Future of 'Mystery Science Theater' might be up to you

One of Minnesota's rare TV institutions may be ready for a reboot. "Mystery Science Theater 3000," which debuted on Minneapolis' KTMA on Thanksgiving Day 1988, is primed for a comeback, but only if creator Joel Hodgson gets enough support from fans.

Hodgson launched a Kickstarter campaign Tuesday in hopes to raise $5.5 million for 12 fresh episodes of the cult series that offered running commentary to B movies. The show was cancelled in 1999, but rumors of a comeback have been floating around for years.

On his Kickstarter website, Hodgson said the resurrection of cult favorites like "Veronica Mars" convinced him that crowd-sourcing was the best way to finance future installments. He also said that legal issues, which made new episodes difficult in the past, have finally been cleared.

Backers can secure everything from a coffee mug to an appearance in an upcoming show.

The campaign's initial goal is to raise $2 milllion, which will allow Hodgson to produce three feature-length episodes to shop to TV networks and streaming services.

Despite the fact that Hodgson hasn't secured participation from the entire original team, people seem interested. As of 10:45 a.m. Wednesday, more than 8,000 people had contributed more than $1 million.

For more information on the effort, check out the Kickstarter here.