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The Final Countdown was a live stream telethon produced as a "final push" for the Bring Back MYSTERY SCIENCE THEATER 3000 campaign that helped finance Season 11. It aired on December 12, 2015, live from Meltdown Comics in Los Angeles. Scheduled to being at 8:00pm EST, the telethon was plagued with technical errors, including an over half-hour delay in its start. It was hosted by Paul and Storm (Paul Sabourin and Greg "Storm" DiCostanzo) alongside MST3K creator Joel Hodgson.

Program[]

  • Joel's original pitch video from the Kickstarter campaign, with comments by Jonah, Crow and Tom is shown. Audio bleed from the live event can be heard throughout.

Once video finally goes live from Meltdown Comics, Joel appears alongside Paul & Storm (the Bots appearing in the background) and announces that the campaign has crossed $5.709 Million in total, passing the then-highest funded film-or-video campaign record, set by Veronica Mars. He also announces a new goal of $5.9 Million to include a thirteenth episode in Season 11.

  • Paul & Storm sing "Opening Song".

Following the song, Paul & Storm try to connect to songwriter Robert Lopez, but his sound is not working, so, in deference to Lopez' award-winning songs from the film Frozen, they talk about songs featuring ice. They then explain that Lopez will be writing a song throughout the course of the telethon, as a reward for a backer on Kickstarter.

Finally getting the connection working, Joel, Paul & Storm talk with Robert Lopez and his brother, Billy Lopez talking about the song.

Joel talks with Patton Oswalt. Throughout this segment, microphones glitch out constantly. They take a phone call from Jonah Ray, which does not feed to the live stream.

Paul & Storm talk about their history as fans of the show, interrupted by Patton, who rants about the audio. They are joined by Joel and comedian Steve Agee, then have a buggy webcam exchange with Jonah Ray from Atlanta where the crowd sings the "MST3K Love Theme". Patton comes back to read tweets from viewers.

Paul and Storm introduce Patton with more live tweets, including an update to the Kickstarter total ($5.4 Million).

Paul & Storm recap the total, which has not been updated since the start of the special. They go over some of the still-available perks from the Kickstarter. The on-screen total is finally updated, showing that the current total is $5.43 Million on Kickstarter, $5.865 Million, overall.

  • Performance from magician John Carney, who chats with Joel afterwards.

Another recap of the pledge total from Paul & Storm, announcing that the overall total has crossed the $5.9 Million goal, meaning the thirteenth episode has been secured. There is then a brief pre-recorded video message from Penn & Teller's Penn Jillette & Teller. Comedian/musician Kate Micucci joins, showing a hand-made greeting card she drew of Crow T. Robot and Tom Servo. Joel learns that they've reached thirteen episodes, much to his amazement.

  • Kate Miccucci sings "Have You Met My Robot?"

Paul and Kate talk about Kate's artwork and her band Garfunkel and Oates's new album. They are joined by Felicia Day, who has been live-streaming the event on facebook. Paul tries to stream Felicia streaming the live stream via the now-defunct app Periscope. They then throw Joel, Paul & Storm talk with Arin Hanson and Dan Avidan of Game Grumps, along with Brian Wecht of Ninja Sex Party (with Dan) and Starbomb (with Arin and Dan).

GameGrumpsManos

The Grumps riff the "Manos" video game with Crow

Joel talks with Felicia Day about her history with the show. Paul & Storm recap the total, which has just passed $5.58 Million on Kickstarter and $6 Million in total.

  • Paul & Storm sing "Nugget Man".

Paul and Storm recap the total (once their audio kicks in), now at $5.6 Million on Kickstarter, $6.03 Million in total. They then show a fan-assembled clip video, showcasing bits from throughout the show's original run.

A remote message from Jamie Wilkinson & Casey Pugh, the founders of VHX, is shown, followed by a clip from Master Pancake Theater in Austin, Texas holding an emergency meeting on how to help the campaign, since they rip off MST3K weekly.

  • Paul & Storm perform two very short songs, "Sure Hope That Was a Raisin" and "The World's Shortest Love Song".

Joel talks with Dana Gould, who is still dressed as Dr. Zaius. Paul & Storm then update the total: $5.641 Million on Kickstarter, $6.066 Million, overall. They then do a quick recap of all of the locations they have streamed from so far, before throwing things to Boston, Massachusetts.

Joel is joined by comedian Steve Zaragoza, who shows off his giant MST3K display from Suncoast Motion Pictures, which he announces will be given away to a fan. Paul & Storm announce that there is less than an hour left in the Kickstarter campaign and update the numbers; $5.672 Million on Kickstarter, $6.097 Million, overall. Joel then joins them to have a webcam conversation with Ashley, who is at Kickstarter headquarters, but they have audio problems.

Paul & Storm announce that RiffTrax is adding additional shorts to various Kickstarter pledge levels. Paul then mentions having seen the live riff of Santa and the Ice Cream Bunny. They then introduce a video message from YouTube host Hank Green. They then update the numbers; 47,473 backers have raised $5.701 Million on Kickstarter, $6.126 Million, overall. They also mention that Joel has announced a new goal of $6.3 Million to produce a fourteenth episode for Season 11. They go over some of the remaining perks, including the opportunity to buy one of the robots, which freaks out Tom and Crow.

  • Paul & Storm perform "A Better Version of You".

After a very brief clip of Crow lip-syncing to "Eye of the Tiger", Paul & Storm are joined by Dana Snyder. They throw to Robert Lopez, who performs his original song for a donor, "You're the Mitchells". Paul then states that if he rolls a natural 20, they will definitely reach the goal for a fourteenth episode, which he does. Joel then joins, dressed in his old red jumpsuit, as they announce that, with $5.714 Million, they have officially passed Veronica Mars on Kickstarter alone. The overall is also at $6.24 Million, meaning on $60,000 is needed to reach fourteen episodes.

Countdown

Paul, Storm and Joel are joined by Felicia. Joel announces a sale on the "riff any movie" perk and he and Felicia talk about the dinner that is still available and her Ayurvedic diet to reset her stomach. More of the performers join for the final five minutes. Joel introduces Ivan Askwith. The goal for a fourteenth episode is reached during the last minute and everyone sings the theme song. Final tally: $5,764,229 on Kickstarter, $6,364,229 overall from 48,270 backers.

Notes[]

  • Crow riffing with the Game Grumps is the first new bit of MST3K riffing since Joel and Crow's appearance on Arrested Development in 2013.

External links[]

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