'Mystery Science Theater 3000' Crew Heads to National Geographic with RiffTrax Show

Don't let the April Fools release date fool you, because the rumors are true; "Mystery Science Theater 3000" is bringing back the laughs. Despite numerous cancellations throughout its 11-year run on television, the show has a massive cult following.

After its final cancellation from Syfy in 1999, the stars of the show went digital and created RiffTrax, a snarky and hilarious spin-off that you can play along with a DVD or shorts watched on streaming video. Zap2it has reported that the National Geographic channel is bringing back everyone's favorite space hecklers, Mike Nelson, Kevin Murphy (Tom Servo) and Bill Corbett (Crow T. Robot) in a special titled "Total Riff Off." So far, three episodes have been ordered, with the crew lending their humorous commentary to nature documentaries.

While an admittedly strange choice for the network, it appears as if National Geographic is broadening their programming and with millions of nerds aching for the return of MST3K, this could potentially bring in huge numbers. Don't forget to watch the return on April 1 and let us know what you think!

-Nowal Massari

NatGeo's 'Chasing UFOs' to send tweets to aliens

From left: McGee, Ryder, Fox. Courtest NatGeo

On Aug. 15, 1977, scientists from SETI (the Search for Extra-Terrestrial Intelligence) picked up an unexplained transmission from outer space that was 30 times strong than any received before or since. Named "The Wow! Signal," it remains a mysterious message from the stars.

And National Geographic Channel's new show, Chasing UFOs wants to send a reply on the 35th anniversary.

On June 29, from 8 p.m. ET to midnight PT, National Geographic will collect tweets tagged with the hashtag #ChasingUFOs. Then, on Aug. 15th they'll include the tweets (along with videos recorded by celebrities and VIPs) and transmit them into space from Arecibo Observatory, the world’s largest ground-based telescope (as seen in Contact). The tweets will also be streamed during showings of Chasing UFOs.

The Wow Reply is an interesting move for the new series Chasing UFOs, which premieres June 29. The show - executive produced and starring Destination Truth's Erin Ryder - follows a team of investigators who research reports of alien abduction, UFO sightings and military cover-ups. The team comprises one believer (UFOlogist James Fox), one skeptic (field scientist Ben McGee) and Ryder, who is the undecided "Skeliever." Over the course of the eight episodes, the networks says the team will "collect video footage of unusual-shaped lights over Arizona, meets with an alleged alien abduction survivor in Colorado and even tracks glowing orbs near NASA’s Kennedy Space Center."

After the jump, check out videos about The Wow Reply and see Lost's Jorge Garcia's message for the space aliens. Now, let's just hope those messages to the stars don't include Twitter rumors about E.T.'s death, or anything having to do with a Kardashian.

-Aaron Sagers