Creator and original host of the beloved Mystery Science Theater 3000, Joel Hodgson, is returning to the land of movie riffing with his new venture, Cinematic Titanic. Cinematic Titanic, direct-to-DVD releases of B-movie riffing, is Hodgson’s first foray into movie-riffing since his 1994 departure from MST3K. Not only that, but he’s brought some friends with him: the original Tom Servo, Josh Weinstein; the original Crow and Dr. Forrester, Trace Beaulieu; TV’s Frank, Frank Conniff; and Dr. Forrester’s mother, Mary Jo Pehl.

Strangely enough, Mike Nelson — former head writer and 2nd host of MST3K — has already teamed with fellow MST3K vets Kevin Murphy and Bill Corbett for two similar projects that are currently going strong: Rifftrax and The Film Crew (whose first release, the awful Hollywood After Dark, which features a young, stripping Rue McLanahan, is damn hysterical, BTW).

Back in the day, when Mike originally took over for Joel on MST3K, fans went batshit insane choosing sides over who was the better host. Here’s to the inevitable coming insanity now that both are (kinda) competing! Seriously though, it’s just plain awesome to have Joel, Mike, and the entire MST3K gang back at again.

Look for the first installment of Cinematic Titanic to release in time for Christmas, and check out a new interview with Joel over at StarWars.com.

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