, but this special live show is a closed event for I.L.M/Lucasfilm employees and guests only. As of this writing we are still negotiating some of the fine points, however I am pleased to mention that they’ve granted us the rights to offer this event to you, the friends of Cinematic Titanic, remotely and slightly after the fact - stay tuned.

Check in often as we intend to get the entire cast giving you their distinct takes on constructing this “lean, mean, movie-riffing machine” we call Cinematic Titanic in words, pictures and of course the moving image. For now, you can check out some of my design passes for the logo and such.

Happy Halloween,
Joel Hodgson

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Note that Hodgson's announcement comes on the heels of this (unrelated?) news from “Mystery Science Theater 3000” owner Best Brains Inc.:

LATEST NEWS -- October 29
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.

Of course, a third group of MST3K vets – Mike Nelson, Kevin Murphy (latter-day Servo) and Bill Corbett (latter-day Crow) – have been busy doing much the same thing with the Film Crew DVD series and the Rifftrax website!

Thanks to “Ninjew” for the heads up!

Alan Moore’s Gentlemen Return!!

FBI Special Agent Dale Cooper!! FBI Special Agent Albert Rosenfield!! FBI Special Agent Roger Hardy!! DEA Agent Dennis Bryson!! FBI Regional Bureau Chief Gordon Cole!! Sheriff Harry S. Truman!! Deputy Tommy “Hawk” Hill!! Bookhouse Boy Big Ed Hurley!! Judge Clinton Sternwood!! Major Garland Briggs!! Dr. Lawrence Jacoby!! John Justice Wheeler!! Jacques Renault!! Einar Thorson!! Leland Palmer!! Audrey Horne!! Donna Hayward!! Harriett Hayward!! Shelley Johnson!! Ronette Pulaski!! Claire Stansfield!! Annie Blackburn!! Josie Packard!! Lucy Moran!! Norma Jennings!! Pete Martell!! Julee Cruise!! The Log Lady!! The Cream-Corn Kid!! Senor Droolcup!! The Man From Another Place!!


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