You know, I didn't mind Pearl.

[Trekker4747]

Fans of MST3K fame are likely familiar with Pearl Forester, mother to Clayton Forester who's "famous" for launching men into space with the intent of driving them crazy by making them watch terrible movies -in the end goal being to rule the world with the movie that pushed him over the edge.

At the end of MST's run on Comedy Central Clayton Forester came to a 2001-ian "demise"/rebirth and the show ended its CC run. It returned on the Science Fiction channel the following season somewhat retooled. The actor who played Dr. Forester did not return so the "big bad" was repalced with his mother -who was around in MST's last season on CC, replacing TV's Frank.

Many MST fans grumbled over the Sci-Fi era's host segments saying they were weaker than the CC era's and not liking Pearl.

Now, I'm not sure I entirely agree with that. Granted, I much prefer Dr. Forester and TV's Frank the Sci-Fi era has plenty of good host segments (I'd say the ones in "Time Chasers" are the best) and I didn't mind Pearl as much as others in the fandom seem to.

As for the henchmen. No one beats TV's Frank, and while Bobo is often annoying I don't mind him as much as the "dumb henchman" and Brain Guy almost never fails to make me laugh in the host segments.

So, who were YOUR favorite Mads?

 

[Mr. Adventure]

Not the same without invention exchange IMO.

 

[Trekker4747]

Not the same without invention exchange IMO.

Never cared for the invention exchanges. Glad Mike did away with them. They were just lame excuses for Joel to show off his prop-comic humor.

 

[Goji]

I liked Pearl about as much as I did Frank, and Bobo for that matter. I believe that Dr. Forrester and Bill Corbet's Observer were the real winners when it comes to the mads. Which is interesting, considering that they both played Crow, who was always my favorite of the bots. Okay maybe it's not that interesting.

And no, I never cared for the invention exchanges either. A couple of them were cute ideas, but it was almost never laugh out loud funny (the notable exception being the "Tragic Moments Figurines" from Being From Another Planet). "Cute but not especially funny" sums up a LOT of Joel's shtick for me, but then I've always preferred the Mike seasons. *shrugs*

 

[Trekker4747]

"Cute but not especially funny" sums up a LOT of Joel's shtick for me, but then I've always preferred the Mike seasons. *shrugs*

Now, don't get me wrong I liked Joel, he is afterall the host that got me to watch the show and I stopped watching MST when Mike took over for a while. But most of my favorite episodes are Mike episodes and I liked Mike's harsher attitude towards the mads and the movies better.

I also liked the "pals/brothers" relationship he and Servo and Crow had as opposed to Joel's mentor/creator relationship.

Joel's schitck was a bit too Saturday morning kid's show for me with the letters, the inventions and many of the host segments.

Again, I liked Joel and there's lots of great episodes in his run of the show but I much prefer Mike and many of the Sci-Fi era episodes. Time Chasers, Overdrawn at the Memory Bank, Future War, Boggy Creek II, The Final Sacrafice, Riding With Death some of my favorite episodes; all Sci-Fi era Mike episodes.

 

[milo bloom]

I came in during the Mike/Pearl years, so it's what I was used to. Watching the older eps on DVD, I can see the difference, but having started with Pearl I can enjoy both "big bads".

 

[Gepard]

Pearl was both a lot less likable and a lot more funny than Clayton ever was. I think it's because she was so serious about her evil--Clay always seemed to be playing at it, but Pearl was genuinely mean. So the comedy stuff she did worked better, since she didn't know she was being silly, but as a person she wasn't likable at all.

Still, great character.

 

[The Borgified Corpse]

^Agreed. I got the sense that Clayton wasn't really evil. He was just trying to please his mother.

Pearl was totally evil. I mean, what else do you call setting up a fake PBS pledge drive?

"Sometimes I think I lie because I'm evil."

 

[Ward Fowler]

Pearl wasn't bad WITHOUT Dr. Forrester (Sci-Fi era), but during that last season on CC I really didn't like her. The two of them just didn't have any chemistry. Plus Dr. Forrester as a character was practically neutered. I'll say this. There's very few comedy teams that can top Trace Beaulieu and Frank Conniff.
On the other subject, I'm a Joel guy all the way. Mike was certainly funny, but when I go back and watch episodes today they are almost exclusively from the first 5 seasons.

 

[The Borgified Corpse]

^I've really enjoyed watching them on Cinematic Titanic, the new movie riffing DVD series starring Trace Beaulieu, Frank Conniff, Joel Hodgson, Mary Jo Pehl, & J. Elvis Weinstein. Actually, I'd say the 2 in that group with the best chemistry are Conniff & Weinstein (2 that never had any interactions on screen on MST3K). From a rather weird bunch of people, Conniff is by far the weirdest and Weinstein is usually the one to call him on it.

 

[Trekker4747]

^Agreed. I got the sense that Clayton wasn't really evil. He was just trying to please his mother.

Pearl was totally evil. I mean, what else do you call setting up a fake PBS pledge drive?

"Sometimes I think I lie because I'm evil."

For what it is worth, Pearl wasn't exactly evil during her one season on CC. She was more normal. Something happened to her between re-raising her son (after he became a star baby ), having herself frozen, and then being thawed out in the distant future when apes have evolved from man (really Mike's family and descendants sleeping with apes.)

 

[Ward Fowler]

^I've really enjoyed watching them on Cinematic Titanic, the new movie riffing DVD series starring Trace Beaulieu, Frank Conniff, Joel Hodgson, Mary Jo Pehl, & J. Elvis Weinstein. Actually, I'd say the 2 in that group with the best chemistry are Conniff & Weinstein (2 that never had any interactions on screen on MST3K). From a rather weird bunch of people, Conniff is by far the weirdest and Weinstein is usually the one to call him on it.

