\n\tThe series \u2014 which features an amiable host and his sharp-tongued sidekicks Tom Servo and Crow riffing on obscure movies like \u201cManos: The Hands of Fate\u201d and \u201cSpace Mutiny\u201d \u2014 originally aired from 1988 to 1999, mostly on Comedy Central and the Sci-Fi Channel.<\/p>\n
\n\tJoel Hodgson created and starred as that guy forced to screen cheesy flicks; he left mid-run and was replaced by Michael J. Nelson. After the show wrapped, Nelson and fellow \u201cMST3K\u201d writer-stars Kevin Murphy and Bill Corbett took the basic idea and launched their own version, RiffTrax, which started as a website and branched out into live performances and its own FAST channel.<\/p>\n
\n\tThen, in 2017, Hodgson revived \u201cMST3K\u201d at Netflix and launched a related streaming platform called The Gizmoplex, but the RiffTrax team wasn\u2019t involved.<\/p>\n
\n\tThat all changed this year. In January, Hodgson sold his ownership in the series to Radial Entertainment and once again departed. Radial then recruited the RiffTrax team to return for four new episodes. \u201cMystery Science Theater 3000: The RiffTrax Experiments\u201d was born.<\/p>\n
\n\tThe transition of \u201cMST3K\u201d to Radial allowed the company to approach the RiffTrax team (who hadn\u2019t been formally involved in any new interations of the show since 1999) about joining forces, which they were eager to do. Fans were in: They raised $2.7 million in a Kickstarter campaign to fund the revival, and \u201cThe RiffTrax Experiments\u201d were off and running.<\/p>\n
\n\tAs Variety visits the \u201cMST3K: RiffTrax\u201d set, the cast and crew are nearing the end of a rapid-fire shoot on the new episodes. At this point in the shoot, the host segments that serve as interstitials for the movie mocking that made the original a success have all been filmed. As a result, most of the main sets are already torn down.<\/p>\n
\n\tBut there are still various robot puppets and spare props lying around the studio, including a sign for the show\u2019s fictional sponsor, \u2018Syd\u2019s Olive Loaf.\u2019 There is a definite handmade quality to the props and puppets that are part of the show\u2019s charm.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t![\"\"](\"https:\/\/variety.com\/wp-content\/themes\/pmc-variety-2020\/assets\/public\/lazyload-fallback.gif\")
<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\tThe Tom Servo and Crow T. Robot puppets, both host segment versions and silhouette versions<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cNot to make too much of a social point, but there\u2019s a lot of people getting sick of slop,\u201d Corbett says. \u201cSo to know that it is actually physical stuff that was built is kind of a nice thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tLike the original show, \u201cThe RiffTrax Experiments\u201d was filmed in Minneapolis, this time at the Cinequipt production facility. Nelson, Murphy, and Corbett return in their original roles both onscreen and behind the camera, while much of the show\u2019s original crew are back as well. That includes director of photography Jeff Stonehouse, props master and puppeteer Patrick Brantseg, and costume designer Beth \u201cBeez\u201d McKeever.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cI was really proud when we got this thing together and you call people up, and you realize\u2026there\u2019s no baggage,\u201d Nelson says. \u201cIt\u2019s not like a band where, \u201cOh, we don\u2019t talk to that guy anymore.\u2019 It\u2019s just been fun to have everybody back.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tAlso returning to the series are \u201cMST3K\u201d vets Trace Beaulieu and Frank Conniff, both of whom were writers on the original series. Beaulieu also starred as Dr. Clayton Forrester \u2013 the mad scientist who initially shot Joel then Mike into space \u2013 while Conniff played his sidekick, \u201cTV\u2019s Frank.\u201d<\/p>\n
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\t\t\t\t\tFrank Coniff and Trace Beaulieu as The Mads, TV\u2019s Frank and Dr. Clayton Forrester <\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cI\u2019m glad Jeff [Stonehouse] pushed me to do it because it was so much fun,\u201d Beaulieu says. \u201cAnd then once we were all on set as the Mads, it was just like we hadn\u2019t left.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cI was overweight and old looking even back then, so there wasn\u2019t much of a much of a change to anything,\u201d Coniff chimes in. Beaulieu laughs and continues, \u201cIt just felt very natural. If anything, I wish we could have hung around longer. We should have screwed up more takes, Frank!\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cI know, our damn professionalism ruined everything,\u201d Conniff adds.<\/p>\n
