Joel Hodgson’s Kickstarter to relaunch ‘Mystery Science Theater 3000’ was a success, so now three new episodes will be produced.  If more money is raised (the Kickstarter is still ongoing), Hodgson will deliver even more.  With the cult favorite series– in which a hapless human host and his two robot companions eviscerate terrible B-movies– officially coming back, now comes the job of casting.

Yes, sadly the original cast won’t be returning and that includes Hodgson himself, the series’ original co-creator and host.  Via the Kickstarter page, Hodgson announced the new comedians who will voice classic robot characters Tom Servo and Crow T. Robot– Baron Vaughn and Hampton Yount, respectively.  Joining them is “nerd royalty” (Hodgson’s words) Felicia Day who will portray Kinga Forrester, the daughter of original Mad (scientist) Doctor Clayton Forrester (played on the original by Trace Beaulieu who also voiced Crow T. Robot).

This is what Hodgson said about casting Day:

“When I started imagining the next season of MST3K, I knew we’d need the next Mad to be someone worthy of the Mad title and someone who could live up to the great work of Trace, Josh, Frank and Mary Jo. But I also thought we needed a new “flavor” – something that would lead to new situations. So, right away, I knew that I wanted the next Mad to be someone who could be both comedic and threatening… and if possible, both at the same time!

I also knew, from the start, that the next Mad should be a woman.

The first thing I realized about Kinga was that she needed to have red hair. I know that might seem sort of superficial… The other thing I knew was that the next Mad should be someone who could be threatening, and could have moments of true irrational rage. (Those kinds of people scare the sh*t out of me, but they’re also so much fun to write for!) I think I started to imagine Kinga as a character like Alice’s Queen of Hearts.

At the same time, I had no idea who should play Kinga. A few times, I would look online for actors that seemed to fit the description in my head, but none of them seemed right.

And then, one day, I came across Felicia Day.”

Hodgson praised Day, calling her “a geek Mary Richards from The Mary Tyler Moore Show” and discussed the influence Mary Jo Pehl (Pearl Forrester) had on his decision-making process.

As for the new Tom Servo and Crow, one thing to bear in mind is that Vaughn and Yount won’t be emulating the voices of Beaulieu and Kevin Murphy (or their subsequent replacements).  They will be free to interpret the characters in their own style.

Day, Vaughn and Yount join new host Jonah Ray of ‘The Nerdist’ podcast, who takes the place of Hodgson and Michael J. Nelson who hosted the original series.

If you want to help MST3K to deliver even more episodes, visit the Kickstarter page.

Are you excited to get a new MST3K?  Or are you wary of a new cast taking on the beloved series?