Joel, Bots, MSTies, I feel it is now time we sat down and had a small powwow, just us. Fans, creators, film enthusiasts and MST3K-Lovers alike. You see, my friends, times are a little grave, if you haven't noticed.
I'm not simply talking about the current crowd-funding which is still going on. If you have any interest in Season 14, by all means, click there and give them a pledge. Sadly, though, as a fan of the mid-90's onward, I must decline this time around. I spent 100 dollars on season 11, 50 on season 12, and 250 on season 13. Quite honestly, I wasn't blown away.
No, I'm not going to troll that season, no I'm not going to say it is the worst season, because it's not. I am going to say that I was thoroughly disappointed with several aspects of that season, though. The inclusion of Emily Marsh as a main host runner of the show was absolute poison. I am not saying that with any real malice or any political standpoint on the matter. Her acting is atrocious and her joke delivery was painfully bad.
The episode Beyond Atlantis nearly made me want to write an angry letter. The episode seemed so hard pressed to come across with the "Women, yay. Men, boo." mentality that is absolutely trashing modern entertainment today. I really thought that MST3K was above this sort of thing but I was very, very wrong. Even Rifftrax didn't take their slight inclusions of softening their jokes as far as this season went.
Then Demon Squad came out and I really did not think that this show could sink to a bar lower than Manos or a Coleman Francis movie, but if there was ever an episode that nearly killed an entire season for me, it was this one. This was awful and the fact that it was the first real Joel episode in years only soured the experience further.
Then Batgirl turned out to be a complete disappointment. While it had some good episodes and even Emily Marsh had some decent quality experiments, it did not stop me from flat out not watching the rest of the season. I attempted to watch the Christmas Dragon this holiday season, but the host segments reminded me of the season I was watching. Patton Oswalt carried some of it, Jonah carried some of it for a while, but overall, the experience has been soured.
Now, I see that you are, once again, asking me for more money. This is on top of the monthly/annual fee for the so-called "sustaining" website itself and whatever else I want to unlock within the service that may or may not work yet. This puzzles me, because weren't you supposed to be walking on your own two legs by now? I understand that we wanted the inclusion within those few seasons, but wasn't our victory over Netflix supposed to be something that just made us buy merch without the need for crowd funding?
There may have been some explanation for all of this and I don't know what else to say on the matter, but it really feels like we've come to a crux-via. I feel like I've more than proven myself a fan and a loyal purchaser of the physical media and bringing new blood into the fold but there comes a time when I need to draw some boundaries and you should really make your long-term plan a bit more apparent. So far, it doesn't look like it's heading in a good direction, Mr. Hodgson.
Do not take this as a troll and I'm sorry if this comes off as a rant but I truly am frustrated. With what's happening to media today: Disney with Star Wars, Disney with Marvel, Disney with Fox, Disney with Disney and what is being done with even more franchises, this is a last bastion of quality entertainment and now it feels like this is being tarnished as well. I do not like that feeling, Mr. Hodgson and I can wager that I am more than likely not alone.
Please address these concerns, Staff and Friends of the MST3K community. I promise you, they are concerns that affect the fandom as a whole and the future of the fandom. If they are not addressed, I can only say good luck and you're going to need it. The fans are walking away from 20, 30, even 40 years of loyalty because the IP's we once loved have been making the wrong decisions and being put in the wrong hands. To say that this will happen to Mystery Science Theater 3000 is beyond heartbreaking, but whatever pieces are left will be glued back together. We just need to hold strong as a community with the friends we share with and we just need to remember to drink water.