Yeah, I'm a big fan of CT. My wife and I were fortunate enough to go see two of their live shows.. I was able to meet and get my picture taken with all of them, plus they signed my copy of the Amazing Colossal Episode Guide. Needless to say, it was a great time.

I agree with your comment about Frank and Josh. You can tell that they really appreciate each other's humor. It's kind of weird since Frank replaced Josh on MST3K.

 

[JuanBolio]

I didn't mind Pearl either. Different, but no worse. The show changed people, but never degraded in quality.

Speaking of the Forester clan, I about shit my pants the other night when I watched the 1950's War of the Worlds and heard the name of one of the scientists - You guessed it - Clayton Forester.

 

[The Evil Dead]

Pearl is okay... I think everyone has mellowed out in regard to her over the last 10 years. But I remember the Pearl message board posts being almost as crazy as the Mike vs. Joel debates. I agree with Goji that it was Observer who was the highlight of the Sci-Fi era Mads.

However Season 7 Pearl was awful.

I always watched MST3k for the riffing anyway and in my opinion, the quality of that never wavered from season 2-10, there are movies that just don't work for me, the tone of the riffing changes (I've always found season 2 & 3 to be in a league of their own due to the very goofy riffing - which is a good thing), but the show was always solid.

 

[Ward Fowler]

(I've always found season 2 & 3 to be in a league of their own due to the very goofy riffing - which is a good thing).

Same here. Those seasons get a lot of replay at my house.

 

[Trekker4747]

I got the 25th Anniversary DVD Set each movie's discs (First Spaceship to Venus, Laserblast, Werewolf, Future War) has a part on a "making of"/"history of" segement of MST3K, the final disc being a ComiCon panel from 2008 with all of the major cast members (Bridget Nelson (bit characters), Mike Nelson (Mike), Joel Robinson (Joel), Trace (Crow 1/Dr. Forester), Mary Jo Pehl (Pearl), Josh Weinstein (Servo 1, Dr. Earheart), Kevin Murphy (Servo 2, Bobo), Frank Coniff (TV's Frank), Bill Corbett (Crow 2, Brain Guy/Observer), Paul Chaplin (writer/bit characters), Jim Mallon (producer, Gypsy) great panel, great group of people!

This set -even if you already have these episodes- is well worth giving for this panel and the behind-the-scenes bits-

 

[FalTorPan]

I like Pearl. I like Clayton.

 

[The Borgified Corpse]

^I've really enjoyed watching them on Cinematic Titanic, the new movie riffing DVD series starring Trace Beaulieu, Frank Conniff, Joel Hodgson, Mary Jo Pehl, & J. Elvis Weinstein. Actually, I'd say the 2 in that group with the best chemistry are Conniff & Weinstein (2 that never had any interactions on screen on MST3K). From a rather weird bunch of people, Conniff is by far the weirdest and Weinstein is usually the one to call him on it.

Yeah, I'm a big fan of CT. My wife and I were fortunate enough to go see two of their live shows.. I was able to meet and get my picture taken with all of them, plus they signed my copy of the Amazing Colossal Episode Guide. Needless to say, it was a great time.

I agree with your comment about Frank and Josh. You can tell that they really appreciate each other's humor. It's kind of weird since Frank replaced Josh on MST3K.

I saw one of their live shows when they performed at the Mesa Arts Center back in May-- "East Meets Watts." That was an excellent riff that needs to be put onto DVD. They're even funnier live. They really know how to feed off an audience's energy. Their warm up acts were pretty good too, particularly Frank Conniff's theme song for his new cartoon series, "Convoluted Man."

I was a bit taken aback when I saw Frank Conniff IRL. He looks like the bastard love child of Joe Don Baker & Arch Hall Jr.

Overall, it was a great experience, particularly seeing Trace Beaulieu's reaction when I walked up in my Torgo costume. (It's the only time I've ever worn it that people have known who I was supposed to be.)

I got the 25th Anniversary DVD Set each movie's discs (First Spaceship to Venus, Laserblast, Werewolf, Future War) has a part on a "making of"/"history of" segement of MST3K, the final disc being a ComiCon panel from 2008 with all of the major cast members (Bridget Nelson (bit characters), Mike Nelson (Mike), Joel Robinson (Joel), Trace (Crow 1/Dr. Forester), Mary Jo Pehl (Pearl), Josh Weinstein (Servo 1, Dr. Earheart), Kevin Murphy (Servo 2, Bobo), Frank Coniff (TV's Frank), Bill Corbett (Crow 2, Brain Guy/Observer), Paul Chaplin (writer/bit characters), Jim Mallon (producer, Gypsy) great panel, great group of people!

This set -even if you already have these episodes- is well worth giving for this panel and the behind-the-scenes bits-

I was especially floored by that ComicCon panel. I realized that this may well have been the first time that all of these people had been in the same room together. The only one missing was Patrick Brantseg, the 2nd Gypsy.

 

[JuanBolio]

Overall, it was a great experience, particularly seeing Trace Beaulieu's reaction when I walked up in my Torgo costume. (It's the only time I've ever worn it that people have known who I was supposed to be.)

Hmm... I think might've seen a video of you on YouTube, shot during that little meeting.

 

[The Borgified Corpse]

Really? Could you link to it? I'd like to see if it's me. I certainly didn't shoot anything and I don't recall anyone else with a video camera there. (But then, these things are so small now, who really knows?)