\n\tThe shoot is also a family affair. Both Brantseg and Corbett\u2019s daughters worked on the show, while Stonehouse says his son contributed to the design of one of the robot puppets. It\u2019s in keeping with \u201cMST3K\u2019s\u201d legacy of bringing families together for decades now.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cA very nice lady came up to me once and said, \u2018My dad used to watch you!\u2019 Then she had her child with her too,\u201d Corbett says. \u201cSo, how many generations are we like pets too? We accept it. We accept our decrepitude.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tWhile movie riffing as a comedy form has not taken off to a massive degree, \u201cMST3K\u201d has influenced generations of comedians and performers. \u201cThere\u2019s a group in Austin, Texas, called Master Pancake Theater who we\u2019ve worked with, and are really, really good,\u201d Conniff says. \u201cThey took what we did and made it their own.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tThe focus of the day is recording riffs for one of the four movies to be featured in the new episodes. While three of the four movies have been revealed \u2014 \u201cSting of Death,\u201d \u201cSpace Raiders,\u201d and \u201cDeathsport\u201d \u2014 the one being riffed on this particular day is being kept a closely guarded secret.<\/p>\n
\n\tFor filming the riffs, Nelson, Corbett, and Murphy (and Murphy and Corbett\u2019s puppet characters) take their positions in front of a giant green screen as they do in the show\u2019s trademark silhouette \u2014 just like they did in producing the original show.<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\tThe set up for filming movie riffs<\/p>\n
\n\tConcealed behind a cutout made to look like a row of theater seats are the monitors the guys use to watch the movie in real time along with their scripts. It\u2019s incredibly precise, with jokes timed out to the second to match what\u2019s happening in the movie.<\/p>\n
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\t\t\t\t\tA closer look at how movie riffs are filmed<\/p>\n
\n\tKeeping a watchful eye over the shoot from a balcony above the soundstage floor are Sean Thomason and Conor Lastowka, RiffTrax\u2019s longtime senior writers and producers. They follow along with the script, making sure everything matches up.<\/p>\n
\n\tOn how writing for RiffTrax differs from \u201cMST3K,\u201d Lastowka says, \u201cThere\u2019s no comparison. It\u2019s a very different rhythm writing for this show. The bots & Mike are characters, but at RiffTrax Mike, Kevin and Bill are just themselves, so we can make references to their lives in a way we can\u2019t for Mike, Servo and Crow.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cBill and Kevin are like Little Rascals as the bots, and then Mike reins them in,\u201d Thomason adds. \u201cIt\u2019s very much that big brother dynamic.\u201d<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\tSean Thomason and Conow Lastowka watching over filming<\/p>\n
\n\tWhile all involved say that movie riffing is not an art form for all writers, it is nevertheless incredibly efficient once shooting begins. Given that you can\u2019t really see the actors\u2019 mouths moving, if they happen to flub a line, they can quickly re-record and dub it in later. The team starts shooting around 9:30 a.m. and wrap up for the day by 2 p.m.<\/p>\n
\n\tStill, it\u2019s a big change from doing RiffTrax as the three main stars have been doing for the past 20 years.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cRiffTrax is audio-based,\u201d Murphy says. \u201cSo we have a studio at our homes. We can start and stop. We don\u2019t have the same sort of performance aspect to it. This is more akin to when we do live shows, where we really have to be on and have to have everything buttoned down before we get out there.\u201d<\/p>\n
\n\tBut recording the riffs is the end of a long process of watching bad movies \u2014 a regimen that few would recommend, including the stars of the show.<\/p>\n
\n\t\u201cYou\u2019re watching the same movie, chunks of it at least, over and over and over again. It\u2019s almost like a close reading of a text, you just dive into it so much, it\u2019s really bad. It\u2019s probably not mentally healthy,\u201d Murphy jokes.<\/p>\n
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\t\t\t\t\tSeries stars Michael J. Nelson, Bill Corbett, and Kevin Murphy<\/p>\n