MST3K to Veronica Mars: Kickstarter Breathes New Life Into Beloved Shows

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Even when a TV show has a perfect final episode the ending is bittersweet. Saying goodbye to the characters, accepting that there won't be another season, and resigning themselves to keeping the fandom alive online is the most that the majority of fans can do – but some creators are giving them another option.

With record-breaking fundraisers earning millions on Kickstarter, beloved shows are making comebacks thanks to their devoted fans.

Creator Rob Thomas's Quest to Save Veronica Mars

Before Kristen Bell was Anna from Frozen or Eleanor from The Good Place, she was 17-year-old detective Veronica Mars. The show achieved cult status with a dedicated fanbase, who refer to themselves as Marshmallows.

"The main feedback I receive from fans is, 'I had a tough time in high school. This got me through it,'" Kristen Bell said in an interview with Vanity Fair, "There’s not a better feeling on the planet. The appreciation’s a two-way street. None of us take that for granted."

The show was cancelled by UPN after its third season. Creator Rob Thomas attempted to bring the show back immediately with a pilot about Veronica five years older, working at the FBI, but ultimately, it wasn't picked up. For some shows, that would be the end, but the dedicated fanbase never gave up.

Six years after the show had been cancelled, Thomas launched a fundraising campaign on Kickstarter asking for $2 million. The goal? A Veronica Mars follow-up movie.

The Veronica Mars Kickstarter

At the the time the largest successful Kickstarter project ever was $900,000, so the $2 million Veronica Mars goal was a significant jump in fundraising goals.

"The potential for humiliation felt so high," Thomas admitted to Vanity Fair, "And then we hit 1 million in the first four, five hours. All I could do was sit there and watch the money pour in."

Over 90,000 fans backed the campaign. In just a few days, the campaign raised $5.7 million – almost three times their goal.

After the excitement of the kickstarted film proved the devotion of the fanbase, Hulu produced a revival series as well.

Mystery Science Theater 3000

If there is an ultimate cult-favorite TV show, it's MST3K – the show where a man and two robot pals are forced to watch old movies that range from 'so bad it's good' to "deep hurting" levels of terrible. Luckily, they crack enough jokes during the movies that even the worst film (Probably Manos Hands of Fate) becomes a comedic masterpiece.

The idea for the show came from Joel Hodgson, who starred in the initial run on KTMA, starting in 1988.

"Our budget for the show was microscopic. I think Josh [Weinstein] and I were pulling down $25 a show, and I think Joel’s budget was a little higher, because he had to build props. We thought, well, let’s see how far this goes. We didn’t really know how long the show would last or if anyone was even watching it," said original cast member Trace Beaulieu to Wired, " Then we put the station’s phone number up on the screen and started getting feedback. That’s when we realized, hey, there’s more than just four or five people watching this."

The show moved to Comedy Central (then called the Comedy Channel) and in 1993 Hodgson left the show. He was replaced onscreen by head writer Mike Nelson, and MST3K continued for another five seasons and a film.

Even after the show ended, however, Sci-Fi ran reruns of the show for years and episodes gained traction with new fans on YouTube. Old and new fans alike were hungry for more MST3K.

"I’ve talked to a bunch of fans about their lives and what MST3K means to them. I’m overwhelmed by how people took to that show. It really affected them," Hodgson said in an interview with Wired, "I thought, if enough people still love it, maybe we can bring it back."

#BringBackMST3K

Hodgson launched a Kickstarter campaign to bring back the beloved series with a goal of $2 million. Like for Veronica Mars before it, the fans turned out, delivering a total of $5,764,229. At the time, it was the largest film & video Kickstarter of all time (but was ultimately overtaken by one by Critical Role, who the MST3K jokingly awarded a wrestling type champion belt to.)

With this funding came a new revival era of the show, launched on Netflix (with a much higher budget than the original and an all-star cast, including Felicia Day, Patton Oswalt, and Jonah Ray.) After this was cancelled after the second season, Hodgson returned to Kickstarter with a new plan:

“It’s our own network this time,” Hodgson said to AV Club. “It’s so much better than pitching to an executive who’s seen it all.”

This time Hodgson and the MST3K team raised $6.5 million, and they're going to use it to launch "The Gizmoplex" – a platform to produce and release their own content for as long as the fans want it.

Is This the Future of TV?

While crowdfunding works perfectly for projects like Veronica Mars, MST3K, and Critical Role which already have massive fanbases that are excited for more content, most projects can't raise this kind of capital upfront.

"There has been a landslide of projects using Kickstarter for funding since Veronica Mars made its target, most of which will never get off the ground," warns James Dyer, editor-in-chief of Empire to CNBC, "I do think it’s a valuable tool for funding projects that have no other way to raise the funds but equally it only works if you can generate an upswell of interest."

For fandoms that are more than willing to donate to bring back their favorite shows, however, these kickstarters prove that crowdfunding is a viable option for raising millions.

Sources: Vanity Fair, CNBC, Wired, AV Club