I'd have to admit, as an MST3K fan myself, the first reason is nostalgia. MST3K is a legendary show with a storied history, and as others have noted they pretty much invented the modern comedy genre of snark-based commentary on other media. The second, arguably, is quality. I'm not arguing that the show was always perfect, but it arguably turned out a lot of really great and memorable material over the years across different lead actors and writers/producers. Space Mutiny and Manos are still fondly-remembered episodes to this day. Admittedly I'm not too familiar with the history of NostalgiaCritic and the people from TGWTG, but from what I've gathered, NostalgiaCritic has seemed to have lost his edge as of late. I think he even stopped doing his own show after 2012.

The third, and IMO most important reason is actual content. While CinemaSins/Honest Trailers and HowItShouldHaveEnded are all well and good, they specialize in shorter, viral-friendly videos. The allure of MST3K is that you watched the entirety of a disasterously bad movie with them, and it actually felt like you were part of the experience. Joel (or Mike) and the 'bots were right there beside you, suffering and snarking along with you and your friends. The fact that the 'bots were so well characterized was an added bonus. In contrast, with a lot of internet critics (with the possible exception, I'd argue, of Red Letter Media), you get people who try to do either the "angry" or "snarky" or "bitter" schtick, and it ends up coming across as very tired and one dimensional.

So yes, I'd argue that there is indeed still a place for MST3K in today's viral-driven comedy landscape.

That being said, the big problem is (a) reuniting the core original group of writers/producers who made the original show so great, given some of the conflicts that broke out between them, and (b) dealing with legal issues surrounding films, especially in a post-DMCA world.

If they've got the confidence to launch this, that means that they've figured out ways to clear these hurdles once and for all.

I've usually been one to avoid crowdfunding, but for $100 for all of the episodes they'll be producing (regardless of number), downloadable in HD DRM-free is very tempting.