New episodes of Mystery Science Theater 3000 will arrive from Netflix this Thanksgiving—Thursday, November 22—marking the show’s third decade of riffing.
“Thirty years ago on Thanksgiving Day 1988 is when we premiered Mystery Science Theater 3000 in the Minneapolis market,” said creator, original host, and executive producer Joel Hodgson in a quote to AV Club. “We were competing with 60 Minutes for the same time slot, and I think history has shown which is the better show.”
When last we left the intrepid crew of the Satellite Of Love, test subject Jonah Heston (Jonah Ray) had been temporarily relieved of his outer-space captivity and threatened with a buzz-capturing marriage to his captor, Kinga Forrester (Felicia Day). Fortunately (or unfortunately), a lovesick TV’s Son Of TV’s Frank (Patton Oswalt) sicced a giant metal serpent on Jonah, bringing the wedding to an abrupt end and stranding Jonah’s robot friends (voiced by Baron Vaughn and Hampton Yount) in orbit above the dark side of the moon.
All five cast members are confirmed to return for season 12, so there should be an explanation for how Jonah escaped the belly of the beast. Ahead of the new season, Hodgson and Ray will hit the road for a 30th Annniversary live tour, which begins in Portland, Maine on October 9.
