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Pearl Forrester is the mother of Dr. Clayton Forrester and the grandmother of Kinga Forrester on Mystery Science Theater 3000, as well as being a mad scientist in her own right. Introduced in the Season 6 episode Bloodlust, she became a regular in Season 7 when Pearl took the place of TV's Frank after Frank Conniff departed from the cast. She later became the primary Mad for the Sci-Fi era, and a recurring character in the Netflix and Gizmoplex eras.

Comedy Central Era[]

Dr. Forrester invited Pearl to visit him in Deep 13, hoping to impress her with his experiments on the Satellite of Love. When she arrived, she quickly bonded with TV's Frank, with whom she had been corresponding without her son's knowledge. The two of them took off together to have fun, leaving a frustrated Clayton behind.

Before Frank died in Samson vs. the Vampire Women, he had invited several guests to Thanksgiving dinner, including Pearl. When she arrived, she was disappointed at having traveled so far only for Frank to be gone. She decided to stay in Deep 13 to help Dr. F get his life back in order. She had also apparently met and befriended Crow somehow prior to moving in and helping with the experiment, although she knew him as "Art".

Having his mother in his life proved to be very trying for Clayton as his mother ruled over him and his experiment with an iron fist, although he occasionally bested her. Among other incidents, Pearl dated a sleazy man named Sandy and oversaw turning Crow's infamous script Earth vs. Soup into a trailer.

In the final Comedy Central episode Laserblast, Pearl helped Dr. Forrester pack up and move back in with her after his funding is cut. At the end of the episode, Clayton ages, dies, and is transformed into a 2001-esque space baby. Pearl delights in that she has another chance to raise Clayton right as the episode ends.

Sci-Fi Era[]

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Pearl in Castle Forrester with her lackeys Brain Guy and Professor Bobo.

In Season 8, Mike Nelson and the Bots returned to the Satellite of Love, which had been drawn back to Earth, where it was now the year 2525. There, they discover Pearl Forrester, alive, well, and the "Lawgiver" to a group of sentient apes. She had vowed to start over right with Clayton, but had somehow never "gotten around to it", and he ended up turning out as warped and twisted as he had been before. She eventually smothered him with a pillow, and then, keeping her son's promise to keep the experiments going, had herself cryogenically frozen so she could seek her revenge in the future. The apes thawed her out and helped her bring back the Satellite.

After ruling over her ape lackeys for only a few episodes, including the bumbling Professor Bobo, the future Earth ends up destroyed by a group of bomb-worshipping mutants. Pearl escapes in the Widowmaker, a VW van turned spaceship, with a stowaway Bobo. On another planet, she becomes the test subject of a group of omnipotent beings called the Observers, but escapes again after another world-destroying explosion, this time with Bobo and an Observer survivor who becomes known as Brain Guy. From there, she and her two new lackeys roamed to different worlds, including a planet where they start out camping and end up taking care of three omnipotent space children, and a trip into the Roman Times of Earth's past.

In Season 9, she makes her way to Earth in the present and Castle Forrester, the Forrester family's ancestral home. There, she continues her work as a mad scientist with Bobo and Brain Guy, continuing the experiments on the Satellite and terrorizing the local peasant population.

In the season 10 finale, Diabolik, she accidentally breaks the Satellite of Love and sends it spiraling down to Earth. Realizing the experiments are finally over, she leaves Castle Forrester to become the dictator of Qatar. Her first order of business: to put a "u" in the country's name. Her final words to Mike are "Look, Nelson: move on. I am."

Netflix era[]

Netflix sci-fi mads

Brain Guy, Professor Bobo, and Pearl Forrester in MST3K 1102 - Cry Wilderness.

In Experiment #1102, Cry Wilderness, Pearl's granddaughter Kinga Forrester spots the Widowmaker driving by Moon 13. Kinga contacts Pearl with hopes of having some family time together. Pearl is disinterested, and she spends the conversation looking for any excuse to escape Kinga and drive off. It is also revealed that Synthia (another one of Kinga's assistants) is a clone of Pearl that was created to keep her granddaughter company (presumably so that Pearl herself doesn't have to). Pearl did appear in Moon 13 to sing the song "Loving Lovers Love" for Kinga and Jonah's wedding before being scared away by Reptilicus Mettallicus

Pearl does not visit Moon 13 during Season 12. Kinga makes reference to her father having died "twenty years ago", which would seem to confirm that Space Baby Clayton was still a small child when Pearl killed him.

Gizmoplex Era[]

Pearl appeared in Moon 1, eager to have Kinga join her for a movie at the Gizmoplex. She seemed content to let her clones take responsibility for her day-to-day activities. Her status with regards to Bobo and Observer was not specified. Pearl acknowledged that she was growing older and expressed a desire for a closer connection with Kinga, which Kinga dismissed.

Pearl later donned a spacesuit to communicate with Joel Robinson, whose Satellite of Love had been brought to Moon 1 from the year 3000. Pearl was disappointed to learn that her son Clayton had apparently never mentioned her or the rest of his family to Joel. Pearl was able to spend some quality time with Kinga, and the two vacationed together through the Time Bag.

Pearl prompted Jonah and the 'Bots to present sponsored content, and also tormented them with new shorts. She was typically joined by Synthia when she did so. Pearl seemed to be annoyed by Synthia's simple-mindedness and eagerness to please. Pearl has not expressed any strong feelings about Mega-Synthia, who is also a partial clone of Pearl.

During the Tribute to Secret Agent Super Dragon event, Pearl riffed the short Cavalcade with Dr. Erhardt. Erhardt expressed an attraction to Pearl, but she warned him to keep his distance from her. She subsequently riffed the short The Bicycle Driver with Synthia and Mega-Synthia.

