The Bots Are Back… Sort Of. I Guess?

Wow. I… really don’t know how to react to this. Jim Mallon has decided to resurrect the characters of Gypsy, Tom Servo, and Crow T. Robot in animated form – only without Bill Corbett, Trace Beaulieu, Kevin Murphy, or Josh Weinstein. On November 5th, MST3K.com will no longer direct you to Satellite News, but to this “‘Bots Are Back” project. On the bright side, the lovable, huggable Paul Chaplin will be taking over the role of Crow. Naturally, Jim will be retaking the role of Gypsy.

So, how do I feel about this? Kind of crappy, to be honest with you. This just smacks of trying to cash-in on the renewed interest in the MST3K crew brought on by the various Mike/Bill/Kevin projects that have popped up over the past year or so. While I don’t want to speak too harshly of Jim Mallon, the man is a shrewd businessman through and through. I have to wonder whether or not he even bothered to contact Bill or Kevin (or even, as I said, Trace or Josh). Of course, given the animosity between Jim and most of his former employees, I wonder if they even would’ve said yes. There’s just something a little… sour about this development.

I’ll be watching this one closely, but cautiously. We’ve seen the hosts come back without the ‘Bots, but can the ‘Bots come back without the hosts? Again, November 5th is the launch date. Will this be MST3K Lite? Or will it bring the spirit of MST3K back to warm our cold, botless hearts? What do you think?