Presumably due to their common trauma of having been held captive aboard the Satellite of Love, Joel Hodgson and Michael J. Nelson (a.k.a. Joel and Mike) have been supportive of each other’s respective efforts to revive Mystery Science Theater 3000 lo this past year or so. But they haven’t done a MST3K event together—until now. The A.V. Club has exclusively learned that—along with Nelson, his Rifftrax compatriots Kevin Murphy and Bill Corbett, and MST3K cast members Trace Beaulieu, Frank Conniff, Mary Jo Pehl, and Bridget Nelson—Hodgson and host of the revived MST3K Jonah Ray will be joining the rest of the gang for a full-on MST3K reunion later this year.
The reunion will take place during the aptly named “RiffTrax Live: MST3K Reunion Show,” an event for which Nelson launched a Kickstarter campaign earlier this month. The event will take place on June 28 on MST3K’s home turf of Minneapolis, and will be simulcast to theaters across the U.S., as has become customary for Rifftrax live events. The evening will begin with the gang riffing on educational shorts in the tradition of classics like “A Case Of Spring Fever” and “What To Do On a Date,” followed by an all-caps “SUPER RIFF-A-PALOOZA.” We’re not sure exactly what that entails, but it sounds fun.
Of the reunion, Nelson says, “I couldn’t be more excited to get the whole MST3K principal cast together again after all this time. I just wish I told them in advance that in addition to riffing we’d be doing a Cirque du Soleil-style second act.” Mike, Joel, and the ‘Bots miming in goofy costumes? Yes please.
“RiffTrax Live: MST3K Reunion Show” will be broadcast live by Fathom Events on June 28 at 8 PM ET/7 PM CT (tape-delayed to 7 PM MT/8 PM PT), followed by an encore showing on July 12 at 7:30 PM local time. Tickets will go on sale on April 15, and you can buy them here. And if you just can’t wait, there’s always the “RiffTrax Live: Time Chasers” show for a new take on a MST3K classic. That one takes place on May 5, with a rebroadcast on May 17; tickets for Time Chasers are already on sale here.