Are they going to bring back Commercial Sign?

It occurred to me that they could bring back Commercial Sign. I mean for real with actual advertisements. When they revived the show on Netflix there were no commercials. They inserted arbitrary breaks anyhow because commercial breaks had always been fundamental to the structure of the show. But those Commercial Sign breaks seemed kind of strange to me.

Now MST3K is going to be on the Gizmoplex. Which is great! And also an opportunity to introduce commercials again. Instead of ads for soap or corn flakes they could have ads for MST3K merchandise, ads for the latest Rifftrax, announcements of live shows, and anything else that’s related to MST3K alumni. Also, the commercial breaks could be mercifully short. Maybe just two at a time.

Disclaimer: If this question has already been asked, I apologize.

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I would love commercial sign.

Throw in vintage ads for just about anything, ads for upcoming Gizmoplex events, or even allow independent creators to showcase very short films (Rifftrax did some of this for some live shows).

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Faux adverts would kinda be like a whole new (albeit one-sided) Invention Exchange. Which might be fun. Good opening for a reoccurring character that could be the Gizmonics equivalent of a Billy Mays or Ron Popeil.

Mix 'em in with traditional adverts from Shout! or whatever.

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A good suggestion for this thread:

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Hmm, it could be a slippery slope. Faux/funny ads could be neat, especially if they riff those too, but any kind of paid/compensated advertising I would very much not be okay with.

That said, as long as the downloadable content remains free of ads, I don’t really have a horse in this race.

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The one negative about fake commercials - money. Any production necessary to make them would eat into the established budget for the 13 episodes, 12 shorts and holiday special (s).

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As long as they’re not real adverts, I’d be okay with having commercial sign again. Actually, it’d be pretty fun. It’s just that, like most people nowadays, I’ve been spoiled by ad-free streaming and don’t want to go back if I can avoid it.

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There will be advertisements in the Gizmoplex in some form. How do we know? Three (six?) people contributed $25k or more to the KS campaign and chose the Gizmoplex Founding Sponsor reward. Doesn’t look like they will be in the actual episodes though.

What does that mean, you ask?

How about this? We’ll produce a CUSTOM PROMOTIONAL VIDEO for your business, featuring our host and bots, and shot on the Satellite of Love or in The Gizmoplex. Then, we’ll feature your new promo video in a FULL YEAR OF GIZMOPLEX EVENTS, so that MST-loving consumers everywhere will know what you did to help their cause.

We’ll also create a CUSTOM SPONSOR PLACARD to hang in your business AND we’ll place a VIRTUAL PLACARD in The Gizmoplex where guests can see it for years to come.

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That’s assuming the adverts would be deliberately crafted as part of season 13. Think longer haul; post-season release and post-Gizmoplex opening.

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Very true. I just hope the GP will be mostly self sustaining. I hate the thought of the crew having to ask for money again, whether though a Kickstarter or a ton of commercials.

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I’m sure lots of fans would jump at the chance to make fake commercials for free.

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[ open on manic Spokesman standing before his product, which rests on a table in front of him ]

Spokesman : “How many times has this happened to you? You have a movie, and you’re trying to find an exciting new way to prepare it for the cinema. You could rescale the movie, remove the movie’s stinger, intro and plot, and serve the story as you would any other presentation. But why bother, now that you can use GizmoCo’s amazing new studio tool, the Super Riff-o-Matic ’76. Yes, theater-owners, the days of troublesome rescaling, cutting and matting are over, because Super Riff-o-Matic ’76 is the tool that lets you use the movie with no film waste, and without rescaling, cutting or matting.

“Here’s how it works: Take a movie, remove the film can, and drop the film — that’s the whole film — into the Super Riff-o-Matic ’76.” [ drops the film into the blender ] “Now, adjust the control dial so that the film is ridiculed just the way you like it.” [ turns blender on and grinds it to a pulp ] “Yes, it’s that simple!”

[ cut to Theater-Owner on another part of the set ]

Theater-Owner : [ watches two seconds of riffed movie ] “Wow, that’s ter-riff-ic!”

[ cut back to Spokesman ]

Spokesman : “We’ve got film here, fast and easy and ready to watch, mmm-mmm! Super Riff-o-Matic ’76 comes with ten interchangeable rotors, a nine-month guarantee, and a booklet: 1,001 Ways to Heckle Movies. Super Riff-o-Matic ’76 works great on public service announcements, training films, matinee serials, and other short subjects.” [ blends one of each ]

Super Riff-o-Matic ’76 — it’s clean, simple, and after five or ten movies, it gets to be quite a rush! Super Riff-o-Matic ’76 — you’ll never have to rescale, cut or matte again!”

[ fade ]

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I would not like commercial sign. Sorry, I just don’t like the idea of having to watch adverts at all.

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