The past year has been a big one for Jonah Ray, Kailua-born star of Joel Hodgson’s reboot of the cult TV series, “Mystery Science Theater 3000.” The reboot was launched on Netflix in April 2017, and fan reaction was so strong that Netflix premiered the second season on Thanksgiving Day.
Ray plays stranded space janitor Jonah Heston, who is being forced to watch “cheesy” sci-fi and horror flicks in an experiment to test the limits of human sanity. The show becomes a comedy when Jonah and his robot sidekicks start commenting on films they’re watching.
Ray, 36, called recently from his home in Southern California.
What is the biggest change for you since we talked in May 2017?
The first season of “Mystery Science Theatre” came out and then the second season of my other show, “Hidden America,” came out, and then we went on the (40-city) tour, and then a week after I got back from the tour my dad suddenly passed away. I had reached the highest peaks yet of my career — the thing I left Hawaii to go do, with the hesitant support of my dad. To have him see all that stuff happen, and then for him to (die) as suddenly as he did was bittersweet.
Congratulations on the second season of “Mystery Science Theater 3000.” How does the phrase “the Gauntlet” fit it?
It’s a concept that plays with the bingeing culture Netflix has fostered. Netflix’s order of six (shows) is essentially the same amount of total minutes as any other show they would order. We thought that’s kind of feasibly bingeable on a holiday weekend so each episode essentially follows an arc: The mad scientists are forcing us to watch them all in a row.
Descriptions of the show always seem to mention that you and the bots are being forced to watch “cheesy” movies. How do you define “cheesy?”
I tend not to use the term “cheesy.” I use a term my friend, Rob Schrab, who is the director of the new season, uses, which is “schlock.” My favorite (example of “schlock”) would probably be “Maximum Overdrive.” I wanted to do it on the new season but it didn’t work out. Luckily, the producer of the new “Halloween” (movie), Ryan Turek, asked me to do commentary with him on the new Blu-ray release of “Maximum Overdrive,” so I kind of got to do it.
How much input do you get from fans regarding movies?
Fans are constantly asking us to do movies they think are terrible. I get a lot of suggestions. The worst one was “Schindler’s List” — I mean, what kind of monster would riff on that film?
What is your next big project?
Currently I’m writing two projects. One for BBC Productions in the UK with the creator of one of my favorite shows, “The Inbetweeners” — Iain Morris. And I’m working with Nora Kirkpatrick, a wonderful writer and actor who used to play the accordion in Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros. I am really excited to move into more narrative comedy.
What else would you like people to know?
Last year my biggest fan and supporter in my comedy career passed away. He was my father, Michael Ray Rodrigues. This next season of “Mystery Science Theater 3000” is dedicated to his memory. Aloha.
