Joel Hodgson Hosting MST3K Online Turkey Day Marathon

Shout! Factory is celebrating the 25th anniversary of Mystery Science Theater 3000 with a special web-only Turkey Day Marathon featuring six classic episodes hand-picked and hosted by Joel, complete with new skits and riffs!

Turkey Day was an annual Thanksgiving Day marathon of MST3K episodes that used to air on Comedy Central from 1991-1995. The Sci-Fi Channel also ran a Thanksgiving marathon in 1997, unofficially known as Turkey Day ’97. Now, 16 years later, Turkey Day is back!

The streaming event will start at 9am PT / 12 noon ET on Thursday, November 28th at MST3KTurkeyDay.com.

Fans who have suggestions for episodes they’d like to see included are encouraged to tweet Joel (@JoelGHodgson) with their votes.

Use the hashtag #mst3k to join in on the party with fellow MSTies on twitter. Follow @Shout_Factory and @JoelGHodgson for updates.

via EW:

Hodgson will be programming, hosting, and testing your MST3K knowledge during the Turkey Day bonanza, and he has enjoyed diving back into the series’ 198 episodes. “It’s really been interesting, and I really loved getting to go back and look at these shows, especially the Mike/Kevin/Bill episodes, which I’m not as familiar with,” Hodgson said. “They’ve been extra funny because I don’t know any of the jokes. That’s been a really cool thing.” He does, however, bemoan the lack of Thanksgiving-centric monster movies available for riffing purposes. “A giant turkey would really fit in the lexicon of things like Gamera. You have Gyaos and Godzilla, Rodan, and Turkathon. Actual turkeys are horrifying. Their temperament is terrible, and they’re just tall enough to go for your crotch. And they seem to have a genetic predisposition to go for your crotch. They’re also really stupid, right? They’re famous for being stupid and delicious. That’s exactly what you want.”

Joel will also be doing a Reddit AMA starting at 1 pm PT / 4 pm ET on Tuesday, Nov. 26th. He’ll be available to answer all your questions until 3 pm PT / 6 pm ET.

Here’s a look back at the first Turkey Day from 1991:

While you’re at it, continue the MST3K party with the new Mystery Science Theater 3000: 25th Anniversary Limited-Edition Collector’s Tin which offers a new look back at the history of the show!