Pearl helped Jonah, Emily, and Jonah escape from the Moon through the Time Bag. She revealed that she did not share the other Mads' inability to hear/understand people speaking in rhyme. Pearl apparently had no qualms about betraying Kinga and ruining the experiment, and she seemed pleased by the prospect of interacting with the 1991 version of singer Aaron Neville.

Personality and Traits[]

When first introduced, Pearl was older and eccentric in appearance with pant suits and "big hair" that duplicated her son's white streak (The Amazing Colossal Episode Guide indicated that Clayton got the streak in his hair and mustache from being struck by lightning, so it may be that Pearl had been struck by lightning at some point as well). It's possible that the experience of being in suspended animation also had a rejuvenating effect on Pearl, which could explain her more youthful and energetic demeanor during the Sci-Fi Channel era.

Although critical of Clayton and his experiments (which ultimately led her to murdering him), Pearl later becomes committed to carrying on her son's work. During the introduction to the short The Wonder of Reproduction, Pearl indicated that she had no other children besides Clayton.

In Episode #811, Pearl expressed distaste at the Space Children calling her "Grandma", claiming that she was nobody's grandma. It was later established that she was aware of Kinga's existence, indicating that she would have known that she was already a grandmother by this time. It is possible that Pearl - unaware of her position in time and space at the moment - had been operating under the assumption that Kinga was either long-dead or yet to be born.

Husbands[]

As revealed in Experiment #1010, Pearl has had many husbands and fiancés, who all died (with it being strongly implied that she murdered them). She specifically identified Chuck (who was turned into a prairie dog by some unknown means), Wendell and Philippe (who were both shot), Maury (who had hatpins shoved through his eyes shortly before the wedding ceremony), and Jerome (who died in circumstances that were not specified).

Pearl did not take the name of any of these deceased men, since both Castle Forrester and her offspring all share the same family name. It was not established if any of the husbands/fiancés she refers to were Clayton's father, or if his father was some other man.

Crackers[]

Pearl also has a strong adoration of snack crackers. In Experiment #819, Pearl has little to no reaction to being told Bobo's adoration as a god in ancient Rome might change history and thereby destroy the universe, but gets angry when Brain Guy tries a psychological maneuver informing her that destroying the universe would also destroy Nabisco's Chicken In a Biskit.

Pearl: Bobo is...messing...with my...favorite...snack...CRACKER?!

In another episode she is seen using Observer's brain dish to hold Cheeze-Its while she drives the Widowmaker.

This fondness for crackers is apparently a family trait. Upon arriving in Castle Forrester during Experiment #901, Pearl is pleased to discover that one of her ancestors preserved a recipe for an antediluvian form of Chicken In a Biskit called "Her Majesty's Fool's Hen Crackle Bread".

The cracker running gag may have been inspired by The Incredible Melting Man (Experiment #704), wherein the protagonist becomes fixated on and perturbed by there not being any crackers in his home despite the other dramatic, life-threatening occurrences happening in the film.

Time Paradox[]

Given the show's conceit that it takes place in the "not-too-distant future", viewers can assume that Season 11 takes place in or near the year 2017 and the subsequent seasons occur in similarly corresponding years. It is reasonable to assume (based on Pearl's comments in Experiment #801) that when Pearl interacts with Kinga on the Moon there is also another earlier incarnation of Pearl that is still on Earth. This earlier Pearl would presumably be engaged in one of two activities:

  • In suspended animation after having smothered Space Baby Clayton
  • Pursuing whatever lifestyle she led after having smothered Space Baby Clayton but before being placed in suspended animation.

A similar situation exists with the time-displaced Crow from Experiment #821.

Behind the Scenes[]

As of Season 13, Pearl is the first and currently only Mad to have met and interacted with every Test Case.



The Mads
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Principal Dr. Clayton ForresterDr. Laurence ErhardtTV's FrankPearl ForresterProfessor BoboBrain GuyKinga ForresterMax
Secondary Gerry and SylviaDr. PeanutThe ObserversSynthia ForresterArdySkeleton CrewDr. Donna St. PhibesBonesyMega-SynthiaDr. KabahlM. WaverlyGrowler
Mirror Universe Mike NelsonCrow T. RobotTom ServoGypsy
Locations Gizmonic InstituteDeep 13Deep ApeThe WidowmakerObserver homeworldCamping PlanetAncient RomeCastle ForresterMoon 13Moon 1Deep Hurting



The Satellite of Love
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Primary Residents Joel RobinsonMike NelsonJonah HestonCrow T. RobotGypsyCambotTom Servo
Minor/Other Residents BeeperMagic VoiceXT-5000TimmyMike's RobotClayton Forrester (mirror)TV's Frank (mirror)Eddie Nelson (alternate universe)The NanitesMike Nelson (robot)WinstonM. WaverlyMatt Claude Van DammeGrowlerEmily Connor
Visitors EnochDemon DogsNuveenaGypsy (mirror)Tom Servo (mirror)MonadThe ObserversFinneganHadrianAdrienne BarbeauLydiaOrtegaPhantom of KrankorHenry KissingerBowler-Hatted GuyDelivery ManGoosioMikey the Mike spriteMikesocksy the Mike's Socks SpriteBrain GuyPearl ForresterProfessor Bobo
Terminology AirlockDeus ex MachinaHexfield ViewscreenHyper-warp escape shipsJet ScreenManipulator armsMovie signRocket Number 9The TubeUmbilicusWhirlpool
Locations BridgeCrow's RoomJoel's roomKitchenMike's roomMystery Science TheaterTheater hallwayTom's room
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