What movies and story can you expect from Mystery Science Theater 3000? With the twelfth season of MST3K released and Turkey Day 2018 concluded, MSTies are now hungry to know what the deal is with season 13. This presumes, of course, that there will be a season 13, but this seems a safe assumption; not only is the show more popular than ever, but it has also inspired a live-tour that has sold out theaters around the United States, as well as a comic book adaptation from Dark Horse Comics.
Season 12 of the cult comedy series about smart jokes and dumb movies was notable in several respects. First, because Mystery Science Theater 3000‘s new season release was timed to coincide with the 30th anniversary of the first episode in 1988. Next, because it was also poised to revive the annual tradition of the Turkey Day Marathon – all-day MST3K marathons held on Thanksgiving Day in the United States, which started during the series’ original run on Comedy Central, before being revived in more recent years on Shout Factory’s website. Finally, the season was the first to be designed with binge-watching in mind – a nod to Netflix, who picked up the distribution rights to Mystery Science Theater 3000: The Return after one of the most successful Kickstarter campaigns in history financed 14 new episodes.
Related: Everything You Need to Know About Mystery Science Theater 3000
It’s hard to predict what to expect in Mystery Science Theater 3000 season 13. The show is infamous for its loose continuity and tendency to dismiss any serious attempts at maintaining consistency. As the theme song says, “It’s just a show. I should really just relax.” Given that the MST3K season 11 cliffhanger (in which host Jonah Heston was seemingly devoured by a monster) was immediately dismissed within the first minute of season 12 along with Kinga Forrester’s desire to marry Jonah, there’s little reason to expect season 12’s cliffhanger to pay off in any meaningful way either. Fans of the series are unlikely to care, however, so long as there are still bad movies to be endured and sarcastic riffs to be made.
MST3K Hasn’t Been Renewed For Season 13 Yet
Mystery Science Theater 3000 has yet to be officially renewed for its 13th season. It seems likely, however, given the series’ new emphasis on shorter seasons that can be easily binge-watched, that plans are afoot for Netflix to continue distributing the series. Even if Netflix were to drop the show, it is popular enough it could easily be picked up by another streaming service or even distributed independently if MSTies continue to show the same enthusiasm for financing the show themselves as they did during the legendary crowd-funding efforts for season 11.
When Will MST3K Season 13 Release?
No official release date has yet been announced for MST3K season 13. There is reason to believe, however, that the wait between season 12 and 13 will not be so long as the one between seasons 11 and 12. Show creator Joel Hodgson has said that one of the benefits of doing a shorter run of episodes for season 12 was that it decreased the amount of time needed for writing, shooting and editing. This could lead to more seasons of Mystery Science Theater 3000 more often, as is the case with other series distributed by Netflix. It is also possible that future seasons might be released annually every Thanksgiving.
What Will MST3K’s Story & Movies Be?
The 12th season of Mystery Science Theater 3000 concluded with Kinga Forrester (Felicia Day) and TV’s Son Of TV’s Frank, Max (Patton Oswalt) sending Jonah Heston and his robot pals on a live-tour of Earth – a nod to the recent MST3K Live tour. Shortly after the ship containing their captives departed from their secret base on the dark side of the moon, the two mad scientists found themselves delivered an ironic comeuppance as one of Jonah’s inventions sealed them inside the vault containing every movie and short film ever shown on Mystery Science Theater 3000. The vault also contained a theater, in which Max and Kinga were trapped and forced to watch all the bad movies they and their fathers had inflicted on hapless innocents. Apart from punishing the villains in a satisfactory way, this revelation also explained their mysterious absence during the MST3K Live shows, where they couldn’t be reached by phone for some unexplained reason.
It remains to be seen if Jonah and The Bots will remain free for a time and if MST3K might focus on Max and Kinga having to riff on the movies presented to them. It is also uncertain what movies might be screened as part of Mystery Science Theater 3000 season 13. Rumor has it that the three movies screened for the MST3K Live shows – Deathstalker II, The Brain and Argoman The Fantastic Superman – might be adapted until episodes of the television series, but this has yet to be confirmed or denied. Fans can expect an official announcement in the not-too-distant future.