What to Expect From the Music of ‘MST3K: The RiffTrax Experiments,’ According to Mike, Kevin & Bill

Mystery Science Theater 3000 — a show about a human and bric-a-brac robot puppets who watch cinematic dreck while slinging high and lowbrow quips — is perhaps TV’s longest, strangest trip.

Like a beloved B-movie monster, the show refuses to die.

Since 1988, MST3K has found on-and-off life via public access television, cable TV, streaming services and fan-funded episodes, all thanks to a loyal cult audience that celebrates its willfully obscure, proudly niche comedy. ( MST3K is now owned by Radial Entertainment, which purchased it from creator Joel Hodgson earlier this year.) So strong is the ongoing hunger for the show’s offbeat humor that when RiffTrax — a 20-year-old movie-mocking franchise featuring MST3K alumni Michael J.

Nelson, Kevin Murphy and Bill Corbett — announced a crossover MST3K comeback, the Kickstarter for Mystery Science Theater 3000: The RiffTrax Experiments exploded.

In February, Nelson (who hosted the show from 1993-1999), Murphy (Tom Servo from 1990-1999) and Corbett (Crow from 1997-1999, 2020) asked for $20,000 to fund a four-episode return to the Satellite of Love using practical effects; a month later, they got $2.7 million. (That’s some serious sampo .) Ahead of the first episode hitting movie theaters on Sept.

9 and Sept.

13 (via Fathom Entertainment and RiffTrax) and backers’ accounts in October, Billboard spoke to Nelson, Murphy and Corbett about the show’s musical history and what the tuneful troika is bringing to these four new episodes.

We delve into song scribe Nelson’s creative process back in the day (his Minnesota digs were slightly less spacious than Prince’s Paisley Park complex six miles away); what to expect from Jonathan Coulton ’s new version of the theme song; fresh music moments in the upcoming experiments; and beating South Park to the Canada-roasting punch by one year with their “eh”-plus anthem back in the ’90s.

Congrats on blowing past that Kickstarter goal.

That must have been insanely gratifying.

Kevin Murphy : It was a big vote of confidence for what we’re doing, and it was very encouraging.

It inspired us to have as much fun with this as we could.

Mike, you’ve written a lot of songs for the show’s host segments.

How does that happen? Does someone say, “A song would be nice in this sketch?” Are you like, “oh, I have this girl group parody that makes sense for a werewolf episode”? Michael J.